THE BENGAL STORM WA VE. 49 



Happily it is the custom in those districts to plant dense groves of trees, 

 chiefly cocoanut and palm, round the villages. The trees afforded shelter 

 to the villagers, and almost all the survivors saved themselves by climbing 

 among their branches. Some took refuge on the roofs, but the water enter- 

 ing the houses burst off the roofs, and the receding waves carried them out 

 to sea, with the people still clinging to them. A few were carried thus frum 

 Sundeep across the channel, ten miles broad, to Chittagong, but the vast 

 majority were never heard of again. The country is perfectly flat, and 

 therefore, trees were the only secure refuge. Almost everyone perished 

 who failed in reaching trees. There is scarcely a household in the islands 

 and adjacent coast that has not lost many of its members. The 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. Almost all the civil officers and police officials 

 in Dakhin Shahabuzpore, excej^t the Dej)aty Magistrate in charge, per- 

 ished. 



A strange fact about the disaster is that in Dakhin Shahabuzpore and 

 Hattia most of the damage was done by the storm wave from the north 

 sweeping down the Meghna. Several theories have been started to account 

 for this. One is that the cyclone, forming in the bay, struck the shore first 

 near Chittagong, and went north for some distance, and then turned south- 

 ward again. Another is that the wind blew back the waters of the Meghna, 

 which rebounded with terrific force when the pressure relaxed, A third 

 supposition is that there were two parallel storms, with a center of calm 

 between them. The first or third theory seems most jirobable, as in Sun- 

 deep and Chittagong the destruction came from the south. 



The condition of the survivors is better than might have been expected. 

 There was much distress for two or three days, but things are now improv- 

 ing. Backergunge is a great rice-producing district. Its peasantry are the 

 most prosperous in Bengal. Their stores are mostly kept under ground, 

 and have been, of course, thoroughly soaked ; but it is believed that they 

 are not seriously damaged. Wherever Sir E. Temple went he saw the peo- 

 ple drying their grain in the sun. The cocoanuts will help to give subsis- 

 tence till the harvest. The growing crops, which were nearly ready for 

 reaping, and which gave splendid promise, have suffered greatly, but will 

 still yield a fair harvest. For some days much disorder prevailed, and rob- 

 beries were attempted. This state of things was soon rectified. About 

 sixty relief centers have been established. Persons actually destitute will 

 be relieved, but no large sums will be sj)ent. It is believed that all dan- 

 ger of distress will be over after two or three weeks. The district officers 

 are acting with great energy. Sir E. Temple started for the scene of the 

 misfortune immediately the news was received in Calcutta, and he person- 

 ally visited the suffering districts, going from village to village, and making 

 inquiries regarding the extent of the disaster. He returned to Calcutta on 

 Thursday. 



CYCLONES OF OTHER PERIODS. 



"One of the earliest cyclones of which details have been recorded oe- 

 fturred not in the usual season, but in December, 1789. It was accompanied 

 by a huge storm wave, which broke on the coast at Coringa, near the mouth 

 of the Godavery. In this case, as in several other cases on record, the 

 coast was swept by three successive waves, the first of which drove all be- 

 fore it, and flooded the town with several feet of water; the second over- 

 topped the first, and covered all the neighboring district, while the third 

 dashed its waters over all. [Nearly all the town, with 30,000 inhabitants, 



4 



