The Express.
London, England, 1848-01-10 00:00:00

TO VICI-ADMIICAL sia WILLIAM RRRRRR , comwainwah

CHIEF, DART.,
Gsyon the wreck oil;h11:1,
mt." ray p[ea]l
yeytht,epaetrt Malt°
duCtlon
esty'. stead -
frigate Avenger, Captain Charles E. Napier, at 10 pea, sea
the 20th inst., oa a reef tetween the island of Oahu emir;
mainland on the coast of Africa, the island of Oahu
N.E. about 10 or 12 miles, and I enzlose the letter of
Francis Rooke, of that ship, which came under cover to yet,
reporting this unfortunate occurrence, and his arrival et
Tunis, as also a letter from Sir Thomas R,ale, address"
to you thereon, and the measures adopted for
the officers and crew if passible. On the recTedsa
the above-mentioned letters, on the Zeth inst.
Tunisian merchant brig, which had been sent
Tunis by Sir Thomas Reads with the intelligence, I la.
stantly despatched the Hecate, Commander ?doorman, wig
hawsers and stores to render assistance, to meta
tain the state of the Avenger, end to heave he
off, if practicable ; but, if found impracticable, then to rte
as many of the stores as possible, as also to obtain intone&
tion at Galita, and on the coast between the ports of Bra
and Tunis, as to the fate of the officers and crew, should they
not be met with at Galita, or the wreck, and I enelora
copy of my orders to Commander ?doorman. You will pee
ceive, sir, by the letter of Lieut. Rooke, and sir Thomas
Reade, that vessels have been despatched from Tunis fee the
purpose of rendering assistance, amongst which his Higher@
the Bey had sent a Tunisian brig and two gun-boats, sae
that it was probable the French government steamer Laval.
sier would also proceed for that purpose. It is gratifying es
observe, by the report of Lieut. Rooke, the kind auentioa
shown to him and the survivors of his boat's crew by the
Arab herdsmen and others under their misfottunia.--
(Signed) Lucius Cuavie, Rear Admiral, &c.
TO 8111, L. CURTIS, )I.IIAIL-ADMIRAL AND SENIOR orrtcns.
Tunis, Friday, 8 a.m.—Sir,—With SOTTO., I have to re
port to you the wreck of the steamer Avenger, on a coral
reef, between the island of Galita and the main land. The
island bore about N.E. ten or twelve miles at the tine the
ship was running under square yards, and also under rasa
at the rate of eight or nine knots; she struck about ten paz.,
and in a few minutes was a wreck, her masts and Nand
gone, she nearly on her beam ends, with theses beating ore
her. The captain and master were on the paddle-box at re
time ; the captain immediately giving the order " out beer.
she having struck so heavily as to canviiice ever) Lai), that
the cue was hopeless. The master had taken hearings of
a cape on the African shore (I forget the name) at four p.m.
the same day,accoraing to Mr. Betts, second master, who was
with me in the cutter, and whose watch it was at the time.
On the order (out boats) I had run on deck, and seeing that
not a moment mast be lost, tried to get men and clear the
two cutters away. 1 cast the gripes of the starboard one of,
put the falls in their bands, and then, as I turned, tinier •
the gunner, I got him to assist, with some others, in getting
the port one down. I meant to gat both cutters under the
lee of the ship, which had now swung broadside to the am,
and then wait ready to lend assistance as I could. Just r
the boat I was in took the water the ship fell on her bear
ends, and some heavy seas broke over her, the masts end
funnel having gone. I waited close to her fur one hour sit
a half, when the wind and sea increasing, and tier crew ea-
hautted, 1, with the opinion of the rest, thougnt the only
course and best would be to reek assistance, the wind beingfax
for Galita. When near the island the wind shifted roued, and
being obliged to keep before it I then ran back towards the
ship ; but the wind still coming round, I kept away for the
African shore. The wind and sea ha l increased greatly, andl
thought it impossible for the boat to live • she had aeloee-reefed
mixen, and we steered with oars, I beached her, there berg
little or no shelter ; she upset in the breakers when foil! serf(
us reached the shore, the others losing their lives in the at-
tempt. We should have done the same, bit' an Arab heeds.
man saw our boat and came down, took us to his house, gave
us milk and a large fire. Next morning we started on foot
, for Biserta, diatant about 35 miles, with our heat as guide,
travelling as long as we could walk, when after a few hours'
rest I prevailed on some Arahn to give us horses to Buena.
From there our consul gave us a boat to Tunis, there being
nothing there large enough to go to the ship in. Ws ar-
rived at Tunis last night at twelve o'clock, p.m., when I
imaisdiately sent for our consul, who came Gni
began preparing two feluccu for sis,=2:lo=
an steamer. I called this morning on the
Sir Thomas Read who is forwarding my vi. it
every way. The Bey of Tunis has placed at ray
penal one of his brigs, and two gun-boats, and I hope tel
under weigh with them by two p.m. The French straelf•
which is hourly expected, will follow, and I shall rare
Galita, and go to the wreck. Horsemen will be sent a'ong the
African coast, and you may rest assured, air, everyhr
possible shall be done, although I do it more as a duty that
thinking of saving the men, for both wind and see were veey
high on Tuesday. If I can hear or see nothing of the ship,
I shall then proceed to Malta to give further particular.—
(Signed) FRANCIS Rooxe, Third Lieut. of her Majesty's
ship veer.
The names of those saved in the cutter : Lieut. Bore;
Mr. Larkham, gunner; William Hill, steward; James Mar-
ley, boy. Drowned: Dr. Steele; Mr. Betts, second muter;
Mr. Aylisg, master's assistant; John Owen. rumen.
TO HIE EXCELLENCY alas WM. ',Armen, BANE., 0 C.E.
British Consulate, Tunis, Dec. 24, 1847.—Sir,—It is ale
most painful duty to inform you of the loss of her Britannic
Majesty's steam-frigate Avenger, Captain Napier, of whir
I have been informed this instant by Lieut. Rooke, bele*
ing to the vessel. He informs me that the ship, about tea
o'clock on the night of the 20th instant, struck on a coral
reef, betwixt the island of Galita and the main land abed
half way ; that he with seven others got into one of the
ship's cutters, and the wind and sea being so Arong at the
moment drove them on at once to the eastward; that
et
about ten o'clock the next morning they were abreast of the
coast, where the mountains named "Chef Abets" are situa-
ted, and perceiving a small bay they determined 43 run the
cutter in; but unfortunately the sea was so high that the
was instantly swamped, and four of the unfortunate people
on board her were drowned ; the names of whom were—
Stale, Mr. Betts, the second master ; Mr. Ayling, the mss
ter's assistant; and a seaman named Owen. As Lieutenant
Rooks was not enabled to give me any further intoner-
tion in respectcrewl
to the
havehon:oer unfortunate
it m
te vessely
dutytheandto h
remainderire
of the a
Teasel specially to convey this disastrous intelligence to yon,
under the impression that you will at once send a NEON
vessel, for the purpose of rendering every assistance possible
on this melancholy occasion. In the meantime I have hired
other vessels to convey lieut. Rooks and Mr. Larking', the
gunner, who were saved in the cutter, together with Wia.
Hill. the steward of the vessel, and a boy, whose name Lint.
!Woke does not recollect, to Galita, for the same purpose. I
have also applied to the local authorities for assistance, art
in the course of this day a brig and two gun-boats will be
despatched to the neighbourhood of the wreck, as the Freer
steamer, Lavoisier, is expected to-day from Algiers. I have
likewise made application to the French consul-
begging that she may be despatched to Galita without loan
time to render assiatance. I request that the Tunisian htli
which conveys this letter may be sent back here as quickly as
possible, with any information or suggestions that you my
think advisable to offer to me. I transmit herewith a letter
from Lieut. Rooke, and have the honour, &c.,
(Signed) T. RUDE.

