EARTH OSCILLATIONS. 347 



At Chiloe the recent elevation has been 



350 



„ Concepcion „ „ 



. G25 to 1,000 



„ Valparaiso „ „ 



. 1,300 



,, Coquimbo . „ ,, • 



252 



„ Lima „ 



. . 85 



Shells, similar to those clinging to uplifted rocks, 

 which are evidences of these elevations, still exist in the 

 neighbouring seas, and in the same proportionate numbers 

 as they are found in the upraised beds. In addition to 

 this, Mr. Darwin shows us that at Lima, during the Indo- 

 human period, the elevation has been at least eighty-five 

 feet. At Valparaiso, during the last 220 years, the rise 

 was about nineteen feet, and in the seventeen years sub- 

 sequent to 1817 the rise has been ten or eleven feet, a 

 portion only of which can be attributed to earthquakes. 

 In 1834 the rise there was apparently still in progress. 



At Chiloe there has been a gradual elevation of about 

 four feet in four years. These, together with numerous 

 other examples, testify to the gradual but, as compared 

 with other parts of the globe, exceedingly rapid rise of 

 the ground upon the western shores of South America.^ 

 The most important point to be noticed is that this 

 district of rapid elevation is one of the most earthquake- 

 shaken regions of the world. And further, judging from 

 Darwin's remarks, in those portions of it where the move- 

 ments have been the most extensive, and at the same time 

 probably the most rapid, the seismic disturbances appear 

 to have been the most noticeable. 



Similar remarks may be applied to Japan, it being 

 in those districts where evidences of recent elevation are 

 abundant that earthquakes are numerous. Thus, in the 

 bay of Yedo, where we have borings of lithodomi in the 

 tufaceous cliffs ten feet above high-water mark, which, 



• Darwin, Geological Oh&ervatmu^, p. 275 et spq. 



