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EFFECTS OF AN EARTHQUAKE.
the stone building near presented an awful appearance, one side of it having sunk some depth into the ground, while that part of the wharf contiguous to it was fearfully rent. In the boat-house, the massy stone circular pillars which supported the shed were very much cracked, and one of them was separated from its pedestal and hurled to the ground. The blacksmith's shop, paint stores, &c, were left but as " tottering walls," while the long line of cliffs and stone walls that topped the hill at the back of the yard were shivered in all directions. St. Helena was also much injured, and the embattled walls of Fort Berkley, at the mouth of the harbour, were overthrown. The superintendent of the yard, Jos. Hart, Esq., estimated the damage at about £'20,000. In many parts of the yard the ground looked as if ploughed up, while in others, deep and broad fissures, strongly impregnated with sulphur, opened their yawning mouths. It was, at first, asserted that the mouth of the harbour had been obstructed by the fallen rocks ; but upon a careful survey, the water was found to be deeper, if anything, than before the awful occurrence. At the Ridge, the terrible effects of the earthquake were also felt. The stone stores and barracks were either thrown down, or so severely rent that they were unsafe, and the privates were accommodated under tents for some time after. The small stone building, situated at the extreme point of Shirley Heights, (erected for the accommodation of the signal-man,) fell at the commencement of the shock, burying beneath its ruins a baby of four months old, but which was afterwards extricated and restored to its distressed parents unhurt, with the exception of a trifling scratch. The town of Falmouth presented but a mass of ruins—its church was levelled with the ground, and the tombs in the churchyard rent open, as if the last great day was come. The fortifications at Monk's-hill were cracked and rent in many places ; and near to the spot, a huge rock was lifted up by the oscillations of the earth, from the place where it had reposed for centuries, and hurled to the opposite side of the road.