Southern Christian Advocate

From the Wesleyan Missionary Society Circular.

EARTHQUAKE IN ST. DOMINGO

Extract of a Letter from the Rev. M. B. Bird, dated on board the "Active," brig, in the Harbour of Cape Haytien, May 12th, 1842.

I avail myself of the first opportunity to inform you, that about five o'clock in the afternoon of the 7th instant, the entire of Cape-Haytien was in a few seconds involved in one common ruin by an earthquake. The escape of myself and family from the general destruction is such an instance of the interference of Divine Providence, as neither time nor eternity will be able to obliterate from my memory.

At the time of this awful catastrophe, I was sitting reading in the balcony of our house, which projected into the street; Mrs. Bird was in a room three stories high, with our youngest and eldest child. Our servant was in the kitchen with our second child: and a young person living with us, was in the act of walking from one part of the house to the other. At the moment I felt the shock, I started from my chair, and soon became confounded, not knowing whether to run backward or forward; and in this moment of inconceivable agitation, the entire wall from which the balcony was projected where I was sitting, fell, and I was precipitated with it into the general ruin: the height from which I was thrown might have been eighteen or twenty feet, but I scarcely felt the fall, and, when down, was astonished to find myself in existence, although almost suffocated with the dust which arose from this fearful and general crash. In this condition I remained for some seconds; during which time the earth continued to tremble, and, having no idea but that a beam, or some falling wall, would soon send me into eternity, I commended my spirit to God my Saviour; but his great mercy suffered me to live. When the dense cloud of dust had passed over, I arose, and beheld nothing but one vast scene of ruin, which extended to the utmost limits of the fine city of Cape-Haytien, with here and there one emerging from the ruins which I could compare to nothing but a resurrection. But an intense anxiety soon seized me for my wife and children; and knowing that my beloved wife was in the upper room previous to the event, I rushed to the place, and on my way met our servant at the kitchen door with our second child in her arms quite safe. My ascent to my dear wife and children was partly over the ruins of our house, and partly up two staircases which had been dreadfully shaken, and were quite unsafe; but my intense anxiety overcame all sense of danger, and I soon reached the room, where I found Mrs. Bird and the two children on the floor, having been violently thrown from their seats by the shock. My joy at finding them safe was such as no language could express. My next anxiety was for the young person who was living with us, and who was in the act of walking from one part of the house to the other at the time the house fell. Not seeing her, I concluded she must be dead; but I afterwards found her alive and unhurt. Thus, by divine goodness and mercy, our whole household has been suffered to escape from one of the most awful visitations of God, that has been recorded on the page of history.

Having got my family together, we hastened over the ruins--for there were no longer any streets that were not filled up with the ruins of the houses from both sides--to the sea side: but we had no sooner got there than we were terrified with the idea, that we should be overwhelmed by the sea, which, for a few moments rushed towards the town; but our heavenly Father saved us from this. As soon as it was possible, I got into one of the boats in the harbour, and, with many more, went off to a German brig, the Active, commanded by Mr. J. Beckman, whose unbounded hospitality and kindness have rendered him worthy of our sincerest gratitude. Thank God, whose mercy has thus found an asylum for my dear wife, who had not been confined three weeks when this overwhelming event took place, and who had not ventured out of the house since her confinement, until she had to climb over the ruins of this fallen city; but hitherto neither she nor the dear infant has been at all the worse.

To give you anything like an adequate description of this awful calamity, would be utterly impossible. It is one of those events which overwhelm the imagination, and baffle all description. Picture to yourselves, dear Sirs, the suddenness of the visitation, literally "as a thief in the night."--the groans of the dying, the cries of those who were imploring help from under the ruins, without any possibility of being rescued, the continuance of the shocks, the rush of the sea towards the ruined city; in fine, think of one of the finest and most strongly built cities in the West-Indies, with a population of about nine thousand, cast down in a moment by Omnipotence, and two-thirds of the population buried in an instant, in one common grave, and you will have some faint idea of a scene which it wrings my heart with anguish to think of. In the night which succeeded the earthquake, the fallen timbers among the ruins took fire, caused, no doubt, by the fire of the different kitchens, which must have been an awful addition to the agonies of those whose death was not instantaneous.

But, as though the guilty people had not filled up the measure of their iniquities, this awful judgment of God had no sooner taken place, than the work of plunder commenced by the people who came in from the interior; so that each one who sought his own amongst the ruins, considered it necessary to arm himself with pistol and sword; and thus every man's hand seemed to be turned against his fellow.--This can the more easily be imagined as taking place, when it is considered that so many of the authorities had fallen victims; and, that consequently, all rule and order were necessarily suspended.

The towns and villages in the neighborhood of the Cape are all prostrate; but we have not yet heard what the fate of the capital is.

We are, as you will necessarily suppose, in a state of destitution; having only escaped with our lives, and simply the clothes we had on. My library, clothes for myself and family, together with a considerable amount of the Committee's money, are lost; and whether I shall ever be able to recover them is exceedingly doubtful; for as our house did not completely fall, its ruins are very dangerous to approach. But a slight shock would be required to bring the whole down upon whoever might attempt to rescue anything: and these shocks have been repeated many times since the fall of the town.

I am, at present, at a loss to know which way to turn; but if I hear that Port-au-Prince is in existence, it is my intention to proceed thither by the first opportunity. Or, if it should prove that Port au Prince is still standing, I shall perhaps make my way thither. In fact, I have no idea of leaving Port-Hayti, if it be at all possible to remain at it. I may, however, be necessitated, for the time being, to go to Turk's Island, and remain there until I can ascertain what is the real condition of Hayti. But I have unbounded confidence in the Providence of God; and believe that our path will be made plain.

My dear fathers and brethren, how shall I ever be able sufficiently to praise God for this remarkable, this wonderful deliverance from such a danger, as one cannot think of without shuddering! Ever since it has been my honour to be a Missionary, I have been enabled to say, "I count not my life dear unto me;" but now, I am dumb with astonishment.

"Take my body, spirit, soul;
Only thou possess the whole."