582 
small hazard to my own' life, just as we were 
going into the street, as there was one part I 
•comd not well climb over without the assist- 
ance of my hands as well as feet, l desired 
her to let go hei hold, which she did, remain- 
ing two or three feet behind me, at whir h 
time there fell a vast stone from a tottering 
wall, and crushed both her and the child m 
pieces. iSo dismal a spectacle at any other 
time would have a fleeted me in the highest 
degree ; but the dread 1 was in of --haring the 
same fate myself, and the many instances of 
the same kind which presented themselves all 
around, were too shocking to make me dwell 
a moment on this single object. 
EARTHQUAKES. 
“ I had now a long narrow street to pass, 
with the houses on each side four or five sto- 
ries high, all very old, the greater part al- 
ready thrown down, or continually falling, 
and threatening the passengers with inevitable 
death at every step, numbers of whom lay 
killed before me, or, what- 1 thought tar more 
deplorable, so bruised and wounded, that 
they could not stir to help themselves. For 
my own part, as destruction appeared to me 
unavoidable, f only wished I might be made 
an end ot at once, and not have my limbs 
broken; in which case I could expect nothing 
else but to be left upon the spot, iingenmr in 
misery, like these poor unhappy wretches, 
without receiving the least succour Irom any 
person. 
“ As self-preservation, however, is the first 
law ot nature, these sad thoughts did not so 
far prevail as to make me tot ly despan-. 1 
proceeded on as fast as I conveniently could, 
though with the utmost caution ; and having 
at length got clear or this horrid passage, 1 
found myself safe and unhurt in the large 
open space before St. Paul’s church, which 
had been thrown down a few minutes before, 
and buried a great part of the congregation, 
w hich was generally pretty numerous, tins 
being reckoned one of the most populous pa- 
rishes in Lisbon. Here 1 stood some time, 
considering what I should do; and not think- 
i n 8> myself sate in this situation, I came to the 
resolution of climbing over the ruins of the 
west end of the church, in order to get to the 
river-side, tnat I might be removed as far as 
possible from the tottering houses, in case of 
a second shock. 
I his with some difficulty I accomplish- 
ed; and here I found a prodigious concourse 
ol people, of both sexes, and of all ranks and 
conditions, among whom I observed some ot 
the principal canons ot the patriarchal church, 
in their purple robes and rochets, as these all 
go in the habit ot bishops; several priests, 
who had run Irom the altars in their sacer- 
dotal vestments, in the midst of their cele- 
brating mass ; ladies half-dressed, and some 
without shoes; all these, whom their mutual 
dangers had here assembled as to a place of 
safety, were on their knees at prayers, with 
the tenors of death in their countenances, 
every one striking his breast, and cry-ing out 
incessantly, Mwertcordia men Dios' 
c< In the midst of our devotions, the second 
great shock came on, little less violent than 
the first, and completed the ruin of those 
buildings which had been already much shat- 
tered. The consternation now became so 
universal, that the shrieks and cries of Mise- 
recordia could be distinctly heard from the 
top of St. Catherine’s hill, at a considerable 
4 
distance off, whither a vast number of people 
had likewise retreated : at the same time we 
could hear the fall ot the parish-church there, 
whereby many persons were killed on the 
spot, and others mortally- wounded. You 
may judge of the force of this shock, when 1 
inform you it was so violent that 1 could 
scarcely keep on my knees ; but it was attend- 
e ' with some circumstances still more dreadful 
than the former. On a sudden I heard a 
geneivi outcry, ‘The sea is coming in; we 
shaii be all lost.’ Upon this, turning rnv 
eyes towards the river, which in that place is 
near tour miles broad, I could perceive it 
heaving and swelling in a most unaccountable 
manner, as no wind w'as stirring: in an in- 
stant there appeared, at some small distance, 
a large body of water, rising like a mountain ; 
it came on foaming and roaring, and rushed 
towards the shore with such impetuosity, 
that we all immediately ran for our lives as 
fast as possible: many were actually swept 
away, and the rest above their waist in water 
at a good distance from the banks. For my 
own part, 1 had the narrowest escape, and 
should certainly have been lost, had I not 
grasped a large beam that lay on the ground, 
til! the water returned to its channel, which 
it did almost at the same instant w ith equal 
rapidity. As there now appeared at least 
as much danger Irom the sea as the land, and 
I scarcely kuew w hither to retire for shelter, 1 
took u sudden resolution of returning back, 
with my, clothes all dropping, to the area of 
bt. Paul’s: here 1 stood some time, and ob- 
served the ships tumbling and tossing' about, 
as in a violent storm : some had broken their 
cables, and were carried to the other side of 
the 7 agus ; others were whiffed round with 
m- redible swiftness; several large boats were 
turned keel upwards ; and all this without 
any wind, which seemed the more astonish- 
ing. It was at the time of which I am row 
speaking, that the fine new quay, built of 
rough marble, at an immense expence, was 
entirely swallowed up, with all the people on 
it, who had tied thither for safety, and had 
reason to think themselves out of danger in 
such a place; at the same time a great num- 
ber of boats and small vessels, anchored nea 
it 'all likewise full of people, who had retire*! 
