EAllTHQUAKE AT COPTAPO. 



25 



a most intelligent and gentlemanly person, a na- 

 tive of the Island of Chiloe, on the south coast 

 of Chili. 



24^A of Nov. 1821. — We rose early this morn- 

 ing, being impatient to see the effects of the 

 earthquake. Over night, indeed, some of these 

 effects had been visible by candle-light, for the 

 house, the only one in this part of the town which 

 had not been thrown down, was cracked and twist- 

 ed in the most extraordinary manner. It was 

 built of wood, plastered over, and the main up- 

 rights having been thrust into the ground, the 

 heaving of the earth had wrenched the parts of 

 the house asunder, but without demolishing it al- 

 together, and given it the torn appearance it still 

 retained. In the Plaza, every house, except this, 

 and one small chapel, was completely destroyed. 

 The walls had fallen in all directions, some in- 

 wards, some outwards, presenting a scene singu- 

 larly ruinous and melancholy ; for it was obvious 

 at a glance, that what we saw was not the work 

 of years, but of a cause at once general and rapid 

 in its effects. In a climate without rain, the 

 footsteps of time fall so very lightly, that it is 



