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built of rough marble, an an immenſe expence, was entirely ſwallowed up, with all the people on it, 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 city 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 from 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
