298 RAMBLES OF A NATURALIST. [Ch. XVIII. 



from the unfortunate circumstance that the city was built 

 just upon that patch of earth which experienced the greatest 

 throe. There are two considerable volcanos in the neigh- 

 bourhood of ManUla, those of Tayal and Abbay; and al- 

 though it might be imagined a 'priori that the terrific shock 

 was in some way connected with the closing up of these 

 natural vents, it does not appear that this was the case, for 

 the volcano of Tayal, in the province of Batangan, was re- 

 ported to have been very active at this juncture. No par- 

 ticular warning was given, however, of the fatal moment — it 

 was the rainy season, and there had been at the same time 

 much sultry weather, accompanied by heavy thunderstorms ; 

 and one of them is described as having been an uninterrupted 

 blaze of several hours' duration, such as I have witnessed 

 more than once, but which can hardly be considered a pre- 

 cursor of earthquake. In the evening, just as, it being 

 dark, people were enjoying their cigar and the coolness of the 

 air in the verandah, the earth shook so that they were 

 obliged to support themselves by some object to prevent 

 themselves from falling. Two distinct shocks immediately 

 succeeded one another. The first was an earth-wave from 

 north to south, which, although itself severe, would not have 

 accomplished the destruction of the city had it not been 

 instantly followed by another cross wave from east to west. 

 Then the buildings fell in all directions, burying hundreds 

 beneath the ruins. The cathedral roof is said to have 

 opened wide with the first shock ; but seemed, as the wave 

 . passed by, to subside into its original position and close up 

 again, but the transverse wave immediately brought it aU 

 crashiag to the ground. The other churches also suffered 

 frightfully ; and it most unhappQy happened that it being 

 the hour of vespers, the churches, of all places the most 



