EARTHQUAKE. 331 



measure flourishing. A military force of 

 three thousand men, under the command of 

 General Moreno, was stationed on the banks 

 of the Orinoco, ready to cross that river in 

 order to attack the royalists in the city of 

 Angostura ; and Colonel Xalon, with one 

 battalion, was placed at Barquisimeto, to 

 guard against any attack on that side by 

 the royalists of Coro. 



Unhappily, on the 26th of March 1812, 

 between four and five p. m., Venezuela was 

 visited by a tremendous earthquake, which 

 almost destroyed the city of Caraccas, the 

 towns of La Guayra, Mayquetia, and San 

 Felipe ; and greatly damaged those of 

 Valencia, La Vittoria, Barquisimeto, and 

 others ; causing also the death of nearly 

 twenty thousand individuals. But the mo- 

 ral effect produced by this awful convul- 

 sion of nature was still greater than its 



