314 MITCHILL ON THE EARTHQUAKES AT VENEZUELA. 



was full, and every one was shaken to the earth. To the amount of 

 nine hundred or one thousand persons can be counted in two churches, 

 all having perished. Not a house in Caraccas is inhabited. The 

 people have, as well as here, left the place, and raised tents in the open 

 fields. 



" I was a witness to the interment of about fifty, who, on their knees, 

 were imploring the protection of the Divinity, and who, at a less dis- 

 tance than twenty steps, were covered by the falling of two houses." 



The fourth of these pieces I shall add, is dated April 4th, 1812, at 

 Laguira, and is as follows : 



" A very heavy earthquake, which took place here on the 26th ult. 

 has laid this town in total ruins; not a house standing except a few 

 which are so shaken and shattered as to be uninhabitable. The city of 

 Caraccas, fifteen miles distant, is in a still more deplorable condition. 

 There a total fall of all the houses has been effected. In Laguira the 

 custom-house is still standing, but is cracked in many places. The killed 

 in Caraccas are estimated at nine thousand. In Laguira, at one thou- 

 sand five hundred. My own escape is miraculous, for I was amidst 

 the destruction in Caraccas, whither multitudes of people had gone in 

 consequence of the great holydays, which began on the very day of the 

 earthquake. The houses in the street where I walked did not fall 

 immediately. I ran to the market square, which was close by; there 

 were five of us in company, only three survived. As soon as the earth 

 began to shake, the Spaniards dropt on their knees; had they run like 

 the strangers, many more of them would have escaped." 



For the relief of the sufferers by these calamitous occurrences, con- 

 gress passed an act appropriating fifty thousand dollars for the purchase 

 of flour. This donation was promptly forwarded to Venezuela, in ves- 

 sels chartered for the purpose ; and the transaction is worthy of being 



