HURRICANE AT THE FRIENDLY ISLANDS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVI, Issue 5419, 31 March 1879, Page 6

HURRICANE AT THE FRIENDLY ISLANDS.

Tiie arrival of the German warship Albatross, from £>jmoa, on March 22, pla.cea us in possession of Tonga advices of the 12th March, and from a private letter received by Mr. M. Niccol frorr* Captain Lombard, we learn that :i most terrific hurricane passed over the group on the Cth instant, which caused an immense destruction of property. The new Roman Catholic Chapel, English Consulate, Goddefroi's store, Government long.shed, Rev. Mr. Bakers Wesleyan parsonage, and two-thirds of the natives' houses were razed to the ground, while iron roofs and material of all descriptions was b?oivn about, and it was dangerous to move about fur nearly 30 hour.*. King George, of Tonga, and the natives generally thought the world was at an eud. The hurricane was tl»e most severe that ever visited Tonga. The destruction is most terrible, and it is dillicult to compute the loss, as the coco&aut - trees are ali stripped, and the supply of nuts u»*x. sea-ou will, therefor®, bs very limited. The Roman Catholic C l > ±pel was valued -i l . JC3UOO, and the Uev. Mr. }>aiter ei-imates loss c.t .£2l,''Jo, Goddrfroi a,. '":50u, while nearly the whole oE the reside*„o have sulfered \ roporfcionately. For several days the barometer ranged very low, and during the height of the hurricane it read 27' X J, Captaiu Lombard read the signs of the time, and consequently had made eve-ything snug ou bo:ird the Madona, but those on shore on the morning of the 7th were surprised to see her lying snug at anchor, haviug ridden oat the stirin without the parting of a rone-yarn. The Sydney barque Keeor.naissance 10-st an anchor, while the Geiv:~u -.varship A' > atross was under full steam hours. jJuri: g the storm the schooner jiakan, formerly the Nobn, of Auckland, w»a ease ashore, and thr.-e of the native crew drowned. The Auckland schooner Energy is somewhere in the yroup, probably at tlabaai, and news is anxiously a'waited from that locality. Ou the return of the Ariadne from Auckland, Capt. Vou Werner, on behalf of the Emperor of Germany, invested King George with the first-class order of merit of the Red Eagle, and his successor and the Governor of Vavau with the second-cla a s order. At the date of writing (12th) the weather was very unsettled.