iles, having been put in motion by the earthquake of the 5th of
February. Hamilton, after examining the spot, declared that this
phenomenon might be accounted for by the declivity of the valley, the
great abundance of rain which fell, and the great weight of the alluvial
matter which pressed behind it. Dolomieu also alludes to the fresh
impulse derived from other masses falling, and pressing upon the rear of
those first set in motion.

The first account sent to Naples of the two great slides or landslips
above alluded to, which caused a great lake near Terranuova, was couched
in these words:--"Two mountains on the opposite sides of a valley walked
from their original position until they met in the middle of the plain,
and there joining together, they intercepted the course of a river," &c.
The expressions here used resemble singularly those applied to
phenomena, probably very analogous, which are said to have occurred at
Fez, during the great Lisbon earthquake, as also in Jamaica and Java at
other periods.

Not far from Soriano, which was levelled to the ground by the great
shock of February, a small valley, containing a beautiful olive-grove,
called Fra Ramondo, underwent a most extraordinary revolution.
Innumerable fissures first traversed the river-plain in all directions,
and absorbed the water until the argillaceous substratum became soaked,
so that a great part of it was reduced to a state of fluid paste.
Strange alterations in the outline of the ground were the consequence,
as the soil to a great depth was easily moulded into any form. In
addition to this change, the ruins of the neighboring hills were
precipitated into the hollow; and while many olives were uprooted,
others remained growing on the fallen masses, and inclined at various
angles (see fig. 84). The small river Caridi was entirely concealed for
many days; and when at length it reappeared, it had shaped for itself an
entirely new channel.

_Buildings transported entire to great distances._--Near Seminara an
extensive olive-ground and orchard were hurled to a distance of two
hundred feet, into a valley sixty feet in depth. At the same time a deep
chasm was riven in another part of the high platform from which the
orchard had been detached, and the river immediately entered the
fissure, leaving its former bed completely dry. A small inhabited house,
standing on the mass of earth carried down into the valley, went along
with it entire, and without inj