MEXICO. 



105 



violence to injure the massive structure of the city ; and 

 the alluvial and elastic soil upon which it is based is much 

 in its favour. 



Nevertheless, many of the churches show how much 

 repeated shocks have injured them ; and though the ap- 

 palling inclination from the perpendicular, noticeable in 

 many towers and facades, is rather attributable to the 

 badness of the foundations, yet during these days there 

 was enough to make a brave man pause for an instant 

 before passing under certain churches — such as the Pro- 

 fesa for instance, which looks as if it would fall upon 

 the slightest provocation. 



Most of these shocks w T ere very trivial, and scarcely 

 perceptible. The first I have noticed was by far the 

 most serious, and considerably damaged several of the 

 churches and the aqueducts. It began with the usual 

 lateral swing from east to west, and then suddenly took 

 the perpendicular movement, which is always the most 

 dreaded. We found ultimately that it was experienced 

 about the same time at Guadalaxara ; and very severely 

 at Vera Cruz, and at Acapulco, having thus upheaved 

 and agitated the whole continent, with its enormous pile 

 of mountains, from sea to sea — a fact which may give 

 you an idea of the great depth at which the seat of this 

 tremendous power must be situated. 



There is, however, a caprice in the effects produced 

 which it is difficult to explain. The same earthquake 

 which I have thus noticed as so sensibly felt at Mexico, 

 was not observable at Guadaloupe, within a mile of the 

 city ; while at Tacuba it was yet more severe. It was 

 felt neither at Real del Monte, nor at Regla, while a 

 hacienda situated between those two places was shaken 

 to its foundation. It was rumoured that the hot baths 

 situated on the Penon, an isolated mass of lava be- 

 tween the city and the lake, had increased in heat since 

 the commencement of the shocks ; and further, that 

 Popocatepetl had shown slight signs of combustion ; but 

 the most careful observation and attention could detect 

 nothing of the kind from the terraces of the city. Morn- 



