Page:New Brunswick Magazine Issue 1.djvu/370

the press was the following which appeared in the Gazette:

Another event of a still earlier date appeared in the Gazette, which, although not apparently of so local a nature, was much more disastrous in its effects, this was the terrific gale of November 3, 1759, which in its fury rivalled, if it did not surpass, the famous Saxby gale of October 5, 1869. The tide is said to have reached a height of six feet above its ordinary level. Driven by the storm huge waves broke down the dykes at the head of the Bay and caused much damage along the coast. A considerable portion of Fort Frederick was washed away, and the next spring Engineer Winckworth Tonge was sent by Governor Lawrence with orders to repair damages and put the fort in the most defendable state the situation would allow, taking from Fort Cumberland such tools and materials as were necessary. The damage to the fort was not so serious a matter as the destruction of the forest. The woods near the Bay of Fundy were levelled by the gale and all the country up the St. John river as far as the Oromocto incumbered with fallen trees. Fires, subsequently kindled amongst the fallen timber, ran in the most destructive fashion, and it is said that in the year 1772 all the country below the Oromocto on the west side of the river was burnt over quite down to the coast.

James Simonds had, in the year 1762, decided to establish himself at St. John, having spent several years in quest of a desirable situation. Accordingly, in conjunction with his brother Richard, he took possession of the "Great Marsh" to the eastward of the harbor and cut there a large quantity of salt hay. At this time