TWOFOLD BAY. Dreadful Storm and Loss of Seventeen Lives. (From the Sydney Morning Herald, May 29.)

New Zealander, Volume 7, Issue 545, 5 July 1851, Page 3

TWOFOLD BAY. Dreadful Storm and Loss of Seventeen Lives. (From the Sydney Morning Herald, May 29.)

Monday, May 19. —Thi» district has been visited within the last few dayi by one of the most destructive storms on record in tliU country, and for the loss of life and property attending it is moil BC'iinnr. In order that those who are unarquainted with the neighbourhood may have an opportunity of judging of (he nafnre of th>i catastrophe about to be detailed, a few remarks ns to the gcogrnpliic.il position of Twofold Bay and the places adjacent will bo found necessary. Twofold Bay is dittant about 210 miles south of Sydnpy, and nbout 160 miles to the northward of the southern entrance to Hast' Straits. As its name denotes, it is n double bay, and it affords n safe anchorage to tbe mime ous coasting crafts, on goiri£ southward to Poit Phillip or Adelaide, when threatened with or overtaken by th» Bliong southerly winda to predominant on Him coast. Up to Saturday, the 9>h instant, there was but little to fointtll the forthcoming storm ; but on that day it began to blow a still ({ale fiom the tiouth-w< Ht; it moderated a little on Sundiiy, and it was nearly gone on Monday, 11th. On Tuesday morning it commenced raining. On Ihiil evening the gile from the south-cnit set in ; ii increased in.violenoe duiing the night, and on Wednesday morning it buenmu a hurricane of wind ttnd rain. Immedmtely that the wind lulled a little, the ruin deitended more like the 'vntci-npouls of Jhe West Indies than the moderate rains of our fair clime. The gale continued with unabated Jury during Wednesday, Tliuisday, and Friday ; and the township of Panbula, from whi'h this m written, became a kite. The whole of the tenants of thn frail Australiun huts who could do so, had to seek safety in the t-vo more tuhbtantnil built taverns of the township* Those who could not escapo were compelled to have recourse to every stratagem to raise thcmielvni in their little dwellings as the flood became higher, bnt at Panbula, so far as is at present known, there weie no liven lo^t. Had the storm continued another day a fearful number of persons here would have been added to the list of victuriH in another pnrt. Tiianka to the timely aid of Mr. Jmncs Wulker, J.l'., and Mr. John Lloyd, .1.1., (whoso little boat, the only one procurable, did good service) the losses wcio confined to thf,J destruction of crops, fences, household property, &c. Just as wo weie congratulating outiclvcs at the ktorm being over at I'anbula, news reached the pliicc that the whole of the Wuirug.ihra stations hud been swept awny, and that a number of lives were sacrificed. I lost no time, therefore, in riding to the iccne, twenty-fivt) miles dintant, and found the, report to be too true. One of tho farms occupied by a fine hale old man, upward* of seventy years of age, named Thompson, was bo completely destroyed as not to le.ire the least vestige of tho piemises ; »tacks of corn and hay, dwelling-houses, barns, stables, horses, pigs, &c., all were gone, and along with them every living soul, savi! a black man and bin gin. Wamigabra contained, besides Thompson's plucc, the huts and other buildings belonging to Coleman, head stock-kcepcr to Mensrs. Walker, ns well as a pretty little cottage built on the river »ido for the convenience of the superintendent. There was nothing left but one stable, to which Mrs. Colemau, with her children, a»d one of Mr. Walker's servant maids, and a white man, lwd fled when tho dwelling-hoube became full of watci. The stable, situated on higher ground, soon became untenantable from the same cause j the poor woman,

