The Sun.
London, England, 1847-02-26 00:00:00

IRELAND.

THE DISTRESS.
DUBLIN, FED. 23.—The accounts from Cork are
becoming more and more gloomy, getting, in truth, from
bad to worse. The following passage from the letter of
a Roman Catholic clergyman (the Rev. Mr. Mulcahy)
will serve as a sample of the state to which districts in
that county have been reduced:—
" To give you some idea, and it is a very faint one, of
the sacrifice of human life that has taken place in the
district of Castlehaven and Myross, I state with con-
fidence and sorrow that in one fishing hamlet, called
Carrigillihi, out of a population of 472 individuals who
were alive on the Ist of January, 1847, not less than 87
of that number have been since carri:d off by starvation.
This is a fact I am ready to attest on the solemnity of
my oath, before any tribunal in the realm."
The state of the Cork Workhouse for the week just
ended is as follows:

Total admittesi during the week, 452; births, 5; num.
ber at the end of last week, 5,295—t0ta1, 5,752. Dis
charged, 292; died, 146 ; on pass, 8 ; deserted, 5-451
Total remaining, 5,301. Number in hospital, 627 ; ex.
tern patients, 1,329. Died yesterday (Sunday), 28.
Mll. O'C ON N ELL'S FIEALTIL
_ _

Private reports to-day speak unfavourably of the pro-
gress of Mr. O'Connell's indisposition. A letter ad-
dressed to Mr. Hackett, of Cork, by the Hon. Gentle-
man's intimate friend, Mr. P. V. Fitzpatrick, for many
years secretary to the trustees of the tribute, gives a far
less hopeful account of his general state of health than
the public were led to believe from the speech delivered
yesterday by Mr. Thomas Steele. Mr. Fitzpatrick thus
writes:—

" Dublin, Feb. 18, 1847.
" My dear Hackett,—l deplore to write that the
Liberator has been very ill, and unceasingly so, since he
left the shores of Ireland.

" More than one consultation has been held by his
physicians in London, and although they consider that
there is nothing imminent, nor perhaps very serious, in
his case, his letters to me prove that his own misgivings
are such as to be likely to aggravate any bad symptoms.
"The redundant vitality' with which, in conjunction
with other distinguishing qualities, he was naturally
blessed, has perhaps rendered, him nervous on expe-
riencing a reduction of his physical-powers and the access
of ailments almost inseparable from the period of life he
has attained.

"Some efforts must be nude by change of scene and
climate, or such course as the medical men shall advise,
on the opening of the season, to restore him to his usual
health, and qualify him to work as heretofore for his
country and triends—who are known to be the friends
of Ireland likewise.

"For myself, I am quite sanguine, that by judicious
management his invaluable existence may be, with the
blessing of God, prolonged for years to come . .
" Ili great baste, most truly yours,
" P. V. FITZPATRICK.

" William Hackett,• E,q."

MELANCHOLY SHIPWRECK,

DREADFUL SUFFERINGS OF THE CREW.
(From the Edinburgh Register.)
The following account of the loss of the brig Mar-
wood is abstracted from the journal of one of the sur-
vivors. 'the letter communicating the intelligence is
datPd Wick. lath instant:—

On the 13th January one of the hands died through
cold and hunger; the ship driving northward, without a
rudder, tossed on the billows, and altogether ungovern-
able. On the 17th January saw land, supposed to be
the Shetland Islands. On the 18th, found ourselves to
leeward of the laud; ship making much water; all
hands very weak. No provisions, and the ship ungo-
vernable; thought it prudent to endeavour to save our
lives by abandoning her. Launched the boat, took a
few clothes, and endeavoured to reach the land, but
the sea ran so high that we were obliged to throw
.very thing out ,f the boat to lighten her. One luau
died in the boat. We thought it prudent to return
to the ship. We managed to get the boat in, but
could not, from fatigue, bury the dead man until late
the following day. Our provisions were then nearly out;
our allowance was one wine glass of rice and
per day, and one wine-glass of water per day. The
cold was intense. On the morning of the 21st, we
found Ourselves close to an i-land of rock, ascending
to the vtry clouds, covered with snow and ice, and
almost perpendicul tr. The sea was foami:g. and lash-
ing the rocks; a strong current running; the sea boil-
ing e ith whir !pools and eddy winds. We endeavoured
to run the vessel up to whet we thought was a bay;
but, owing to the eddy winds and -currents, the vessel
was ungeiernable. We cut away the ma-ts, as the
sea was running high, and the ship riding very heavily.
We were then starving. We ate leather, palm-oil, dried
monkey skins, buttons, tobacco- pouches, or anything
we could get our hands on. We could not land : we
made signals, but were not answered. Some of us drank
salt water, some their urine, and when a heavy dew or
light rain fell, we licked about the rails and deck of the
ship until the blood oozed from our lips and tongue. On
the 22d, another man died from hunger ; his corpse lay
among us ; we eould not bury it, we were so weak. It
lay twenty-four hours, when, 0 my God 1 I cannot state
here what we did with it, it would make the human frame
shudder, but it gave us strength to save ourselves, through
God. He had humbled us low, and He snatched us from
the jaws of death. On the morning of the 24th January
we launched the boat, and dropped one by one over the
side of the ship into the boat and sailed towards a bay
to leeward, but could discuver no landing-place. We at
last succeeded in seeing a narrow inlet, where a rivulet
of water ran from the rocks ; we ran the boat in ; she
struck, throwing us among the rocks and surf. She
was dashed to atoms. We found ourselves close to
a village. One or two of us, who were able to walk,
made towards the village. The inhabitants were at
church ; they immediately came to our rescue ; they
carried us to their houses ; they treated us kindly ;
they bsthed us in warm water ; they gave us cor-
dials warm clothes, warm beds ; they gave us
nourishment, such as our weak state required. We
found ourselves on the island of Videroe, one of the
Ferroe islands ; and the place we brought up with the
ship was the island of Fulow, close to each other. The
inhabitants are the most kind people, and live amicably
together. We afterwards learned that we should not
get off the island before the latter end of March, and we
should then have to go to Copenhagen before we could
proceed to England; but by chance a small Norwegian
sloop was at Trosound and she agreed to take us to
Shetland. We left Trosound on the 4th of February,
but owing to it blowing a eale of wind, we could not get
to Shetland, but succeeded in landing here, after having
been a second time nearly shipwrecked. "The Memo xl
is a total wreck. She sank at her moorings. We saved
nothing but what was on our backs. A few casks of
the cargo have been picked up about the Ferroe Islands?