288 MITCHILL ON THE EARTHQUAKES OP 1811, 1812, AND 1813. 



considerable damage ; the chimnies having been so much cracked as to 

 require repairs by the mason. On the evening previous to the shock, 

 there was a gentle rain, such as we have in April; and the night was 

 rather close and dark ; but at the termination of the first shock, it was 

 light enough to enable a pin to be seen. 



By information from Jeffersonville, in the Indiana Territory, on the 

 opposite side of the Ohio, it was understood that the shocks were reit- 

 erated, and the writer of the account I am now copying, declares that 

 the table was in motion from the earthquake, while he was employing 

 his pen to describe the phenomena. The day preceding was extremely 

 dark and gloomy there, and warmth and smokiness distinguished the 

 weather for some time after. 



At Vincennes, the earthquake occurred about two o'clock on the 

 morning of the 16th December. Other shocks of less violence followed 

 it for several days. It was so severe that the inhabitants were greatly 

 concerned for the safety of their houses. 



At the Red Banks, one hundred and fifty miles below Louisville, it 

 was stated in a letter to my friend, the hon. Anthony New, dated 

 January 4, 1812, " that there had been from twenty to thirty shocks of 

 earthquakes at that place. They begun on the morning of December 

 16, at about half after two o'clock. The first one, and another at sun- 

 rise the same morning, were most violent indeed. We had to flee from 

 our houses. Several chimnies were thrown down, and many others 

 so wrecked and cracked as to be very dangerous. The noise which 

 accompanied the several shocks is said to have come from the west." 



The town of St. Louis, in Louisiana, experienced a full proportion 

 of the commotion. Mr. Riddick, being at St. Louis, near the Missis- 

 sippi, observed to me, that the shocks were preceded by a remarkable 

 calm. The atmosphere was of a dingy and lurid aspect, and gleams and 

 flashes of light were frequently visible around the horizon, in dine rent 



