A Sad and Terrible Relation Of the Dreadful Earth-quake That happened at JAMACO, IN THE WEST-INDIES, On the 7th. of July, 1692.  
With an Account of the great Damage it did at Port-Royal, and in divers o●●er places of that iceland, to the Destruction of many People and Buildings, with the Swan frigate, by the Shaking and Opening of the Earth, and Inundations of Water.  
ALSO, An Account of the utter Defeat of the French then Landed there; with the Burning of their Ship, and Killing about Three Hundred of their Men.  
licenced according to Order.  
Printed for P. Brooksby, J. Deacon, J. Blare, and J. Back. 1692.   

A Sad and Terrible RELATION Of the Dreadful Earth-quake That happened at JAMACO.  
 depiction of victims of the earthquake in Jamaica  
licenced according to Order.  
Printed for P. Brooksby, J. Deacon, J. Blare, and J. Back. 1692.   

A Sad and Terrible RELATION Of the Dreadful Earth-quake.  
GReat and Terrible are the Wonderful Works of God in his Creation, and yet more amazing and stupen●ious, the Effects of them relating ●o the power and force he Arms the Elements withal, which demonstrates his Almightiness, and the weakness of our greatest Strength and Force; when he designs to baffle and over●hrow them, even the Winds, the Sea, the Fire and the air, are Instruments of Might in his hand; and when he raises them up, who can stand before them? The Holy Scripture tells us, The Earth trembles a● his presence, and the foundations thereof are shaken; the Hills melt, and the Mountains smoke at his touch; he drys up the Deep with his looks, and at his rebuk the Heavens flee away, and are rolled up together like a scroll.  
These things should strike fear and awe into the hearts of Men, and make them tremble at so great a Majesty; and amongst all these, Earth-quakes are very terrible and amazing; for how can we but tremble, when we feel the Frame of the Earth shake under us, the Foundations of the Round World totter, so that we know not in the Consternation and Confusion, whither to fly for safety!  
This happens generally in Earth-quakes, of which we in our Age have had many sad Instances; people have been shaken out of their Habitations, or butted in the Rubbish, some swallowed up alive in the gaping breaches of the Earth; and indeed, all Contingencies of this nature have been very fearful and amazing: England, as many Histories make mention, has not been free at sundry times from these strange Convulsions, and a trembling of it was felt near a Year since, here and in Ireland at one and the same time: Naples and Lima have lately had their share, the one much shattered, and the other quiter demolished: But to leave what has been a few Years past, we come now to the present lamentable Subject of this Paper.  
Few, we believe, there are in England, but have heard of the Famous iceland of Jamaco, taken by the English from the Spaniards, in their Expedition to the West-Indies; 1653. an iceland then very Fruitful, but since more plentifully improved; well stored with Cattle, People, and Trading Commodities, from whence England is supplied with many useful Necessaries, but by its situation, much subject to Hurricanes, or Winds, that come on a sudden with such violence, that they lay all Leavol before them; so that the people upon such Imergencies, which they by certain signs foresee, have Houses or Caves leavel with the Ground to shelter them; but against the violent Erruptions of Earth-quakes these little avail, for when the Foundation totters, the Superstructure, though never so low, must be very unstable; no Rocks nor mighty Mountains are capable of standing such a Shock, whose violence is irresistible; and so it happened in this famous iceland, for on the some signs of an Earth-quake appearing, by the paleness of the Sun at setting, dullness of the Stars in the Night, thickness and grossness of the air, the unusual murmuring of the Winds, and huge swelling of the Sea; the more curious observers of such Presages took notice of it, but knew not how to shun its Effects, as not knowing in what place it would happen; soon after the apprehensions of it were more visible, for the Earth began to tremble, or rather seemed to dance, whilst the affrighted people knew not what to think in those parts where it gave the violent Shock, but expected the Earth to cleave in sunder; so threatening and terrible was it to their apprehensions, that they left their Houses as unsafe, with what in so sudden a juncture they could carry away with them to places of more security. On the 7th. of July about Noon, it broken out by the Harbour side in Port-Royal, and did great Damage upon the iceland, throwing down there many Houses, but on the Harbour divers of the Houses sunk down, from three to five Fathom, in a very short space, computed at no more than a Minute: And what was yet more fearful, in the Streets next the Wharf, the Ground opened, with fearful Gapings, out of which issued such abundance of Water, that divers of the Inhabitants were drowned in the Flood, which came out like a mighty Deluge, the Breach being very wide and deep: The other part of the Town that escaped the Water, was very much shattered, so that the people were forced to fly from them, some being much Wounded by the falling Ruins, and some are supposed to have perished in them; but those who had lost their Habitations and escaped, were taken care of by order of the Magistrates, who took great care for their safety and subsistence.  
