HURRICANE IN THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS.

Clutha Leader, Volume III, Issue 149, 18 May 1877, Page 6

HURRICANE IN THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS.

— '- — "* — ~ • v' Wi The brigantine Helena, which arrived ffl at Auckland on Tuesday frbhi. Tonga 11 and Samoa brings reports of a terrible Ai hurricane which has been experienced! f j in the South, Sea Islands! Some account Ifi of the. disaster is given by a correspon* A: dent writing from Tonga, who says:— A , " We have been visited by a fearful if calamity. On Sunday, 18rh*March, at ,1 noon, a gale set in from the north- east, fY and gradually increased to a perfect Ai hurricane. It blew hardest from 7 to V 9 p.m., and then commenced to mode- K rate. The damage done to the group I - was enormous, and it is estimated that ! over two years must elapse before Tonga ' becomes what it was prior to the gale. Such a storm has not. been experienced here since 1869. Between six and seven hundred houses have been blown ( down, and thousands of cocoahut tree* ; were torn up by the roots, while tha | windows of the Government House were blown out. General ruin has been caused all over the Island, The ketch Pearl and schooner May Queen left Tonga for Eoa, to load sheep, pn the 17th March, but the weather being bad, only few were got on board when it was determined to run back to Tonga. I Both vessels left Eoa. on the 18th, and | were caught in the gale before; arriving' at Tonga. The Pearl managed -to get t in before the passage becanaeimpassablej | but the May Queen could not; get in. She vvas-seen , on. the ,;leeside of the Island on Sunday, the 18th, in the afternoon, lying on her beam ends, but has not been heard of since. It is tan* tamount to a certainty; that she is lost with all hands. Indications of theiStoria , were visible for three days beforehand. The brigantine Papaha, belonging to \ 1 the Natives, had : all her yards sent down, and was the only vessel in Tonga % which rode .out the hurricane. The schooner Favourite arrived off Hopai on \\ the 18th, at noon, with three of her „ sails carried away, and also, forestay. Captain Savory, then pin the vessel before the wind,, and narrowly escaping r vseveral reefs was enabled, to fetch the | lee of a small island.. There both | anchors weredropped, and by shackling [ chain round the, mast,, she managed to \ ride out the gale. She has since heen [ sold to the. Natives of Vavue, for the 1 sum of £1000.- TheJketch Pearl, cutter ; Prince of Wales (late: of Auckland), < ketch William, and cutter, Caroline were [ all driven high and dry. The Prince a_d Caroline have since been relaunched, f The Pearl has been 1 brought down within 50 feet of the water. 1 ' The piece tr of the reef she has yet to be got ovor iff higher and rougher than she has ever traversed. H. M.S. Sappho took new of the storm to Samoa, when the Helena * was there. There is the slightest possible chance that Captain Menzies may have had time to cut away his masts, and allow his vessel to drift before thff gale, but it is known that the May. Queen had no ballast under her timber, and; scarcely anyone on the island does not take it for granted that she was capsized. The brig* Vision has been expected at Samoa for over a month past, and fears are entertained for her safety. The German man-of-war Augusta and H..M.S. Sappho are at Apia." By last, mail . word was brought to M essi s 0 wen a nd Graham, of A uckland, ' that a large sum of specie' was on board ■ the May- Queen, and. only yesterday aa insurance on .this for £1 000 was effected ' in the New Zealand office..