The force of the first shock was exceed-…

chunk 914 · paragraph 1135

path nation that a new kind of danger had befallen their people. The force of the first shock was exceed- ingly violent, and increased with intensified force until the fourth and supposedly the last, when every man, woman and child were thrown down, many being seriously hurt. With cries of terror they tried to arise but failed, several most horribly, as they fell into the great, gasping fissures in the earth’s crust, which convulsively opened and closed. Great clouds of reddish-brown dust filled the air, giving the darkened surroundings even a more supernatural appearance than that which al- ready enveloped it. The deep rumbling of the earthquake; the artillery-like explosion of the fiery volcanoes, he cries of the frightened men, women and ( 69 ) children, the bellowing of the crazed cattle all served to be but the proper chorus for the ter- rible drama which was being presented. The terror of the place seemer to grow greater moment by moment, when, as if by some sudden intuition, the Indians, who were not injured by the transpiring phenomena, broke out in a hoarse cry of distress and ran like the wild wind up the river bank toward Hanlon's. Many soon succumbed, but Miguel and Shampore even- tually made their way to Yuma, and the above is the account of their experience.