The Sun.
London, England, 1860-08-14 00:00:00

2.11.10
16

2.14.6
7.4.0

T. TIE LOSS OF THE STEAMER GANGES.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SIR,—As several of the accounts of the loss of this
st( ?timer that I have seen to-day are incorrect in
mi my important details, and as there are others
W no, like myself, are most anxious regarding the
f:a .te of the missing lifeboat and her crew, I shall be
glad if you will insert the following few particu-
lars :

The vessel was quite new and of novel construc-
tion, adapted only for river navigation. She left
Liverpool on the 12th of June last, and put into
Lisbon. While there the captain resigned his com-
mand, and the vessel was placed under the charge
of the chief mate, my brother, Mr. James William
Callow, formerly captain of the Charles. The
Ganges sailed from Lisbon on Thursday, the 26th
of July, with a fair wind and a heavy sea, and at 1
p.m. on Sunday, the 29th, one of the strengthening
pipes (which acted in the ship as the chains do in
a suspension-bridge, and which were, so to speak,
the backbone of the vessel), broke, and she imme-
diately began to work and labour most violently, in
consequence of which her sides opened and let the
sea in. The donkey-engine and the hand pumps
were put to work; the chains and cables were used
to lash the ship together and prevent her from part-
ing asunder, and every effort was made, by putting
her before the wind, to ease her and make her hold
together until the land could be reached, but all to
no purpose. The leaks seem to have been quite
li impossible to control, and at 9 p.m. the captain or-
dered the three boats to be provisioned and got
ready, and at 11 p.m. the crew abandoned the
vessel, which must immediately after have gone
down. These particulars I obtained from a perusal
of the protest made before the British Consul at
Madeira, by the second officer and the boatswain.
In some of the accounts I read that there was only
time to throw hurriedly a few bags of biscuit into the
boats. This cannot be correct, as the boats were
evidently prepared and provisioned two hours be-
fore leaving the sinking ship. Although when the
mail left Madeira only two out of the three boats
had reached the island, and the third boat, with
Captain Callow and eight men, had been five days
at sea, still I far from despair of my brqther's
and his companions' safety, and I think it may be
satisfactory for the friends of those who are with
him to know that the boat is a good one (a lifeboat)
and is evidently not quite destitute of provisions.
It may be some time yet before any news is heard
of th( m, but still the chances are greatly in favour
of them all being safe. They are quite in the track
of ships, and not a very great distance from land,
and I would encourage all others who, like myself,
are deeply interested in the fate of the missing
boat, to hope still, and to trust in the merciful pro-
vidence of Him who has power alone to save.
Whatever may be their fate, it will be a source
of consolation to me, and to all the friends of
the boat's crew, to know that every man, from the
captain to the steward, did his duty, and stuck to
the ship as long as she floated, and should it never
be their fate to meet us here on earth again, we at
least know they have met the end of British seamen.
Trusting we may soon hear news of the missing
lifeboat,

I am, Sir, yours truly, E. CALLOW.
52, Gresham-kouse, Old Broad-street, E.C.,
August 13.

THE MASSACRES IN SYRIA.

