'The Transactions of the Bombay Geographical Society. From December 1854 to March 1856. (New Issue.) Edited by the Secretary. Volume XII.' [‎52] (69/258)

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proceedings of the society.
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the first sweep of the hunicane crossed her bows obliquely at 5 p. m. on the
1st; at 11 it lulled' as the centre passed considerably to the east of her ; and
at half-past twelve blew with great fury from N. W., and so continued till
3.30 a. m. on the 2nd. The Tara had thus run some fifteen or twenty miles to
seaward of the hurricane track—then nearly parallel with and some ten or
fifteen miles from the shore ; and the gale had been felt by her for about the
same length of time as it was experienced at Bombay, and bore exactly the
same general characteristics. Her log seems to have been copied by a
Native, the word longitude being occasionally used for latitude, and the words
sympiesometer and barometer being obviously in may cases exchanged. I
have endeavoured to make some corrections where the errors were unmista
kable—those about which there could be a doubt I have left alone.
The Arracan was nearly two degrees (lat. 17 = 24’ N., long. 71 ° 26’ E.) —
to the south of the Tara when the hurricane overtook her from N. N. E.,
at 9 a. m. on the 1st., the centre of the storm then bearing E. S. E. The wind
was now veering to N. N. W., showing that the cyclone was crossing her bows
at no great distance, and travelling N. W. By noon it had passed her ; by 3
p. M.the barometerhad risen, and the wind began to lull. She had experienced
very foul weather all the morning and preceding night—such as we had at
Bombay from daybreak till the revolving character of the cyclone deve
loped itself..
The Norwood was about half-way betwixt the Tara and Arracan on the
morning of the 1st, and about a degree nearer the shore—the one vessel being
in 72= 51’ E. and 19= N., and the other in 71° 50’ E. and 18= 10’ N. The
Norwood only describes the direction of the wind after the hurricane had
passed over her to N. N. W., veering round to W., but so as to give us little
idea of when the centre passed over her : from her position about sixty miles
from shore the track must, from the descriptions of the other ships, have been to
landward of her. From the Norwood venturing to move along with the gale,
probably making six or eight miles an hour, while the hurricane travelled at
twice this speed, she continued to suffer from it from 6 a. m. till 10 p. m.,
—sixteen hours : could she have lain to, it would have blown past her in four
or five. It left her at 10 p. m., when she was probably under the parallel of
Bombay.
The Futteh Moobaruck, from China, was overtaken by the N. W. limb of
the hurricane about lat. 16 = 20’ N., long. 72= 30’ E., on the 1st, about 8 a. m.
Her position is guessed at from the observations of the previous noon, viz.
lat. 15° 20’ N., long. 71 ° 31’ E. She was by account at noon the following
day 16= 43’ N., 75° 58’ E.* It seems to have left her about 5 a. m. on the
2nd. Her log does not give the direction or changes of the wind : but as it
seems to have been nearly uninterrupted, she was probable considerably to
seaward of the centre.
The Steamer Cadiz, from China, followed the storm. She reached latitude.
15= where the cyclone seems to have first made its appearance, at 5 a. m. on
* There must have been a very great error in reckoning longitude here, as this would have
placed the ship nearly 100 miles on shore.