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fearing the recurrence of a general convulsion of nature, which, according to their traditions, occurred in that region some hundreds of years ago, and created what is known as Owens River valley, but which was before a chain of mountains.

The great air-valves of Mount Hood, Oregon, the Mauna Loa, Sandwich islands, and Vesuvius, in Italy, simultaneously with the Inyo disturbances, gave forth tokens of activity; and the latter, drawing its fiery breath beneath mountain and sea, acting as a safetyvalve to the troubled Sierras, lights with sheeted flame Italian skies, while trembling Naples and Campania, and buried Pompeii and Herculaneum, attest its majestic grandeur and appalling power. Almost simultaneously with the Inyo earthquake, Vesuvius poured forth volumes of smoke, ashes, and fire, and floods of liquid lava poured down its sides and far into the country, destroying life and property, and driving the terrified inhabitants from their homes. At Naples, twelve miles distant, so thick did the ashes fall that the people had to carry umbrellas to shield themselves; and these emissions and fiery terrors continued throughout the greater part of the month of April, 1872.

The Inyo earthquake of 1872, although severe and destructive, is but tame when compared with the convulsions in many parts of Europe. The destruction of Herculaneum and Pompeii, in the year 63, and their final burial by volcanic floods of fire and ashes in the year 79, are among the most striking of recorded natural destructive commotions. In the year 115, while the Emperor Trajan was in the city of Antioch, in Syria, it was almost totally destroyed; again, in 458,

it was visited by a severe earthquake; and in 526 occurred the most disastrous earthquake on record: while the Festival of the Ascension swelled the city to overflow came the fearful eruptions, in which two hundred and fifty thousand persons were swallowed up. In centuries past the feverish pulsations of the earth visited almost every portion of the globe, rocking the proud Roman empire as if it were a cockle-shell.

The great earthquake in Chili, in 1822, raised one hundred thousand square miles of country from two to seven feet above its former level. In the year 1692, in the island of Jamaica, the city of Port Royal, the capital, was carried down beneath the surface of the water; more than one thousand acres sunk in one minute, the sea rolling the ships in the harbor over the tops of the houses. On a more gigantic and destructive scale was the one on the island of Java, in 1772, when the lofty volcano Papandayang was in action, and an area, including the mountain, of six miles broad and fifteen miles long sunk, carrying down forty villages and 2,957 inhabitants.

In the great earthquake of Lisbon, of November 1, 1755, a deep, rumbling, hollow sound preceded the terrible shock, which in six minutes destroyed the principal portion of the city, carrying down sixty thousand people. The sea receded, leaving the bar dry, and returning in a great wave fifty feet high, while the adjacent mountains trembled and were flung into the valleys. The frightened inhabitants, who had sought refuge upon the elegant marble quay, just completed at great cost, suddenly found themselves as if upon a foundering ship: quay and all, with the surrounding

boats and shipping, all plunged into eternity. Not one of the one thousand human beings thus engulfed, nor a sign of boat or vessel of the fleets swallowed up, reappeared above the surface; but over the spot still stands the waters, six hundred feet deep, leaving no trace of the life, bustle, and wealth of this doomed and desolate region. The shock that thus caused such devastation shook an area four times as great as all of Europe. It was felt at once in the Alps and along the coast of Sweden. The thermal springs of Töplitz, Germany, for a time disappeared. Loch Lomond and other lakes in Scotland rose and fell by the agitation. Along the shores of Barbadoes, Antigua, and Martinique the tide rose suddenly more than twenty feet, and the sea was of inky blackness. The waters of Lake Ontario were agitated; and on the shores of Massachusetts the sea roared and was fearfully agitated, water-spouts burst forth, and springs which still run were opened. Chimneys in Boston were thrown down, and houses disjointed and cracked.

Naples, in December, 1857, was threatened with total destruction by violent shakes; while Mount Vesuvius continued to emit clouds of smoke accompanied with loud reports like the roar of cannon. At this time the destruction in the surrounding provinces was terrible. Potenza, the capital of Basilicata, was left without a single house inhabited. Marsico Nuovo, Tito, Laurenzana, Polla, and other places were reduced to ruins: from twenty-five to forty thousand lives were lost, it is estimated.

On the 19th of June, 1858, an earthquake of great severity visited Mexico, destroying many houses in the

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capital and the aqueduct supplying the city with water, and levelling churches and buildings throughout many parts of the country. On the 22d of March, 1859, the city of Quito, in Ecuador, was almost entirely destroyed by an earthquake: several thousand persons perished.

Throughout the greater part of Africa and in the region of Greenland no record is made of any earthquakes having occurred. In the Atlantic ocean, midway between Guinea and Brazil, near the equator, eruptions are almost constantly occurring, passing ships experiencing their effects and also observing the variations in soundings and the great irregularity of the bottom of the sea. That this is the seat of active volcanoes cannot be doubted.

CHAPTER XIX.

Zoology-Relics of antiquity-Animals-Birds-Fishes-Bull and bear fights-Reptiles-Bees-Horned toad-Whales.

CALIFORNIA in her zoological department exhibits many interesting and entirely new specimens of beasts, birds, and fishes, many of which are of great size, beauty, and value, either on account of their meat or fur; and to the sportsman they present a field of

great attraction. The discovery of the bones of immense animals at a great depth in the earth, and of a size larger than any specimens now known upon the continent, assures us that, at some remote period, animals of enormous size and of a species unknown to the present age roamed the hills and valleys of California.

The bones of Indians, Indian arrows, and stone mortars have also been found at a great depth in the earth, showing that man existed in the country before the great convulsion of nature which pushed up the Sierras and elevated the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys above their ancient levels.

ANIMALS.

The grizzly bear and elk are the two largest animals of California. The grizzly is confined to the regions west of the Rocky mountains, and is to be found throughout the Sierras, foot-hills, and Coast Range. In early days, these bears were very numerous, but are now comparatively scarce and seldom molest man; although there have been many desperate fights between the grizzly and hunters. Their great size, strength,

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