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 south-west by west, and the other set north-west by north.
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 north-east.
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