THE PER UriAN TIDAL WA VE. 285 



deijosifc, including supplies, can be set down at not less than 3,000,000 soles, 

 more than double the loss experienced b}^ the earthquake of 1868. The 

 damage in the port of Constitucion, 120 miles to the southward of Yalpa- 

 raiso, was quite severe, several vessels being stranded and some of them 

 totally destroyed. Ashore, the alarm was great, all the inhabitants flying 

 to the hills, but up to the latest accounts there was no loss of life. Valpa- 

 raiso seemed to enjoy a total exemption from loss. In Arequipa nothino- 

 more than a terrible fright was suffered. In Chanaral, Chili, about half 

 past 8 p. M., on the 9th of May, a strong shock was felt, lasting for about 

 three minutes. In the confusion a paraffine lamp upset in a house, and in a 

 moment the edifice was in a blaze and the fire rapidly spread. While the 

 greater part of the poj)ulation was engaged trying to repress the conflagra- 

 tion, the sea was observed coming in, and it completed the destruction. The 

 loss of life is confined to two persons, and two thieves were shoL while de- 

 tected in plundering. The damage to propertj^ will exceed $200,000. In 

 Antofogasea forty or fifty houses were completely destroyed, seventeen 

 launches thrown on the beach and three sunk with cargo. Mejillones is rep- 

 resented as totally destroyed, as were Cobija and Tocopilla. The store ship 

 of the P. S. N. Co, has disappeared entirely, the family of the master of the 

 hulk being on board at the time. In the vicinity of Chanavaya the loss of 

 life was very heavy, nearly sixty men being killed by falling rocks that 

 came down from the heights. The town of Chanavaya has completely dis- 

 appeared, and large numbers were drowned, especially women and children. 

 At Punta de Lobos considerable damage was done to the shij^ping, and 

 nearly all of the buildings were destroyed. The unsheltered inhabitants are 

 suffering untold miseries, and at the latest advices were on the verge of 

 starvation. At Carrizoe Bajo, in Chili, the shock was very severe, and the 

 steamer Luis Cousins was driven ashore many times, her hull suffering se- 

 verely. At Pisco the damage to property and shipping was heavy, but no 

 loss of life was experienced, although the houses in the town were nearlv 

 all destroyed. The Times gives a list of vessels totally destroyed, aggre- 

 gating over fifty, and details of serious injuries to about seventy-five more. 

 In addition to the disaster in Bolivia already reported by telegraph, all the 

 people in one of the mines in Pera Blanca are known to have been smothered. 

 The damage to Pabellon de Pica by the latest advices is summarized as fol- 

 lows : Over two hundred lives lost, five vessels sunk, twenty-seven so badly 

 damaged as to be unable to leave the port. As nearly as can be ascertained 

 the total loss of life in the visited district will aggregate fully 1,500, and the 

 loss of property is enormous. 



The San Francisco Bulletin says: "The more detailed statement of the 

 late earthquake in Peru received from New York, gives the date of the oc- 

 currence as the 9th, but the compiler provokingly omitted the hour of the 

 day. The first report of the convulsion, received by the roundabout way 

 of London,. gave the date as the 10th. But a calculation of the time at 

 which the tidal wave which followed the earthquake manifested itself at 



