LIFE IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1425, 22 June 1899, Page 27

LIFE IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA.

DESCRIPTION OF A SEVERE Ci CLONE IN THE ROEBOURNE DISTRICT. A FORMER NEW ZEALANDERS TRYING EXPERIENCE. As shewing the wide-spread circulation of the “New Zealand Mail,” the following interesting letter and accompanying photos have been sent to us from the remote district of Roebourne, Western Australia, by aT former New Zealander (Mr F. Barker, who used to reside at Feilding), in which the writer gives an account, of a very severe cyclone which took place there a short time ago: MALLINA, Roebourne, West Australia. “Since the commencement of the year things in general have been a bit rough. In January it was very hot, being as

much as 128 deg. in the shade at tunes. The flies and mosquitoes were very bad indeed; and, with flies in the day and ‘skeeters’ at night, things were only very middling, I can assure you. There have been several deaths around here this year from the effects of the heat. At Whim Creek, also, all the fowls died in January, and the wild birds were falling dead out of the trees. But for all that it had been a very good season for the squatters, for there had been plenty of steady rain, fortunately, and the country was looking first rate, at least for this part of the world.” “But on the night of April 2nd we had a terrible storm —the natives call them ‘willy-willys’—but they are nothing less than cyclones, and anything near the centre of one of them is swept completely away. It was blowing hard for three days and nights before this particular one which I encountered got to the right pitch. Then, one Saturday night, after it got dark, it increased in violence, the wind blowing stronger and stronger, and rain coming down in torrents. It got so strong that at last I could not stand on my feet on the verandah, so I went inside and went to bed, thinking to go to sleep until it was over ; but no such luck awaited me. The house commenced to shake so much that I got up and dressed again. I had a look out of the front door, which was on the lee side of the house, when I saw that the verandah was lifting up to the extent of about three feet and pounding down again (the house being fastened down to posts in the ground by heavy steel ropes), but as the ground got soft with the rain, one of the piles became loose and was pulled out of the ground. Then the roof of the house commenced to lift, and I could see that it was a case of having to leave or the house would fall and bury me. So I got a blanket, and made a start for a boiler at the battery, about eight chains to the windward of the house. When I got outside sheets of iron, timber and stones were Aying in all directions; the wind was twisung and turning them about just like straws. (I had heard people about here speak about these storms, but I used to think they were greatly exaggerating facts; but I know* better now I have seen one, and I do not want to see another in a hurry). Well, when I got out of the house it turned me all fashions, so I had to go down on all fours (I could see it was the only way), and managed to crawl to the boiler with my blanket, but wet to the skin. I got in on the fire-bars and lay there, thinking that I was pretty secure, but presently the wind changed, and blew straight in on me. This was about 2 in the morning, the storm being then at its height, and if I had not got to the boiler before the wind changed I should not Lave got there at all. It was about 12 p.m. when I left the house. From 2 a.m. till 8 a m. the wind was something awful. The water around the boiler began to rise very quickly, and I could not shut the doors, the water was coming in on me in a regular torrent. However, I weathered it here until it got light, the water being then on a level with the •door of the boiler, and I was in a most

uncomfortable and wretched plight, the water being half-way up my thighs, and I had been in this state for some hours. The wind was lashing the water about so that I could not see more than a yard or two in front of me. I was afraid to move either one way or the other, although it was only about half a chain’s journey to get behind the ‘stampers'— a safe place from the wind, and high above the flood. From where I was bailed up I could occasionally see the ‘stampers’ through £he sheet, but it was something like beiit-g shipwrecked and watching the shore,*, but unable to get to it. At last, in a bit of a lull, 1 made a dash for it, and managed to get through the water and reach the higher ground when the wind caught me again and blew me down, but I was in a much better position, although terribly wet and cold. The storm broke about 10.30 a.m., and when I could see around me there was not a stick of the house, assay office, store, vannar shed, or boiler shed left standing. They were simply blown to splinters, the house especially, and scattered all around as far as you could see. The iron was twisted and doubled into,all shapes; it was a terrible mess, and a great loss to the company. The manager was in Roebourne when the blow was on, and did not suffer so badly as I did. This is my experience of my first ‘willy-willy,’ and I hope it will be the last. The other places around here fared in pretty much the same manner, and the women have had to endure very great hardships in consequence. There were a few deaths caused through the storm, a man being drowned just above me; I was on the inquest and helped to bury him. There has been great loss of stock, and the damage to buildings, telegraph lines, roads, etc., was very heavy. It has been a great knock to the district; and things were not too good before.” “There are a great number of snakes about since the flood, some of them being four or five feet long, and very poisonous. “The weather is nice and cool in winter, but summer is a bit too hot to be pleasant. Many thanks for the ‘New Zealand Mails’; I like to know how things are getting on in New Zealand, although I am so far away from it. I have often wished that I could get there for a Avhile —away from the heat, flies, mosquitoes and dust of this God-forsaken country.” In a later letter the writer states that the company did not again erect the battery in Roebourne, but removed the remains of it to Victoria.