FOREIGN PAPER.—A decision of considerable iza•
portance has recently been made with respect to a quest*
of paper imported by • vessel from Trieste, in regard to */
legality of certain Marks attached to it, and contained es
labels, which were supposed to militate against its admits&
bility, under the act having reference to the prohibition of
goods having marks or brands purporting to be these of
some manufacturer in the United Kingdom. The perhallif
(which were numerous) containing the paper were 5i5
pane by labels having the names of the manufacturers, tins
first of whtch was a cognomea peculiarly English ; fear.
nevertheless, it was further distinctly stated the lakei
that it was the manufacture of the parties in a certain kelp
town and seaport of note in Austria, and the impedes
therefore disclaimed any attempt to infringe the INE
by virtue of which a temporary detention imao=
placed by the officers of the revenue on their gods.
This parcel of paper consisted of several thouswhichand
pounds weight, and was packed in reams, each of
ream bore a label on the wrapper, describing the contents to
be " euperfin: blue wove foolscap," which being the terms
commonly applied by the trade, in conjunction with the
of tl• • parties bearing affinity to English manufac-
turers, was considered by the officers of the revenue as in•
tended to give them the character of British manufacture in
the East Indies to which they were intended to be sent; bat
with reference to the statement of the importers in regard
to the label bearing the name of the foreign port of manu-
facture is connexion with their names, it has been decided
by the authorities, on the representtliorkof the parties, that
the trade terms mentioned do not give the paper an Hiegel
character, and they have eanc.ioned the immediate release of
I the entire parcel for shipment to its destination.