He and his friends
ran quickly in the direction of the fire, giving the alarm as they
went, and on reaching the church they found the doors closely shut,
while fearful screams were issuing from the interior, and smoke and
flames pouring from the windows. They got a party of men together
accustomed to the use of the lasso--no difficult task here--and with
them climbed from the neighbouring houses to the top of the church.
Making a hole in the roof, they then dropped their lassoes over some
of the women beneath, and so dragged them out of the building; but the
number thus saved was necessarily very small, and it happened too
often that many of the poor creatures below, in their eagerness to
escape, hung on to the legs or body of the one they saw lassoed, and
by their weight literally dragged her to pieces. Sometimes even a
lasso broke, and those clinging to it, when almost within reach of
safety, were again precipitated into the burning mass below. Any one
who has seen a raw hide lasso, capable of withstanding the sudden rush
of the fiercest bull ever captured, will be able to realise the
immense strain which would be required to cause one to give way. The
next morning at daybreak, the interior of the church presented a
terrible spectacle. Mr. Long described it as being full of women,
standing up, tightly wedged together, their hands stretched out as if
in an attitude of supplication, their faces and the upper part of
their bodies charred beyond recognition, the lower part, from the
waist downwards, completely untouched.
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