The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1876-12-10
THE BENGAL CYCLONE.
FEARFUL DESTRUCTION OF A MIDNIGHT STORM
WAVE.
Lopdon Times. Nov. Isl

TGe cyclone IN B5OSal, respecting WAlSE ouA
Calcutta corr espondent sent full det als yester-
day, appears TO have been the grea Test calam.
ity of The kiud known 80 history. CalAhi Ties
o, far less extent nave stamped tnems@l'vs
npon the Imagination of the world aud i've in
Do pular tradition as pic. =. illustrations of the
fearful power of destruction which lies dor.
mant in nature. The great earthquake It
Lisbon, for instance, has acquired supreme
| notorieLy among such disasters Upwards OF
so, GOO persons said to have been swallow Q
up in Lisbon alone, several other cities in the
peninsula suffered severely, and the destruo.
ton extended to Morocco and Madeira. But
the loss of life in the present instance seems
to have been far greater aud equally sudden.
Its full extent IL even as yet unknown
bat it can hardly be estimated as falling mach
short of half . million lives. An enormous
storm wave is described as having swept with
soarcely any warning, over the islands and
low w-lying lands at tina mouth OF the Gsnges
and Brahnapootra. The population OF three
OF these islands alone is estimated at 34o 00O,
aud barely fourth of them are believed TO be
surviving. Bat in addition to thus, The wave
swept over the mainland To distance of five
sr six miles trom the c3ast, and lt Is believed
that wherever passed n0G Que t I'd OF the pop
ula5iou is surviving. All this fCgntful deSCruc-
ton came upon the people without warning In
tue dead of night Up TO IL O'Clock on the even
ing of tha catastrophe there ware no signs or
danger but before midnight the storm wave
surprised the people in uhelI beds. IL Is de-
scrI bed sweepiDk over the lslanCs 60 q depth
in some places of twenty feeS, completely sub.
merging them. Only ono refuge was available
In these districts it is usual for the villages to
be surrou nded by dense groves OF trees caiehy
coca and pAiLn : aud those who could reAcu
their DtRnche4 seem to have had the only
ohauce Of escape. Almost every one pefisbnd
who failed in reaching Trees. A natural In
stiucL to seek retcSe On the roofs or Ure
houses, bat hne waters burst INTO the hons: g.
tore off Jne roofs and carried them miles way
generally Ou5 10 sea. aud a few were SAID To
| have been titus carried across "a cnanuel teo
| miles wide tn the mainland. Bu1 tte Vas5 ma
| ioriry were Lever heard of again The cattle
were all drowned, the boats swept away, and
| the ordinary means of communication thus de-
| stroy ed. Hae European re-ideuIs have shared
il The general destruction. almost sll the civil
off cers and police officials IL the principal
| islands have perisned.
! The loss Of three or four hundred thou
! sand persons by famine would hHve been
felt an indeiiole bDrror and even dis
grace, but it has now been i'll ctPd In Que
| stupendous stroke of destruction. Tae mIs
| cry, moreover s, of course, not 10 be reckOaed
| by the Immediate loss OF lite. The condition
| in which the district il left by euch a disaster
must be horrible in the extreme. The corpses
of the Inhabitants lay unburied and pestl-
lence was sapprehended from their putrefaction.
| a general outbreak of cholera was hourly ex-
pecred. but the disease had, happily, at the date
| of the last news, appeared IN only q sing e dis
tric5 In one OF her effect the copvuleion must
| BE- orse than that even of a famine. In the
| latter case the stock and the accumulated i'm
plements of the industry of the district would
remain coDpaF Fative'y upimpaired; but in thl:
instance, as We have mentioned, the cattle
have been swept away, and Lhe stores must
have been cruelty damaged. The peasantry o.
this district are described the most prosper
GUS in Bengal, the alluyial soil rp Of the Del,
being as usual, peculiarly rich. Their stores o
grain, it is said have been Thoroughly soske d
and the survivors were engaged in dryiinI
them in the suu. Cocoanuts are depended
upon for subsistence until the harvest
but it is some relief to hear that the growing
crops though they have suffered greatly, viii
probably yield a fair return. II is not sUr
prisiug that at first disorder would have brok
en- cut, aud that robberes should have beer
attempted; but the local government seems &
have acted with the euergy which might have
been expected from It's conduct in encounter
ing the famine. Sir Richard Temple, tn
Lieutenant G0vernor, at once visited the dis
trIct, and went from village to village in
Q0rlnK into the extent of the disaster aud al
ranging for relief About sixty relief centre
l have been established and it ls TO be hoped th
\ relief given will he prompt and LIBERAL Sue
8 q calamity is enough TO parslyze the Popula a
! tion, and 1t will be scarcely possible to shoV
4 the uCARppy survivors too much or to
. prompt IS mpathy.