14 



sinking of the ruins has been so considerable, 

 that there now scarcely remain any vestiges of 

 pillars or columns. The barracks, called El 

 Quart el de San Carlos, situate farther north of 

 the church of the Trinity, on the road from the 

 Custom-house de la Pastora, almost entirely dis- 

 appeared. A regiment of troops of the line, 

 that was assembled under arms, ready to join 

 the procession, was, with the exception of a few 

 men, buried under the ruins of this great edifice. 

 Nine tenths of the fine town of Caraccas were 

 entirely destroyed. 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 impossible 

 to run the risk of inhabiting them. The effects 

 of the earthquake were somewhat less violent in 

 the western and southern parts of the city, be- 

 tween the principal square and the ravin of 

 Caraguata. There, the cathedral, supported 

 by enormous buttresses, remains standing *. 



Estimating at nine or ten thousand the num- 

 ber of the dead in the city of Caraccas, we do 

 not include those unhappy persons, who, danger- 

 ously wounded, perished several months after, 

 for want of food and proper care. The night of 

 Holy Thursday presented the most distressing 



* Sur le Tremblement de Terre de Venezuela, en 1812, par 

 M. Deipeche. MS. 



