The Hurricane in St. Vincent. 67 
family were in the greatest danger and exposed to the 
greatest hardships. He perceived from the increasing 
violence of the gale that the house must give way and 
kept his eye intently fixed on the stone kitchen (which 
in this country is always a detached building) as the 
safest place of retreat, and watched for a favourable 
opportunity to escape. Just as the house was giving 
way he rushed to the door, leading Mrs. McLeod and 
his child by either hand and was descending the flight 
of stone steps when to his dismay he saw the roof of 
the kitchen coming to meet them ; they had just time 
to get under the arch of the steps and to escape instant 
death. Here they remained until the wind fairly blew 
them out, and then though the rain fell in torrents, they 
were compelled to lie down with their heads against 
the side of the steps, to avoid the flying beams and 
rafters which darted through the arch they had just left 
with the velocity of shot from cannon. As the storm 
moderated, Mr. McLeod took them to the kitchen, now 
deprived of its roof, and seated them near the dresser, — 
and being a powerful man, he obtained from the house 
a mattress, which he placed over them, but from the 
incessant torrents of rain they were soon seated in a 
pool of water, to avoid which he once more sallied out 
and brought another mattress which he placed under 
them, and there they remained till the hurricane was 
over. When I visited them shortly afterwards to offer 
the ladies any articles of apparel from home that they 
might require, as theirs were either buried in ruins, or 
covered with mud, I found Mr. and Mrs. MCLEOD, Mr. 
and Mrs. Sutherland, and the children all seated in 
a little room, 10 or 12 feet square, without a roof to the 
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