The Weston Democrat. [volume] (Weston, W. Va.) 1875-current, 1877-01-22
THE CYCLONE IN INDIA.
Whni nh EnElIsh GcnIIrntnu Tells Us of tho
Snd Affair. -...

Nhni MI English GcnIlrntnu Tells us Of tho
.,- snd AiIaIr. Fg..s
a minute by Sir Il. Temple, dated the
twenty-iirst Of November, has been pub
lishet respecting the effects Of the late
cyclone and stOrm-wave in Eastern Ben-
gnl. The minute shys: =
Proceeding to Noaknlly on my or
binary tonr, licarl that disaster Ind
happened i'll the highly cultivated nul
thickly inhabited islands at the mouth Of
the Mcgln, viz: Sundeep, Hattia, Shali-
bilzporc, aud on hotli coasts Of the great
river. I cut short my visit to SoakOlly,
and lIastenel to the points where it was
probable tho worst distress must have
been. Il visited the islands named and
the western coast of the river district Of
.BackergungC. In alI tic localities visit
cd I took tile number III each Of the vii
lagcs md had the precise mortality i'll
each house aScertainc,l in my presence
on the spot, to prevent the possibility Of
deception From authentic data thus
obtailol l was able to check the local
estimates and measure the actual mis-
chief done. s.. .-.-s.. q
""Tle estimate Of the probable NUM-
Der Of lives lost, nearly all by drowning,
has been prepared by Mr.. Beverley aud
myself on our own data, compared with
local reports, orll and written, and based
OH returns OF the last census. We MP
prGllend that in mn area Of 5000 square
miles !. l62. 900 persons had boon sud-
denly thrown more or less in danger, OF
whom 215,000 must have persisted; this
isis only mn estimate; the cxact number
is not known yet, md perhaps never will
he. The storm wave rose to 4 height OF
ten Or twenty feet. The Noakauy pGo-
pio think !ittcsIme from tho sea up tho
Megna with salt water, and then That the
cyclone turned it round and rolled. the
fresh water Of the river down; the rellu.
encc causel the piling up, Of fresh and
sllt water which rushed over the sur
rounding districts; drowned botGcs were
carriel great distances; corpses begun to
putrefy before the waters retired. y, N
|, /" Tie tAIollalhmetlan population have
no cremation, and the masses Of corrlp-
tion Of human mud animal bodies! were
frequent, presenting Q ;sickening specta.
Gle. Many cOrpses were seen ut sea; tho
bodies of living anll dead wcrc borne
acrosB'thearm Of the sen from S'tn'lcep
to Chittagong, the former clmging to tho
roofs OF their own houses. The, force Of
tho intimidation appears to llaye lastel
from midnight to two o'clock in the
morning. Ty tlaybreak there wGs much
subsidonce Of the Hood, and by noon the
survivors canio down from tho trees
and rcgninel tcIr0 ,RrJn0, and must lave
been fOolleSs and sholterless all tlNt day
and the next 9. They then got out the
stores Of buried grain and dried it; co
coanuts also afforded tllcm II sustenaucc.
There was much troublc nbont drinking
water Mt first, but tllo tanks must have
speedily recovered from brackishncsS, rs
the water WIS generally good when We
tasted il, though i'll many cases rendered
bad by. having pntril eorpses in the
thinks. #...=..s#' -
"No estimato can be formed OF the
number Of cattle lost; the loss is bad for
tho people, hut fortunately there is no
immediate demand for plowing their
fields. At tho time of my visit there was
10 severe epidemic save round Noakal!y;
have since heard that chOlern has
broken ont on tho Cl,ittagong coast and
on tho cast side of the Neglla. The first
tlny or two after the disaster there were
some attempts Mt plundering md lawleSs-
ness, Int they were promptly suppress
ell. Most OF the lOcal lmtivO oflic;Nls
were drowned. When the storm burst
the abundance Of the rice crop ripcning
was the well known Deltaic rico crop,
which is far beyond the demands Of the
local consumption and which affords
quantities III thousands Of tons for cx-
portatiun; OF this n great part is lost.
but if even one-thirl be saved it will
afford sufficient for local consumption.
"Tlle boats, great anil small, which
constitute the only means Of carriage
were all lost. Tho NoGkally authorities
were thus bcrcft Of resources for moving
across the iloOds, and this wNS very
llard case on tho Hattia island, where the
people were three days succorless. LII
the RackerguIgc district tho boats were
saved, but much wealth was lost almost
entirely, in the form Of agricultural crops
or cattle. With the exception Of Dow
lutkllau, n tnding town, which was clean
destroyed, eight thousand inhabitants, n
quarter Of tho number, perishcd. On
approaching it We steamed for two miles
through the creek; the banks were
strcwI with li,:man bodies. .r-LOncIO''
Daiy YttcgrQM.