Their
force must have been prodigious; for at the Fort a cannon with its
carriage, estimated at four tons in weight, was moved 15 feet
inwards. A schooner was left in the midst of the ruins, 200 yards
from the beach. The first wave was followed by two others, which in
their retreat carried away a vast wreck of floating objects. In one
part of the bay, a ship was pitched high and dry on shore, was
carried off, again driven on shore, and again carried off. In
another part two large vessels anchored near together were whirled
about, and their cables were thrice wound round each other: though
anchored at a depth of 36 feet, they were for some minutes aground.
The great wave must have travelled slowly, for the inhabitants of
Talcahuano had time to run up the hills behind the town; and some
sailors pulled out seaward, trusting successfully to their boat
riding securely over the swell, if they could reach it before it
broke. One old woman with a little boy, four or five years old, ran
into a boat, but there was nobody to row it out: the boat was
consequently dashed against an anchor and cut in twain; the old
woman was drowned, but the child was picked up some hours
afterwards clinging to the wreck.
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