the mouth of the hole in the top of it was choakt by the smoak and damp of the said fire and lost his life In Sycillia there is also such a Mountain called Etna which in old time was and is yet much spoken of for its continual casting up of fire and brimstone whose fire is only seen at nights and nothing but smoak a days except when it breaks out very vehemently then the fire may be seen day and night In the year 1537. the same Mountain cast up a great piece of burning Brimstone into the Air which fell down again in several places in pieces and spoiled the adjacent Countreys Woods and Villages The precedent year namely 1536. the 22. of March did this Mountain of Etna begin to cast out a most terrible fire so that the whole Countrey was amazed and trembled at it and there was such a dreadful Earthquake with a crackling and ratling noise that many dyed for very fear and the ashes which that same fire cast up cover'd over not only Sycillia but also Calabria a Province in Italy like a great Snow The Learned Philosopher Empedocles was choak't and destroy'd by this mountains fire and smell when he to satisfie his curiosity concerning the nature and qualities thereof went too neer the hole Philosophers give the reason and cause of such wonderful and continual burnings to be this viz. That the Earth is hollow in many places within it selfe as shall be further declared in the fourth chapter and is full of Brimstone Bitumen and other kind of substances which can feed the fire As also unslakt Lime and Water by which the subterraneous fire is easiest and oftnest kindled Now the fire cannot burn except it have Air or as we may say a breathing place And therefore it is thought that Therma or those hot Baths that are found in several Countreys must be certain Spiracula or breathing holes by which the subterraneous fire doth in some kind get air unto it and when the air by what means soever it be gets into the hollow places in the earth where the fire is Then that fire increaseth into a flame and maketh burning coals or living Embers as it were even in the innermost parts of the earth Therefore it cannot be doubted but there must needs be great and wonderful yet natural Meatus ways or passages in and under the earth through which the heat and flame of the oft named subterraneous fire hath in several places its passage until it gets an open Spiraculum or breathing hole through such flaming mountains Here it is to be noted that those flaming mountains do not burn always alike outwardly but sometimes more and sometimes lesse for such reasons as this When the Hiatus or hole which is above in the mountain is stopt with any kind of stuff so that the fire is smother'd and cannot have its free air or breathing-place then it goes out though not quite but burns notwithstanding below in the earth and only sends forth some few sparkles or small flame and sometimes nothing but only smoak and a stinking burnt damp smell above the earth which sheweth that the fire below in the earth is not dead or wholly quenched but burns and works faintly under the earth as long as till either the former hole opens again or it cannot break through and make another Hiatus or breathing hole and then breaks out afresh again with so much the greater power and vehemence not without doing great mischief and dammage to the adjacent places as is afore declared Now from hence may any man sufficiently understand and observe that by the power operation and force of such fire in and under the earth there must needs be a boyling working distilling and changing of several Minerals and Metals especially considering that the Sun with the rest of the Planets have also their influence and do work effectually under the earth and this must needs be no small cause of great and terrible Earthquakes How Minerals and Metals are wrought decocted and prepared by nature under the Earth shall be handled in the following chapter CHAP. III. Concerning several Minerals Metals and substances in and under the earth and how they are wrought and changed TOuching Minerals which are wrought by nature below in the earth it is according to Physical judgement thus When any dry substance in and under the earth mixeth it selfe with any wet or moist substance by what means soever it hapneth whether by the Airs Fires or Waters passage under the earth and the same mixture either by the powerful influence of the Planets or by the heat of the oft named subterraneous Fire and warm waters is decocted and well boiled together then there is produced a Mineral according to the nature of the substances which are mixt together Also when the subterraneous waters in their several passages or courses under the earth do happen to cover over soak or steep any kind of mettal so long that they do contract gather a thickness to themselves from it and become like unto troubled waters above the earth and the same waters afterwards comes where the fire is or the heat of the subterraneous fire doth penetrate and force it selfe through to the same waters then there is boiled of that water a certain moist substance or matter which in time comes to be a hard and solid Mineral according to the nature of that mettal which the waters did so cover soak or steep and from which it had gathered its quality or thickness under the earth Moreover when such thick troubled and changed subterraneous waters continue long in a place without motion then that quality with which it is so thickned mixt or changed settles it self to the bottom as any thick and troubled water naturally doth where it remains and when the water gets any kind of passage out it runs away and that which is left behind in the bottom is dryed and hardned by the power and influence of the Sun and Planets and also by the subterraneous air or heat wrought into a Mineral suitable to the nature and quality of that from whence the subterraneous waters that are run away had gathered and received its thickness And this may now be more easily apprehended and understood by the following examples When the waters have their courses and passage through that earth which is full of Copper and such like Ore and covers soaks or steeps it so long and often that it becomes thick and muddy and its nature throughly altered and changed or infected by the quality thereof And the same waters afterward by the heat of the fire or the power and influence of the Planets is boyled and distilled in the earth then it becomes a Succus or natural green moist substance whereof being dryed comes the Mineral called Chrysocolla that is Mountaingreen and Virdigrease In like manner when the subterraneous waters covers over soaks or steeps pyriten aerosum friabilem that is a rusty Firrstone
