XIV 
GREAT EARTHQUAKE 
323 
by the oldest inhabitant I happened to be on shore, and 
was lying down in the wood to rest myself. It came on 
suddenly, and lasted two minutes, but the time appeared much 
longer. The rocking of the ground was very sensible. The 
undulations appeared to my companion and myself to come 
from due east, whilst others thought they proceeded from 
south-west: this shows how difficult it sometimes is to perceive 
the direction of the vibrations. There was no difficulty in 
standing upright, but the motion made me almost giddy: it 
was something like the movement of a vessel in a little cross¬ 
ripple, or still more like that felt by a person skating over thin 
ice, which bends under the weight of his body. 
A bad earthquake at once destroys our oldest associations : 
the earth, the very emblem of solidity, has moved beneath our 
feet like a thin crust over a fluid ;—one second of time has 
created in the mind a strange idea of insecurity, which hours 
of reflection would not have produced. In the forest, as a 
breeze moved the trees, I felt only the earth tremble, but saw 
no other effect. Captain Fitz Roy and some officers were at 
the town during the shock, and there the scene was more 
striking ; for although the houses, from being built of wood, 
did not fall, they were violently shaken, and the boards creaked 
and rattled together. The people rushed out of doors in the 
greatest alarm. It is these accompaniments that create that 
perfect horror of earthquakes experienced by all who have 
thus seen, as well as felt, their effects. Within the forest it 
was a deeply interesting, but by no means an awe-exciting 
phenomenon. The tides were very curiously affected. The 
great shock took place at the time of low water ; and an old 
woman who was on the beach told me that the water flowed 
very quickly, but not in great waves, to high-water mark, and 
then as quickly returned to its proper level ; this was also 
evident by the line of wet sand. This same kind of quick 
but quiet movement in the tide happened a few years since 
at Chiloe, during a slight earthquake, and created much 
causeless alarm. In the course of the evening there were 
many weaker shocks, which seemed to produce in the harbour 
the most complicated currents, and some of great strength. 
March 4 th. — We entered the harbour of Concepcion. 
