The Sun.
London, England, 1848-01-21 00:00:00

LON DON, FRIDAY EVENING. JAN VA R Y 21, 1848.

THE LOSS OF THE AVENGER.

The foll).ving extract from a letter written by Mr.
Larcorn, the gunner, to a ditinguiShe officer of the
navy has -been published :
Her .I\l4jesty'a ship Ceylon, 'Malta, Jan. 4, 1847.
" Pear Sir,—.l have not the least doubt that you
llaVe heard of the fate of the unlucky Avenger, which
was lost on the Sorelli Reeks about twelve miles to
the south- west of Galita, on Monday, at ten P.M.,
going at the rate of eight or nine knots, under double-
reefed topsails and reefed foresail. At the time she
struck I was in my bed, but being awakened by the
shock, I jumped out and felt for my clothes ; a heavy
sea, however, striking the ship at the time, I ran on
the deck in my shirt, where I found Lieut. Rooke
pressing the men to clear away the cutters. Seeing
the state the ship was in, I ran down to my cabin
Ind got my trousers on. By this time the ship
was on her beam ends, with her deck exposed to
the sea. Lieutenant Rooke failing (in the confu-
sion) to get the cutters cleared away, desired me to
assist him, which I immediately did. The surgeon,
second mate, master's assistan'-, captain's steward, a
stoker, and a second-class boy, got into the boat
before it was lowered, when Lieutenant Rooke, lower-
ing the foremost fall, and myself the after one, we
got down the falls ourselves and shoved off from the
ship with the intention of saving any one that might
be washed off from the wreck. Before we shoved off
from the ship they commenced lowering the other
cutter, but unfortunately she was dashed against the
ship's side and was stoved, and the gig astern was
washed from the davits.
" We had not shoved off fire minutes before the
mainmast went over the side, taking with it the
tnizentopmast and the funnel ; about a minute or two
after that the foremast went, taking with it the bow-
sprit ; and in less than a quarter of an hour after she
struck she was a perfect wreck, leaving no chance of
ever coming off again, and all hopes of saving the
ship's company were lost.
" The wind and sea increasing all the time, and
our boat's crew being nearly worn out, we held a
consultation among ourselves as to what was the best
to be done, when it was agreed that we should run to
leeward of the Island of Galita, and wait there till
daylight, and try to get assistance to send to our ill-
fated companions. But when we got to leeward of
the island the wind suddenly shifted to the N.E.,
blowing, if possible, harder than before, which caused
a heavy cross sea, and baffled all our hopes of getting
assistance, ;if any could have been obtained in the
Island of Galita. The only thing we had then to do was
to retrace our steps back to the place where we came
from, as the wind was blowing directly from the op.
posite point from which it was blowing before, and
we then passed over a reef on which I shall always
think our ill-fated ship struck.
" The wind kpt veering about, as God Almighty
would have it; if it had not been so we should have
had to beach the boat in the night, and we all must
have been lost. As it was, daylight came, and we
saw the land about twenty miles off; the boat at the
same time was standing right for it, and when we got
nearly in for the shore there was such an awful sea,
that I thought every moment would be our last. As
it happened we got into a little bay, and In one place,
for about fifty yards, we saw it was a sandy beach,
and we thought we should be able to land in safety
there. But it was not. to be so; for when about one
hundred yards from the beach, the rollers lifted the
boat nearly perpendicular, and her stern taking the
ground, and all power of the steering oar being lost
thereby, she swung broadside on a roller coming
in directly after, and_ was swamped, when, I am
sorry to say, four out, of our little party, namely,
Mr. Steele, doctor; Mr. Betts, second master; Mr.
Ayling, master's assistant; and John Owen, stoker
—sunk to rise no more; and three only besides
myself reached the shore, namely, Lieutenant Rooke,
William Hill, captain's steward, and James Mor-
ley, boy.
" When we reached the land we fell exhausted on
the beach, and nearly blind from the sand getting in
our eyes as we struggled to the shore. Having some-
what recovered ourselves, we all got up and walked
along the shore, not knowing at the time where we
were going, as we hardly had any senses in us, when
we fell in with an Arab, who kindly took us into his
hut, and gave us some warm milk, which greatly
revived us. We dried our clothes, and contented our-
selves there for the night, having made him (the
Arab) understand that we wished to go where there
was some British consul, and to which we understood
he would guide us the next day.
" In the morning we were determined to set out
as early as possible; but neither of us having any
shoes, Lieutenant Rooke cut the legs of his boots
off, and I made of them a pair of slippers
for myself and a pair fur the steward. The
boy at the same time took the sleeves off his jacket,
and adapted them to the same purpose. Having
walked about thirty miles that day, we put up at an
Arab hut, and remained there for the night, having
been given to understand that we should have horses
in the morning to take us on our journey, which we
commenced again as soon as daylight, and arrived at
a place called Biserta. Here was a vice-consul, and
he gave us refreshments and shoes, and handkerchiefs
to tie round our heads, for we had lost our hats in
getting ashore ; but there-not -being ts• vessel of any.
sort in this place that we could send to our ship,
Lieutenant Rooke determined to push on for Tunis,
that being the next port. Accordingly we got a boat
and arrived there in it at midnight ; and not being
allowed to enter the town we remained on board until
the morning, when Lieutenant Rooke went to
the Consul-General, Sir T. Reade, who immediately
sent to Malta to give intelligence of what had hap-
pened, at the same time sending two schooners to the
place where our poor ship was wrecked, we ourselves
going there in a large pulling boat for fear that the
schooners should be becalmed outside. The Bey of
Tunis also sent the whole of his squadron, to see if
they could recover any of the vessel or of her crew ;
but I am sorry to say neither they nor we could find
either, the ship having disappeared. There cannot
be the least doubt that everybody perished except
ourselves, for the wind having shifted, and such a
heavy sea rising at the time, she must have been
washed off the rocks, and have sunk in deep water.
"-We are now at Malta waiting a passage to Eng-
land, where I hope I shall reach by the latter end of
this month, when we shall be able to describe all the
particulars—So no more from your humble and
obedient servant,

