1858.] Account of a Cyclone in the Andaman Sea. 327 



At 9 p. M. a squall from S. E. blew away her main top sail ; at mid- 

 night the wind came from S. with terrific squalls, thunder and light* 

 ning, the gale blowing till noon on the 10th, when it moderated 

 with S. "W. On the 11th the weather was fair with light airs' from 

 the westward. The Alma in the right semicircle of the Cyclone 

 had been driven 1ST. Westward into the gulf of Martaban, where she 

 had the worst of the storm at midnight from the 9th to the 10th 5 

 the centre bearing west, at a time when Amherst partook only of 

 the changes of the wind without experiencing the violence of the 

 gale. From the observations of the Alma and the Cape of Good 

 Hope it is possible to fix the centre of the Cyclone at midnight on 

 the 9th. Judging from the great violence of the gale at Port Dal- 

 housie where the storm is said to have been worst, it was about 

 forty or sixty miles E. N. E. off Cape JNTegrais on the main land 

 (vide Charts). 



The Honorable East India Company's Steamer Coromandel bound 

 for Madras, left Rangoon on the 8th with N. and N. E. wind and 

 rain. She kept the usual course and in 15 latitude, a. m. on the 

 9th she steamed westward. The Cyclone commenced at 11 a. m. 

 on the 9th, the wind changing from N. to S. E. barometer 29.96. 

 She soon changed her course to W. by JSL and W. N. ^vV., the wind 

 veering to E. S. E. at 1 p. m. increasing fast and barometer falling. 

 At 4 p. m. the Ship was a little north of Preparis Island, the wind 

 had suddenly changed to N. N. E. increasing to a heavy Cyclone 

 with thunder and lightning and heavy rain. The barometer falling 

 rapidly, but the urgency of the occasion not leaving time to record 

 the observations. 



The Ship now hove to with her head to E. ; much damage was 

 received (vide Appendix). The gale continued heavy, the wind 

 veering to N. W. until 7 P. m. when an observation of the barome- 

 ter could again be recorded, which was very low 29 20. After that 

 hour the weather moderated, the wind drawing to the westward and 

 the barometer continued rising. It was at 10 p. m., 29.49. From 

 the great violence of the storm experienced about 4 p. m. the sud- 

 den change of the wind to the northward, and the rapid as well as 

 great fall of the barometer, the Coromandel must have been close to 

 the centre of the Cyclone about that time. 



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