of years, until his
final retirement.

In order to convey some slight idea of the force of the wind I will
just mention that there was in command of one of the vessels in port a
man of great weight and bulk who had been spending the night on shore.
When he attempted to cross the maidan on foot the next morning he was
thrown violently down, flat on his face, two or three times, and he
had to scramble back again the best way he could. Another striking
evidence of the violence of the storm was to be seen in the myriads of
dead crows lying about all over the place, and it really seemed as if
there was not one left alive. But unfortunately it was not long before
we were undeceived, and they soon appeared to be quite as numerous as
ever. As I have already stated, the destruction of trees and shrubs
was very great--a loss that the city could ill afford, more
particularly on the maidan, which at that time was very bare of trees
and foliage generally. The various topes dotted about that we now see
had not then come into existence, and the avenue of trees lining the
sides of Mayo Road had only been recently planted.

[Illustration: The "Govindpur" on her Beam Ends.]

[Illustration: S S "Thunder" on shore, at Colvin Ghat.]

I recollect there were also no trees surrounding Government House, nor
in the vicinity of the Eden Gardens. And there were none on the space
fronting Esplanade Row, West. Dalhousie Square and Old Court House
Street were also very bare of trees--scarcely one to be seen. The loss
of life amongst the natives was appalling, caused principally by the
huge storm or tidal wave accompanying the cyclone, resembling a solid
wall of water, which at Diamond Harbour rose to the height of 34 feet;
when it reached Calcutta it was 27 to 28 feet, rushing up the Hooghly
from the sea at the rate of 20 miles an hour, destroying and
overwhelming everything it encountered in its wild and devastating
career. It was, of course, a matter of extreme difficulty to arrive at
any very reliable estimate of the number who perished, owing to the
vast area of country over which the storm raged. Happily the death
rate in Calcutta itself was, comparatively speaking, not so very
great, and was confined more or less to the crews of small native
craft plying on the river, such as lighters, cargo-boats, dinghees,
budgetows, and green-boats. This closes a brief chapter of some of
the incidents that occurred and which have flitted across my memor