THE CYCLONE AND STORM WAVE IN INDIA.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 19, 22 January 1877, Page 2

THE CYCLONE AND STORM WAVE IN INDIA.

; j ' V " 215,b00 IJVES ' DEiSTEOYJeb. \ ."'.'', j One orthe telegraphic Items that reached us by the San Francisco mail to the effect that nearly a quarter of a million of human beings had been destroyed in Eastern Bengal I tS!^!_l^*^ ri %.'^R S«?atesfc T indi|_eEence, -oiff Scarcely. -evoked a 'passidfe hbticet fjrom any one who jfead'it; : 'The - reason pros' ■fy-W >J¥ ftgM* was regarded with that incredtt^ty>mefe*wfjic|any §#tta^ain«ryitbry o|r^ore^Ba^K'_ine^'ttirougli^e^''is f receive^: ••-- 7 Shbseqt_,gh6 : iiifbrmafcibn -'hy^tKe '■' SuermaU^Kowever, cbnfirmsi tf»' sad tidings: : Tijg-folldwing details are'* I frbm 7 a miaiite BySir Temple, t_W liieut-KSovernor'bt Bengal, who immediately on hearing of thfT terrible calarhity visited 1 tiie storm-swept district. His Excellency; says: — Enclosed ii : ah estimate of the probable lumber of lives lost;, (allj or nearly all, by <jro«. hing), prepared by Mr Breverley and myself from.obr o«m. date, £qmpared with local reports, oral and written, and based on tjh^fetunis y£. ithe last; census. * Ifc will be seen that we apprehended that in an area oi some 3000 square miles, but of 1,062,000 pet-" spffs Mdaehly- thftJ w_i intb ffldre ocftfttf . dak- : fif. ,jnnst jmve periled. In gome villages 3p per pent. #* the inhabitants were lbst/ ;i in>;pthers ; #), &\M jn ?fl me e,sren,?o m < ,cent. -• There; wija. &. abve^-.dly^one ,% f h<j Bay fl£Bs?g£l on % night bftfje,3lsj;l<fcto-, her. Bjit \t wss npj. tfce wind wnich proved' desteflfiftyg, tfcougfr Jm\ms^Wfi&l& waar -the ;mm-mv£ r . w&ms -mm to . a. . -jeigh^frpm lOto j2Q feat,, aecopiiog%. 4i£'--ferent localities;: in places where- i^gtet'-iwith anyj^esisijance, it mounted .^n, higher than. '; that. .v'JJhe -Neacplly people . think it camp jrfroia ithe ; ,sea ; jightc»p to, the great, riv^ {iMegjty) with salt water; that H then _t|ie. ; cyclone' tiirrieo; out, apd rolled the fresh water f rotor -the river mynfttafaai ,ihsMth tpis refluence there was a piung up, ajf'ft werej ,pf -fr^esh ;aad;salti water, ivsEting- : itse jf by a n_shMall.-oveif v the;Stti^flndmgtiracts. fc.to_3!eyenmg,theiw^ther.^.^littlehazy «^w_ildy»:pd.§ad^e^;somcwh^._iofi^h«it the people, a million bi t&eyeshqgs, '.retired j tb, lrestxt^prehepiMngrinofililnlfit^ elevenrfjclock the wind freshened, and about midnight there rose a cry "The water is on I 'via,' 1 and a great wave several feet high burst j, over the countey. ]t followed by another and again by a third, all £hree snshiqg rapidly southwards, ihb iii. 'anl -Wind -SOTag chuly coljL The;peqple were thus cjiugfit up before i they had time tpclimb to their : roof a^ and were I lifted to thb §u^je,qfthe 7 w^ter, together ! \yith the beams and thfttebfis of their cottages. -„Byfrithe. By frithe jiomesi^ds ape fii'Mfi^dM^ by trees— palms, bamboos,' and a horny spe»?i^ **- a .. PAMvP'** Thepeople' were -then iborne by the wates to; fhe, tops' and, A branches of ' i^s the particular free on w^chthgy stupk W:Se»]|7> thb ayp'irQta.v-inted- to r thp 5<5!%%f3.. %?. jeceped;from : theTpribkiy . braßcliesof^he.Ma^ar |t^, in reahty these ' Jjprps held thetn jtig^t, .^.i^wjith' n*turai' Y, bemrwMw^/ Tfe.inMbf^SsitlliS .

