Page:Restless Earth.djvu/121

Seen from the relief ’plane, which descended upon Napier in this early hour, they swarmed like flies; and, as far as the eye could reach, the black dots moved in continuous processions northwards and southwards. That which moved southwards had lengthy gaps in it, but the northering one formed a continuous wavering line. The environs of the wrecked towns were alive with the black dots, weaving in and out in sluggish, nauseating fashion in the narrow streets.

Taxi-cabs; lorries; tradesmen’s vans; pleasure cars; borrowed cars; stolen cars—every type of vehicle known to Customs and police regulations—were assembled here; and the thousands of sightseers which they had brought walked about the devastated towns, thrilled by the havoc, warmed by the morning sun and the fires which consumed wreckage and human victims, awed by the evidences of mighty force, shocked by a conviction of man’s insecurity, yet increasingly conscious of mortal needs.

Here, where the main stores of foodstuffs had been utterly destroyed by earthquake and fire, wandered hordes of idle people, expecting to be fed; people who complained because their silver could not purchase breakfast; people who felt cheated of one of the greatest pleasures of a holiday; people who expected hospitality in a homeless community.

Some there were who had had the forethought to bring provisions, and who sat comfortably in their cars, or upon the running boards, while they consumed dainties from paper bags and hot liquids from vacuum flasks, as they watched with interest the arrival of ever more visitors and the frequent bursts of smoke and flame in the ruins.

Some there were who had had the foresight to bring with them all the provisions upon which they could lay hasty hands. These moved among the dishevelled refugees, upon the foreshore and in the