324 
CONCEPCION 
CHAP. 
While the ship was beating up to the anchorage, I landed on 
the island of Quiriquina. The mayor-domo of the estate 
quickly rode down to tell me the terrible news of the great 
earthquake of the 20th :—“ That not a house in Concepcion 
or Talcahuano (the port) was standing ; that seventy villages 
were destroyed ; and that a great wave had almost washed 
away the ruins of Talcahuano.” Of this latter statement I 
soon saw abundant proofs — the whole coast being strewed 
over with timber and furniture as if a thousand ships had been 
wrecked. Besides chairs, tables, book-shelves, etc., in great 
numbers, there were several roofs of cottages, which had been 
transported almost whole. The storehouses at Talcahuano 
had been burst open, and great bags of cotton, yerba, and 
other valuable merchandise were scattered on the shore. 
During my walk round the island I observed that numerous 
fragments of rock, which, from the marine productions adhering 
to them, must recently have been lying in deep water, had 
been cast up high on the beach ; one of these was six feet 
long, three broad, and two thick. 
The island itself as plainly showed the overwhelming power 
of the earthquake, as the beach did that of the consequent 
great wave. The ground in many parts was fissured in north 
and south lines, perhaps caused by the yielding of the parallel 
and steep sides of this narrow island. Some of the fissures 
near the cliffs were a yard wide. Many enormous masses had 
already fallen on the beach ; and the inhabitants thought that 
when the rains commenced far greater slips would happen. 
The effect of the vibration on the hard primary slate, which 
composes the foundation of the island, was still more curious : 
the superficial parts of some narrow ridges were as completely 
shivered as if they had been blasted by gunpowder. This 
effect, which was rendered conspicuous by the fresh fractures 
and displaced soil, must be confined to near the surface, for 
otherwise there would not exist a block of solid rock through¬ 
out Chile; nor is this improbable, as it is known that the 
surface of a vibrating body is affected differently from the 
central part. It is, perhaps, owing to this same reason that 
earthquakes do not cause quite such terrific havoc within deep 
mines as would be expected. I believe this convulsion has 
been more effectual in lessening the size of the island of 
