EARTHQUAKE. 123 
two in the afternoon, large clouds of extraordi- 
nary blackness enveloped the mountains of the 
Brigantine and Tataraqual, extending gradually to 
the zenith. About four, thunder was heard over- 
head, but at an immense height, and with a dull 
and often interrupted sound. At the moment of 
the strongest electric explosion, two shocks of an 
earthquake, separated by an interval of fifteen se- 
conds, were felt. The people in the streets filled 
the air with their cries. Bonpland, who was ex- 
amining plants, was nearly thrown on the floor, 
and Humboldt, who was lying in his hammock, felt 
the concussion strongly. Its direction was from north 
to south. A few minutes before the first, there 
was a violent gust of wind followed by large drops 
ofrain. Thesky remained cloudy, and the blast was 
succeeded by a dead calm which continued all night. 
The setting of the sun presented a scene of great mag- 
nificence. The dark atmospheric shroud was rent 
asunder close to the horizon, and the sun appeared 
at 12° of altitude on an indigo ground, its disk 
enormously enlarged and distorted. The clouds were 
gilded on the edges, and bundles of rays reflecting 
the most brilliant prismatic colours extended over 
the heavens. About nine in the evening there was 
a third shock, which, although much slighter, was 
evidently attended with a subterranean noise. The 
barometer was a little lower than usual, but the 
progress of the horary variations was in no way in- 
terrupted. In the night, between the 3d and 4th of 
November, the red vapour was so thick that the 
place of the moon could be distinguished only by-a 
beautiful halo, 20° in diameter. 
Searcely twenty-two months had elapsed since 
