the Earthquakes in Italy in 1 7 S3. iyi 
by the earthquake of the 5th of February. The abundance 
of rain which fell at that time, the great weight of the frefh 
detached pieces of the plain, which I faw heaped up at the 
back of it, the nature of the foil of which it is compofed, and 
particularly its fituation on a declivity, accounts well for this 
phenomenon ; whereas the reports which came to Naples, of a 
mountain, in a perfedf plain,, having leaped four miles, had 
rather the appearance of a miracle. I found fome fingle tim- 
ber trees alio with a lump of their native foil at the roots, 
handing upright in the bottom of the ravine, and which had 
been detached from the plain above mentioned. I obferved 
alfo, that many confufed heaps of the loofe foil detached by 
the earthquake from the plains on each tide of the ravine, had 
adtually run like a volcanic lava (having probably been aflifled 
by the heavy rain) and produced many effects greatly refembling 
thofe of lava during their courfe down a great part of the ravine. 
At Santa Criftina, in the neighbourhood of Oppido, the like 
phenomena have been exhibited, and the great force of the 
earthquake of the 5th of February l'eems to have been exerted 
oh thefe parts and at Calal Nuova and Terra Nuova. The phe- 
nomena exhibited by the earthquakes in other parts of the 
plains of Calabria Ultra are of the fame nature ; but trifling in 
comparifon of thofe I have been defcribing. The barracks 
eredled for the remaining inhabitants of the ancient ciry of 
Oppido, now in ruins, are on a healthy fpot, at about the dif- 
tance of a mile from the old town, where I found the baron 
of this country, the Prince of Cariati, ufefully employed in 
the afliftance of his unfortunate fubjedts. He lhewed me two 
girls, one of about fixteen years of age, who had remained 
eleven days without food under the ruins of a houle at’ Op- 
pido: fhe had a child of five or fix months old in her arms, 
\ which 
