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apprehenfions of the unfortunate inhabitants of thofe parts, who expected every moment that the earth would open under their feet, and fwallow them up; that the rains had been continual and violent, often accompanied with lightening, and irregular and furious guits of wind; that from all thefe caufes the face of the earth of that part of Calabria (comprehended as above-mentioned between the 38th and 39th degrees) was entirely altered, particularly on the westward fide of the mountains above-named; that many openings and cracks had been made in those parts; that fome hills had been lowered, and others quite levelled; that in the plains, deep charms had been made, by which many roads were rendered impaffable; that huge mountains had been split afunder, and parts of them driven to a confiderable distance; that deep vallies had been filled up by the mountains (which formed thofe vallies) having been detached by the violence of the earthquakes, and joined together; that the courfe of fome rivers had been altered; that many fprings of water had appeared in places that were perfectly dry before; and that in other parts, fprings that had been conftant had totally difappeared; that near Laureana, in Calabria Ultra, a fingular phenomenon had been produced; that the furface of two whole tenements, with large olive and mulberry trees therein, fituated in a valley perfectly level, had been detached by the earthquake, and tranfplanted, the trees ftill remaining in their places, to the diftance of about a mile from their firft fituations; and that from the spot on which they formerly ftood, hot water had fprung up to a confiderable heighth, mixed with fand of a ferrugineous nature; that near this place alfo fome countrymen and fhepherds had been fwallowed up, with their teams of oxen, and their flocks of goats and sheep; in fhort, that beginning from the city of Amantea, fituated on the coaft of the Tyrrhene fea in Calabria Citra, and going along the weftward coaft to Cape Spartivento in Calabria Ultra, and then up the eastern coaft as far as the Cape P d'Alice (a part of Calabria Citra on the

Ionian fea) there is not a town or village, either on the coaft or land, but what is either totally deftroyed, or has fuffered more or lefs, amounting in all to near four hundred, what are called here paefes. A village containing less than an hundred inhabitants is not counted as a paese.

The greateft mortality fell upon those towns and countries fituated in the plain, on the western fide of the mountains Dejo, Sacro, and Caulone. At Cafal Nuovo, the Princefs Gerace, and upwards of 4000 of the inhabitants, loft their lives; at Bagnara, the number of dead amounts to 3017; Radici

na and Palmi count their lofs at about 3000 each; Terranuova about 1400; Seminari ftill more. The fum total of the mortality in both Calabrias and in Sicily, by the earthquakes alone, according to the returns in the Secretary of State's office at Naples, is 32,367; but I have good reason to believe, that, including ftrangers, the number of lives loft must have been confiderably greater, 40,000 at leaft may be allowed, and, I believe, without any exaggeration.

From the fame office intelligence we likewise heard that the inhabitants of Scilla on the firft fhock of the earthquake, the 5th of February, had efcaped from their houfes on the rock, and, following the example of their Prince, taken fhelter on the fea-fhore; but that in the night-time the fame fhock which had raised and agitated the fea fo violently, and done fo much damage on the point of the Faro of Meffina, had acted with ftill greater violence there, for that the wave (which was reprefented to have been boiling hot, and that many people had been fcalded by its rifing to a great height) went furiously three miles inland, and fwept off in its return 2473 of the inhabitants of Scilla, with the Prince at their head, who were at that time either on the Scilla ftrand, or in boats near the shore.

All accounts agreed, that of the number of fhocks which have been felt fince the beginning of this formidable earthquake, amounting to fome hundreds, the most violent, and

of

of the longeft duration, were thofe of the 5th of February, at 192 (according to the Italian way of counting the hours); of the 6th of February, at feven hours in the night; of the 27th of February, at 11 in the morning; of the firit of March, at 8 in the night; and that of the 28th of March, at 1 in the night. It was this last fhock that affected moft the upper part of Calabria Ultra, and the lower part of the Citra, an authentic defcription of which you will fee hereafter, in a letter which I received from the Marquis Ippolito, an accurate obferver, refiding at Catanzaro in the Upper Calabria. The first and the lait fhocks must have been tremendous indeed, and only these two were fenfibly felt in this capital.

