Year: 1879

A HURRICANE ATTHE MAURIrIUs. first warnings are an excessive heat, and an at mosphere so oppressive as to lead one almost to believe some unknown agency is at work against human eXistence fever strikes with deadly virulence; the rays of the sun are scorching and the air is SO overcharged with electricity as to make men and animals alike uncomfortable. Then come a few ragged clouds driven wildly across the coppery sky, the barometer falls rapidly, and an awful still ness pervades everything. The birds tlutter uneasily and seek shelter in the thickest woods, the mules start and sniff the air. the Indians tie up their heads and hurry away to their huts. Not a leaf is stirring all nature seems in a state of hOrrld expectancy. Then comes sudden gust, which whistles past, bending the aloes and palm trees nearly double. and leaving them trembling in the still calm which follows. More driving clouds, gray and leaden

 creep up from the leaden sea, and sweep swift ly past, their ragged edges blown into wisps which catch and tangle with each other till the sky is covered with them. The roar of the gusts is more frequent, the sky seems to have descended like roof upon the land. Long since the harbor master has been busy with the shipping. Top-gallant-masts must be struck by all ships in port during the hurr- cane months; now yards and topmasts are sent down with run, cables are put out, and each tier of vessels securely dashed together. Ships at the roadstead slip their cables and put to sea to fight it out as best they can; some, prof1ting by the rules laid down in order to avoid cyclones escape, some are never heard of again. Another gust, increasing in force, and the second gun is fired from the fort as signal for the trains to cease running and for all prudent people to get home Shops are closed, windows and doors barricaded and the town resembles city of the dead. Afew policemen and an odd straggler are all the liv- ing things to be seen. Gust now succeeds gust, the roaring of the wind is louder than thunder, and it is difficult to make the voice heard inside a house. Rain falls Tn sheets, the roads are flooded the rivers are mere cataracts of milk -colored water, the canes toss wildly like live creatures in great agony, forest trees bend double and their branches crack and fly bodily away, the air is filled with driving bOughs, leaves, tiles, roofs, Wisps of hay, and other debris houses are torn from their foun- dations and carried far away balks of timber and blocks of stone weighing many hundred weight are rolled over. Between the gusts is a dead calm, in which the hiss of the rain and the roar of the departing gust sound painfully distinct. Dry earth has disappeared under Q sheet of water dashed and driven into spray, and again beaten flat by the ever descending rain. The surface of the sea is torn up into curious spiral columns revolving with great velocity. Every now and then the sun will shine out for few seconds with ghastly glare, then the clouds drop down again, and darkness comes to hide up the cruel wreck

 The people in the houses gather round the lamp in the dryest room, and listen fearfully as each fresh blast threatens to bring the whole structure about their ears Sleep is al- most impossible, cooking there is none, clothes are saturated with the moisture which drives in through every crevery and spirits are at their lowest with the thought of the havoc going on outside. Frasers Magazine.