Now one of the greatest floods in the memory of the present generation has occurred, and the state of the city and surrounding countryside as I write is pitiable in the extreme, On the night of Thursday, September 2, we had premonitory symptoms of the coming storm in the shape of a sudden gust of wind and low fleeting clouds; by Friday noon the typhoon was blowing fairly hard and steadily, and heavy scudding showers had already made the streets unpleasant for walking, yet even on Saturday morning the river which winds round two sides of the city had not overflowed its banks. However, as the day wore on and rain and wind continued, the lands immediately bordering on the river were inundated, and crops such as Indian corn began to show signs of damage from the high wind.
However, we are accustomed in Taichow te sce the river get out of bounds with any heavy fall of rain. It should be stated that the city of Taichow lies about 16 li below the confluence of two rivers, one coming from the fission of T'ient'ai the other from that of Sienk; these are both mountainous districts with a very large catchment area, and the mountain torrents rapidly swell the rivers during heavy rains and then at the meeting of the waters the two floods combine and leaping over the bends of this much winding river come headlong for this city.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.