THE HURRICANE IN FIJI.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10263, 22 January 1895, Page 4

THE HURRICANE IN FIJI.

LOSS OF LIFE AND .GREAT DAMAGE TO I'UOPEKTY. (Pee United Press Association.) Aocklakd, January 21. The Fiji Times of the 16th inst. to hand today by the Taviuni, from the t'iji group, contains the following additional particulars of the recent disastrous hurricane in those islands :— " There are several cutters total v;recka on the coaet of Taviuni. The cutter Alarm, which was lying at tnctar at the north cud ot the j island, went down witli a fall load of copra. I Oortett and Hunt's cutter Shark, a large cutter from Ltvuka, the Eleanor, belonging to Ilatrihala, a, native vessel at Soniosomo, and the mission cutter at Waircki are all total wrecks. One of the-crew of trie Shark was drowned. When with another native ho wsa trying to jro out to the vessel the diugay cspsiss-d. One got ashore all right, bat the other baa not bira seen since. Three people have been killed by houses being blown down on them during the eight. Many of the white 3on Taviuni have bad their houses blown away. Some of these stood the 188G and ISBB storms. But this time thay are blown as far as 300 to WO yards away. Peterson waa left houseless, and G. M'Kassack's house was blown away. J. Itermie had a building wrecked. Somosomo suffered very badly. The house and store of Mrs Taylor at Waireki are down, and feveral buildings inside . the mission fence at Woireki are destroyed. Part of a new stone church is also down. . So far as this part of the country is concerned all the planters are done for, and it will be a long time before Taviuni will get over this blow, and some will never get over it. Yarns and all other foods are swept clean away. As for copra, alter all the nuts that are lit for copra have been made up, we will be done for two or three years. , The Brothers cutter ifi reported to have been swept out. to sea from Taviuni, where she was lying at anchor. No further particulars ars yet to hand. A rjew Wesleysu mission house ut Baw was unroofed, and that at Viva was blown down, while a considerable * numbsr of native houses in both places are wrecked."

Of the damage done at Levuka, the Levaka correspondent of the lfiji Times (writing on ths Wth inst.) Bays:— "Ba and Penaug have escaped without any damage, also Bus and Maculata. One of the crew of the Bnli Lakeba (schooner) has arrived in Levuka, and repoit3 that this vessel was leavisg Cicia on Saturday morning, for Laketa, but the wind was too 3trong, and the vessel had to run before it, eventually foundering between B&tiki and Lav, and 12 pcoplft were drowned, the sale survivor getting s.shore at Lav. Lav has suffered considerably, both houses and trees being blown down. So also has Batiki suffered, and the same at Rotntnah. The native who was on board the Mama states that vessel sank at her moorings in Levuka and he swam to Batiki. Corn has also suffered severely, and the schooner Ocean which was anchored there had her masts, cut away to try and save her, but without effect, 3nd she has been blown away with paptain Lancaster and seven Datives on board. The Ocean is an Auckland-built vessel, constructed in Auckland ia 1873, and is ownad by Hr J. Bargent. Captaiu Fraser, who was on the Alarm, when she sank at her mooringa at Tavitmi during the blow, had had his weatherglass with him snd it points to having fallen beiow the quicksilver ball—in fact so low that it cannot be read. The Malosi and Chutes (cutters) both sank in the harbour during the blow, bub have both been raised with very Jittle damage, and the Cygnet is reported at Tai, Levuka, and the Busini Kalanau at Kaba, bo we are in hopea of jet hearing of sotna other vessels."