The Great Wave
Must Have Travelled Slowly, For The Inhabitants Of Talcahuano
Had Time To Run Up The Hills Behind The Town; And
Some Sailors Pulled Out Seaward, Trusting Successfully To Their
Boat Riding Securely Over The Swell, If They Could Reach It
Before It Broke.
One old woman with a little boy, four or
five years old, ran into a boat, but there was nobody to row
it out:
The boat was consequently dashed against an anchor
and cut in twain; the old woman was drowned, but the child
was picked up some hours afterwards clinging to the wreck.
Pools of salt-water were still standing amidst the ruins of
the houses, and children, making boats with old tables and
chairs, appeared as happy as their parents were miserable.
It was, however, exceedingly interesting to observe, how
much more active and cheerful all appeared than could have
been expected. It was remarked with much truth, that from
the destruction being universal, no one individual was humbled
more than another, or could suspect his friends of coldness
- that most grievous result of the loss of wealth. Mr. Rouse,
and a large party whom he kindly took under his protection,
lived for the first week in a garden beneath some apple-trees.
At first they were as merry as if it had been a picnic; but
soon afterwards heavy rain caused much discomfort, for they
were absolutely without shelter.
In Captain Fitz Roy's excellent account of the earthquake,
it is said that two explosions, one like a column of smoke and
another like the blowing of a great whale, were seen in the
bay. The water also appeared everywhere to be boiling; and
it "became black, and exhaled a most disagreeable sulphureous
smell." These latter circumstances were observed in the
Bay of Valparaiso during the earthquake of 1822; they may,
I think, be accounted for, by the disturbance of the mud at
the bottom of the sea containing organic matter in decay. In
the Bay of Callao, during a calm day, I noticed, that as the
ship dragged her cable over the bottom, its course was marked
by a line of bubbles. The lower orders in Talcahuano thought
that the earthquake was caused by some old Indian women,
who two years ago, being offended, stopped the volcano of
Antuco. This silly belief is curious, because it shows that
experience has taught them to observe, that there exists a
relation between the suppressed action of the volcanos, and
the trembling of the ground. It was necessary to apply the
witchcraft to the point where their perception of cause and
effect failed; and this was the closing of the volcanic vent.
This belief is the more singular in this particular instance,
because, according to Captain Fitz Roy, there is reason to
believe that Antuco was noways affected.
The town of Concepcion was built in the usual Spanish
fashion, with all the streets running at right angles to each
other; one set ranging S.W. by W., and the other set N.W.
by N. The walls in the former direction certainly stood
better than those in the latter; the greater number of the
masses of brickwork were thrown down towards the N.E.
Both these circumstances perfectly agree with the general
idea, of the undulations having come from the S.W., in which
quarter subterranean noises were also heard; for it is evident
that the walls running S.W. and N.E. which presented their
ends to the point whence the undulations came, would be
much less likely to fall than those walls which, running N.W.
and S.E., must in their whole lengths have been at the same
instant thrown out of the perpendicular; for the undulations,
coming from the S.W., must have extended in N.W. and
S.E. waves, as they passed under the foundations.
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