532 Mr, J. P, Lacuilay on [May 7, 



the slope of the hills, was sadly desolated. Polla is said to have 

 lost 2000 out of 7060 inhabitants ; Padula, 500 out of 9000 ; 

 Pertosa, 218 out of 1100; Sassano, 185 out of 3600 j Montesano, 

 420 out of 4800, &c. Leaving tlie valley of Diano, and proceeding 

 northwards to the head of the valley of the Sole, will be found 

 Brienza, Calvello, St. Angelo Le Fratte, Picerno, Tito, Potenza, 

 the capital of Basilicata, &c., with most of their liouses and public 

 buildings ruined, and many of their inhabitants killed. At Tito, 

 in particular, more than 300 out of 4939 inhabitants were crushed 

 to death, and its beautiful Norman cathedral totally thrown to the 

 ground. South of Potenza, in the upper valleys of the Bradano, 

 the Basento and the Agri, and eastward of the centre of action, 

 Laurenzana, Corleto, Guardia, Aliano, Armento, Gallicchio, 

 Missanello, Sant' Arcangelo, Castelsaraceno, and numerous other 

 towns and villages, had most of the houses thrown down, and many 

 inhabitants killed. 



But the effects of this terrific earthquake extended far beyond 

 the large area that has just been noticed. The two shocks of the 

 16th were felt, with various degrees of intensity, as far as the town 

 of Keggio in Calabria on the south, Brindisi on the Adriatic, on 

 the east, Vasto, also on the Adriatic, on the north, and Terracina 

 on the west. Within these limits many towns had their buildings 

 much injured, and some inhabitants killed. All the towns on the 

 Adriatic, from Polignano to Manfredonia, had their buildings 

 rent. At Canosa, 15 houses were thrown down, 155 more 

 rendered uninhabitable, and 5 persons were killed. At Melfi and 

 Barile, there were three deaths. In the neighlx)urhood of Bella, a 

 town which stands half way between Potenza and Melfi, a tract of 

 about 600 acres was split in different directions, and surrounded 

 with a chasm 15 feet deep, and about as wide. At Salerno, many 

 public buildings were injured, and 4 persons killed. Even at 

 Tramonti, near Amalfi, there were two deaths ; and at Naples, the 

 inhabitants were so greatly alarmed by the violence of the shocks^ 

 as to spend in the open air all the night of the 16th of December. 



On the whole, by this terrific earthquake, at least 22,000 human 

 beings, on a most moderate calculation, were destroyed in a few 

 seconds. Many no doubt would have been saved had it been pos- 

 sible by active steps to dig them out immediately. This will 

 account for the comparatively very small number of wounded, in 

 all about 4000. 



From the above data it will be seen that in the course of 75 

 years, from 1783 to 1857, the kingdom of Naples lost at least 

 111,000 inhabitants, by the effects of earthquakes, or more than 

 1500 per year, out of an average population of six millions ! 



Several touching anecdotes were told in the course of the nar- 

 rative. In 1783, Eloisa Basili, a beautiful girl of 16, was buried 

 under the ruins with a child in her arms, who died on the fourth 

 day. She was so wedged in that she could not get rid of its lifeless 



