248 THE BORDERLAND OF SCIENCE. 



the terrified supplicants who had crowded thither for 

 safety, there was seen to pass over the wide expanse of 

 the stream (here four miles broad) a strange heaving 

 swell, though no wind stirred the air. The waters 

 seemed to be drawn away to meet a vast wave which 

 was now first observed to be bearing down upon the 

 devoted crowd. They strove to fly but the wave swept 

 too rapidly onwards. The whole multitude was over- 

 whelmed in a moment. A magnificent quay, lately 

 built at a great expense, was engulfed with all who 

 had crowded on it for refuge. Numberless vessels, 

 also, which were anchored on the river and were now 

 full of terrified people seeking on an unstable element 

 the security which the solid earth denied them were 

 sucked down by the tremendous wave and not a trace 

 of them was ever afterwards seen. 



A third shock followed, and again the river was 

 swept by a gigantic wave. So violently was the river 

 moved that vessels which had been riding at anchor in 

 deep water were flung upon the dry ground. Other 

 shocks and other inroads of the river-water followed, 

 each working fresh destruction, insomuch that many 

 began to believe that ' the city of Lisbon was doomed 

 to be entirely swept from the face of the earth.' 



It would be out of place to describe here at length 

 how fire and pestilence came successively to complete 

 the desolation begun by the earthquake's ravages. The 

 terrible story has been narrated elsewhere. But what 

 remains to be mentioned gives us startling evidence 



