32 MIDDLEM1SS : KANGRA EARTHQUAKE. 



knife-edge, difficult eveq, for pedestrians. No bridges, however -were 



broken. Near Kangra a few boughs' of tree* in the lont$ avenue were 



occasionally found detached, but only in the case of those already 



weakened by decay. There were no examples of tree trunks having 



been snapped across as in the Assam earthquake of 1'897. Nevertheless 



every village without exception was destroyed, and appeared as a mere 



rubbish heap disfiguring the landscape. 



Kangra Bhawan lies at the southern edge of the gravel and alluvial 



plain, just where the Siwalik conglomerate and asso- 

 Kangra Bhawan. . . . 



elated sand-rock and shales emerge from under it, 



dipping gently at about 10° to the north-east. Further south again 



stretches old Kangra and the Fort, the former situated on a gravel 



terrace and the latter on a narrow neck of rock. Just below this is the 



meeting place of two main streams chaining the country north and 



east. They run in deep gorges cut through rock and gravels, and 



present innumerable free cliff surfaces, several hundred feet high, which 



must have been a most potent factor in magnifying the earthquake 



effects. 



No earthquake-forms have reached me from Kangra, owing to the 

 deaths of officials. The following account, extracted from the Pioneer 

 of 20th April, gives a vivid picture of the destruction wrought in the 

 town : — 



looking tip from the camping ground to the low and beautifully wooded hill 

 upon which tho town and temples stood, one could not see any sign of buildings, 

 but among the trees there was a gleam of yellow light reflected from the roof oi 

 the Xangra Bhawan or Golden Temple. 1 On the ridge still higher some heaps 

 of masonry showed where Mr. Seiston's house and the missionary buildings were 

 lying wrecked ; and following the road to the town one came within a hundred 

 yards of significant signs of devastation. Immediately on the right was all that 

 remained of the Municipal Dnp3nsAry, and near by on the same side was the 

 Thana, with the Treasury buildings on the left. The last two had been solidly 

 built with cut stone walls, and heavy beams and roofs. They had been literally 

 shivered and the masonry disintegrated. An old masonry bridge had been 

 broken up. It was little larger than a culvert, and was the first I had seen 

 broken from Shahpur to Kangra. Following the road leading to the temple we 

 had evidence on every hand of the earthquake. Not a house was standing, and 



* Correctly known as the temple of Bajresari or Vagreswari Devi. 



