The Express.
London, England, 1859-07-07 00:00:00

LOTS OF THE ALMA.

1J Tal tDITOS 07 TIM ttrillSS.

Str.,—ln attempting to give an account of tbe
law of the abows•usniod venal, I shall anise myself es
tough as pwitolo to a simple recital of the ohlof incidents of
the wreck, our *toy en the reef, for time .Lye sad ex
Imre, sad subsequent relief by her iffiejesty's ship eye:on.
Who Is t t blame snd who it tr be pinking s pronely eon-
c n•t trill &vide, so without further pnl2do 1
shot procir•l t air.• , plain &vaunt of the fearf•:l scow ?is
which I sac au snot and sufferer.

We left Alen on the moron( of the Ilth of Jane, at 'ix
a.m., with led µw-ogees, and • crew, Including the ahem,
of upwards of 200, waking, is all, nearly 370 arnle. A
alight aureetroke. received .4 Atom, readied the captain to
his cabin, so how far he will be held responsible fir what
craned I . Rana amend to ear. We paned the dinnted
Weed et Perim at tit p and after the oral rent's* of
tea, grog, argument., sad risme, went to bed, perhaps half
en dr k nti the rest, including nearly all the ladies and
chines', below. I was sleeping on deck sear the mien
wee, and was awoke at about he. minutes past three a.m.
by • eight bump which east:ely shook the ship. This was
imunintely followed by mother equally -light, and thee
about, of tt Hard • port.- ti Stop her;' " Beck Ler,"
wee tend, but it wee tt,, late. Then uses a
gratiag mound, aid the vessel fell over mon
and more to starboard, sad is lees than two
minutes the Alma was • wreck, without a reps bring
bribes, a, as far as we knew, a rivet anted. Tam ley
tali • earillies of mosey, sad set a goal ea board esoioid have
gi.,n two riper fur it. My Sea hepreaion was that ws
hid crack snakes rock, and that is two minutes we ehoe'el
be at the bottom, bat a gleam seer the port aids resumed
the. and gave semi slight hope foe a few at keen, if sot for
all. Then eatendieg foe about 400 nee, mail, east and
wee, lay • reef, the s.et vieible point of wbtrh rime three
get above the water and Ms highest fully thirty. She Lad
seruelt the mama lowest peat, and the Lomas'
eestehed nesely half way over it. This was a tenspieles
that could not be resisted, so over the bows end os to the reef
AA reel alt the I.latart, le tying the ship and purwegere
eco then Las By thee Lem the slop was almint in her leant-
mete, sal ea mend os deck was impossible. The lamp in the
galas had bees astingniehed, and the water was earring
ewer the table folly in bet deep ma the lowest aide. There
were Was =debit:km below, and some heartrending et Hein
wen heard. bet they men very few, for they behaved well
T.. 8 hest object was to races lbws from immediate death,,
and OWN breve fellows win *xis below, awl tint amoserat
them was Ike wow of the Tema, Dr Willis.., whose
gallant coolest fins the begiantser to the aid of
was trtULOO all eekaowlelgod sad appiandad, It
woad be nepoleible to describe every incident of
that fearful &Cart, sad if it were sot, et wield ee•
eery lan etas Maas 1 ran afford, end more spa. I then yes
ma spare. le will be eall-ient to say that after !Le tout
tallest exertions every soil wee got es deck, sod drimately
leaded la safety, but is • wretched coalition, with so meets
hg but the most meaty aight.clothes, and newly all bare-
footed. Tide lan canard the greatest erufferteg, foe the reef
wee covered. fie c ore distance tam the landing plias, with
meal end sharp Foisted shells thee cat the feet a every
am, end naiad not nay tha some Win 'notepad
be crawl upon Weir Lone, end wee frequently craspellee,
whin the tat happened to be pieced upon s rist'J sharper
sal I maw elan anal, to fall epos their heads, sad the
mewl wee thee the Innis and feet of mealy all were sit sad
bl ding Le every cheerios before the *mops:Minty ansoceb
sal high part of the reek was reached. It wee broad day.
Belo belie all wee lauded, and thee who came Let famed
has., for eats had hen spread for these to Lead spot.
hat pawed over thedielesity of I amebae tartrate, but w him
it a, renal:thrust thee the crew had Bed, and that the ship'.
deck ley at about as ante of 00 degram, with the weather-
hosa resting on her aide, liaised of magma by the "doribir"
it ersil sot be dtltc.lt to uumthe the messitade ul
the tack which derolvel upon the passengers anal
See pesos bet ening to the sap. The lee beats
were already in the weer, and had oLly M to cat
as cy, end ace tat could not be dose before ens was forced
nada water by the "daubs" and rendered, for the time at
Mut, union. Of mem bats belonging to the easel we
saved live. I will sow return to the reef and ea what I,
being dose. Delved the sat was high enough to make the
beat diagnostic or dangerour, mils and anther had been
larearlat on shore, sod the hart rock secs showed emu of an
aria repast. The reef we.s low el round at the wette't edge,
and for about fifty yards hale, it this re eeperpeadit and
Is some plane even projected to a height of ham 10 to 16 feel
