Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1876-12-22
Ihe Great CYCLONE In lengal.

Later news from southeastern Bengal con-
| firms previous rUmOrs OF immense loss ut
life and property Occasionel hy the cyclone
OF Oct. 81. IL arose somewhere IN the Bay
OF Bengal, and rushing nOrthward IN the
track OF vessels bound for Calcutta, dlsnas,-
| ed many large ships, and did much other
damage. But this was trihing compared to
what It did on shore. Calcutt. itself narrow
| " escaped its violence. At CLittag0ng 1t
stranded every vessel in the harbor, and a.
most destroyed the town. Three large is
! lands, Haitian, Sundeep, and Daklln, with
numerous smaller Islands included IN the
| Hachergunge, NOokhollv, ami Chittag0n dis
trlcts, were entirely submerged by the storm
! wave, as was also the main Land for five OF
] SIX miles inland.
These islands are situated in OK rear the
estuary OF the river Megna. They have been
I formed by the deposition OF earth washed
down by the sacred river GAnges during rs
! periodical foundations. The waters OF the
Ganses pour into the Bay OF Bengal 10y four
teen principal channels. some OF these
channels are SO narrow that the rigging OF
tie coastlng vessels Is often sptangled d. the
trees on tie banks Plentiful supplies OF
hsh FOR the Calcutta market are procured IL
the numerous waller courses Of this region,
although with difficulty and danger. as eloc-
o1lles aud formidable serpents abound The
and other ierocIous animals. and everywhere
relsns the deadly malaria which makes the
Suud,rJunGs as the low. mArshy lands
OF TIE delta are called, from beng covered
with tue soOndru, or suuier tree-the most
mics pltabie and unhealthy, as it Is the hot
I - part OF British India Government las
made vigorous Efforts to clear and % people
the Sunder5unds. It has offered special in
ducements to settlers in this extensive mari
time district and It's adjacent Islands, and re-
lays Of fresh victims to accident and disease
have been tempted there 10 i'll up the gaps
left by their predecessors. \ large portion
of land has been cleared, and timber, cotton.
rice, sugar cane, honey. and the mulberry
tree for feeding silk worms, have yielded rich
returns to enterprise and labor. The big
cest Of the submerged islands Dakhin, was
500 square miles in extent and had popula-
ton of about 2iO, 600 Haitian and Sundeep
toget her had about 100, 900 Inhabitants.
Up to IL o'clock on the night Of Oct 81.
according to despatch from Calcutta, there
were no signs of danger but before mid
hight a wave swept over the country to a
depth in many places Of twenty feet. surpris-
ing the people in their beds. Dense groves
Of eocoanut and palm trees around the VII
lagos enabled many persons to save them
selves by climbing among the branches. and
but the water burst the houses asunder and
swept them out II ses.- Some were thus car
ned across the channel, ten miles. to the
Chittagong district, but n vast majority were
never heard of again. The country is fat
ana almost every one persisted who failed u
reach the trees. More than one tree present
ed the queer spectacle often witnessed dur
lag AN inundatIon of the Gauges 3. happy
family Of serpents. birds. amt beasts d, dI-
vers and hostile kinds. waiting aloit for the
water 10 subsile. All the cattle We're drown
cd The boats were swept away and other
means Of communication DESTROYED. The
Calcutta Government Gazette saws that
= wherever the storm wave passed it is be
lieyed that not third OF the population sur
vived. The islands have barely one-tourth
Of their former inhabitants The latest OIL
nal estimates, in report by Sir Richard
Temple, Lieutenant Governor OF Bengal put
the total loss of life at 100000. In some
places the stencil from the putrefying bodies
IS insulIernble. and general outbreak Of the
cholera which has already appeared in Moo.
holly. is expected Government Is hasten
ng to its duty Of relieving the sore distress
which prevails among the survivors of the
-ycl0ne.l
The sad calamity recalls the destruction of
'ompen and Herculaneum. the great earth
iuske IN Lisbon in 1855. anu that in Naples
a 1857. as well as the devastation in bort
holland, IN l442, when the sea broke through
he dykes and drowned more than a hundred
thousand people.