Royal Commonwealth Society : View of James Town and the harbour, Saint Helena

Royal Commonwealth Society

<p style='text-align: justify;'>This lithograph from a sketch by the soldier Frederick Rice Stack, captures a dramatic natural disaster when the South Atlantic volcanic island of Saint Helena was struck by a tsunami, wrecking many ships in the harbour of Jamestown. Its caption reads, ‘Taken from the Harbour Master’s Office during the rollers of the 17th February 1846, on which day thirteen vessels (mostly captured slavers) were destroyed by the extraordinary phenomenon, and public as well as private property to the amount of £10,000 destroyed. It was also remarkable that the agitation of the water was confined to about 500 yards from the shore, beyond which distance the sea was perfectly calm, there being at the time scarcely any wind.’ The print includes a key identifying the wrecked ships.</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>See Janus record <a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=EAD%2FGBR%2F0115%2FRCMS%20190%2F10'>here</a></p>