The Sun.
London, England, 1860-06-27 00:00:00

and the remainder in another One lighter could
take the first to the ship, where the stewards would
receive them ; the remainder would go down the
hold. But there is too great a disposition en the
part of the erii3ers to treat as real impedimenta the
luggage of those v. ho have paid so large a sum for
their passage, atd I call the managing Directors'
particular attention to the subject, as some strin-
gent regulations are imperatively required. Again,
the most barefaced robberies take place in the tran-
sit across Egypt. No sooner is a vessel anchored
at Alexandria than all the luggage is bundled over
the side into barges, and the passengers see it no
more until their arrival at Suez, where they behold
a mass heaped on the ship's hencoops in glorious
confusion. In very numerous instances the boxes
of those on board the Simla were broken open and
valuable property stolen ; in others the packages
were altogether missing. Her Majesty's Embassy
lost two boxes of books. Captain Lindsay, Mr.
Doyne, Mr. Loch, Mr. Wortley, Mr:Dodd, and
others had their boxes broken open or lost. I
feel sure that when this is brought under the no-
tice of Mr. Betts, who so ably manages the Egyp-
tian railway, he will remedy the grievance with-
out delay. A trustworthy Englishman should
be stationed at Alexandria to receive the luggage
in charge, and should be made responsible for its
safe arrival on board at Suez.

We were a motley group at the old Mansion-
house Hotel on Tuesday evening, but there was no
vain repining We resigned ourselves to our fate
and to the tender mercies of the Galle tailors and
haberdashers, whose appetite for English gold had
been whetted by a previous bleeding of unfortu-
nates from the wreck of the Ava. Mr. Bailey tele-
graphed to Bombay for another steamer, and I te-
legraphed you the news of the loss. The line, as
usual, was out of order, and though we sent an ex-
press to Colombo, no answer has been returned to
Mr. Bailey up to the moment I write. My own
telegram will probably never reach its destination.
Let me now return to the ship. No sooner was
she beached than Captain Grainger made every
effort to save the mails, In a few minutes 84 boxes
and bags were got up. The sea then burst into the
mail-room, completely filling it, and nearly drown-
ing the men who were at work.
The following list of English and Continental
mails, saved and missing, will be of interest to many
of your readers. lam indebted for it to the Post-
master-General of Ceylon. From England for
Penang were one box and two packets, all of which
are missing. For Singapore 20 boxes, one bag, and •
four packets, of which five boxes only have been
saved. The mail for Java consisted of 56 boxes, and
all but six are gone. Hong Kong has been more
fortunate, as out of 62 boxes, two bags, and two
packets, 40 boxes, two bags, and one packet are
saved. The British Admiral on the China station
fares worst of all ; there were 14 boxes for him, and
13 are gone. Out of seven boxes for the French ex-
pedition six have been saved. Including all the local
mails, the Malabar had 199 packages on board, of
which 84 are saved and 115 still in the ship.
About an hour after landing I returned in a canoe
to the Malabar. The sea was then completely over
her quarter deck, and the engine-room and stoke-
holes were full. The surf was increasing, and she
lay a complete wreck, her stern rapidly burying
itself i❑ the sand, while her bow was high out of
water. Our escape was, indeed, Providential.
Had the anchor not held after we got on the rocks,
her engine compartment would have been the first
to fill, and had we escaped being blown up we
should have perished among the rocks. If proof be
wanted that this opinion is not exaggerated here
are the very words of Mr. Crawford, the chief en-
gineer :—" Had she grounded upon the engine-room
compartment we must have sunk within a quarter
of an hour, and there would have been the greatest
danger of the boilers collapsing." Had the wind
not come round to the southward and swung her
clear, it was simply a question of minutes whether
she broke in two or went down stern first. Had
the hole been somewhat larger we should have gone
to the bottom at once. Had it been less, we should
have gone to sea first, and to the bottom afterwards.
Had the screw been damaged we could never have
got across the bay to beach her. Had the broken
hawser been twisted the reverse way the engines
could not have gone ahead. She struck between
two vital parts, the engine-room and the screw, and
in the very nick of time she swung off the reef.
Her Majesty's ship Cyclops steamed into harbour
between 4 and 5, and took up her moorings near
the scene of our disaster. Captain Pullen was the
first who arrived to rescue the wrecked Almaites,
and here he is, anxious and ready to afford assist-
ance to those of the Malabar. The Cyclops had
been off the harbour a great part of the morning,
but the pilot refused to risk her in the intricate
navigation of the bay until the weather improved.
Captain Pullen at once placed himself in communi-
cation with Mr. Bailey, and it was determined to
hold a consultation next morning upon the wreck,
as to the measures to be adopted for saving the bul-
lion, mails, and baggage. This consultation was
held, and the following is a copy of the report :
" Point de Galle, May 23.
"In compliance with your order, we, whose tames are
hereunto subscr:bed, have been on board the steamer Mala-
bar, and find as follows :

