58 



of considerable reputation, wliicli, by the kindness of Mr. Woodbine 

 Parish, I have been enabled to consult. The account there given of 

 the earthquake of 1822, is strongly recommended to the reader, 

 " as a sensible straight-forward description of what actually took 

 " place, without the high colouring in which ignorance and terror 

 *' and exaggeration are apt to indulge." 



No notice is here taken of the permanent Elevation of the Land, 

 and tlie account concludes thus: 



" The earth certainly cracked in places that were sandy or 

 " marshy ; I saw cracks too in some of the hills, but mostly in 

 " the low nook where much earth had run together ; the sea was 

 " not much altered,— it retired a little, but came back to its old 

 " place. Don Onofri Bunster, who, on the night of the earthquake, 

 " was walking on the shore at Valparaiso, in front of his house, had 

 " a mind to go up on the hill, but could not, so great was the quan- 

 '' tity of falling dust and stones: he repaired to his boat therefore, 

 " and with some difficulty got aboard; this done, he made obser- 

 " vations on the motion of the sea ; on sounding, the depth was 

 " thirteen fathoms; he heaved the lead a second time, and the 

 " depth was no more than eight fathoms: this alternate ebbing and 

 " flowing lasted the whole night, but did not the slightest harm on 

 " shored' 



These are the only cases I remember to have met with, in which 

 the testimony of eye-witnesses has been adduced to prove the Rise 

 of land by Earthquakes. That such Rise may have taken place, at 

 different times, without being recorded, perhaps even without being 

 observed, is not very improbable ; but if I am to pronounce a ver- 

 dict according to the evidence, I believe there is not as yet one well 

 authenticated instance in any part of the world, of a non-volcanic 

 Rock having been seen to rise above its natural level in consequence 

 of an Earthquake, 



Before I quit this subject, it may not be amiss to mention, that 

 on comparing the times at which the successive shocks took place 

 in Chili, as given bj^ Mrs. Graham, and the othertiuthorities to which 

 I have had occasion to refer, the discrepancy is extraordinary. 



I have already intimated in a few words, my opinion^as to the 

 sense in which land can be said tobe elevated by means of Volcanoes, 

 Of these, Vesuvius is perhaps the most constantly observed ; and 

 among the innumerable authors who have described its effects, from 

 the time of Pliny down to the present day, not one pretends that 

 the Apennine limestone, close at hand, has been in the least raised 

 b}' that volcano. We shall do well to bear this in mind, when we 

 have occasion to consider the height at which tertiary shells are 

 found on Etna. That those shells belong to beds thrown up by 

 Etna, is a doctrine founded upon induction, not upon experience. 

 As far as experience goes, we have no reason to think that Etna, 

 in its most violent paroxysms, will ever raise those tertiary strata 

 above their present level. 



Leaving these scenes of paroxysmal violence, let us next inquire, 

 whether there may not be going on, in the calmest seasons and in 



