374 DOTTINGS ON THE ROADSIDE. [Chap. XXIII.—B. P. 
sionary dwelling-house was destroyed, and the sur¬ 
rounding habitation levelled with the ground, while 
the Indian village on the shore of the lagoon was lite¬ 
rally washed away. 
But the cays, the most beautiful and picturesque 
cluster of islets imaginable, some of which were co¬ 
vered with cocoa-nut-trees in full bearing, others well 
laid out with cassava, etc., suffered the most severely. 
Poor Mr. Thompson, an American, and his whole 
family, to whom several cays belonged, and about 
whom I have written elsewhere, were swept away 
and perished. Of the cays themselves, the greater 
number were levelled with the sea. 
Wounta Haulover, the northernmost range of the 
storm, and also the northern limit of the Moravian 
Mission, on the Mosquito coast, is about ninety miles 
distant from Blewfields. Beyond this the gale does 
not appear to have been felt. 
Inland, as I shall presently describe, I traced the 
effects of the storm about thirty miles as the crow 
flies; and it blew with great violence at Corn Islands, 
about thirty miles from the coast. At the latter place 
considerable damage was done, especially amongst the 
breadfruit-trees, but not comparable with the devas¬ 
tation on the mainland. 
To give some idea of the force of the wind, I may 
mention that the large boat* I had presented to the 
mission some time before, happened to be at Corn 
Islands when the gale came on. She is more than 
* Christened the “ Susanna,” after Mrs. Bedford Pirn, with all due 
solemnity, by the King of Mosquito in person. (See Appendix, p. 468 .) 
