The Sun.
London, England, 1863-04-13 00:00:00

and nearly all on board, including Lieut. Jekyll,
were drowned. The pinnace meanwhile continued
her course towards the heads, descrying the steamer
Wonga Wonga, outward bound for -Wellington ;
the anxiety was intense, as the Wonga Wonga went
round and round, and nearly out of sight. Mr.
Amphlett at length succeeded in reaching the pilot
boat, and came up with her Majesty's ship Harrier
at half-past 10 p.m. The Wonga Wonga anchored,
and the few survivors were transferred to her
from the boats of the Orpheus that had been
got afloat. Had White's lifeboat been able to be
launched and manned, we are informed, upon
good authority, that most of the ill-starred
seamen might have been saved. The heavy guns
broke adrift about half-past 5 p.m., tearing up the
upper deck, and driving the people to the tops, the
rollers becoming longer and heavier, The masts
stood firmly until the flood tide made, about half-
past 6 p.m. They then began to go, and the ship
parted in halves, the rollers breaking into the tops.
When the masts went the crew gave three cheers as

if taking farewell of life. Commodore Burnett and
the young gentlemen were in the mizen-top ; all
perished except Mr. Barkly, son of the Governor of
Victoria. Commander Burton, Mr. Strong, sailing
master, and Lieut. Mudge, who were in the main-
top, were lost. The men who were saved succeeded
in getting down the jib stay to the jib-boom, drop-
ping from thence into smooth water, where they
were picked up. Many of the survivors are badly
wounded, having legs and arms broken, and bodies
bruised and maimed by the guns and falling spars.
A despatch from Commander Sullivan, her Majesty's
ship Harrier, which was received on Saturday at
midnight, informed his Excellency the Governor of
this disastrous event. With the utmost promptitude
the military authorities took measures to render
every possible assistance—Colonel Gamble, Quar-
termaster-General ; D. A. C. G. Chislett, Mr. Ham-
ley, Ordnance Department, with six ambulance
waggons, tents, 500 blankets, and other requisites,
aetting out for Onehunga. The steamer Avon, in
charge of Mr. Hunt, with Captain Jenkins, her
Majesty's ship Miranda, started yesterday at 2 a.m.
On reaching the heads not a vestige of the wreck
was to be seen. The Wonga Wonga, which was on
her way to Onehunga, on meeting the Avon, trans-
ferred the rescued seamen to that vessel, and
proceeded on her southern voyage. The Har
rier got under weigh on Sunday at four a.m.,
but having grounded, had to wait the flood
tide, and did not get fairly away until
nearly 3 p.m., about which hour the Avon had got
back. The Avon went at once alongside the One-
hunga wharf, and every care and attention were
paid to the wounded.

(From 04 Wellington Spectator, Fob. 12.)

The Wonga Wonga sailed from the Onehunga
wharf, Manakua, on the 7th inst. On arriving at
the bar she noticed a vessel in the offing, appa-
rently a man-of-war, but the signal being up to
take the south channel the Wenga proceeded on her
course. On getting well clear of the channel,
Captain Renner noticed the vessel to be labouring
very heavily, and apparently ashore. Capt. Renner
then proceeded to the outer entrance of the north
channel, but being unable to take it, on account of
the heavy sea on the bar, he returned to the pilot
station by the south channel. On reaching the
pilot station he found two boats, the pinnace and
cutter, belonging to the ill-fated vessel. The pilot
then went on board the Wonga Wonga, took the two
boats in tow, and proceeded to the scene of the
disaster. On arriving there he found that the sea
was making a complete breach over the vessel, and
she was, of course, labouring very heavily. He then .
found it was impossible to get alongside with the
boats, in consequence of the heavy sea; the boats
were therefore pulled as close as possible under the
jibboom, and the officers in charge of them called to
the crew to jump into the water and they would pick
them up, as it was the only chance left of saving their
lives. Several of the men jumped into the water and
were picked up by the boats, but some were unfortu-
nately drowned in the surf by the drawback. At this
stage of the proceedings the scene was most appalling,
the only chance of the crew getting saved being to
jump into the boiling surf. All the men at this time
were clinging to the rigging. The Wonga was steam-
ing as close as possible to the scene of the wreck,
and was fearfully tossed about by the tumultuous
sea. The boats then returned to the Wonga, hav-
ing succeeded in picking up about 14 of the drown-
ing men, several of whom were nearly exhausted,
and every means was adopted to restore animation,
by the application of hot blankets and other reme-
dies. Several who were wounded and very much
bruised had their wounds dressed, and every pos-
sible attenticn shown them. The boats in charge
of the second lieutenant again gallantly put off to
the wreck, and succeeded in rescuing several from a
watery grave. By this time it was becoming dark,
and the pilot, not deeming it prudent for the Wonga
Wonga to remain in the position she was then in,
proceeded a short distance into the channel and
anchored. At about 9 o'clock, the night being
very dark, the foremast went by the board, casting
all the poor fellows who were clinging to it into
the raging billows. Immediately after, the main
and mizen masts fell over the side, carrying
the last of the crew with them. During all this time

