THE HURRICANE IN THE SOUTH SEAS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 2070, 22 February 1889, Page 2

THE HURRICANE IN THE SOUTH SEAS

A TIDAL WAVE.

(PBB FRKSS ASSOCIATION.)

Auckland. February 21.

Fiji papers to hand by the c. s- Arawata sate thkt the hurrloaue of last month did not do so much damage us was at first supposed, bat still the losses sustained by the planters and natives of the Ifclands of the Namdl and Tuvlanl, and Id the Rewa district (Yltl Leva) are very considerable, The Colonial Sugar Company In partloular have suffered very heavily, owing to their sugar-cane plantations m portions having been almost completely destroyed by the force of the harrioane and the sharp rain. Great damage also was sustained by their mills through the phenomenal rise of the Rewa river to a height of thirty-foot feet above I*B natural level. Their loss Is estimated at not less than £4000

On January 22 and 23, severe floods ooonrred on the Lower Rew», and the flats were Inundated for • week, many of the Natives being flooded out of their dwellings and surrounding cultivations. When the river at length subsided, It left behind mud and silt, to the depth of two and three feet. It is feared that thd yam crops will be utterly destroyed, owing to the plantations having been under water for such a length of time. The wind waa not so severe as m past blows, but vrai quite strong enough to strip the bread fruit and other trees of their fruit, so that were (t not for the banyan, whioh has suffered less than other products, there would be great difficulty m obtaining food. As it Is, the Natives are m a state of gloomy anticipation of Immediate privation, though the deposit left by the fljod will produce extraordinarily good orops next season. The coastal village? of Kors have suffered greatly from a tidal wave wh'oh swept over the fertile low-lying country for, m plaoes, over two miles, carrying away ■mall villages (whose Inhabitants eioaped In time) and outlying dwellings, destroying plantations, fruit trees, and doing an amount of damage whioh was not aoourately known irhen the Anvrata left Fiji for Auokland.