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CHARLES DARWIN 



how terrific would be the carnage! England would at once 

 be bankrupt; all papers, records, and accounts would from 

 that moment be lost. Government being unable to collect 

 the taxes, and failing to maintain its authority, the hand of 

 violence and rapine would remain uncontrolled. In every 

 large town famine would go forth, pestilence and death fol- 

 lowing in its train. 



Shortly after the shock, a great wave was seen from the 

 distance of three or four miles, approaching in the middle 

 of the bay with a smooth outline; but along the shore it tore 

 up cottages and trees, as it swept onwards with irresistible 

 force. At the head of the bay it broke in a fearful line of 

 white breakers, which rushed up to a height of 23 vertical 

 feet above the highest spring-tides. Their force must have 

 been prodigious ; for at the Fort a cannon with its carriage, 

 estimated at four tons in weight, was moved 15 feet inwards. 

 A schooner was left in the midst of the ruins, 200 yards 

 from the beach. The first wave was followed by two others, 

 which in their retreat carried away a vast wreck of floating 

 objects. In one part of the bay, a ship was pitched high 

 and dry on shore, was carried off, again driven on shore, and 

 again carried off. In another part, two large vessels anchored 

 near together were whirled about, and their cables were thrice 

 wound round each other ; though anchored at a depth of 36 

 feet, they were for some minutes aground. The great wave 

 must have travelled slowly, for the inhabitants of Talca- 

 huano had time to run up the hills behind the town; and 

 some sailors pulled out seaward, trusting successfully to their 

 boat riding securely over the swell, if they could reach it 

 before it broke. One old woman with a little boy, four or 

 five years old, ran into a boat, but there was nobody to row 

 it out: the boat was consequently dashed against an anchor 

 and cut in twain ; the old woman was drowned, but the child 

 was picked up some hours afterwards clinging to the wreck. 

 Pools of salt-water were still standing amidst the ruins of 

 the houses, and children, making boats with old tables and 

 chairs, appeared as happy as their parents were miserable. 

 It was, however, exceedingly interesting to observe, how 

 much more active and cheerful all appeared than could have 

 been expected. It was remarked with much truth, that from 



