THE ERUPTIONS IN THE STRAIT OF SUNDA.

Inangahua Times, Volume VIII, Issue 1320, 7 November 1883, Page 2

THE ERUPTIONS IN THE STRAIT OF SUNDA.

♦ The f ilowing particula'-s of the disaster of A:ig ist 27 are translated from tha Batavia News of September 1:— " With much regret we have to give an account of a disaster which never j befell Java (more particularly Bantam) | before. We mean the volcanic eruptions | of Jihe Island of Krakatau, through winch' not only the appearance of the Straits of Suuda has entirely changed, but thousands and thousands of people have perished, and a great tract of laud lies desolate. 11 We shall try to give our readers a review as concise and complete as possible. We shall begin with describing the forewarnhigs, which were terrible and fearful. "In the afternoon of Sunday, Augns* 26, a noise was heard at Batavia from the west, resembling the sound of distaut thunder, varying with heavy reports, which made doors and windows rattle and ji ugle ; w nle later on in the night, and especially at midnight, a dark red glow could be seen in the sky. i M^ san eruption had ak en place on • the islands of Krakatau before, the I inhabitants of out' city did not fear these • sounds, and everyone consoled himself j with the thought that these were only to be ascribed to a second eruption of • the volcaaio. But it was observed that j the reports were much loader than 1 ■ before. At las- the people began to feel i somewhat untasy, particulai'ly when in the night between the 26th and 27ih a a report was heard At 1 o'clock which ' caused such a pressure of air. that all , ; the gaslights were extinguished at once. Several who were appreheusiveof losing their children and lives stopped up during the night, and waited in great excitement for the moniing. " Tiie morning came, but instead of shining with that transparent brightness which characterises the early morning hours in the East, the sun hid himself and it appeared as if the whole i firniani^nt was wrapped in eloiida. At ; about 7 o'clock on the 27th the first rain I of ashes, ctimmeneed," from which one could conclude that, whatever volcano was working, the eruption must be very severe when even in the distant town of I Batavia a rain of ashes conld he ob- ' served. Tha grey sky grew thicker and thicker, the rain of ashes fell more adundautly, a^d before the clock had struck 12 the whole town of B.ataui was in total darkness. Though everyone was excited and prepared for something to happen, still nobody could guess the frightful tragedy that had occurred at a few hours' distance, and how many found a terrible death. As the sun did not shine, the thermometer fell several degrees. The people were shivering with cold and fear. " All of a sudden business was suspended; everyone who- conld get away tied from business aud rushed to his beloved oaes. In the proper town all the people of the Bantam tri e broke up, and in a short time the whale town was deserted. The raiu of ash's became worse. "There was more bustle in the Chinese town than usual. Whoever could find a boat brought his wife, u-ea-sures, aud provisions in it, not knowing tlia't the wat«r to which one confided himself was his gieatest enemy. A little before midday the water rose considerably, like a mountain. It swept along the whole west coast of Java, went into the rivers, and made them swell several yards and overflow their banks in a few moments. "Everyone, especially the native populace and the Chinese, looked for a Suave gui peut. "To give an idea of the tidal wave only which troubled the sea and rivers, we may mention thatat Pandjong Priok the water rose 10ft in a few minutes, that not only inundated the proper town in a short time, but threw fullladen prauws (boats) to the shore like a straw. "This phenomenon repeated itself once again in the afternoon at 2 o'clock, but not so severely ; and after its fury the river appeared dry fo: 1 a mo neut. "Meanwhile the grey sky began to clear up. It became light, r, and with this light one could < c iold a speotaclw no doubt very rarely seen. The streets — or rather the roads, — the trees, and the houses, were covered with an entire white crust of ashes, and gave to the land of the sun an appearance of a Dutch winter landscape. ♦' Meanwhile, after this phenomenon had ceased, Anje.rs was desolate — most of its inhabitants were drowned, — and after this fatal Monday nothing was to be seen l»ut a muddy swamp. Tanard, also situated on the coast, shared the same fate, and at the' moment \se are writing this 705 corpses have been found. At Tjeringin the breakwaters were smashed to pieces, and the wa cr flowed several miles inland. " t Kiranjj Antoe the same thing occurred ; while more to the eastward the two ftvu.j. laces, Ki>mat and Matyk,