The accounts which this government has received from the province of Cofenza are lefs melancholy than thofe from the province of Calabria Ultra. From Cape Suvero to the Cape of Cetraro on the western coaft, the inland countries, as well as thofe on the coaft, are faid to have fuffered more or lefs in proportion to their proximity to the fuppofed center of the earthquakes; and it has been conftantly obferved, that its greatest violence has been exerted, and ftill continues to be fo, on the western fide of the Apennines, precifely the celebrated Sila of the ancient Brutii, and that all those countries fituated to the eastward of the Sila had felt the fhocks of the earthquake, but without having received any damage from them. In the province of Cofenza there does not appear to be above 100 lives loft. In the laft accounts from the most afflicted part of Calabria Ultra two fingular phenomena are mentioned. At about the diftance of three miles from the ruined city of Oppido, there was a hill (the foil of which is a fandy clay) about 500 palms high, and 1300 in circumference at its balis. It was faid, that this hill, by the fhock of the 5th of February, jumped to the diftance of about four miles from the spot where it stood, into a plain, called the Campo di BafAt the fame the hill on which he town of Oppido stood, which ex

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tended about three miles, divided into two, and as its fituation was between two rivers, its ruins filled up the valley, and ftopped the courfe of those rivers; two great lakes are already formed, and are daily increafing, which lakes, if means are not found to drain them, and give the rivers their due courfe, in a short time muft infect the air greatly.

From Sicily the accounts of the most ferious nature were thofe of the deftruction of the greatest part of the noble city of Meflina, by the fhock of the 5th of February, and of the remaining parts by the fubfequent ones; that the quay in the port had funk confiderably, and was in fome places a palm and a half under water; that the fuperb building, called the Palazzata, which gave the port a more magnificent appearance than any port in Europe can boaft of, had been entirely ruined; that the Lazaret had been greatly damaged; but that the citadel had fuffered little; that the mother church had fallen: in fhort, that Messina was no more; that the tower at the point of the entrance of the Faro was half deftroyed; and that the fame hot wave, that had done fuch mifchief at Scilla, had paffed over the point of land at the Faro, and carried off about 24 people. The Viceroy of Sicily likewife gave an account of fome damage done by the earthquakes, but nothing confiderable, at Melazzo, Patti, Terra di Santa, Lucia, Caftro Reale, and in the ifland of Lipari.

This, Sir, was the intelligence I was poffeffed of at the end of laft month, but as I am particularly curious, as you know, on the subject of volcanoes, and was perfuaded in my own mind (from the prefent earthquakes being confined to one fpot) that fome great chemical operation of nature of the volcanic fort was the real caufe of them; in order to clear up fo many points, and to come at truth, which you alfo well know, Sir, is exceedingly difficult, I took the fudden refolution to employ about twenty days (which was as much as I could allow, and have time to be out of Italy, in my way home, before the heats fet in) in making the tour of fuch parts of Calabria Ultra and Sicily

as

as had been, and were still most affected by the earthquakes, and examining with my own eyes the phenomena abovementioned. I accordingly hired for that purpofe a Maltefe fperonara for myfelf, and a Neapolitan felucca for my fervants, and left Naples the 2d of May. I was furnished, by command of his Sicilian Majefty, with ample paffports, and orders to the commanding officers of the different provinces, to give me every affiftance and protection in the purfuit of my object. I had a pleafant voyage in my Maltefe fperonara (which are excellent boats, and the boatmen very skilful) along the coast of the Principato Citra and Calabria Citra, after having paffed the gulph of Policaftro. At Cedraro, I found the firft fymptoms of the earthquake, fome of the principal inhabitants of that city having quitted their houfes, and living in new erected barracks, though not a houfe in the whole town, as I could fee, had fuffered. At St. Lucido I perceived that the Baron's palace and the church fteeple had fuffered, and that most of the inhabitants were in barracks. The barracks are juft fuch fort of buildings as the booths of our country fairs, though indeed many I have feen are more like our pig-ftyes. As my object was to get as faft as poffible to the center of the mifchief, having little time, and much to fee, I contented my felf with a diftant view of Maida, Nicaftro, and Santo Eufemia, and pushed on to the town of Pizzo, in Calabria Ultra, where I landed on the evening of the 6th of May. This town, fituated on the fea, and on a volcanic cuffa*, had been greatly damaged by the earthquake of the 5th of February, but was completely ruined by that of the 28th of March. As the inhabitants of this town (amounting to about 5000) had fufficient warning, and had left their houses, and taken to barracks on the first shock, the 5th of February, the mortality on the 28th of March was inconfiderable; but, from the barracks having been illconftructed, and many fituated in a very confined unwholefome fpot, an epidemical diforder had taken place, and

