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Show CHAPTER XXV. Earthquakes of the eighteenth century, continued-Java, 1772-Truncation of a lofty cone-Caucasus, 1772-Java, 1771-Colombia, 1766-Chili, 1760- Azores, 1757-Lisbon, 1755-Sinking down of the quay to the depth of six hundred feet-Shocks felt throughout Europe, Northem Africa, and the West Indies-Great wave-Shocks felt at sea-St. Domingo, 1751-Conception Bay, 1750-Permanent elevation of the bed of the sea to the height of twenty-four feet-Peru, 1746-Kamtschatka, 1737-Martiniquc, 1727- Iceland, 1725-Teneriffc, 1706-Java, 1699-Landslips obstmct the Batavian and Tangaran rivers-Quito, 1698-Sicily, 1693-Subsidence of land -Moluccas, 1693-J amaica, 1692-Large tracts engulphed-Portion of Port Royal sunk from twenty to fifty feet under water-The Blue Mountains shattered-Reflections on the amount of change in the last one_hundred and forty years-Proofs of elevation and subsidence of land on the coast of the Bay of Bairo-Evidence of the same afforded by the present state of the Temple of Sera pis. IN the preceding chapters we have considered a small part of those earthquakes only which have occurred during the last fifty years, of which accurate and authentic descriptions happen to have been recorded. We shall next proceed to examine some of earlier date, respecting which information of geological interest has been obtained. Java, 177~.-In the year 177~, Papandayang, formerly one of the loftiest volcanos in the island of Java, was in eruption. Before all the inhabitants on the declivities of the mountain could save themselves by flight, the. ground bl'gan to give way, and a great part of the volcano fell in and disappe~red. It is estimated that an extent of ground of the mountam Itself and its immediate envil'Ons fifteen miles long and full six broad, • was by this commotion swallowed up in the bowels of the earth. Forty villaO"es were destroyed, some being engulphed and some covered by ~he substances thrown out on this occasion, and two thousand nine hundred and fifty-seven of the inhabitants perished. A proportionate num1:>er of cattle were also killed, EARTHQUAKES IN CAUCASUS, JAVA, ETC. 437 and most of the plantatio f . adjacent districts wer b n~ 0d cotton, mdigo, and coffee in the catastrophe appears t e I Urie under the v o1 c am.e rna tte r. ThI.s scale, that of the anei~1t1~ve:ur~se~blehd, although on a grander re d uce d m. hei. ght from VIus In t e year 7D Th 1 · tl · e cone was .e l 11111eet, anc, as vapours still esec apelO uf sand tIo about five th. ous an d mit a new cone ' nay on d ~om t 1e crater on Its sum- anc!i ent mountam· , ~ as the me odaeyr nn Vse ou.t of the ruins of the 1 . remains of Somma>!(', esuvms las risen from the Caucasus, 1772.-About the year 177G) convu I se d t I1 e groun d m. the province of B ~h, t an ·e ar1th quake 1 es au, m t 1e Cau-casus, so t lat part of the hill Metshuka sunk into an abysst. Java, 1771.--By an earthquake in the yeat· 1771 1 trac t s of groun d were uprai.s ed in Java· and a b , ks everda . . ' new an rna e Its appearance opposite the mouth of the river of Bataviat. C(Jlombia, 1766.-0n the ~1st of October 1766 th d was agi· tate d at once at Cumana at Caracc' as at , M e groubn d l b . ' ' aracay o, an on t 1e anks of t.he nvers,Casanare, the Meta, the Ori-noco, and the V entuarw. 'rhese districts were much fi d d f: 11. • ssure , an great a mgs m of the earth took place in the m t · P . T. 'd oun am aurar~; nm ad was violently shaken. A small island in the Onnoco, near the rock Aravacoto, sunk down and disappeared §. At the same time the ground was raised in the sea near Cariaco, w.here th.e Point Del Gardo was enlarged. A roc~ also rose up m the nver Guarapica, near the village of Mat.urmj/. The shocks continued in Colombia hourly for fourteen months. Chili, 1760.-In 1760, the volcano Peteroa in Chili was in erupti.O n, an d 1.e 0rmed a new crater. A fissure', several m' iles in * Dr. Horsfield, Batav. Trans., vol. viii., p. 26. Dr. H. informs me that he has s~en this trunca_tcd mountain, and though he did not ascend it, he has conversed w1t~ those who have examined it. RafHes's account (History of Java, vol. i.) ill deriVed from Horsfield. t Pallas's Travels in Southern Russia. t Raffles's Ilistory of Java, vol. ii ., p. 232. . § Humb~~dt's Personal Narrative, vol. iv., p. 45, and Saggio di Storia Ame. r1cana, vol. u., p. 6. II Humboldt, Voy. Relat. Hist.~ part i.1 p. 307 1 and part ii. 1 p. 23. |