36 EARTHQUAKE. 

 • 



line, that was assembled under arms, ready- 

 to join the procession, was, with the ex- 

 ception of a few men, buried under the 

 ruins of this great edifice. Nine-tenths of 

 the fine town of Caraccas were entirely de- 

 stroyed. The walls of the houses that were 

 not thrown down, as those of the street 

 San Juan, near the Capuchin hospital, were 

 cracked in such a manner that it was impos- 

 sible to run the risk of inhabiting them. 

 The effects of the earthquake were some- 

 what less violent in the western and south- 

 ern parts of the city, between the principal 

 square and the ravine of Caraquata. There 

 the cathedral, supported by enormous but- 

 tresses, remains standing. 



Estimating at nine or ten thousand the 

 number of the dead in the city of Carac- 

 cas, we do not include those unhappy per- 

 sons who, dangerously wounded, perished 



