Personal Narrative Of Travels To The Equinoctial Regions Of America During The Years 1799-1804 - Volume 1 - By Alexander Von Humboldt And Aime Bonpland.
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It Has Been Affirmed, In Many Published Accounts Of The
Destruction Of Caracas, That The Mountain Of The Silla Is
An
extinguished volcano; that a great quantity of volcanic substances
are found on the road from La Guayra to Caracas;
That the rocks do
not present any regular stratification; and that everything bears
the stamp of the action of fire. It has even been stated that
twelve years prior to the great catastrophe, M. Bonpland and myself
had, from our own observations, considered the Silla as a very
dangerous neighbour to the city of Caracas, because the mountain
contained a great quantity of sulphur, and the commotions must come
from the north-east. It is seldom that observers of nature have to
justify themselves for an accomplished prediction; but I think it
my duty to oppose ideas which are too easily adopted on the LOCAL
CAUSES of earthquakes.
In all places where the soil has been incessantly agitated for
whole months, as at Jamaica in 1693, Lisbon in 1755, Cumana in
1766, and Piedmont in 1808, a volcano is expected to open. People
forget that we must seek the focus or centre of action, far from
the surface of the earth; that, according to undeniable evidence,
the undulations are propagated almost at the same instant across
seas of immense depth, at the distance of a thousand leagues; and
that the greatest commotions take place not at the foot of active
volcanoes, but in chains of mountains composed of the most
heterogeneous rocks.
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Words from 191525 to 191776
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