162 Account of the late Earthquake 



bitants to the churches of the city which were destroyed ; 

 thus serving for their tombs : the churches of La Trinidad 

 and AltaGracia, which were in the more immediate vicinity 

 of the mountain, experienced more forcibly the effects of 

 the extraordinary commolion ; for although originally up- 

 wards of 150 feet high, no part of their rums exceeded five 

 or six feet in height ; and some idea may be formed of the 

 violence of the shock which overturned these stupendous 

 edifices, when it is recollected that they were supporttd by 

 columns and pilasters exceeding thirty or forty feel in cir- 

 cumference, aiid of w-hich scarcely a vestige remained. 



A superb range of barracks two stories high, capable of 

 containing 4000 men, and serving as a depot for the artil- 

 lery, shared the same ruin : a regiment of the line, in the 

 act of marching to join in a religious procession, was al- 

 most wholly swallowed up ; a few men only being left 

 alive. 



It is impossible to paint the terror and desolation which 

 this catastrophe occasioned : disorder, confusion, despair, 

 misery, and fanaticism were at their height. At first every 

 person fled as well as tlicy were able, prostrating themselves 

 to supplicate lieavcu ft)r mercy ; in this state the individuals 

 who escajied death, mutilated or wounded, covered with 

 dust, their clothes torn, and carrying in their arms their 

 chddren, or the sick and wounded, presented a most heart- 

 rending spectacle. After the first moments of terror, in 

 which self preservation made every other consideration 

 give way, the most painful recollections agitated those 

 who had escaped ; every one with distracted anxiety sought 

 for a relation or a friend, and inquired for them with looks 

 of terror and affright : among the bloody and desolate 

 ruins, those who remained of the unfortunate population 

 were seen endeavouring to dig up, without other instrument 

 than their weak and trembling hands, the living and the 

 dead who were covered by the fragments : everyone ran 

 to and fro over this vast burial-place, throwing themselves 

 occasionally on the rubbish, and listening with an attentive 

 ear to the groans of the unfortunate whose lives were pre- 

 served, although shut up, perhaps irrecoverably, in the very 

 buildings where they h;id enjoyed tranquillity and happiness 

 but a few minutes before. 



The remainder of the day and the whole of the night 

 were devoted to this interesting and pious occupation. 

 Next day, it was necessary to perform the last offices to the 

 dead, but it was impossible to bestow on them the rites of 

 •epuilurej instruments and a sufiicient number of person* 



were 



