EFFECTS OF EARTHQUAKES ON LAND. 



149 



first shot of dry mud or sand was mistaken for smoke or 

 steam. The water was foul, and hotter than surface 

 water at the time, but only slightly so ; and the sulphur- 

 ous smell was nothing more than you would perceive in 

 stirring up the mud at the bottom of any stagnant pool 

 which had lain undisturbed for some time.^ 



In 1755, when Tauris was destroyed, boiling water 

 issued from the cracks which were formed. Similar 

 phenomena were witnessed at a place eight miles from 

 La Banca in Mexico, in the year 1820. Part of this hot 

 water was pure and part was muddy. 



Sometimes the water which has been ejected has been 

 so muddy that the mud has been collected to form small 

 hills. This was the case at the time of the Eiobamba 

 earthquake. The mud in this case consisted partly of 

 coal, fragments of augite, and shells of infusoria. 



At the time of the Jamaica earthquake men who had 

 fallen into crevices were in some cases thrown out again 

 by issuing water. 



Sometimes, as has already been mentioned, vapour, 

 gases, and even flames issue from fissures. Vapour of 

 sulphur appears to be exceedingly common. Kluge says 

 that many fish were killed in consequence of the sulphur- 

 ous vapours which rose in the sea near to the coast of 

 New Zealand in 1855. 



On December 14, 1797, an insupportable smell of 

 sulphur was observed to have accompanied the earth- 

 quake which at that time shook Camana, which was 

 greatest when the disturbance was greatest. 



Sulphurous fumes which were combustible were 

 belched out of the earth at the time of the Jamaica 

 earthquake in 1692. The smell which accompanied this 



Oldham and Mallet, * Cachar Earthquake,' Proo. Geolog. Soo. 



1872. 



