The Sun.
London, England, 1852-01-16 00:00:00

order given to stop the engines, out if he had it was imp
possible to go into the engine-room to step them. When
he saw the fire burat out ho could not see the store-room,
but the fire was close to it.

Martin Rogers, the foreman of Mr. Green. who had
fitted up the store-room, and Thomas Atherton, who,
put up the joiner work inside it, were then examined as
to the position and the fittings of the store-room, but
their evidence added nothing to that which had been al-
ready elicited.

The inquiry was then adjourned till tomorrow (this
day), to be resumed at Southampton.

At the close of the proceedings the following deeply
interesting letter from Mrs. M'Lennan to the directors
your company
nwoi ot iha
was read by Captain Mangles:—
" 9, Howard-street, Strand, Jan, 14, 1852.
" Gentlemen,—Having bean moved oa to London im-
mediately on landing at Southampton yesterday
preventedafter-
noon,
what
f elfromu nde answering n smwye
_r
oi_ nwgn any
might have been desirous of putting to
l
questions respecting the Amez)n which the agents of
me. I shall now, however endeavour to supply yon
ob-
servation.
"On Friday night (21 inst.), while in my berth, I
overheard various remarks respecting the stoppage of
the engine, made by some of the passengers who were
standing in the corridor. You hear how she whistles,'
said one—and, I am sorry I over put my foot on board
the Amazon.' Do you think we are safe?' said another..
"On Saturday, at mid-day, as the captain was takiMC
ist slhwo rats ilrrative necessarilyof
the sun, he spoke to my little boy, and asked me how I
felt. I to! him of the fears entertained about the ene
gine, but he said it was the case with all new engines—
they required cooling, but that in a few days we should
be all right, and go better after the vessel had been.
lightened of a portion of her stock of coals. He then.
added, Are you satisfied?' I replied, 'lf he was, I
ought to be.'
" After this an elderly gentleman (name unknown)
came to me, and said, ' The engine is not safe, and the
best thing he captain can do is to return to Sou:l2=p-
tbn.' But at this moment my husband came up, and'
took me forward to show me the engine was well attended.
to, and that there was no cause for alarm. I observed
Mr. Angus, the chief engineer, feeling all about the an-
gina, while several. hands were at the pumps pouring
water on the iron work.
" Towards the afternoon the wind got right ahead of use
and caused great sickness on board. About nine o'clock
in the evening the whistling of the engine became very
loud, bat having gone to rest and fallen fast asleep, I do
not remember anything until awoke up by a gentleman
screaming is broken English, 'Capitane, me go a bot-
tom.' I caught up my child, and ran across the corridor
to my husband's berth. All the while I new not what
was the matter, but the passengers in their night clothes
were running distractedly about. The door of my him•
band's berth was locked, and I bad some difficulty in
knocking him up. When we got on deck, Mr. M‘Le.a.
nen exclaimed, 0 God! the ship is on fire.' Ho the
urged me to go down and get some clothes for myself._
and child, as he was afraid we should take cold. He said
he thought that he would have time to go down for his
trousers. I however remained on deck, and when gr.
M'Lennan was gone, an officer of the vessel (the doctor,
I believe), in his night-shirt, seized hold of me, calling
hoarsely, Give me your child, I will save him.' He took
the boy and handed him to a seaman in the pinnace, and
then lifted me up. I endeavoured to push past him sued
get to my husband, but ho pulled me into the pinnace,
saying, You will then be all lost—be of good courage--
it is to save your life.' He then placed himself in the
boat beside me, and called to the men to cut the lashings..
This was immediately done, the boat dropped at one
end, but owing to a knot or tangling of the block-tackle
it remained fixed at the other. Many fell into the sea,
and amongst them, I fear, my brave preserver, but I held
on to the seat by one limed whilst grasping my child
firmly by the other. Some clang to the boat, and after-
wards climbed back into the burning wreck, and I begged
of them to help me up also, but they could not. At
this moment a boat passed us full of people, and I called
to them for a rope, but I had no answer. One cf the
men who had got out of the boat again descended from
the burning vessel, saying, The woman is still here;
she deserves to be saved—for I expected she would have
been, by this time, at the bottom.
"The tackle being now loosened, several men jumped
into the boat; but, before getting clear away, the gig
was lowered, and would have been let down upon us
had meet the men in our boat cried out to take care, as
there was a woman in the pinnace. By this time the
engine had stopped, but the sea was running high.
Having nothing to guide us, we found ourselves going
round the steamer, and were greatly afraid lest we
should be blown up by the magazine. Getting clear off,
we shipped a heavy sea, and the handle of the boat's
rudder was broken; but this was quickly repaired by
cutting off the splinter and using the remainder of the
stick for the rudder handle.

