The Sun.
London, England, 1849-03-05 00:00:00

WRECK OF AN EMIGRANT SHIP

OFF THE ESSEX COAST.

NEARLY TWO HUNDRED LIVES LOST.
Hanwtot, SUNDAY, Timms not. —With the deepest regret
we have to record one of the most frightful catastrophes that
probably ever occurred on this part of the English coast, viz.,
the total loss of a' large emigrant ship on the Long Sands,
with nearly two hundred souls on board. It took place
during the tempestuous and fearful weather on Wednesday
last, without doubt the severest that has been experienced
on these shores for a lengthened period. The gale coms
menced in the early part of Wednesday morning, the wind
blowing from the south-west, and as the day advanced the
violence of the storm increased, and continued till between
six and seven o'clock in the evening. A heavy snowstorm
followed, which lasted till midnight, the gale scarcely mo-
derating before late en Friday night.
During Thursday news reached this harbour of several
vessels having been wrecked on the Long Sands. The first
tidings communicated the loss of a Dutch Indiaman, named
the Dyle, Captain Laws, bound from Antwerp for Havannah,
the crew of which (with the exception of one poor fellow)
have been picked up by her Majesty's revenue cutter Scout,
and landed here. A large schooner was next heard of,
having shared a similar fate on the same sands, with the loss
of every one of her crew. Seven or eight total losses were
also reported as having happened on the adjacent shoals, and
it was hoped that these formed the extent of the disasters.
Late on Friday night, however, her Majesty's revenue cutter
Petrel brought the melancholy intelligence*of an appalling '
loss of an emigrant ship on the same sands, and that nearly
two hundred beings had perished with her, only four of the
many on board surviving the dreadful event, whom the
Petrel had rescued.
The mournful tidings, as may be readily imagined, created
the deepest sensation throughout the town. Owing to the
exhausted condition of the poor fellows, who had been
exposed to the rage of the storm in the rigging for forty-
eight hours, it was impossible then to elucidate any facts
connected with the catastrophe, beyond the certain fate
of the ship and her living freight. It was not till yester-
day that the correct details could be elicited from them by
Mr. Billingsley, the agent to Lloyd's of this port, and the
assistant agent, Mr. Oppenheim, to whom the reporter is
indebted fur the subjoined details respecting the deplorable
affair.
The ill-fated vessel was the barque Floridian, 500 tons
burden, Captain E. D. Whitmore, master, from Antwerp.
She was the property of Mr. E. D. Hulbert, of New York,
and had been chartered by a German company for the con •
veyance of emigrants to the United States. She was an-
nounced to sail from Antwerp on last Thursday week, but for
some reason she was delayed, and did not finally take her
departure from the coast until Tuesday last. The number
of emigrants that had come on board before her weighing
anchor is stated to have been from 176 to 200. They com-
prised young respectable German agricultural labourers, with
their wives and families, and many grades of mechanics.
Amongst the number on board were from fifty to sixty wo-
men, and between twenty and thirty children of different
ages. The ship was worked by a crew of nearly twenty,
part of whom were Englishmen, a surgeon being on board
to attend the emigrants. It was late on Tuesday evening
when the Floridian put to sea. The weather was exceed-
ingly tine, and the wind being fair, all bid well for a plea-
sant run through the Channel. The course taken after
clearing the Flemish banks (so say the surviving seamen),
was westward for the Straits of Dover. It continued favour-
able weather for them up to twelve o'clock, when the wind
shifted round to the S. W., blowing very hard, with a fall of
hail and snow, and so heavy was the fall that it became im-
possible to see the length of the vessel. They tacked ship,
and bore to the north-westward until four o'clock on Wed-
nesday morning, and then altered her course. Captain
Whitmore had charge of the watch up to four o'clock, when
he went below, the chief mate succeeding him in charge of
the next watch. Daybreak brought fearful weather; the
wind had sprung up terrifically, with a greater fall of snow
and a heavy rolling sea on. The ship kept on her course,
the intention being to make for the South Foreland Light,
running under reefed foresail, fore-topmast staysail, and
the main spencer. Although the storm increased
in fury almost every hour, no alarm was manifested
for the safety of the ship until about three o'clock,
when (according to the statement of one of the seamen
saved) the chief mate expressed some misgivings as to the
course they were then pursuing, and calling to the second
officer, requested him to take charge of the watch while he
weat below to " look into his Coast Pilot Directory."
Scarcely had he quitted his post before the ship struck with
terrific force, so great indeed, that her planks and false keel
immediately rushed up alongside, too truly showing that she
was lost. A scene of horror instantly presented itself on
deck. The emigrants hastened up on the deck in frantic
dismay, and the sight that followed when they beheld the
fate that awaited them to a certainty, may be readily con-
ceived by the reader. Within a few moments of the vessel
striking, the sea broke into her hull with much impetuosity,
blowing up the hatchways, and sweeping many of the poor
creatures overboard, while others were drowned in their
