such a Scene of Desolation and Misery as
Words cannot describe."

"The King's Palace in the City is totally destroyed, with all the
Jewels, Furniture, &c. The _India_ Warehouses adjoining, full of
rich Goods, are all consumed. The Custom-house, piled up with Bales
upon Bales, is all destroyed; and the Tobacco and other Warehouses,
with the Cargoes of three _Brazil_ Fleets, shared the same Fate.
In short, there are few Goods left in the whole City."

IV.

_From a Ship's Captain writing home under the same date_.

". . . On Saturday the first instant, I arose at Five, in order to
remove my Ship from the Custom-house, agreeable to my Order; by Nine
we sailed down and anchored off the upper end of the _Terceras_.
Wind at N.E. a small Breeze, and a fine clear morning. Ten Minutes
before Ten, I felt the Ship have an uncommon Motion, and could not
help thinking she was aground, although sure of the Depth of Water.
As the Motion increased, my Amazement increased also; and as I was
looking round to find out the Meaning of this uncommon Motion, I was
immediately acquainted with the direful Cause; when at that Instant
looking towards the City, I beheld the tall and stately Buildings
tumbling down, with great Cracks and Noise, and particularly that
part of the City from _St. Paul's_ in a direct Line to _Bairroalto_;
as also, at the same Time, that Part from the said Church along the
River-side Eastward as far as the Gallows, and so in a curve Line
Northward again; and the Buildings as far as _St. Joze_ and the
_Rofcio_, were laid in the three following Shocks, which were so
violent as I heard many say they could with great Difficulty stand on
their Legs. There is scarce one House of this great City left
habitable. The Earth opened, and rent in several Places, and many
expected to be swallowed up.--As it happened at a Time when the
Kitchens were furnished with Fires, they communicated their Heat to
the Timber with which their Houses were built or adorned, and in
which the Natives are very curious and expensive, both in Furniture
and Ceilings; and by this means the City was in a Blaze in different
Parts at once. The Conflagration lasted a whole Week.--What chiefly
contributed to the Destruction of the City, was the Narrowness of the
Streets. It is not to be expressed by Human Tongue, how dreadful and
how awful it was to enter the City after the Fire was abated: when
looking upwards one was struck with Terror at behol