Papers Relating to Foreign Affairs, Accompanying the Annual Message of the President to the Third Session of the Fortieth Congress, Part II

Mr. Hovey to Mr. Seward.

No. 147.]

Legation of the United States, Lima, Peru, September 14, 1868.

Sir: In my dispatches Nos. 144 and 145, dated the 22d and 28th of August, respectively, I gave you a slight account of the terrible earthquake which on the 13th ultimo laid desolate a large part of Peru, and now, again, it is my painful duty to inform you that a large and the most prolific part of the republic of Ecuador is in ruins, caused by a similar shock at 1:30 on the morning of the 16th of the same month. This earthquake seems to have had its center in the province of Imbabura, near the volcano of Ocampo, about sixty miles north of the city of Quito. Eight towns, with the adjoining haciendas and populations, are said to have been entirely destroyed, numbering from forty to fifty-four thousand inhabitants. The cities of Otovalo and Cotacachi, containing respectively about twelve and eight thousand inhabitants, and both situated on the shores of the Lake Mojanda, are said to have been swallowed up with their entire populations, and their sites have become a part of the lake. The city of Ibarra, with a population of thirteen thousand, is totally destroyed, only about three thousand of the inhabitants escaping, and the town Atuntaqué leveled with the earth, burying all of its inhabitants in its ruins. Nor is the injury confined to the cities and towns, but all of the haeiendas of the province, the richest in Ecuador, growing sugar and grain, and producing large numbers of cattle and sheep, have, as it were, been swept out of existence.

Quito did not suffer in the same ratio in the loss of life, but its walls and houses are destroyed. The most of its inhabitants, including the English chargé d’affaires, Mr. Hamilton, with his large family, were driven to the open plaza or square in the center of the city; and he, more fortunate than the others, is now enjoying the great luxury of a tent, while thousands of the best citizens are without shelter. To heighten the gloom, despondency, and misery of all, the terrific thunder-storms of the tropics seem to have redoubled their forces, and have literally deluged the whole country.

The losses in Imbabura will cause great suffering in Quito, as nearly all the necessaries of life for that city were drawn from that province. The difficulty of conveying food from Guayaquil will be very great, as the journey requires twelve days’ severe travel, with mules, carrying small burdens, over rugged and precipitous mountains, deep gorges, and narrow passes. If relief in some form is not speedily given, many of the sufferers will be compelled to reach the sea-shore or perish. Extracts from private letters and public documents published in the Lima journals (see inclosures Nos. 1, 2, and 3) show the destruction and destitution to which I have referred. Indeed, these shocks have almost ruined the republic of Ecuador. The mentioned representations have been fully corroborated by the statements of his excellency Don Antonio Flores, plenipotentiary of Ecuador in Peru. In Peru, also, as I have heretofore informed you, proud and rebellious Arequipa is levelled with the dust; Arica swept from the sea-shore, with but one solitary house remaining; while the district and city of Moquegua, with its rich villages, vineyards, and haciendas, are but the wrecks of things that were. Had the earthquake in Peru taken place at night-time, as it did in Ecuador, the loss of life would have exceeded one hundred thousand souls. As it was, that loss in Peru is less, but the loss of property far greater.

Want, hunger, and famine, in these now unhappy countries, are striding through all classes in the midst of the unburied dead, and a general paralyzation of thought and action seems to pervade the land. This is, no doubt, caused by the continuous shocks since, and the great fear of other calamities; and, to add to the consternation of the weak, fearful, and helpless, robbers, in some localities, are said to be sacking and pillaging everything within their reach.

I take great pride in informing you that Rear-Admiral Thomas Turner, Captain McDougal, Commanders James H. Gillis, James S. Thornton, Austin Pendergrast, and the other officers and crews of their command in our navy, near the scenes of danger, have done all that noble-hearted, brave sailors could do to alleviate the sufferings of all within their reach.

The generosity of our country, in days gone by, has left a record that will never be forgotten—Greece, Poland, Hungary, and Ireland, with no greater, if not far less claims for aid or charity, have found that in the United States there were feeling hearts and open hands for those who deeply suffer. Will not our generous-hearted countrymen add Peru and Ecuador to their noble list?

