



- "^f the 



Dl 



'^' ^t tie 



11 



I* 



; and 

 ^iiina 



consists 



ito 



a 



'onrerted 



anda ; bnt 

 u, so that 

 ,e popula- 

 t, in pro- 

 rthquakes 



die year 

 nt eartl- 



lliui? sea, 

 I of 



•T 



II 



111 



closiflg 

 these 



u 



,.zedto 



uiul ; an 

 ■itb great 



are 



id 



J t^^ 





iin 



Iv 





ISO 



as 



.d '^'""' 



Ch. XXX.] 



CHANGES CAUSED BY EAETHQUAKES. 



r. 



161 



them 



to be 24 36;, and 48 feet under water; jet many of 

 appear to have remained standing, for it is stated that, after 

 the earthquake, the mast-heads of several ships wrecked in 

 the harbonr, together with the chimnej-tops of houses, were 

 just seen projecting above the waves. A tract of land round 

 the town, about 1,000 acres in extent, sank down in less than 

 one mmute, during the iirst shock, and the sea immediately 

 rolled in. The Swan frigate, which was repairing in the 

 wharf, was driven over the tops of many buildings, and then 

 thrown upon one of the roofs, through which it broke. The 



* 



breadtli of one of the streets is said to liave been doubled by 

 the earthquake. 



H 



formed 



consisting of sand, in which piles had been driven ; and the 

 settlement of this loose sand, charged with the weight of heavy 



houses, may, he suggests, have given rise to the subsidences 

 alluded to.'^ 



There have undoubtedly been instances in Calabria and 

 elsewhere of slides of land on which the houses have still 

 remained standing ; and it is possible that such may have 

 been the case at Port Eoyal. The fact at least of submerg- 

 ence is unquestionable, for I was informed by the late Admiral 

 Sir Charles Hamilton that he frequently saw the submerged 

 houses of Port Eoyal in the year 1780, in that part of the 

 harbour which lies between the town and the usual anchor- 



age of men-of-war. 

 history of the West 

 visible in clear weather 

 them.f Lastlv. Lieuten 



Bry 



Edwards also says, in his 

 that in 1793 the ruins were 



■om 



over 



N., told me 



being engaged in a survey between the years 1824 and 1835^ 

 he repeatedly visited the site in question, where the depth of 



from 



He 



but little wind perceived distinct traces of houses. ... .^,, 

 these more clearly when he used the instrument called the 

 diver's eye,' which is let down below the ripple of the 



t 



* De la B^che, Manual of Geo!., p. 

 l-iS, second edition. 



VOL. II. 



t Vol. i. p. 235, 8vo ed. 3 vols. 1801 

 t Letter to the Author, May 1838. 



M 



