The Sun.
London, England, 1851-08-26 00:00:00

THE SHIPWRECK NE {R ADEN.

ADEV, JULY 27.-02 Saturday last, the 12-h of
Jul, veseel was signalised from the ftigstatf on
Seerahj Island at about 11 A.M. At 2 P.M. the red
pennant and ball were loeerrd another gun was fired
by the lookout, and the blue ensign reversed, ierlica-
tiveCf a ship in distress, w hois'ed. As 6 p.sa on
the same evening the political authorities received
notice of this circumstance.
At about eight P.M tne authorities received a or!m-
paunioation ft orn Lieutenant Ste ward, of her Majes-
ty's 7811, commanding at the " W
all,"informing
them that the oeptain of an English vessel, lost upon
the coesr, had reached that post, and earnestly re-
quested that assistance might be dispatched to tne
crew, who had disembarked, and were then encamped
Upon the beach not far from the wreck The cep
o -
tain having also made known to the officer above
-
named that four of his crew had accompaniedr him,
and were then most probably close to the " 1.% all, no
time was lost ere assistance was sent to them. The
four men were accordingly found quite exhausted
with their long walk, and every attention was ren-
dered them which their circumstances required.
At this time there were in harbour the following
vessels belonging to the East India Company :—The
steamers Sesostris and Ajdaha, the schooner Mahe,
and the frigate Elphinstone. The last received orders
to proceed to the wreck at 10 P.m. She did not sail
till 7 .e.ist. the following day. At 9A at she came to
anchor in Back-bay, where she remained five hours,
and did not reach the wreck, only 15 miles to the
north-east of Aden, till half past 5 that evening. At
10 P rd. on Saturday two of the unfortunate crew, who
had been left behind on the beach, reached the " Wall,"
and communicated the intelligence that the Arabs had
attacked them and murdered their chief mate, where-
upon they all sought safety in flight, leaving behind
them a sick man named Murphy, whose illness pre-
vented him from attempting to escape. Several other
of the refugees reached Aden in the course of a few
hours, and at 1 a.m. on Sunday, under instructions
from the local political authorities, a force, consisting
of 50 Highlanders and 70 men of the 3d Madras
Native Infantry, under the command of Captain
Lockhart, and accompanied by Mr. Cruttenden, the
Assistant Political, marched beyond the " Wall" and
succeeded in pickiog up a couple of the crew. There
were still three men missing, viz., the chief mate, who
had been murdered, Murphy, the invalid, and the
carpenter. However, it does not appear to have been
the design of those who planned this military sally,
that the party should reach the spot where these men
or their bodies might have been found, for after
marching the distance of three and a half miles they
were ordered to return to Aden.
At eleven A.M. on Sunday it was made known to the
Highlanders by a Somali fisherman that an European
was lying on the beach not far from their barracks.
On the instant about 50 of their number went out in
search of him. They found him well nigh senseless
from fatigue and thirst, and both officers and men vied
in their efforts to restore him. The poor fellow turned
out to he the hitherto missing carpenter.
I shall now proceed to lay before you the particu-
lar'', of the wreck and of the disasters which followed,
as they were recounted to me by two of the sufferer,.
It appeared that the ship, which is called the Sens
of CJininerce, laden with coals, grounded on Friday
afcerno in, the 11th lost No bl one whatever is
attached to the cap sin for this carn,troph- by nautical
men here. Th.- weather was very boi,terous, and
the
Sesnstris, whi.,h arrived at Aden or, the same day,
made the harbour with the greate4 diffi elite% 0 ,
Saturday the captain and crew took to the cutter end
launch, bringing away with them what was most
valuable in the ship, intenling to row to Aden. There
was a heavy sea running directly again-t them, and in
a short time the first mate, who come) -aided the launch,
made known to the cepteei his determination to land,
Clueing that unless he did so the sick man, Murphy,
who was in the boat with him, would die. To this the
captain was opposed, but perceiving that the in it,
had already grounded the launch, he also abandoned
his original idea of making Aden by sea, and landed
with the rest of the brew. A temporary shed was
then erected, and the captain, taking four of the men
with him, marched off towards the town in order to
seek assistance. The only weapons they carried with
them were a harpoon, two axes, and a bar of iron.
They had not proceeded far when they were met by
four armed Arabs, mounted on camels, who made as
though they would attack them. The sailors, how-
ever, showed front, and the Arabs passed them a short
distance, dismounted, and then turned to pursue
them. They escaped unhurt, and succeeded in
reaching the " Wall" in the manner already de-
scribed.
Not long after the departure of the captain and his
party a number of Arabs approached the shed with
hostile demonstrations. The mate, fancying, I sup-
pose, that plunder was their object, held out his watch
to them; hereupon he received two gunshot wounds
from the assembled Arabs, one of whom then plunged a
dagger into his back, and a third ripped up his belly
with a similar weapon. This was a signal for the
rest to flee, which they did, leaving the sick man,
Murphy, under the shed. Several shots were fired at
them by their pursuers, one of which grazed the arm
and another the hair of the fugitives. Their safe ar-
rival at Aden, partly that night and partly the follow-
ing day, has already been narrated.
To complete this account it only remains for me to
tell you what was effected by the Elphinstone. On
nearing the wreck at 5 P.M. on Sunday many Arabs
were seen making their escape from her to the
shore. A party was then dispatched by Lieute-
nant Batt under the command of Lieutenant
Litngou, to examine the vessel. As many as twelve
shots were fired upon the boat's crew by the Arabs,
who were assembled on the beach to the number of
400. The following morning another survey was
made of the wreck, but finding that she was beyond
rescue, and that to attempt to dismantle her in a po.
sition so dangerous and while the sea was so boiste.
roux would endanger the lives of his crew, Lieutenan
Batt again set sail for Aden.