with the o'hiM inmarim, Ukti A< vil to th» range", which they reached with diffi. ally, imd on vhich (hey spent three tempestuous d \ys and nigh h. She was only enabhd to mvc fiom the general wietk her money, ami, wh-.t win of morn ▼ ihif »t th-»t moment, half « sack of flmir. In th.i ranges the pnrty of whit. t, met with a number of bla ks in n state ot lh g'< nteM, di slitotion. Ho'li partieH became equal (01 the nine, tin- whiles bemjr tin: mo 4 help!< --B The rmu filill enme down in roriPiits, the wind howled fe.ufnllv, mid to c >mplete the mihCiy of the scene at this moment they hud no means of procuring * fire for want of (\ ma'ch, or n sul>ntitute in the sh»pe of a Under box, when a poor bltuk fallow of the numo of Captain, w'><> wl" fi«;uie more conspicuously presently, supplied the. desideiatum. Him anil liis " nin' had jus' swain from Thompson's premie to Colemtn's. tin: l<e«t part of a mill-, to procuir iv lio.it to ivI i'Hso Thompson's |>»rly ; hut " misfortunes never come .singly," it il*i 1* mid •• the vinlorwe of tlio itorm hud B'inpped thu bo.l'H painter, nnd the fate of poor Thornpsou and his co-nuflerers wn | r nled. Let ii 1! now rclum to them, ond chronicle their mim-nes ; but fust h word or two of Thompson, whoie (loom teemed to h.»ve l>rei) consummated by a strange fatality. He was at L'anbula on Tuesday, the ioni. mencement of the storm, and was warmly pressed by the hmdlord of iJthe Gimrnor Fi'z Roy liiu (Mr. Robertson) to siny llie nr'ht nnlil tlio storm bl< w ovtr; but the u;ood o'd man's heart wns in his home lu>— whs proud, and jua.ly piuuu l, of hi* beautilul farm—he huiried homt as ibough lie was SeolviiiK dt'dtnu turn with a /cut to be ileslioyert When he arnved at Wniragabra, the place whs flooded, and on Wednesday morning the dwelling-house and other liuildingij were hrenst-hi^h m water ; the old man chin;; with despernte tenacity to ihe spot, and ;ih he flood rose he and his party got higher ami h.gher, until they left the dwelling house and look to tho roof of the stable, which wns the stronger building. Here they remained lor some hours when they despatched the black man, "Captain," and his gin to Colemnn's as stated, for the bout, which wai gone, and " Caplum" arrived just in time fo supply Mrs. Coleman wilh a light from his tinder-box, which he had made fast to his hair, on the crown of his head, and hud swam neatly n nnlo without wetting it! ! A little after midnight Thompson's premises, dwelling house, barn, stable*, whent nnd hay stacks, horses, drays, even to his faithful dogs, till were swept away by one mighty reflux of the accumulating waters: in fuot, ev< rylhmg that the old man hid in the world, including himself —six whites three New Zealandcrs, and a numbtr of blacks, oil vunisbed as if by magic. The moon struck out beautifully at the mnmmt, as if to exhibit the scene in its terrific grandeur. Mis. Coleman, who was then on tbe Rnogeis, taw the final termination of this act of the drama, ns the stacks of corn and liny lloated down ihe stream m»«t)y imbrokrn! At this moment the following pcrhonn were swept into eternity: —Mr. Thompson, Willium Small, (alias Mncpherson's Bill,) Thomai Brown, his wife and child, Edward Kisby, Edward Webb, three New Zuilaiulen, one named " Ben," nnd about hjx bUcka. In the mean time, what wasgoinpj on on the opposite side of the river, m Bega ? Mr. Ottnr, (i\lr. 1 inlay's sheep superintendent,) his wife nnd clnlilien, stood the feige until ihe, last moment, when they leli for the Ranges, leaving hehind them all their worldly goodß, including a considerable quantity of stores of sugar, lea, fl >iir, &c. Uudeihill, the smith, did the saint? in fi»ct all, save a person whose coimomrn is '* Big Jack, 1 ' but whose name is John Haydon, Ins wife nnd family, including several blacks, step by step took to the, roof of tlio house, on which they were perched for three days nnd nights in a starving condition, but happily without loss of life. The remainder of the inhabitants nought lcfu^e in the higher ranges, except' ing h imm nicknamed " Yankee Joe/ but who»o real name is Joseph Roof, his wile and children who mounted a stack of hay, where they remained unlit the flood wnt so hi^h as to float it, and it diifled down the tunent foi alii/ut two mile*. The rick in its progreto came in contact with several trees, mid on one of these occasions it hi ruck with such force as to tlnow (he intuit iVom 1 lie tnotho's arms, nnd it wqb drowned. Soon alter the floating masji was interrupteJ by two trici, when the husband sci/,ed hold of a brunch, to whith lie held. Tho rick then look a fienh wtart, mid b^'uhi whh stayed by the same incuni, when the wiie followed the ex.nnple of her hiHband, k-iivtng the r»muiuder of brr fumily to continue tiiuir course, and thus take their chance. For lour days and thrre nights the mother was so flituuted, until natuie, yielding to the joint clients of cold and hunger, »he perished. With thr awl of a blackfellow the man was then rcneucd by rone,» r but too lute to save his wife and child. The eldest daughter (married to a man named Ileniy Robert*.), wilh three of her brothers and sisters, s'lll hod to the floating stuck, and were landed on the top of a fence some two mtleß distant from tho starting point, on the opposite dido of the river, and were saved ! Here they were for five days and thfvc ni^hlb, until rescued by a blackfellow in hia cunoe.

