1845.] for the year 1843. 613 



place concurred in attributing to the inauspicious influence of the 

 ' Tailed Star.' 



" Some of the older natives of this part of India assure me, that Earth- 

 quakes usually happen in the hot season. East of this in the Jemaconda 

 district, separated from Kurnool by a high chain of the Eastern Ghauts, 

 slight shocks of Earthquakes are more frequent than in other parts of 

 South India. This district is situated on the plutonic, hypogene, and 

 basaltic rocks which form a platform between the trap of the Deccan — 

 the largest known continuous sheet of ancient lava in the world — and 

 the great active volcanic band that runs Southerly down the Bay of 

 Bengal, crosses the Equator by Sumatra into the Eastern Archipelago, 

 thence Easterly embracing Flores, Java, and Timor, and the whole chain 

 of the islands to New Guinea : whence the main trunk proceeds Nor- 

 therly by the Moluccas and Philippine Islands, terminating to the North 

 in the Peninsula of Alaska, in about the 59th degree of longitude. 



" Kurnool is situate about 76 miles in a direct line W. by S. from 

 Jemaconda, on the great line of drainage of this part of India, at the 

 confluence of the Tumbuddra and the Hendri, on the limestone associ- 

 ated with the diamond sandstone, which here overlie the plutonic rocks 

 previously alluded to ; the latter constitute the base of the whole of 

 Southern India, and are seen outcropping immediately in the vicinity of 

 Kurnool. 



" The most Southerly point to which the shock under notice would 

 appear to have reached, is Hurryhur, Lat. 14° 30' N. Long. 75° 59' 

 East.' The following is the account of the shock as felt at that place. 

 April 2nd. A slight shock of an Earthquake was felt here a little after 

 4 o'clock yesterday morning, attended by a dull noise, as if it were the 

 rolling of a carriage at a distance. 



" It was predicted the day previous by the Bramins, that a phenomenon 

 resembling a blazing man with a sword in his hand would be observed 

 the same night in the heavens, and numerous have been the spectators 

 anxiously expecting its appearance the greater part of the night ; but for 

 all their trouble (although many were up till 4 a. m.) they were dis- 

 appointed. 



" The weather previous to the above shock had been exceedingly 

 warm, but since we have had a few showers of rain, and it is now cooler." 



From the preceding details, the ascertained limits of the shock of the 

 1st April are Sholapore on the North and West, Kurnool on the East, 



