c diseases bred by the
stagnant pools and the decaying carcases of men and animals. The greater
number were buried amid the ruins of the houses, while others perished
in the fires that were kindled in most of the towns, particularly in
Oppido, where the flames were fed by great magazines of oil. Not a few,
especially among the peasantry dwelling in the country, were suddenly
engulfed in fissures. Many who were only half buried in the ruins, and
who might have been saved had there been help at hand, were left to
die a lingering death from cold and hunger. Four Augustine monks at
Terranuova perished thus miserably. Having taken refuge in a vaulted
sacristy, they were entombed in it alive by the masses of rubbish,
and lingered for four days, during which their cries for help could be
heard, till death put an end to their sufferings.

Of still more thrilling interest was the case of the Marchioness
Spastara. Having fainted at the moment of the first great shock, she was
lifted by her husband, who, bearing her in his arms, hurried with her to
the harbor. Here, on recovering her senses, she observed that her infant
boy had been left behind. Taking advantage of a moment when her husband
was too much occupied to notice her, she darted off and, running back
to the house, which was still standing, she snatched her babe from its
cradle. Rushing with him in her arms towards the staircase, she
found the stair had fallen--cutting off all further progress in that
direction. She fled from room to room, pursued by the falling materials,
and at length reached a balcony as her last refuge. Holding up her
infant, she implored the few passers-by for help; but they all, intent
on securing their own safety, turned a deaf ear to her cries. Meanwhile
the mansion had caught fire, and before long the balcony, with the
devoted lady still grasping her darling, was hurled into the devouring
flames.

CHAPTER XVII.

The Charleston and Other Earthquakes of the United States.

The twin continents of America have rivalled the record of the Old World
in their experience of earthquakes since their discovery in 1492. The
first of these made note of was in Venezuela in 1530, but they have been
numerous and often disastrous since. Among them was the great shock at
Lima in 1746, by which 18,000 were killed, and those at Guatemala in
1773, with 33,000, and at Riobamba in 1797, with 41,000 victims. It
will, however, doubtless prove of more interest to