EFFECTS OF AN EARTHQUAKE.
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thrown ; and scarce could the strongest man keep his footing. The island shook from its very centre ; and in many parts the ground opened, and emitted columns of noxious sulphureous water. The sea felt the powerful hand of its Maker, and rose several feet above its highest mark ; while in some parts it dashed up the streets to the distance of many yards. The excess of terror occasioned by this awful throe of Nature was so great, that many individuals threw themselves over the wharfs, and sought refuge in the treacherous waves. Still their fears were not allayed ; for the sea was so turbulent that they were under the necessity of again seeking dry land to save themselves from being engulfed in its yawning abyss. The legislature met at government-house on the 13th, (the court-house being in an unsafe condition,) by special command, to take into consideration the best way of averting, as far as human endeavours could, the direful results likely to accrue from the late calamity. A grant of 500l. currency was placed at the disposal of a committee, for the purpose of supporting the roof and plate of the cathedral, and rendering it in some measure safe for divine worship. The vestry met on the 24th March, under the tents, and among other resolutions agreed to make a record of the event in the church books. The dock-yard at English Harbour—the pride of the Caribbee Islands—has suffered greatly ; the excellent wharfs racked and rent ; in some places they sank down to the level of the sea, in others, they were heaved up and down, like the billows of the great deep ; the massy stone and brick buildings erected within the yard were nearly all of them injured ; the officers' quarters severely rent; the cordage stores, &c, cracked from top to bottom ; the fine capacious cisterns ruined. The superintendent's office, &c, was also much impaired and rent ; and the stone platform which ran along the commissioners' room moved out of its place, and the pavement beneath literally wrested up. The guard-house and midshipmen's quarters were greatly damaged, and