The Sun.
London, England, 1825-11-24 00:00:00

MIR3MICIII.

The following interesting letter from Captain
WALTZII, of the ship James, to the Owners, was
received last night at thd North and South Ame-
rican Coffee-house :

" M Ask!cur, Oct. 11, 1825—The north side of Mira-
michi is now aheap of ashes. It is not ascertained to what ex-
tent tie fire reaches ; some say 80, some 200 miles back. For
about 20 miles up and down the river nothing is seen but stacks
of chimneys, they being built of stone, whereas the houses,
which were of wood, are all burnt, and 1 am sorry to say a great
number of men, women, and children, cattle, &c. My stower
helped to bury 38 yesterday in one small settlement ; some
they had to put into coffins with spades, as many as six in a
coffin, according to the number of the family, Three ships
are totally burnt, viz.—Canada, of North Shields ; Concord, of
Whitby ; and Jane, of Alloa. The Canada was all load, tha
others were discharging ballast at the same heap as the James,
The James was on fire at three different places at three different
times ; but, thank God ! we got it out before it got to any great
height. We have our jib, mainmast, and trysail burnt. The fire
broke out about eight in the evening on the 7th inst. at the river
side ; all the afternoon we heard a roaring away to the north-
ward of us accompanied by smoke and soot, but no one sup-
posed it would be so instantaneous, for before we could dis-
tinguish any flame, the fire flakes came off the land on board
thicker and faster than ever I saw a snow storm in my life,
branches of trees and burning leaves, and so for the same
distance up and down the river already mentioned, and all at
the same instant, accompanied by a hurricane ; it must have
come through the woods at a great rate, for people who went
up to observe if they could see any thing like fire could not,
olthough the smoke was very thick, they ran back as fast as
they could, and before they got down two minutes the fire was
at their heels ; those that are saved was by their running into
the river up to their chins, and keeping their heads constantly
wet ; many children who were in bed were snatched up by
their mothers, and carried down to the river, but before they
got them down, their shirts had caught, which were torn off ;
in this state they were laid on the beach, their parents keping
them continually wet, the father with his hat and the mother
with her shoes, until morning, when they were taken on board
she shipping. 1 have now a family on board of man, woman,
and four children, who were in that state.

" People who were in the woods, as far as can be heard,
were dreadfully off. Whole camps of them, from ten to forty
in a camp, who were gone in for the winter to make timber, are
consumed with the cattle. People are coming in, some have
lost a wife and children, some a husband and children, some
more, some less, some naked and burnt. One woman in par-
ticular, finding the tire too hot for her to bear as she was run-
ning with her two children, laid them down and lay upon them;
she is burnt from her heels to the crown, so much that not a bit
of flesh is on her; the children are not hurt ; she still lives, but
in great agony. Some who could get into boats were upset and
drowned. Gilmore and Rankin's stores are all burnt, except
about 70 barrels of pork, which they got out of the fire yester-
day. Mr. Abrahams, the merchant we load with, are all burnt
down. I sent my carpenter to say I should be happy to see
them on board should they think proper. Mrs. Abrahams
said, for God's sake take them. When the carpenter went into
the house to take them, the children were taken out of bed in
blankets, and Mrs. A. without a bonnet, with eight children,
were coming to the ship when the fire met them in the face
like a furnace, and they were obliged to return; by that
time the house was all in flames ; they then made for a small
schooner which lay at the wharf, and my cook, who had gone
with them, got his hand hurt; one of his fingers has since been
cut off. The Second Mate, and Carpenter, have been ill since
the fire, and the Chief Mate fell down the hold and cut his
head this morning. One man takes ill whenever any hard work
comes, and the two men who ran away, I don't expect much
good from."