HISTORY OR MALTA.

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perior motive to that of mere obedience actuated those whqwere employed on the occasion. During the whole of thenight, both master and slave, officer and soldier, worked indis-criminately on board ; and the following day they Avere readyto set sail, provided with every thing Avhich could possibly' contribute to the relief of people in such disastrous circum-stances. The most able surgeons belonging to the order em-barked on board the galleys, taking Avith them tAventy chestsfilled Avith medicines, two hundred beds, and a great numberof tents. They arrived on the flat shores of Calabria at theclose of day, and having cast anchor in an open bay, the ge-neral of the galleys dispatched a small boat to make enquiriesinto the state of affairs. The boat did not return till ten atnight, and brought still more deplorable intelligence thanwhat had been already received at Malta. The dreadful con-sequences of the earthquake extended to more than the distanceof sixty miles. Repeated shocks continued to be felt everyday, attended by neAV calamities, and inspiring constant terror.The Calabrians and Sicilians Avere not only in continual dangerof being buried under the ruins of their habitations, but hadevery reason to apprehend that they should be swalloAved upeither by sea or by land, both of which presented the mostdreadful abysses. Mountains and rivers had entirely disap-peared; and the couriers, who were dispatched to Naples,were surprised to find plains in the place of the former, andimpassable torrents Avhere there had scarcely been a rivulet.