22 OLDHAM: THE CACIIAR EARTHQUAKE OF 1 OTH JaNUABY 1869. 



\ before 10 p.m. on the 14th, the shocks, although slight, were very 

 frequent, keeping the inhabitants in a constant state of alarm, most of 

 them camping out all night, afraid to sleep inside their houses after the 

 experience they had on the 10th. During the 15th, 16th, and 17th, I 

 observed no shocks, but this morning, the 18th, they again recom- 

 menced, and I observed distinct shocks, slight, and not lasting more 

 than a few seconds, one at 7 minutes to 2 a.m., another at 10 minutes 



to 8 A.M. 



" On the morning after the occurrence of the earthquake, I visited 

 the Raibarrie and other places to witness its effects. In the Eajbarrie 

 enclosure, which is of great size, there is a " Maidan" of some extent, 

 which lies rather lower than most of the other parts of the ground. In 

 this space were the remains of many openings, now closed with fine 

 mud, where the ground had opened and great volumes of muddy 

 water had been poured out ; in this space also the ground was much 

 fissured, and for 20 or 30 feet it was broken, and had sunk in portions 

 more than a foot. Many of these closed apertures were quite soft, 

 and allowed a walking stick to be pushed down 10 or 12 inches until 

 the solid ground was reached. The main branch of the river which 

 runs through the capital, flows at a short distance from the Eajbarrie, 

 and an inspection of its banks showed most unmistakably that along 

 the course of the river the disturbance of the earth had been much more 

 severe than in places situated at a distance from it ; the ground along 

 the banks and near the river was most extensively and widely fissured, 

 and it had sunk several feet in many places. On the morning of the 

 1 1th, the river had fallen about a foot, and the current was very slug- 

 gish, evidently the bed had been depressed; the following day the river 

 had risen about a foot above its former level, and the current was re- 

 established. 



" In the fall of the Raja's two-storied brick house, a most sub- 

 stantial and ornamental building, and which had only been finished five 

 years ago, I regret to say four women were crushed to death, and a 

 number of people wounded. As intimated above, I have heard of no 

 ( M ) 



