Page:Pictures of life in Mexico Vol 2.djvu/101

Rh no more. It was my fate, however, to suffer in the greatest degree from these untoward circumstances; for the Indians made a horrible reprisal upon the remaining residents for the loss of their comrades.

"Oh! how distinctly do the events of that night dwell in my remembrance. A terrible storm, accompanied with thunder and lightning, had visited us during the evening: a perfect hurricane! The rushing wind blew in such tremendous gusts, that trees were torn up by their roots, and borne away; many of our sheds were totally unroofed, and the rain descended in such torrents upon the cattle within, that the water rose to their knees as they stood; while the vivid flashes of lightning, breaking from time to time through the growing darkness, affrighted them almost to madness. As the storm continued, things became but little better indoors; for many parts of our habitation threatened to give way; and the women and children raised their cries and lamentations, in unison with the howling of the winds, the bellowing of the cattle, and the pelting of the rain. For two hours, the war without raged thus violently; and when, at length, it began to subside, we found it