225 



are scarcely eight or ten toises above the level of 

 the ocean ? 



The earthquakes of Cumana * are connected 

 with those of the West India islands ; and it has 

 even been suspected, that they have some con- 

 nection with the volcanic phenomena of the 

 Cordilleras of the Andes. On the 4th of No- 

 vember, 1797, the soil of the province of Quito 

 underwent such a destructive commotion, that, 

 notwithstanding the extreme feebleness of the 

 population of that country, near 40000 natives 

 perished, buried under the ruins of their houses, 

 swallowed up in the crevices, or drowned in 

 lakes that were suddenly formed. At the same 

 period, the inhabitants of the eastern Antilles 

 were alarmed by shocks, which continued during 

 eight months, when the volcano of Guadaloupe 

 threw out pumice stones, ashes, and gusts of 

 sulphureous vapors. This eruption of the 27th 

 of September, during which very long-continued 

 subterraneous noises were heard jf, was followed 



* See my Geological Table of South America, Journ. de 

 Physique, t. liii, p. 58. 



t Report made to the generals Victor Hugues and Lebas, 

 by Amie, Peyre, Hapel, Fontelliau, and Code, appointed to 

 examine the situation of the volcano of JBasse-Terre, and the 

 effects that had taken place in the night, from the seventh to 

 the eighth of Vendemiaire,, in the year 6 : p. 46. This nar- 

 rative of a journey to the top of the volcano, contains several 

 curious observations ; it was printed at Guadaloupe in 1798* 



