To the foregoing may be appended a few extracts recounting the damage done by the great typhoon of 27th July, 1862, from which some idea may be formed of the tremendous violence and destructive effects of this description of atmospheric agency.
From London and China Telegraph, 29th Sept., 1862.
"A dreadful typhoon occurred at Canton on 27th July, 1862. The destruction of life and property is immense, the loss of life in the city and neighbourhood being estimated at about forty thousand. In the telegram which was received a few days ago announcing this event, a query was placed, and very reasonably, after the number stated; but the press state that as far as inquiries have been made at present it is probably correct. The loss of life has chiefly occurred amongst the junk population, and the fine new fleet of forty Imperial junks, intended for the Yang-tse-kiang, has been destroyed. The water rose till the streets of Honam had three feet in them, but the buildings suffered less than might have been expected; some two or three hundred feet of the granite
wall at Shameen was washed away, and blocks of stone were driven about as if they had been billets of wood; houses in the city had also been blown down, and trees rooted up; the rice crops have suffered severely; and the total damage may be estimated in millions of dollars. Mr. Gaillard, an American Missionary, was killed by the falling in of his house; and the residences of the Rev. Messrs. Bonney and Piercey were thrown down, a large junk having been driven up against them. At Whampoa the docks were all flooded, while the workshops attached were unroofed and otherwise injured. From the China Mail, which gives a long and graphic description of this disastrous visitation, we extract the following:—'The British brig Mexicana capsized in Hall and Co.'s dock, and lies on her beam-ends; the British ship Dewa Gungadhur is lying on her side in Gow and Co.'s dock; the British steamer Antelope, in the Chinese dock at the corner of Junk River, has her bow run up over the head of the dock, and her stern at an angle of thirty degrees into it; the British steamer Bombay Castle was washed off the blocks in Couper's wooden dock, and was scuttled by her captain to save her from being floated out of the dock; the American ship Washington is aground, blocking up the entrance to the Chinese dock in Junk River; the American ship Jacob Bell and British barque Cannata are high on a mud flat, dry at low water—the latter making water, and discharging her cargo; the new British steamer Whampoa broke from her moorings and went ashore, but has since been got off without injury. Several chops sunk, and five of the foreign Customs' inspectors were drowned. Many junks went down with all hands. Bamboo-town is entirely destroyed, the water having flooded it to the depth of six feet, and swept off a great number of its inhabitants. It is greatly to be feared that the disasters among the shipping outside will prove something frightful, and that many vessels now anxiously expected have either been driven on the rocks and gone to pieces or have foundered at sea. Already, it will have been observed, one dismasted vessel, the Danish brig Hercules, has come in; and more may be looked for in the course of the next fortnight. The Iskandershah is on shore in the river, close to Tiger Island, a little above the Bogue.' One writer says the city looks just as it did after the bombardment by Admiral Seymour, and that there has not been such a typhoon since 1832.
"The typhoon which visited Canton so severely also committed great ravages at the port of Macao. The loss of life was very great. Many junks were sunk or driven ashore, and their crews drowned. The Chilo, a British ship engaged in the rice trade, went ashore, and is a total wreck; and another vessel was also reported lost. The wharves have suffered severely, and houses were blown down. A letter, dated 28th July, says:—'Yesterday morning a very strong typhoon did a great deal of damage here. The new sea wall on the Praia Grande stood it well, except in one place; but the old one, which has stood so many typhoons before, is now nearly entirely broken down; also Messrs. De Mello and Co.'s wharf. Some houses have come down, and trees on the Praia and other places have lost nearly all their branches. The British barque Chilo got ashore outside, and has parted amidships; about 100 piculs copper cash have been saved from her cargo. The steamer Syce is ashore in the inner harbour, but without damage. A good many junks and boats have capsized or been dismasted, and a great many lives lost. The appearance of the Praia Grande after the typhoon was really astonishing. We had a very short notice or indication of a typhoon. On Saturday night the wind commenced to blow from N.E., but not before Sunday morning, about a quarter past four, did the barometer go down, and it stood at 8 A.M. at 28.60; thermometer 81. At about 10 A.M. it was blowing hardest from S.W., and caused the greatest damage.'"