, 1868-06-12

NuCCl bOCOUlOtlfVo III hO uIu Al ~
Ter illustration of the force of the wind
cannot, perhaps, he given than the fact
that | saw yesterday one of the wings of
these doors, above "A ton and a quarter In
weight, lying twisted and shattered on
the grass on the further side of the line
of rails leading past the workshops, and
ut least 20ft. from lis original position!
1t had been fortunately decided before
hand not TO run trains during a cyclone,
SO that no accident happened as regards
the traffic. That on the north line was,
I am glad to say, resumed the day after
the storm, while on the Midland passen-
ger trains from Mahehourg to Coroman-
del are now running, five engines having
fortunately been on the further side OF
the Grand River viaduct. The Interrupt
ton of the goods traffic on this line must
be, I fear, of long duration, and the loss
of revenue threby will probably exceed
the cost of repairs. The extent of dam
age to the ordinary roads and bridges IS
not yet ascertained, accounts having not
heen received from some districts, but 1t
is known to be very considerable. The
injury to the sugar cnIiivat on has been
enormous, the diminution in the probable
ylClO oVibS iOU"'J ~ I'""'
ers at from Is to 80 per cent. which, as a
magnificent crop of not less than 100000
tons was confidently relied on, represents
at the lowest a loss Of not far short of
half a million sterling. Much, however,
will depend on the nature of the weather
during the next six weeks, aud if rain in
moderation continues TO fall, the canes
may in n great degree recover. Uniortu-
natelv on most estates the mills and boil
lighthouses nave more or less, suffered,
and on not a few they are reported to be
totally destroyed, the vacuum pans, CEN
trifugal machines. and other beautiful and
expensive machinery commonly used in
this colony, being overwhelmed by the
falling materials of the buildings. There
is still time before the commencement
of the crop TO remedy most of these loss
es, bu, it is to be feared that some plant
ers will not have means or credit to do
so, and that the distress OF the agrlcultu-
raj interest will be fearfulIy aggravated.
This must increase the restitution and
misery Of the rest of the community,
which had previously arrived at Q terri-
Bile pitch, and | almost shrink from con-
templating the sad prospects before US,
Tor some mO0IHS ~ COtufi dL any rave. L
deem it no exaggeration, from what
have seen and from the reports have re-
ceived from the police, TO state that the
day after the hurricane there were fully
$4,000 persons in various parts of the
island absolutely houseless and exposed
to the still inclement weather, a large
portion suffering from the epidemic, and
many manned and injured from the fall
!. of their habitations. This will, no doubt,
for some time 10 come, swell The returns
of mortality. The loss of life during the
storm must have been very considerable.
Thirty bodies were exlr!cated by the
police from the ruins Of houses in Port
Louis alone, and the Inspector General
informs me that the numbers as yet re-
ported throughout the whole island can
not be less than 100, exclusive of those
drowned and wrecked upon the coast.
Many of the casualties were of a most de-
piorable character. Two of the Chris
a.. D.otb.on /ErSJroe do Ia Dootao