MITCHILL ON THE EARTHQUAKES OF 1811, 1812, AND 1813. 291 



noise, resembling a blaze of fire acted upon by wind. The first motion 

 of the frame of the house on which he stood was tremulous. It began 

 instantly after to rock pretty violently. This continued, as he thought, 

 from ten to twelve minutes. The vibrations of the chimney were, per- 

 haps, about three or four inches each way, and were in the direction of 

 southeast and northwest nearly. The noise which preceded the shock 

 was from the northwest. Its commencement was about two o'clock in 

 the morning. One hour after there was a second, which was light, 

 and of very short duration. No houses or chimnies were thrown down 

 by either of those. About daylight of the same morning there was a 

 third shock. The motion was very much like the first, but of short 

 duration. This injured several brick and stone chimneys. Its duration 

 between one and a half and two and a half minutes. About sunrise the 

 same morning there was a fourth shock. The vibrations of the chim- 

 neys at twenty-five feet from the ground, were at least four inches each 

 way. The direction was the same as the first. The motion of the 

 earth was very perceptible. Cradles rocked, and the church bells 

 rang. Several chimnies were cracked to their bases, and some were 

 broken off as low as the stem or funnel. In this last shock, the water in 

 the river Mississippi was thrown into commotion, bubbling like boiling 

 water; and, in a few minutes, the whole atmosphere was filled with 

 smoke or fog, so that a boat could not be seen within twenty paces 

 from the water's edge ; and the houses were so shrouded as not to be 

 seen fifty feet ; this smoke continued all the forepart of that day. 



In passing along upon his journey, he found the effects had been 

 pretty uniform, and their occurrence and duration nearly the same, as 

 far as Carthage, in the state of Tennessee. There were one or more 

 shocks every twenty-four hours, from the first-mentioned one, until the 

 night of January 1, 1812. Then, at about half after three in the morn- 

 ing, being at Carthage, he felt a severer shock. It threw bricks from 





