Had the misery ended here, it might in some degree have admitted of redress; for, though lives could not be restored, yet a great part of the immense riches that were in the ruins might have been recovered; but a new calamity soon put an end to such hopes, for, in about two hours after the shock, fires broke out in three different parts of the city, caused by the goods and the kitchen fires being all jumbled together. About this time also, a fresh gale suddenly springing up, made the fire rage with such violence that, at the end of three days, the greatest part of the city was reduced to ashes. What the earthquake had spared fell a prey to the fire, and the flames consumed thousands of mutilated victims, who, incapable of flight, lay half-buried in the ruins. According to a popular report, which, true or not, shows the hatred in which the Holy Office was held, the Inquisition was the first building that fell down, and probably more than one inquisitor, who, in his life- time, had sent scores of Jews or heretics to the stake, was now, in his turn, burnt alive. As if the unshackled elements were not sufficient agents of destruction, the prisons also cast forth their lawless denizens, and a host of malefactors, rejoicing in the public calamity which paralysed the arm of justice, added rapine and murder to the miseries of the city. More than 60,000 persons are supposed to have perished in Lisbon from all these various causes. The total loss of property was estimated at fifty millions of dollars, an enormous sum for a small country, and in times when money was far more valuable than at present. A few shocks sufficed to destroy the treasures accumulated by the savings of many generations.