The Sun.
London, England, 1864-12-29 00:00:00

The Loss of the Seahorse,

The following is the report of the Marine Court
of Inquiry held at Singapore into the circumstances
attending the loss of the British ship Seahorse of
Liverpool :—We, the undersigned, having inquired
into the loss of the British ship Seahorse, of Liver.
pool, cfficial number 27,666, burthen 866 tons,
Robert Francis earthy master, find—That the said
vessel left Liverpool on the 4th of June, 1864,
bound for Shanghae, with a cargo of coals. Passed
Anjer on the 4th of September, and made Maccles*
field Channel, Gaspar Straits, on the 10th, when
at about a quarter to 9 a.m., the weather being fine
and the ship going about 1i knot, she struck on
coral rock, said to be about two miles E. iN. from
Jelaka Island, and in 45 minutes had 12 feet of
water in her hold—the tide fell, and the vessel bee
came firmly fixed on the rock, which, from the ree
port of divers sent down by the Dutch president of
Billiton, appears to be a small pinnacle with deep
water all round. Any attempt to save the vessel
became useless, and she became a total wreck. The
master was on deck, the second mate in charge of
the lead, and a man on the forecastle on the look..
out, but no danger was observed. The ship was
being navigated by a general chart of the East
India Archipelago, sheet No. 1, published by Jaynes
Imray and Son, Minories, 1864, a chart on too anal
a scale for such a dangerous passage as Gaspar
Straits. Many of the dangers are not laid down, and
from the smallness of the scale, no correct bearings
could be taken. A dangerous reef called the
Discovery Rocks, is placed in mid channel, and
it was to avoid this reef the master ventured
too close to Palo Leat, not seeing the danger he
incurred, as the rock on which the ship was lost /0
not marked on his chart. The only channel for
which his chart was applicable was the Carrimattar
and this channel the master should have taken, and
we cannot fully accept his explanation for not doing
so, viz,, easterly winds and a S.W. set. He would,
in our opiniota, have shown a wise eisoretion in sub`
mittiog to some delay, instead of attempting a pas'
sage for which his chart was so obviously inadem
quate. Although in this the master was no doubt
~
guilty of a serious error of judgment, we do 005
consider it a case of culpable negligence deserving
of punishment, as from the evidence adduced he
appears to have been very careful in the way
conducted his vessel, and had he been snpplied
with
a proper chart on a larger scale, such as the Adoll-
- chart of 1861.2, No. 2,137, of Gaspar Straits
we believe he would not have lost his ship. We 91e
of opinion that the loss of the Seahorse was owl
entirely to the want of a proper chart of Gaspar
Straits. 'We would also beg to observe that 11:36
only was the vessel despatched from Liverpool 1
sufficiently supplied with charts, but great remiss
ness appears to have taken place regarding the
compasses ; they do not seem to have boen ed.PleL,
in any way prior to leaving port, or any devititlo7.
table to have been supplied, the standard congas
oo:
on the bridge being of the commonest descriPule
and quite unfit for the delicate observations reclusin
to determine the deviation which always occurs f
iron ships.—Datcd at Singapore this 17W of
October, 1864. W. W. WILLIAMS, Mageatrate
master
Police ; JNO. LAURENCE KIRBY, Officiating
Attend ant, con firmed; ORFEUR CAVENAGII, nel9
Governor Straits Settlement.

ROYAL DRAMATIC COLLEGE.—GENEROUS Al°
SEASONABLE GIFT.—At the meeting of the Council '
y( "4,1-
terday, the Master (Benjamin Webster, E6(1.) re°::a
from Charles Loftus Thorpe, Egg , a cheque for £0" °
behalf of this most excellent charity.
CHRISTMAS AT CLARE- MARKET RAGGED .9 CooolBoa
,-:
a Tuesday evening last about 100 of the elder girls
()
boys attending the above schools were regaled with a 01133
tuous Christmas dinner of roast beef and
the presence of their teachers and other friends, Justices
having been done to the excellent fare provided, the table.
were cleared, and preparations made for exhibiting a snag!!
lantern, which had been kindly lent for the occasion by
_'..
Baker of Holborn. The views included the popular yen-
Baker
stories of "Jack the Giant-killer" and " Jack_eao_“.
the Beau stalk,,, and a miscellaneous collection paler,li: i vi
Plum pudding,
.ill
and humorous slides, which were described by Dlre•
the secretary of the school 4. Soma songs and school pi:it,
were then sung by the children, and a distribution a ir
brought this intereAting gathering to a close.