carried off many, and was still in fatal force whilst I was there, in fpite of the wife endeavours of government to ftop its progrefs. I fear, as the heats increafe, the fame misfortune will attend many parts of the unfortunate Calabria, as alfo the city of Meffina. The inhabitants of Pizzo feemed to me to have habituated themfelves already to their prefent inconvenient manner of living, and fhops of every kind were opened in the ftreets of the barracks, which, except fome few, are but poorly conftructed. I was affured here, that the volcano of Stromboli, which is oppofite, and in full view of this town, and at the distance of about fifty miles, had fmoked lefs, and thrown up a lefs quantity of inflamed matter during the earthquakes than it had done for fome years paft; that flight shocks continued to be felt daily; and the night I slept here, on board the Speronara drawn on fhore, I was awakened with a smart one, which feemed to lift up the bottom of the boat, but it was not attended with any fubterraneous noife. My fervants, in the other boat, felt the fame. The next day I ordered my boats to proceed to Reggio, and I went on horfe-back to Monteleone, about fix miles from Pizzo, up hill, on a road of loofe ftones and clay, fcarcely paffable in this feafon, but through the moft beautiful and fertile country I ever beheld: a perfect garden of olive-trees, mulberry-trees, fruit-trees, and vines; and under thefe trees the richest crops of corn or lupins, beans or other vegetables, which feemed to thrive perfectly, though under a thick shade. This is the ftile of the whole plain of Monteleone, except that here and there are vaft woods of oak and olive-trees mixed, and the olive trees of such a fize as I could never have conceived, being half as big as the oaks themselves, which are fine timber trees, and more than treble the fize of the olive-trees of the Campagna Felice. The olive woods, in fome parts of the plain, are regularly planted in lines, and in others grow irregularly. Though the object of my prefent journey was merely to take a hafty view of the fpots which

This was the only token of former volcanic explosions that I met with in Calabria.

had

had fuffered fo much by the calamity, my attention was continually called away, and I was loft in the admiration of the fertility and beauty of this rich province, exceeding by many degrees (as to the first point) every country I have yet feen. Befides the two rich products of filk and oil, in which this province furpaffes every other, perhaps, in the whole world, it abounds with corn, wine, cotton, liquorice, fruit, and vegetables of every kind; and if its population and industry kept pace with its fertility, the revenue of Calabria Ultra might furely be more than doubled in a fhort time. I faw whole groves of mulberry-trees, the owners of which told me, did not let for more than five fhillings an acre, when every acre would be worth at least five pounds, had they hands to gather the leaves and attend the filk-worms. The town of Monteleone, anciently Vibo Valentia, is beautifully fituate on a hill, overlooking the fea and the rich plains above-mentioned, bounded by the Apennines, and crowned by Afpramonte, the higheft of them all, interfperfed with towns and villages, which, alas! are no more than heaps of ruins. The town of Monteleone fuffered little by the firft fhocks of the earthquake; but was greatly damaged by that of the 28th of March (though only twelve lives were loft) and all the inhabitants are reduced to live in barracks, many of which are well conftructed with eíther planks or reeds, covered with platter on the outfide. As this country has ever been fubject to earthquakes, the barons had ufually a barrack near their palace, to retire to on the leaft alarm of an earthquake. I inhabited here a magnificent one, confifting of many rooms well furnished, which was built by the prefent Duke of Monteleone's grand-father. I owe the fafety and the expedition of the very interefting journey which I have taken through this province to this duke's goodness, as he was pleafed at Naples to furnifh me with a letter to his agent; in confequence of which, I was not only moft hofpitably and elegantly treated in his barrack, and fupplied with excellent fure-footed horfes

