The Express.
London, England, 1858-03-18 00:00:00

THE LOSS OF THE CALCUTTA MAIL.

The following telegram was received by the
Peninsular and Oriental Company at 5 p.m. yester-
day, Much 17 :
MALTA, MARCH 17.

The Colombo brings the Ave'. passengers for South-
ampton, and sails at 6 o'clock. The Sultan takes those for
l[era. ,

The mails, baggage, and cargo of the Ara were all lost ;
hopes are entertained of saving all the specie.
The vessel was fast breaking up.
The Ara was to have called at Trincomalee.

The Peninsular and Oriental Company's ship Ave, which
has been wrecked on the coast in her last trip to Ceylon, was
a screw steamer 1,600 tons burden and 320 horse power.
She was built by Tod and Macgregor, of Glasgow, in 1866,
and was worth about 80,0001. She was commanded either
by Captain Cauldbeck or Captain Kirton at the time of her
being wrecked. She is the smallest packet employed on the
Calcutta and Satz route. The Erin, a mail packet belong-
ing to the same company, was also wrecked on the coast of
Ceylon last year, and at the time General Havelock was on
board of her. The currents are very strong about Ceylon,
and commanders have found themselves 80 miles out of their
course in that part of the Indian ocean. The malls that are
lost are the Calcutta one made up to the 10th ult., and the
Madras mail made up to the 13th ult. The Peninsular and
Oriental Company have lost seven steamers during the last
twenty years, viz., the Greet Liverpool, Tiber, Ariel, Paths,
Madrid, Erin, and Ave, or one about every three years on
the average. The Ava was not Insured, her owners having a
large reserve fund which covers any loss by shipwreck
which they sustain. The Great Liverpool, Tiber, and
Madrid were lost on the peninsula coast; the Ariel was lost
in the Mediterranean, and the Paella was lost near Singe-
pore. The wrecks of the Peninsular and Oriental Com-
pew' a steamers have fortunately never been attended with
any great loss of life. Tho company has nearly fifty
steamer!, which, being under mail contract, are obliged to
be traversing the ocean night and day, and in all kinds of
weather. Those fifty steamers run as great a distance every
year as 300 sailing ships. There is not much doubt but that
the cargo lota on board the Ava was a very valuable nos.
That steamer having been wrecked before she reached Point
de Galls bad not the China mail on boanl, which has ar-
rived safely at Satz, made up in Hong Kong to the Ist
alt. The next Calcutta mail will not be due in England
before the 30 it inst., when it will be ascertained what was
the value of the mad lost in the Ara.

CORRESPONDENCE ON TRE REFUGEE QUESTION.
—A writer in a oontempornsy stated yeeterdny that this oor-
rapondence, as published in the Alateiteur, had created ea
unfavourable impression amongst the French people. We
believe this may be in a great measure amounted fur by the
omission, in the Moniterr a columns, of the first despatch in
the series, namely that from Lord Cowley, oonveying Count
Wslewski's apology for his despatch of the 20th of January.
—Morning Herald.
A RuNAWAY NEGRO. A memorandum was
posted yesterday In the Liverpool Underwriter'-roomy to
the effect that—" The ship Gertrude, from New Orleans to
Liverpool, was spoken 19th February, off Key West, having
put back 400 miles lo give up a runaway negro."