The Sun.
London, England, 1853-10-26 00:00:00

THE LOSS OF THE DALHOUSIE.

It has now been ascertained that more persons were
on board than was at first stated. In addition to the
ship's crew, there were four others, of whom one was a
young gentleman, from Calcutta, respectably connected,
who had accompanied Captain Butterworth to England
on his last voyage from India for the purpose of going
through one of the Universities and preparing for the
church as a missionary. The next was Mr. T. R.
Thomas, a young man under 30 years of age, who only
received the appointment of surgeon to the Dalhousie a
few days before her sailing. The third was a youth
named Ward, a midshipman, and the fourth an assistant
sailmaker, whose parents reside in the vicinity of Ro-
therhithe.
Joseph Reed, the only survivor, was so far recovered
yesterday as to be enabled to furnish some important
details of the catastrophe, in addition to those which
were embodied in the protest of the ship's loss. He
says, it was the chief mate's watch when he took the
wheel at 2 o'clock on the morning she foundered ; but
Captain Butterworth was up on the deck the whole
night, now and then going into the cabin for short in-
tervals. At 4 o'clock all hands were on deck, and so
continued. He did not see any of the passengers
until the vessel lurched over on her beam ends. He
remained at the wheel till the water came up to his
knees. A few minutes before she went over he remarked

to Burley, a fellow seaman, who was by him, that if she
had a few more of such lurches she would go over alto-
gether. At 4 o'clock a.m. he began to suspect that
there was a considerable quantity of water in her hold.
The last time he heard the captain give orders was when
he was among the men directing them to throw the
deck load overboard ; this was about 5 o'clock. After
the ship went over on her starboard beam ends he saw
Captain Butterworth abreast of the maintopmast back-
stay, and he thought he must have come up the poop
ladder. The larboard quarter boat remained, and, with
Burley, he endeavoured to get her clear. He had
arranged the tackling, and called some Lascars to keep
her head up while he got the stern round. In doing so,
however, the Lascars got frightened, and let go, when
she swamped, and went down between the main and
mizen masts. When she was on her beam ends, Capt.
Butterworth, seeing that the ship was lost, told them to
do the best they could to save their lives, not forgetting
the passengers. He pointed to the schooner, apparently
bearing down to the wreck, which might save them. The
passengers who were dragged through the galley win-
dow were Mr. and Mrs. Underwood and two children,
and the young lady who was taken out of the water and
had come out of one of the poop cabins was Mr. Under-
wood's eldest daughter, a young ladyabout 19 years of age.
Just before a fearful sea had swept off Mr. and Mrs. Under-
wood and the two children he observed them embrace
each other in earnest prayer, evidently quite conscious
and resigned to their fate. Captain Butterworth was
holding on near him, when Miss Underwood, in her
night dress, was washed out of the poop, and he ex-
claimed, pointing to the unfortunate girl, " For God's
sake, look here !" She was floating away when he
(Reed) caught her up under the arms, and with the aid
of Burley he got her out. He should never forget the
look she gave him. He had cut a piece of rope to
secure himself to a spar (the spare mainyard), but,
seeing there was no chance for the girl, he said, " You
had better let me lash you to this ; it is your only
chance, and you may be picked up ; if you perish,
there is some hope of your body being found." She
looked up imploringly at him and said, " Yes, do."
He immediately lashed her to the spar, and when it
was sent adrift from him she ejaculated to Reed, " May
God bless you, and spare you to get ashore !" (Reed
was moved to tears while reciting this scene.) He ob-
served the spar going to windward full 10 minutes after
the ship had foundered. There were also clinging to it
Captain Butterworth, Mr. Finch, second mate ; James
Burley, the young assistant sailmaker ; a youth named
Simpson (son of Mrs. Simpson, cabin passenger), and
three or four Lascars. From the heavy sea which was
sweeping over the spar he thought it very improbable
that any of them could live many hours. He was
unable to form any correct conclusion as to the cause of
the ship going over. He did not think that the ship had
shifted, and if she had touched a wreck he fancied they
must have felt the shock. If a bolt was rusty, a sudden
strain might start it ; but he would not say that was the
case in this instance. He saw nothing in the ship up to
that morning to give the least uneasiness as to her
safety ; in fact, he was quite proud of being on board
such a vessel, so well had she rode out the gale in the
Downs. He believed the Lascars sometimes quarrelled
amongst themselves and would get sulky, but he ob-
served nothing in their conduct to indicate that they in-
tended mischief. The chock just enabled him to kneel
upon it, and with a piece of deal planking he held up a.
sort of sail. He adhered to the former statement re-
garding the conduct of the schooner which bore away
from the drowning people. The weather would prevent
her lowering a boat, but he added she could easily have
come up to windward, and as for only seeing three men
in the water, as she had reported to the Cowes pilot,
more than thrice that number might have been ob-
served.

Reed's escape altogether is most marvellous ; besides
his ordinary clothing he had on a heavy oilskin coat,
with a thick Guernsey underneath. Fortunately he is a
very expert swimmer, to which circumstance I►e mainly
owes his life. Ile, however, has expressed himself in
most thankful terms to the captain and crew of the
Mitchel Grove, Captain Ranson, who picked him up,
and for the great kindness he received on board.
A subscription has been opened in the City with the
view of alleviating the sufferings of the widows and
orphans.

HASTINGS.—The body of Mrs. Butterworth, wife of
the late commander of the Dalhousie, which, as our
readers are aware, was wrecked off Beachy Head last
week, was picked up on Monday, by some fishermen
belonging to Hastings. The body was discovered
floating face dwnwards, about two miles from the
shore, and when taken on board the fishing smack,
presented a fresh life-like appearance, the cheeks being
quite ruddy, like those of a person in the bloom of
health. Deceased had on a chemise, marked with the
initials " E. 8.," a night-dress, flannel petticoat, stock-
ings, and lace boots. She had two gold ear-drops fas-
tened in her cars, and two plain gold finger rings were
found in the smack after her removal from it, which
were supposed to have fallen or been taken from her
fingers. An inquest was held on the body yesterday, in
the Town Hall, before John Phillips, Esq., deputy
coroner, when the foregoing facts were elicited. Mr.
Joseph Pain, silk-weaver, residing at No. 2, Park-
terrace, Old Ford-road, London, recognised the deceased
as his sister, who, he stated, was the wife of the late
Captain Butterworth. He also identified the ear-drops
and finger-rings. The jury returned a verdict of " Found
drowned." Deceased was 34 years of age, and was a
remarkably handsome woman. Several articles belong-
ing to the unfortunate vessel have been cast upon the
beach here, including a trunk, much damaged, a case of
spyglasses,
quantity of clothing, a mahogany writing
Kay," engraved on it, and a parchment label for a,
desk, having a brass lid plate with the name " John
" J. R. Thomas, surgeon, ship Dal-
itirouunskie,:!nscribed,