, wrote descriptions of the
earthquake; and the Royal Academy of Naples, not satisfied with these
and other observations, sent a deputation from their own body into
Calabria, before the shocks had ceased, who were accompanied by artists
instructed to illustrate by drawings the physical changes of the
district, and the state of ruined towns and edifices. Unfortunately
these artists were not very successful in their representations of the
condition of the country, particularly when they attempted to express,
on a large scale, the extraordinary revolutions which many of the great
and minor river-courses underwent. But many of the plates published by
the Academy are valuable; and as they are little known, I shall
frequently avail myself of them to illustrate the facts about to be
described.[665]

In addition to these Neapolitan sources of information, our countryman,
Sir William Hamilton, surveyed the district, not without some personal
risk, before the shocks had ceased; and his sketch, published in the
Philosophical Transactions, supplies many facts that would otherwise
have been lost. He has explained, in a rational manner, many events
which, as related in the language of some eye-witnesses, appeared
marvellous and incredible. Dolomieu also examined Calabria during the
catastrophe, and wrote an account of the earthquake, correcting a
mistake into which Hamilton had fallen, who supposed that a part of the
tract shaken had consisted of volcanic tuff. It is, indeed, a
circumstance which enhances the geological interest of the commotions
which so often modify the surface of Calabria, that they are confined to
a country where there are neither ancient nor modern rocks of volcanic
or trappean origin; so that at some future time, when the era of
disturbance shall have passed by, the cause of former revolutions will
be as latent as in parts of Great Britain now occupied exclusively by
ancient marine formations.

_Extent of the area convulsed._--The convulsion of the earth, sea, and
air extended over the whole of Calabria Ultra, the southeast part of
Calabria Citra, and across the sea to Messina and its environs; a
district lying between the 38th and 39th degrees of latitude. The
concussion was perceptible over a great part of Sicily, and as far north
as Naples; but the surface over which the shocks acted so forcibly as to
excite intense alarm did not generally exceed 500 square miles in area.
The soil of that part of Calabria