XVI STEP-FORMED TERRACES 367 



ingly he opened the door ; and no sooner had he done this, 

 than he cried out, " Here it comes again !" and the famous shock 

 commenced. The whole party escaped. The danger in an 

 earthquake is not from the time lost in opening a door, but from 

 the chance of its becoming jammed by the movement of the 

 walls. 



It is impossible to be much surprised at the fear which 

 natives and old residents, though some of them known to be 

 men of great command of mind, so generally experience during 

 earthquakes. I think, however, this excess of panic may be partly 

 attributed to a want of habit in governing their fear, as it is not 

 a feeling they are ashamed of. Indeed, the natives do not like 

 to see a person indifferent. I heard of two Englishmen who, 

 sleeping in the open air during a smart shock, knowing that 

 there was no danger, did not rise. The natives cried out 

 indignantly, " Look at those heretics, they will not even get 

 out of their beds ! " 



I spent some days in examining the step-formed terraces 

 of shingle, first noticed by Captain B. Hall, and believed by 

 Mr. Lyell to have been formed by the sea during the gradual 

 rising of the land. This certainly is the true explanation, for I 

 found numerous shells of existing species on these terraces. 

 Five narrow, gently-sloping, fringe-like terraces rise one behind 

 the other, and where best developed are formed of shingle : 

 they front the bay, and sweep up both sides of the valley. At 

 Guasco, north of Coquimbo, the phenomenon is displayed on a 

 much grander scale, so as to strike with surprise even some of 

 the inhabitants. The terraces are there much broader, and 

 may be called plains ; in some parts there are six of them, but 

 generally only five ; they run up the valley for thirty-seven 

 miles from the coast. These step-formed terraces or fringes 

 closely resemble those in the valley of S. Cruz, and except in 

 being on a smaller scale, those great ones along the whole coast- 

 line of Patagonia. They have undoubtedly been formed by 

 the denuding power of the sea, during long periods of rest in 

 the gradual elevation of the continent. 



Shells of many existing species not only lie on the surface 

 of the terraces at Coquimbo (to a height of 250 feet), but are 

 embedded in a friable calcareous rock, which in some places is 



