The Express.
London, England, 1867-11-16 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, SATURDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 16, 1867.

LATEST INTELLIGENCE:,

THE OVERLAND

CHINA.

THE TYPHOON.-THE LOSS OF THE
SINGAPORE.

The Over/and China Mail of Sept. 27 has a long
account of the typhoon which visited Hong Kong on
the Bth and 9th. The chief disasters which oc-
curred within the range of the harbour-
master's jurisdiction were : Sank : (exclusive of
yachts), one barque, one schooner, two waterboats,
ono chop ; wrecked :—one ship, three barques, two
schooners and the government junk. Of other
damages eight vessels are seriously injured, while
an immense number are more or less so. There are
no means of accurately estimating the loss of native
junks and native life, but, however great it may
have been in the harbour and neighbourhood of
Hong Hong, there is reason to believe that the
number of lives sacrificed at sea is, in proportion,
far greater.
The Peninsular and Oriental Company's steamer
Singapore, it will be remembered, on the 20th
of August left Yokohama for Hakodadi and, almost
within sight of her port, struck on a sunken rock
not laid down in the charts, and went down in
deep water in a little more than an hour. We
now have the details. There were 25 passengers
on board, connected chiefly with important
mercantile houses in Japan and China, and
a crew of 120 officers and men. " The
escape of every individual, without a single
exception is due," says the Japan Tunes, " under
God, to the admirable boat service universal on
board the Peninsular and Oriental Company's ships,
to the coolness and steadiness of the crew and
passengers, and particularly to the watchful and
unremitting care of Captain Wilkinson, his chief
mate Mr. Reeves, and his other officers, which had
kept the boats in the splendidly serviceable state
in which they were found, and the crew under the
discipline which did them such credit. Every boat
was in the water and all the passengers in the
boats within six minutes after the ship had
struck !"

Hakodadi lies in a bay concealed by a headland
from an island known as Low Island, lying about
S.E. from it, on the other side of a strait some
14 miles broad. The danger which is now unfor-
tunately known to us as the Singapore rock, is
distant from Low Island about two miles and ahalf,
bearing N. by E. it E. from it. It is a square
pinnacle about 8 feet broad each way, and the
Japanese know it by the name of Ki-ko-ra Iwa
(rotten shell Rock). The Singapore ran upon this at
full speed, taking it just on the starboardbilge. The
naval court was held at her Britannic Majesty's
Consulate, Kanagawa, Sept. 9, to inquire into
the loss. It was summoned by the Vice-Admiral,
the Hon. Sir Henry Keppel, K.C.8., commander-
in-chief. The court finds "that the steamer Sin-
gapore was !oat on the 20th August by striking
upon a sunken rock unknown to European navi-
gators, in the usual track of vessels making Hako-
dadi from the eastward, and that no blame attaches
to Captain Wilkinson and tho officers of the Singa-
pore for the loss of the said ship, and the court
desires to express its approbation of the celerity
with which the boats were cleared away, and of
the conduct of the captain, officers, and crew in
remaining with the ship until the last moment."

JAPAN.

THE MURDER OF TWO BRITISH SEAMEN.

The murder of two British seamen belonging to
H.M.S. Icarus, at Nagasaki, has been warmly
taken up by Sir H. Parkes and Sir H. Heppel.
The Japan Herald of the 11th September says :

The visit of his Excellency Sir Harry Parkes,
the British Minister, and Sir Henry Keppel, the
British admiral, secured that the matter should be very
warmly taken up ; and as the governor of Nagasaki was
unable to discover the murderers, who were sailors
belonging to the Prince of Tosa, both minister and
admiral went to Osaca. Obtaining no definite satis-
faction there, Sir Harry steamed off in H.M.S.
Basilisk to Susaki, a port in the Prince of
Toss's territory, accompanied by Mr. Satow, an interpre-
ter. He had been preceded three days by the Vice-
GovernorHlraysu.s and other officers of the government. It
was rumoured that if the Basilisk went iu she would be
fired upon by the forts, but this did not deter Sir Harry,
and if there was any idea of the sort in the minds of Toss's
men, it was abandoned. At Sasaki, the officers, passengers,
and crew of a Japanese steamer belonging to Tosa,
which left Nagasaki soon after the murder, were
examined by Mr. Satow in the presence of the Tycoon's
and Toss's officers. This steamer has since been sent to
Nagasaki, where further investigations are to be con-
ducted. Mr. Satow, as well as the Tycoon's officers, have
have also gone there. It is gratifying to receive the assur-
ance that the greatest desire is evinced by Tosa'e officers to
discover the murderers whoever they may be. The Governor
of Nagasaki is to be replaced and the garrison increased. It
is understood that the unhappy affair is in good hands, and
that Sir Harry Parkes will not let It drop without the
most thorough investigation. Whilst Mr. Satow is carry-
ing on hie inquiries at Nagasaki, Sir Harry Parka has
returned in the liaailisk—having been preceded by the
admiral about a week—the latter not having gone to
Sasaki. The motives for the murders that have led to all
this trouble can hardly be doubted. The old feelings of
hostility to foreigners are not rooted out in a day.
There is no fresh intelligence reapectingthenative
Christian■ imprisoned at Nagasaki. It is said by '
the Japanese that they will be executed, but the
Japan papers are silent on the subject.