Of 73 cyclones in the' Bay of Bengal, notices of which occur in old records, in Mr. Piddington's works, or which Mr. H. F. Blanford himself re corded in recent years, he says the distribution in the several months were a,s follows :—January, 2; February, 0 ; March, 1 ; April, 5 ; May, 17 ; June, 4 ; July, 2 ; August, 2 ; September, 3 ; October, 20 ; November, 14 ; December, 3. All that occurred between November and the end of April ha,d been restricted to the south of the bay ; and the same is to be said of the greater part of the November storms. May and the first half of June, and October with the first week of November, are the only periods in which cyclones can be said to be prevalent in the north of the bay, though they occm. occasionally in the intervening months, that is, during the south-west monsoon (p. 623).
Captain Taylor, R.N.R., Master Attendant at Madras, writing on the Bay of Bengal, says ships exposed to the cyclone experience, after fearful weather from one quarter, a short rest, during which the sun or stars are visible over ' head, after which the storm comes on again from the opposite quarter. The wind observes in all cases the same relative bearing,—on the north side of the cyclone the wind is always east, on the east side the wind is always south, on the south side the wind is west, and on the west side the wind is north. And these storms always come up more or less from the south-east, and pass away to the north-west.
Madras city and its adjoining coast have suffered repeatedly from cyclones. They seem to travel up from the E.S.E., aud progress rapidly in a W.N.W. direction, until they touch the land, and there they assume a westerly or W.S.W. course. Their diameters are about 150 miles, and they revolve in a direction contrary to the hands of a watch.
At midnight of the 2i1-3d October 1746, 23 days after the surrender of Madras to M. de la Bourdonnais, a cyclone burst on this town. The ships Duo d'Orleans, Phoenix, and Lys put to sea, but foundered, and in them upwards of 1200 men were lost ; the Mermaid and Advice, prizes, shared the same fate ; the Achille and two other vessels of war were dismasted ; and of twenty other vessels of different nations in the Madras roads, all were either wrecked or lost at sea.
A cyclone occurred off .Cuddalore on the night of the 12th-13th April 17.19. It blow from the N.N.W., and continued all the next day. II.B.M. ship Pembroke was wrecked on the Colerun shoal, a little off Porto Novo, and only 12 men were saved. The Namur foundered in shoal water not
far from Devicottah, when 527 officers and men were drowned. Off Fort St. David, the E.I. Com pany's ships Lincoln and Winchelsea, and almost all the small vessels, Were lost.
On the 31st October 1752, a violent hurricane was experienced.
On the 1st January 1761, a violent hurricane occurred at Pondicherry. At that time the British were besieged by sea and land. Of eight sail of the line, two frigates, a fire-ship, and a ship with stores, the Norfolk escaped. The Panther, America, Medway, and Falmouth were dismasted, but rode out the gale ; the Newcastle, Queen borough, and Protector ran ashore ; and the Duc d'Aquitaine, the Sunderland, and the Duke foundered, and of the crew of 1100, all but 7 Europeans and 7 natives perished.
On the 21st October 1778, a violent hurricane visited :Madras, when the ships that remained at anchor all perished.
On the 20th October 1782, a gale began from the N.W., and the following morning 100 small country vessels were stranded on the beach. WM. ships Superb and Easter were dismasted, and got to Bombay with jury masts. At that time • the ravages of Hyder Ali had driven the people into Madras, and sickness followed the cyclone, during -which Lord Maeartney, the Governor, nobly exerted himself to mitigate their sufferings.
On the 27th October 1797, a heavy gale occurred, in which the barometer did not fall below 29.465.
On the 5th December 1803, H.B.M. ship Cen turion, on her passage from Trincomalee to Madras, and the Albatross, were dismasted in a cyclone, which raged from midnight till 5 r.m.
On the 10th December 1807, a hurricane burst over Madras, and was accompanied by a storm wave, which inundated the whole of Black Town.
On the 2d May 1811, in a violent hurricane at Madras, the Dover frigate and Chichester store ships were lost, and 90 vessels went down at their anchors; only two vessels which put to sea were saved. During this cyclone the surf broke in 9 fathoms water, 4 miles from shore.
On the 24th October 1818, a cyclone commenced with the wind from N., and, after increasing in violence, suddenly lulled, but as suddenly blew from the S. Its vortex passed over the town. It travelled west. The barometer fell to 28.78.
On the Oth October 1820, a cyclone commenced N.W., and veered to W. and S.W. The baro meter fell to 28.50. It passed north of Madras, and travelled west.