268 PHILOSOPHY OF STORMS. 



that the other elements might spare, the clattering of tiles, 

 the falling of roofs and walls, and the combination of a 

 thousand other sounds, formed a hideous din, which ap- 

 palled the heart, and bewildered, if not alienated the mind. 

 No adequate idea of the sensations which then distracted 

 and confounded the faculties, can possibly be conveyed to 

 those who were distant from the scene of terror. The 

 sheltered observer of the storm, amazed and in a state of 

 stupor, was fixed to the spot where he stood ; the sight and 

 the hearing were overpowered, and the excess of astonish- 

 ment refused admission to fear. What must have been the 

 mental agonies of those wretched fugitives, who, destitute 

 of a place of refuge, were the sport of the dreadful tempest, 

 and alive to all its horrors! This unparalleled uproar 

 continued, without intermission, till half past 4, the raging 

 blast coming from the W., and other points to the south- 

 ward of it, attended with frequent dashing and pelting rain. 

 After 5 o'clock, the storm now and then for a few moments 

 abated, at which time the dreadful roar of the elements 

 having partially subsided, the falling of tiles and building 

 materials, which, by the last gust, had probably been car- 

 ried to a lofty height ; the shrieks of the suffering victims ; 

 the cries of the terrified inhabitants, and the howlings of 

 dogs, were clearly audible, and awakened the mind to an 

 apprehension of the havoc and carnage which had been, 

 and still were, desolating the colony. 



" At half past 5, after a dreadful gust from the W. S. W., 

 the wind suddenly chopped round to the E., from whence it 

 blew a moderate gale, which in a minute increased, and 

 changing to the S. E., a hurricane again raged, but unac- 

 companied by those fatal gusts, which, from the western 

 quarter, had effected so much destruction. Torrents of 

 rain at this time fell. At 6, the hurricane blew suddenly 

 and tremendously from the S., driving the sheets of rain 

 horizontally before it. This continued till 7 } when the 



