74 Hurricane or Whirlwitid of the 8th of April, 1838. 



course ere it met with any impediment, and having encountered 

 one of the above villages almost immediately after crossing the 

 water, every thing before it was swept away. It pursued its 

 course in a southerly direction, levelling trees and houses in its 

 course, exhausting itself at Codeleah. 



These villages were inhabited chiefly by fishermen who were, 

 at the time, on the lake, and never felt the effects of the storm, 

 till on their return they found their villages demolished, and only 

 a few surviving to account for the occurrence. 



Bakharies or split bamboos forming the choppers of houses, did 

 great execution. The gomastah of the above villages gave me 

 the following romantic account of the storm,^ 



"On Sunday, at about half past two P. M., the hurricane came 

 on : at first it appeared in a westerly [N. W.] direction, and to the 

 best of their judgment two dark columns that were visible whirl- 

 ing round and round, descending to the earth, had the appearance 

 of two huge daityas (or demons) preparing for combat ; — that a 

 second before they were fairly alighted they engaged in mor- 

 tal strife, and agitating the waters of the lake began their work 

 of destruction on land ; — that such as were in their houses, has- 

 tened out to witness this wonderful phenomenon, and ere they 

 could return to their homes, the sudden darkness that overspread 

 the place, the howling of the wind, and clouds of dust attending 

 it, rendered it impossible for them to bear testimony as to which 

 of the two gained the victory. That from the occurrence of the 

 whirlwind to the period it lasted or left these parts, it did not oc- 

 cupy twenty minutes, and was almost immediately followed by 

 sunshine. There was little or no rain, but a severe fall of hail, 

 which probably deprived some of life. 



At the village termed Mazare Ganw, the whirlwind came on at 

 about half past one o'clock ; at Soorah, Anundpore, Balleaghatta, 

 Chowbagan and Sambandal, at two and three o'clock ; and the 

 villages farther east, Bykunthgoor and Codeleah, four o'clock, 

 and though not lasting long in each, its effects have been truly 

 distressing. It hailed in the above mentioned places, and in the 

 two last named villages the hail was triangular. I give this latter 

 information as I derived it, but at Dum Dum the hailstones were 

 uncommonly large, one weighing, (as is said,) three and a half 

 pounds." 



