As prophesied, "it" did not last long--eight or ten seconds at most, which seemed to me an hour.

Not the least unpleasant sensation was a low, rumbling noise, like distant thunder, that accompanied the shock.

It seemed to come from the very bowels of the earth.
"We have them every day," said J---- at breakfast, placidly, "but one soon gets used to them." My host was obliged to acknowledge reluctantly that this morning's shock was "a little sharper than usual"! It was sharp enough, Gerome afterwards told me, to send all the people of Kazeroon running out of their houses into the street.
Common as the "Zil-Zillah" [D] is in these parts, the natives are terrified whenever a shock occurs.

The great Shiraz earthquake some years ago, when over a thousand lost their lives, is still fresh in their minds.
An easy ride, through a pretty and fertile country, brought us to the telegraph-station of Konar Takta, where Mr.E----, the clerk in charge, had prepared a sumptuous breakfast.

But we were not destined to enjoy it.