The Sun.
London, England, 1863-01-29 00:00:00

SCOTLAND.

The west coast of Scotland was visited by a very
severe gale on Monday. Towards the evening the
gale increased in violence, and it was with difficulty
pedestrians could keep their footing in the streets in
Glasgow.

Intelligence was received in Glasgow on Tuesday
that during the gale on Monday the three-masted
schooner Duke of Lancaster, on her inward trip
from Larne, Ireland, to Glasgow, with a cargo of
lime, foundered off the Mull of Kintyre, and all
hands on board (six in number), it is believed,
perished.

On Monday afternoon the Largs steamer Lady
Kelburne left the Eroomielaw at 2 o'clock forLargs
and Millport. On nearing Large, the captain, in
consequence of the boisterous state of the weather,
deemed it prudent not to attempt to berth hisvessel
at the quay, but caused her to be anchored in the
bay until the passengers were landed by the small
boat. There were only two or three passengers for
Large. The steamer's small boat having been
launched and manned by Duncan McFarlane and
John M'Coll, two hands belonging to the vessel, the
passengers, after some difficulty, were safely landed.
'The small beat, however, had bumped frequently
against the quay with such violence that some of
her timbers were started, and the men were afraid
to venture back to the steamer in the same boat.
They endeavoured to find another boat on the shore,
but failed, and ultimately, after having secured the
damaged boat in the best way they could, they
started for the steamer, but, we regret to say, they
were never again seen. The boat was found on the
beach, bottom up, on Tuesday morning.

SHIELDS, Tuesday Night.

The wind having got round to the W.N.W., and
the sea being smooth on the bar, notwithstanding
the warning put up yesterday evening and the vio-
lent gale of last night, several laden ships proceeded
to sea to-day, some of them bound for Italy and
Spain, and thence on the "round voyage" to Ame-
rica. It speaks much for the courage of our sea-
men—some people would say their hardihood—thus
to venture out upon the North Sea with such a pro-
spect, for it has been blowing a gale all day, the
weather looks very unsettled to-night, and the wind
comes away in heavy squalls. The report that ves-
sels bring in here is that they have encountered no-
thing but gales of wind since the middle of last
week. On Saturday a terrific gale blew off the York-
shire coast all the morning, and a large fleet of
laden vessels and some screw steamers were crowded
into Filey Bay for shelter.

On Monday evening the steamer Sultana, Capt.
J. Newton, arrived at Hull from Hamburg after a
protracted and dangerous voyage. The Sultana
left Hamburg on Wednesday, the 21st inst., the
gale at the time being very heavy. The vessel was
anchored in the Stadt roads during Wednesday
night, and on Thursday she discharged her pilot
and put out to sea. She proceeded on her
course, but owing to the heavy squalls,
which rendered the ship almost unmanageable,
very little way was made, and on Saturday it
was found that the stock of coals was nearly
exhausted. Fortunately there were several horse-
stalls and a quantity of spars on board, and the
whole of the crew were set to work to chop these
up for burning. Great anxiety was felt on board,
for had they been deprived of the means of raising
steam it would have been almost impossible to make
any port, or even to ride out the gale. At length
all the spars were consumed, and on Monday the
fires were kept burning by means of old ropes and
warps cut in pieces. On Saturday evening avs ry
serious accident befell Captain Newton. He was
at his post when a heavy sea struck the vessel, and
he was thrown very violently to leeward. Fortu-
nately he managed to retain his hold on the ra 1 of
the vessel, and was thus preserved from a watery
grave. He appeared to be much hurt, and, on being
conveyed into his cabin, it was found that one of his
shoulders was dislocated and his right eye badly
cut. Capt. Newton reports passing a large fleet of
fishing smacks in the North Sea, laid to under close-
reefed mainsails. The sea was breaking completely
over these vessels, and many of them appeared to
be disabled.

