The Sun.
London, England, 1852-12-29 00:00:00

Those that have been communi-

cated reveal a sad sacrifice of human life.

Daybreak

on Monday morning disclosed two large ships in the
bay of Dungeness, between two and three miles to
the westward of the lighthouse. One proved to be
an emigrant vessel from Hamburgh, a barque apparently
of 500 tons burden, named the Louisa Emilia,
bound with emigrants to Rio Grande, in South America.
The boisterous character of the night had induced the
Coast Guard stationed at Lydd to anticipate some sad
disaster, and they made the usual arrangements to

render relief to vessels in distress. The night was one

of the most awful description. The helpless ship was
driven on the sands, which stretch out some miles from
the shore, and, out of upwards of 80 souls who were on

board, not more than 40 were preserved, and they were

only saved by clinging to pieces of the wreck, and after
an immense amount of suffering. They were got ashore
in the most pitiable condition, and lost everything they
were possessed of in the world. As for the ship, a few
hours lashing and beating of the sea sufficed to decide

her fate. At daylight she had broken up, and the coast
was strewn with portions of her hull and cargo. The
Coast Guard on duty at Lydd rendered all the aid they
could. Some of the bodies of the unfortunate emigrants

were washed up, and were promptly removed to await a
coroner's inquest. This is the most calamitous wreck
that has occurred on this point of the coast for
some time. The other vessel which was wrecked
in the bay was the Annechina Jantina, bound to Rouen,
from Rotterdam. She was cast on the beach about

the same period as the emigrant-ship, but her crew, after
some difficulty, were preserved. To the eastward of
Dungeness, towards the South Foreland, sad havoc
occurred. During Sunday night a large three-masted
ship and two other vessels, supposed to be schooners,
foundered in the Downs, with all their hands, as is
imagined. Had they been observed, it is very doubtful
whether help could have been rendered them. Within
a short distance of Lyme Regis a fine emigrant-ship,
called the Heroine, Mr. Le Rich master, which only
left the Thames a short time since for Port Philip, was
totally lost, and although the disaster was attended with
some sacrifice of life, it is most providential, considering
the terrible character of the weather, that it did not
prove fatal to many more of those on board. Some
noble fellows volunteered to man a boat to go off to
their aid. Procuring a craft belonging to the Frances,
revenue cutter, the men, comprising Mr William Bridle,
master of the Primrose, Henry Cox, mate of the Honiton

packet, and three of the Frances's crew, named Black,
Hearne, and Harvey, pulled off to the relief of the ship's
boats, which were beating towards the port. They had
not got far out, however, when a heavy sea struck and
filled the boat, and, melancholy to relate, with the ex-
ception of Mr. Bridle, the whole of the courageous fel-
lows perished. The two boats from the Heroine suc-
ceeded in reaching the harbour, but the passengers and
crew were in a very exhausted condition. The ship
foundered in the course of the afternoon ; comparatively
little has been saved of her. The fishing boats on this
range of coast have suffered greatly.
In the midst of the terrific gale of wind which raged
along the south coast on Sunday night and Monday, a
Portuguese vessel named the Bonne Femme, bound from
Hamburgh to Lisbon, became unmanageable, and, in
spite of the efforts of her master and crew, went ashore
on the beach about half-way between Hove and. Shore-
ham, at half-past 8 o'clock a.m. Fortunately, she was
but lightly laden, having on board a cargo of only 12
pianos, besides ballast, and, consequently, she was
washed by the breakers high up on the shingle; and the
entire crew, consisting of 9 hands in all, besides the mas-
ter and his wife, all Portuguese, were able to reach the
shore in safety. The woman escaped nearly in a state
of nudity, and the whole of the poor fellows were taken
to a public-house at Hove, where they soon recovered

the effects of their disaster. In spite of the waves
breaking over the vessel all the morning, the crew were
enabled before the end of the day to recover a great

