Page:Account of several remarkable earthquakes, which happened in various quarters of the world.pdf/13

 who had fled thither for safety, and had reason to think themselves out of danger in such a place; at the same time a great number of boats and small vessels, anchored near it (all likewise full of people, who had retired thither for the same purpose) were all swallowed up, as in a whirlpool, and never more appeared.

'This last dreadful incident I did not see with my own eyes as it passed three or four stone throws from the spot where I then was, but I had the account as here given from several masters of ships, who were anchored within two or three hundred yards of the quay, and saw the whole catastrophe. One of them in particular informed me, that when the second shock came on, he could perceive the whole sky waving backwards and forwards like the sea when the wind first begins to rise; that the agitation of the earth was so great even under the river, that it threw up his large anchor front the mooring, which swam, as he termed it, on the surface of the water; that immediately upon this extraordinary concussion, the river rose at once near twenty feet, and in a moment subsided; at which instant he saw the quay, with the whole concourse of people upon it, sink down, and at the same time every one of the boats and vessels that were near it were drawn into the cavity, which he supposes instantly closed upon them, inasmuch as not the least sign of a wreck was ever seen afterwards. This account you may give full credit to, for as to the loss of the vessels, it is confirmed by every body; and with regard to the quay, I went myself a few days after to convince myself of the truth, and could not find even the ruins of a place where I had taken so many agreeable walks, as this was the common rendezvous of the in the cool of the evening. I found it all deep water, and in some parts scarcely to be fathomed.

'This is the only place I could learn which was swallowed up in or about Lisbon, though I saw many