226 



on the 14th of December by the great earth* 

 quake of Cumana. Another volcano of the 

 West India islands, that of St. Vincents *, has 

 lately given a fresh instance of these extraordi- 

 nary connections. This volcano had not emitted 

 flames since 1718, when they burst forth anew, 

 in 1812. The total ruin of the city of Caraccas 

 -J- preceded this explosion thirty-five days, and 

 violent oscillations of the ground were felt, both 

 in the islands, and on the coasts of Terra Firma. 



It has long been remarked, that the effects of 

 great earthquakes extend much farther than the 

 phenomena arising from burning volcanoes. In 

 studying the physical revolutions of Italy, care- 

 fully examining the series of the eruptions of Ve- 

 suvius and Etna, we can scarcely recognize, not- 

 withstanding the proximity of these mountains, 

 any traces of a simultaneous action. It is on the 

 contrary doubtless, that at the period of the 

 last and preceding destruction of Lisbon J, the 



* Letter from Mr. Hamilton to Sir Joseph Banks, 1813. 

 The eruption began on the 30th of April, 1812; it was pre- 

 ceded by repeated earthquakes, during eleven months. (Phil. 

 Trans, for 1785, p. 16.) 



f The 26th of March, 1812. 



X The 1st of November 1755, and 31st of March 1761. 

 During the first of these three earthquakes, the ocean inun- 

 dated, in Europe, the coasts of Sweden, England, and Spain; 

 in America, the islands of Antigua, Barbadoes, and Marti- 

 nico. At Barbadoes, where the tides rise only from 24 to 28 



