TERRIBLE CYCLONE IN BENGAL.

Inangahua Times, Volume III, Issue 68, 24 January 1877, Page 2

TERRIBLE CYCLONE IN BENGAL.

OVER 200,000 LIVEB IO3T. The Calcutta corresoondent of the Times telegraphed on Nov. 19, all that was known of the fearful casualty which has already been mentioned in telegrams, as follows:— Further details received regarding the cyclone of tbe 31st October, prove it to have been one of tbe most terrible calami* ties on record. Estimates based on official returns from eaob police section put the loss of lift in the districts of Baokerguoge, Noakholly, and Cbittafcong, at not less than 815.000. Probably, this figure, enormous as it appears, is still short of the truth. Three large islands— Dakhin Shahabajtpore, Hattiah, and Sundeep—and numerous small islands were entirely submersed by tbe storm wave, and also the main land for some five or six miles inland. These islands are all situated in or near the estuary of the Meghna, a river formed by the confluence of the Ganges and Bramapootra rivers, the largest being Dokhin Bh«habazpore, in extent 800 square miles, with a popu« lation oF about 240,000. The population of Hattiah and Sundeep together is about 100,000. Up to 11 p.m. on the night of the catastrophe there were no signs of danger, but before midn'glit the storm swept over the islands to a depth in places of 20ft, surprising the people in their beds. ffapp% it is the cuptnrn in tht^a districts to plant dense groves of tre^s, cliiefly co^oanut and palm, round tlie Tillages. Tbe treeß afforded shelter to

the villagers, and almost all the survivors saved themselves by climbing among their branches. Some took refuge on the roofs, and tbe receding waves carried them out to sea with the people sttu elingiog to them. A few were carried thus from Sundeep across tbe channel, tan miles broad, to Chittagong $ but the vast majority were never heard of again. The country is perfectly flat, and, there* fore trees were the only secure range. Very nearly every one perished who failed in reaohing trees. There is scarcely a household ia tbe islands and adjacent coast that has not lost many of its members. Tbe cattle were all drowned, all the boats were swept away, and as wheeled carriages were unknown in those delta districts, the people were thus deprived of means of communication. Nearly all the civil officers and ]iolice officials in Dakbin Shahabaapore, except the Deputy Magistrate in charge, perished. ]