﻿80 
  OLDHAM 
  ; 
  GREAT 
  EARTHQUAKE 
  OF 
  1897. 
  

  

  of 
  the 
  shock 
  was 
  equal 
  to 
  that 
  of 
  a 
  sudden 
  arrest 
  after 
  a 
  fall 
  of 
  about 
  

   8 
  feet. 
  That 
  the 
  effect 
  produced 
  on 
  human 
  beings 
  and 
  animals 
  was 
  

   not 
  the 
  same 
  as 
  that 
  of 
  such 
  a 
  fall 
  is 
  not 
  difficult 
  to 
  explain 
  ; 
  it 
  

   is 
  due 
  both 
  to 
  the 
  smallness 
  of 
  the 
  range 
  of 
  motion, 
  and 
  to 
  the 
  fact 
  

   that 
  its 
  direction 
  was 
  oblique 
  and 
  not 
  directly 
  upwards, 
  thus 
  allowing 
  

   the 
  muscles 
  and 
  joints 
  to 
  yield 
  and 
  so 
  diminish 
  the 
  violence 
  of 
  the 
  

   shock. 
  , 
  

  

  Fishes 
  were 
  differently 
  situated; 
  attacked 
  on 
  all 
  sides 
  and 
  over 
  

   the 
  whole 
  surface 
  of 
  their 
  body 
  by 
  a 
  blow 
  of 
  greater 
  violence 
  than 
  this, 
  

   they 
  were 
  killed 
  in 
  myriads, 
  as 
  by 
  the 
  explosion 
  of 
  a 
  dynamite 
  cart- 
  

   ridge. 
  In 
  the 
  Garo 
  Hills, 
  even 
  where 
  the 
  rivers 
  had 
  been 
  unaffected* 
  

   by 
  landslips, 
  the 
  fine 
  fishing 
  pools 
  of 
  the 
  Sumesari 
  river 
  were 
  found' 
  

   devoid 
  of 
  fish 
  ; 
  I 
  was 
  informed 
  too 
  by 
  the 
  Garos 
  that 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  

   fish 
  caught 
  in 
  their 
  traps 
  was 
  phenomenally 
  small 
  in 
  1897, 
  and 
  

   that 
  for 
  days 
  after 
  the 
  earthquake 
  the 
  Sameswari 
  river 
  was 
  choked^ 
  

   with 
  thousands 
  of 
  dead 
  fish 
  floating 
  down 
  from 
  the 
  upper 
  

   reaches. 
  In 
  the 
  Borpeta 
  subdivision 
  of 
  the 
  Kamrup 
  district 
  the 
  fish- 
  

   were 
  killed 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  manner, 
  and 
  I 
  was 
  informed 
  by 
  Captain; 
  

   Gurdon 
  that 
  on 
  his 
  way 
  in 
  from 
  Nalbari 
  to 
  Gauhati 
  he 
  saw 
  two 
  float- 
  

   ing 
  carcases 
  of 
  Gangetic 
  dolphins 
  which 
  had 
  been 
  kiLIed 
  by 
  the 
  

   shock. 
  

  

  At 
  Dilma, 
  in 
  the 
  Garo 
  Hills, 
  I 
  got 
  some 
  evidence 
  to 
  show 
  that 
  the 
  

   shock 
  was 
  locally 
  of 
  sufficient 
  violence 
  to 
  disable 
  men. 
  I 
  was* 
  

   informed 
  that 
  two 
  Garos 
  were 
  drowned 
  in 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  lakelets, 
  formed, 
  

   by 
  the 
  Chedrang 
  fault, 
  through 
  which 
  a 
  village 
  path 
  used 
  to 
  run.. 
  

   The 
  lakelet 
  is 
  due 
  to 
  the 
  damming 
  up 
  of 
  a 
  small 
  drainage 
  valley 
  by 
  the 
  

   fault, 
  which 
  has 
  here 
  a 
  throw 
  of 
  about 
  25 
  feet 
  ; 
  the 
  stream 
  is 
  a 
  very 
  

   small 
  one 
  and 
  the 
  valley 
  open, 
  so 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  improbable 
  that 
  the 
  water 
  

   would 
  accumulate 
  sufficiently 
  to 
  drown 
  men 
  in 
  full 
  possession 
  of 
  their 
  

   faculties 
  and 
  able 
  to 
  escape, 
  but 
  if 
  we 
  suppose 
  that 
  the 
  violence 
  of 
  

   the 
  earthquake 
  was 
  sufficient 
  to 
  stun 
  them 
  it 
  is 
  easy 
  to 
  understand; 
  

   how 
  they 
  might 
  be 
  drowned 
  by 
  the 
  collecting 
  waters 
  before 
  they 
  

   recovered 
  consciousness. 
  

  

  ( 
  so 
  ) 
  

  

  