Ch.VIL south AMERICA. 8i 



their houfes thro' fear of a repetition, which fre- 

 quently demoJifhes thofe buildings which had been 

 weakened by the firft. 



My attention to fet down the exafl time of the 

 abovementioned fhocks, taught me, that they hap- 

 pen indifferently at half ebb, or half flood but never 

 at high or low water •, which fufEciently confutes what 

 fome have confi.dently advanced, namely, that earth- 

 quakes always happen during the fix hours of ebb, 

 but never during the flood : becaufe this favours the 

 hypothefis they have advanced to account for their 

 origin and caufes ; an hypothefis which, in my opi- 

 nion, does not fo fufiiciently correfpond with obfer- 

 vations, as to recommend icfelf to the affent of in- 

 telligent perfons. 



The nature of this country is fo adapted to earth- 

 quakes, that all ages have feen their terrible devafta- 

 tions ; and that nothing may be wanting to fatisfy the 

 curiofity of the reader, I fhall introduce the account 

 of that which laid this large and fplendid city totally 

 in ruins, with a fliort narrative of the moft remarkable 

 that have been felt in latter ages. 



1. The firft concufiion fmce the eftablifhment of • 

 the Spaniards in thefe parts, happened in 1582, 



a few years after the foundation of Lima but the 

 damage was much lefs than in fome of the fuc^- 

 ceeding, being chiefly confined to the city of Are- 

 quipa, v/hich being fituated near that fpot, where 

 the motion of the earth was moft violent, the greateft 

 part of it was deftroyed. 



2. On the 9th of July 1586, Lima was vifited 

 with another earthquake, and fo violent, that evea 

 to this time it is folemnly commemorated on the day 

 of the vifitation of Elizabeth. 



3. In 1609, another like the former happened. 



4. On the 27th of November 1630. fuch prodi- 

 gious damage v/as done in the city by an earth- 

 quake, and the intire ruin of it apprehended, that 



G in 