Imprimatur Dan. Nicols R. P. D. Arch. Cant Capel Domesticus Ex aedibus Lambethanis Martij 21 o 1662 3. Geologia Norvegica Or a brief instructive REMEMBRANCER Concerning that very great and spacious EARTHQUAKE Which hapned almost quite through the South parts of NORVVAY Upon the 24 th day of April in the year 1657. Also Physical Historical and Theological Grounds and Reasons concerning the causes and significations of EARTHQUAKES WRITTEN In the Danish Tongue by Michael Peterson Escholt sometimes Minister of Ackers-house Castle in Norway And Englished by DANIEL COLLINS London Printed by J. H. for S. Thomson at the Bishops-head in St. Pauls Churchyard 1663. MVNIFICENTIA REGIA 1715. GEORGIVS D. G. MAG BR FR. ET HIB REX F. D. To the worthy Company of Merchants Trading into the Kingdom of Norway D. C. wisheth much happiness Honoured Friends THis small ensuing Treatise falling into my hands in Norway some time since after a serious perusal I thought it not amisse to spend a little time in the translation thereof and as an acknowledgement of the civilities you have been pleased to shew me do offer it to your acceptation knowing that as your abilities can judge of my endeavour to do the Author no injury in rendring his sense so your ingenuity and Candor will excuse such failings as herein possibly you may observe to have escaped him who is Yours to be commanded DAN COLLINS To the Reader ALthough the publication of this little Translation may seem superfluous unto many whose knowledge gained by their study of and search into the wonderful works of God and nature may very well make it so to them yet I am apt to beleeve that others not so learned may receive some satisfaction hereby It having been originally written in the Danish tongue by a Divine of Norway reputed eminent for his Piety and parts upon an occasion of the proper subject whereof it discourseth which I think is not very common as having not seen the like yet resembling a little the cause of its being Englished and was well accepted of by the people there I doubt not but it may find indifferent if not the like entertainment here however if any benefit do accrue unto any hereby my pains will be recompensed The judicious Reader is desired to understand it in the best sense it containeth in case the relish of the Danish dialect should any where make it ingrate to the sincerer pallate of his judgement or the Historical part thereof should seem to Hyperbolize In confidence of which favour it is left to his mild censure By the Cordial wisher of his welfare DAN COLLINS The Preface FOr the right and more perfect understanding of this speculative Discourse concerning Earthquakes the Reader may have especial respect unto it under these following Heads or particulars viz. 1. The Qualities and Properties of the Earth its wonderfull yet natural operations within it self 2. The Fire which is found to be below in the Earth its wonderfull nature and powerfull effects 3. The several Minerals Mettals and Substances in and under the Earth and how they are wrought and changed 4. The Air and Wind which is inclosed in the earth and how it doth occasion great and terrible Earthquakes 5. The Physical Description of Earthquakes with their Species Operation and Natural Effects 6. Historical Relations what by Experience hath been commonly observed to follow after such great and remarkable Earthquakes 7. A Theological Conclusion and Instruction out of the Holy and Infallible Word of God what Earthquakes do signifie and teach unto us Unto the Consideration of all which and for the common Benefit of others I was moved to compose this little Memorandum by occasion of that very remarkeable and spatious Earthquake which happened in the South parts of Norway the 24th of April in this present Year 1657. about a quarter of an hour before 12 a Clock at Noon when the Sun was in the 15th Degree of Taurus and the Moon above the Earth in the first Degree of Aquarius and the same day hapned also the Planetary Aspect Quadratus Saturni Veneris and the following night about 3 or 4 a Clock in the Morning another particular Earthquake began afresh but was not so great as the former Concerning the Earthquake which began in the day I have true and certain Intelligence That it stretched North and South from Oasterdale Sollewer Totten Wallyers Ringer Rick the upper and lower Rummerick down all along the Land and through all Weeken almost to Bawhouse above 160 Miles in Length And also from the Borders of Sweden that lie Eastward of Norway thwart over all the Land Westward as far as Lindesnesse being about 40 Miles more and it carried such a noise and sound along with it that the people at first knew not but it was the noise of Thunder until they perceived the Houses shook and all their Moveables as Beds Tables and Benches to totter and as it were dance with shaking As yet I have not had a further Relation concerning it but possibly it might have stretcht it self much farther both in breadth and length Now this Earthquake was so strong and powerful that it shook the very Islands in the Sea and the great and small Rocks in the fresh Lakes and by the very great concussion and trembling did much amaze and terrifie those that were upon the water and was more especially seen by such as were upon the great English and Hollands Ships then here as also upon other Vessels Hoyes and small Boats Yet it hath not done any remarkeable harm that is yet known any where in the Countrey either to Houses Walls or other Buildings for which we ought to be very thankful to God and to receive it as an especial Token of his Grace and Mercy as not signifying unto our Countrey too very great Calamity or Destruction But nevertheless in regard that this same Earthquake was of such a length and breadth namely 160 miles in length and as much in breadth contrary to the Nature of all those Earthquakes that I ever read of we need not doubt but that it doth fignifie some especial and remarkable Change and Alteration And this puts me in mind of what the ancient Historiographer Herodotus hath recorded in his Lib. 6. That when any remarkable change or common calamity approaches or is impendent over any Land or people it is commonly made plainly known by some such unusual preceding Signes and Tokens And this may be more clearly verified by Examples out of the Scriptures for before the Canaanites and their bordering Neighbours were subdued and expelled by Joshua and the Israelites this strange Sign was seen That the water of Jordan contrary to its nature stood still above and ran out below and gave the Israelites a free passage through upon dry ground Josh 3. 16. And likewise before the 5 Kings of the Amorites were conquered and their Countrey possest by the People of Israel the Sun and the Moon stood still
