Mr Tartt wi tlie Earthquakes in Smith Carolina. 801 
ed in common with other countries. In addition to these, the 
island where I then resided was completely deluged, on the 
10th September, by one of those inundations of the sea that oc- 
casionally occur in tropical climates about the time of the "au- 
tumnal equinox ; and, excepting a space considerably less than 
a quarter of a mile, the waters of the Atlantic and the Main- 
land, materially beyond our reach, were the only objects upon 
which the eye could rest. This had scarcely subsided, when 
the city of Charleston, (whither we were about to remove), was 
visited by a tornado, more dreadful in its extent and effects 
than any in the memory of the oldest inhabitants. The wind, 
which had been for some days light and variable, shifted on the 
8th to the north-east, and blowing very fresh through the night, 
it continued in the same quailer all the day and night of the 
9th. During the whole of this time, there was an almost unin- 
terrupted fall of rain ; and on the morning of the 10th, the 
wind blew with increased violence. About 10 o’clock, it shift- 
ed to the south-east, and soon after 12 it suddenly became 
calm. A heavy rumbling noise, resembling the sound of a car- 
riage rapidly driven over a pavement, was then heard ; and a 
tornado, extending about one hundred yards in width, passed 
like lightning through a considerable section of the city, in- 
volving alike the habitations and the inhabitants in instant de- 
struction. Proceeding up the harbour, the first object it struck 
was the flag-staff of one of the forts, of more than ordinary 
thickness and strength, which was snapped in a moment : and, 
with the same ease, houses of considerable size were not merely 
unroofed or injured, but completely overthrown like the play- 
things of an infant. Large beams of wood, and masses of lead 
and iroi}, were carried for several hundred yards, and nearly 
buried in the walls of other buildings : yet, so confined was its 
operation to a particular current of air, that corners and parts 
of houses were taken off, as if divided by some mechanical in- 
strument, and the remainder of the buildings left uninjured. 
About twenty lives were lost ; one of them under very remark- 
able circumstances. A lady was reposing with her sister on a 
bed in an upper apartment, when the tornado reached the 
house. The noise so alarmed a negro girl in waiting, that she 
sought for refuge under the bed upon which her mistress was 
