Bradford opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1874-1881, 1877-01-20
THE DISASTER IN BENGAL.
An OnicInl Statement Conccrning Results
Produced by the storm Wave.

An OnicIni statement Concerning Results
Produced by the storm Wave.
The Bombay Gazette thinks the late
cyclone in eastern Bengal, in conjunction
with the destructive storm wave which it
caused, will be remembered M one of the
most terrible events in the history of the
present generation, If not the most terri
BILE event of the kind that has ever hap.
pcned in the history Of mankind; the
dcluge itself, now that the probable geo.
graphical limits of that great disaster
have been estimated, could hardly, in
the early history Of mankind when it oc-
cured, have produced more wholesale
destruction of human and animal life
than did the storm wave which swept
over large portion of the coast of east
crn Bengal on the night of the thirty
first of October and first of November.
An official minute by Sir II. Temple
respecting the effects of the cyclone and
storm wave says ~ visited the islands
of Sundeep, Hattia, Shahbuzporo and
the western coast of the river district Of
Backergunge. In all the localities Wis
tied I took the number in each of the
villages, and had the precise mortality in
each house ascertnined in my presence
ON the spot, to prevent the possibility Of
deception. From authentic data thus
obtained l was able to check the local
estimates and measure the actual mis-
chief done. Messrs. Reynolds, Bever-
ley, DR.. Weir and the local officials &C
companied me. We apprehend that in
IN area of 5000 square miles about
1,1G2, 900 persons had been suddenly
thrown more or less in danger, of whom
215,OO must have persisted. This is
only an estimate. The exact number is
not known yet, and perhaps never will
be. The storm wave rose to n height OF
ten or twenty feet. The Noallally peo-
pie think it came from the. sea up the
Mcgna with salt water, and then that the
cyclone turned it round and rolled the
fresh water of the river down; the rellu
ence caused the piling up of fresh and
salt water which rushed over the sur
rounding districts; drowned bodies were
carried great distances; corpses began
to putrefy before the waters retired. The
Mohammedan population have no crema-
ton, and the masses of corruption of
human and animal bodies were frequent,
presenting a sickening spectacle. Many
corpses were seen at sea; the bodies of
living and dead were borne across the
arm of the sea from Sundeep to ChittG-
gong, the former clinging to the roofs OF
their own houses.
The force of the inundation appears to
have lasted from midnight to two o'clock
in the morning. BY daybrealS there was
much subsistence of the food, and by
noon the survivors came down from the
trees and regained terra firma. The
boats great and small, which constitute
the only means of carriage in these
tracts, are all lost. The Noakally au-
thorities were thus bereft of resources
for moving across the floods, and this
was a very hard case on the Hattia island,
where the people were three days succor-
less. In the Backergunge district the
boats We're saved, but much wealth was
lost almost entirely, in theform of agri-
cultural crops or cattle. With the ex-
cepton of Dowlltkhan, q trading town,
which was clean destroyed, 5000 inhab-
itants, a quarter of the number, perish
ed. On approaching it we steamed for
two miles through the creek the banks
were strewn with human bodies"
The India correspondent of the London
Telegraph writes that three waves in
succession, varying from ten to twenty
feet in height, swept over the doomed
district. Many who survived the first
shock were overwhelmed in the second
or third wave, and drowned before they
could reach a place of refuge. The
women and children naturally were the
most numerous victims, though some
and thereby saved. The trees, indeed,
were thickly peopled that dreadful night
until daylight broke, and then it was
found that not a few had escaped from
drowning only to perish of cold. In one
tree man hugging pig was seen close
to young woman clasping her babe to
her bosom. The latter two were alive
and unhurt, while the two former were
stiffened in death. The long sharp
thorns of the madar tree saved some
scores of women by catching their dresses
and holding them fast till the wave had
passed onward.