each in his Celestial station about the space of a whole Day and a Night Josh 10. 13. Also before the Moabites were subdued by the Kings of Judah and Israel the Moabites Water was turned into bloud 2 Kin. 3. 22. I will not now speak of the many Signs and Tokens that preceded the Desolation and Destruction of the hardned Egyptians and Jerusalem because it would be too tedious to recite here But I do averre that when such unusual signs and tokens do happen especially when such a Mountanous and Rocky Land even from its Foundation upwards with its Seas Streams and Rivers shall for the space of so many Miles together tremble and quake we ought not in any case to slight or think lightly of it Wherefore without any longer Delay I will now enter upon my proposed Discourse CHAP. I. Concerning the Qualities and Properties of the Earth its wonderfull yet natural operations within it self WHen we seriously weigh and consider the inward and outward nature and properties of the earth which God Almighty hath given unto it for the benefit of Mankind not only that we should have our being and habitation upon it but also receive our natural lives support and maintenance from it Then we may very well say with great Joy and Admiration as the Kingly Prophet David did in Psalm 8. O Lord our Lord how wonderful and glorious is thy name in all the earth For we do in truth experimentally find That the earth is in every kind like unto a loving and serviceable Mother or Nurse unto us and therefore is justly termed by that great Teacher of the Oeconomicks namely Sirach The Mother of us all Chap. 40. v. 1. For when we are born into the world the Earth entertaines us and as long as we live in the world by her plenty and liberality she nourishes and sustaines us and finally when we shall at last depart from hence again she like a tender Mother receives us as it were into her Bosom or Lap and preserves us from all that evil whereof this world is full and lets us rest within her self in peace until the last day when she shall make such perfect restitution of us again that she shall not suffer the least Joynt or Member of us to be lost or perish no not a hair or one drop of Bloud wherewith Job comforteth himself in his great misery in the 19th Chap. of the Book of his Patience V. 27. And besides this we can never sufficiently conceive and apprehend what rich Treasure and precious Jewels the Earth retaineth within it self partly hidden and partly discoverable some whereof she yearly distributeth to her Inhabitants None of the four Elements is more constantly near us or a more faithful and continual Assistant unto us then the Earth For the Elements of Water and Ayr do often much damnifie and endanger us the Element Fire is too high for us or else might do us good by its warmth and operation yet sometimes by Thunder and Lightning doth sufficiently affright and hurt us But the element of Earth only as a faithful Nursing Mother never forsakes us so long as the world endures but without cessation doth constantly assist us in Life and Death in Prosperity and Adversity so that we are never forsaken of her in this World no not after Death And who can sufficiently conceive or express the wonderful Operations and Labours which the Earth yearly undergoes and performes night and day for our sakes She hath never any rest neither outwardly nor inwardly Outwardly she produces and provides grass and Hay for those Creatures which are appointed by God to cloath and feed us and also several fruitful Trees each according to his kind in great numbers Likewise divers sorts of Herbs as well for our delight as Food Physick and preservation of our healths Besides great variety of Corn as wheat Rie Barley Pease Oates and divers other sorts of Grain which afford us necessary Maintenance and Subsistence Inwardly she workes and produces for us many kinds of Minerals Metals and precious Stones which those that labour in the Mines know well how such her Treasure to search for find and get out of the depth of her Bowels and bring them to light and use So that we may sufficiently see and observe that God Almighty hath his especial Laboratorium or Work-house even in the deepest and most bottomless places not only to cause wholsom waters warm Baths Springs and Rivers to arise but also to make and produce Gold Silver Copper Tin Iron Lead Brass c. And Multitudes of precious Stones But now when this Laboratorium or Work-house of the Lord with all its Treasure and Glory shall quake tremble and shake contrary to its Creators solid fixation Psal 89. 11. 2 Pet. Ch. 3. v. 5. Then certainly there must be something out of order somewhere that doth signifie some especial and unusual thing Moreover touching such things as Nature doth so work and produce in the innermost parts and bowels of the Earth they do partly shew themselves openly above the earth and do often break out both to the greatest admiration and terrour of men Such are Meteors that is Fogs Mists bright burning Damps like a flame that flies about which the Vulgar in Denmarke call the Lanthorn-man and also Rings about the Sun and Moon and a certain moveable Light in the Heavens which often shewes like Souldiers fighting Ships sayling two or three Sunnes together and the like All which is caused partly by only earthish and partly by earthish and waterish Mixtures and Damps together proceeding from the wonderful workings of Nature within the earth And this we may be assured of that there happens no such admirable and powerful effects of Nature above the Earth but that there is far greater and more wonderful operations below and within the earth by the various workings and Concoctions of Nature partly by subterraneous water and partly by subterraneous fire Concerning the subterraneous waters you shall have better Information in the Second and Fourth Chapters how they may be the Cause of Great Earthquakes but we must speak somthing here concerning the subterraneous Fire which doth also cause great motion and powerful stirrings in the Earth and doth often help to the production of Earthquakes and shall be handled in the Following Chapter CHAP. II. Concerning Fire which is found to be below in the Earth its wonderful Nature and powerful Effects THe Learned and wise Searchers and Inspectors into Nature deny not but that such substances as the waters in the innermost parts of the Earth have their course through and do cover steep and soak do give the same waters several and distinct vertues smels qualities tasts and colours As for example The water that runs through steeps soakes or covers Brimstony or Victrillish earth hath a far different nature vertue tast and colour from that which runs through Salt-Peterish Allomish or Limish earth but they will by no meanes grant