The Swan frigate that was Careening on the Wharf, and not able to get off, was driven in among the ruined Buildings, and Stones of the Works where she was, beaten to pieces, and the trembling of the Earth continued for a long time; the Sea seemed to Swell more than usual, and boil up, as being extraordinarily Agitated.  
During this Disorder in the iceland, it happened that divers French Vessels came in to the Northward, and Landed about Three Hundred Men, doing some little Damage: whereupon their Majesties Ship the Guernsey, being a Man of War, and some Sloops, took a Compass to come in with them, and fell so successfully upon them, that having battered the French Vessels a while, they set them on Fire, and so warily plied those on the Land, that they were all cut off, except Eighteen that got off in a Shallop and narrowly escaped the fury of our Men, who in this Action got some considerable Booty: So that as our people suffered by the Earth-quake, against which there is no contending, or at least preventing, in human power or possibility, the French bore a part in this, or a more shameful Misfortune, by being overthrown with a small number, when they had, no doubt, promised themselves great things from this attempt, as being at great Charge to enterprise it; and indeed, it happened at such a time as might have promised them better success than they met withal; So leaving them to their deserved Fate, we come to make some Remarks upon the Earth quake.  
The extraordinary Fury that did this Execution, we find was so sudden and unexpected, that divers people more than did, must have perished in the Waters, and the Ruins of the tottering Houses, that could not presently be known who they were; for by the report of several that were Spectators of their lamentable Misfortune, the blowing up was so swift, as if it had been a Train of Powder laid under some mighty Pile of Buildings; yet they thought in that combustible Confusion, they heard the Cry of the miserable people that perished; but as soon as the Terror and Consternation was over, all diligence and care was used to save and succour those that had got off, and the people every where shewed their extraordinary Charity towards them, and commiserated their sufferings; and the Enemy, as you have heard, who came to make advantage and insult over their Miseries in this great Calamity, not only lost his expectation, but was utterly Routed; so that these distressed people in the midst of danger, found Mercy and Deliverance.  
These kind of Earth-quakes are in themselves very Terrible, and are occasioned by an Exhalation of Hot and could that is enclosed in the Caves of the Earth, struggling there to find passage and break forth, and forces out violently when it comes into so narrow a passage that it cannot find wideness enough to breath, being more violent in shaking the Earth, sometimes rending and cleaving it, at other times casting up Earth a great height into the air, and sometimes it causeth it to sink to great depths, as in the present case: Divers Authors hold there are sundry sorts of Earth-quakes.  
The first is, when the Earth is shaken Laterally on one side, the whole force of the Wind driving to one place.  
The second, when the Earth with great violence is lifted up and finks down again; which is, when the force of the Wind strives to get upward.  
The third is, the gaping and rending of the Earth, when it sinks down and swallows up Cities, Towns and Castles, Hill, Rocks, Rivers and Floods, so that they are never seen again.  
The fourth, when Mountains are lifted out of the Earth, & the Earth under the Sea heaved up, makes Islands: But from all the dreadful effects of them, Let us pray to God to deliver us, who is able to do whatsoever pleaseth him, in Heaven and in Earth; that so we may escape the danger that others have fallen into, and laud and bless our Deliver and Preserver, for the great Mercies he has manifested towards us above other People; for what can we account ourselves better than those on whom God has suffered this sad Disaster to fall? Let us consider then our ways, and walk uprightly, that so we may fear no danger, or at least, in all conditions be prepared to encounter it, by fitness at all times to take our leave of this World, when it shall please God to call us out of it.  
FINIS.