Ill Concerning a Hurricane 43 



the harbour of St. Thomas just after the island had 

 been devastated by the hurricane and earthquake of 

 November 1867. Writing to his wife, he said: 'I 

 suppose that you have heard, by this time, at least 

 something of the horrors of St. Thomas. It is 

 quite impossible to give you the faintest description 

 of the scene. Ships — smashed, divided, and dis- 

 torted in every possible way — are positively piled 

 one on the top of the other. Close to where we 

 are now anchored are the parts of two, — one 

 an enormous sailing vessel, the other a first-class 

 steamer, — and, crushed and splintered beneath these, 

 the wreckage of others is visible. There were at 

 least fifty, some say seventy -five wrecks. The 

 harbour is almost surrounded by bright green hills, 

 now smiling in the sunshine, and, at first sight, the 

 pretty town with its many- coloured roofs seems 

 untouched ; it is only on entering it that one sees 

 the fearful effect of the storm and the earthquake. 

 The earthquakes are, indeed, going on even now, 

 and it is ticklish work walking among the shattered 

 houses expecting a fresh shock every moment. 

 None, however, came whilst I was on shore, though 

 there have been seven since we first entered the 

 harbour, but they were not sufficiently severe to be 

 felt on board ship. We were lucky to have escaped 

 so narrowly. A French steamer which left Europe 

 the day before we did has not been heard of yet, 

 and it is thought that she must have foundered in 

 the gale which so nearly did for us.' 