shapes such as are whole pieces of pure Silver or Copper in the shapes of Men Women Horses Fowls Fishes Dragons Trees and the like which have been really found both in the Silver and the Copper-Mines here in Norway and are safely reserved by such as are partners in the Mines as miracles of nature It is likewise certain that there are divers Spirits found in many of the Ore Mines amongst which some do the workmen no harm at all but otherwise wander up and down below in the Mines and seem to imitate the Labourers in the Mine in doing all kind of work after an Apish Antick fashion some seem to hew the Ore loose some to fill that which is hewen into tubs and to wind it up some seem to hasten the rest to follow their work and yet they do nothing at all but only mock the Labourers in the Mines and these are most frequently seen in those Mines where much Ore is shortly after found But some of these Spirits are so dangerous and pernitious in some places that they do destroy and kill the Laborers in the Mines infesting and expelling them so that they are forced wholly to give over and forsake the Mines and repair to other places as it hapned at Anneberg in Elsatz in Germany at a Mâ—ne-pit then called Corona Rosacea or Rosen Crown And here is to be observed that nature doth often yea for the most part mix more sorts then one together as Gold Silver and Copper as also Silver Copper Tinn and Lead one with another from whence this word Metal derives its name from the Greek quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the one mixt with the other And moreover besides this Nature doth sometimes work and produce Metals below in the earth that are found to be hard tight and solid as if they had been cast or wrought with the hammer but sometimes and most commonly it is found growing in and mixed with stone so that the Ory stones must be beaten with pestles as in a morter and then the Ore-power melted in Furnaces and afterwards refined from the drosse before any necessary thing can be made of it And this may suffice to be spoken concerning several Minerals and Metals and how wonderfully they may be wrought and changed within and under the earth and do help to the production of great Earthquakes CHAP. IV. Concerning Air and Wind that is inclosed in the Earth and how it doth occasion great and terrible Earthquakes IT is an universal Axiome and Physical rule non datur vacuum in rerum natura that is there is nothing found empty in Nature whence it follows that all things over or under the earth must of necessity be full or filled with something especially with one or more of the four Elements which be Fire Air Earth and Water and where none of the visible Elements are there the Air is present being a thin subtile and invisible body that fils up all places and things every where which seem to our eies to be empty the which we may easily try and experiment by putting a hollow Reed Straw or Feather into Wine Beer Water or other liquid stuff yea though it were Sand or loose Earth and afterwards strongly sucking out and drawing to us the Air that is in the hollow reed or straw we do presently see that before the reed or straw will be empty the heavy stuff that is below will come up into and fill the hollow place in it until it can recover its lost air again the same may be perceived when one drinks Tobacco for when the Air is suckt out of the pipe into the mouth then before the hollow of the pipe will be empty the smoak is forced as it were by the power of nature to forsake the fire that is in the tobacco to fill up the hollowness of the pipe least it should be empty Now the earth within is not generally close and tight but cleft and parted one piece from another in many places And there are also many Rocks and great stones below in it that have their Clefts Cracks and Cranies which are wide and large and as it were hollow and empty besides the earth in many places is sunk down from the Corners Angles and uneveness of those Rocks and Stones which makes many great hollow and as it were empty places within the earth And besides this the earth is on all sides environed with water and is with several Seas and running streams both salt and fresh enterlac't and filled as the body is with veins and is also with great and long Rains often wet and moistned by which means she is soakt thorough with water and the same water in time gets into those hollow places below in the earth but being hindred in its course to such places doth again spring up in certain places of the earth as may by several Springs be perceived and observed And besides all this there must needs be a wonderful great water in the innermost parts of the earth which Moses that man of God the writer of the creation of the worlds foundation calls the fountains of the great deep Gen. 7. chap. 11. ver and 8. chap. 2. ver which springs up in many places so abundantly both hot and cold that it makes great and rapid streams above the earth Now where such great waters under the earth cannot break forward and force themselves thorough to those hollow places in the earth there the Air being a more thin and subtile body than the water forceth it selfe through and fils them For as the moisture humours and spirits do often force themselves through the Pores of a mans warm body or a horse that sweats through whose thick hide the humours and moisture so pierces that the Horse seems to smoak again with reek In like manner the Air goes about to and fro below in the earth seeking to fill those hollow and empty places according to the appointment of nature which suffers nothing to be empty as is before mentioned Now when such hollow places are filled with subterraneous water or with other stuff then is the inclosed Air expelled and forced thence comming up out of those holes and appearing above the earth as a thick fogg mist or smoak which in Latine is called halitus exhalationes evaporationes but we here in Norway call it a mist whereof some are thicker then others and of different colours according as the said Air so arising and expelled hath contracted its thickness and colour from that moisture below in the earth with which it was mixed and inclosed And then if the earth be so close Tight and solid that the Air cannot so suddainly get passage to depart away it breaks out by force and when this conflict and breach betwixt the subterraneous Air and Water happens then the earth as the seat of this warr must certainly quake tremble shake and be moved and this is called Terrae motus that is an Earthquake whereof the following