A letter from Constantinople, dated August 1,
says :—" We have letters from Beyrout to the 24th
of July. The massacre at Damascus ceased on the
evening of the 15th. It is said on the authority of
the different Consuls, that from 6,000 to 8,000
people have been murdered. A letter which I
have received, and in which, but for these Consular
despatches, I should place implicit reliance, gives
2,000 as an approximation to the number of those
who have perished. The riot began in a quarter of
the town called the Meidan. Over the dis-
orderly population of this portion of Damas-
cus, amounting to some 12,000 men, women,
and children, the police would appear never
to have exercised any real control. If a cara-
van had been plundered it was to this plane that
the booty was brought for sale, If a murder had
been committed, in the Meidan the culprit found a
safe retreat. No doubt, with the intention of bring-
ing about the confusion which actually ensued, some
of the inhabitants of this quarter commenced a
series of insults to the Christians. Ahmet Pasha,
the Commander-in-Chief, aware of the importance
of putting an immediate stop to these proceedings,
sent troops, who seized some of the offenders, placed
them in irons, and made them sweep the streets of
the Christian quarter. -Whether this conduct was
discreet or not I will not stay to inquire. It was likely
to arouse the indignation of the Mussulman popula-
tion, and should therefore 11 have been adopted
unless the Commander-in-C)iief was prepared to
follow it up by the strongest measures to repress any
resentment it might occasion. That Ahmet Pasha
was sincere ix his desire to prevent a disturbance
I firmly believe ; that he showed himself utterly
incapable when the storm burst over his head is
beyond a doubt. On the 9th of July, when the
pillage and massacre began in earnest, he shut
himself up in the citadel with his troops; and, al-
though he sheltered and protected a great number
of Christians there, he seems to have taken no active
steps for the re-establishment of order. It would
be useless for me to enter into minute details of the
events of those six days, during which the mob was
allowed to run riot in Damascus. Neither does
the conduct of Abd-el-Kader on the occasion need
any comment of mine. More direct accounts of
these matters will have reached you. There is,
however, one fact, which in the excitement and in-
dignation which the intelligence of these massacres
has naturally occasioned may have been suppressed
or lost sight of. It is nevertheless beyond a doubt,
and should in common justice be published. With
the exception of the very lowest class, the settled
Mussulman population of Damascus took no part
in the slaughter of the Christians. On the con-
trary, Ulemas, Mollahs, and Sheikhs of the diffe-
rent religious orders of Islamism, and many of the
notables of the place, were active in saving Chris-
tian lives wherever an opportunity of so doing
offered itself.

Fuad Pasha arrived at Beyrout on the 17th of
July. All the field officers whose conduct has given
rise to complaints were immediately placed under
arrest, and all the other officers of the regiment
which was at Deir-el-Kammar were summarily
dismissed the service. Fuad Pasha has declared
openly that he will make free use of the powers with
which he is invested, and that he will not hesitate
to inflict capital punishment where he sees cause for
the exercise of such severity. The Vice-Admiral of
the Turkish fleet had been despatched on a visit to
all the towns on the coast. In those which he had
already visited the Sultan's firman, giving unlimited
powers to Fund Pasha, was read, and also an order,
signed by the latter, directing the immediate bom-
bardment of any town in which the slightest dis-
turbance should occur. Eight thousand infan-
try and artillery had left Beyrout on the 24th
for Damascus, and Fuad Pasha was to follow
and take command of them on the following
day. His Excellency during his stay in Beyrout
has over and over again asserted his determination
to show to Europe that the Porte has both the will
and the power to compel all her subjects to live in
peace one with another.
On Monday last the Grand Vizier left Sehir-keui
for Nissa. During his stay at the former place an
inquiry was instituted into the conduct of Zeinel
Pasha, the Governor-General of the province of
Nissa ; several charges of oppression and spoliation
have, I am informed, been proved against him, and
he has been placed under arrest. Many other func-
tionaries of less note are undergoing their trial be-
fore a commission appointed by his Highness for
that purpose. At Sehir-keui, also, a great number
of complaints were lodged against the Multesims
(farmers of the tithe) who will, it appears, be made to
disgorge no inconsiderable portion of their ill-
gotten wealth. If Mehemet Kibrisli Pasha has the
energy to persist in the course he is now taking, it
is not easy to overestimate the advantages which
will result from his tour of inspection.
The financial difficulties of the Government con-
tinue to increase. Unless it can get a loan in some
of the foreign markets, I do not see how the admi-
nistration of affairs is to be carried on. It is said
that the Powers, or at least some of them, are not
indisposed to guarantee a new Turkish loan. If
this empire is really to be upheld, some such
measure is a matter of necessity. With but
slight assistance of this nature the finances
might very soon be placed on a satisfactory foot-
ing. One thing, however, must be borne in
mind,—most stringent terms should be imposed
upon the Porte, by which she shall be compelled to
confer in practice the powers which in theory she
has already imposed upon the European members
of the Finance Commission. Notwithstanding the
promises of the Government to submit all financial
questions to the decision of that commission,im-
portant operations are constantly effected by the
Ministers, not only without its sanction, but with-
out its opinion having been asked. Faith has been
broken in every way with the European Commis-
sioners, and I know that only the other day both
Mr. Falconet, the English, and- M. de Pleuc, the
French Commissioner, were on the point of resign-
ing in disgust. These gentlemen have great respon-
sibility, and naturally protest against matters in
which they are supposed to have a voice being
settled behind their backs.