The Sun.
London, England, 1860-02-21 00:00:00

THE LOSS OF THE ONDINE.

PORTSMOUTH, FEB. 20.

Richard Burke, second mate, with two of the
passengers of this unfortunate vessel arrived here
this morning on board a pilot boat, which had
taken them on board from the screw steamer
Thetis, in St. Helen's Roads, where she had an-
chored at a late hour last evening for the purpose
of landing the men. From what has been learnt
from the men it appears that the Thetis, from Lou.
don, bound on a foreign voyage, was steaming
down Channel between six and seven a.m. yester-
day, when the captain with his glass observed
what he thought was a man on a raft, floating on
the water some distance off. A boat with four
hands was at once lowered from the Thetis, and
proceeded to the spot, where the three men above
named were found to be floating on a lifeboat evi-
dently prevented from sinking by her cork lining.
They were immediately taken on board the Thetis,
and the two men, Marsh and Drew, who were very
much exhausted from the effects of the sea con-
stantly breaking over them and the cold north-
west wind, at once received the most prompt at-
tention from the commander of the Thetis and his
officers, who, by placing the two men in hot
blankets and other measures, succeeded in resusci-
tating them. The men declare they owe their
lives to the kind treatment they received on board
the Thetis. Drew had embarked on board the
Ondine at Falmouth, for London. Marsh went on
board her at Plymouth on Friday evening last
with his wife and two children. He is a miner,
and has been on a visit to his wife's relatives, who
reside there. His wife and two children left the
steamer in the same boat from which he himself
was rescued by the Thetis' boat, and were all
three drowned alongside him, and washed away
from the boat by the constant break of the sea,
one of the children dying in its father's
arms. From the statement made by Burke, it ap-
pears that the Ondine had landed on the previous
day, at Southampton, 42 soldiers, women, and chil-
dren, besides other passengers, that she afterwards
called at this port on her way to London, sailing
again from here at seven p.m., and on the following
morning the collision occurred, as we reported yes-
terday. Burke says the Ondine, immediately after
the collision took place, it was evident to all was fast
sinking, and the boats were got over the side. The
port lifeboat had been smashed by the collision, and
the other lifeboat was stove in getting her over the
side, as he :found :her up to her thwarts in water.
He then went on board to procure two buckets to
bale her out, and on his return found in the boat 12
men, three women, and two children, all passengers.
There was a lady passenger, the chielatewardess, and
the remaining woman and two children were
Marsh's wife and children. Captain Hunt looked
over the quarter and said to Burke, " Whatever you
do, take in the lady passenger," to which Burke re-
plied, " I have her in, but the boat is full of water."
The boat was then pushed off from the steamer's
side, to keep her clear of the vortex, when she went
down, and all three men agree in stating that there
were a good many people on board, the majority
women and children, with some soldiers returning
from furlough, for they say, " As
we were leaving
the ship, and Captain Hunt was speaking to Burke
in the boat about the lady passenger, a good many
faces were looking down at us," The cutter and jolly
boat were still available at this time for the people
on board the sinking vessel with the crew in one of
them alongside. Of the management of the boats
alongside the ship, or in getting them over the side,
but little that was positive could he learnt from the
second mate or either of the other men. When the
lifeboat shoved off (rein the steamer, she was so
deeply submerged that the water reached up to the
people's waists as they sat on the thwarts, she being
kept from entirely sinking by the cork in her com-
partments. Burke stood in the bows on the fore-
thwart, and steered with an oar to keep her before
the sea, of which there was a good deal at the time,
with a fresh breeze from the north west, and at times
the sea would make a clear breach over them. In
less than half an hour from leaving the steamer he
saw her rear her bows up in the air and go down
stern first. Soon afterwards the people in the boat
began to be exhausted from the sea breaking over
them, and dropping one by one. Mrs. Marsh and
one of her children were first overcome and swept
away, one dying from exhaustion consequent on
the wash of the sea and the bitter north•west wind,
its its father's arms. The lady passenger and
stewardess next followed, and so on, one after the
other, until only the three rescued mere left. The
numbers who had perished and been washed out of
the boat had considerably lightened her, and also
enabled the people to be the more readily distin-
guished by any passing vessel. Burke says there
were four oars in the boat, but they were useless
from her immersion under the water, and that he
stood on the fore thwart to endeavour to steer her
with one of the oars, and keep her before the sea;
he found he could not get aft owing to the passen-
gers having croweded there as much as they could,
especially the women and children. All three of
the men have lest everything but the clothes they
had an. Marsh states that what little money he
on a visit to h
had was in his wife's possession, they having been
er relatives at Plymouth.
The Thesis has since the morning removed to
nostlswest wind, with heavy squalls, hay-
more sheltered anchorage nearer the Motherbank,
a strong
jp,t7 prevailed during the day,