THE CYCLONE AT CALCUTTA. 371 
depth of G or 7 feet. By it the river bank was injured, and in some 
pkces, where the soil is sandy, much earth was washed away. Three 
large breaches were formed in the bank ; two caused by ships blown 
into the garden while the storm-wave was at its highest point. At the 
point where the khfd, which divides the garden near its centre, enters 
the Hooghly, the -sluice-gate was earned away along with the culvert, 
forming a gap about 80 feet in width, through which the tide flowed 
into the garden and the rice-fields to the north. The storm-wave 
rushed over the garden like a torrent, sweeping away the gravel from 
all the roads at a right angle to its course, and strewing it over the 
lawn and on the flower-beds. Neai'ly two miles of road have been 
much damaged, while the road on the river embankment, which extends 
from the great khal to Bishop's College has been almost entirely de- 
stroyed. This wave also broke into the long chain of tanks, the surplus 
waters of which are drained into the river about 200 yards below my 
dwelling-house. The sluice-gate was broken by the pressure of the 
water, the sudden rise carrying away the parapets of the second bridge 
over the nullah connecting two of the tanks, and further on, destroying 
an old wooden bridge, lifting it off its masonry supports. This devas- 
tating wave overthrew almost every shrub and small tree that had with- 
stood the fury of the wind, loosened and swept away the soil about the 
roots of large trees, and caused many of them to fall even after the great 
force of the storm was exhausted. The garden was covered with straw, 
many hundred cartloads brought up by the tide and storm-wave ; and 
timber and rubbish of all kinds were scattered everj^where, and even a 
portion of the helm of a ship was carried a quarter of a mile into the 
garden and wTis found at the base of a large tree of Gmelina avhorea. 
No description could convey an idea of the devastation. The scene 
was most dismal : a thousand trees, many of them gigantic specimens, 
were prostrated, besides innumerable shrubs. Nothing had been spared. 
Trees that had not fallen were more or less stripped of their branches; 
some, recorded as standing, were mere poles without a branch. Not 
a vestige of a leaf, flower, or fruit remained ; tlie lawn, roads, and the 
tanks were blocked up by trees and fallen branches; all the build- 
ings suffered more or less damage. Much loss was sustained by the 
destruction of .the thatched conservatory; all the plants it sheltered 
were buried under a mass of grass, or were broken by the posts and 
heavy wooden framework of the buihling. Many of the most delicate 
