t it
was necessary partly to cover it with straw and write to his Majesty
asking for a donation to repair it. With his accustomed generosity he
gave 4,000 ducats."

_1678_.--Abbad states that a certain Count or Duke Estren, an English
commander, with a fleet of 22 ships and a body of landing troops
appeared before San Juan and demanded its surrender, but that, before
the English had time to land, a violent hurricane occurred which
stranded every one of the British ships on Bird Island. Most of the
people on board perished, and the few who saved their lives were made
prisoners of war.

_1740_.--Precise date unknown. Monsieur Moreau de Jonnes, in his
work,[88] says that this hurricane destroyed a coco-palm grove of 5 or
6 leagues in extent, which existed near Ponce. Other writers confirm
this.

_1772, August 28_.--Friar Inigo Abbad, who was in the island at the
time, gives the following description of this tempest: "About a
quarter to eleven of the night of the 28th of August the storm began
to be felt in the capital of the island. A dull but continuous roll of
thunder filled the celestial hemisphere, the sound as of approaching
torrents of rain, the frightful sight of incessant lightning, and a
slow quaking of the earth accompanied the furious wind. The tearing up
of trees, the lifting of roofs, smashing of windows, and leveling of
everything added terror-striking noises to the scene. The tempest
raged with the same fury in the capital till after one o'clock in the
morning. In other parts of the island it began about the same hour,
but without any serious effect till later. In Aguada, where I was at
the time, nothing was felt till half-past two in the morning. It blew
violently till a quarter to four, and the wind continued, growing less
strong, till noon. During this time the wind came from all points of
the compass, and the storm visited every part of the island, causing
more damage in some places than others, according to their degree of
exposure."

_1780, June 13, and 1788, August 16._--No details of these two
hurricanes are found in any of the Puerto Rican chronicles.

_1804, September 4._--A great cyclone, a detailed description of
which is given in the work of Mr. Jonnes.

_1818 and 1814_--Both hurricanes happened on the same date, that
is, the 23d of July. Yauco and San German suffered most. A description
of the effects of these storms was given in the Dario Economico of the
11th of August, 1814.

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