the most superhuman exertions were being made by
the second lieutenant and the gallant crews to res-
cue his unfortunate shipmates. The two boats, and
a boat belonging to the Wonga, were pulling about
amid the breakers until past midnight. All hopes
of saving any more lives having vanished, the pin-
ance, in charge of the second lieutenant, returned,
Nwviog
thnsae,vaernadl
tmhoerceuotfter proceeded into the pilot sta-
the unfortunate crew, to the

Lion, being unable to fetch the Wonga, and landed
seven more of the crew in safety, including the son
of Sir H. Barkly, Governor of Victoria, who was
saved after clinging to a spar for upwards of two hours.
fhe Wonga burnt blue lights, and showed other
signals until daylight, in hopes of picking up any
more of the unfortunate crew who might be floating
about the wreck. At daylight, the Wonga proceeded
towards the wreck, but by this time a very small
portion of the ill-fated vessel was to be seen. Com-
mander Jenkins returned thanks to Captain Renner,
his officers, and the crew of the Wonga Wonga, for
their praiseworthy exertions and unremitting kind-
ness to the sufferers. One of the captains of the
mizentop, who was one of the boat's crew, gallantly
jumped overboard three times, and on each occasion
succeeded in saving a shipmate from a watery grave.
The Commodore was last seen in the mizen rigging,
and is supposed to have been killed by the falling of
a spar. The wind was about W.S.W., with a terrific
sea on, when the Orpheus went to pieces.

GEOLOGY AND REVELATION.—The unity of the
human race, if not the original unity of language,
is a fundamental principle of revealed religion. The former
we hold to be equally important to the well-being of man,
whether revelation is admitted or not. But in a period of
four or five thousand years it is indeed very difficult to ac-
count for the development of races by climatal influence,
especially when we find the Negro figured upon the tombs
of Egypt of 4,000 years ago with the same features he has
to-day. It is equally difficult to account for the American
race with its 600 languages. If in 3,000 years the Indo-
European languages have not lost the evidences of their
radical and grammatical relationship, how are we to ac-
count for the development of the Chinese, Hebrew, San-
mit, and Egyptian in a much shorter period ? In the
discussion of these points, while the advocate of
revealed religion may point triumphantly to the wonderful
accordance between the account of the creation given in the
book of Genesis, and the results of the most recent disco-
veries, he is nevertheless placed at a disadvantage as re-
gards his opponents, by a mere question of chronology.
Now, although it would be very absurd to expect a treatise
of geology or of any other science in the book of Genesis, we
should like to know how much better the exposition of any
modern geologist, who had to address people wholly igno-
rant of physical science, would be than the Mosaic account?
If Scripture contained a revelation of the laws of nature, it
would have taken away the greatest stimulus to activity by
which man is influenced, viz., the desire to know causes.
For this his mind is constituted, and the triumphs he has
attained prove it. But he possesses no faculty by which
he can know of a hereafter, and for this alone was a
revelation accordeei. The wonder, therefore, is, not that
the book of Genesis should appear to differ in minor points
with the results of scientific investigation, but that in so
short a space it should be possible to give so perfect a sketch
of the creation. And now, by a simple change in the chro-
nology, the Mosaic account will harmonise with the condi-
tion of science even better than it did when it served as the
incentive and guide to geological investigation.—The
Some and Foreign Review.