The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-04-09 00:00:00

THE SCHOMBERG'S END.

(From the Melbourne Herald.)
The report was very general in town yesterday that the
Schomberg was fast breaking up, and that in a few hours
more of such weather as that of Saturday, she would dis-
appear altogether. The sensation caused by this calamity
has by no means subsided. Crowds of people, of every class,
were throughout yesterday pouring into, and out of, the
Hall of Commerce, anxious to obtain any little additional
intelligence that might have come up from the wreck. The
excitement is certainly natural enough. It is a painful
shock to the mind to find this magnificent, and—if we may
believe the accounts of her—unprecedented specimen of
naval architecture, upon which so much capital and labour
for so many months have been expended—upon which
artist and upholsterer have exhausted all their skill—
cast ashore on her first voyage, and just as she
was nearing her port. As " ships are but boards, sailors
but men," it would, of course, be sheer drivelling, under
ordinary circumstances, to complain that a thing made for
the sea, should perish at sea. As it is as natural for a man
to die, as to be born, so it is as natural that a ship should
be wrecked, as that she should be built. Still even this
admission must have its qualifications, both as to ships and
men ; and although both must be allowed to go the ways of
ships and men in the ordinary course, without exciting
surprise, we have a right at all times under
extraordinary circumstances, to hold an inquest upon the
departed. 'Why was the Schomberg so near the shore ?
We do not of course presume to impute blame to Captain
Forbes. We are not at present sufficiently well informed,
to justify us in so doing. But it is impossible to prevent
men from asking the above question. Ask the inter-
colonial traders, those best acquainted with every bay and
headland of this iron-bound coast, and they will tell you
that no more ticklish spot is to be found than that between
Moonlight Head and Cape Otway. The wind, it seems was
blowing from the south-west when the vessel was first
observed to be drifting in shore. We are told an immediate
effort was made to go about, but that the wind fell, and she
refused to answer the helm, and so, &c., &c. This
seems almost the sterotyped account of vessels going
ashore. We, therefore, repeat the question, why was the
Schomberg so near the shore ? Is variable weather so
uncommon on the Australian coast; is a sudden calm after a
breeze so rare in this region, that navigators need not, as a
matter of ordinary prudence, calculate for such phenomena?
Does it seem feasible to reason, that a huge ship of between
two and three thousand tons, should be shoved as close into
shore at any time, and under any circumstances, as a bit of a
brig or schooner, which might in any great exigency be towed
off shore by a couple of boats ? Do we not naturally
expect precaution, and anxious calculations of all pos-
sible situations of a ship, proportioned to the difficulty or
impossibility of escaping from any one of such situations,
should it occur ? And how much more is this expectation
justified, when, as in the case of the Schomberg, we have
some hundreds of lives on board, a most valuable cargo,
and a ship worth £50,000 ? Truly it behoves our great
ship owners at home to build their captains with as
much care as they build their ships. We do not, however,
desire to prejudge this melancholy event. It it quite
possible, for anything that has yet transpired, that Captain
Forbes may be able satisfactory to explain all. If he can
do so, it should be done forthwith, for his own sake, as well I
as for the public satisfaction. If, however, the explanation
should break down, the above enquiries may not be without 1
their use.

(Front the Geelong Observer.)
There was only one death on board throughout the
voyage, being the steward, who fell overboard the line.