The Sun.
London, England, 1849-10-20 00:00:00

SHIPWRECKS AND LOSS OF

LIFE ON THE EASTERN COAST.
It is with regret we announce that as many as
sixty wrecks are reported to have happened on the
eaitern coast during the raging of the recent equinoc-
tial gales. They scarcely moderated from their com-
mencement until 'Tuesday or Wednesday, and many
very deplorable losses have become known, accom-
panied by several most disgraceful acts of plunder by
wreckers.

On Sunday morning, while the gale was raging
with tremendous violence, a large barque was seen on
the Guiifleet sands, on the outside ridge nearest the
channel known as the Sw•ia. She was encompassed
by a terrific sea, which now and then swept over her
masthead, first pitching her one side on the sands and
then on the other with a force that speedily dashed
her to pieces. Theie were four or five smacks outside

the sands, the crews of which deplored the impracti-
cability of saving the unfortunate persons on board
the barque, who were doomed to a watery grave.
The smacks got in as close to the sands as was
deemed prudent, in order to render assistance to any
of the crew who might be attempting an escape
from the vessel over the breakers. Suddenly the
helpless vessel was carried by a sea over
one of the sands into deep water, when the
next moment she heeled over, and instantly dis-
appeared. There were, it is supposed, between six-
teen and twenty persons in the rigging, not one of
hom escaped. It was evident, from the rapid
manner in which she went down, that the bottom of
her hull had been driven in, and she was otherwise in
pieces, for shortly after she had foundered, her cargo
—artieles'of every description—floated out of her.
For miles the sea was literally studded with portions
of her freight, but, “range to say, although a consi-
derable quantity was picked up, no trace could be
found of her name, or the place to which she be-
longed, till Thursday morning last, when the ship's
papers were picked up, and placed in the hands of
Lloyd's agent at Wivenhoe, by whioh it was ascer-
tained that she was the Conqueror, of Glasgow, 300
tons burthen. As soon as the wreck became known,
the wreckers—and it is now a notorious fact that a
large gang of these depredators infest the Essex
coast—bore down to the spot where the vessel went
down, and, notwithstanding the vigilance of some of
the revenue cutters, they managed to get away
with a considerable quantity of her cargo.
The depredations of these wretches of late have
been such as to extite general indignation along
the coast. In the case of the wreck of the
German emigrant ship Floridian, with the loss of
nearly 200 emigrants, on the Long-sands, some
months since, the bodies were plundered of the gold
which many were known to have about them, and
afterwards cast adrift again to escape detection. An-
other instance of their daring character happened on
Tuesday, when they made an attack on the wreck of
a vessel from St. Petersburgh, which the Scout
revenue-cutter, Captain Saxby, had got off the Gun-
fleet, and in a few minutes cut away her rigging, and
succeeded in escaping with the plunder. Some were
captured on the following da.y,
.and are impri▪
so d
Harwich gaol. Through this infamous conduct, the
sailors of the cutter were unable to preserve the
vessel; she was got afloat tc be brought i▪
nto this
port, and had her rigging been left, there is no
doubt it would have been accomplished. The gale,
however, drove her on the stone beach near Walton,
and not a vestige of her remains. Two other vessels
were lost near the spot where the Conqueror went
down; one is supposed to have belonged to
Chatham, laden with timber, and all on board perished.
The other unfortunate ship was the lloyen, a barque,
from Gefle for London. The crew, providentially,
were more fortunate ; they were taken off the wreck
by some W iverihee smacks, which landed them safely
at that place. The mass of wreckage that has been
picked up along the coast belonging to different vessels
is enormous. The accounts from Lowestuffe, Yar-
mouth, and even' from different points .on the Lin-
colnshire and more northern portion of the coast,
communicate a very sad list of the amount of life
and property lost by the continuance of the gales.
Steamboats put in at the different ports, either from
being disabled or to seek shelter from the fury of the
gale. The Dutch and Belgian mails describe the
gales to have been very destructive on their respective