RECENT EARTHQUAKE WAVE ON COAST OF JAPAN 287 
of their houses for safety were drowned, crushed, or imprisoned 
there, only a few breaking through the roofs or escaping after 
the water subsided. 
Shallow water and outl}dng islands broke the force of the 
wave in some places, and in long, narrow inlets or fiords the 
giant roller was broken into two, three, and even six waves, that 
crashed upon the shore in succession. Ships and junks were car- 
ried one and two miles inland, left on hilltops, treetops, and in 
the midst of fields uninjured or mixed up with the ruins of 
houses, the rest engulfed or swept seaward. Where the wave 
entered a fiord or bay it bore everything along to the head of the 
ravine or valley and left the mass of debris in a heap at the end. 
Where the coast was low and faced the open ocean the wave 
washed in and, retreating, carried everything back with it. Many 
survivors, swept away by the waters, were cast ashore on out- 
hung islands, or seized bits of wreckage and kept afloat. On the 
open coast the wave came and withdrew within five minutes, 
while in long inlets the waters boiled and surged for nearly a 
half hour before subsiding. The best swimmers were helpless 
in the first swirl of water, and nearl}^ all the bodies recovered 
were frightfull}’- battered and mutilated, rolled over and driven 
against rocks, struck b}^ and crushed between timbers. The force 
of the wave cut down groves of large pine trees to short stumps, 
snap|)ed thick granite posts of temple gates and carried the stone 
cross-beams 300 yards away. Many jjeople were lost through 
running back to save others or to save their valuables. 
One loyal schoolmaster carried the emperor’s i)ortrait to a place 
of safety l)efore seeking out his own family. A half-demented 
soldier, retired since the late war and continuall}^ brooding on 
a possible attack l)v the enemy, became convinced that the first 
cannonading sound was from a hostile fleet, and, seizing his 
sword, ran down to the beach to meet the foe. One village officer, 
mistaking the sound of crashing timl)ers for crackling flames, ran 
to high ground to see where the (ire was, and thus saved his life. 
Another village officer, living on the edge of a hill, heard the 
crash and slid bis screens open to look upon foaming waters 
nearly level with bis veranda. In a moment the waters dis- 
appeared, leaving a black, cm jjty level where the populous village 
had been a few minutes before. Four women clung to one man, 
seeking to escape to liigli ground, and their combined weight 
resisting the force of the receding wave tlie_y were all saved. Tlie 
only survivors of another village were eight men who had been 
