Carts, drays, and horses laden with
merchandise jostled each other in their hurried way towards the
fields outside the city walls. Men young and vigorous crushed
forward with beds or trunks upon their backs; children laboured
under the weight of bundles, or rolled barrels of oil, wine, or
spirits before them. And the air, rendered suffocating by smoke
and flame, was moreover confused by the crackling of consuming
timber, the thunder of falling walls, the crushing of glass, the
shrieks of women, and the imprecations of men.
And those who lived near the waterside, or in houses on the
bridges, hurried their goods and chattels into boats, barges, and
lighters, in which they likewise took refuge. For the
destruction of wharfs and warehouses, containing stores of most
inflammable nature, was brief and desperate. The Thames, now
blood-red from reflection of the fierce sky, was covered with
craft of all imaginable shape and size. Showers of sparks blown
by the high wind fell into the water with hissing sounds, or on
the clothes and faces of the people with disastrous and painful
effects; and the smoke and heat were hard to bear. And it was
remarked that flocks of pigeons, which for generations had found
shelter in the eaves and roofs of wooden houses by the riverside,
were loath to leave their habitations; and probably fearing to
venture afar by reason of the unwonted aspect of the angry sky,
lingered on the balconies and abutments of deserted houses, until
in some cases, the flames enwrapping them, they fell dead into
the waters below.
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