The Times has a letter from Funchal, in Madeira, brought
down to the 2d November, which forms a startling supplement to the summary of tempest disasters: the island has been visited by the most dreadful storm that has occurred since 1803, when 400 persons were swept into the sea. The summer was very hot, and the weather continued beau- tifully fine until the 15th October ; it then rained heavily until the 24th, when the rain partly ceased-
" About mid-day the whole of the island appeared buried in one vast cloud, threatening total darkness ; the barometer fell considerably ; the air became very oppressive, with a strong sulphurous smell ; and the wind veered about to nearly every point of the compass. At one o'clock the rain began to fall in torrents; and about an hour afterwards, I perceived at a distance of about a mile from the shore an immense rising in the sea, which was soon connected with a mass of dark clouds overhanging the bay, to all appearance charging themselves or drawing the sitter from the sea, for the space of about ten minutes, followed immediately by a heavy swell or rising of the ocean, which swept towards the shore ; and although I was at a considerable elevation above the level of the sea, it appeared high enough to sweep over the city ; its force, however, was broken, and it subsided on the beach. The rain still continued in torrents ; and at four o'clock the roar of the water in the river N. S. do Calhao, which was forty feet in depth, began to give me some alarm ; when, looking out of the window of my house, I perceived that the bridge was being swept away, and that the water was rushing into the streets. I immediately left the house ; and on reaching the street, the appalling
sight that appeared in every direction was enough to make the stoutest heart quake with fear. The street in front of the garden of my house was upwards
of three feet deep with water; and hundreds of men, women, and children, were wading their way up the stream, flying towards the mountains, whilst others were flocking to the town, not knowing where to go for safety, amidst the most dreadful shrieks and cries that can possibly be imagined. As I ap- proached towards the river, the scene became still more awful, the water having burst open the wine-lodges, and the contents being swept into the sea; whilst the streets in the neighbourhood were all overflowed with water, and the in- mates of the houses escaping by ladders and over the roofs of the buildings. Upwards of 200 houses have been destroyed, or become untenantable by this disastrous flood ; and the quantity of wine, corn, &c. swept into the sea and destroyed is very great; but at present it is utterly impossible to state any thing like an estimate of the amount of damage done."
The Government made immediate arrangements to admit the poor into the forts for shelter, and to keep order; but the overflowing wine gave opportunity for intoxication, and the confusion for frequent rob- beries— " The news from the interior, or rather the coast—for from the interior we have none—is awful. Half of Machio is swept away, and all the fishing-boats belonging to the village. In the pariah of Madalena nearly all the houses and part of the population are gone; in Calheta many houses are washed away. Fayal and Porto Cruz have suffered much, entire vineyards having been swept into the sea. Santa Cruz has suffered less than others ; but at Canis() the dis- asters are great." The weather moderated ; but on the 26th it blew a hurricane from the South, and the sea rushed furiously over the beach into the lower streets of Funchal. Six vessels were at anchor in the bay : at five o'clock the first, the American brig Creole, was driven from its anchors on to the beach ; and at intervals followed the English schooner Wave, the Portuguese schooner Novo Beijinho, the brig Dart of London, and the Sardinian schooner Gloria Madre Esperanza. All on board the last vessel perished. The ship Success was saved by its anchor becoming entangled as it dragged with one left at the bottom by a large American ship : next morning the ship got out to sea ; and afterwards it returned in safety. The wreck of an unknown vessel was found at Porto Crux, the crew apparently swept away ; and another Sardinian schooner WIN wrecked at Porto Santo. Up to the 2d, they still remained without news from the interior.
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