37 
The government, took prompt measures, at once issuing a 
proclamation in Quezaltenango that anyone found looting 
would be summarily shot and that any doctor leaving the 
town would be dealt with in like manner. 
For some three days the town was absolutely cut off from 
the rest of the world. The telegraph wires were down all 
over the country. The survivors were threatened seriously 
with famine. The Indians who were accustomed to bring 
supplies daily thought that the “ Xivalvaj,” or evil spirit, was 
stalking among the ruins, and refused to come near the ill- 
fated town. After a few days the authorities alleviated the 
distress somewhat by ordering a few mules and horses to be 
slaughtered daily and distributed in the plaza among the 
poorer inhabitants. 
During the week following, shocks were incessant, but 
towards the end of May everything became quiet again. In 
July rebuilding operations were begun. On September 23rd 
a heavy earthquake again shook the country side and shocks 
became frequent. On October 24th a great eruption of the 
Santa Maria occurred. This volcano is 12,000 feet high. It 
had not previously been known to be active. From summit 
to base the whole mountain was clothed with mighty forests. 
In April the Lecturer had been to the summit and found there 
the vestiges of a small crater, but no signs of any activity. 
The scene of the eruption was on the slopes of the mountain, 
about 6,000 feet above sea-level, and in a direct line between 
the summit and the Pacific Ocean and some 100 miles from 
the town of Guatemala. The first paroxysms of the eruption 
lasted 3 days, and during that period the whole of the sur- 
rounding district was wrapped in complete darkness. The 
greater part of the southern side of the mountain was blown 
away. The area of destruction was immense ; all the country 
between the volcano and the Mexican frontier, 600 square 
miles, was completely devastated. Ashes fell at the frontier, 
60 miles away, to a depth of 13 or 14 inches, and fell in a 
thin layer at Acapulco, in Mexico, 600 miles away. Captain 
Saunders, of the Pacific Mail S.S. Newport, took measurements 
of the cloud of ejecta, which was found to be 17 or 18 miles 
in height. 
The scene of the disaster was one of the richest coffee zones 
in the country, and preparations for the crop, requiring a 
great deal of additional labour, were just beginning at the 
time. The Indians working on the estates and the people 
in the villages were trapped where they were, without chance 
of escape. Flow great the loss of life was nobody will ever 
