It was reserved for the year 1833 to prove to me what an earthquake really was, and make me fully aware of its terrifying powers; and although nearly nine years have rolled by since that period, and consequently the remembrance of it has lost some part of its vividness, yet the occurrences of that night has left so deep an impression upon my mind, that it will never be wholly obliterated.
Between eight and nine in the evening, a shock of an earthquake was felt; but as it did not continue long, no particular attention was paid to it. We had retired to-bed, and were in our first sleep, when we were suddenly awakened by that peculiar hollow noise which is always the forerunner of one of these convulsions. The noise became louder and louder; the earth heaved to and fro; the house shook from its very foundation; and books, glasses, and other light articles fell from their resting-places. This lasted with undiminished force: but a few minutes elapsed before another violent shock was felt. In the midst of this, the church-bell commenced ringing, and drums beating an alarm, while the whole face of the heavens, glowing with a fiery red, soon informed us that a conflagration augmented the horrors of the night.
There were twenty-one distinct shocks felt between twelve at night and five in the morning, but the earth continued in a tremour for twenty-four hours afterwards. Thus it was we passed through that wearisome night; but when morning broke in the east, and the bright sun arose, and chased away the clouds of darkness, how many hearts swelled with gratitude towards Him who had so mercifully protected us through its dangers.
The fire broke out at an estate called Otto’s, situated in the suburbs of St. John’s. It was supposed by many to have been occasioned by a meteor striking a wooden building, which supposition acquires more credence from the following fact. An elderly female, of the name of Moore, who had acquired some notoriety from her preaching, both in England (particularly in Cateaton street, London) and the West Indies, was sitting up late, on the night in question, employed in writing her “Memoirs.” She mentions having seen a particular appearance in the heavens, which she described as looking like a bright scarf of fire gradually gliding down the sky in the direction of the estate, until, upon apparently gaining the earth, it vanished.
The attorney of the above-mentioned estate also witnessed a similar phenomenon a few weeks afterwards. In this instance, the meteor descended upon the branch of a cocoa-nut tree, which grew near his house, and set it on fire; and had it not been for the courage and activity of a negro who was present, and who succeeded in felling the tree, great danger might have resulted from it.
Most of the Leeward Islands suffered from earthquakes the same night; but at St. Kitts, (about sixty miles to the west of Antigua,) they appear to have felt them more severely than in the other islands. A ball was held that evening at the Court House, and the company were dressing for the occasion when the first shock was felt.
Two young ladies, the daughters of a respectable merchant of Bassterre, (the capital of St. Kitts,) met with so great a fright, that they were obliged to forego paying their court to the “dancing muse.” The duties of the toilet were scarcely finished, when, as before observed, the earthquake commenced. In a moment the ceiling of the apartment was rent, and, as they supposed, a heavy fall of rain penetrated through the aperture, and extinguished the lights.
The youngest of the ladies, terrified at the concussion, and not knowing the extent of their danger, threw herself upon the ground, calling loudly for help. The trembling domestics quickly came with a lamp, when, horror of horrors! they found the delicate white satin in which their young mistress was enrobed, completely saturated with blood! The other members of the family, alarmed by the screams of the servants, assembled in the room, and with eagerness inquired where the wound was. This was not to be discovered; and, accordingly, another elucidation of the mystery was sought for, and no long period elapsed before it was found. Their father, as before observed, was a merchant, and the attic over the room the young ladies occupied had been converted into a temporary wine-store. From the severe shock of the earthquake, a cask of port wine got staved; and what had the appearance of blood, was nothing less than its contents which so liberally bedewed the ball-dress of the fair sufferer.
But the first shock did not intimidate many, however, and consequently the ball-room was crowded with visitants. “Nods and becks, and wreathed smiles,” flew around; innumerable lamps illumined the room, but their blaze was eclipsed by the radiance emitted from the dark brilliant eyes of the Houris, who, on the “light fantastic toe,” glided through the mazes of a quadrille. All was joy fulness, and every heart responded to the genial influence of the scene, when another shock more violent, and of longer continuance, converted this feeling of pleasure into the opposite one of woe. Instead of the lively scene described, all was now tumult and distress. Some of the ladies fainted, others threw themselves upon their knees, while the greater number rushed out of the apartment, which now looked hateful to them, and hastened to the beach.
Shock followed shock in rapid succession, and the poor “Kittefonians” thought their little island was doomed to destruction. Nor was it from the quaking of the earth that all their terror proceeded; the sea rose so high, and the waves rolled in such a tumultuous manner, that an inundation was feared. In such a situation the inhabitants were almost paralyzed with fear; some went on board the different ships in the harbour, while others remained all night upon the beach, exposed to the “pitiless pelting” of the storm.