1875.] Inscription from Madhipurah, Bhagalpur. 107 



clear away. Many ghars of Chanbari were carried into the Lohai river. 

 One or two bamboo clumps remain strangely intact with ruin all around 

 them. All the people speak to a fiery appearance or ruddy glare ; some 

 who looked from the khal after the storm had passed, say they at first 

 imagined the villages would take fire, as the whirlwind reached them. 

 It must be remembered too that it was all but dark at the time. I do 

 not remember to have anywhere read of the appearance presented by a 

 whirlwind of this kind in the dark. There might probably have been 

 electrical disturbance involved in the phenomenon. All speak, too, to the 

 loud, booming sound with a sort of pulsation in it : " shob, shob, shob" is 

 the imitation they give. This would be the sound naturally produced by 

 the rapid whirling of the air. 



7. The storm was thus strictly a whirlwind, springing up in a sultry 

 calm, travelling in a straight north-easterly course ; with a diameter of 250 

 yards ; with an internal motion of whirling and ascension, and doubtless a 

 tranquil centre of revolution round which the air swirled upwards like a 

 funnel, and dissipated as it had arisen after a course of about two miles. 



8. The villages concerned are situated about 18 miles south-west of 

 Tangail and 5 miles north-east of Nagarpur. The loss suffered has been 

 only of the huts and broken crockery. The crops have not suffered at all, 

 and there was hardly any loss of cattle. 



Mr. H. F. Blanford said that, although whirlwinds were very ordinary 

 phenomena the one described was, nevertheless of special scientific interest, 

 since it seemed to have originated over the bed of a large river, instead of 

 over hot plains, as is generally the case. 



Mr. W. Gr. Willson said that, whirlwinds of this class were by no 

 means rare in Bengal, A short account of one which occurred near Satkhira, 

 in the 24-Parganahs, at 6 P. M. on the 25th of April, 1872, had been com- 

 municated by him to the Society at the June meeting of the same year. 

 It was very similar, as regarded extent, direction of propagation, duration 

 and extraordinary violence, to the whirlwind so graphically described in Mr. 

 Fasson's letter. He had received several brief notices of similar tornadoes 

 in the Nadia district. Two had occurred in the thannah of Bhadalia in 

 1874 ; one on the 11th of February, the other at 5 p. M. on the lGth of 

 September. There were also records of whirlwinds in the same district in 

 April 1871 and in September, 1872. 



3. From W. B. Martin, Esq., Deputy Collector and Magistrate, 

 Madhipurah, Bhagulpur, forwarding an inscription found at Srmagar, near 

 Madhipurah. 



My dear Me. Blochmann, — 'I send you a second rubbing, the worda 

 of course, can easily be seen to be " Magurdhaj Jogi 100." I send a small 



