Page:Great Neapolitan Earthquake of 1857 Vol 2.djvu/115

74 house alluded to, is situated in the eastern part of the boundaries of the province of Basilicata, and is part of the estates called Piano Cardone di Montefermo, and is built upon level ground. The surrounding country is composed of semi-planes, hillocks, and elevations more or less high. It is open in the direction of N.W., which is that in which the boundary of the adjoining province of Bari runs.

"On the one side of this line (viz., to the east) the prospect opens upon a gently rolling country, the horizon of which is lost in the blue waters of the distant Adriatic, and on the other side (viz., to the west and south) terminates with the abrupt and lofty peaks of the Apennines, near which are seen the cities, Monte Peloso, Oppido, and Genzano. The place is therefore quite open to distant observation.

"I was seated at the comer of a large fire-place, one of the sort generally built in the country of Puglia, surrounded by many persons, and thus I had every opportunity of carefully observing all that was passing, from the two happy circumstances, of being perfectly awake, and close to the open fields.

"The first shock took place at five minutes past five o'clock, Italian time, and all of us who were in the Casone immediately left the house.

"Once in the open air, I found myself without chronometer or any other instrument of precision, so I counted the duration of the first and second shocks, by the tread of my feet at intervals of a second, as nearly as possible. I remarked that the sky all round was serene, but the stars emitted a dim and reddish light. There was not a breath of wind in the atmosphere, but a sense of stifling heat, as it were from a very hot steam-boiler, surrounded us, and, as it