at the Caraccas. 163 



^ere not to be found : in order to avoid the eflects of a 

 pestilence, therefore, from an infected atmosphere, the 

 bodies were piled up at different stations and burnt witli 

 the timber of the ruins. The first sad moments after the 

 catastrophe were thus spent ; other labours, equally if not 

 more distressing, remained to be performed. 



Almost all the provisions, furniture, linen, and the 

 usual necessaries of life were destroyed, or had been stolen 

 by the lower class of the populace, or the negroes: every 

 thing was in short wanting. The violence of the earth- 

 quake had destroyed the water-pipes, and the rivulets were 

 either dried up, or diverted from their usual course: there 

 was in fact no water near the city; there were no vessels 

 in which to collect it, and it was necessary to travel far off 

 before a quantity sufficient to allay one's thirst was ob- 

 tained, even by using the hands to carry it to the mouth. 



Pressed by thirst and hunger and the want of an asylum, 

 those who possessed country houses fled towards them oil 

 foot ; but alas ! nothing was spared — all was ruin and de- 

 solation; and they returned to the city, where they seemed 

 to be less miserable among their companions in misfortune, 

 the silence and solitude of the country apparently adding 

 to the dismal aspect of nature. 



The markets were without provisions ; the farmers brought 

 none into town; and many, after wandering about in search 

 of food, at length lay down and died of hunger : those who 

 survived obtained sustenance with much difficulty. Had 

 not some cocoa, sugar, and maize been saved, (which were 

 retailed at a most exorbitant price,) more would have pe- 

 rished from hunger than from the effects of the earth- 

 quake. 



Three thousand wounded of all ranks were collected and 

 placed at first on the banks of a river, under the shade of 

 some trees : but they were absolutely in want of every 

 ihintr, even the most indispensable requisites : they were 

 abandoned to the medicine of consolation : they were told 

 that they must conform to the decrees of providence, and 

 that every thing was for the best. 



During this awful crisis, a judicious observer of mankind 

 might have witnessed a striking exhibition of the manners, 

 character, and principles, by which the Spanish people are 

 regulated in their conduct. 



Their extreme insensibility is scarcely ciedible: T saw 



fathers of families who had lost five or six children, friends, 



relations, and their whole property, without shedding a 



tear; most of them consoling themselves by holding a 



L 2 conver- 



