209 



glish) to the north of Ny-Sukkertop (lat. 65° 20' N.), the ruins of 

 ancient Greenland winter houses are to be seen at low water. 



Dr. Pingel is not aware of any instance of subsidence in the more 

 northern districts ; but he suspects that the phenomenon reaches at 

 least as far as Disco Bay^ or nearly to 69° north lat. 



Some notes by Capt. Fitzroy, R.N., read at a Court Martial at 

 Portsmouth, Oct. 19th, 1835, on Capt. Seymour and his Officers 

 for the loss of His Majesty's Frigate Challenger, wrecked on the coast 

 of Chili, near the port of Conception, and communicated to the Pre- 

 sident by Capt. Beaufort, R.N., Hon. Mem. G.S., were then read. 



These notes refer to the effects produced by the earthquake of Feb. 

 1835, in the currents on the coasts of Chili, from the Island of Mo- 

 cha to the parallel of Conception. Capt. Fitzroy also mentions that 

 the island of Santa Maria was elevated ten feet. 



A letter dated Valparaiso, 22ndof March 1835, from R. E.Alison, 

 Esq., addressed to the President, on the earthquake of Chili of the 

 20th of February 1835, was then read. 



The earthquake began at quarter past 1 1 a.m. by a gentle heaving 

 or undulation of the earth ; but the motion increased in a few seconds 

 to so great a degree that no person could stand. It destroyed the 

 cities of Conception and Chilian, with the ports of Talcahuano and 

 Maule, as well as above twenty smaller towns, and an immense num- 

 ber of country houses. It was felt to the southward as far as the In- 

 dian territory opposite the island of Chiloe ; to the northward be- 

 yond Copiapo ; at Mendoza on the east of the Andes ; by the crew of 

 a ship 100 miles to the westward of the coast, and at Juan Fernandez 

 300 miles from it. 



At the port of Talcahuano the same phenomena occurred which ac- 

 companied the destruction of Penco in 1 730 and 1 75 1 . Forty minutes 

 after the first shock the sea suddenly retired so far that part of the 

 bottom of the Boca chica, the smaller or southern entrance of the bay, 

 could be seen ; but the sea afterwards returning through the same 

 channel with a great bore, flowed 20 feet over the town, carrying 

 everything before it. This phenomenon was repeated three times, 

 Mr. Alison says that the sea was reported to have receded, or rather 

 the land to have risen, 2 or 3 feet, a difference having also taken place 

 in the soundings in the bay ; and that a rock, which was invisible pre- 

 viously to the earthquake, was afterwards near the surface. 



Large fissures are stated to have been made in the earth, and water 

 to have burst from some of them : the earth is also said to have opened 

 and closed ; and near Los Angeles several hills to have disappeared, 

 and others to have opened and vomited steam and black smoke. The 

 harbour of the island of Santa Maria was destroyed, and the sea retired 

 between 300 and 400 yards, while the reefs which surrounded the 

 greater part of the island are said to have entirely disappeared. 



At the island of Juan Fernandez phenomena occurred similar to 

 those which accompanied the destruction of Talcahuano. About a 

 league from the shore the sea appeared to boil, a high column of water 



