The Rhode Island American, And General Advertiser

A letter from Teneriffe, dated December 12, observes,

"We had a dreadful fire here, a few days ago, which consumed a large convent for women; and I am sorry to relate, seven unhappy victims felt the fury of the unrelenting flames. The scene for some hours was dreadful. It was first discovered about 10 o'clock at night; all the nuns were in bed, and it was sometime before they could be made acquainted with their danger. The few that escaped were obliged to leave the convent naked, as they never sleep in their clothes. Those that were burnt were seen at the windows, till the flames consumed them. There was no means of saving them, as the windows were strongly grated with iron, and only one door that they could get out of, which was entirely enveloped in flames. The fire was occasioned by a nun's making sweet meats; she had placed her fire on a table, in a small earthen stove, and left it unextinguished; the heat of the stove made the rosin in the wood to cry out; it is supposed a cinder had fallen, and the convent being built of the same kind of wood as the table, it was soon in a blaze. The next night we had a tremendous fall of rain; the water courses were filled, and ran a different way; in consequence of which fourteen persons were drowned in their houses."