City broke down the Walls Fortresses and places of strength plundered and destroyed all that came before him sparing none and set the City on fire so that for the space of forty days no body could be there for fire and smoak Thus was Rome utterly destroyed by the Goths according to the prediction of Scipio of Carthage who had prophesied it with tears 700 years before when the Romans burnt and destroyed Carthage Two years after the same King Totillas besieged the City of Placentia so long and hard that the Inhabitants were fain to eat one another and at last were forc't to surrender up the City to him In the year 591. there was such a dreadful Earthquake in Antioch that more then 60000 persons perished thereby and thereupon followed an extraordinary hot and dry Summer after which ensued a most fearful famine and a plague and the Lombards with much blood-shed did reform the old Lombards gross Barbarism to the Christian faith In the year 832. there was a terrible Earthquake in Italy whereby certain Citys and Hills were quite swallowed up Thereupon arose a destructive warr between the Emperour Lodovicus Pius and his three Sonns who sought by open warr raised against their Father to deprive him of his Government these three sonns made a League with Gregory the 4th Pope of Rome who threatned to depose the Emperour Lodowick But the German Bishops stuck close to the Emperour and said that if the Pope came thither to excommunicate he should depart thence excommunicated The year following namely 834. The Emperour Lodowick advanced with a great Army into Alsatz to reduce his seditious and rebellious sonns to obedience and submission but was surprized in the battle of Lugenfield by Basell and Lotharins whom Lodowick fully impowred to mannage the Government together with himselfe carried his Father prisoner a long time about with him as a spectacle of wonder At this the Princes of Germany were highly displeased and desired his Sons Lodowick and Pipin that they either by good means or by force would procure their Lord and Father's enlargement if they expected to find any faithful friendship from the High Dutch whereupon the Emperour was set at liberty again In the year 868. there was a great Comet seen in the Air after which followed many Earthquakes and after that a great plague and there did arise a terrible warr between the three Brothers the sons of the Emperour Lodowick which of them should get and enjoy the Empire alone The Danes sail'd over and invaded Scotland and there with sword fire and plundering put all things into confusion went afterwards into England and took Edmund the King of England prisoner in a Church drag'd him out and hang'd him up on a tree and shot his body full of Arrows the 20th day of November in the year 870. as Matthew Westmonster writes And King Harrald Haarfager waged a furious warr in Norway for the space of ten years subdued and expelled all the petty Kings and turned the Government into a Monarchy in the year 878. In the year 882. the 29th of December there hapned a fearful Earthquake in Germany whereby many fair houses and buildings in Worms were destroyed Thereupon it followed that the Normen and Danes under the conduct of Godfrid their King marched to the River Rhine rob'd and plunder'd all wheresoever they came demolisht and destroyed to the very ground Camerich Tornai Arras Tarren and Gent burnt up Lowen Utrecht Lurich Neus Coln Achen and Gulich Whereupon the Emperour Carolus Crassus was sent for cut of Italy by the French and German Princes to defend his own Countrey against the tyranny of the Normen but he could not prevail by force of Arms and therefore concluded a peace with them and delivered into their possession the Province of Newstria in France to be their own free inheritance which is called by them now at this day Normandia or Normandy In the year 983. there was a most terrible Earthquake in Italy whereby Beneventura and Capua were destroyed Thereupon followed an extraordinary drie Summer and burning drought which occasioned a great scarcity and a fearful plague In the year 990. there hapned terrible Earthquakes in many places and thereupon ensued fearful and incredible inundations of water all over Europe upon which followed an extraordinary hot and dry Summer that burnt up the fruits of the earth which occasioned a great scarcity and famine every where In Saxony there rained Fâ—sh out of the Air and in Albania there rained Corn from Heaven but unfit for the use of man The Sunn was wholly Eclipsed and a great piece of fire fell down out of the Air and burnt upon the earth after which followed a most terrible plague so that the living which bare the dead to their graves fell down dead themselves and were buried together and there came much fire from the River of Rhine also by which many of the adjacent Towns and Villages were wholly burnt up In the year 1085. there hapned a fearful Earthquake in England whereby many houses were overthrown and much harm done and it followed thereupon that King William of England caused all his Subjects annual Profits Estates and Incomes of every kind both of Corn-land Medows Woods Pastures Cattle and Sheep and every thing they had to live upon to be Registred and accordingly required great contribution of the Countrey which caused danger ous civil tumults uproars and discontents in the Land and there followed also a very unfruitfull year In the year 1085. there hapned a terrible Earthquake in Lorain whereupon there followed a fierce plague and suddain death of people And the same year there was unspeakable harm done in the Netherlands by great and unusual inundations of water both to people and Cattle In the year 1126. there was another terrible Earthquake in Italy which lasted 40 days Thereupon followed a lamentable mis-growth of the fruits of the earth and a most miserable famine as also a destructive and bloody warr between the Emperour Lotharius and the German Princes and between the Bohemians and Conrad Duke of Frankenland In the year 1135. there were several terrible Earthquakes heard of both in England and in Germany whereby many houses were thrown down the fire also burnt fearfully out of the earth for certain days together and could not be quenched by water nor by any other kind of thing And besides that there was very great mischief done in many places of Germany by other fire Mentz and its Cathedral was burnt in the Cities of Spire and Strasborg many Churches and Cloysters were laid in Ashes Ausburg was almost quite burnt up and a third part of Goslar Hall in Saxony flew up into the air in a smoak and the next year following there was such an extream hot and dry Summer that the waters in great Rivers Channels and streams contrary to Nature did so diminish that men might have gone dry-shod over where great Ships used to sail the Wells and Springs also
