The Sun.
London, England, 1864-09-09 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SVN.
Sir,—Ae your journal up to the 4th has contained no
notice of an accident which has happened to the above ship
at the mouth of the Fraser River, perhaps the following
accounts, copied from the colonial paper and a private letter
dated tho Vith of June, may prove acceptable.—l am, Sir,

yours obediently,
Geneva, Sept. 5.

R. 0. L.

(From the Evening Express.)

"Her Majesty's steam frigate Tribune, as was feared by
many intimately acquainted with the navigation of Fraser
River, has got into an extremely unpleasant, if not danger-
ous, predicament. On Saturday afternoon last, at 4 o'clock,
she took advantage of an unusually high tide to leave her
moorings opposite the Camp, above New Westminster, and
start for Esquimait. At a o'clock, while endeevoiolog to
make out a buoy which indicated a sharp bend in the chan-
nel, she suddenly grounded, and has remained hard and
fast up to the present time. On Tuesday afternoon the
Otter, on her way up to Now Westminster, discovered the
unfortunate position of the Tribune, and conveyed the in-
formation to the town, where it was received with no little
consternation. On her way back on Wednesday the Otter
proffered Capt. Gilford her assistance, which was accepted.
With considerable difficulty she got alongside, owing to Vie
shallowness of the water, although her draught at the time
was only 9ft 6in. She was three hours aground before she
could got near enough to be of any service. She then took
on board 13 of the Tribune's 68-pounders and 10 or 12 tons
of shot and shell, making in all between 40 and 50 tone, with
which she left at half -past 8, arriving here at 3 o'clock yes-
terday morning.
" The Tribune is lying about half a mile inside the Sand-
heads, in a very exposed position ; and should it come on to
blow the consequences might be very serious. She is about
50ft from the channel of the river, and when the Otter left
was in 13ft of water. The water was deeper on the opposite
side from that on which the Otter grounded, but the latter
was unable to near her on that side owing to the cables,
which had been run out to keep her in position. As it was,
she had shifted considerably, and it was feared, from the
uneven nature of 'the bottom, and the action of the tide in
scouring the sand from beneath her, that she was in great
danger of breaking her back. Indeed, we understand that
she is already injured to some extent by jumping and
straining. Pilot Titcomb, to whom, or, indeed, to any one
on board, not the slightest blame can possibly be attached,
came down on the Otter with orders for the gunboats For-
ward and Grappler to proceed at once to the scene of dis-
aster to render all the assistance in their power. It is con-

templated to lighten the Tribune by some 200 tons, consist-
ing of the remainder of her guns, shot and shell, stores, &c.
when it is hoped she may be got off. She is, however, in a
most difficult and dangerous position, and, we fear only in
the beginning of hor troubles. Captain Titeolub is well
known as ono of the most skilful and experienced pilots on

the coast, and knows as much of the mouth of the Fraser
as any man in the country, while Lord Gilford is as careful
and prudent a commander as could be wished. The only
thing to be found fault with is the ordering up of this
fine vessel to a port to which. for such large craft, the navi-
gation is, to say the least, intricate and uncertain. It was,
doubtless, intended as an experiment, and we can only re..
;A-A. that. it. was made with so valuable a reseul, and that it
has been attended with such possibly disastrous and costly
results."
The following is the extract from the letter:—
" Her Majesty's ship Tribune, June 2.5.
" The poor old Tribune is now in a very curious fix. This

is how it happened, shortly de'scribed. as we are very busy—
Admiral Kingcome took us up to New Westminster, which
is a colony up the Fraser River, at the mouth of which river,
there are shoals, extending five miles around. Well, on coy
_L-
ing down we grounded hard and fast—viz., on Thurse,ay
the 9th. but on getting off next evening we steamed ba( JIK to

New Westminster, and remained till Saturday the 18th,
when we tried again but grounded harder and faster ; did
all wo could that night, but no good, and next day the same.
On Monday, the 20th, floated off some distance, but only to
ground ' harderer' and ' fasterer' at 6 p.m. that evening.
Did all we could next day, but no good, eo next day, Wed-
nesday, we drew the old lady's teeth and put them in a
steamer hired for the occasion—also shot and shell, which
lightened her a bit. Tried to get off but could not. Next
day, the 23d (all this time at low tide every day a.m. and
p.m.) we lay on our side almost high and dry, with 3ft. of
water alongside. The gunboat Forward came up and took
our remaining guns, shot and shell in. Tried to gat her off,
but no use. Next day, Friday the 24th, the other gunboat
Grappler arrived—put our spare screw, weighing 5 torts,
into her. Then both boats came alongside, made fast to us,
went ahead full speed, and succeeded in getting us off, but
owing to the fouling of one of the gunboat's screws by a rope
we drifted on shore hardererer' and fasteret er.' In the
middle of the night, or rather this morning at 1 30 a.m., the
ship gave a sudden lurch and went over on her side, ' all of a
'sap like.' Turned the hands up, thinking she was going
right over, but we didn't, so we righted, and here we aro.