" That the ship is aground from aft as far forward as the
foremast, and embedded nearly 18 feet in the sand abaft, the
fore compartment only being clear of water, the swell break-
ing over her as far forward as the funnel, with 14 feet water
aft and 18 forward.

" That as there is no chance of saving her, every endea •
vour should be used toward saving the cargo, stores, Sze.,
that can be got at. This done, we are of opinion that it may
be expedient to fill the fore ompartment with the view of
keeping her together as long as possible.
"To reach the treasure-room it would be necessary to
blow up the poop and upper decks ; even then with little
prospect of the recovery of the specie or cargo during the
present monsoon , this, therefore, we consider inexpedient,
as it would materially weaken the vessel.
" From the opinion of authorities long resident here as
to the weather to be expected, we think that there is every
chance of her holding together till the return of the north-
east monsoon will render working at her practicable, when
all may be recovered.

" JAS. W. ARMSTRONG, Lieutenant,
HY. D. lIARR s, Master,
Cyclops
J. W. FuLL.Lotts, Carpenter,
JOHN BLACK, Lloyd's Agent.
PETET. UPTON, barque Waverley.
" To Captain IV. -ikk. Pullen, H.M.S. Cyclops."

I shall only remark on this that the north-east
monsoon will not return before November. By that
time our baggage—if that be included in the " all"
that, may be recovered—will be in a sorry state.
The MAlabar had on board 1,080 boxes of bullion,
worth nearly £300,000; 725 chests of opium, worth
upwards of £lOO,OOO, of which 216 have been re-
covered from the forehold. The remainder are aft,
and cannot be reached. The ship herself cannot be
replaced for less than £60,000, and the rest of the
cargo and passengers' baggage will swell the total
loss to half a million sterling. The whole of the
bullion will most probably be recovered, but the
salvage dues will be very considerable. Mr. Bailey
is determined not to throw away a chance. He has,
therefore, sent for two divers from Colombo, with a
view of seeing what they can save, and I hope in a
Posteript to give some report of their proceedings.
And now comes the question,—Why was the
_ ai
abar lost, and who is responsible ? I have taken
evel7 pains to ascertain the facts, but there are
such
glaring and important discrepancies that an
inquiry, and a e
searching one, should be made with-
out loss of tithe.
'lce red buoy ne-ar On one point all parties agree.
which we were anchored ought to
mark the east side
of the
Veluvaka or Hospital reef,
and it affords an indicati
c'
s n of danger westward for
uch a ship as the Malabar • Jilt:buoy was moored
a
in four fathoms water by
ck cable six fathoms
long, attached to a clamp
of rock. A ew buoy was Naiad
doi Cvine three weeks
into
a large piece
alxpecrtaiona of
ago, and moored with a new cable
it the south-west monsoon. Commander
was formerly master-attendant( o erf
Ptch rd,
Galle har-
bour, but in August last he Was removed toi Colom-
bo, and his place has never been filled, s
departure Mr. Jantz, the senior native pilot,nee has
been acting-master attendant. lie was a G
to 1
it is his duty pilot during 18 years, and see that
the buoys are in their proper places. Amid the
mass of contradictions as to facts, and the very
numerous theories, I shall not attempt tantas corn-
parere lites. I will merely state the evidence I have
obtained from personal examination of numerous
persons. Mr. Black, Lloyds' agent, applied to Mr.