I83S-] EFFECTS OF THE EARTHQUAKE. 221 



might have been still more impressive ; for the ruins were so mingled 

 together, and the whole scene possessed so little the air of a habitable 

 place, that it was scarcely possible to imagine its former condition. 

 The earthquake commenced at half-past eleven o'clock in the forenoon. 

 If it had happened in the middle of the night, the greater number of 

 the inhabitants (which in this one province amount to many thousands) 

 must have perished, instead of less than a hundred; as it was, the 

 invariable practice of running out of doors at the first trembling of the 

 ground, alone saved them. In Concepcion each house, or row of 

 houses, stood by itself, a heap or line of ruins; but in Talcahuano, 

 owing to the great wave, little more than one layer of bricks, tiles, and 

 timber, with here and there part of a wall left standing, could be dis- 

 tinguished. From this circumstance Concepcion, although not so com- 

 pletely desolated, was a more terrible, and, if I may so call it, 

 picturesque sight. The first shock was very sudden. The mayor- 

 domo at Quiriquina told me, that the first notice he received of it, was 

 finding both the horse he rode and himself, rolling together on the 

 ground. Rising up, he was again thrown down. He also told me that 

 some cows which were standing on the steep side of the island were 

 rolled into the sea. The great wave caused the destruction of many 

 cattle ; on one low island, near the head of the bay, seventy animals 

 were washed off and drowned. It is generally thought that this has 

 been the worst earthquake ever recorded in Chile ; but as the very 

 severe ones occur only after long intervals, this cannot easily be known ; 

 nor indeed would a much worse shock have made any great difference, 

 for the ruin was now complete. Innumerable small tremblings followed 

 the great earthquake, and within the first twelve days no less than 

 three hundred were counted. 



After viewing Concepcion, I cannot understand how the greater 

 number of inhabitants escaped unhurt. The houses in many parts 

 fell outwards ; thus forming in the middle of the streets little hillocks 

 of brickwork and rubbish. Mr. Rouse, the English consul, told us that 

 he was at breakfast when the first movement warned him to run out. 

 He had scarcely reached the middle of the court-yard, when one side 

 of his house came thundering down. He retained presence of mind to 

 remember, that if he once got on the top of that part which had already 

 fallen, he would be safe. Not being able from the motion of the 

 ground to stand, he crawled up on his hands and knees ; and no sooner 

 had he ascended this little eminence, than the other side of the house 

 fell in, the great beams sweeping close in front of his head. With his 

 eyes blinded, and his mouth choked with the cloud of dust which 

 darkened the sky, at last he gained the street. As shock succeeded 

 shock, at the interval of a few minutes, no one dared approach the 

 shattered ruins ; and no one knew whether his dearest friends and 

 relations were not perishing from the want of help. Those who had 

 saved any property were obliged to keep a constant watch, for thieves 

 prowled about, and at each little trembling of the ground, with one 

 hand they beat their breasts and cried " misericordia I " and then with 

 the other filched what they could from the ruins. The thatched roofs 



