The Sun.
London, England, 1848-04-25 00:00:00

.]

11.011P.TBLT SS,4. eP.T.I. ON BOA R
THE GENERAL WOOD CONVICT SIIIP.
ce
The intelligence we announced a few days sin
relative to a report of the foundering of the above-
mentioned convict ship, with all hands, was erroneous
It is too true that the vessel was lost, but under cir
cumstances that have caused the most painful excite
n
ment. The convicts, of whom there were early 100
and who were on their way to the Penang settlement
baying mutinied, horribly murdered most of tke crew
and afterwards caused the destruction of the vessel
last
She sailed from Singapore on the 2d of January
without the protection of the usual military convict
guard, and hence arose the fearful catastrophe.
The subjoined details are extracted from a commu•
nieation written by Lieutenant Seymour, who was a
passenger on board of the unfortunate vessel : •
the
General
OernalSwunodoady,wtehigeh2edd oafnoJhoarnuaanryd,
harbour with a fair wind, in company with two other
vessels. After rounding the Rabbit and Coney, we.
had a stiff breeze against us, and by six o'clock we lost
sight of the two vessels I have mentioned. Tke vv
nbut
and tide being both against us, we soon brought
up, I think, off the Carimous, determined to lie
there till daybreak the following morning, and we
satot ostixo:il'lof the
retired to bed, leaving the watch on deck in charge.
of the First-Lieutenant, all apparently. quiet.
etc
about
we wer.
about half-past one o'clock in the morning
startled from our sleep by a loud noise on deck, and
the smashing of glass inside the cuddy. I
rose and went to the door of our cabin for the Pe";
pose of ascertaining the cause of the uproar. I Jr,'
scarcely touched the handle, when the door wine!:
separates the master's cabin from ours, burst °panto?!
the captain rushed in exclaiming, "For God's sneak!
shut the door and keep it fast." He was followed.o.9_
Mr. Farquhar and other passengers, who implored
.to
know what was the matter ; but could get no reply
from him for some time, when to our horror be told.n
us the convicts had mutinied, and had got peaseasl° f
of the ship. He appeared to have lost all presence or
immediately
mind, and kept exclaiming, "0, merciful Fathe
what have I done that this should happen. 0, blessthe:
Jesus, save us, save us They have got n,,°
cuddy and have secured all the fire-arms. --`
obtained his own private pistols,
them stood on the defensive, expecting every e,e;
ment they would break in upon them. 11.'1
said nothing, was to be done, for be was fear ua
his officers had already perished. Soon after be heart
the cries of Mr. Gill, the third officer, appareatil at,
the cabin-door, endeavouring to get in, at the OP
time followed by heavy blows—his moans becoul
fainter and fainter. The Captain opened whomdege
and managed to get hold of the poor fellow,
nt
dragged in, and discharging his pistols to prey d
them following. He was dreadfully mutilated
was deluged in blood. Having again secured tr;
and loading
cabin-door, we consulted as to the best means 0f cog'
cealing the female passengers, when it was sugge'ks
of placing them down the hold. The deck-Plan_...
were torn up, but to our disappointment the twertir
by the rudder down was too small to admit th
being lowered. The passengers then implored tt
Captain to offer the convicts the boats for them la"
escape from the vessel conditionally, if they w°llhe
spare our lives. The poor man appeared distracted;n_A
said it will be no use, " we were in their power,.
at,
the wretches know no mercy." He said be walluves
tempt their request, and went out of the quarter gs
port for that purpose, but we never saw him after, leaving
little doubt but that he was instantly murdered. Fin__
ing the captain did not return, the females bid thera;_,
selves in the quarter-gallery as the last resouo
having previously barricaded the cabin door to,
the
I utmost extent. I could see through the chink 01 ;cts
door what was going on in the cuddy. The oonthe
seemed busy knocking off their irons,
ship. At daybreak they slipped the ship's cable,
avoid
made. all sail for the south-east, striving t°
course
Singapore harbour. They continued on this co.uthin
till sunset, when they tacked, avoiding coming the
the
and rifling
and
reach of any other vessel. We were confined leach
cabin, unconscious of what was going on for
door,
and armed convicts were placed at the cabin,sr
On Friday, the 29±, they sighted the Great 10.10,
mas, and on the following day, at nine in the Trot,
ing, the vessel was run on a rock near Palo '
Sa.
on the island of Bungaron. It was evidently le
red,
tionally, for the convicts had everything takingPrePa
and leaving the vessel, made for the coast, sild
with them the passengers. About thirty I,oeBrB 910
about twenty convicts were left on board to Mot.
away with the remainder of the crew, who were the
toned down in the fore part of the vessel.
horrible design was carried into execution I ant lull; se
to say, or what really was their fate, for within ha"
hour after the ship went down in deep water, 0.1"11
not a vestige of her was to be seen. The impressll,
on the minds of my fellow-passengers was, that
whole of the unfortunate creatures who were beatf
the wreck went down with the vessel andpenis et
for there was no boat to escape by. arrived
We
the island at sunset, where we were met by a piss'.
of Malays, who showed ever
They offered to conduct the every symptom of kindneis
residence, but the ringleader amongng trhse tcoonthvTetsiltia
it was their intention to protect us, and they kr,
tprrievpeadretnthrnenembmouantsin.
ateOnnenrof
real
le Whether
ble
tended to take us up the coast as soon as they could
natives, who at once declared their intention to tall
us to the Haja's residence. The convicts resisteu'
tfe3
position
nersto coon;
but the natives, to our infinite joy and hear
satisfaction, mustered, and we were led up t.. 13:
country to their houses, where we received aVeL'id
comfort their means afforded. I am confident hag
the natives left us behind, we should have been
murdered. It was admitted by one of the conit'
who was afterwards captured, that such was the
lowing
ntion of the ringleaders. Before daybreak the Oci
morning the greater mass of the convicts °Put
fftG prisonerseoh
rwee General
sLeoerfaaa,stlchlaleelramhTsvoyi.hon
dagtd,
Ash
aocrlblreoeottnawrh
tdke
orders
contrived
ffientnotcortfeyi
rvtst the
dbeee
eh
ltbißoonondoagje,t
asiswn.,c
gahaponsteod74tetioe
sf::t
very
ynes
pmeunradne r e
the . ''
g,arroivfalthoef the above her were
On the •
the capture +,, ffee
authorities adopted every meaglinsP.7ientiedclC,
nwewhos, aittSii3n
pres;;;ce,
wouldwhen remain at sea till a vessel made her apPee',„-,ked
theyT would be picked up as shiP'ivr-T-oio
mariners. East
The steamers of the Hon.
Company's service have beensent to the Pr"'"l' t
outMOO
ports in the above
locality, in search of them• d its
of the convicts
were felons
from Singapore an
adjacent country.

