376 DOTTINGS ON THE ROADSIDE. [Chap. XXIII,—B. P. 
The family of the Thompsons on the Pearl Cays, and 
a poor boy who was killed by the fall of a wall on 
Corn Islands, make up the sum total of loss of life. 
After e xaminin g the few and scattered facts I have 
been able to gather about this storm, I am decidedly 
of opinion that it cannot be called a hurricane, in the 
true meaning of the word, but was rather a localized 
norther of unusual severity. It is much to be re¬ 
gretted, however, that no reliable observations were 
made, to set this question at rest. Such a thing as a 
hurricane has never yet been experienced on this coast; 
even its northern extremity, Cape Gracias a Dios, 
being outside the hurricane track of the West Indies. 
That the storm was most severe, is attested by the 
damage done. The lagoon was covered with trees, 
branches, and leaves for a long time ) the water turned 
quite black, and the fish died by hundreds, no doubt 
poisoned. They floated on the surface of the lagoon 
until the exhalations arising from their dead bodies 
became almost unbearable. Amongst them, several 
species were observed by the natives which had never 
been seen before, and which were, I was assured, of a 
very curious shape and appearance. The beach all 
round was lined with hundreds of dead fish, alligators, 
sharks, and a variety of strange shells, while on the 
river banks there were great quantities of dead maniti. 
A few days afterwards, the parrots came to the 
settlement in thousands, and great numbers dropped 
dead from sheer starvation. Then, the tigers made 
their appearance, lean, gaunt, and savage, eating up 
everything that came in their way, and very capital 
