220 
THE GEOLOGIST. 
tion as having been felt^ generally among tlie Leeward Islands_, but 
more particularly at Antigua and Guadaloupe. At both tbese 
islands tbe shock took place at twenty minutes before eleven 
o'clock, A.M., and it does not appear to have been preceded by 
any of the usual signs of earthquake ; the weather was clear and 
fine, the sea-breeze blowing as usual and the inhabitants engaged 
in their daily avocation. At Antigua the earth heaved and 
undulated suddenly ; the hills oscillated, and hugh masses of 
rock were detached from their summits and precipitated into the 
valleys ; large fissures opened in the ground and closed immedi- 
ately. The water in the harbour whirled round and round, 
enveloping the islands in a cloud of dust, which shut them from 
view, and in the space of two minutes and a half all Antigua was 
laid in ruins. In this island only eight persons lost their lives, 
owing to the black population being employed, as usual, among 
the canes, but the loss of property was immense. At Point-a- 
Pitre, in Guadaloupe, the effect was much more fearful. In 
magnitude, this was the second town in the West India islands ; 
it was situate upon a piece of low ground surrounded on three 
sides by the sea, and entirely built of stone to avoid the effect of 
hurricanes. At the time of the earthquake, most of the inhabi- 
tants appear to have been at their late breakfast, in consequence 
of which 4,000 perished among the falling houses or in the 
fire which broke out immediately after ; this destruction of the 
whole town was so complete, as to present, after the earthquake, 
the appearance of a vast stone quarry. The landslips were very 
numerous, and all the springs in the vicinity of Point-a-Pitre 
were instantly dried up. The shock was felt slightly as far 
north as Washington and Bermuda, and southward to Demerara, 
travelling in N.N.E. and S.S.E. direction; several slight shocks 
were subsequently felt at different periods. 
On the Direction of the Currents , by which certain Gi^avel Hills 
and Erratic Blocks were distributed in the north of the counties of 
Mayo and Sligo, by R. Griffith, Esq. 
