142 VOYAGES OF A NATURALIST 



that of the cathedral. All the other buildings 

 had completely coUapsed, though in some places 

 a few feet of wall stiU remained in an upright 

 position. 



The ruins of the town were becoming covered 

 by a creeping plant bearing scarlet flowers, whUe 

 bread-fruit trees were shooting up amongst the 

 broken-down houses and even in the streets. 

 The main street was stiU discernible, and, 

 although one's passage was blocked by debris 

 in many parts of the smaller thoroughfares, it 

 was quite easy to walk over a great part of the 

 town. The effects of the earthquake were such 

 that the walls of nearly all the buildings feU 

 inwards ; the whole of the roof and the tops of 

 walls of the cathedral have fallen inside the 

 building, and the same is the case with nearly all 

 the houses. 



A number of persons were searching amongst 

 the ruins for anything valuable or curious, and 

 from one of them I bought a small blue glass 

 tumbler which had been made shapeless by the 

 fierce heat to which it had been exposed. One of 

 my companions purchased a small " Crown Derby " 

 coffee cup and saucer for a shilling. One of our 

 sailors found a quantity of wire nails run together 

 into a solid block, weighing, perhaps, a couple of 

 pounds, and several similar bundles were offered 

 to us. One man was " hawking " a marble figure 

 of Venus, while another offered us a bust of the 



