THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE 



325 



the destruction being universal, no one individual was hum- 

 bled more than another, or could suspect his friends of cold- 

 ness — that most grievous result of the loss of wealth. Mr. 

 Rouse, and a large party whom he kindly took under his 

 protection, lived for the first week in a garden beneath some 

 apple-trees. At first they were as merry as if it had been a 

 picnic ; but soon afterwards heavy rain caused much discom- 

 fort, for they were absolutely without shelter. 



In Captain Fitz Roy's excellent account of the earthquake, 

 it is said that two explosions, one like a column of smoke and 

 another like the blowing of a great whale, were seen in the 

 bay. The water also appeared everywhere to be boiling ; and 

 it " became black, and exhaled a most disagreeable sulphure- 

 ous smell." These latter circumstances were observed in the 

 Bay of Valparaiso during the earthquake of 1822 ; they may, 

 I think, be accounted for, by the disturbance of the mud at 

 the bottom of the sea containing organic matter in decay. In 

 the Bay of Callao, during a calm day, I noticed, that as the 

 ship dragged her cable over the bottom, its course was marked 

 by a line of bubbles. The lower orders in Talcahuano thought 

 that the earthquake was caused by some old Indian women, 

 who two years ago, being offended, stopped the volcano of 

 Antuco. This silly belief is curious, because it shows that 

 experience has taught them to observe, that there exists a 

 relation between the suppressed action of the volcanos, and 

 the trembling of the ground. It was necessary to apply the 

 witchcraft to the point where their perception of cause and 

 effect failed; and this was the closing of the volcanic vent. 

 This belief is the more singular in this particular instance, 

 because, according to Captain Fitz Roy, there is reason to 

 believe that Antuco was noways affected. 



The town of Concepcion was built in the usual Spanish 

 fashion, with all the streets running at right angles to each 

 other; one set ranging S.W. by W., and the other set N.W. 

 by N. The walls in the former direction certainly stood 

 better than those in the latter; the greater number of the 

 masses of brickwork were thrown down towards the N.E. 

 Both these circumstances perfectly agree with the general 

 idea, of the undulations having come from the S.W., in which 

 quarter subterranean noises were also heard ; for it is evident 



