The wonders of the world

by John Loraine Abbott

At Eyam bridge, in Derbyshire Peak, the overseer of the lead mines, sitting in his writing-room, about eleven o’clock, felt a sudden shock, which very sensibly raised him up in his chair, and caused several pieces of plaster to drop from the sides of the room. The roof was so violently shaken, that he imagined the engine-shaft had been falling in. Upon this he immediately ran to see what was the matter, but found everything in perfect safety. At this time two miners were employed in carting, or drawing along the drifts of the mines, the ore and other materials to be raised up at the shafts. The drift in which they were working was about a hundred and twenty yards deep, and the space from one end to the other fifty yards or upward. The miner at the end of the drift had just loaded his cart, and was drawing it along; but he was suddenly surprised by a shock, which so terrified him, that he immediately quitted his employment, and ran to the west end of the drift to his partner, who was no less terrified than himself. They durst not attempt to climb the shaft, lest that should be running in upon them: but while they were consulting what means they should take for their safety, they were surprised by a second shock, more violent than the first; which frightened them so much, that they both ran precipitately to the other end of the drift. They then went down to another miner, who worked about twelve yards below them. He told them that the violence of the second shock had been so great, that it caused the rocks to grind upon one another. His account was interrupted by a third shock, which, after an interval of four or five minutes, was succeeded by a fourth, and, about the same space of time after, by a fifth; none of which were so violent as the second. They heard, after every shock, a loud rumbling in the bowels of the earth, which continued about half a minute, gradually descending, or seeming to remove to a greater distance.

At Shireburn Castle, Oxfordshire, a little after ten in the morning, a very strange motion was observed in the water of a moat which encompassed the building. There was a pretty thick fog, not a breath of air, and the surface of the water all over the moat was smooth as a looking-glass, except at one corner, where it flowed into the shore, and retired again successively, in a surprising manner. How it began to move is uncertain, as it was not then observed. The flux and reflux, when seen were quite regular. Every flood began gently, its velocity increasing by degrees, until at length it rushed in with great impetuosity, till it had attained its full hight. Having remained for a little time stationary, it then retired, ebbing gently at first, but afterward sinking away with great swiftness. At every flux the whole body of water seemed to be violently thrown against the bank; but neither during the time of the flux, nor that of the reflux, did there appear even the least wrinkle of a wave on the other parts of the moat. Lord Parker, who had observed this motion, being desirous to know whether it was universal over the moat, sent a person to the other corner of it, at the same time that he himself stood about twenty-five yards from him to examine whether the water moved there or not. He could not perceive any motion there; but another person, who went to the north-east corner of the moat, diagonally opposite to his lordship, found it as considerable there as where he was. His lordship imagining, that in all probability the water at the corner diagonally opposite to where he was would sink as that by him rose, ordered the person to signify by calling out, when the water by him began to sink, and when to rise. This he did; but to his lordship’s great surprise, immediately after the water began to rise at his own end, he heard the voice calling that it began to rise with him also; and in the same manner he heard that it was sinking at that end, soon after he perceived it to sink by himself. A pond just below was agitated in a similar manner; but the risings and sinkings happened at different times from those at the pond where Lord Parker stood.

At White Rock, in Glamorganshire, about two hours’ ebb of tide, and near a quarter to seven in the evening, a vast quantity of water rushed up with a great noise, floated two large vessels, the least of them above two hundred tuns’ burden, broke their moorings, drove them across the river, and nearly overset them. The whole rise and fall of this extraordinary body of water did not last above ten minutes, nor was it felt in any other part of the river, so that it seemed to have gushed out of the earth at that place.

Similar instances occurred at Loch Lomond and Loch Ness, in Scotland. At Kinsale, in Ireland, and all along the coast to the westward, many similar phenomena were observed.

Shocks were also perceived in several parts of France, as at Bayonne, Bourdeaux and Lyons; and commotions of the waters were observed at Angoulesme, Belleville, Havre de Grace, &c., but not attended with the remarkable circumstances above mentioned.

These are the most striking phenomena with which the earthquake of the first of November, 1755, was attended on the surface of the earth. Those which happened below ground can not be known but by the changes observed in springs, &c., which were in many places very remarkable.

