ll distance, a
large body of water, rising as it were like a mountain. It came on
foaming and roaring, and rushed toward the shore with such
impetuosity, that we all immediately ran for our lives, as fast as
possible; many were actually swept away, and the rest were above their
waists in water, at a good distance from the bank.

"For my own part, I had the narrowest escape, and should certainly
have been lost, had I not grasped a large beam that lay on the ground,
till the water returned to its channel, which it did with equal
rapidity. As there now appeared at least as much danger from the sea
as the land, and I scarce knew whither to retire for shelter, I took a
sudden resolution of returning, with my clothes all dripping, to the
area of St. Paul's. Here I stood some time, and observed the ships
tumbling and tossing about as in a violent storm. Some had broken
their cables and were carried to the other side of the Tagus; others
were whirled around with incredible swiftness; several large boats
were turned keel upward; and all this without any wind, which seemed
the more astonishing.

"It was at the time of which I am now writing, that the fine new quay,
built entirely of rough marble, at an immense expense, was entirely
swallowed up, with all the people on it, who had fled thither for
safety, and had reason to think themselves out of danger in such a
place. At the same time a great number of boats and small vessels,
anchored near it, all likewise full of people, who had retired thither
for the same purpose, were all swallowed up, as in a whirlpool, and
never more appeared.

"This last dreadful incident I did not see with my own eyes, as it
passed three or four stone-throws from the spot where I then was, but
I had the account as here given from several masters of ships, who
were anchored within two or three hundred yards of the quay, and saw
the whole catastrophe. One of them in particular informed me that when
the second shock came on, he could perceive the whole city waving
backwards and forwards, like the sea when the wind first begins to
rise; that the agitation of the earth was so great, even under the
river, that it threw up his large anchor from the mooring, which
swam, as he termed it, on the surface of the water; that immediately
upon this extraordinary concussion, the river rose at once nearly
twenty feet, and in a moment subsided; at which instant he saw the
quay, with the whole concourse of people upon