1832.] 
EARTHQUAKES. 
451 
panas (open places), expecting no less, at every concussion of the 
earth, than a mournful termination of their existence. And well 
might they think so ; as not only the moon, and the spangled fir- 
mament in which she rode, were suddenly obscured, but the at- 
mosphere thickened with the heavy volume of dust, thrown off 
by the continued and terrible movements of the earth ! 
The morning of the thirtieth arrived, adding sorrow to sorrow, 
and grief to grief! At four in the afternoon the whole city was 
again thrown into consternation, at the appalling news that the 
ocean was bursting from its confines — had overleaped its bounds — 
and was rolling in with such power as soon to overwhelm and de- 
stroy every thing that had life in the city ! Here language must 
fail ; nor can the most vivid imagination conceive the confusion of 
the terror-stricken inhabitants of Lima ! Who can wonder, if many 
of them thought the day of doom was at hand ? The moon and 
stars obscured ! — earthquakes in quick succession ! — " distress 
and perplexity ! — the sea and waves roaring ! — men's hearts fail- 
ing them for fear !"* 
One tumultuous and simultaneous rush was made for the neigh- 
bouring mountains, with the hope of finding on their summits 
some safety from the approaching waters ! The crowd moved 
on, some shouting in wild and unnatural accents, and others seek- 
ing among those whom they met for priests, to whom they might 
confess their sins, and from whom they might receive absolution 
for their souls ! Indeed, every mortal in the city appeared to be 
an actor in the general tragedy ! The nuns and hiatas, and las 
Esposas de Jesu Christo, accustomed to live in retirement within 
the cells of their cloisters— were seen leaving the ruins of their 
convents, and, with the multitude, seeking in flight security for 
their lives ! 
Until after five o'clock in the evening, did the flight and con- 
sternation of the citizens continue ; when it became known that 
the sea was still confined within its usual boundaries. But no 
one can be surprised that the population should have believed the 
report of its heaving in ; not only because evil news seldom proves 
false, but on account of the recent destruction of the castle of 
Callao, and that of its inhabitants, by the waves of the sea, only 
* Luke xxi. 25. 
F f 2 
