FEBRUARY 20,, 1835.
This day has been memorable in the annals of Valdivia, for the most
severe earthquake experienced by the oldest inhabitant. I happened
to be on shore, and was lying down in the wood to rest myself. It
came on suddenly, and lasted two minutes, but the time appeared
much longer. The rocking of the ground was very sensible. The
undulations appeared to my companion and myself to come from due
east, whilst others thought they proceeded from south-west: this
shows how difficult it sometimes is to perceive the direction of
the vibrations. There was no difficulty in standing upright, but
the motion made me almost giddy: it was something like the movement
of a vessel in a little cross-ripple, or still more like that felt
by a person skating over thin ice, which bends under the weight of
his body.
A bad earthquake at once destroys our oldest associations: the
earth, the very emblem of solidity, has moved beneath our feet like
a thin crust over a fluid;--one second of time has created in the
mind a strange idea of insecurity, which hours of reflection would
not have produced. In the forest, as a breeze moved the trees, I
felt only the earth tremble, but saw no other effect.
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