or wore. Thin farmed a bah wall, and when • sail
was merle fast to the rocks above, ad supported upon a few
spore below, a very tolerable tent was formed, and &Leiter was
sever =via an.stary, Las we were la the hottr,t peat of the
Rad Sail, and in the hottest desem. We had good reason to
be,ieud 1 hews we wen grateful to, Providence foe our extra-
ordinary escape, fee had the rocks on the starboard side been
ten feet deeper, oho vessel must have rolled over and gone
down, and this wee what we most feared, for she might be
reeling os a angels net, which would gradually fine its
way through her. and it is no itacommou thing to
Bid a hanired fathoms within a few feet of a
reef In the Red Sc.., I forgot to mention that the
WWI VIM cat away sad seat overboard with a crash,
cleating everythiag before them. It was 3164 that to look
'vont for some scans of prevent subsistence Ind future
relief, fur we were sin toiler act of the c.iaree of Verler,
mat had theref r, li tat, hope, from them 'hoot 1 tley
eves perm by day. It was thiriydire miles to MOCk3. :he
Arabian eine, and wan at least could be obtaiued there end
a seersager despatched to Aden with the news. At the letter
plan thee won two war stamen, the Furiou. end C clips.
Arrangements were at ma made, and at 9 a ea. a le.,
started for Mocha with • Lair light wind and an almost
waveless ma. Thee ware in the boat, the lea ni e ..r,
Mr. Baker (a fleabrate man), Mr. Newell, the contractce for
the Red Sea Telegraph, two guarteruseetere. esti • native
craw. We bad every emlidenee is those who went, and •
more indicant' selection e told not have been made; but it
any be iongized with what society we saw theca deepen,
for our only ape lay in them, and their reception
at Mocha was open to a doubt, mad might only be
the means of bringing off plunderer; but it most be
naked, and away they west. A Turkish Effendi, who
was a pariesager, and spoke English, also west, and we
hoped something boa his tallteace. I will sow give in as
dew wolde as praleible • kind of ,f111411.i of what Iy:rowed
dueler the three days. Pieties were soon farmed to bring os
shore everything eatable an drinkable that could be got at,
aid It wee Intonate that some of the Moreno= were dry.
A quantity of bear and claret wen got es shore, and • guard
setableshod over them, sod a were put upon rations. This,
at Bret, consider, of a bottle sad • half for the day, Ent
war soon radatai to • bottle. It may seem .triage to
English ears to hear that chi' was sot enough, but let
.m think of the beat and consequent perspiration,
aid that Moe rather lawmen than quenches thirst, altcugh
It risen temporary relief. One half the quantity of
w ster would have bees more acceptable, but what Utile of
that had been SIVA we very properly kept for ladies sad
elrldrwn. For the latter some preserved ma and arr. wool
Wei been landed. I *lacy all suffered more from anxiety for the
futon) than from any pretest distress, and it was here that
metes characters could be learned. Some of the "jolly fel-
lows- of the eal.,ou end quarts/ deck looked tinsel enough,
and some of those who had been least popular en Ward be-
came meet deservedly so on "our rock.- Another boat wee
de witched is the everting to an island about 'Ar.) miles distant,
whore it wee believed water could be obtained. It we In
erght on the followng netting veteran, and I shall not
ewe, forget the minty with which we hailed it when within
:rah, rd the cheer that followed whoa the reply we
ti Wet,' •- They hat 41,X•etiell in Illidatall the casks they
heel with them, but it was very salt, and would have bees
'pentad at any other time. A pint per man was isnot&
only served out to every notice, and the remainder, *lightly
dashed with ram, was very acceptable to as ell. Only one
di. d, and that wee the uaf Monate purser, who succumbed
the tiret night, cud t apiece' about 12 p.m. 1 ahatl par oar. r
two days and manes my narrative en the wanner of oar
rola. At daylight a cry of it A steamer :" wee raised, and
pasta along the rife k from mouth to mouth in • se. owl. All
mated up; sad there. distal enough, could to Watt the
mein sad ens the meats of a itemise, though still far (In-
ane It was evident that she was either coning tows:dam
gong Memel, away Iron a, and • half-boar of sickening
annwty was reseed sail her hull rose slowly, end tare
told be no doubt that she was coming to our senstance, le
two boon elm dwgged 11110.bir withln 100 yards of as, end we
greeted with a based& there The boats wee lowered.
and lows of water handed whore and devoured with astoniah-
ing rapidity, anti WI were setiedied, and Masa the ladies and
children were embarked st Ma; and It Is so naggermas to
say teat teed they been the wives, and elates, and children
a the gallant eaten and adore they could sot ban received
a more ender welcome. It wee a serious anal • delightful
subt to see the rough but seeder-he kid tare tending and
tending, sod eves washing children In • tub, as the turn'