thither for the same purpose), were all swal 
lowed up, as in a whirlpool, and never mon 
appeared. ^ 
7 his last dreadful, incident T did not see 
with my own eyes, as it, passed three or four 
stone’s- throws from the spot where I then 
was ; but I had the account as here given 
from several masters of ships, who were an- 
chored within two or three hundred yards of 
the quay, and saw the whole catastrophe. 
One of them informed me, that when the 
second shock came on, he could perceive the 
whole city waving backwards and forwards, 
like the sea when the wind first begins to 
rise; that the agitation of the earth was so 
great, even under the river, that it threw up 
his large anchor from the mooring, which 
swam, as he termed it, on the surface of the 
water; that immediately upon this extraor- 
dinary concussion, the river rose at once near 
20 feet, and in a moment subsided ; at which 
instant he saw the quay, with the whole con- 
course of people upon it, sink down, and at 
the same time every one of the boats and 
vessels that were near it were drawn into the 
cavity, which he supposes instantly closed 
upon them, inasmuch as not the least sign of 
a wreck was ever seen afterwards. 7 his ac- 
count you may give full credit to; for as to 
the loss of the vessels, it is continued by every- 
body ; and with regard to the quay,*! went 
myself a few days after to convince myself of 
the troth, and could not find even the ruins 
of a place, where I had taken so many agree- 
able walks, as this was the common rendez- 
vous ot the factory in the cool of the even- 
ing. 1 found it all deep water, and in some 
parts scarcely to be fathomed. 
“ This is the only place which I could Learn 
was swallowed up in or about Lisbon, though 
I saw many large cracks and fissures in dif- 
ferent parts; and one odd phenomenon £ 
must not omit, which was communicated to 
me by a friend, who had a house and wine- 
cellars on the other side of the river, viz. 
t{ la t the dwelling-house being first terribly 
shaken, which made all the family run out 
there presently fell down a vast high rock 
near it ; that upon this the river rose and 
subsided in the manner already mentioned 
and immediately a great number of small 
fissuies appeared in several contiguous pieces 
of ground, whence there spouted out like a 
jet-d’eaua large quantity ot tine white sand 
to a prodigious height. ' 
“I had not been long in the area of St. 
Pauls, when I felt the third shock; which 
though somewhat less violent than the two 
former, the sea rushed in again, and retired 
with the same rapidity, and I remained up 
to my knees m water, though I had gotten 
upon a small eminence at some distance from 
the river, with the ruins of several interven- 
ing houses to break its force. At this time 
j. 1 to °k notice the waters retired so inipetu- 
; ouriy, that some vessels were left quite dry, 
I which rode in seven-fathom water. 7 fie river 
terns ontinued alternately rushing on and re- 
tiring several times together, in such sort, 
that it was justly dreaded Lisbon would now 
meet the same tale which, in 1740, had be- 
falien the city ol Lima. 
Ierixips you may think the present 
doleful subject here concluded: but, alas! 
the horrors of the first ot November are suf- 
ficient to till a volume. As soon as it grew 
c.ark, another scene presented itself little less 
shocking than those already described. 7 he 
whom city appeared in a blaze, which was so 
bright that I could easily see to read by it. 
It may be said, without exaggeration, it was 
on fire at least in a hundred different places 
at once, and thus continued burning tor six 
days together, without intermission, or the 
least attempt being made to stop its pro- 
gress. 1 
“ f C0l) M n ^ver learn that this terrible fire 
w-as owing to any subterraneous eruption as 
some have reported; but to three causes, 
which all concurring at the same time, will na- 
turally account for the prodigious havoc it 
made. lhe first ot November being All 
Saints day, a high festival among the Portu- 
guese, every altar in every church and cha- 
pel (some of which have more than twenty) 
w as illuminated with a number of wax tapers 
and lamps, as customary: these setting fire 
to the curtains and timber-work that fell with 
the shock, the conflagration soon spread to 
the neighbouring houses; and being there 
joined with the fires in the kitchen chimneys 
increased to such a degree, that it might easily 
