122 Account of the Earthqualie at KutcJi 
mired by every stranger. Alas ! the devastation caused by this 
commotion of the earth is truly lamentable. The proud spires 
of the great mosquCj erected by Sultan Ahmed, which have 
stood nearly 450 years, have tumbled to the ground, within a 
few yards of the spot where they once reared their heads ! Ano- 
ther mosque of elegant structure, which lies to the left of the 
road leading to the Shahee Bagh, has shared the same fate. 
The magnificent towers, forming the grand entrance into the 
citadel, have been much shaken, and cracked in several places, 
•especially the one in which the flag- staff has been placed. Many 
private houses have been reduced to ruins ; but it is most fortu- 
nate, amidst all our disasters, that not a single life has been 
lost, and but few accidents.’’ We learn from Jelilsheer, that 
“ the earthquake was severely felt in that place, and the loss of 
lives terrible. The fort and town are reduced to ruins. Many 
of the people killed were already out of doors, which is usually 
considered a situation of comparative safety. A marriage was 
about to be celebrated in a rich man’s family, and the casts had 
assembled from various distant quarters : the shock occurred 
when they were feasting in the streets, and upwards of 500 of 
the party were smothered in the ruins of the falling houses.” 
The effects of this earthquake have indeed been so extensive, 
that we cannot pretend to enumerate the more minute disasters. 
We have confined ourselves to the most prominent of them ; 
and we now proceed to give some account of the sensations felt 
by the individual sufferers during the continuance of the con- 
cussions. In the British camp, which was pitched in a plain 
between the fort and city of Bhooj, the general feeling was an 
unpleasant giddiness of the head, and sickness of stomach, from 
the heaving of the ground ; and during the time the shock last- 
ed, some sat down instinctively, and others threw themselves on 
the ground. Those who v/ere on horseback were obliged to dis- 
mount, the earth shook so violently that the horses could with 
difficulty keep their feet; and the riders, when upon the ground, 
were scarcely able to stand. At Ahmedabad, all the dis- 
agreeable sensations were experienced of being tossed in ,a ship 
at sea in a swell ; and the rocking was so great, that every mo- 
ment we expected the earth to open under our feet.” One gen- 
tleman writing from Surat, where the earthquake began at twen- 
ty minutes past seven, says : The vibration of the couch 
I was lying on was so great, that I was glad to get ofl' it : the 
