166 Volcanic Eruptions and Earthquakes. 



quake, that many men, who were walking in a penitential pro- 

 cession, were thrown down. The darkness lasted forty-three 

 hours, making it indispensable for every one to carry a light, 

 and even these were not sufficient to see clearly with. On the 

 22d, it was somewhat less dark, although the sun was not visi- 

 ble ; and, towards the morning of the 23d, the tremendously 

 loud thunder claps were heard in succession, like the firing of 

 pieces of artillery of the largest calibre, and this fresh occurrence 

 was accompanied by increased showers of dust. From day dawn 

 of the 23d until ten o'clock a. m., a dim light only served to 

 shew the most melancholy spectacle. The streets, which, from 

 the rocky nature of the soil, are full of inequalities and stones, 

 appeared quite level, being covered with dust. Men, women, 

 and children were so disfigured, that it was not easy to recog 

 nise any one except by the sound of their voices or other cir- 

 cumstances. Houses and trees, not to be distinguished through 

 the dust which covered them, had the most horrible appearance. 

 Yet, in spite of these appalling sights, they were preferable to 

 the darkness into which we were again plunged from after the 

 said hour of ten, as during the preceding days. The general 

 distress, which had been assuaged, was renewed, and although 

 leaving the place was attended by imminent peril from the wild 

 beasts that had sallied from the forests and sought the towns 

 and highroads, as happened in the neighbouring village of Con- 

 chagua and this town, into which tigers thrust themselves, yet 

 another terror was superior, and more than half the inhabitants 

 of Union emigrated on foot, abandoning their houses, well per- 

 suaded that they should never return to them, since they pro- 

 gnosticated the total destruction of the town, and fled with dis 

 may for refuge to the mountains. 



\^*' At half-past three on the morning of the 24th, the moon 

 and a few stars were visible, as if through a curtain, and the 

 day was clear, although the sun could not be seen, since the dust 

 continued falling, having covered the ground all round about to 

 a thickness of five inches. The 25th and 26th were like the 

 24th, with frequent though not violent earthquakes. 



*' The cause of all this has been the volcano of Cosiguina, 

 ^hich burst out on the 20th. I am also informed, that, on the 

 island of Tigre, in that direction, the showers of the 21st were 