Our government, I know, can do no more than has been done by our navy, but I most earnestly urge and entreat that you appeal to the good men of our country to aid by charity the suffering people of Peru and Ecuador. Let those who gave bread to starving Ireland repeat their generosity, and let the Protestant and the Catholic now join and vie with each other in showing, by their works, that the Christian’s creed means good will and charity towards their fellow-men; and let all others who have a heart that can feel for the sufferings of their fellow-beings aid by sending a mite from their richer to the hungry, starving, naked, and desolate people of these two countries. Money, clothing, food, or any other necessaries of life, would be “bread cast upon the waters;” but the supplies, to do good, must come quickly. The people are too much terror-stricken to act with vigor, and the governments of Peru and Ecuador cannot now give the aid the necessities of the people imperatively demand.

I have the honor to be your obedient servant,

ALVIN P. HOVEY.

Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.

[Translation.]

Mr. Ponce to Mr. Flores.

Quito, August 19, 1868.

With profound grief I communicate to your excellency that on the 16th instant, at 1.15 a. m., a violent earthquake destroyed almost all of the churches and public buildings of Quito, the greatest part of the private houses is considerably damaged, and the losses suffered through this catastrophe are inestimable, and thirty years’ labor will not repair them. Only eleven people were killed in the capital.

The city of Ibarra has been completely destroyed, only the sixth part of its population escaping. All the other towns of the province (Imbabura) shared the same sad fate, especially Otavalo, where not a living human being remains.

The earthquakes still continue, and consternation and despair increase every moment in the hearts of those who have escaped this tremendous catastrophe.

God preserve your excellency.

C. PONCE, Secretary of State.

His Excellency Don Antonio Flores, Plenipotentiary of Ecuador at Lima.

[Translation from the National, of Lima, September 2, 1868.]

Quito, August 19, 1868.

At half-past one o’clock a. m., on the 16th instant, a terrible earthquake visited this city and the towns adjacent to it. The churches of San Francisco, the Company, Carmen, Saint Clara, the Cathedral, Saint Augustine, and various others have been almost entirely destroyed. The palace of the archbishop and the government house are also in ruins, and throughout the whole city there is scarcely an edifice which has not been severely injured. The shock evidently proceeded from an eruption of the volcanoes of Imbabura or Cotacachi. All the persons having the means have emigrated to the country, and those remaining here sleep in the public plazas for security. The aspect of the city is very sad, only in the squares are people to be seen, or when some procession begging the intercession of Heaven sallies forth. As well as we can discover, only nineteen lives were lost during the catastrophe; but if the continual shocks we experience still augment in force, we shall have to lament greater calamities. This city, however, has not felt the shock as greatly as the surrounding towns. The city of Ibarra has been totally destroyed, not one house remaining standing, and the town of Otavalo is levelled to the ground. More than thirty thousand persons have perished, and the destitution and distress of the survivors cannot be overestimated.

By the next mail I will be able to enter into further details, as at present the particulars of the disaster have not been fully received.

[Translation.]

Extract from an editorial of the newspaper Comer do of Lima, dated September 6, 1868.

The note addressed to the chief of the commission of assistance by the North American admiral, Mr. Turner, not only calls for national gratitude on the part of Peru, but shows the nobility and virtue of the writer, so much the more, if we consider that the sentiments expressed were followed by actions whose value, under the peculiar circumstances, is inestimable.

In spite of the total loss of the Fredonia and Wateree, and the terrible calamities through which the officers and crews of these vessels passed, the noble activity and great heartedness of these valiant sailors were immediately displayed in showering benefits, in the shape of food, clothes, and medical services, upon our desolate and ruined countrymen. In addition to this assistance rendered by the shipwrecked crews, no sooner was the intelligence of the disaster known in Lima, when the American minister residing here, in conjunction with Admiral Turner, placed the ships of the United States squadron in Callao at the disposition of our government, so that, as merchant vessels, they might carry all necessary succor to the starving people of the south. The government eagerly accepted this generous offer, and by means of it was greatly assisted in extricating itself from the terrible embarrassment always attendant on such disasters. We fulfill a most greatful duty in chronicling these acts, and in doing honor to the feelings and the humane and philanthropic proceedings of the American sailors, acts which enslave the gratitude of a nation, and which will cement more strongly our happy relations with the magnanimous people of the United States.