or and
distress occurring on every side. A friend of mine was at the house of
the governor, which was a circular building with very thick walls. The
roof, however, soon began to fall in, and the family were compelled to
take shelter in the cellar. The water, however, speedily found its way
there, and, rising four feet, drove them into the open air, through
showers of tiles and bricks and timber falling on every side. They at
last took shelter under a gun-carriage, but several guns were
dismounted, and every instant they dreaded being crushed by the one
under which they were sitting. They were close, also, to the powder
magazine. A flash of lightning might destroy them in a moment. The
armoury had been already blown down, and all the arms and stores and
other things in it were scattered around. No place seemed safe, for
whole roofs were lifted up, and beams were blown about like feathers,
and darted with violence to the ground: so that the roar of the
elements, the crashing made by the falling houses, and the shrieks of
the inhabitants, were almost more than human courage could bear.

All waited anxiously looking for the dawn of day, but the light only
exhibited a scene which made them wish that it were again dark. Only
ruin and desolation were visible on every side; houses overthrown, trees
and plantations levelled, the ground strewed with dead bodies, and the
shore covered with wrecks. At the other islands life and property
suffered equally. At Saint Pierre, in Martinique, the new hospital of
Notre Dame was blown down, overwhelming 1600 patients, and 1400 other
houses were destroyed. In Fort Royal Bay four ships foundered, and
every soul perished. At Saint Lucia the destruction was very great.
His Majesty's ship Amazon was driven to sea and most miraculously
escaped foundering. She was commanded by the Honourable Captain William
Clement Finch. An old friend of mine, one of the lieutenants, gave me
the following account:--

"We saw by the look of the weather that a hurricane was coming on, but
while we were making everything snug it was down upon us, and we were
driven from our anchors, happily out to sea, instead of on the shore.
We at once got the ship under storm staysails, and as long as the canvas
held she behaved admirably; but as night drew on the gale increased and
every stitch of canvas was blown from the bolt-ropes. It is impossible
to describe the terrific fury of the gale by this time. One