CHAPTER XIV 



Chiloe and Concepcion : Great Earthquake 



San Carlos, Chiloe — Osorno in eruption, contemporaneously with 

 Aconcagua and Coseguina — Ride to Cucao — Impenetrable Forests 

 — Valdivia Indians — Earthquake — Concepcion — Great Earthquake 

 — Rocks fissured — Appearance of the former Towns — The Sea Black 

 and Boiling — Direction of the Vibrations — Stones twisted round — 

 Great Wave — Permanent Elevation of the Land — Area of Volcanic 

 Phenomena — The connection between the Elevatory and Eruptive 

 Forces — Cause of Earthquakes — Slow Elevation of Mountain- 

 chains. 



ON JANUARY the 15th we sailed from Low's Harbour, 

 and three days afterwards anchored a second time in 

 the bay of S. Carlos in Chiloe. On the night of the 

 19th the volcano of Osorno was in action. At midnight the 

 sentry observed something like a large star, which gradually 

 increased in size till about three o'clock, when it presented 

 a very magnificent spectacle. By the aid of a glass, dark 

 objects, in constant succession, were seen, in the midst of a 

 great glare of red light, to be thrown up and to fall down. 

 The light was sufficient to cast on the water a long bright 

 reflection. Large masses of molten matter seem very com- 

 monly to be cast out of the craters in this part of the Cordil- 

 lera. I was assured that when the Corcovado is in eruption, 

 great masses are projected upwards and are seen to burst in 

 the air, assuming many fantastical forms, such as trees: 

 their size must be immense, for they can be distinguished 

 from the high land behind S. Carlos, which is no less than 

 ninety-three miles from the Corcovado. In the morning the 

 volcano became tranquil. 



I was surprised at hearing afterwards that Aconcagua in 

 Chile, 480 miles northwards, was in action on the same night ; 

 and still more surprised to hear that the great eruption of 

 Coseguina (2700 miles north of Aconcagua), accompanied by 

 an earthquake felt over a 1000 miles, also occurred within 



309 



