GENERAL DESCRJPT10N OF EFFECTS OF EARHTQUAKE. SI 



other articles of furniture had been literally thrown violently about, and 

 the destruction of crockery, bottles, &c, was very great. Outside my 

 compound I found the house, in which the treasure chest was kept, level 

 with the ground, but no one hurt. A glance at the Rajbarrie close by 

 showed me that the Raja's pucka house was in ruins, with many other 

 less substantial buildings. In fact, in every direction fallen houses of 

 all descriptions, slight or substantial, attested the great violence of the 

 earthquake. Every one was in a state of very great alarm, never having 

 experienced any thing of the kind, except the very slightest shocks, 

 before. 



" In a time of such terror and confusion, it is a difficult matter to 

 make accurate observations as to time, &c. However I looked at my 

 watch when the shock commenced, and found it 3 minutes past 5 (even- 

 ing) ; on rising from the ground after the earthquake was over, it was 

 exactly 5 minutes past 5. Allowing for errors, I think it may be almost 

 assumed with certainty that the shock altogether lasted about a minute 

 and a half. So far as I could observe, the lower animals did not seem 

 to be at all affected by the phenomenon. There was nothing unusual 

 in the weather or the temperature at the time of the shock. I had an 

 excellent opportunity of observing the state of the weather on the day 

 of the earthquake, as I rode into the capital from the foot of the hills 

 to the south-west of the valley that morning ; the only two things that 

 struck me were the entire absence of the usual morning fog and the 

 presence of a particularly dense bank of blackish cloud over the high 

 hills to the north-west, the rest of the sky being clear. 



" The Natives all say, and I agree with them, that the first shocks 

 were almost due north and south, but, according to them, the undula- 

 tions almost immediately after this assumed a circular character, and 

 seemed to come from all quarters ; this may be, but I did not at the 

 time become conscious of any change of direction in the motion. About 

 15 minutes after the occurrence of the first shock, another took place, 

 slight, however, in character. Without giving the particulars of every 

 slight shock which followed the major one, it may be stated that up till 



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