THE SHETLAND ISLANDS DISASTER.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3209, 11 October 1881, Page 3

THE SHETLAND ISLANDS DISASTER.

The following account of the recent storm in the Shetland Islands which caused the loss of between 60 and 70 lives, is given by an Inverness paper of July 26 : — A fearful storm swept over the Shetland Islands late on Wednesday night;, and continued to blow with great fury till Thursday morning, resulting in destruction of property and loss of life unprecedented in.tbe north since 1832. On Wednesday the weather waa favorable for prosecuting the flshing, and boats from every station throughout the islands put to sea. When the storm burst, "with a suddenness that gave no warning, the boats were far at sea, and those prosecuting the herring fishing had nets set, and those at the cod fishing had lines set. The storm prevented hauling lines or nets, and there was consequently great loss of fishing material. On Thursday all the large-decked boats fishing from Lerwick had arrived in safety, but as the day advanced, and reports came in from the smaller island stations, it was apparent that a terrible calamity had overtaken the large proportion of the inhabitants of the islands. From Dunrossness five boats were missing, but turned up late on Thursday night. The fleet at Sealloway and Walls, which were all decked boats, weathered the gale in safety, but suffered severe loss of material.

It ia in the North Isles of Shetland that the most disastrous losses have occurred. Owing to the difficulty in communicating and the want of telegraphic communication to some places, it is impossible as yet to get full details, but the grave fears first entertained have been sadly confirmed, and it has now been ascertained beyond doubt that ten boats have been lost in the North Islands. These are native boats, locally known as " sixerns " —that is pulling six oars, but also using a lugsail, and generally having a crew of six men each. One of the boats belonged to Unst, the most northern of the Shetland group, six belonged to the island of Yell, two to JTeednlong, and one to Tossbank. Besides these, two are also missing from Fetlar. News from another district states that a boat belonging to Havera —a small island close to fe'calloway—has also been wrecked, thus making, so far as yet ascertained, eleven boats and 63 live lost. Wreckage has been driven ashore at many places in the islands. Part o£ one of the Yell boats has been driven ashore at Unßt, and also the body of the captain. This is the only body yet recovered, and, owing to the rapidity of the tides in the Shetlands, it is doubtful if many bodies will ever be recovered.

The revenue cutter Eagle proceeded to sea in search of boats and on Saturday picked up one about eight miles south-east of the Skerries. There was no one on board the boat, all having met a watery grave. On being taken to Lerwick this boat was indentified as belonging to TJnst. One boat had a most miraculous escape. It was one of the large full-decked boats, and the crew having set their nets decided to stick by them, and the boats and nets rode out the storm, although the craft was often completely covered by the heavy seas, when the storm abated the men found an extraordinary heavy take of herrings in the nets, the boat being unable to take them on board, even though the ballast was thrown overboard. .After taking on board about 70 crans of herrings, valued at over £60, the crew handed over the remainder of their nets to an Irish boat, belonging to Dublin, and at present fishing in Shetland, that came to render assistance, and from these another good haul of fish was obtained. The scenes witnessed at the landing-places and along the coast are heartrending. In Shetland it is customary for father and sons, and perhaps other relatives, to fish in the same boat, and thus several families, all closely related, are deprived of their bread winners. As a rule the people are exceedingly poor, and the destitution caused by the calamity among the dependents, who it is estimated, cannot be fewer than between 200 and 300, will bo fearful, as their neighbours are mostly as poor as themselves. The people in Lerwick held a public meeting on Friday to consider what should be done to relieve the distress "amongst the bereaved families ; but as full details were' not then to hand, it wag decided in the meantime to appoint a large and influential committee, with powers to take whatever action they considered best in the circumstances.

The disaster of 1832 occurred on the 16th of July. A gale sprang up from the same direction as on this occasion, and resulted in the loss of 105 lives and upwards of thirty boats. Sad as the present calamity is, it was eclipsed by that of 1832.