On the twenty-sixth of March, 1812, between four and five in the afternoon, Venezuela was visited by one of those tremendous earthquakes which now and then ruin whole provinces. During a minute and fifteen seconds the earth was convulsed in every direction, and nearly twenty thousand persons fell victims. The towns of Caraccas, La Guayra, Mayquetia, Merida and San Felipe, were totally destroyed. Barquisimeto, Valencia, La Vittoria, and others, suffered considerably. This catastrophe happened on Holy Thursday, a day when the Romish church peculiarly commemorates the sufferings of our blessed Redeemer, and at the very hour when the people were crowding into the churches to attend the processions which are usual in Roman Catholic countries, and to see the representation of our Saviour led to the cross. Troops are placed on such occasions at the entrance of the churches to follow the procession; and many churches, and the principal barracks at Caraccas, being thrown down, there was a considerable number of soldiers killed, and many thousand persons crushed under their ruins. The arms and ammunition destined for the defense of the country were buried in a similar manner; and what was worse, an unconquerable enemy to the independence of Venezuela seemed to raise its head from among the ruins—that religious prejudice which the earthquake inspired. In an era less remarkable, a mere convulsion of nature would have had no influence on a new government; but, notwithstanding the prosperity Venezuela then enjoyed, the seeds of discontent had fallen on one class of the community. The principles which formed the basis of the new constitution were democratical, and it had been necessary to deprive the priesthood of some of their privileges, which of course created enmity in their minds to the present government. Immediately after the earthquake, the priests proclaimed, that the Almighty condemned the revolution: they denounced his wrath on all who favored it; and a counter-revolution, attended by great bloodshed, was the unhappy consequence.
CONNECTION OF EARTHQUAKES WITH VOLCANOES.
ISLAND OF JAVA.
The connection of earthquakes with volcanoes has been already noticed; and a remarkable occurrence of this nature happened in Java. Papandayang was formerly one of the largest volcanoes in that island; but in the month of August, 1772, the greatest part of it was, after a short but severe combustion, swallowed up by a dreadful convulsion of the earth. This event was preceded by an uncommonly luminous cloud, attended with flashes of light, by which the mountain was completely enveloped, and which so terrified the inhabitants dwelling at the foot and on its declivities, that they betook themselves to flight. Before they could all save themselves, however, the mountain began to give way, and the greater part of it actually fell in and disappeared in the earth. At the same time, a tremendous noise was heard, resembling the discharge of the heaviest cannon; while the immense quantities of volcanic substances which were thrown out, and spread in every direction, extended the effects of the explosion through the space of many miles.
It was estimated that an extent of ground, belonging to the mountain itself, and to its immediate environs, fifteen miles in length, and six in breadth, was by this commotion swallowed up in the bowels of the earth. Six weeks after the catastrophe, persons who were sent to examine the condition of the surrounding territory, reported, that it was impossible to approach the mountain, on account of the heat of the substances which covered its circumference, and which were piled on each other to the hight of three feet. It has been reported, that forty villages, partly swallowed up by the opening of the earth, and partly covered by the substances ejected, were destroyed on this melancholy occasion, with the loss of nearly three thousand lives. A proportionate number of cattle was destroyed; and the greater part of the plantations of cotton, indigo and coffee, in the adjacent districts, were buried beneath the volcanic matter. The effects of this explosion were long apparent on the remains of the volcanic mountain.
We here introduce a sketch of several curious and novel details of volcanic phenomena in Java, on account of their intimate connection with the subterraneous operations of nature in the production of earthquakes. It may be considered as supplementary to the detailed account of volcanoes given at the beginning of this work.
There are in Java thirty-eight large mountains, which, although they differ from each other in external figure, agree in the general attribute of volcanoes, by their having a broad base, which gradually verges toward the summit, in the form of a cone. One of these is named Tankuban-Prahu, on account of its resembling, at a distance, a boat turned upside down: it forms a vast truncated cone. Its base extends to a considerable distance, and it is not only one of the largest mountains in the island, but a most interesting volcano. Although it has not for many ages had any violent eruption, as is evident from the progress of vegetation, and from the depth of black mold which covers its sides, its interior has continued in a state of uninterrupted activity. Its crater is large, and has, in general, the shape of a funnel, but with its sides very irregular: the brim, or margin, which bounds it at the top, has also different degrees of elevation, rising and descending along the whole course of its circumference. This may be estimated at a mile and a half; and the perpendicular depth on the south side, where it is very steep, is at least two hundred and fifty feet: toward the west it rises considerably higher. The bottom of the crater has a diameter of nine hundred feet, but is not regular in its form, which depends on the meeting of the sides below.
Near the center it contains an irregular oval lake, or collection of water, the greatest diameter of which is nearly three hundred feet. The water being white, it exhibits the appearance of a lake of milk, boiling with a perpetual discharge of large bubbles, occasioned by the development of fixed air. Toward its eastern extremity are the remaining outlets of the subterraneous fires, consisting of several apertures, from which an uninterrupted discharge of sulphurous vapors takes place. These vapors rush out with an incredible force, with violent subterraneous noises, resembling the boiling of an immense caldron in the bowels of the mountain. When at the bottom, the force of the impression made on the spectator by this grand and terrific scene, is increased by the recollection of the dangers he had to encounter in the descent; while the extent of the crater, and the remains of the former explosions, afford an indescribable enjoyment, and fill his mind with the most awful satisfaction.