Oa Sunday evening an Arab was sent out to re•
claim the corpse of the mate. On nearing the spot
be saw a large number of Arabs collected there, and
deemed it safer to return to camp. Oa the day fol-
lowing another m.ssenger was dit•patched on a similar
errand, who returned to say that the bodies of the
mate and also of Murphy had been bu-ied. More
correct inforrna•ioo, howev-r, INAA nniught
on Friday, the 18-h, by a numb-r of persons who
bad gone out to surv.y the wrf.c.k previou4 to billing
for it at auction, to the etr-ct that the two bolie, were

still lying, on the shore, the to/of the waves and the
food of crabs.

And here I beg you to observe that it was not until
M.nday that any information was received respecting
the death of Murphy. lie had been left in the shed
by his comrades, who knew nothing certain of his
fate. On Monday it was given out that he was
murdered. The day foilowing a report was spread at
the Point that be had been brought into camp on a
camel. This turned out to be false, so I presume
that the sick man was murdered, but how soon after
the mate, or in what manner, is not known with any
certainty.
From the above details of this sad catastrophe the
following reflections must occur to any one who at-
tentively peruse them. They are noted here, not to
animadvert on the conduct of any particular persons
—for who is to blame ?—but beceuse they may lead
to amendment wherever amendment is called for :
First, then, observe that the notice of a vessel,
signalivd as in distress, did not reach the political
department till four hours afterwards, and then, as
we are told, by a fortunate coincidence; that with a
fleet of four men-of- war in the harbour no assistance
reached the vessel till 24 hours after the intelligence
of the wreck had been communicated to the local

authorities.
Secondly—The certain fate of the sick man Mur-
phy was unknown for two days, and during that time
nothing was done to obtain his release, if alive, from
the hands of the barbarous Arabs.

Thirdly—The dead bodies of our two murdered
countrymen were left unburied, without any decided
steps having been taken to obtain for them the de-
. .

cency of bu-rial.
Fourthly—All this was done and suffered within
15 miles of a strong British garrison, consisting of
1,500 men.
first
fcourse you are well aware that this is not the
Outrageneigh-
bourhood committed by the Arabs of this neigh-
upon British life The catalogue of their
murders
during the last eighteen months betokens
the most 4,41
akin to 7 hate to us on their part, and some-
thing
hitherto suffered the
lenity on ours, for having
their crime. The e guilty to escape the just reward of
aggressions :-- following is a summary of their late
1. The attack upon
a boat belonging to the Hon.
East India Company::
by thestrer Auckland, about fif-
teen months 'ago,
halbour of Aden, and almost
ts
wofitßhiinr HraantVed,oifn
thathe
ship's guns. On this occasion a British seaman was
narrow!
shot and pe on
capedd tiardehe, ansame rabd two
tor who were wounded,
v ,e'
2. About three months afrer this an Arab
Att.tcketi the gu.ird at the Turkish wall- furiously
killed till after he had wounded ..,..,,eraii and was not
of the
one of the latter is disabled for life, S'P"YB ;
hri; ~
3. Then came the btu` el tn Captain of . n
~
aii--
and the narrow escape of 1 similar fate of too c t
comp:nions, Lieut. Al 1(14-1-son and Mr. Sliulez, at
the village of West, abour. tan miles from A,dsn.
4. fhis was folio Aerd by the attempt mad,. by
ArlothPr Arab to am4V44llle. bi,otenant Deli..."
within the walls or Aden. The villain on this occa-
sion fell by the hands of his intended victim, though
not till after the latter had been i4everely wounded.
5. To the above it is now our p.sinful task to record
the murder of two of the crew of the Soos of C ,m
mercy, the attempt made to shoot several of their
comrades and the firing ueon the boat's company be-
lorßiog to the Elphins'one frigate.
Do you ask what steps have been taken in c nse-I '
quenoe of these outrages P Let me tell you. In the
o