that Brimstone Bitumen or other such stuffe which easily and suddenly takes fire above the Earth should so heat those seething hot Springs within the earth which do arise in several places thereof because the fire is not after such a manner secretly contained and hidden in them as it is in a Flint Steel or in Calce viva that is unslak't Lime for assoon as the Flint and Steel is forcibly struck together they do presently produce apparent fire And when water toucheth or is cast upon unslak't Lime it kindles it self and presently discovers the secret nature of the fire that is in it and that so plainly that it will quickly set any thing a fire that will be kindled by fire And therefore we must not think that either the heat of the Sun or motus continui strong and perpetual motions which do otherwise occasion great heat here on earth and sometimes produces fire in Nature or the inward Warmth of the earth or any other substance which the subterraneous waters have their course through within the earth can be the cause of the said waters being so boyling hot as it is in the hot Bathes and in many other places of the Earth where it springs up but it must be the subterraneous fire it self to which it only and properly belongs in altissimo Caloris gradu to heat it in so high a degree Which fire without doubt is kindled in several parts of the earth when the subterraneous water forceth it self per subterraneos meatus or the subterraneous passages and pores of the Earth where Calx viva or other such kind of inflameable matter is as aforesaid And it is here to be observed That Bitumen by us called Jewes Lime will burn in the water without having any ayr but then it must first be set on fire above the water in the open Ayr and when it is kindled it will not be quenched by water no more then burning Pitch or Tarre will but the more water is cast upon it the fiercer it burnes There is also a Stone called Gagates that will burn vehemently in the water which Galen did so much admire that only to find and see it he sail'd with great danger of his Life round about Lycia Now Brimstone is a substance found in the Earth which is easily kindled when it is above the Earth but it will not burn except it have Ayr whence it may readily be observed that it is not Brimstone but Bitumen or Calx viva or some other substance yet unknown which is the thing that so burneth in the subterraneous waters and from whence they receive such their extraordinary heat that in many places of the Earth they spring up so extream boyling hot that one may scald Swine Fowle or the like in them and that so suddainly that a man can scarce dip them into those warers before the hair and feathers come off and if one hold them never so little in their very flesh will be boyled from the bones like some hot Springs in Island and in Germany as Thermae Badenses and the like Of this sort of hot springs called in Latine Thermae and by us commonly called hot Baths There are enough to be found in several countreys and kingdoms but especially in Germany as Leuker Bath in Wallissen Land by the Alpes of Poeninas Thermae Badensis in Hegoja the Wild Bath in the Land of Wittemberg Wiss-Bath in the Land of Hessen one by Elbogen in Bohemia and another at Achan in Brabant And that there is a great and dreadful fire in the innermost parts of the earth a man may apparently see and understand by those Mountains that do perpetually flame and burn without cessation giving a terrible prospect and yearly casting up vast quantities of Brimstone Pumistone and other burnt stuff like that of a Smiths Forge which the earth works and casts up of it selfe through such open hiatus or holes by the heat and force of the subterraneous fire where the said fire hath as I may say its breathing places Such a Mountain there is in Island called by Cosmographis Mons Heckla and by the Inhabitants Hecklefield the same Mountain burns continually with a blue brimstone-like and most dreadful flame casting up and bestrowing the fields round about with such great quantities of Brimstone that divers Ships may yearly be loaden off with it and it oft times strews the Land with so many ashes and other burnt stuff that the Countrey for the space of ten miles round about can yield no profitable increase and when it burns with greatest vehemence for it burns sometimes more fiercely then others it makes a terrible rumbling like the noise of loud Thunder and a fearful crackling and tearing that may be heard a long way off by the Inhabitants and such as sail by it The fire of this same Mountain is of a strange quallity and nature it can burn and consume water but cannot set on fire or consume Tow. Saxo Gramm in praefatione Anno 1626. did this mountain of Heckfield break out with such a flame that it cast terrible unusual pieces of fire out which flew round about a great way and burnt up many Houses and did irrepairable mischief to the Land and according to intelligence the ashes of that fire flew about certain hundreds of miles and was also seen in the Norther most parts of Norway which seems to be impossible yet it is related for certain that it was so The late Historiographers do write very strangely cerning such things as do yearly happen by and about this mountain In Campania hard by Neapolis there is also a burning mountain called Vesuvius or as some call it Vesevus which also burns continually without cessation This mountain hath several times bestrewed the Land thereabouts with so many ashes that they have cover'd the tops of the trees in the adjacent woods In the time of Titus Vespatian And Fl. Domitian the same mountain cast up such a fire that two Towns were burnt by it and also caused such a mighty and thick smoak that it wholly deprived the Sun of its light all over Italy so that the day there was as dark then as the darkest night And it also bestrew'd the whole Countrey with such an infinite and incredible quantity of ashes that it was cover'd over as with a great Snow which ashes were so blown and carried about by the winds that they flew to Africa Egypt and Syria Munster lib. 2. de Italia In the 16 th year of the Reign of Constantine the 5. the said Vesuvius did very great harm And in the year 1538. it broke out fresh again with a terrible and dangerous fire and an Earthquake and made a fearful deep hole in the earth in plain and even ground and round about the same hole cast up a mighty deal of earth like unto a great mountain Munster ibidem Pliny that great Naturalist when he endeavouring to profound the nature of this burning mountain went too neer