" About five o'clock (as I suppose) the moon wont
down, and we were in total darknes?, with a drizzling
rain falling. The day, however, set in fine, and by fol-
lowing the sun's course, and using for a sail a plaid
shawl which had been placed tinder my pillow by my
husband to raise my head during an attack of sickness
the previous evening, and which I brought away with
me on the first alarm, we made our way with throe men
at each of our three oars. The poor seamen worked
bard and without a murmur, although necessarily much
tired, hungry, and wet,
" When the Dutch vessel came in sight the wind had,
through God's great mercy, gone down, and by timing
the men, so as to shout when the boat rose on the top
of a wave, the attention of the Gertruida'e crew was
at last drawn to us. And, oh! what feelings of deep
and unutterable thankfulness filled our hearts when we
observed the shout from our boat replied to by the
Pfe.tkhion
Gd
tart
tt er
unitdi oan
yt oou o uhra
have
es s
alreadyin g wantshoa rbdy,
stubde
taking down the sails and laying to tho Gertraida to
hpeoaicivikta°wtlifilsatruhemly we were welcomed by the inhabitants of
Brest. From the public-house in which we were first
placed by the acting victeconsul, wo were removed to
the hospitable residence of the Consul, Sir Anthony
Perrier, whose daughter, Madame Pastoreaux, applied
herself with unremitting kindness and a sisterly care to
Miss Smith's and my own comfort. Of Madame Paste-
reaux's kindness enough cannot be said, whilst to hf.
and Madame Bontin, and the ladies of Brest, we were
also much indebted.
that a lasting debt of gratitude
to Southampton, and from
"At Havre, where we arrived by the Finistvrre
steamer from Merida, we were received by Mr. Foe.
therstonhaugh, who did all that Christian benevolence
and gentlemanly feeling could suggest for our comfort
and encouragement. And whilst thanks are due to all
is owing to our poor fellow-sufferers of the crew of the
Amazon, for their untiring energy and devotion to our
cause.
di I still fondly cling to the hope that my husband
has been seved, and that through Ged'eto me an providence
twhheenei ce w
to e
over him, he may shortly be restored d
to my
children.
e .Notbing else occurs to me that
appears worthy of
Particular notice, but I shall be most happy to furnish
Lmoeutdoonu , olii rfe journeyol
replies to questions which
xi you
may be desirous of ad-
dressing to me at Dr. err),'s, Comely Bank, Edin-
burgh, whore I to hope
,be able to remove on Friday or
Seturday next.-1 am, gentlemen, your obedient and
humble servant, " ELE1:011 M. M'LENNAN.
~ The Directors of the South American and West India
Steam-packet Company, Moorgate-street."

pro-
liableueu,
r_
cause of
tTon,rhsne,
toEDITORfi rebeot
i examinedo eb
board the
trhTeesl alpAeLemSt
o,•L'±r,
01
__Mille up to Londou, at the request of the
since my arrival, I
have heard several reports, " that the
men belonging to the ship did not do their utmost to
Cave the lives of others." To this I can give the most
:anzg,)nth;e
and
distinct denial, as regards the crew of the boat in which
I escaped.
I was perfectly cool during the whole scene, and dis-
tinctly remember 'everything which occurred, and t,a
braver set of fellows than that boat's crew were never
thrown together. From the moment we left the ship,
ere°, beforo wo gut our oars unhual.d, we used our ut-
most efforts to save those who were drowning near us,
though, unhappily, without success.
Atter we had picked up the five men from the dingy,
some one said, " Let her go!" I cried out, " No; make
her fast, and we'll save some more lives." A voice re-
plied, "We can't hold any more !" I said, "We esti,
and the dingy will hold at least half-a-dozen; so pull
away for the burning ship!"
This was instantly done, with a hearty good will, and
though the increasing gale and rising sea shortly Cap-
sized the dingy, broke away our rudder, and, nearly
filling us with water, compelled us to desist and 'bring
the boat's head to the wind, the only and constant regret
that,
is,
ender I t trust,
sucha a pardonable
combination
of
pa expressed by the men during the end of that awful
night was that we hail been prevented saving any more
lives.
ltcircum-
stances, the united feelings, 'the united efforts of the
whole crew, were directed to the hope of saving others
from that fate from which we bad been so providentially
preserved.
In this hope we remained in the vicinity of the burning
ship till she sank, a short time before day-break.
I remain, Sir, your most obedient servant,
ROBERT NEILSON.
Fenton'e hotel, Thursday, Jae. 15.
waipthwh
wnhin icgh I reflect
t

CHART.—The enormous elm
on Sunday last (by far
ex-
ceedingsanguineD' expectations of the proprietors),
the most
ssble to comply ' with the announce-
mentshas rendered it inll,o
• usly made, that every purchaser should, on
prevw
tent receive
day the 11th instant, a copy 01 the Illustrated
Sun ,
d Chart of the Great Exhibition; it has, in conse-
quence,coleurebeen found necessary to postpone the issue of a sheet
such careful preparation, until Sunday, the Ist of
latTionlionf EtnxeliWn3el7s
demanding
February, on which day every purchaser who was disap-
pointed in receiving a Chart of the 4th instant, will be en-
titled to a copy. Orders may be given to all newavenders
in town or country, or to theliffice, 139, Fleet-street, London.
A Spaniard of the name of Francisco Nadal has
just died at Algiers, aged 104 years and three moaths, hav-
ing been born in 1747. He enjoyed good health to the last,
walked about the town on his business, and smoked his cigar
with evident gusto. One of his peculiarities, for the last
fifty years, has been never to sleep in a bed, but merely to
stretch himself in his clothes on the shavings of his work-
shop. His son, who followed the same calling. that of a
carpenter, was never able to induce him to change that
habit.— Galignani.
A CAUTION TO WORKMEN.—The only strike
workmen should ever be guilty of is that recommended to all
Englishmen in the song of" Britons, Strike Home."—Punch.