XIV 
GREAT WAVE 
327 
distance of three or four miles, approaching in the middle of the 
bay with a smooth outline ; but along the shore it tore up 
cottages and trees, as it swept onwards with irresistible force. At 
the head of the bay it broke in a fearful line of white breakers, 
which rushed up to a height of 23 vertical feet above the 
highest spring-tides. Their force must have been prodigious ; 
for at the Fort a cannon with its carriage, estimated at four tons 
in weight, was moved 1 5 feet inwards. A schooner was left in 
the midst of the ruins, 200 yards from the beach. The first 
wave was followed by two others, which in their retreat carried 
away a vast wreck of floating objects. In one part of the bay 
a ship was pitched high and dry on shore, was carried off, again 
driven on shore, and again carried off. In another part two 
large vessels anchored near together were whirled about, and 
their cables were thrice wound round each other: though 
anchored at a depth of 36 feet, they were for some minutes 
aground. The great wave must have travelled slowly, for the 
inhabitants of Talcahuano had time to run up the hills behind the 
town ; and some sailors pulled out seaward, trusting successfully 
to their boat riding securely over the swell, if they could reach 
it before it broke. One old woman with a little boy, four or five 
years old, ran into a boat, but there was nobody to row it out : 
the boat was consequently dashed against an anchor and cut 
in twain ; the old woman was drowned, but the child was picked 
up some hours afterwards clinging to the wreck. Pools of salt 
water were still standing amidst the ruins of the houses, and 
children, making boats with old tables and chairs, appeared 
as happy as their parents were miserable. It was, however, 
exceedingly interesting to observe how much more active and 
cheerful all appeared than could have been expected. It was 
remarked with much truth, that from the destruction being 
universal, no one individual was humbled more than another, or 
could suspect his friends of coldness—that most grievous result 
of the loss of wealth. Mr. Rouse, and a large party whom he 
kindly took under his protection, lived for the first week in a 
garden beneath some apple-trees. At first they were as merry as 
if it had been a picnic ; but soon afterwards heavy rain caused 
much discomfort, for they were absolutely without shelter. 
In Captain Fitz Roy’s excellent account of the earthquake 
it is said that two explosions, one like a column of smoke and 
