The Sun.
London, England, 1841-03-23 00:00:00

EVENING EDITION

FINE ARTS.

WRECK OF THE HOPE, STEAMER, O!
THE COAST OP AFRICA.
Lithographed by MaoRR, from a _Painting by HuoaLys.
rye ill-fated vessel, the Hope steam-snip,
flawing on board seventy-two persons, of whosetlur
ty-;three were passengers, consisting of six
".tnen, ten children, and fifteen gentlemen, was
wrecked upon the coast of Africa, south of the
of Alsoa, on the Bth of March last year,
under circumstances the most appalling that
.can be conceived, from which, however, ail were
reseued, through the skill, energy, and courage
cf the Captain Mr.
patienceßaddele) and subord and othcers.,
and by the extr(aordinary i-
storm the
liatiun of passengers and crew. In a violent
vessel was driven upon a reef of
rucks, about two hundred yards distant from
anirun-bound shore, and several casks of brandy
.i
'elag stove in by the rolling of the. ship,
ithe spirits flowed into the engine-room, and the
and main deck were speedily a mass of
flanlcs• In this awful situation the Captain col-
lected all the people upon the quarter deck, and
n al:lng exhorted them to calmness and obedience,
which they readily prothised and faithfully ob-
served, took effectual measures for extingaishing
the flames. But the ship was rapidly filling,
411 d must soon go down. The jolly-boat had
"et% washed away ;' and, therefore, as the only
means of enabling the people on board to reach
tu.e. shore, a raft was hastily constructed, upon
which forty-one persons, comprising all the wo-
men and children, were, although not without
gTeat difficulty, landed in safety. After much
sultaring and personal exertion on the part of
1;1e Captain and his officers, the remainder of
the Party were taken ashore, before the wreck
ultimately foundered.
IVir. IlenryWhitaker, who served at the time as
second officer, made upon the spot a drawing of
the terrible and magnificent scene, when the
the vessel was beset by billows, of which
3 navigators of the temperate zones can form
112.cOnception, except from some such represen-
tations as are furnished in the print before us.
The conduct of Mr. Whitaker at the time of the
l'llrcebt was such as to give a peculiar interest to
tone Publication. In the letters of Captain Bad-
c'e'c,v to the Directors of the Steam Navigation
r c"Pany (the proprietors of the Hope), pub-
lished in the Cape of Good Hope Go-
l'erriment Gazette, 27th of March, 1840,
aincl republished by the London Press, in. June
9st, expressed, in the strongest terms, his gm-
-I.itude to Mr. Whitaker for his courage and fide-
i.t,tY under the most trying circumstances. "When
'l'e main deck was in a sheet of flame," said he,
my officers, Mr. Whitaker, and Mr. Minter, re-
:inBed to leave -My side, and avail themselves of
:!'e chance which the raft offered, of preserva-
tion, from a terrible death." When the first party
!lad been landed in safety, the rope which was
Intended to pull back the raft to the wreck was
.uruken, and the last chance of preservation for
those on board seemed totally cut off. But the
-aptaia and Mr. Whitaker ventured in one of
the boats that had been stove in, and could hardly
Holt
upon a garden pond, to make for the shore,
amidst rocks and surfs, aggravated by the fury
of a tropical tempest. They were dashed upon i
rocks and severely injured, sometime elaps-
ing before the Captain was restored from insensi-
bility. Mr. Whitaker, however, the publisher
of this print, succeeded in recovering the raft,
whereby the remainder of the crew and passen-
gers were eventually brought off.