KURIHKR I'AUTrCUr.ARS. On Monday, HMi, ftt noon, one of t|,e unfortunates was picked up, living I !—hs name j Y Webb, and he wan °'>(l °f 'J'homnion'a party. He wa $ found nbout four rai^ 11 'nini I'homps)n'n, nnd Imd flouted nil that way on a rick »f corn. He w»» picked up by Mr. M'GKgor, and i 8 donij? woll. Webb has a tolerable recollccti'"l of «H that pissed, until tbe rick came m contact with a tree —the former was then knocked to piecei, and Webb was of course thrown into tho water; he then brc.ime insensible, and was discovered in a state of the greatest exhaustion lying on a bunk, where he had been four days and a half. He hud just laid down to die, (as he states.) when luckily seen by M'Gregor, who wa* unceasing in his efforts to discover the lost bodies. No time wait lost by Mi. Walker in sending the greater pottion of his men to seek for the dead. Some fifty or sixty persons have tlni3 beenongaged. and the result has been, that the bodies of poor old Thompson, Mucphcrson'a Bill, nnd Ribby—the three New Zcilanders, and several blinks, have bpen dis' covered, all dead of course. From the activity digplayed by these men in the search, it is srarcoly cxpec cd th.it anymore will be found. It is generally believed th<it the missing bodies have been wushed out to sea; tlioH.; that huve been found hure boon bin ied. On Tuesday the e.cnp of desolation was vititcd by Messrs. William mid James Walker, Mr. Walter Lamb, of Sydney, Mr. Lnrnae.h, of the same place, and olher gentlemen. It is impobsililo to desnioe the ttjipemeuee of a fipot, which on ordinary occasions c (limit, I would von'nie to say, be mrpas.sed for beuuty in this fine country. Had an invading enemy paired over it nnd destroyed with frre and sword, the destiuetion could not buvc been so complete. The whole flat of VVairufrobrn was like one cnonnoun ditch, two or three feet deep down in mud. All the catHc, pnjs, fchcep, and horses had disappeared : it looked as though the, «pot was in mourning. The efl'eets-of Ihe flood arc almost mci edible. Some of the stacks of hay and corn wcte found perched on the Ranges, entiic, five or six miles distant Irom their oiifrinal position. Some of thoie belonging to Mr. Walker weie found on Mr. Itul/ay's ground. , The conduct of the blacks, male ,i;nl lamalc, during this shocking time, was beyond all praise. They had but one canoe, find " Captain," heiorc alluded to, <iid {j;ood service to the sliiivinjr whites perched upon Hie houses and ticcs, by supplying tu'jtn with food. Mr. W. Walker held an inquest on llie bodies found, pro forma, and a veulict of accidentally diowucd wai. of course found. It is almost unnecessary to allude to the gloom cast over the ncighbouihood I'y this <-eiious loss of life and piopeity. Mill people feel thanklu) that the matter is not woisc. Had the tain continued for another fortyeifrht hours, or even foi half ih.it period, it is impossible to state what the consequences would huve been ; but they would h«ve proved ino^t disastrous to 1 1-ugu majority ot the small settfers, i'oi tiimilcly ihe chit T pait of the crops had been picviously secured (eapeeially the potatoes) and disposed of in Sydney. They •no veiy busy seeming what is left fiom the effects of the storm. The wheat is, howtvci, chiefly destroyed, and the total lossiu in tho distnet could not be repl iced under many ihous.ind pounds. It is estimated that Messrs. Walkei have sustained injiuy to the amount of a thousand pounds.