berths, being unable to rise, from the effects of sea sickness.
Captain Whitmore perceiving the inevitable destruction
of his ship, gave orders to his men to launch the boats,
which were carried out with the greatest dispatch, but
they were utterly insufficient for the purpose of saving all
on board; for if, in fact, they had outlived the fury of the
raging surf, they were not capable of containing even one-
third of the poor emigrants. The first broke adrift the mo-
ment she was launched, and it is said capsized directly with
two men who were in it. The moment the second boat was
lowered, the captain jumped into it with Mrs. Whitmore (his
wife.) This led to a desperate rush towards the craft.
Some twenty or thirty poor creatures, men and women,
leaped from the quarter-deck of the founiering ship into the
boat. The result was, that it also instantly capsized, and
the whole party were instantaneously lost. There being now
no possible means of escape left for those on board, the crew
took to the rigging, to which they lashed themselves, and
upwards of 100 of the emigrants congregated on the quarter-
deck. Here they had not been more than an hour before
the ship broke in two amidships. The mainmast fell over
the side with a fearful crash, and a tremendous sea car-
ried away the whole of the quarter-deck, with the mass of
human beings on it. A frightful shriek filled the air, and
the next moment the unfortunate creatures were seen
struggling in the deep. By great efforts eight or ten were
rescued by the men who had secured themselves in the rig-
ging. And, alas! as will be seen, only to meet with a more
horrible death. The moment the ship broke in two, her
cargo, mostly merchandise, floated out and intermingled with
the drowning sufferers. For sonic time men, women, and
children were seen floating about on the packages; ere night
had set in, however, all had disappeared, and it is sadly to be
feared that not one escaped. The then survivors, about
twelve in number, continued in the rigging of the foremast,
which, with the fore part of the vessel, was all that remained
of the wreck, the whole of the night, enduring the greatest
suffering. There was no moderation in the violence of the
weather. The sea kept breaking over them, and the
cold, being most intense, rendered their edition the
more painful. When Thursday morning liaska, it was
discovered that six of the poor fellows had died 1* the course
of the night. They had been frozen to death, and their bo•
dies were dangling in the rigging. All that day the same
fearful weather existed, and not the least aid could be ren-
dered to those who still existed in the rigging. They could
see vessels passing at a distance, but they were too far off for
the crews to observe their situation. Thursday night and
the greater portion of Friday passed away, yet no help came.
Only four now remained, three sailors and one passenger;
the other two were frozen to death in the course of the pre-
ceding day and night. The sufferings of the surviving poor
fellows continued frightful in the extreme, and their feelings
and horror may be readily imagined when they found the
third night setting in and death likely to overtake them, as
in the case of their wretched companions. About seven
o'clock, however, great was their joy at perceiving the ap-
proach of a vessel, which proved to be her Majesty's revenue
cutter, Peterel. The crew belonging to her, by direction of
the commanding-officer, lowered their boat, and pushed off
to the spot, the heavy surf beating round the wreck in sucha
manner as to render the running of the cutter alongside ex-
ceedingly dangerous. After considerable difficulty the poor
fellows were got off and taken on board the revenue cruiser,
when everything was done for their comfort. They were in
a deplorable state of exhaustion, and partly bereft of their
senses. Their hands and feet were severely frost bi
attrekn:
and how they escaped with their lives appears most
rem
able. The Peterel made for this port with all sail,and ar-
rived about eleven o'clock at night. Mr. Billingsley,
afforded
Lloyd's '
orded
agent, and Vice-Consul for the Belgian Government,
the poor fellows every attention that was possible, by placing
them in comfortable quarters. The names of the seamen
saved are Henry Hill, William Harry, and :a Swede, name
unknown. The fourth is one of the emigrants, apparently a
mechanic. He has been deranged ever since he has been
landed.
From accounts received from Brightlingsea, a small fish-
ing village near Wirenhoe, we hear that a Colchester vessel
lost five hands in a laudable attempt to rescue some of the
sufferers. The noble fellows saw the quarter-deck carried
assay with the emigrants on it. They immediately pushed
off their boat with a view of saving some of the drowning
creatures, but had scarcely got a few strokes when a heavy
sea caught their craft, upset it, and the whole of the poor
fellows met with a watery grave.
The Long Sands form a very extensive shoal some dis-
tance outside the well-known channel known as the Swin.
In length they are between nine and ten miles, and their
breadth averages from half a mile to a mile and a half. They
are about twenty miles from this port, and their other ex-
tremity about the same distance from the North Foreland,
and it is a matter of some surprise that the ill-fated vessel
should have made such a course as to touch these sands. It
is affismed that she must have been a number of points out
of her track in making for the channel, for even boisterous
as the wind was, it was not in a direction likely to hasten
the etriking of the chip oil the shoals. The opi-

