valuable possessions.

Of the new university buildings only one wing was left standing: it was
the one containing the clock-tower, and in this the clock was still
going on, regularly striking the hours. The roof of the Episcopal Palace
had fallen in, and some stones had struck the sacred head of the bishop
with no more ceremony than had been shown towards our profane pates,
though this bishop was Don Tomaso Saldana, a man most justly held in
high repute for the excellence of his life. Much injury had also been
sustained by the President of the Republic, Senor Duenas, who was
originally a monk, but afterwards a lawyer and statesman, and perhaps
the man of the greatest capacity in the whole country.

The streets were empty and desolate, and we had to scramble over heaps
of ruins to get through them: not a creature was to be seen but a few
sentinels, and in the interior of the houses also there reigned the
stillness of the grave. Even in the broadest streets the people did
not think themselves safe, and rich and poor were huddled together
indiscriminately in the great square, praying, singing, and screaming
whenever a new shock startled them with its terrible explosion; but
fortunately, in the midst of all this, the new President, Don Jose Maria
San Martin, showed much presence of mind, and gave his orders for the
preservation of property with much composure.

[Fortunately, the previous warning shock had driven most of the
people from their houses, a chance which saved most of their
lives, though several hundreds were found buried in the ruins.]

The rising sun of Easter Monday morning shone on a mournful spectacle,
and the few people who were left in the town wandered about looking pale
and worn, the women with a total disregard of their dress very unusual
with them. Among these I noticed the wife of the President, who was
entreating him to fly, like so many others, from the scene of danger;
but he remained faithful to duty, and was exerting himself vigorously to
keep order. He had established a kind of court-martial under a tent in
the University Square, before which every thief caught in the act was
brought, and, on the evidence of two witnesses against him, immediately
shot.

Since the ruins of San Salvador could now no longer offer me a shelter,
I set off on foot, at an early hour, towards the hacienda of Mr.
Kronmeier, and on the way felt four more shocks, the strongest of which
lasted six or seve