At Tangier, all the fountains were dried up, so that there was no water to be had till night. A very remarkable change was observed in the medicinal waters of Toplitz, a village in Bohemia, famous for its baths. These waters were discovered in the year 762; from which time the principal spring had constantly thrown out hot water in the same quantity, and of the same quality. On the morning of the earthquake, between eleven and twelve, in the forenoon, this principal spring cast forth such a quantity of water, that in the space of half an hour all the baths ran over. About half an hour before this great increase of the water, the spring flowed turbid and muddy; then, having stopped entirely for a minute, it broke forth again with prodigious violence, driving before it a considerable quantity of reddish ocher. After this, it became clear, and flowed as pure as before. It still continued to do so, but the water was in greater quantity, and hotter, than before the earthquake. At Angoulesme, in France, a subterraneous noise, resembling thunder, was heard; and presently after, the earth opened, and discharged a torrent of water, mixed with red sand. Most of the springs in the neighborhood sunk in such a manner, that for some time they were thought to be quite dry. In Britain, no considerable alteration was observed in the earth, except that, near the lead mine above-mentioned, in Derbyshire, a cleft was observed about a foot deep, six inches wide, and one hundred and fifty yards in length.

At sea the shocks of this earthquake were felt most violently. Off St. Lucar, the captain of the Nancy frigate felt his ship so violently shaken, that he thought she had struck the ground; but, heaving the lead, he found she was in a great depth of water. Captain Clark, from Denia, in north latitude thirty-six degrees, twenty-four minutes, between nine and ten in the morning, had his ship shaken and strained as if she had struck upon a rock, so that the seams of the deck opened, and the compass was overturned in the binnacle. Tho master of a vessel bound to the American islands, being in north latitude twenty-five degrees, west longitude forty degrees, and writing in his cabin, heard a violent noise as he imagined, in the steerage; and while he was asking what the matter was, the ship was put into a strange agitation, and seemed as if she had been suddenly jerked up, and suspended by a rope fastened to the mast-head. He immediately started up with great terror and astonishment, and looking out at the cabin-window, saw land, as he took it to be, at the distance of about a mile. Coming upon the deck, the land was no more to be seen, but he perceived a violent current cross the ship’s way to the leeward. In about a minute, this current returned with great impetuosity; and at a league’s distance, he saw three craggy-pointed rocks throwing up waters of various colors, resembling fire. This phenomenon, in about two minutes, ended in a black cloud, which ascended very heavily. After it had risen above the horizon, no rocks were to be seen; though the cloud, still ascending, was long visible, the weather being extremely clear. Between nine and ten in the morning, another ship, forty leagues west of St. Vincent, was so strongly agitated, that the anchors, which were lashed, bounced up, and the men were thrown a foot and a half perpendicularly up from the deck. Immediately after this, the ship sunk in the water as low as the main-chains. The lead showed a great depth of water, and the line was tinged of a yellow color, and smelt of sulphur. The shock lasted about ten minutes; but they felt smaller ones for the space of twenty-four hours.

EARTHQUAKES IN SICILY, AND IN THE TWO CALABRIAS.

These earthquakes began on the fifth of February, 1783, and continued until the latter end of the May following, doing infinite damage, and exhibiting at Messina, in the parts of Sicily nearest to the continent, and in the two Calabrias, a variety of phenomena. The part of the Calabrian provinces most affected by this heavy calamity, lies between the thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth degrees of latitude, being the extreme point of the continent; and the greatest force of the earthquakes was exerted at the foot of the particular mountains of the Apennines, named Monte Deio, Monte Sacro and Monte Caulone, extending westward to the Tyrrhene sea. The towns, villages and farm-houses, nearest to these mountains, whether situated on the hills, or in the plains, were totally ruined by the first shock, which happened about noon; and there the destruction of lives was the greatest. The towns still more remote, were, however, greatly damaged by the subsequent shocks, particularly those of the seventh, twenty-sixth and twenty-eighth of February, and that of the first of March. The earth was in a constant tremor, and its motions were various, being either vortical, horizontal or oscillatory, that is, by pulsations or beatings, from the bottom upward. This variety increased the apprehensions of the unfortunate inhabitants, who momentarily expected that the earth would open beneath their feet, and swallow them up. The rains had been continual and violent, often accompanied by lightning and furious gusts of wind. There were many openings and cracks in the earth; and several hills had been lowered, while others were quite level. In the plains, the chasms were so deep, that many roads were rendered impassable. Huge mountains were severed, and portions of them driven into the valleys, which were thus filled up. The course of several rivers was changed; and many springs of water appeared in localities which had before been perfectly dry.