1843.] Memoir on Indian Earthquakes. 1045 



great mosque in the city of Cashmere. Mr. Moorcroft, (Vol. II, p. 121,) 

 states, " that the structure consists in great part of wood, and the three 

 hundred and eighty pillars which ornament the temple are composed of 

 square blocks of deodar, built up like brick-work in alternate beaders 

 and stretchers, as the form of bond is technically called." " The pecu- 

 liarity of their structure," Mr. Moorcroft remarks, " was no doubt sug- 

 gested by the occurrence of Earthquakes, which are frequent in Cash- 

 mere, though not very violent. Certain it is, that although the roof 

 and walls have been rent and shattered in various places, not one of 

 the pillars appears to have been seriously injured, or to have deviated 

 from its original perpendicular." " The traditions of the country 

 assert," says Mr. Moorcroft in describing the valley of Cashmere, (Vol. 

 II. p. 109,) " that the whole of Cashmere, intending thereby the prin- 

 cipal line of valley, was originally one large lake, and the aspect of the 

 province confirms the truth of the legend, the subsidence of the waters 

 being distinctly defined by horizontal lines on the face of the moun- 

 tains : it is also not at all unlikely to have been the scene of some 

 great convulsion of nature, as indications of volcanic action are not 

 unfrequent : hot springs are numerous : at particular seasons the 

 ground in various places is sensibly hotter than the atmosphere, and 

 Earthquakes are of common occurrence." Whether recent travellers 

 who have explored the valley of Cashmere have collected any farther 

 evidence as to the former condition of the province, I am unfortunate- 

 ly unable to say, as I have not yet been able to consult their works. 

 That indications of active volcanic action are numerous and remark- 

 able, I learn from Dr. Falconer, the latest of the Cashmerian tra- 

 vellers. He informs me that a singular " field of fire" exists in the 

 valley, of considerable dimensions, and through crevices in which 

 flames continually issue. The outlines of this volcanic tract are dis- 

 tinctly defined, and the action appears to be strictly local, the soil 

 is completely burnt, and in some spots I believe, petrified. The igneous 

 action has continued now for upwards of two centuries, as the exis- 

 tence of this remarkable spot is certified by Abul Fazil, the learned 

 minister of the Emperor Akber.* Mr. Moorcroft in his travels, (Vol. II. 



issue from the spot which is about an acre in size, and in which there are three places 

 more particularly burned. A similar phenomenon had been observed about thirteen 

 years before. The soil, which is a mixture of clay with a little sand, has been fused by 

 the heat from below. One bank is twenty feet above the other. It burned in the time 

 of Atar Mahommed Khan, the Patan Governor, for the space of one month. A white 

 smoke was occasionally seen to issue from the soil, but no fire or sulphureous smell was 

 perceivable, and no fissures opened in the ground. The Pundits hastily assembled from 

 all quarters, scraped away the earth, and placed there their brass cooking pots, with 

 rice and water in them. The rice was cooked in half an hour, and then scattered 

 around for the birds to feed on, the Pundits meanwhile offering up their prayers. 

 No Earthquake took place at the time: no noises were heard, nor did any heat or 

 smoke appear there when the great Earthquake took place in 1828. 



" I should think that few would withhold their belief in the fact of volcanic action 

 now being at work under the valley of Cashmere, after listening to an account of this 

 Earthquake." Vol. I. p. 280. 



* For the above particulars, I am indebted to Dr. Falconer. They were given 

 verbally, and are quoted from memory, so that they are rather indefinite ; but as Dr. 

 Falconer's own account of the phenomenon may be expected ere long, it will be in my 

 power to correct and enlarge the above notice. 



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