FOIIEIGN CORRESPONDENCE. 



33 



enced by the existing state of things that he actually spoke of earth- 

 quakes to some persons present. His head felt heavy and weary, and 

 he quitted his office quite overcome. A Reaumur thermometer marked 

 fifteen degrees and a half. The sea was furious and of a grey colour, 

 and M. de Monfort's dog had hidden himself under a bed. Two sheep 

 that were grazing in a court-yard escaped and hid themselves. 



It was ten minutes to one when, standing up in the middle of his 

 room, he felt the floor moving, and perceived the objects on the table 

 in motion also. He was immediately aware that it was an earthquake, 

 and saw distinctly the oscillatory motion of his house, by comparing 

 the level of his window-ledge with that of the sea. Tliese oscillations 

 may have lasted about four or five seconds, and took place very regu- 

 larly in a north-south direction. M. de Monfort counted three of them. 

 The direction of these oscillations was observed likewise by all of whom 

 he inquired concerning them. It was moreover indicated by objects 

 hanging from the ceilings of the dining-room and kitchen ; they con- 

 tinued to oscillate five minutes or more after the phenomenon had 

 ceased. An hour afterwards the dark fog had disappeared, and the 

 sun's rays darted down with all the fierce heat of an August day, 

 although the thermometer had not varied. A storm-cloud then dark- 

 ened the heavens ; its electricit}^ was dissipated by a few lightning 

 flashes and a little thunder, M. de Monfort did not learn that this 

 earthquake was accompanied by any damage to habitations. 



The detail of this account renders it very interesting. The Abbe 

 Moigno adds to this letter, from the accounts given by various French 

 papers, that tlie phenomena observed by M. de Monfort at Biarritz had 

 also been remarked at Bayonne, Angiez, and Saint-Palais : — "In several 

 other places doors were slammed, persons were knocked down, a shep- 

 herd saw the animals in his flock lifted up ; the fruit of the cypress 

 tree moved on the ground as if agitated by a violent wind. At a place 

 called Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port some tiles were detached from a roof, a 

 chimney fell, strong beams were heard to crack with much noise, fur- 

 niture and clocks were put into violent motion. The oscillations of 

 the ground seemed to be accompanied by a deafening noise ; people 

 walking stumbled as if the ground was taken suddenly from under 

 their feet." 



A small work has just appeared in France, entitled Lectures sur la 

 Geologie de la France,^'' together with another, taken from the first, 

 entitled Lectures sur les Pyrenees'' The author, M. Lejeune, has 

 published the first of these with a view of popularizing the study of 

 Geology in his native country. It is composed of a series of lectures 

 delivered by him to a Literary Society (now no longer existing), and 

 he has found it necessary every now and then to pass beyond the 

 limits of the country in which he is more particularly interested, in 

 order to render his lectures more interesting and agreeable. The 

 other volume is a brochure treating only of the Pyrenees ; it is ex- 

 tracted from the former work, and is destined for the use or amuse- 

 ment of the numerous strangers who visit these remarkable mountains. 



VOL. II. D 



