“They had scarcely time to ascertain the cause of this awful phenomenon before all the surrounding woods appeared in one vast blaze, the flames ascending from one to two hundred feet above the tops of the loftiest trees; and the fire rolling forward with inconceivable celerity, presented the terribly sublime appearance of an impetuous flaming ocean.  In less than an hour, Douglas Town and Newcastle were in a blaze:  many of the wretched inhabitants perished in the flames.  More than a hundred miles of the Miramichi were laid waste, independent of the north-west branch, the Baltibag, and the Nappen settlements.  From one to two hundred persons perished within immediate observation, while thrice that number were miserably burned or wounded, and at least two thousand were left destitute of the means of subsistence, and were thrown for a time on the humanity of the Province of New Brunswick.  The number of lives that were lost in the woods could not at the time be ascertained, but it was thought few were left to tell the tale.

“Newcastle presented a fearful scene of ruin and devastation, only fourteen out of two hundred and fifty houses and stores remained standing.

“The court-house, jail, church, and barracks, Messrs. Gilmour, Rankin, and Co.’s, and Messrs. Abrams and Co.’s establishment, with two ships on the stocks, were reduced to ashes.

“The loss of property is incalculable, for the fire, borne upon the wings of a hurricane, rushed on the wretched inhabitants with such inconceivable rapidity that the preservation of their lives could be their only care.

“Several ships were burned on shore, while others were saved from the flames by the exertions of their owners, after being actually on fire.

“At Douglas Town scarcely any kind of property escaped the ravages of the fire, which swept off the surface everything coming in contact with it, leaving but time for the unfortunate inhabitants to fly to the shore; and there, by means of boats, canoes, rafts of timber, logs, or any article, however ill calculated for the purpose, they endeavoured to escape from the dreadful scene and reach the town of Chatham, numbers of men, women, and children perishing in the attempt.

“In some parts of the country all the cattle were either destroyed or suffering greatly, for the very soil was parched and burnt up, while scarcely any article of provision was rescued from the flames.

“The hurricane raged with such dreadful violence, that large bodies of timber on fire, as well as trees from the forest and parts of the flaming houses and stores, were carried to the rivers with amazing velocity, to such an extent and affecting the water in such a manner, as to occasion large quantities of salmon and other fish to resort to land, hundreds of which were scattered on the shores of the south and west branches.

“Chatham was filled with three hundred miserable sufferers:  every hour brought to it the wounded and burned in the most abject state of distress.  Great fires raged about the same time in the forests of the River St. John, which destroyed much property and timber, with the governor’s house, and about eighty private houses at Fredericton.  Fires raged also at the same time in the northern parts of the Province, as far as the Bay de Chaleur.