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country have been violently shaken these have not 

 experienced the least shock, or been but slightly 

 agitated. It is a general opinion that the earth in 

 these provinces is intersected by large caverns. 

 The noises heard in many places, and which appear 

 to indicate the passage of waters or subterraneous 

 ^inds, seem to confirm this opinion, and it is highly 

 probable that by affording a free vent to the inflamed 

 substances, these caverns may serve to counteract 

 the progress of those convulsions to which the neigh- 

 bouring country is subject. , 

 The inhabitants usually calculate three or four ' 

 earthquakes at Chili annually , but they are very slight, i 

 and little attention is paid to them. The great earth- 

 quakes happen but rarely.* The shocks were pro- 



* In a period of 244 years, from the arrival of the Spaniards to 

 the year 1782, five great earthquakes have occurred in Chili. The 

 first, whicli was in the year 1520, destroyed some villages in the 

 southern provinces ; the second, on the 13th of May, in the year 

 1647, ruined many of the houses of St. Jago ; the third, on the 15th 

 of March, 1657, destroyed a great part of that capital ; the fourth 

 took place on the 18th of June, 1730, when the sea was driven 

 against the city of Conception, and overthrew its walls ; and the 

 fifth, on the 26th of May, 1751, completely destroyed, that city, 

 which was again inundated by the sea, and levelled with the ground 

 all the fortresses and villages situated between the 34th and 40tli 

 degrees of latitude. Its course was from south to north, and it 

 was announced by some slight shocks on the preceding nights ; more 

 especially by one about a quarter of an hour before its commence- 

 ment, accompanied by a ball of fire that precipitated itself ft-ora 

 the Andes into the sea. The great shocks began about midnight, 

 and continued four or five minutes each, but the earth was in a 

 state of almost constant vibration until day -break. Just before the 

 earthquake the sky was perfectly clear in every quarter, but im- 

 mediately after its commencement it became covered with black 

 elouds, which poured down a continual rain for the space of eight 