chapter more plainly and particularly discourseth And that there is no little Air or Wind in the hollow places of the earth we may apparently perceive when it breaks forth in Earthquakes for then we see that it can cast great stones up into the Air and lift up the earth yea great Mountains and make such a terrible quaking of the earth that mighty Citys and Towns Castles Fortresses high Towers and Walls great Churches and Buildings have been thereby utterly overthrown sunk and lost as it is Recorded concerning the great and mighty City of Antioch in Asia which in the year of Christ 528. was wholly destroyed by an Earthquake and there was 4870 persons killed by the fall of its Towers Spires Walls and Buildings Likewise in the year of Christ 1509. the 14th of September the City of Constantinople was very much defaced and spoiled by a dreadful Earthquake which continued 18 days for it overthrew that long thick and strong wall which stood along by the water-side and all the houses that stood neer it to the ground and fill'd up the Motes and Ditches without the walls with Rubbish Stones and Chaulk that one might have gone dry-shod over them The same Earthquake shook down that part of the Grand-Signiors Pallace where the Treasury was and five great and strong Towers quite and clean and besides all the mischief that it did by Sea and Land which could not be repaired for many Tun of Gold it killed and destroyed 13000 persons Munster lib. 4. Likewise in the year 1517. the 16th of June There hapned a terrible Earthquake at Norlingen 40 miles from Nuremburg in High Germany which overthrew St. Emerania's Church to the ground and 2000 houses besides within and without the City for about the space of eight miles and the same Earthquake did also overthrow many great trees both in Orchards and Woods Munster lib. 3. de Suevia CHAP. V. Concerning the Physical description of Earthquakes with their species operation and natural effects THere are certain Divines which will by no means grant that Earthquakes should proceed from natural causes but only from the particular power appointment and dispensation of God according to the Testimony of Job chap. 9. ver 5 6. He removeth Mountains and they know not He shaketh the earth out of her place and the pillars thereof do tremble These I do in equity allow the retention of their received opinions But other Divines do acknowledge that Earthquakes have also their natural causes by which God Almighty doth occasion their production and to speak Physically to this Naturalists do describe it thus An Earthquake is a violent moving stirring shaking or quaking of the earth occasioned by the subterraneous salt-peterish moisture and damps inclosed together with the Air or wind in the hollow places of the earth Now when such damps and moistures grow so great strong and thick by length of time that they cannot continue with the subterraneous Air any longer in one hole together then they do forcibly expell the subterraneous Air from thence which by nature always giveth way to solid and thicker bodies and then there is a kind of civil conflict between them which of them shall give way and depart from those hollow places in the earth if the earth then be poreous sandy or loose the inclosed Air and Wind gets out thorough those Pores or sweating holes and is seen above the earth like a smoaky Fogg or Mist as is touched before in the last preceding chapter But if the earth be so hard close and tight that the inclosed Damps and Air cannot by its thinnesse and subtilty penetrate exhale and force it selfe thorough the pores and sweating holes of the earth then it breaks thorough the earth violently by its natural force and strength and thereby causes the earth to shake and quake until it can split and burst assunder in some certain place to give them room And hence it is that such Earthquakes do seldom happen in those countreys or places where the earth is porous loose or sandy because there the inclosed air damps and moistures can easily penetrate and force themselves through the earth and make their way without the shaking or moving of the earth which cannot be where there is close tight and solid earth round about them Now as touching the several kinds and species of Earthquakes it is certain truth found by experience That all Earthquakes do not happen after one and the same but after divers kinds and manners Aristotle in libello de mundo reckons up and describes seven sorts of Earthquakes each by its particular properties and fashion according to the strength or weakness of the subterraneous contest of Nature 1. Amongst which by some Earthquakes whole Citys and Mountains with Houses and People sink quite down into the earth as Pliny writes lib. 2. cap. 48 That in Asia in the time of the Reign of the Emperor Tiberius there sunk twelve great Citys and principal Towns quite and clean down in one night by an Earthquake Eusebius in Chronic. ad Annum Christi 33. Nicephorus lib. 1. cap. 14. do suppose that this was the great Earthquake that hapned at the time of Christs death which was in the 18th year of the Reign of the Emperour Tiberins 2. By some Earthquakes the earth is swoln and heaved up high above its natural shape and proportion so that great Mountains and Hills are made there where before it was plain and even ground Freeburgum Brisgojae was destroyed by such an Earthquake in the year 1509. And there are many great Islands and places incompassed with water often thus made for when this kind of Earthquake happens under the waters it heaves and raiseth up the earth sometimes and in some places so high that it reaches up above the water and there it remains and in time is changed and comes to be an inhabitable Island It is Recorded that the Island Delus Rhodus Alone Thera and Therasia c. came up so and also the Islands of Echinades were so lifted up out of the River Acheloo and certain others in Egypt out of the River Nilus as Pliny witnesseth lib. 2. cap. 87. 3. Some Earthquakes do raise and lift up the earth very high above its natural shape but assoon as the Earthquake is past it presently sinks and settles down and recovers its former natural shape again and doth not much hurt 4. By some Earthquakes the earth is torn and divided assunder in a certain place so that there is a horrible great Hiatus or open hole made as it hapned in Moses his time when such a Hiatus rending or opening of the earth swallowed up Moses seditious adversarys such were Korah Dathan and Abiram with certain other men of the children of Israel 250 Princes of the Assembly famous in the Congregation and men of renown with their Houses Goods and all the men that appertained to Korah sunk alive down into Hell with all that they had and the earth closed upon
