THE NEW HEBRIDES DISASTER.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XV, Issue 4394, 15 April 1893, Page 2

THE NEW HEBRIDES DISASTER.

[To The Editor W.D. Times.]

Sin,—ln your issue of Thursday, you roported that the Wellington Presbytery had agreed to appeal for help for the famine-stricken Natives in the New Hebribes, and for assistance to our wrecked mission in Am brym. Tlie enclosed letter from Dr Lamb tells the story of the disaster, and as it is of public interest I will thank you to publish it, Dr lamb, our youngest misgiofcjjj~s£.pp.cJ»d by two lay missionaries,TseTtfed ia Ambrym about a year ago, with the view of evangelising the island, and also seltiug up a medical institute for the benefit of the group. This terrible cyclone has made a complete wreck of the newly-erected missionary pre» mjses, and left thousands of Natives without the necessaries of life, In these Bad circumstances we find it necessary to make a speoial appeal to tlie Presbyterians and the publio in generalfor monetary help.—l am, etc. Kobert Wood. The Manse,

Masterton, April 18,1898, SB LAMB'S . . "Ambrym, March7,lß9B. "This is a letter of distress. A hurricane has passed right over our heads—a cyclone, I think—and has ruined us and our people, if not the whole of Ambrym, Ido not ask anything for ourselves, bat-food for the people—rice, hard biscuits, flour, peas, beans, meat—anything yon can find friends willing to send us, Some of it wo shall certainly need for ourselves and our "boys" unless help comes soon. ;■' .

"The storm began on Saturday morning last, and steadily increased all day. We made everything secure and retired about 9 p.m, At 10p,m. we were roused by leuce ot tho wind andinHHlH

was rapidly fulling, At 11,20 p!uH tho roof of the assistants' house began to yield and bo torn away, At considerable danger from falling branolies they made their way to us. Thou our native staff, by twos and threes, caino crowding into our little dining room, It i?as a terrible time. The trees began to fall, the doors to burst' in, and the lights to blow out, We were watching tbe aneroid rising and falling with every gust, It foil to 28'2 on our highest glass, which would be much below 26, or even 27 t in an ordinary one. To make matters worse, tho fltoro behind the house, which was protecting üb, began to yield. Piece by pieco it oame away, and the heavy timbers laid on its roof to keep the iron down were hurled upon our roof. A seotion of a building awaiting re-erection was picked up and hurledagaiiistlhoendofourhousu, shattering the picture inside. Then our own walls began to bead. It waa an awful experience. Tho 'boys' stood with their baoks .to the wall, trying to support it, but in vain, Then we had to fly whither wo know not, The lightning was intense and constant, Wo seemed to be walking or stumbling along in an electric flame, Mr Mansfield went first, with one of our baby boys under his oape. I followed with Mrs Lamb and tho ■ other child. As we passed the native house the last section oftherpofblew off. We hid behina^rl^bflHHS and then tbe end ofnS^HHfll

houso fell, and scattered had fallen beside us, One iron struck, mo but did no kayS, 7 Through a misunderstanding Mr ' Mansfield led us to the chiefs hut—a little low roof, set on the ground, and occupied by the chief, his favorito wife, aud his best-tusked pig, Ha welcomed us, and we wore glad to sit down in the dust or mud beside the 'grunter,' Alow, rude, circle of coral stones surrounding the hut protected it somewhat from the violence of the - storm, Tho little thatoh oovering vibrated with the weight of the wind, and tho chief waa holding on to it, crying out, 'Timar,' i,0,, calling on tho ghost of bis father to save him. The rest of our company, which now numbered Borne 20 souls (seven being Ambryn young men in training), made their way to the large native house, whioh was built here at our first arrival soveu months ago. There they sat in iear and trembling, praying for salvation, They did not reach it without {jreat peril, Mrs MacDowall lost her hus« band and did not know whitber to turn, and sat down great banyan tree on a doorslflftjho concrete nativo cottage wb3^H s wero rockiug and falling. 'TOnce eh*fled to the native house. I know not what had coins of thorn all, and could not go to see, A tree had fallen acroßß tho entrance to tho hut, crushing the stonewall. The hours soemedondless, At last there oame a lull. We rushed out to find our lost party. Tho mission station was gone, Tho very path was lost under fallen trees and ruined huts. The whole party was found safo, More than that it was impossible to learn, for tho storm burst on us again with a roar which it is impossible to describe, and' from the _ opposite quarter, In „tho blinding rain and sand Mr Mansfield aud myself lost our way, Then I lost him, I clung to a shattered tree stump, and tried to dodgo tho falling palms. It was then I thought our end had come, for tho roar of the sea, only a few yards distant, filled one's Bonl with horror. Itßeemed as though the wares wore upon us and '' about to sweep all away, At length, through the vivid lightning I saw tho outline of tho chiefs hut again, and made for it, creoping along the ground, I ran against sheltering behind the wall, rant of his whereabouts. We got into the hut at last, the water pour* ing out of my dressing-gown in rivers, • Mrs Lamb and the children wore still safe, There was nothing else for us to do but sit down flat in the dirt, and with sore eyes, stiff limbs, and growing obill, wait for the morni»6 —the babies sleeping and crying o° our knees; poor little mites,/ tbey got a shock thoy bave not yet aecoveredfrorc. As we crawled out/ot the . hut in the groy dawn thoj around us was both pitiful, only some four li [ whKSH tively whole, and the life, a splendid ing on the ground, every tree prostrate or broken off short, The desolation, like the storm, is beyond tho power of pen or tongue to describe. This house or hut in which I write is ; all that is left to us, Into it aonio 21 of us are crowded—babe and filthy savage. All that is loft of our worldly goods lies yonder in. the mud and rain. We bave nowhere to bestow them. The whole land is smitten and blasted from the seauhojre to the hilltops. In a few. days the people will jiavo nought to eat but dry epeoanuts, most of whiclj have already been exported as copra, Some 4000 tp' 8000 people will be crying to us for'sustenance, Ono trader hero baa escaped with his life,

but the otlior ono perished, also losing ship and crew in the torriblo blast that followed the lull. Two or throe other boats havo been lost with their orews, Wo saw the poor creatures fly past before tho wind, their sails blowing away as they rushed along in the pitiless sea. The people aro on the best possiblo terms of friendship. We can trust them uttorly now, although hunger may niako a difference. Only some ten days ago all deputes wero settled, and everything that stood in the wiiy of mutual understanding «ae removed. Wo are Safer here than in a civilised stato, lost a pin miico our amvaXDy theft. Part of the station building material is probably blown away to sra. Each day brings buck letters, papers, photos, etc, from the Band or scrub. The forests aro stripped bare, and tho trees that .-remain standing aro merely baro p0105,... The birds are homeless wanderer*, and add to tho sorrow of desolation, '::£- ■ S-l