for myfelf and fervant, but alfo with two of his horfe-guards, well acquainted with the crofs roads of the country, without which it would have been impoffible, with any degree of fafety, to have vifited every curious fpot between Monteleone and Reggio, as I did, in four days. No one, that has not had the experience, can conceive the horrid ftate of the roads in Calabria, even in this feafon, nor the fuperior excellence of the horfes of the country. All agreed here that every fhock of the earthquake feemed to come with a rumbling noife from the weftward, beginning ufually with the horizontal motion, and ending with the vorticofe, which is the motion that has ruined moft of the buildings in this province. The fame obfervation I found to be a general one throughout this province. I found it a general obfervation alfo, that before a fhock of an earthquake, the clouds feemed to be fixed and motionlefs; and that immediately after a heavy fhower of rain, a fhock quickly followed. I fpoke with many here and elfewhere, who were thrown down by the violence of fome of the shocks; and feveral peafants of the country told me, that the motion of the earth was fo violent, that the heads of the largest trees almoft touched the ground from fide to fide; that during a fhock, oxen and horfes extended their legs wide afunder not to be thrown down, and that they gave evident figns of being fenfible of the approach of each fhock. I myself obferved, that in the parts that have fuffered moft by the earthquakes, the braying of an afs, the neighing of a horfe, or the cackling of a goofe, always drove people out of their barracks, and was the occafion of many Pater-nofters and Ave-Marias being repeated in expectation of a shock. From Monteleone I defcended into the plain, having paffed through many towns and villages which had been more or lefs ruined according to their vicinity to the plain. The town of Mileto, fituated in a bottom, I faw was totally deftroyed; and not a house ftanding. At fome distance I faw Soriano and the noble Dominican convent a heap of ruins; but as my object was

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not to vifit ruins, but the greater phenomena produced by the earthquakes, I went on to Rofarno. I muft, however, first mention the most remarkable inftance I met with of animals being able to live long without food, of which there have been many examples during thefe prefent earthquakes. At Soriano, two fattened hogs, that had remained buried under a heap of ruins, were taken out alive the forty-fecond day; they were lean and weak, but foon recovered. One of his Sicilian Majefty's engineers, who was prefent at the taking them out, gave me this information. It was evident to me, in this day's journey, that all habitations fituated on high grounds, the foil of which is a gritty fand ftone, fomewhat like a granite, but without the confiftence, had fuffered lefs than thofe fituated in the plain, which are univerfally levelled to the ground. The foil of the plain is a fandy clay, white, red, or brown; but the white prevails moft, and is full of marine fhells, particularly fcollop fhells. This valley of clay is interfected in many parts by rivers and torrents coming from the mountains, which have produced wide and deep ravines all over the country. Soon after we had paffed through the ruined town of St. Pietro, we had a diftant view of Sicily, and the fummit of Mount Etna, which fmoaked confiderably. Juft before we arrived at Rofarno, near a ford of the river Mamella, we paffed over a fwampy plain, in many parts of which I was fhewn fmall hollows in the earth, of the shape of an inverted cone: they were covered with fand, as was the foil near them. I was told that, during the earthquake of the 5th of February, from each of thefe fpots a fountain of water mixed with fand had been driven up to a confiderable height. I fpoke to a peasant here, who was prefent, and was covered with the water and fand; but, he affured me that it was not hot, as had been reprefented. Before this appearance, he faid, the iver was dry; but foon after returned, and overflowed its banks. I afterwards found that the fame phenomenon had been conftant with refpect to all the LOND. Mac. Sept, 1783.

other rivers in the plain during the formidable fhock of the 5th of February. I think this phenomenon is eafily explained, by fuppofing the first impulfe of the earthquake to have come from the bottom upwards, which all the inhabitants of the plain attest to be fact; the furface of the plain fuddenly arifing, the rivers, which are not deep, would naturally difappear, and the plain, returning with violence to its former level, the rivers must naturally have returned, and overflowed, at the fame time that the fudden de preffion of the boggy grounds would as naturally force out the water that lay hid under their furface. I observed in the other parts where this phenomenon had been exhibited, that the ground was always low and rufhy. Between this place and Rofarno we paffed the river Meffano or Metauro (which is near the town above-mentioned) on a ftrong timber bridge, 700 palms long, which had been lately built by the Duke of Monteleone. From the cracks made on the banks and in the bed of the river by the earthquake, it was quite feparated in one part, and the level on which the piers were placed having been variously altered, the bridge has taken an undulated form, and the rail on each fide is curiously fcolloped; but the parts that were feparated having been joined again, it is now paffable. The Duke's bridgeman told me also, that at the moment of the earthquake this great river was perfectly dry for fome feconds, and then returned with violence, and overflowed; and that the bridge undulated in a moft extraordinary manner. When I mention the earthquake in the plain, it must be always understood the firft fhock of the 5th of February, which was by far the most terrible, and was the one that did the whole mifchief in the plain, without having given any previous notice. The town of Rofarno, with the Duke of Monteleone's palace there, was entirely ruined; but the walls remained about fix feet high, and are now fitting up as barracks. The mortality here did not much exceed 200 out of near 3000. It had been remarked at Rofarno, and the Gg

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