cable over the bottom, its course was marked by a line of bubbles. The
lower orders in Talcahuano thought that the earthquake was caused by
some old Indian women, who two years ago, being offended, stopped the
volcano of Antuco. This silly belief is curious, because it shows that
experience has taught them to observe, that there exists a relation
between the suppressed action of the volcanos, and the trembling of the
ground. It was necessary to apply the witchcraft to the point where
their perception of cause and effect failed; and this was the closing
of the volcanic vent. This belief is the more singular in this
particular instance, because, according to Captain Fitz Roy, there is
reason to believe that Antuco was noways affected.
The town of Concepcion was built in the usual Spanish fashion, with all
the streets running at right angles to each other; one set ranging S.W.
by W., and the other set N.W. by N. The walls in the former direction
certainly stood better than those in the latter; the greater number of
the masses of brickwork were thrown down towards the N.E. Both these
circumstances perfectly agree with the general idea, of the undulations
having come from the S.W., in which quarter subterranean noises were
also heard; for it is evident that the walls running S.W. and N.E.
which presented their ends to the point whence the undulations came,
would be much less likely to fall than those walls which, running N.W.
and S.E., must in their whole lengths have been at the same instant
thrown out of the perpendicular; for the undulations, coming from the
S.W., must have extended in N.W. and S.E. waves, as they passed under
the foundations. This may be illustrated by placing books edgeways on
a carpet, and then, after the manner suggested by Michell, imitating
the undulations of an earthquake: it will be found that they fall with
more or less readiness, according as their direction more or less
nearly coincides with the line of the waves. The fissures in the
ground generally, though not uniformly, extended in a S.E. and N.W.
direction, and therefore corresponded to the lines of undulation or of
principal flexure. Bearing in mind all these circumstances, which so
clearly point to the S.W. as the chief focus of disturbance, it is a
very interesting fact that the island of S. Maria, situated in that
quarter, was, during the general uplifting of the land, raised to
nearly three times the height of any other part of the coast.
The different resistance offered by the walls, according to their
direction, was well exemplified in the case of the Cathedral. The side
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