TERRIBLE SCENES OF A TROPICAL HURRICANE.

Samoa Times and South Sea Gazette, Volume 3, Issue 135, 1 May 1880, Page 3

TERRIBLE SCENES OF A TROPICAL HURRICANE.

I THE SCHOONETt maiuon in the I STOItIL I I A LAKE OF BLOOD. Captain John Austen, of the Auckland schooner iLiriou, :,oiida to u friend the foilowiny graphic account of .". hurricano, in which the vessel was nearly lost :—" Noumea, loth March 1880. The mail leaves here for New Zealand, via Sydney, on the 17th, and I avail myself of this opportunity to forward you the following particular.? of the vessels trips since its arrival at Sydney in January last. I was all ready to sail from lis latter port for Norfolk Jshiml on (he morning of the 7th February, hut did not dear the Heads until the 10th, on account of head winds. I reached Norfolk island on on the 2-jth, having made the passage in fourteen days. The weather throughout was pleasant, and the winds generally adverse. On the 4th inst. I sailed from the island for this port, with a cargo of 29 horses, •i ! sheep, and n few tons of onions and I potatoes. On the evening of the Bth we werj in the midst of one of the most tor- j rifle hurricane- that, has ever visited i lii.se Wcivrs. Having anticipated this! vinloiil outburst of wind and rain, I The horses were eavernily secured and ! placed in the most favourable position, | | aft ■;■ which all the hatches, fore and j ! aft, were put on, end carefully battened j Id.iv.'n !e order f" admit some modicum >!:•;,■ into (lie hold a hole was knocked I (It.-- li .r.--s v.-.-i-.1.l have I.'ecn suffocated in! \n v-iv sh..rl iv ;e. Al !.' p.m. tile dose-j ~ ,■,'•. |..r .• a ::: '•. ■ pot;:,. ! cars, end this, von can easily mid. i-fauil, ' was not aUvavs practicable. 1 was ill the j : wheel during the ic igh! of the hurricane, hut shortly after assuming that position a tremendous sea broke over the stern, j nearly filling tli ■ cabin, wa-dung out the binnacle light, and knocking me awav from the wired with violence'; I (loate'd to leeward, and reached my feet only to be knocked back again, and. as I again endeavoured to grasp (he wheel, it spun round, the spokes striking mo successively on the arms, can dug some painful bruises. With some difficulty alight from a candle was obtained, 'and 'held under (he binnacle, everything being wet, and the wick of the lamp regularly soaked. While (he foregoing was taking place the vessel was put on her beam ends, and wo all gave ourselves up for lost. After .strenuous oxertions accomplished mulct - 1 extreme- diliicultics, the vessel was put I b'foie the wind, and away wo ran, with two men at the win el. For three consecutive hours the noble little craft was so fiercely buffeted by tho elements that she groaned and panted like a human being in agony. To make matters worse it soon became evident by the lurchings of (he schooner, that (lie horses, in their frantic (hough futile attempts to maintain their footing, had broken loos.', and were gathered ailogether on tho leeside of the hold. The din they made as they kicked and struggled was only exceeded ' by the roaring of the wind. .Some id' tho sheep Were washed overboard, others drowned nml floating about the deck, impeding the progress of the men, and compelling thorn to throw tho carcases over when oomo ill contact with. The night was pitch Hark,anclnstliomondrovo •nails through (he tarpaulins to keep them | mure secure, a few of them received nasty ! cuts oil their hands and feet. Captain I J&1 wards got a nasty'knock, caused by a sea washing him against the mainmast, When the wind and sen had gone down,' and daylight dawned, we ,took oil' one of the hatches to inspect tho horses. Never will I forget the sight I saw when 1 looked into Him hold. Lying ill a Inko of blood, fully I welve inches deep, were the dead carcase!) if twenty-eight, horses. Tho)' worn hnddled together ill almost every com (rivablo shape, white tho agony they IUUBI hoe "mimed whs pitifully depicted in their dilated oves, Tic scene and its. »um>uudiu S s wwe, indeed, calculated to

bring teai-s into the eyes of tho onlooker. A suffocating stench pervaded the hold, rendering the atmosphere of tho cabin unbearable, On deck the dead sheep were scattered everywhere. Out of forty four sheep there were only four left dive, while out of the twenty-nine horses wenty-eight were killed. The horses ■vero e valuable lot. I reached Noumea in a few hours after the storm had gone over. When it commenced we wore only sixty miles from tho reef, and hovo-to. In harbour tho men were two hours pumping Uo.nl out of tho hold, the smell of which was sickening.