quantity of their clothes and other property; and it is
hoped that, if the wind abates before the next tide, the
vessel may yet be saved from going to pieces. The sea
was running far too high to admit the launching the
Brighton life-boat, even had its services been required.
Lieut. Pratt, of the coastguard, however, was soon upon
the spot with an efficient staff of men. The gale con-
tinued unabated at noon yesterday, and another small
vessel was descried off Kingston, making signals of
distress, but it was hoped she would be able to make the
harbour at New Shoreham. Many of the shops along
the esplanade, and other parts which lie exposed to the
sea and wind (which is W.S.W.), closed all day as on
Sunday, and chimney-pots were seen flying about in

every direction.
At a late hour on Sunday night a severe gale began to
blow at Portsmouth from the S.S.W., and as the night
advanced it so increased in violence as to become a per-
fect hurricane. The wind was accompanied by deluges
of rain, which flooded the streets and the moats of the
fortifications. At an early hour this morning guns, evi-
dently from some vessel in distress, were heard, but
owing to the high wind it was almost impossible to
ascertain from what direction they proceeded. They,
however, doubtless proceeded from a trader, named the
Flowers of Ugie, Captain Mather, bound from Sunder-
land to Carthagena, which, unfortunately, was driven
on the Deans, a dangerous bank about five miles to the
eastward of this port. The crew, in order to ease and
lighten her, cut away her masts about 4 this morning,
and used every other effort in their power to save the
vessel, cargo, and their own lives. They were, however,
ultimately compelled to abandon her, taking refuge on
board a pilot-boat, by which they were safely brought
into this port at noon to-day. The hull of tie aban-
doned vessel was knocked about all day on the Deans
till this afternoon, when all remnant of her dis-
appeared. Another merchant vessel, the Beethoven,
from Bremen to Lisbon, found herself in a very perilous
position in Stokes Bay. She accordingly displayed a
signal of distress, when her Majesty's steamer Fury, at
Spithead, was ordered down to her assistance. The
Fury got up steam and went down to her, and this
afternoon towed her up to the anchorage at the Mother-
bank. No report has yet been received of the amount
of damage this vessel has suffered. The ships compo-
sing the squadron at Spithead have struck lower yards
and topmasts. It is feared that when further reports
come in from the Channel, very numerous and serious
casualities will be found to have resulted from the vio-
lent weather of last night and this morning.
The unfortunate ship totally lost to the eastward of
Plymouth on Monday morning, during the terrific storm
which prevailed from the southward, is estimated to
burden about 400 tons. It is supposed that the master
was endeavouring to make the port of Plymouth from
the eastward, and, having caught sight of the break-
water light inside the range of the Great Mew-stone, he
erroneously considered himself in the fair way for the
harbour, and did not discover his error until the ship
became entangled on the dangerous reefs connected
with the Great and Little Mew-stones, or the Slimer's
Rocks, inside. In either case she would be imme-
diately dashed to pieces, and all her ill-fated crew
would perish. A portion of her wreck was washed
ashore in Oker Bay on Wembury Church beach, which
is west of the river Yealm. It consists of the stern frame,
with a part of the tuck. The frame is painted black,
and has on it, in large white letters, "Ocean Queen,
of London." From the description of those parts of the
cargo washed ashore it is conjectured that she was bound
for the West Indies. They comprise quantities of un-
bleached calico in pieces 40 or more yards long, ladies'
dresses, women's straw bonnets and turnovers, thousands
of reels of fine cotton thread, wrappers, men's shirts and
woollen Scotch caps, sperm candles, new wooden hoops,
empty casks, marked " Bass's ale," and numbers of ham-
pers, one having attached to it a label, with the words,
" From F. Walton, iron chandler and oil merchant, 283,
Wapping, London ;" several pieces of deal board, being
part headings of casks, marked "A. L." in a diamond,
followed by "C." ; also candle boxes, marked "M. F.
X P." over "B. B. C.," and numbered, one of them,
"1064." Mr. Barnes, R.N., chief officer of Coast
Guard in Wembury, and Captain Thompson, Queen's
harbour-master at Bovisand, are adopting measures for
securing anything of value which may be drifted ashore.
Lloyd's List, of the 4th instant, states that the Ocean
Queen, 209 tons register, Captain Horn, belonging to