MANCHESTER, APRIL 24. AO'
STOCK EXCHANGE.—The sales are—Birkenhead' '''-all4
shire, and Cheshire Junction 7 1-16 n. dis.—Lancitsb'
sod
.
Yorkshire (West Riding Union), 41/ dis.—
Loot/later!
North-Western (Manchester and Birninghanl), '6`l,lorlP
(A and B), 1 11-16 p.—Ditto, ditto (C), 2sP
-(111 tlr
Staffordshire, 3 5-16 dis.—Shropshire shire Utlion,3 dis*--
Eastern and Dover, No 4, 3%pdis.
Cure,
[ADVERTISEMENT.]—A Speedy and Eff--
o,tof a severely bruised Ankle, by Holloway's Oint'-gge
n ,
a
Extract of a letter from Mr. H. Watkinson, of tbe
fins, Free Press, dated February 19, 1848:—" rj;?flociteci,
etisor Holloway. Sir,—A youth in our emPlq ~,1(00'
his ankle so severely, that the most dangerous srm,,rnable
were brought on, thereby rendering him totalli were
to walk or attend to his duties; many preparatiell- 10
applied, but all to no effect; at last he had recou.ogio
your invaluable Ointment, when, by the use of 11',..5,101/
pot his ankle was perfectly cured, and the beicue,.-e the
as active in walking and working as he was beAt)--fO.
disaster." Sold by all druggists, and at Professor
loway's Establishment, 244, Strand, London.