156 PROCEEBTNGS OF THE [Julj, 1887. 



onr descent to the yard, and ^hile the building was yet swaying, so that the 

 whole dura-ion of the agitation, was certainly a minute or even more; whether 

 the agitation of the ground lasted during that interval I cannot say. 



After placing my family on benches and chairs in the open space in the yard, 

 at a safe distance from surrounding building's, I awaited with some anxiety the 

 coming of the second shock, which I feared would be the culminating one in 

 intensity. In 8 or 10 minutes ( I have not the precise interval,) a rumbhng 

 roar was heard, as of a great chariot approaching over a stony road ; what ap- 

 peared to be the rattling of its wheels sounded nearer and nearer, and as it 

 seemed to sweep by us, no agent indeed was seen, but we felt the solid earth be- 

 neath our feet, trembhng, then surging, so that we swaj^ed and staggered, and 

 with difficulty kept one another from falling. The height of these surging 

 earth-waves it is very difficult to estimate ; I would put it at but a fraction of 

 an inch, without venturing to specify that fraction ; the horizontal motion was 

 decidedly greater, perhaps one or two inches, I thought the second shock 

 might be more severe than the first, and was quite prepared for greater damage 

 to the buildings around us, although I did not impart my fear to those about 

 me ; but my relief was great when I found the second much less severe and 

 prolonged than the first, and then exi^ected the succeeding ones to diminish in 

 violence. Such was the case in the three that followed before dayUght. I 

 reckoned five shocks in all that night, while others say there were seven, sub- 

 dividing, I suppose, some of them into two. 



Some time after midnight, some of my famUy, fatigued with watching, 

 sought repose on a mattress laid on the ground in the yard protected by a cov- 

 erlet and umbrellas. Others rested on chairs or benches in the yard, all at 

 sufficient distance from the surrounding buildings ; while I preferred a mat- 

 tress laid in an unoccupied room in the kitchen (a wooden outbuilding). To- 

 wards dayhght the coverlet became so thoroughly wet with dew, that I feared 

 ill consequences, and persuaded those under its protection to take my mattress 

 in the kitchen, and I retreated to another laid on the floor of the basement 

 story of the dwelling house, and there enjoyed a few hours of repose, until 

 awakened after sunrise by the entrance of my servants to prepare for breakfast. 

 At no time daring that night or any subsequent one did my daughters or my- 

 self sleep without the protection of a roof, but of course on the ground floor. 



III. To observe and record the effects of the Earthquake require much 

 journeying and patience, and more time than I can spare, and in many cases, 

 the facts obtained do not furnish sufficient basis for consequent deductions. I 

 have given but little attention to cracks, rents, and other injuries in buildings, 

 as I would desire to see them on every side, and that cannot be done from the 

 street. I have therefore given my attention to the rotation of pillars, columns 

 and obelisks, on the surfaces sustaining their bases, and to the projection of 

 urns, crowns, &c., from the tops of columns and obelisks. My examinations 

 have been made in the following Cemeteries : 1. First Presbyterian Church, 

 corner of Tradd and Meeting Streets. 2. St. Michael's, cor. Broad and Meet- 

 ing. 3. St. Philip's, Church St., North of Queen. 4. Old Circular Church, 



