202 Sir william Hamilton’s Account of 
twenty- four unhappy people, tearing up trees, and leaving 
1'ome hundred weight of fhh it had brought with it on the dry 
land. He told me, he had been himlejf covered with the 
wave, and with difficulty faved his life. He at flrffc laid the 
water was hot ; but as I was curious to come at the truth of 
this faft, which would have concluded much, I alked him if 
he was very fure of it ? and being prefled, it came to be no more 
than the water having been as warm as it ufually is in rum- 
mer. He faid, the wave rofe to a great height, and came on 
with noife, and fuch rapidity that it was impoffible to efcape. 
The tower on the point was half deftroyed, and a poor prieffc 
that was in it loft his life. From hence I eroded over toScilia. 
Having met with my friend the Padre Aiinali, a Dominican 
friar, a worthy man and an able naturalift, who is a native of 
Scilla, and is a dlually employed by the Academy of Naples to 
give a defeription of the phenomena that have attended the 
earthquake in thefe parts, with his aflidance on the fpot, 
T perfectly underftood the nature of the formidable wave that 
was faid to have been boiling hot, and had certainly proved 
fatal to the baron of the country, the Prince of Scilla, who 
was fwept off the lliore into the fea by this wave, with 2473 
of his unfortunate fubjefls. The following is the fact. The 
Prince of Scilla having remarked, that during the firff horrid 
Ihock (which happened about noon the 5th of February) part 
of a rock near Scilla had been detached into the fea, and fear- 
ing that the rock of Scilla, on which his caftle and town is 
fituated, might alfo be detached, thought it fafer to pre- 
pare boats, and retire to a little port or beach furrounded 
by rocks at the foot of the rock. The fecond fhoek of the 
earthquake, after midnight, detached a whole mountain, 
(much higher than that of Scilla, and partly calcareous, 
7 and 
