THE GREAT CATASTROPHE IN THE STRAITS OF SUNDA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XX, Issue 6828, 5 October 1883, Page 6

THE GREAT CATASTROPHE IN THE STRAITS OF SUNDA.

The Brisbane Courier of September 26 contains the following, particulars respecting .the Straita of Sunda catastrophe

The steamer Nowshera,. which arrived in Brisbane a few days ago, was at Batavia on the 26th of AuguEt, the day following the disturbances caused by the eruption of the "volcano on the island of Krakatoa. She had already passed through the Straita of Sunda, and left before accounts came in of the appalling loss of life and immense destruction of property that had taken place. The 8.1.5. N. Company's mail steamer Roma, however, which reached Moreton Bay yesterday, came through the strait on the 6th September,'.and from Captain Mann and the passengers who came by her we have been able to leirn some particulars of the disaster. Long before the Roma reached the Strait of Suuda indications that something unusual had occurred were noticed. Instead of a favourable current, Captain Mann met with a very strong one in the opposite direction, and when 200 or 5!00 miles away large quantities of floating lava or pumice stone were met with. This got thicker as the strait wasi approached, and some of the pieces seen were of g.eat bulk. The weather was very bad,, and aB the vessel lurched a good deal tho pipes by which water is supplied to the circulating pump got completely blocked up with small particles of lava. Until these were cleared it was impossible to continue steaming, and while this work was being done the steamer had to be stopped for several hours. This delay, which the passengers regarded at the time as very annoying, probably saved the fine steamer Roma from destruction. Had she continued' without iitopping she would have reached the strait before daylight on the morning of the sth instant; and as the ordinary 1 channel, in which there had previously been 28 fathoms of water, had become studded with dangers, the chances of her escaping shipwreck would have been extremely small.

As it was, at eight o'clock on the morning of the 6th mutant the Koma was steaming along on the usual course, when there hove in sight the Dutch man-of-war Prince Heinrich, flying the signal "You are running into danger; stop!" It may be imagined that Captain Mann was not slow in carryiog out this command. The man-of-war soon came up,, and, sending off a boat to the Roma, conveyed the tidings that the strait had been completely transformed, and that the old channel was no longer navigable. Captain .Mann, however, was given a course to steer which had been ascertained to be safe, after which the vessels parted company, the Roma proceeding cautiously towards the strait, and the Prince Heinrich continuing to, cruise about the vicinity to warn other vessels that might be following in the same track. On getting into the strait ample) evidences wore seen of the great convulsions that had taken place. In Bome places islands shown on the chart had completely; ' disappeared, others had been broken up into! several parts, and land and rocks had been | thrown up above the water where previovsly no dangers had existed. One island of considerable si:se, called Thwart-the-Way, is situated right in the middle of the strait. The tidal wave, which is described as having been over 100 feet high, must have swept clean over Thwart-the-Way, and what was once a picturesque island, covered with beautiful green trees, has been burst up into five or six distinct pieces of land, ruggedlooking and bare. Mount Krakatoa now stands alone in its grandeur. All the surrounding portions of the islands have been thrown over into the main channel towards Beezee Island, about five miles to the north-east. The volcano itself is, apparently, as high as ever, and Captain Mann describes its appearance as exactly resembling the Rock of Gibraltar. Two small islands (Verlaten and Langs) close to Krakatoa Island, strange to say, remain almost intact;. Fourth Point Lighthouse is gone, only the foundations remaining ; and at Flat Cape — the south-west point of Sumatra—th** lighthouse-keeper's quarters have been demolished, and only a temporary light is exhibited. The western coast of Java, at one time thickly studded with villages, is now a scene of desolation. As

far as- the Roma people could see, not a habitation was left. Some say that a portion of the coast has actually subsided, and that what was densely inhabited land is now sea. The Roma passed within half a-mile or so of what was once the town of Anjer, but not a vestige of it remains above water. It is said thai; this was the most thicklypopulated part of densely-inhabited Java, and the loss of life 'must have been, as it has been described, appalling. Far inland could be seen the marks left by the wave that had inuudated the country ; and! all along the coast, as indeed all land in the vicinity of the strait, is covered with white lava dust, appearing at a distance similar to hoar frost. As the Java shore was previously liued with green trees and rich verdure, the contrast is indeed striking. Al3 shipping on this coast mu3t have been swept up on the land or foundered.* It is 1 not known that any large vessels were in the neighbourhood at the time, but there is sure to have been a large number of smaller craft at Anjer and other towns on the coast. The Roma reached Batavia on the evening of the 6th instant. This towu, being on the northern coast of Java, was fortunately protected from the full force of the tidal wave by the north-west point of that island. As it was, two breakwater piers, extending half a mile from the shore, were washed away, and some of the buildings were slightly damaged. The water rose into the streets of the town, and a few people were drowned. Krakatoa is 80 or 90 miles from Batavia, but the shock of the eruption was distinctly felt on the night of the 2oth August, accompanied by rumbling noises. The houses were shaken, aind the whole population were seized with a panic, running hither and thither in wild, terror. On the 26th a shower of ashes and powdered pumice-atone caused almost complete darkness for four or five hours. When the Roma was at Batavia it was believed that 30,000 people had lost their lives, but it was impossibe to arrive at anything like a correct estimate. The unfortunate people who have been so suddenly swept off the face of the earth were mostly Malays, although amongst the native popu-. lation of Java was a considerable proportion of Chinese. It is not likely that many Europens were amongst the inhabitants of the towns and villages destroyed.