11 MARCH 1843, Page 2

An important section of the British Empire, the West Indies,

has been visited by a ravaging convulsion of nature. On the morn- ing of the 8th of last month, several of the islands were shaken by an earthquake. Antigua was sorely stricken : comparatively few lives appear to have been lost, but the destruction of property was very great ; and the entire range of the convulsion is not yet as- certained. A cry for help has already reached the Mother-coun- try—happily removed, by her middle position between the ex- tremes of climate, from the perils and fears of such awful visita- tions.