A WEST INDIAN HURRICANE.

Evening Star, Issue 4045, 12 February 1876, Page 1 (Supplement)

A WEST INDIAN HURRICANE.

Writing on September 23, the St. Vincent correspondent of the 'Times' details the hurricane that visited that island on the 9th of that month. St. Vincent, he writes, has often experienced more, violent storms, but this gale was remarkeable from its having been accompanied by a deluge of rain unprecedented even in West Indian annals. In twelve hours the almost incredible quantitity of nearly 19in. of rain fell. For some weeks previously the weather had been intensely hot and oppressive. The longcontinued and stifling heat caused a good deal of alarm to be felt throughout the island. Weather-wise West Indians predicted that the unusual sultriness was the sure forerunner of either a hurricane or an earthquake. The feeling of anxiety was aggravated by the report that the famous volcanic mountain, the Souffriere, which is situated at the northern extremity of the island, had shown some symptoms of uneasiness. At times a strong smell of sulphur was felt for a long distance around the mountains, and was perceived hy ships passing the island at a distance of many miles. It was recalled that a similar period of unusually great and sultry heat had preceded the memorable eruptiou of the Souffriere in 1812, which caused widespread havoc, covering the entire island with a thick couch of ashes, burying crops, and spreading ruin, from which many estates never recovered.

At mid-day on the Bth the thermometer stood at 97deg in the «aade. Giving the marking of the mercury, however, conveys no adequate idea of the stifling closeness of the weather. Residents in the island for forty years declared that they had n»ver before experienced heat so trying and prolonged. The great heat continued during the day, and at sunset there was a very angry sky, especially to tfc* south-west. Shortly after sunset the whole sky became very luminous, and this appearance lasted for a couple of hours. It was succeeded by intensely vivid and beautiful sheet lightening, which at times appeared to rush in a torrent of flame from the clouds and showed the whole heaven to be of a strange unearthly blue color; the sound of distant thunder could also be heard. At about 11 o'clock p.m. a smart gale from the southwest set in, driving before it dense masses of inky-black clouds. The darkness became so great that it could almost be felt, and at midnight a terrible thunderstorm burst over the island, accompanied by a tremendous downpour of rain. Sleep was impossible, the noise of-the thunder was so appalling, and nearly all the inhabitants of St. Vincent passed the night watching the progress of the hurricane. The rain seemed to come down in one unbroken sheet of water, but the darkness was so great that, except during the fitful glare of the lightning, it was impossible to see a yard. The noise of the rivers, however, showed within an hour that streams which the parching heat had left shrunken and almost dried up hail become roaring torrents. A little before six o'clock there was sufficient light to see the state of affairs, The streets of the town of Kingstown, the capital of the island, were all flooded, in parts to the depth of over 3ft. The market place and other open spaces had become lakes, and all low-lying ground was covered with water. The mountain streams, which before midnight might have been crossed dryshod, were now pouring down vast volumes of muddy water, having in some instances men over 12ft. within the six hours. The south-westerly wind had in creased, and at daybreak it was blowing a whole gale of wind, with a tremendous sea on. Before six o'clock, of the ten vessels anchored in Kingstown Bay seven had been driven ashore by the violence of the sea, and a large portion of the landing-stage washed away. The rain still continued to come down in torrents, but from daybreak its violence sensibly abated. Heavy landslips were seen on all the hills around Kingstown, doing great damage to the crops, as acres of cultivated land were carried away at a time, In Kingstown a number of houses were washed away, and two bridges torn down by the force of the water. The greater portion of the Roman Catholic graveyard was carried away, and a number of decentlyinterred bodies washed down to the sea. At Calliaqua, on the windward coast, two vessels were driven ashore by the storm. The damage clone throughout the island to the crops and estate works has been very great. In many places the ground presents an appearance as if waterspouts had fallen, the earth being rent into chasms ten and even twenty feet deep, and in some instances over 100 feet in length. In the beautiful Mariaqua Valley, one of the finest pieces of scenery in the "West Indies, the populous vil- | lages of Mesopotamia and Hopewell were so severely injured by the floods, that the inhabitants, numbering several hundreds, have resolved to migrate to another locality, abandoning their former habitations. In these villages over thirty houses were swept away in an hour. In one of these houses a woman named Samuels, whose husband had very recently died, lived with her three children. All four of them were drowned. By a curious coincidence, the river—which rushed in a torrent through the village graveyard and uprooted a number of bodies carried the coffin of the man Samuels almost to the very spot where his wife and children had been swept away by the flood. In the vale of Buccament, on the Leeward Coast, several persons lost their lives during the flood. It is as yet uncertain how many lives were lost altogether; owing to the difficulty of communication reliable statistics cannot yet be obtained. From the intelligence as yet received, this hurricane appears to have extended over a very large portion of the West Indies, and to have been severely felt at Barbadoes, Martinique, Dominicia, and St. Lucia. At Martinique, a trading vessel called the Codfish, belonging to St. Vincent, went down at her moorings, and all her crew, numbering twenty hands, were lost. At Barbadoes the rainfall appears to have averaged about 13in. during the storm, but in some localities the rain guages marked 15in. of rainfall. Since the hurricane of the 9th the weather has been very disturbed and stormy. On the 17th three earthquake shocks were felt in St. Vincent. The last of these, which occurred about nine o'clock in the evening, was rather severe, and shook the houses a good deal. It is feared that what has occurred is but the precursor of a ee.

verer hurricane or of a more" serious earthquake. This feeling is owing- to the very remarkable skies we have since had. On the morning of the 19th, about an hour before sunrise, the whole sky became of a deep red, fiery hue. Many were roused from their sleep, and it was at first thought the glare was caused by the reflection of some great conflagration.