office of his Sicilian Majefty's fecretary of ftate, we gathered in general, that the part of Calabria which has been moit affected by this heavy calamity is that which is comprehended between the 38th and 39th degrees; that the greatest force of the earthquakes feemed to have exerted itself from the foot of those mountains of the Appennines called the Monte Dejo, Monte Sacro, and Monte Caulone, extending weftward to the Tyrthene Sea; that the towns, villages, and farm-houses, neareft thefe mountains, fituated either on hills or on the plain, were totally ruined by the firft fhock of the 5th of February about noon, and that the greatest mortality was there; that in proportion as the towns and villages were at a greater diftance from this centre, the damage they received was lefs confiderable; but that even thofe more diftant towns had been greatly damaged by the fubfequent fhocks of the earthquake, and especially by thofe of the 7th, the 16th, and 28th of February, and that of the 1ft of March; that from the first shock, on the 5th of February, the earth continued to be in a continual tremor, more or lefs; and that the fhocks were more fenfibly felt at times in fome parts of the afflicted provinces than in others; that the motion of the earth had been various, and, according to the Italian denomination, vorticofo, orizontale, and ofcillatorio, either whirling like a vortex horizontal, or by pulfations, or beating from the bottom upwards; that this variety of motion had increased the 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 lightning, and irregular and furious gufts 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 weftward 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 chafms 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 phænomenon had been produced, that the furface of two whole tenements, with large olive and mulberry-trees thereon, fituated in a valley perfectly level, had been detached by the earthquake, and tranfplanted, the trees ftill remaining in their pla-. ces, to the distance of about a mile from their first fituations; and that from the fpot on which they formerly ftood, hot water had fprung up to a confiderable height, 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 flocks of goats and sheep: in fhort, that beginning from the city of Amantea, fituated on the coaft of the Tyrrhene Sea 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 d'Alice, (a part of Calabria Citra on the Ionian Sea) there is not a town or village, either on the coast 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 paeses. (A village containing lefs than an hundred inhabitants is not counted as a paefe.)

The

The greatest mortality fell upon thofe 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; Radicina and Palma count their lofs at about 3000 each; Terranuova about 1400; and 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 reafon 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 likewife heard, that the inhabitants of Scilla, on the first shock of the earthquake, the 5th of February, had escaped from their houses 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 sea so violently, and done fo much damage on the point of the Faro of Meffina, had acted with still greater violence there, for that the wave (which was reprefented to have been boiling-hot, and that many people had been fcalded by it's rifing to a great height) went furiously three miles inland, and fwept off in it's 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 fhore. 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 moft violent, and of the longeft duration, were those of the 5th of February, at 19 (according to the Italian way of counting the hours) of the 6th of February, at 7 hours in the night; of the 27th of February, at 114 in the morning; of the ift of March, at 8 in the night; and that of the 28th of March, at 11 in the night. i VOL. III.

It was this last shock 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 last shocks 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 coast, the inland countries, as well as those on the coaft, are faid to have fuffered more or lefs, in proportion to their proximity to the fuppofed centre of the earthquake; and it has been conftantly obferved, that it's greatest violence has been exerted, and still continues to be fo, on the western side 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 shocks 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 phænomena are mentioned: at about the distance 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 1 300 in circumference at it's bafis; it was faid that this hill, by the fhock of the 5th of February, jumped to the distance of about four miles from the spot where it flood, into a plain, called the Campo di Baffano. At the fame time the hill on which the town of Oppido ftood, which extended about three miles, divided into two, and as it's fituation was between two rivers, it's ruins filled up the valley and ftopped the courfe of thofe rivers; two great lakes are already formed, and are daily increafing, which lakes, if means are not found to drain them, and give the ri2 A

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fatal force whilft I was there, in fpite of the wife endeavours of government to stop it's progrefs. I fear, as the heats increase, 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 shops of every kind were opened in the streets 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 above fifty miles, had fmoked lefs, and thrown up a lefs quantity of inflamed matter during the earthquake than it had done for fome years paft; that flight fhocks continued to be felt daily; and the night I flept here, on board the fperonara drawn on shore, 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 horfeback 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 most 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 fhade, This is the file of the whole plain of Monteleone, except that here and there are vast woods of oak and olive trees mixed, and their olive trees are of fuch a fize as I could never have conceived, being half as big as the oaks themselves, which are fine timbertrees, 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 hasty view of the spots

which 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 seen. 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 it's population and induftry kept pace with it's fertility, the revenue of Calabria Ultra might surély 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 Appenines, 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 first 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 either planks or reeds, covered with plaifter on the outfide. As this country has ever been fubject to earthquakes, the barons had usually 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 grandfather. I owe the fafety and the expedition of the very interesting journey which I have taken through this province, to this duke's goodness, as he was pleafed, at Naples, to furnish me with a letter to his agent; in confequence of which, I was not only most hofpitably and elegantly treated in his

barrack, and fupplied with excellent fure-footed horfes for myself and fervant, but also with two of his horfeguards, well acquainted with the crossroads 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 most 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 spoke with many here, and elsewhere, who were thrown down by the violence of fome of the fhocks; and several peasants in 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 observed, 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 Paternofters and Ave-Marias being repeated in expectation of a fhock. From Monteleone I defcended into the plain, having paffed through many towns and villages which had been more or less ruined, according to their vicinity to the plain. The town of Mileto, fituated in the bottom, I faw was totally

deftroyed, and not a house standing. At fome diftance I faw Soriano and the noble Dominican Convent a heap of ruins: but, as my object was not to vifit ruins, but, the greater phænomena produced by earthquakes, I went on to Rofarno. I muft, however, first mention the moft 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 Majesty's engineers, who was present 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 less than thofe fituated on 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 places 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 smoked 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 these spots 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 affured me, that it was not hot, as had been reprefented. Before this appearance,