Star.
London, England, 1825-12-19 00:00:00

COLONIAL DEPARTMENT, Dr.crussa 16.

A dispatch, of which the following is a copy, has been
received from Major-General Sir Howard Douglas,
Bart. Lieut.• Governor of the province of New Brunswick,
addressed to the Earl Bathurst, K.G. one of his Majes-
ty's Principal Secretaries of State:
Fredericton, Oct. 17, 1825.

MY LORD-It becomes my painful duty to report to
your I.9rdship, chat very extensive ravages, attended by
circumstances of the most afflicting description, have
been occasioned in several parts of the province, by the
conflagrations which for some time save been raging in
the woods; and the destruction of my Government-
house, which I reported in my dispatch of the 3J inst.
has been followed by calamities and visitations the
most awful.

For some days previous to the 7th inst. the tempera-
,tare of the air and the state of the atmosphere, much
charged with smoke, indicated that fires of vast meta
were raging in the woods; but no previous apprehension
seems to have been entertained, from the prevalence of
'conflagrations,
which are so commonly put in actioa to
commence clearances in the wilderness. On the day I
have named, hoe ever, at about I I o'clock in the fore-
noon,
an alarm was conveyed to the sows, that the resi-
dence of the Cocninis4oitcr .of Crows Latitlr,-about a mde
and a half distant, was on five. The garri.on, and-the
greater pirt•of the popula rassisnroc•dicely thither,
and suCceede4 its saving.igr. 13stisj.W4 b9u)c. from the

flames, which were running through the adjoining woods
with. tremendous fury.
Whilst there accounts were bronght to me, that the
town was on fire, and before Iliould reach it, though
-mniinted on a fleet horse, whole streets were itra blaze.
At that time it blew a gale from the north-west, and
however incredible it may then hate apjseared, that the
fire should have been Communicated to the town from
the woods in the vicinity, the sequel of this, dispatch
will slim, from what has occurred elsewhere, that there
is every reason to believe tech was the case.
The fire raged with is degree of fury which no exer-
tions (acrd those used were very great) could for a mo-
ment check ; and the whole population abandoned their
houses, making what efforts they coald to save their
effects.—When the fire had consumed all that part of
the town which lay in the direction of the wind, the
conflagration took a lateral coune, threatening the
barracks and ether buildings, which, had they taken
fire, must have conducted it to 'he total destruction of
what bas remained of the town ol Fredericton.
'To these poets ever/ effort Ives directed, and when
I acquaint your Lordship tbpt the barracks send hou,e;
(adjoining to others• itviolerit combustion, and to Ore
yard containirig the winter -fuel, of the garrison, in a
prodigious bl ze of fire which threw its embers o'er
all the yet star) s'ing habitations) weir saved by the
exertions of the people and the military, your
Lordship will be able to estimate the conduct which I
would applaud.

As uvening advanced, the wocds, which had conti-
nued to burn throughout the day, were now mote dis-
tinctly seen to be everywhere on fire, and vast clouds
of smoke rising in the distance, accompanied by extra.
ordinary noises, as of furious explosions of flame, and
the fise refl..cted on the distant sky, portended other
calamities which I have nos the pain to report..
On the very same day, and about the hour when this
place suffered most, the town of Newcastle, one hum.
cited and twenty miles distant, together with all the
mercantile establilments on that bank of the. Mirami-
river, and some on the opposite side, were consumed
by a violent torrent of fire, whichivued from the woods
in the tear at about n'ne o'clock p.m. Thus the destruc-
tivee.ement übSch was causing' such devalations in .
other parts of the pr tiv Ince, appears to have been driven
thither by the gale which was' experienced here, but
which the mighty ac.ion of such extensive" and rapid
conflagration dilated as it proceeded to the most im-
petuous hurricane, and the 'vety aide range it has
taken leads me to fear, that we have much yet to
learn of its dreadful effects, when reports shall came in
from the nurnerons gangs pf woodsmen di,persed in the
various parts of the wil ernes:.
At the same time that the flames and showers of
burning embers pouted upon Newcastle, tilt!), reached
the establishment similarly placed upon the bank of the
river, and others io the rear, and in fifteen mi.:states all
were consumed.

I wish I could report that life had been spared ; best
sri violently dliven were tie flames and embers from the
blazing woods, well prepared far the most active com-
bustion by the loggia season of heat and drought. ever
known, that men, women, and chilJren, in great num-
bers, have perished in the houses and in the woods in
exertions to save property, or in attempts to save life;
and when driven in lertor to seek safety ern another ele-
ment, greater Lumbers still appear to have suffered in
attempts to cross the river ib bons. or in c:inoes,
on rafts or on logs of timber., Whi4h mete alike in-
capable of resisting the fury of the storm. Matiy vessels
were at the same time cast on shore,—several set on fi: e,
and three entirely consumed by the drift of embers from
the land.
The total effects of the awful Calamity cannot yet be
estimated. Fredericton has lost about eighty habitations
or stoles, and property to the value of of at least 58.0001.
tin the rivers Orounuctoo and Konderjonish, tributaries
of the St. John, several lives and many habitations have
been lost and destroyed, and some of these ravages
accompanied by. terrific circumstances. Oii the Mira-
.michi river, the loss of life cannot,l fear, be estimated
under SOO persons. Great numbers.of the destitute stir/-
vier:vs had collected in the village of Chatham for re-
lief, and as so many of the provision stores of the mer-
chants had been consumed, the (settlement depending
almost entitely upon imported food) serious appreliel:-
sions were entertained of approaching famine. So sr in
as I learnt this, I assembled his Majesty's Council to
consider what measures it would be expedieat to adopt,
and an agent has been sent to Qeebec to purchase sup-
plies, and to proceed with them to Miramichi.

In a calamity so extraordinary and extensive, I feel
that I am called upon to depart from that brevity vinli
which the momentous operations of my own profession
are commonly reported, and if I have trespassed too'
much at length in doing so, it is to spew amply tl e
grounds upon which I ought to apply and appeal tor. %tic-
cour. I have done all in my power to afford and extend
relief upon this melancholy occasion, and I have been
most nobly supported by the liberality of the country.
For the benefit of the sufferers in the file which. h is
taken place at Fredericton, a subscription has been raked
which will be sufficient fur the supply of its immediate
wants. The subscription in amictii, has been most
liberal, the city of St. John has come fin ward with a
great degree of liberality, ;Lodi have just learnt, by a
dispatch from his Excellency Sir. Jame, Kano, that
our sister Co:ony was about to send prompt anti consi—
derable succour, from Halifax, but effectual relief be-
yond averting the horrors of want in the approaching
long winter of seven months duration, is not withi.l
such means.

In pr6moting sub criptions, I have. on my own re-
spons:bility. paid two hunched pounds from the 12:.in's
fonds for the benefit of .each of the two sufferiug place-.
I know well enough his gracious Majesty's betievt.le t
disposition, and your Lordship's, to doubt of receiving
sanction for this approptiation.
succours to which the people here naturally
look, are those which the abundant charity and bene-
volence of t!...e mother countries usually contribute oa
such calamitous occasions, and, should any funds be so
raised at home, they Would be effectually and properly
applied by Committees here, to Many cases of very
gmat (Imre*, which-is brought upon those who will
endure it Aptly, but se, erely, and to re-establish