CONSEQUENCES OF THE QUAKE 91 



rising, or the trees on the roadside waving and 

 bowing. In some places they bowed to each other 

 in the strangest way, as the ground rose and fell, 

 with the passing of the great air-bubble beneath, 

 but he saw it not, and we had to describe it all to 

 him. Then he and I went upstairs together ; some 

 of the servants timidly followed us, thinking if we 

 dared to go, then they could also. On the stairs 

 we found masses of plaster and dust only. In the 

 drawing-room, strange to say, the furniture and 

 china were still in their original positions, but great 

 lumps of cornice had come down ; and from over 

 every door, 6 feet or more of thick plaster had 

 detached itself from the bricks, and had fallen over 

 everything. A great Satsuma vase, 5 feet high, 

 was broken, but that seemed to be all. The ceiling 

 looked dreadfully cracked, and we dreaded the rain. 

 In the west bedrooms, the same kind of thing had 

 happened; but in addition, a great round tower, 

 leading, with a circular staircase, from the ground 

 to the roof, was wrenched right off the main build- 

 ing, and there was a gaping rent open to the 

 sky. The tower looked as if one push would send 

 it down headlong ; so we shut and barred the door 



