Palestine, and it was not in Jerusalem only that frightful prodigies
took place. At Thirza, the towers of the prison in which the captives
delivered by Jesus had been confined fell down. In Galilee, where Jesus
had travelled so much, I saw many buildings, and in particular the
houses of those Pharisees who had been the foremost in persecuting our
Saviour, and who were then all at the festival, shaken to the ground,
crushing their wives and children. Numerous accidents happened in the
neighbourhood of the Lake of Genazareth. Many buildings fell down at
Capharnaum; and the wall of rocks which was in front of the beautiful
garden of the centurion Zorobabel cracked across. The lake overflowed
into the valley, and its waters descended as far as Capharnaum, which
was a mile and a half distant. Peter's house, and the dwelling of the
Blessed Virgin in front of the town, remained standing. The lake was
strongly convulsed; its shores crumbled in several places, and its
shape was very much altered, and became more like what it is at the
present day. Great changes took place, particularly at the
south-eastern extremity, near Tarichea, because in this part there was
a long causeway made of stones, between the lake and a sort of marsh,
which gave a constant direction to the course of the Jordan when it
left the lake. The whole of this causeway was destroyed by the
earthquake. Many accidents happened on the eastern side of the lake, on
the spot where the swine belonging to the inhabitants of Gergesa cast
themselves in, and also at Gergesa, Gerasa, and in the entire district
of Chorazin. The mountain where the second multiplication of the loaves
took place was shaken, and the stone upon which the miracle had been
worked split in two. In Decapolis, whole towns crumbled to the earth;
and in Asia, in several localities, the earthquake was severely felt,
particularly to the east and north-east of Paneas. In Upper Galilee,
many Pharisees found their houses in ruins when they returned from
keeping the feast. A number of them, while yet at Jerusalem, received