1 88 Sir william Hamilton’s Account of 
were full of large parallel cracks. The earth rocking with 
violence from fide to fide, and having a fupport on one fide 
only, accounts well for this circumftance. From Terra Nuova 
I went to Oppido. This city is fituated on a mountain of a 
ferruginous fort of gritty ftone, unlike the clay foil of its 
neighbourhood, and is fur rounded by two rivers in a ravine 
deeper and broader than that of Terra Nuova. In (lead of the 
mountain on which Oppido was fituated having Iplit in two, 
and by its fall on the rivers, flopped their courfe and formed 
great lakes, as we were told ; it was (as at Terra Nuova) huge 
pieces of the plain on the edge of the ravine, that had been 
detached into it, nearly filled it up, and flopped the courfe of 
the rivers, the waters of which are now forming two great 
lakes. It is true, that part of the rock on which Oppido flood 
was detached with feveral houfes into the ravine ; but that is a 
trifling circumflance in comparifon of the very great trails of 
land, with large plantations of vines and olive-trees, which 
have been detached from one fide of the ravine clear over to the 
other, though the diflance is more than half a mile. It is 
Well attefled, that a countryman, who was ploughing his field 
in this neighbourhood with a pair of oxen, was tranfported 
with his field and team clear from one fide of a ravine to the 
other, and that neither he nor his oxen were hurt. After 
what I have feen, I verily believe this may have happened. A 
large volume might be compofed of the curious fads and acci- 
dents of this kind produced by the earthquakes in the valley ; 
and, I fuppofe, many will be recorded in the account of the 
late formidable earthquakes, which the Academy of Naples 
intend to publifh, the prefident having already lent into Cala- 
bria fifteen members, with draughtfmen in proportion, to 
colled the fads, and make drawings for the foie purpofe of 
giving 
