Another misfortune was added to these by the depredations of the neighbouring peasants and Morlachs who came pouring into the town, and it is said that even some of the citizens took part in the plunder, profiting by the wild confusion. According to Professor Gelcich, the fire was caused by incendiaries with the same purpose.[476] A large part of the Cathedral treasury was looted, and many of the sacred relics disappeared, although some of them were subsequently recovered. That the plundering was not more general was due to the efforts of two patriotic nobles, Biagio Caboga and Michele Bosdari, who armed bodies of their own peasantry and retainers, and kept watch over the ruined churches and public buildings. There was a regular battle between a few nobles and their suites and a horde of freebooters for the possession of the treasury. The latter were finally beaten off, and the State coffers and archives saved. The relics and the remains of the Cathedral treasure were removed to a chapel in the Dominican monastery, which was bricked up, only a barred window being left open so that the people might assure themselves of their existence and worship them.[477] The State treasure was removed to the Leverone fort, where the surviving nobles gathered together and constituted a provisional Government of twelve Senators. The situation appeared hopeless. “The city,” wrote the Abate Bosdari, “was so completely buried in the stones and rubbish of the ruined houses that every one gave up all idea of ever making it habitable again. The stench from the burnt or decaying corpses was so overpowering that it caused many people to suffer from nausea; and no one dared venture to the spot where he had lost his property, his relatives, and almost his own life, especially as other slight earthquake shocks were felt from time to time. Wherefore many of the most influential personages declared it to be necessary to change the site of the town, and they proposed that of Lapad as being the most convenient. This opinion was supported by the attractiveness of the position, its proximity to a harbour capable of sheltering many fleets, and the pure and more open air, and it would obviate the necessity of spending large sums in removing the rubbish.”[478] Ragusa was not alone in her calamity; many places in the immediate neighbourhood had suffered considerably. The houses and churches of the Isola di Mezzo were all in ruins, as may be seen to this day, and many of the inhabitants were killed.[479] Stagno too was much damaged, and in the rest of Dalmatia the earthquake was equally severe. At Cattaro, according to Professor Gelcich, the ruin was even more widespread than at Ragusa itself.