Note 41 — Chapter XXIV

The picturesque little town of Conchagua has suffered several disasters since the time of my visit. In 1857-8, more than half of its population was carried off by the cholera; lately (August, 1859), it has been fearfully shaken by earthquakes. Its primitive church has been prostrated, and huge rocks which impended over the village have been thrown down, filling the little cleared fields, and crushing the fragile structures of the people in their fall. The earthquakes which caused this damage, and which also destroyed some buildings in the port of La Union, are reported to have been more violent than those which attended the eruption of Coseguina, in 1835. Serious apprehensions were entertained that this volcano was again on the eve of an eruption. Advices to the 2d of September (1859), report a continuation of the shocks, and ominous symptoms of renewed activity on the part of the volcano, which were observed as far as the city of San Salvador, one hundred and fifty miles distant.

I may here mention, that Captain Sir Edward Belcher has fallen into a singular mistake regarding the mountain of Conchagua. Notwithstanding that it is one mass of scoriæ and igneous rocks, he seems indisposed to accept it as a volcano!