nion here given by competent parties is, that the melan.
choly catastrophe is entirely attributed to the want of judg-
ment on the part of the commander. At this port he was
well known, and was generally considered an experienced
mariner. tis worthy of remark, however, that American
commanders frequently, in coming from foreign northern
ports, steer a course nearer the English coast than the
more proper and safe channel. Their reason for doing so
cannot as yet be explained; but the circumstance has often
been noticed by the oldest pilots, and hence the numeroeis
disasters.

Upwards of two hundred vessels started on Satxttday morn•
ing for the spot where the wreck lies, with a view of picking
up what portion of her cargo may be floating about. Several
revenue cutters proceeded to the scene, to protect it front the
ravages of the wreckers.

tip to the hour of this report being forwarded none of the
vessels had returned. Crowds were collected on the jetty
and quay, anxious to learn any further details. A report
had been received by the Preventive Service that fifty bodies
had been found along the coast towards Southend, but WO
have no means of ascertaining its correctness.

PRINCESS'S THEATRE.
A new two-act opera, entitled .Francesca Doria; or, the
Bandit of the Abruzzi, the music of which is by Mr. George
Linley, and the libretto by Mr. Morris, was produced here on
Saturday evening, on which occasion Miss Lanza, a young
lady who has already won " golden opinions" as a concert
singer, made her first appearance on any stage, and was as
successful as her best friends could desire. The music of the
new opera is graceful, flowing, and full of melody ; and, as
far as the music is concerned, it is one of the most pleasing
operas that has been produced of late. _ The success of the
piece, however—and it was deservedly successful—was owing
to the music of Linley, the talents of the artistes, and the
anise en scene of the piece, rather than to any
novelty of plot or ingenuity if construction. Thus
runs the story, the scene of which is laid in the
mountains of the Abruzzi. Carlo Zampieri (Herr Mengis), a
noble, and the chief of a troop of brigands, has, with his fol-
lowers, stormed and burnt a castle in the mountains of the
Abruzzi, and made prisoners of all the inhabitants, but he iS
pursued by Count Marco di Peruzzi (Mr. Allen), who, die.*
guised as the peasant Marco, resides in the mountains of the
Abruzzi, and who puts himself at the head of a body of pes•
sentry, and follows and engages the brigands. During the
conflict, Francesca Dorm (Miss Lanza), one of the prisoners,
escapes, and meeting with Domenico Bruno (Mr. Weiss), an
old farmer of the Abruzzi, puts herself under his protection.
telling him that the brigands have murdered her father and
all the prisoners, except herself. The old farmer willingly
offers her a shelter at his cottage, to which he conducts her.
Bruno has a daughter, Lizetta (Miss Poole), who is, or fan.
cies herself to be, in love with the handsome young peasant
Marco. He, in a short time, arrives at Bruno's farm,
having been defeated by the brigands. Bruno leads in
Francesca Doria, whom Marco, when he hears her history,
swears to protect. The brigands are then seen approaching.
and all except Lizetta retire to a secret room in the cottage.
Pietro Pulci (Mr. Wynn), the lieutenant of Zampieri, and
an old lover of Lizetta's enter, followed by the brigands, who
are seeking for Francesca, but, after a fruitless search, they
retire. At night Francesca, who perceives that her
presence is disagreeable to the jealous Lizetta, resolves
to fly from the house of the farmer, but is met by
Marco, who declares his love to her. At that moment
Lizetta, who has heard her name mentioned, enters unper-
ceived, sees the lovers, and, determined to be revenged, re-
solves to betray her rival. Marco quits the farm, and
shortly afterwards Lizetta returns accompanied by the
brigands with Zampieri at their head, who bear away Fran-
cesca. In the second act, Lizetta, who has repented her
treacherous conduct, disguises herself as a Savoyard
boy, and gains admittance to the Palazzo Zampieri,
in which Francesca is confined. She informs
Francesca that Marco, determined to rescue her, has put
himself at the head of a troop of soldiers and peasants, and
that an attack will that night be made on the Palazzo.
Lizetta then goes to her old lover, Pietro Pulci, and induces
him to procure admittance for Marco and his followers to the
castle. The castle is taken, and Zampieri stabs himself.
Count Marco is rewarded for his bravery by the hand of
Francesca, and Pietro Pulci marries Lizetta, now
cured of her love for Marco. The debutante, Miss Lanza
has a soprano voice, of tolerable power, and of remarkable
sweetness. She was enthusiastically applauded in the fincde
to the first act, at the end of which she was led before the
curtain by Herr Mengis. In person she is rather alight, and
has regular and expressive features. Mer histrionic powers are
of: a high order, and her acting is at once graceful and ener-
getic. Her success was great, and it was fairly achieved.
Miss Poole, as Lizetta, sang and acted with most fascinating
espieglerie. One of her songs, "Oh ! gentle lady, hear me,"
was honoured with a double encore. It was an exquisite melody.
She gave in a most amusingly quaint style a singularly
quaint song, " I mope just like an owl," which was also en-
cored. This song is full of dramatic effect. Mr. Allen was
encored in two of his songs, " Fair one, good night," and
" Moored is my boat." The latter is a serenade, and will be
no doubt one of the most popular songs of the season. Mr.
Weiss's song, "Oh ! for the golden glories," was also
honoured with an encore. Herr Mengis looked and acted
the brigand: chief admirably, singing the music with
great effect. All the principal performers were called before
the curtain at the conclusion, and the opera was announced
for repetition amidst loud applause. The house was well
attended.