EARTHQUAKE. 35 



entirely overthrown. Thousands of the in- 

 habitants (between nine and ten thousand) 

 were buried tinder the ruins of the houses 

 and churches. The procession had not yet 

 set out ; but the crowd was so great in 

 the churches, that nearly three or four 

 thousand persons were crushed by the fall 

 of their vaulted roofs. The explosion was 

 stronger towards the North, in that part of 

 the town situate nearest the mountain of 

 Aoila and the Silla. The churches of La 

 Trinidad and Alta Gracia, which were more 

 than one hundred and fifty feet in diameter, 

 left a mass of ruins scarcely exceeding five 

 or six feet in elevation. The sinking of the 

 ruins has been so considerable, that there 

 now scarcely remain any vestiges of pillars 

 or columns. The barracks, called El Quartel 

 de San Carlos, situate further north of the 

 church of the Trinity, on the road from the 

 custom-house de la Pastora, almost entirely 

 disappeared. A regiment of troops of the 

 D 2 