them they perishing from amidst the Congregation Concerning which we may read in the 19 Chapter of Numbers ver 2 31 32 33. 5. Some Earthquakes make the earth to sink lower down then it was before and it never riseth up again but remains always such a low and sunken Land 6. In some places especially by the Sea and sides of great Rivers and Streams the earth carries away Houses Trees Pastures and Meddows into the Sea and Rivers and such particular Earthquakes do often happen here in Norway chiefly in the South parts thereof 7. In some places the Earthquake carries a great rumbling sound and noise along with it like unto the noise of Thunder and so did this that was now amongst us for at first we knew not otherwise but it was Thunder before we saw the houses and moveables apparently to totter and shake 1. Now where such Earthquakes as these do happen there commonly follows storms and tempestuous winds with an unusual smell which ariseth with the Earthquake out of the earth And such an ensuing storm we had here in and about Christiana upon the second Whitsun-holyday which was the 24th day after the Earthquake was past when we poor sinners especially in Ackers Church were fain to get out in all hast fearing least the Church should have fallen down upon us the violence of which storm or whirlwind continued about a quarter of an hour 2. And Earthquakes do use to cause drought and burning heat in the air which we also were aware of certain days and weeks time to the no small dammage of the fruits of the earth 3. The Pestilence also and other poysonous diseases do commonly follow after great Earthquakes according as the Air and Damps which in such Earthquakes break out of the hollow places of the Earth was poysoned under it and afterwards poysons the Air above the Earth and doth naturally produce pernicious and poysonous diseases But God by his mighty power can graciously divert all these things what otherwise usually ensues after Earthquakes is shown in the following Chapter CHAP. VI. Historical Relations what by experience hath commonly been observed to follow after such great and remarkable Earthquakes THat which is Recorded concerning Comets viz. That they are never seen in the Air or Heavens without signifying some great and remarkable judgements and alterations ensuing we may well and truly both say and write concerning such remarkable and great Earthquakes that they do signifie extraordinary great mutations for Histories do show cleerly even from the beginning of the world that when any such great and remarkable Earthquake hath hapned in Nature there hath followed great and notable accidents and changes upon the earth in several Countreys and Kingdoms Concerning those Earthquakes which are Recorded to have hapned before the birth of Christ I will not speak at this time but only commemorate certain of the most notable that have hapned since and what ensued afterwards in divers places In the year of Christ 62. There was a terrible Earthquake in Rome and the year following that cruel Tyrant Emperour Nero caused the City of Rome to be set on fire of purpose to have burnt it quite down thereby to delight himselfe with seeing after what manner the lamentable destruction of the ancient and famous Citie of Troy was And when the fire of the City burnt with greatest violence he went up to the highest Tower or Terret of his Pallace and caused the destruction of Troy to be plaid upon several Musical instruments and sung before him that fire continued six days and seven nights In the year of Christ 80. there was a great Earthquake in Cypris upon which followed a great Plague which also reacht to Rome and there increased mightily Thereupon ensued a great and destructive warr against the Romans for Diurepaneus the King of the Goths advanced with the power of Gothland over the River Danubius and held a bloody battle with Opius Sabinus General of the Romans giving him and his Army a total defeat and killing all so that there scarcely escaped a man that could carry the Romans any certain intelligence concerning it In the year of Christ 104. there hapned a terrible Earthquake in Syria for certain days together whereby many stately buildings were demolished and many people were kill'd and destroy'd and it followed thereupon that the Emperour Trajanus fell into Armenia with a great power and vanquish'd it marched afterwards into Arbella and subdued the Parthians and advanced forward in such a manner as if he had purposed to have conquer'd the whole World having great fortune and success at the first but afterwards the Jews rebelled against the Romish power and would by no means be any longer subject to them wherefore under the conduct of Artemone their Leader killed and destroyed in Cyprus 240000 men and slew all the Romans that they could find or surprize every where And after this the Emperour Trajanus raised a great and puissant Army under the command of Marcus Turbonus and Lucius Quietus and sent them into Jewry and the Countreys thereabouts which took and destroy'd all that came before them and did conquer and subdue Hiberos Sarmatia Agarenos Arabia Bosphorum Colchos and also Saleuciam Ctesiphont and Babylon Dion Ammianus lib. 14. And after the aforesaid Earthquake the third general persecution began against the Christians under the Emperour Trajanus some writers do relate that it was as impossible to number the sand in the Sea as to compute the number of those that were most miserably Butcher'd and Martyr'd in this persecution for the confession of the faith of Christ In the year 111. when that wicked Emperour lay in his Winter quarters at Antioch there hapned a terrible Earthquake again so that the Emperour Trajanus caused himselfe to be carried out at a window and remained under the open Heavens till the Earthquake was past not daring to trust himselfe in any house or under any roof for a long time after and thereafter followed such a lamentable drought exceeding hot Air mis-growth of the Fruits of the earth Famine and poysonous Pestilence and a loathsom Stink from the earth as if all the Elements had conspired and plotted together to revenge the blood of those multitudes of innocent Christians so lamentably butcher'd and destroy'd by that in humane Emperour In the year 151. there was much harm done in many places of Italy by Earthquakes and thereupon ensued a fearful Plague which encreased so mightily there that it left many Towns wholly desolate and terrible inundations of Water did also spoyle many fair Cities and a multitude of Grashoppers devoured all the fruits of the earth almost all over Italy In the year 240. there hapned another terrible Earthquake in Italy whereby many Cities and much people did perish by the opening of the earth whereupon there was appointed ex libris Sybillinis that general burnt offerings should be made to the Gods not only in Rome but all over the Romish Empire And