226 



EARTHQUAKES. 



layed their escape to collect valuables, many 

 of whom suffered for. their temerity, either by 

 the sacrifice of their lives or otherwise. As 

 the rush for the hills continued, and stones 

 and materials of all kinds were falling, and 

 houses were crashing, numerous people were 

 struck down, and either killed or dangerously 

 hurt. 



The number of persons (estimated) killed at 

 Arica was 500 ; and not a house was left un- 

 injured. All the public edifices were destroyed, 

 including the custom-house, which contained 

 $4,000,000 wqrth of goods, all of which were 

 lost. The entire damage at Arica was esti- 

 mated at about $12,000,000. The waters rose 

 to such a height that a tidal wave, forty 

 feet high, rolled with resistless fury upon the 

 ships in the harbor and precipitated them on 

 the main-land, far beyond any point ever 

 reached before by the sea. The United States 

 storeship Fredonia and the United States 

 steamer "Wateree were both at anchor in the 

 harbor of Arica, near each other. After the 

 first shock had occurred on the land, Dr. 

 Dubois, surgeon, and the paymaster of the 

 Fredonia, took a boat and went on shore to 

 inquire for the welfare of friends, and offer 

 the services of the ship. A few moments 

 after leaving the vessel a great upheaving of 

 the waters in the bay commenced, and the 

 Fredonia, parting her chains, was tossed 

 about at the mercy of the sea, and was finally 

 dashed to pieces on a reef. Nothing of the 

 vessel was saved. Her officers and crew, 

 twenty-seven in number, were lost, also Mrs. 

 Dyer, wife of the lieutenant commanding. The 

 officers were Lieutenant B. Dyer; D. Organ, 

 master ; J. G. Cromwell, purser ; and S. Lunt, 

 secretary to the commander. The "Wateree 

 was more securely anchored, but dragged her 

 anchor, and the great tidal wave swept her four 

 hundred and fifty yards inland, about two miles 

 north of the ruined town, whore she lay be- 

 ween two hillocks of land very slightly injured. 

 Only one sailor was washed overboard and 

 drowned. Lieutenant Johnson of the Wateree 

 was ashore at the time, and, while carrying his 

 wife in his arms to some place of safety, she 

 was struck by a portion of a falling building 

 and instantly killed. The Peruvian corvette 

 America shared the same fate as the Wateree, 

 but lost three o fficersand thirty men. Com- 

 mander Gillis, of the Wateree, after the disas- 

 ter, together with Dr. Winslow and Dr. Dubois, 

 of the Fredonia, were of great service to the 

 inhabitants, dividing their provisions among 

 the suffering inhabitants, and saving many 

 lives. The American merchantman Eosa Ei- 

 vera, the English ship Chancellor (with eight 

 men), and the French bark Eduado, were lost. 

 Another writer, who witnessed the occur- 

 rences at Arica, says that toward five o'clock 

 in the afternoon a fresh breeze from the south 

 set in, but it lasted only while the damage was 

 being done. A noise like that of a tempest 

 disappearing in the distance preceded the awful 



shock of earthquake, and the ground began to 

 shake from south to north with so great force 

 that all 1 the buildings began to shed their 

 decorations, and in a few moments tumbled to 

 the ground themselves. The wooden build- 

 ings stood a few seconds longer than their 

 stone-built neighbors. All at once the cry 

 was heard "The sea! the sea!" On looking 

 toward the water, he saw at a glance that 

 he had to move rapidly to the hills or be en- 

 gulfed, for the sea had risen to an immense 

 height. He could not measure it. In an in- 

 stant it rushed impetuously on the shore, 

 which was shaking from the earthquake. The 

 vessels were at anchor in sight. They were 

 now pitched ruthlessly northward, then south- 

 ward, and tossed thus to and fro for some 

 moments by waves about thirty feet high, 

 when they were cast ashore or dashed to 

 pieces on the reefs. Five different times did 

 such a wave rise, but the last four times its 

 height was less than the first. Had the waves 

 risen a few feet higher they would have wash- 

 ed away the upper portion of the town, which, 

 however, has been rendered uninhabitable by 

 the shocks of the earth. These shocks oc- 

 curred on the first day every quarter of an 

 hour, and on the second day every hour. 



Among the curious effects of the earthquake, 

 in the vicinity of Arica, was the reported 

 opening of the earth and the appearance of a 

 large number of mummies, or dead bodies, 

 buried long ago, and preserved by various 

 causes from decay. These mummies had been 

 buried in the sand in a sitting posture, facing 

 the sea, in a cemetery covering a large area. 

 Most of them were described as having been 

 found (after the earthquake) with their hands 

 either crossed on their breasts or held up by 

 the sides of the head. A specimen of the bod- 

 ies thus strangely thrown up was recently 

 presented, by Dr. Stinson to the Chicago Acad- 

 emy of Sciences. It was the person of a fe- 

 male, probably of adult age, having jet-black 

 hair, tastefully braided down in front. The 

 age of the specimen is believed, from various 

 circumstances, to be less than two hundred 

 years. Some conjectures place the age as low 

 as fifty, or even twenty-five years. 



At Arequipa, Peru, over 600 people were 

 drowned. In a few minutes after the first 

 shock, nearly every house in the city was lev- 

 elled to the ground. Most of the inmates of 

 the prisons and hospitals perished in the de- 

 struction of those buildings. The shocks con- 

 tinued at intervals ; nearly one hundred occur- 

 ring in a space of three days. Mount Misti 

 threw out lava and smoke, and enormous quan- 

 tities of mud, and the river emitted a sulphur- 

 ous odor. Eocks and earth were constantly 

 falling from the mountains into the water. 

 Hundreds of persons were killed by being 

 crushed by falling houses when the first severe 

 shock came. At Callao the sea burst over the 

 line of houses skirting the shore, at 10 o'clock 

 at night on the 13th, completely gutting them 



