I hastened out of doors to ascertain what had happened; but
when I came into the street, and beheld all the inhabitants rushing
out of their houses in wild disorder and fright; some pale and trembling,
running up and down, unconscious whither they were going;
mothers distracted at not finding their children with them; and
every one with terror depicted in his countenance, crowding into
the open street; when I beheld this, I instantly guessed that an
earthquake had happened, for no answer could be got from those to
whom I addressed the question ; fright prevented their hearing what
was said. As soon as this conviction gains possession of the mind,
our sensations, which, till then, may have been only those of surprise,
assume, a new and peculiar character. To those born in a
country where these convulsions of nature happen frequently, such
an occurrence as this may perhaps occasion little uneasiness : but to
others who, for the first time in their lives, feel that the ground they
walk upon is not immoveable, an earthquake, with all the dangers
which may possibly accompany it, is an event which cannot fail to
excite considerable alarm. Every body stood for a while in dreadful
expectation of the catastrophe. Nothing could be more distressing
than to witness the terror of the women; some in tears, others
trembling and speechless, and none seeming to know what they were
about, or where they were. All had fled out of their houses with the
utmost precipitation, without hats or bonnets, just as they happened
to be dressed at the moment: and I believe that every individual
inhabitant of Cape Town, men, women, and children, excepting
those who from infirmity were unable to move, was, at that
time, out in the street. There, all remained for at least an hour; and
many for the whole day. As soon as the second explosion was
over, the air immediately resumed its former tranquillity, nor was
any other change perceptible, more than that of its becoming shortly
afterwards a little cooler. Finding no further shock succeed, the
inhabitants gradually recovered from their first alarm, and from
the general confusion: the crowds slowly became thinner; yet
still the greater number, afraid to trust themselves within their
houses, brought out chairs, and remained sitting on th e'“ stupe,’ or in
the street, the rest of the day.
Walking afterwards about the town, to make several purchases
for my journey, I was told that many houses were exceedingly rent,
and some more materially damaged: but none were actually
thrown down. At the mill, however, at Salt-river, the dwelling-
house, it was said, had received so much injury, that the owner considered
it no longer safe or habitable. In the barracks great confusion
arose from all the men endeavouring to rush out at the same
instant. .Many of the ornamental urns which had escaped the earthquake
of 1809, Were now tumbled from the parapets down into
the street: one on the top of the house where I resided, was
shivered to pieces; and the wall of my bed-room was in the same
instant divided by a crack which extended from the top of the house
to the bottom.
The weather continued pleasant during the afternoon, and, before
night came' on, the apprehensions of the inhabitants were in
some measure quieted, as every one ventured to sleep in their
houses, excepting four or five tents which were pitched on the Farade
and in the Boer Plain. As for myself, I followed the example of
others, in passing the night with my clothes on, that I might be ready
to escape the more quickly out of the house, in case another shock
happened before morning.
This precaution was the result of past experience;, for the former
earthquake, which commenced about nine o’clock in the evening,
returned several times in the course of the same night. But it
must be concluded, that these convulsions of the earth have no connection
either with the time of the day, or with the season of the
year, since they now took place at five minutes before noon, and in
the middle of winter; whereas the former happened in the middle
of summer, and during the night.
All the symptoms attendant on this phenomenon bore so much
the character of electricity, that it could not easily be viewed in any
other light than as the explosion of electric matter.
But many of the good people of.the town had quite another opi