ut there at least they were visible enemies of flesh and blood
with whom people had to contend; but here were unknown, terrific,
incalculable forces at work, of whose nature they had only the vaguest
idea. The shocks went on, sometimes stronger, sometimes weaker, and with
very brief intervals, until, by the evening of Easter Monday, one
hundred and twenty had been counted, and they were accompanied all the
time by hollow thunder and detonations, as if a tremendous battle were
raging beneath the earth. People now abandoned all thoughts of their
property, and sought only to save their lives, for, with the continual
oscillations of the ground in all directions, rents and chasms were
opening on it, so that no one knew whether it might not the next moment
yawn beneath their feet and engulf every living soul. After every new
shock I noticed that the people changed their prayers and the names of
the saints they were invoking; but whether the saints did not hear, or
could not or would not help them, the subterranean artillery continued
to bellow forth its fearful salvos with unmitigated fury.

Towards one in the morning, one of my acquaintances came climbing over
the ruined wall of our court-yard to inquire after me, as he knew I
was unwell; and he then proposed to me to take a walk through the town
by moonlight. We took the direction of the market-place, where the
Cathedral stood; and from what I saw I can truly say that the whole city
was destroyed, for I did not see a _single_ house uninjured. Those that
were not lying in ruin had so many rents, and damages of various kinds,
as to be quite uninhabitable. The Cathedral--an elegant rather than
imposing building--had escaped with less damage than many other
churches; but the clock-tower had fallen, the portal was lying in
fragments, and the walls were gaping open in two or three places.

The interior of the Franciscan convent, the door of which stood wide
open, presented a sad picture of desolation. So many stones had fallen
from the roof and such large portions of the walls, that most of the
altars lay scattered in fragments, or were covered with rubbish; several
of the colossal figures of saints had fallen from the niches, and lay
with their finery all covered with dust and stones; but the people, who
the day before had been carrying them about in triumph, now did not
trouble themselves any more about them: everybody was occupied in saving
his life, or, if possible, his most