EARTHQUAKE. 



51 



up, cast away their music and work, and flew in 

 the most frantic manner out of the house, scream- 

 ing aloud, Misericordia ! misericordia ! beating 

 their breasts at the same time, and looking terri- 

 fied beyond description. I was astonished, but 

 followed the company into the street, calling out 

 Misericordia as loud as any of them. It was 

 a bright moonlight evening, and the street, from 

 end to end, was filled with people ; some, only 

 half dressed, having just leaped from their beds 

 — children, snatched from their sleep, were cry- 

 ing in all directions— many carried lights in their 

 hands — in short, such a scene of wild confusion 

 and alarm I never beheld ; all apparently occa- 

 sioned by a spontaneous movement, or at least 

 without any visible motive. After standing in 

 the street for about a minute, the whole crowd 

 turned round again and ran into their houses, so 

 that, in the course of a few seconds^ the hubbub 

 was stilled, and n9t a mortal was to be seen. 



On returning to the room, I begged to know 

 the cause of this amazing commotion, having a 

 vague idea of its forming some part of a religious 

 ceremony, when, to my surprise, I learnt that it 



