.. 115 



He replied composedly, " It is an earthquake. Be not 

 afraid,, it will soon be over." But it increased more and 

 more : and presently we heard the church and the tower 

 fall. Upon this we ran to save ourselves ; I quickly lost 

 him, and ran toward Morgan's fort : as that was a wide 

 open place, and secure from the falling of houses. As I 

 ran I saw the earth open, and swallow up multitudes 

 of people, and the sea mounting over the fortifications. 

 1 then laid aside all thought of escape, and went home- 

 ward to meet death in -as good a posture as I could. I 

 was forced to go through two or three narrow streets : 

 the Iveuses fell on each side of me. Some bricks came 

 rolling over my shoes, but none hurt me. When: I came 

 to my lodging" I found all things in the same order that 

 I left them. I went to the balcony, and saw that no 

 bouses in our street were fallen. The people seeing me, 

 cried to me, to come and pray with them. When I 

 came into the street, every one laid hold of my clothes, 

 and embraced me. I desired them to kneel down in a 

 ring, and prayed with them near an hour, till I was al- 

 most spent, between the exercise, and the heat of the 

 sun. They then brought me n chair, the earth working 

 all the time, like the rolling of the sea, insomuch that 

 sometimes while I was at prayers, I could hardly keep on 

 my knees. By the time I had been half an hour longer 

 with them, in setting their sins before them, <md exliort- 

 ; ing them to repentance, some merchants came, and de- 

 sired me to go on board one of the ships in the harbour. 

 From the top of some houses, which lay level with the 

 water, I got into a boat, and went on board the Siani 

 Merchant. The day when this happened was exceeding 

 clear, and afforded no suspicion of evil. But about 

 half an hour past eleven, in less than three minutes, 

 Port-Royal, one of the fairest towns in the English plant- 

 ations, was shattered in pieces, and left a dreadful mo- 

 nument of the justice of God." 



About ten years after the town was rebuilt, a terrible 

 fire laid it. in ashes. Yet they rebuilt it once more. But 

 in the year 1722, a hurricane reduced it a third time to 

 a heap of rubbish. Warned by these extraordinary eu* 



