U)i Sir william Hamilton’s Account of 
which died the fourth day. The girl gave me a clear account 
of her fufferings ; having light through a fmall opening, fhe 
had kept an exaft account of the number of days fhe had 
been buried. She did not feem to be in bad health, drinks 
freely, but has yet a difficulty in {Wallowing any thing folid. 
The other girl was about eleven years of age; fhe remained 
under the ruins fix days only ; but in fo very confined and 
■diftrefsful a pofture, that one of her hands, preffing againft 
her cheek, had nearly worn a hole through it. 
From Oppido I proceeded through the fame beautiful coun- 
try and ruined towns and villages to Seminara and Palmi. The 
houfes of the former were not quite in fuch a ruined condition 
as thofe of the latter, whole fituation is lower and nearer the 
fea. 1400 lives were loft at Palmi, and all the dead bodies 
have not been removed and burnt, as in moft other parts I 
vifited ; for I faw myfelf two taken up wliilft I was there, 
and I fhall ever remember a melancholy figure of a woman in 
mourning, fitting upon the ruins of her houfe, her head re- 
clined tjpon her hand and knee, and following with an anxious 
eager eye every ftroke of the pick-axe of the labourers em- 
ployed to clear away the rubbifh, in hopes of recovering the 
corpfe of a favourite child. This town was a great market for 
oil, of which there were upwards of 4000 barrels in the town 
at the time of its definition, fo that the barrels and jars being 
broken, a river of oil ran into the fea from it for many hours. 
The ftpilt oil mixed with the corn of the granaries, and the 
corrupted bodies, have had a fenfible effect on the air. This I 
fear, as the heats increafe, may prove fatal to the unfortunate 
remainder of the inhabitants of Palmi, who live in barracks 
near the ruined town. My guide told me, that he had been 
buried in the ruins of his houfe here by the firft {hock, and 
7 that 