" JOHN LARCOM, gunner,
" Late of her Majesty's ship Avenger?

(Prom the Herald.)
How came the Avenger on the Sorrelli rocks is a
question which has suggested itself to most persons.
Thoie who have read the acconnts of the wreck, and
who know the steam-packet route to Malta, or who
have referred to the chart for it, must come to one or
other of the conclusions—that the ship overrun her
distance in a very short time, which is not very likely,
seeing the master had taken the bearings of the ship
a few hours before she struck; that her steering was
so wild and uncertain as to throw her out of her
course, which is not at all improbable ; or that, with a
temerity to be for ever deplored, the Avenger
determined, in a dark and tempestuous night,
to cut off the Pacha, .-Peninsular, and Ori-
ental steam-vessel (which had proved her-
self to he a faster boat), by endeavouring to
run at all hazards through the dangerous navigation
between the island of Galita, and the fatal rocks of
Sorelli, instead of keeping the Pacha's course, far to
the southward of them. If the latter " shave" was
attempted, it was, indeed, an awful mistake on the
part of these who commanded or risked the sad re-
sults, svhich too surely followed, in such an uncer-
tain ship as the Avenger. It was mentioned yester-
' day that the Avenger was supplied with the proper
charts for her station; but even if she had not re-
ceived any either at Lisbon or Gibraltar, the common
chart which has been issued to all her Majesty's
ships going to Lisbon, for a long number of years,
(as we have ourselves seen) clearly and distinctly
gives the position of the island of Galita, and bears
prominently upon its face the Sorelli rccks.
It may not be true that there was any intention on
the part of the Avenger to try to get to Malta before
or as soon as the Pacha • but we are informed that
there are circumstances which lead to the supposition
that such was the case. We related on Saturday the
manner in which the life of Colonel APlntyre was in
all probability preserved—namely, by the carrying
out of the Admiralty regulation, which forbids any
ship of war to take passengers from Gibraltar when
there is a contract packet steamer in port proceeding
to the same destination. It is reported that the
gallant Colonel is not the only person who owes his
life to obedience to this order, but moreover that
many persons had embarked at Gibraltar in the
permission of the captain were
Avenger, and by
about to take a passage in her to Malta, and that it
was only by the captain of the Pacha going on
board the Avenger at GibraltaN and requiring that
the Admiralty orders with respect to passengers
should be strictly observed (those orders having
happily been put in force, too, for the first time), that,
much to the unconcealed annoyance and chagrin both
of the officers of the Avenger and the parties them-
selves who were to have been their cornpagnons de
voyag-e; they reluctantly shifted their quarters to the
handsome accommodations on Joard the packet-ship.
We noticed on the 7th instant, that the loss of the
Avenger as
decidedly tee worst which has
w
occurred in the annals of tie Royal Navy since
December, 1811, when the St. George, 98, and
the Defence, 74, stranded on the coast of Jutland,
and, with the exception of sixteen seamen, all souls
perished." We perceive that a correspondent
has co: rected a contemporary by since quoting the
above as that of a later disaster than that which befel
the Athenienne, 64 guns, on tee Skii k rocks (noted
in Captain Mundy's extract pater-day), off Sardinia,
Oct. 00, 1806, when 347 sous perished. The cir-
cuinstances attending the loss of this ship are fear-
s fully interesting, as many who know Sir Wm. Pym,