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Rh fallen, clearly showing that it had been formed by the two sides being simply laid together, but not bonded.

Generally speaking, houses built on a declivity, when not thrown down, are found injured on the side next the hill {dal lato della costa), which proves the utility of giving a contrary inclination to the foundation, as is usual in the analogous case of counterscarps (contraffortti) or revetments, and it was certainly to this circumstance that the monks of the monastery of St. Michael, in Monticchio, owed their safety; the building being partially ruined by the shocks, and menaced by the stones which were detached from the lofty overhanging rock, would surely have been precipitated into the lake beneath, had not the foundation been so judiciously built. When the amazed inhabitants of Melfi, who had escaped death, were collected together in the open air, and somewhat recovered from terror, they turned to the wreck of their native place, and endeavoured to seek out their homes, frequently rendered inaccessible, and set to work, looking for persons and furniture, beneath the ruins of overthrown buildings; they were speedily assisted in their search by people sent by the mayor of the province. Many were found dead, many wounded; the former received Christian burial, the latter were conveyed to hospitals erected at the most convenient places, and maintained by the charity of the survivors, and the care of government, with the aid of the medical men of the district, and the hard-working Sisters of Charity. The excavations being continued