n of their lives could be
their only care.

"Several ships were burned on shore, while others were saved from the
flames by the exertions of their owners, after being actually on fire.

"At Douglas Town scarcely any kind of property escaped the ravages of
the fire, which swept off the surface everything coming in contact with
it, leaving but time for the unfortunate inhabitants to fly to the
shore; and there, by means of boats, canoes, rafts of timber, logs, or
any article, however ill calculated for the purpose, they endeavoured
to escape from the dreadful scene and reach the town of Chatham,
numbers of men, women, and children perishing in the attempt.

"In some parts of the country all the cattle were either destroyed or
suffering greatly, for the very soil was parched and burnt up, while
scarcely any article of provision was rescued from the flames.

"The hurricane raged with such dreadful violence, that large bodies of
timber on fire, as well as trees from the forest and parts of the
flaming houses and stores, were carried to the rivers with amazing
velocity, to such an extent and affecting the water in such a manner,
as to occasion large quantities of salmon and other fish to resort to
land, hundreds of which were scattered on the shores of the south and
west branches.

"Chatham was filled with three hundred miserable sufferers: every hour
brought to it the wounded and burned in the most abject state of
distress. Great fires raged about the same time in the forests of the
River St. John, which destroyed much property and timber, with the
governor's house, and about eighty private houses at Fredericton. Fires
raged also at the same time in the northern parts of the Province, as
far as the Bay de Chaleur.

"It is impossible to tell how many lives were lost, as many of those
who were in the woods among the lumbering parties, had no friends nor
connections in the country to remark on their non-appearance. Five
hundred have been computed as the least number that actually perished
in the flames.

"The destruction of bears, foxes, tiger-cats, martens, hares,
squirrels, and other wild animals, was very great. These, when
surprised by such fires, are said to lose their usual sense of
preservation, and becoming, as it were, either giddy or fascinated,
often rush into the face of inevitable destruction: even the birds,
except these of very strong wing, seldom escape. Some, particularly the
partridge, become stupifie