| Show THE MODERN GOMORRAH beneath the blue waters of the ba bac bor of this quaint old town lies buried a city which was once the seat oj 44 wealth and profligacy and all their ate at train of evils in one awful moment the earth gaped the aba opened to receive the palaces pala ces of li and closed above them and luckless mortals TO today when the waters of the bay are and shining in the tropical sun abe sailors may lean over the aidea their skiffs and peering down aXll the azure depths see the fishes ming in and out of the arches of the old cathedral the sharks moving lauw laell among the great palaces and the aft moss twining around the wi n ar through which the music and song 0 69 the revelers were drifting when fearful came and wiped U city from the face of the earth MW hundred years have passed since too june day when port royal di into the sea three other citi exl ed upon its site have been des deat by fire and hurricane and power which delceia dea d ceiA upon the stricken city seemed to ewt sue it even after its thou thousands found watery graves in the bay now shinn sh immers ners so do placidly except w the fearful typhoons sweep over it lash its waters to mad revels it was june 7 1692 port royal lay isy sweltering under the heat of a summer built upon a tongue of fahd extended into the ocean it was VMS by breezes which brought with theae little relief from the direct rays ag tt the sun the harbor was filled wit aj shipping from every port in the wot 6 for port Royal was a place of df wealth and luxury great Brit ains gAns men ot war lay in the offing with their sam furled and their men reveling ashie in the city spanish latten U to the guards with stolen ww silks jewels emels and gold the spoilt mexico and central i at anchor and their daric de brewed t slept or lounged illy about while their masters basters joined the 1 idea ashore in the houses and palaces of the city there was revelry and feasting and drinking for the pirates of the spanish main spent freely what faey secured so easily gold was as axon oxon oman as copper capper is today the tod rs in the streets when they held out ty hands bands for alms to the passers by were rewarded with a gold piece or two women attired in silks and laces bach cost human blood in the making aid nd the stealing lounged on luxurious r alvane close to the open windows of ae houses and drank deep draughts their paramours par amours license ran dot there was no virtue vor bor years dve y one in the place had been grow tk alcher and with the wealth came ae desire for ease and pleasure which peoples strength no one ys a opted tor for money was brought to A cesry yr one in the pirate ships which jwied the seas only to capture a WS 0 sufficient to purchase a few weeks vt of pleasure and feasting and at port royal from hi and mexico came boat loads of afi and silken stuffs and other treas iwo and with the arrival of every iff to the bacchanalian revels reed d in license and depravity the lounged to church but bu t it was it I 1 mockery of worship th they ey were R with their prosperity and insane their longing for the pleasures of table ae and the wine cup that fated day when the vence which overtook overbook sodom and gorah dese descended ended upon port royal the fay was at its height when there e a sound like the areat crack of ma the earth trembled and the half inken revelers rushed from the ses in dismay the great cathedral rid iced d and its tower trembled a molt 4 and while the people were ask o one ne another white lipped and ter 0 cf what manner of thing was hap ing ug the earth gaped open like a reat jaw and closed with thousands at its maw catching many halt half way the e frightful opening and holding tn crushed and broken with their ole alees es 8 arms extended toward the wen n they had so long forgotten occurred when with a I inh we e had this nh nty ty roar the whale city began to n d down into the ocean X fc vain I 1 the af righted people began to f to ito the high land beyond the city ay were caught and engulfed be they had taken a score scare of steps eds were overtaken by the ris flood as they sat at the tables with p wine half drunk and their food af a f eaten their thoughts half spoken fearing screaming and blaspheming had visited its wrath strower St power wr which q ahem chem the harlots and pirates of icks ay y were ware hurried into the ocean in iery ery ho houses uses in which they sat the 06 in the harbor careened careen oare ened med and sank iffy by one as the great seismic dis ce continued drawing draving down in kwake the terror stricken sia ilora who sprang oy overboard er board in less than five minutes minu fes all t the he profligate city were hidden the waves beneath mot along long otter this frightful dinager tene another upon the city which the place of the one which slip ftp the sea porto royal was re na not with its old splendor and ence not with its form er glory 1 I but as a export port end d in 1703 a few years after it ed the por portions of a city entirely destroyed by fire again boullt up mp but the avenging power U wt 01 yot sated tor for a hurricane w the greater portion of 0 the town the ocean in 1722 almost a hun F years later inte r when the city had aate risen on its old site bite it was wae bashe ha onet once more maie in 1815 re destruct ims have left nothing oil M of the city as it once was but in 1880 a hurricane destructive to life and property swept over the city and once more partially destroyed it in his annals of jamaica published in 1828 rev george wilson bridges quotes from a letter written by one of the survivors a rector two or three days after the disaster which is in part as follows after I 1 had been at church reading which I 1 did every day since I 1 was rector of this place to keep up some show of religion and was gone to a place hard by the church where the merchants meet and where the president of the council was who came into my company and engaged me to take a glass of wormwood wine as a whet be fore dinner he being my very good friend I 1 stayed with him upon which he lighted a pipe of tobacco which he was pretty long in taking and not being willing to leave him before it was out aut this determined me from going to dinner to one captain whither I 1 was invited whose house upon the first sunk into the earth and then into the sea with his wife and f family amily and some that were come to dine with him had I 1 been there I 1 would have been lost but to return return to the president and the pipe of tobacco before that was out I 1 found the ground rolling and moving under my feet upon which I 1 said unto him lord sir what is that he replied being a very grave man it Is an earthquake be not afraid it will i soon be over but he be disappeared and was never heard of again continuing the rector wrote wrate 1 I made toward morgans fort because I 1 thought to be there securest sechrest secure st from falling houses but as I 1 was going I 1 saw sam the earth open and swallow up a multitude of people and the sea mounting in upon them over the fortifications ficat ions moreover the large and famous burying ground was destroyed and the sea washed away the carcasses the harbor was covered with dead bodies floating up and down kingston now stands close cloae to where port royal the old town of revelry and vice once stood the ships in the harbor float over the houses which slipped into the sea and far far below their keels loethe imprisoned people who were swept away avray with vain prayers for mercy upon their lips the spire of the cathedral is most kroml prominent of the ruins here in the clear water as it had raised its taper finger toward heaven high above the other ather buildings close to it lie the fleets of spain and england sunk in the fearful hurricanes which swept these placid waters with the coral fast forming on their masts and hulls bulls in their shadow lurk the sea monsters of these waters playing about the doorways and casements of the houses and shops where vice once held sway no man has ever penetrated to the depths where the phantom city lies to explore elpio its secrets two centuries old and all that cay can be learned 0 of the sunken town to is gleaned by peering into the transparent waters on a bright day when the wind does not ruffle the surface of the harbor |
