5 



that the province of Venezuela had been subject 

 at intervals to earthquakes ; but dangers that 

 seldom recur are slightly feared. Cruel expe- 

 rience destroyed^, in 1811, the charm of theory, 

 and of popular opinions. Caraccas, situate in 

 the mountains, three degrees west of Cumana, 

 and five degrees west of the volcanoes of the 

 Caribbee islands, has felt greater shocks, than 

 were ever experienced on the coast of Paria or 

 New Andalusia. 



At my arrival in Terra Firma, I was struck 

 with the connection of two physical events, the 

 destruction of Cumana on the 14th of Decem- 

 ber, 1797, and the eruption of the volcanoes in 

 the smaller West India islands*. This connec- 

 tion has been again manifested in the destruction 

 of Caraccas on the 26th of March, 1812. The 

 volcano of Guadaloupe seemed to have reacted, 

 in 1797, on the coasts of Cumana. Fifteen 

 years after, it was a volcano situate nearer the 

 continent, that of St. Vincent's, which appeared 

 to have extended it's influence as far as Caraccas 

 and the banks of the Apure. It is possible, that 

 at these two epochas the centre of the explosion 

 was at an immense depth, equally distant from 



quake, which took place on that day of the month, at one in 

 the morning, in 1778. Other very violent shocks were those 

 of 1641, 1703, and 1802. 



* See vol. ii, p. 23.1. 