had disaappeaied like Anjers. At Kxamat the market was covered with dead bodies, and the number of those who perished there is estimated at tnoro t tan 300. The lighthouses along the coast were cracked like straws, and the village of Merak, from where the harbour works got their stone material, has disappeared with everything m it. Tue ifoverumeut telegraphs" us that motors at Merak weie crushed like pioc« sof tin; waile rails were folded together like paper. " We cannot quite estimate the consequences, as every day we get further advices, generally containing terrible news. For example, a steamer of the Netherlauds-ludian S. N. Company has anchored at a place were formely the hotel was situated in the town of Aujers. Some navigators report that the sea in the the strait was covered with floating driftwood and corpses. Many unfortunate creatures have been seen floating on bamboo rafts or clinging to a branch of a tree. " fhe Assistant-resident's wife, who was standing with her child on the back verandah of her house, was swept into the bathroom, was repeatedly dashed against the walls while in there, aud afterwards dragged outside by the furious water, where she saw her husband struggling toreacha tree,against which lv was soon crushed to death. The unfortunate woman was thrown on a hill, where her child soon expired, and where she fainted, exhausted by exertion, fatigue, and loss of blood from her wounds. "The Government has meanwhile tried to help where it could, and ha& first of all distributed provisions among the populace. The Resident of Batavia has left for Tangerang, and the member of Council of Netherlands-India, Mr Levyssohn Norman, is going toBantam to-day with Dr Sollewyn Gelpke to see what further can c done, "We received advices from Tjeringin, saying that there 10,000 person* had perished. The Ophir, a steamer ot the Netherlands-India S. N. Company, will bring the saved to Batavia. " The tidal wave has al3o shown its destructive power in the neighbourhood of Batavia. On the island of Amsterdam the dry dock was cast iff ; its anchors and floated towards the ; ocean. On rust has teen, inundated ;: , the colossal dock there began to float. j The gigautic cannons, to which the ! ships were fastened, broke in two like laths, and it took much trouble to keep the man-of-war steamer Kouongir Emma fastened to the shore. A steamlaunch of the survey i'oat Blommendaal, manned witL six, wh'ch was just steaming along at the time of the tidal wave, capsized ; four men saved themselves by swimming, but two of t ifeui disappeared at once. At Batavia the water, rushing so furiously, had such an expansive faculty that about 100 yards of the western breakwater wovks were destroyed, and in the eastern breakwater two holes wera made of 50 aud 100 yards. At Tandjong Priok the Wilhelmina (s.) was cast olf her anchors; she discharged distress signals and was assisted. The works at Tandjong Priok did not suffer very much by the tidal wave. "Later accounts, dated August 30 r concerning Anjer, say that the saved who arrived there the day before look d ra'serable, and were only dressed in rags which they had borrowed here and there in the kampong* (villages) from the native populace. The accoun s of those people concerning the manner in which they were saved, and the fright and fatigue they had to suffer are really heartrending* One example may show this :— "Doctor Dille*, of Anjer, was still lying in bed at about 9 o'clock in the morning of the 27th inst., at the time when the first tidal wave occurred* He was thrown out of his bed and crushed between the furniture. As he was flung against a window he made his way through it to the back of his house >>y smashing a pane of glass, and saw that his wife and sister, with a child; had fled to the mountains, where they braved the violent rain of ashes* whilst protecting the child as much as possi le. For a, lonjj time they wandered about tired and hungry. When they arri ed at a kampong (village) they were driven out of it by the populace. The stupid natives of Ban* tarn, who were so much under the influence of their priests, ascribed to those unfortunates the destruction of their country. These people became fanatic, and they nearly went up to Anjer with arms to plunder. " Jhe doctor's family, who was chased away, and could not even get a a mouthful of rice or a drop of water, resolved not to resist their fate any longer, and to look for a safe place to die undisturbed. A more compassionate native designed to show these ' Christian dogs' an abandoned dessa

(village), where some ricsancl a piece 1 of dry fisfywas-to bn found, just enough to Enable tlipm to reach Mantfah. One of. the ladies got a glass of dirty Wtef'for two golden rings. " Near prak 80 covpes were found. It is heartrending to see the desperation of the remaining populace, who rush to th« coast along the dfstroypd roads to look for theiv husbands and fathers, wives and children, and as it wpre; ask back their dt-ad from the ocean. . " Amongst all the misery, we may, hpwfever, point at more pleasant facts. We mean the princfly gift of the Government, of the . Straits to our Governliiont, atid the offer made from all sirles to soften the fate of th? nnfortunatcs with pecii^ijirjr aid. 'The "inundation fun'd^ave a. orida 10,000 f (about £880), and f the Governor general gaxe a Considerable sum out of his private funds." \;