The following extract from a letter written by a
lady passenger on board the Hannah More, which
left Liverpool on the 16th inst. for Queensland, but
which had a narrow escape from wzeck in the Bris-
tol Channel, appears in the Daily Express ;
" We left the Mersey in the afternoon of the
16th of January. The weather was still foggy,
but better than it had been for a few days, so
we set off. The steamtug accompanied us as
far as the Tuskar Lighthouse, where it left us
with a cheer, at four o'clock on Saturday after-
noon. The steamer had not gone an hour when
the gale commenced (24 hours earlier than it
did in Liverpool), and from that time till Wed-
nesday morning, at 8 15 a.m., it was one con-
tinued fight with the elements. The ship was
blown up and down the Channel, arid midnight
on Monday night found us off Milford Haven ; and
all that night a gale, or hurricane, such as sailors on
board say they never witnessed, began. That
night was terrific. The sound of the whistling
• wind, the deep dippings of the ship in the raging
sea, the great waves which swept with fury over
our decks, the screams of all the animals on board,
the noise made by 46 seamen in the performance of
their duty, the hoarse voices of the captain and
officers as they gave their orders, the breaking of
the yard, the splitting of the sails, and the falls of
the sailors over our heads—all combined to form a
scene which must ever live in the memory of all on
board the Hannah More that night. Tuesday morn-
ing the gale still continued, snd sent us up the
Bristol Channel as far as Lundy Island, and we re-
mained under shelter of the island for several hours,
sending up rockets and blue-lights, and with re-
versed flag, to show distress, and earnestly watching
for a pilot. The daylight passed, and none came.
The captain, although aware of our extreme danger,
preserved a wonderful calmness, but saw no hope of
saving us. Going up a channel in a sail ship on a
stormy night is a fearfully dangerous thing. I
should here say that most on board remained in bed
from Saturday, but at dusk on Tuesday evening, I
felt such a longing to be near dear E----, that I
went into her cabin, which adjoins mine, and there
I learned that we were in imminent danger. I sat
until 1 o'clock with E--, the captain running
down every few minutes to consult his charts. We
were being blown up the Bristol Channel, to use his
own expression, ' like a racehorse,' though every
human effort was being made to prevent it ; at last
Captain Brown ran down and said he had changed
his course of action, for he could not prevent, so he
would allow the ship to go up the Channel, sound-
ing all the time, in hopes of getting an anchorage.
I suppose I need scarcely tell you that this was
a most perilous undertaking, the Bristol Chan-
nel being proverbially dangerous, with land on
both
sides, and a gale blowing. There we sat
for hours almost breathless at times, waiting, wait-
ing. We were perfectly calm, however; I believe
resigned. Blue lights
and
rockets were sent up
constantly, all the paper available was sent up, so I
opened the package of the Woman in White'
(which my dear W— made up so carefully for me),
and devoted several numbers to making matches for
thcr lighting of the rockets, &c. Hours passed
heavily. At last we heard the anchors let down,
the horrid grating, clanging sound they made on
the rocky ground as they dragged can never be for-
gotten. At last, at 1 o'clock a.m., we thought, or
rather hoped, they would stand, and we went to
bed. It was a night of great anxiety, but we then
hoped all danger was over. At 4 o'clock a.m. I was
awakened by the dreadful sound of the dragging
anchors. I sat up in bed, and just then the mate
ran down to call the captain. He said, The ship
has broken her anchors, and is drifting fast on
shoye.' We all jumped up and partially dressed
ourselves. The captain promised to send for us at
the required time, and then we sat in the saloon wait-
ing. Daylight at last came, and never was more
gladly welcomed. The drifting was still going on
last, very fast, and now our captain saw that the
turning tide was our only hope. They made several
unsuccessful efforts to keep out in the middle of the
Ohannel, but on we went for 10 or 11 miles. bay-

light showed a huge rock which stood right in our
course ; it is called the ' Steep Holm,' a great per-
pendicular rock or island rising straight out of the
water. No one told us of the rock for a long time,
but I ran up on deck about 8 o'clock to speak to the
captain, and was almost paralysed to see a great,
upright piece of rock standing right in front; in
fact, quite hanging over the ship, and a look at the
foaming, surging sea sent a thrill through me. The
captain sent me down at once, and almost imme-
diately afterwards the order came—viz., ' Ladies,
come up; the boats are being lowered.' There
were no screams, no tears, no fainting. Mrs. and
Miss S. and we walked as quietly upstairs as ever
we did. Suddenly the captain stopped us—said,
Wait a minute.' He and the other mate had stood
for some time with their watches in their hands,
waiting for the tide, and when we were between 40
or 50 yards of the rock the tide turned, and we were
' saved. A schooner, a pilot boat, and two small
boats had by this time arrived, but the sea ran so
high that they could not, or would not, venture to
approach us. This all happened at 815 a.m.,Wed-
, nesday. We do not, my dear sir, ascribe our pre-
servation to chance. We know that our help came
from above. Our prayers, joined to those of absent
Christian friends, were heard, and we were merci-
fully saved, over and over again, during that terrific
gale, which lasted without ceasing for 90 hours.
We had been brought close to God, and I most ear-
nestly trust that the deep impression our trials
have made on us will be lasting. If so, I for one
say, ' It is good for me to have been afflicted.' There
are many, many Christians on board, and our
thanksgiving meeting on Tuesday was, from the
peculiarity of circumstances, most affecting. The
first hymn sung was, ' God moves in a mysterious
way,' and afterwards was read that chapter in the
Acts relating to Paul's:shipwreck. The two prayers
also well suited to the occasion. We are now an-
chored about seven miles from Bristol. The gale
continues, but we are to stay until it has ceased ;
and a steamer is to be sent from Liverpool to tow
us as far as Cork. The mainyard was smashed, and
one or two of the sails torn to ribbons. I enclose
you a piece of the latter as a relic, and it will give
give you some idea of the fury of the tempest which
could tear it. A new sail is making in Bristol, and
new anchors came the day after the accident. All
agree that the ship is a splendid, strong boat, and,
from what we have seen her go through, we are per-
fectly satisfied. with her."