1888.] occurred at Dacca on April 1th, 1888. 209 



Nearly opposite these three barracks which were destroyed by the 

 retrograding lateral radius, two up-country coolies had been engaged in 

 making a trench, running north and south, about six feet deep at the 

 south end, near the river, but open, from the sloping of the ground, in 

 the direction of the Lalbagh. They were close to the south end of the 

 trench when the tornado came upon them, like a sudden hurricane from 

 the south. They jumped down into the trench and crouched down for 

 shelter, when in an instant, the wind blew with equal violence from the 

 north, and hove a brick up the trench from the direction of the Lalbagh, 

 inflicting a ghastly wound on the head of one of the coolies. From the 

 directions in which the wind blew, the vortex must have passed over 

 this trench, and this fixes its position at this point of its course. 



The vortex now passed on to the river. The right or advancing 

 radius did not reach the opposite bank at Haslee, but the left or retro- 

 grading radius kept sweeping along the river front as far as the Purana 

 Kuttra. Close to the water- works, the Commissioner's Steamer, the 

 " Linnet", and the police steam-launch, the " Marion," were anchored and 

 made fast to the shore. The " Linnet" was unroofed ; the "Marion" car- 

 ried away from her moorings, a short distance up-stream, and sunk in 

 42 feet of water. This was obviously the work of the retrograding 

 radius, and the resistance offered to this radius by the river bank and 

 the pucka buildings on it continued to push the vortex more and more 

 to the right, and it finally reached the opposite (south) bank at Jinjira 

 Hath, which was promptly demolished and set on fire. 



From Jinjira Hath, there is a road leading south-east to the village 

 of Subadiya about a mile distant. This road was nearly in the direct 

 line of the tornado, as it crossed the river from the south of the Lalbagrh, 

 and it followed it, making a track straight in the direction of Subadij^a. 

 This road is raised, but passes along a shallow depression or valley, 

 sheltered on the south by high trees, and on the north by the belt of 

 trees on the (south) bank of the Buriganga. Just as it entered on this 

 course, the vortex passed over the new pucka masonry house of Abdul 

 Bipari, and simply ground it to pieces, killing the owner and severely 

 injuring three persons sitting with him at the time. The manner in 

 which it treated this building is conclusive that the forces of the whirl- 

 wind had become greatly more intense than they were to the west of 

 the Lalbagh. 



From Abdul Bepari's house, the tornado made straight for Subadiya, 

 running at an acute angle inland from the river, and at this moment Dacca 

 lying on the opposite (north) bank of the Buriganga seemed safe, and 

 Subadiya doomed. But before reaching this village it had to 3ross an 

 open maidau stretching away to the south. Here it appears to have 