»s iSthis M3e:—^ch^l^onsists of four a lte|aeh^us^mfamily) these jS 1 -P$ a a %N fc iyfS sed B atforra ' com -^ po^oiS^rth throjwnlifro^he surround- . inggte|^they are; sf_Sunl^by a wall off M h *l«^* nd dei !p e * -^lIP^ 148 formation, I ? I "^S^^\ :in Mncf. b^j^^ing in degree j that ,^fehtedll_^^^^'Ufe from being! universal. Indeed the' trees, with their long^ stretching arms, held up the poor drowning I souls. In those hamlet « where the trees grew thickly, many lives were saved; in those hamlets where there were breaks or kPPfl n fl?*? «|Tgiro_|mgnt iargst of the w were tarried fo considerable distances so" that they could not be recognised. Most -„-s?S_??2_L s have dead strangers lying about, washed mm&mßmnm^wTß^sm^ be^an to putrify before the water cleared off thegrounds^ that*fihlylireM*j|f t u^Mie^l (in a Mahomedan population there is no •-cret__*atioa).~^-They-*** are-iMe^wmaißeassssEfe* corruption which no one can bear to approach, jjand they present a sickening spectacle^. Mixed with humajiTiQdies are those of cattle^. yftll heaped up toggther. The smell in many places was dis^Sng to ns as wOSlkedp: through the fields from village te^aiag^ Weather-tossed seamen in the Bay d^BengsC saw many corpsjga-floated out f rotTf-ths, lan-i -by the waves to t%seashore of Chifttagong: liymfl^er^ns-W^re borne thith^^ross ? n the sea « clinging td the--too%. or .treamsi of their own -house?, ife m* v ß m ySgst : Tlfe-feriJe oMhe^unda-ion ap^ pears to Have jtafctlid'jf rom aboij| mMrtffght to fcwo^a,m^hat is for two hours. Byda^reak -was much subsidenfefe^t the I&4 an^ by noon next so^nvhrs _t^.fom|E •<_. own from the [trees regaii_ed^eri_% fira f-K Bat tleyrmust teve-<heen JgodlesSt andishelterlesi for the rdbtoTthe da^-akd a^ thert_S_£--fU-y. After ,beg|irto reassemble, not at the ruiuVoTthefe_;faomestea^, wß_efc_, hacF^Wn c6l»pletelfs car^iaway, hurat th4«lbsJan<rfoundastioiis. They 'took out fihetrsioresiloCgrain 'huriM^n pits; dried thoeeiTsaiich *we?e wet, theis^n Mving**-come ouf^m tfre cleared skfc_. and- cooked strchlas ;wer^^M_4ma^S; _sr ,evemhomestair%B|ch limited I found t_sL ipeogelMng^heir grain. They fijj%a_»&s jf ra__tewetKs with broken branches, ove%*whicS ithey threw sffeets and cloths sucff^tiS- thei'had about thetougife:i|.e moment, andb^madlw little tent-likerfiaSititions. PlainEjtre^ abounded, but the fruit was mostly £e^oye|p ,The cocoa nutsi,.. however, frequenfl-Qstood^ \ through the storm, and must have alfbrdtff* 5 some sustenat^.-^There must have bee|F mucu trouble ahout water at first. Bar 1 . ®*-*___: r *^ c drinking tanks speedily recovered fromlhe"BiScMsff__l^lef&'^ or elqe the storm,, wave -. must have mainly , consisted of fresh water, foe T t_iQ^d_*ii__-i^|-tanfei were not .brackish when "we '' fastgtf them a few dayaitfterwards. k -- -It -was a great relief to find such was the caser tThestreamletsfwhich carry dfi. the'-kceafeal-i.teili '-v&tSr- ' i 'btiii^c : a_id thick- wlth^putrltfsubstances. .:_ufc*iO br. : . . The wealth lost was almost entirely agricultural—crops; or tattle..-! JiTof ;this=rj|;ere usj one notable exception^rnamfly, .^oivlutkli^J , a rich trading town, clean ..destroyed, with miscellaneous propertyahcl .vahkble.records. Approaching! the pjace'jve steamed 1 for two miles„through a crefekHhe banks of which, were strewn with human bodiesj, floated lip' I and down by the tide. """" . -.;Y -.-■• _■> j.;..Y::-M.[ .;*'.r-ja:-.riri.. z' nmv-SL' ____j—_ 1. jl f _.' 1 11' J !_)['•/■;■