et (he Caraccas. 1 6S 



plored the divine mercy, embracing wiih groans the relics 

 of their tutelar saints. 



Every one accused himself of having called down the 

 antier of Heaven, and of having caused the universal ca- 

 l«fr»ntv : those who could not meet with a priest openly 

 confessed their sins upon the highways, accusing them- 

 selves of robberies and murders which they had secretly 

 cotinniited. 



In less than two days about 2000 individuals (who per- 

 hajis never had any intention of the kind) were married : 

 rela'.ions formerly despised or neglected on account of their 

 poverty were now recognised : many unfortunate children, 

 the fruits of an illegitimate intercourse, who had never 

 known father or mother, were now acknowledged and 

 legitimated. At the same time an infinite number of resti- 

 tutions were made, and law-suits terminated. But not- 

 withsianding all this remorse, a singular and paradoxical 

 spectacle was exhibited to the eyes of the philosopher: 

 while one half of the multitude thus hastened to expiate 

 their offtnces, the other half, who perhaps never had been 

 guilty of any great crimes before, but possessing aii ac- 

 commodating conscience, profited by the confusion, and 

 with the utmost composure committed every imaginable 

 excess. 



In the mean time the shocks from the earthquake con- 

 tinued ; — every day and every hour soine ruins fell, which 

 had been only shaken bv the first commotions. On the 

 5th of April, at four in the afternoon, there was a shock so 

 violent that several mountains were rent asunder, many in- 

 clined from their centre of gravity, and enormous detached 

 rocks were precipitated to the valleys. 



From the above hour until nine o'clock next morning 

 the shocks were violent, and so frequent as to admit of an 

 interval of about five minutes only between each ; and du- 

 ring these intervals a rumbling suhterrancous noise was 

 heard, ami the earth was continually agitated. 



The succession of these phsenomena was not interrupted 

 in the month of December 1812, when I left the place, and 

 those were reckoned the most tranquil days, in which there 

 were only fifteen or twenty shocks ! Every thing was de- 

 stroyed ; the ramparts of La Guyra, not less than twenty 

 feet in thickness, were thrown dov.vn. As a natural con- 

 sequence of the opening of the mountains, which are the 

 great reservoirs of water, some rivers were observed to have 

 considerably increased. Many high mountains were rent 

 L 3 right 



