afterwards the ground appeared as dry as ever; yet after an interval of
ten days, all the hills were faintly tinged with green patches; the
grass being sparingly scattered in hair-like fibres a full inch in
length. Before this shower every part of the surface was bare as on a
high road.
In the evening, Captain Fitz Roy and myself were dining with Mr.
Edwards, an English resident well known for his hospitality by all who
have visited Coquimbo, when a sharp earthquake happened. I heard the
forecoming rumble, but from the screams of the ladies, the running of
the servants, and the rush of several of the gentlemen to the doorway,
I could not distinguish the motion. Some of the women afterwards were
crying with terror, and one gentleman said he should not be able to
sleep all night, or if he did, it would only be to dream of falling
houses. The father of this person had lately lost all his property at
Talcahuano, and he himself had only just escaped a falling roof at
Valparaiso, in 1822. He mentioned a curious coincidence which then
happened: he was playing at cards, when a German, one of the party, got
up, and said he would never sit in a room in these countries with the
door shut, as owing to his having done so, he had nearly lost his life
at Copiapo. Accordingly he opened the door; and no sooner had he done
this, than he cried out, "Here it comes again!" and the famous shock
commenced. The whole party escaped. The danger in an earthquake is
not from the time lost in opening the door, but from the chance of its
becoming jammed by the movement of the walls.
It is impossible to be much surprised at the fear which natives and old
residents, though some of them known to be men of great command of
mind, so generally experience during earthquakes. I think, however,
this excess of panic may be partly attributed to a want of habit in
governing their fear, as it is not a feeling they are ashamed of.
Indeed, the natives do not like to see a person indifferent. I heard
of two Englishmen who, sleeping in the open air during a smart shock,
knowing that there was no danger, did not rise. The natives cried out
indignantly, "Look at those heretics, they do not even get out of their
beds!"
I spent some days in examining the step-formed terraces of shingle,
first noticed by Captain B. Hall, and believed by Mr. Lyell to have
323