Chap. T. 



AN EARTHQUAKE. 



3 



In an instant I experienced an extraordinary and 

 unaccountable sensation, which was perfectly new, 

 and which I could neither understand nor explain. 

 At the same moment the pheasants in the aviary 

 began to scream, and the chandelier which hung 

 from the ceiling swung slowly from side to side. 

 " It is an earthquake," said Mr. Beale ; " let us go 

 out on the lawn in front of the house." I confess 

 I did not require a second bidding, but rushed out 

 of the house forthwith. Mr. Beale, who seemed to 

 have become accustomed to such things, quietly 

 went to look for his hat in the lobby and then fol- 

 lowed me. In the mean time his Excellency Sir 

 George Bonham, her Majesty's Plenipotentiary 

 and Governor of Hong-kong, who was staying at 

 this time with Mr. Beale, came down stairs, and all 

 the other gentlemen in the house made their ap- 

 pearance also, most of them in their night-dresses, 

 as they had retired to rest before the occurrence 

 took place. All this happened in much less time 

 than I take to write it. When we reached the 

 lawn the ground seemed moving and swaying to 

 and fro under our feet, and I experienced a slight 

 sickening sensation not unlike sea-sickness. At 

 the same time the whole scene was rendered more 

 striking by the ringing of bells in the adjoining- 

 houses, the screams of birds, and the crash of a 

 falling house as we thought, but which turned out 

 afterwards to be a slimly-built wall. The first shock 

 lasted for a few minutes only, but several were felt 

 afterwards, although less severe than the first. 



B 2 



