'Transactions of the Bombay Geographical Society, from January 1847 to May 1849. Edited by the Secretary. Volume VIII.' [‎10] (111/496)

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In shore of the two vessels alluded to ? we find that the Steamer
Victoria, while at anchor off Cannanore, experienced frightful wea
ther and the hurricane from E.S.E. In this situation the surf was
“ making a clean breach over her, taking with it the whole of the
“bulwarks from the starboard side, filling the gig, bending the
“ davits, &c ” Finding “ the rollers to be coming in with more force,
“ she slipt from her anchor and stood out to sea, rolling and pitch-
“ ing awfully” as she passed through the surf, and hove to outside.
Still “ the sea was tremendous, the ship labouring heavily,” and a
violent gale blowing. But there is not space for a detail of the in
juries which the vessel sustained on this day.
Near her, in Lat. 11° 3S / N., and within 10 or 12 miles of the
coast, the Mermaid had the same gale, at E.S.E., and about noon
“ carried away the flying jibboom, fore and main-topmasts and
“ mizen topgallant-mast,” while under close-reefed topsails.
While the ships on the coast had the tempest from South and
East, those to the westward had it North and West. Thus, the
Sesostris, (No. 3) in Lat. 13° 28 / , Long. 72° T 7 , had “ fresh gales at
“ N.N.E., a heavy sea and hard squalls, with much rain and con-
“ tinned vivid lightning. The vessel rolling heavily.” At the same
time the Swithamley, in Lat. 11° 30 7 , Long. 70° 15 7 E., (fig. 4)
had a moderate gale at N. W. to W.N. W., with a heavy swell from
N.E. It was squally, and much lightning and thunder were ex
perienced, while heavy masses of gloomy clouds covered the eastern
half of the sky. The vessel was under double-reefed topsails.
Off Cape Comorin, the Ceylon Island had a S. W. gale, and was
scudding under bare poles. Her place on the diagram is No. 6.
At a distance from the centre of the hurricane, the winds, as far
as we can collect from detached information, were perfectly con
formable to the vast whirlwind which they embraced. Leaving
Aden, the H. C. Steamer Auckland had N.E. winds ; in Lat. 70
S., Long. 57° 12 / E., the Zemindar had a N.N.W. breeze ; at
Ceylon, and Madras, South and S.W. winds ; at Bangalore, they
were S.E.; and at Bombay, light unsettled breezes at S.E. to N.E.
Nearer to the focus of this great circuit, we have the most complete
information relative to the hurricane from the Observatory at Doda-
betta, where, by a series of hourly observations, it appears that the