Part 18 (2/2)
”You'll not put to sea to-day,” said my friend; ”nor for many a day to come, if I mistake not; but we'll make our way to the harbour, and see how things are going on there.”
On reaching it we found the sea already lashed into a ma.s.s of seething foam. The larger vessels strained at their anchors, some tossing and tumbling about, others already overwhelmed by the waves. It was with difficulty we could stand our ground.
”Unless the hurricane pa.s.ses by, for hurricane it is, not one of those vessels will escape destruction,” said Mr Ringer. As he spoke, one of them parted from her cables and drove towards the sh.o.r.e.
”We must beat a rapid retreat if we wish to save our lives,” he continued; ”the tempest is down upon us!”
The wind, which had previously blown from the south-east, suddenly s.h.i.+fted to the southward.
Grasping my arm, he hurried me off from the spot on which we were standing. At the same time down came a deluge of rain--not in mere drops, but in regular sheets of water. It wetted us to the skin in a few moments. Larry, now seizing my other arm, dragged me forward. As we looked back for a moment, we observed the sea rising in a mountain billow, hissing and foaming, and approaching the sh.o.r.e. It was but the first, however, of others still larger which were to follow. It broke with a thundering roar,--the water rushed on, flowing by the spot we had already reached; but even though we were nearly up to our knees, I couldn't resist taking another glance behind. The whole ocean was covered with wreck; and one of the larger vessels I had seen just before, had disappeared beneath the surface.
As we hurried on, crash succeeded crash. First one house fell, then another, and another, and from some bright flames burst forth, which even the descending rain failed to quench. It was useless to attempt saving the lives of our fellow-creatures, for the same destruction would have overtaken us. Our great object was to reach the higher country in the direction of the barracks. Had Larry and I been alone, we should in all probability have lost our lives; but Mr Ringer, knowing the town, led us quickly through it by the shortest route. As we dashed through the streets, scarcely looking to the right hand or to the left, piercing cries of agony and despair struck on our ears. The smaller and more lightly built houses were levelled in a moment, and many even of the larger were crumbling away.
”Don't you wish to go to your own house? if so, we must not stop you; we will go with you,” I said to Mr Ringer.
”We should only be crushed by the falling ruins if we made the attempt,”
he answered at the top of his voice, and even then I could scarcely hear what he said. ”I'll try and get to it from the rear when I have seen you out of the town.”
Not far off from where we then were was a fine house, that had hitherto withstood the hurricane. Presently a blast struck us which, had we not clung together, would have blown us down. At the same time, looking up, I saw the house literally rocking. Down came one wall, and then another, the roof fell in, and in one instant it was a heap of shapeless ruins.
”I trust the inmates have escaped,” cried Mr Ringer.
Just then loud shrieks and cries for help struck on our ears. They came, it seemed, from beneath the ruins. We could not withstand the appeal for a.s.sistance, and calculating as well as we could in what direction the still standing walls would fall, we sprang forward, taking a course to avoid them across the ma.s.s of ruins. An arch, which had apparently formed the centre of a pa.s.sage, was yet uninjured, though blocked up. The cries seemed to us to come from thence. We should find, we knew, great difficulty in removing the _debris_ which enc.u.mbered it, and the walls might at any moment fall down and crush us.
Still Larry and I, having climbed to the top of the heap, began pulling away the beams and planks and rubbish which stopped up the entrance.
Mr Ringer joined us, though evidently considering our occupation a very dangerous one. However, we persevered, and at length had made an opening sufficiently large to look in. We could see two ladies, an old gentleman, and a mulatto servant.
”We have come to help you,” I cried out. ”If you'll climb up here you'll be free, and there may yet be time, Mr Ringer thinks, to reach the open country.”
Mr Ringer joining us, the two gentlemen recognised each other.
”What, Martin! Glad to see you safe,” said the former. ”Come, get out of that place as fast as possible.”
Encouraged by us, the youngest of the ladies first made the attempt, and succeeded in getting high enough to reach our hands. The old lady followed, though unless Mr Martin and the mulatto girl had shoved behind, we should have found it impossible to have got her through. Mr Martin and the girl followed.
As may be supposed, we didn't stop longer on the ruins than was necessary, but scrambling over them, again reached the open street.
Scarcely were we there before down came the remaining wall, with a crash which broke in the arch. It would certainly have destroyed Mr Martin and his family had they been there. The event showed us clearly the importance of getting out of the town. It seemed scarcely possible that any one pa.s.sing through the narrow streets could escape being killed.
Even in the broader ones the danger of being crushed was fearful. Mr Ringer a.s.sisted Mrs Martin, I offered my aid to the young lady, and Larry took charge of the old gentleman, who required helping as much as his wife and daughter. I had forgotten all about my lameness. We of course were somewhat delayed in our progress. Now we had to scramble over fallen walls--now we narrowly escaped being killed by ma.s.ses of masonry and timber falling around us.
At length the open was reached, and we made our way to some higher ground overlooking the bay. We had reason to be thankful that we were out of the town. Providentially we reached a small stone building, which afforded us some shelter from the driving rain and furious wind, against which it was impossible to stand alone. The bay, as we looked down upon it, presented a fearful scene. The whole sh.o.r.e was strewn with ma.s.ses of wreck. Not a small craft had escaped, and the largest, with all anchors down, were tossing about, and seemed every moment likely to be engulfed. The town itself was a heap of ruins, scarcely a house was standing, and none had escaped injury. In some places flames were raging, which would have set fire to other houses had it not been for the ma.s.s of water descending on them, while even amid the uproar of the elements we could hear the shrieks and cries of the inhabitants who still survived. Presently another immense wave rolled into sight, out of the dense mist which now shrouded the ocean. On it came with a tremendous roar. The first vessel it reached was in a moment buried beneath it. We thought the others would share the same fate, but the cables parted, and they were borne on the summit of the wave high up above the beach. On, on it came. Mr Ringer shouted out to us to escape; and he had reason to do so, for it seemed as if the wave would overwhelm the spot where we stood. Though the water swept up a portion of the height, the wave broke before it reached it, leaving the _Princess Royal_ high and dry on the sh.o.r.e, while it receded, roaring and hissing, carrying off everything in its course. The crew of the stranded s.h.i.+p had good cause to be thankful for their escape. On again looking towards the town, we saw that the sea had swept away many of the houses in the lower part, while the water rushed through the streets, extinguis.h.i.+ng some of the fires, and must have overwhelmed all caught in its embrace. Mr Ringer proposed that we should make our way to the barracks, but the ladies were unwilling to encounter the storm, and begged to remain where they were. Evening was now approaching, but the hurricane gave no signs of abating. In whatever direction we looked we could see its dire effects. Not a shrub, not a cane, remained standing.
Every tree had been blown down. It seemed as if a vast scythe had pa.s.sed over the land. The uproar continued as loud as before.
”This is a mighty curious country,” shouted Larry to me. ”It beats a faction fight in Tipperary hollow. I was after thinking it was the most peaceable disposed part of the world, seeing how quiet it has been since we came out here. Hullo! what's that?”
There was a loud rumbling sound. The earth shook beneath our feet.
”It's an earthquake,” cried Mr Ringer. ”Heaven forbid that it should increase.”
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