Aug.] THE EARTHQUAKE. 113 



violent agitation. He fortunately got into the street before the house 

 fell ; the next moment the earth was rent asunder, leaving a tremen- 

 dous chasm ! 



" The objects on all sides," said he, " the screams of the dying, the 

 cries of the fugitives, and the dangers which surrounded me, filled my 

 mind with the most awful emotions. At length I was rescued from my 

 perilous situation by one of my friends, and took refuge on board the 

 shipping. But every two or three hours afterward there was a new 

 convulsion of the earth, which communicated itself to the water, and 

 sensibly affected the repose of the vessels." 



Another gentleman, a Bostonian, then residing at Valparaiso, de- 

 scribed his sensations nearly in the following terms : — " On the 

 eighteenth," said he, " we had been removing to another building, and 

 the goods, furniture, Sic. were piled up loose and promiscuously about 

 the room where we slept, not having had time to stow them away. 

 We were in bed, and all the lights extinguished, on a second floor, high 

 from the street, and unacquainted with the passage out. I will not 

 attempt to describe the horror of the moment when the first shock was 

 felt. The sound resembled a long-continued peal of thunder. The 

 brick floor under us rattled ; the tenders over our heads cracked ; while 

 the lime and the dust from the crumbling mud-walls almost suffocated 

 us. The whole edifice rolled and trembled like a ship in a heavy 

 short sea. We finally effected our escape to the street, where the 

 tiles and other missiles were falling around us like hail. The shrieks of 

 women, the cries of children, and the voices of men were heard in 

 every direction ; and people of all classes were running almost naked 

 through the streets, calling on saints for mercy and protection." 



Mr. Hogan then related an anecdote, which all the gentlemen pres* 

 ent assured me was a fact. He said that a few days after the earth- 

 quake, a number of priests drew up a petition for the expulsion of all 

 the English and Americans (or heretics, as they termed them) that 

 resided at Valparaiso, as being the cause of the earthquake and its 

 attendant calamities, by their not belonging to the true church. They 

 applied to the oldest judge of the city to obtain his signature to head 

 the list of petitioners. His reply was, " How can you attribute this 

 affliction to the wickedness of the ' Anglices? when .their houses are 

 most of them standing, and all their lives spared, as witnesses of their 

 innocence ; while you, who call yourselves good Catholics, with all 

 your prayers, and the assistance of patron saints, could not save our 

 churches, houses, and hundreds of the true faith from utter destruction ? 

 As for myself, on the night of the earthquake, with the rest of my family, 

 I was taken from impending ruin by an American, at the imminent risk 

 of his life,when no countryman of my own would come to my assistance ; 

 I shall therefore not subscribe to any such thing." 



I could not depart from Valparaiso without taking a more particular 

 leave of the consul, and tendering him the sincere homage of my 

 esteem and respect. He received me and parted from me as a father 

 would with a favourite son. The warm cordiality of his manners, 

 united with the sprightliness and intelligence of his conversation, en- 

 livened by anecdotes of all parts of the world, endear him to every 



H 



