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

THE WRECK OF THE MALABAR.

(FROM SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT OF THE TIMES.)
GALLE, MAY 26.

For *some we, ks past the heat in Ceylon has been
quite unprecedented. The teeming and luxuriant
vegetation was burnt and brown, the grass was
withered, the wells dry, and but a small supply of
brackish water could be procured for man or beast.
The atmosphere, close, dank, and steamy, presaged
the approach of the south-west monsoon, due on the
12th of May. At length, on the evening of Sunday,
the 20th, it burst with great fury, and with a per-
fect cataract of rain. The Simla, with Lord Elgin
and Baron Gros on board, was approaching the
island at nightfall, but her prudent and vigilant
commander, Captain Patterson, determined to incur
no risks. He could not run for the light on such
a night, so he kept her course well to the south-
ward, and on Monday morning, amidst driving rain
and furious squalls, he brought her off the harbour.
A Cingalese canoe will live in any weather, and a
pilot was soon on board, who at 11 a.m. brought
the ship safely to anchor.

At noon Lord Elgin and Baron Gros landed,
under salutes from the battery, on a visit to Sir
Henry Ward, who had arrived from Colombo to
receive them. Some 200 yards within the moorings
of the Simla lay the Malabar, on board which boat
we were next day to embark for China. Both vessels
were announced to start at noon, but so great was
the swell that the specie and cargo could only be
trans-shipped with much difficulty. The Malabar's
departure was therefore postponed until 2 p.m.
The morning of Tuesday broke dark, murky, and
threatening. Heavy masses of cloud were drifting
up from the south-west, and soon after daylight the
squalls became most violent, accompanicil by a
deluge of rain. Only those who have witnessed the
first burst of the monsoon can form an idea of its
terrible force. The wind blows in frightful gusts
and in bouquets of squalls. Then comes a lull. The
tempest takes breath—reader pour lac= &utter.
After each of these intervals the squalls increase in
intensity, and the rain descends as though the
whole Heavens were opened into one sluice. The
thunder bellows, peal after peal, and the lightning
is blindingly vivid. Such a morning was that of
the 22d when the Simla and Malabar lay side by
side in the open roadstead facetiously called Galle
harbour.

Shortly before noon a salute from the batteries
announced the departure of Sir Hugh Rose, who
had arrived in the Malabar from Bombay, and who
embarked in the Simla for Calcutta, to relieve Lord
Clyde as Commander-in-Chief. Nearly all the Mala-
bar's passengers had spent the night on shore, for the
noise and confusion attending the loading rendered
the vessel but a sorry place for sleep. Soaked to
the skin, they reached the boat between 12 and 1
o'clock. The fife was heard on board the Simla.
Her anchor was soon hove up, and we gave three
ringing cheers for the noble ship which had brought
us so many thousand miles, as in gallant style
she steamed out of harbour against the full force of
the storm. Taking time by the forelock, the two
Ambassadors quitted the jetty soon after 1, and 38
guns saluted the Plenipotentiaries of England and
France. The Malabar had now received all her
passengers. Several lighters, with cargo from the
Simla, still remained tumbling and bumping along-
side, and it was clear that we could not start before
3 or 4 o'clock. The fires were lighted at half-past 1,
but the steam was not hurried. Meanwhile the
squalls increased in violence and frequency, and a
very heavy swell rolled into the bay. In order to
explain the accident which produced such disas-
trous results, I must give you a sketch of the so.
called harbour of Galic.

Galle harbour is formed by a bay, or inlet, about
three miles wide.at the mouth and about a mile and
a half deep, The land runs out on the east, and
would effectually protect ships anchored under its
lee from north-cast gales. But this portion of the
bay is during the south-west monsoon exposed to
the full force of the surf and swell. About half-way
up the inlet stands "Watering-point," where the
land juts in at a sharp angle. Thence to the Point
de Galle fort is a distance of a mile and a quarter.
Between the t wo lie reefs and large rocks, affording
a slight and inefficient protection against the
southerly gales. Inside, on the west, is the anchor.
age ground. It contains exactly 56 acres, with
moorings for three steamers. Should a fourth un-
expectedly arrive, she must wait in the roads until
a berth be vacant. The anchorage is fringed with
reefs and rocks on every side. North, south, east,
and west are enormous boulders, over which the
surf dashes high into the air, or more dangerous
hidden reefs. Some are revealed by the.broak of the
swell, while others are 10 to 16 feet under water,
and give no sign of their existence. To the south
west angle of, and about 300 yards beyond, the an-
chorage ground lies the Beluvaka. or Hospital reef.
It is some 700 feet long, and 150 wide, the depth of
water varying from four feet in the centre to 18 on
the tail. The rocks are coral, sharp and pointed.
It was on this reef we struck.

The " China berth" is at the south-west angle of
the anchorage, There lay the Malabar, an iron-built
ship °Pl,O$) tons, and just two years old. She was
built in five compartments, two abaft and two be-
fore the engine, which formed the fifth. She was
anchored, her head nearly south, with one best
bower 30-cwt. anchor. Astern was the usual moor-
ing anchor, with a 10-inch hawser. Her draught
of water was 15 feet 6 inches aft, and 13 feet 6
inches forward. She arrived from Bombay at 10
a.m. on Sunday, and was moored in her berth by
one of the regular pilots, Daviot by name. This
pilot was on board on the 22d, for the purpose of
taking the ship out of harbour.

About half-past two o'clock the Malabar's com-
mander, Captain Grainger, goes to his cabin for a
change of clothes. He is hardly there when, sud-
denly and without a moment's notice, comes a
terrific squall from the north-east. It sweeps across
the bay, and strikes the Malabar on her port side
causing her to heel completely over, The mooring
hawser snaps, and she swings round head to wind,
completely reversing her former position. Then
comes a shock which shakes the vessel from stem
to stern ; a second, which brings the saloon sky-
light crashing into the cabin. Again, again, again,
and lamp after lamp is shivered to pieces. We arc
on the reef, and the rocks are smashing in our plates
one after another. Captain Grainger is on the
bridge—the engineer at his post, but the steam is
not up, and the ship crashes and crunches with
every swell. The pumps are sounded, and give
three feet and a half water in the after compart-
ment. Five minutes later and five feet are an-
nounced.
Our position is most critical ; not a boat
alongside—not one of the ship's boats ready for
launching. Before us is the bay with its roaring
swell ; behind, at 400 yards distance, the fort,
with the sea dashing over the rocks which jut into
the water, and breaking in tremendous spray
right against the parapet wall. The wind still
keeps from the north ; if it does not shift., but a
few minutes and all will be over. Hold on by the
anchor—let it drag but six feet and the engine
compartment will be smashed to pieces. Let those
heavy engines descend with all their weight on these
pointed rocks, and our vessel must split in two. A
double danger then awaits us. We shall be blown
into the air by collapse of the boilers, or down we
shall go among the sharks and the breakers. The
anchor holds. The squall abates, the wind goes
back to the south. She swings clear of the reef. But
now commences a new peril. The after compartments
are filling fast, and she is visibly settling by the
stern. The water rushes into the tunnel and indi-
cates seven feet in the hold. Unless steam be get
up, down she must go, stern first, in a very few
minutes. A panic seizes some—happily but a few—
of the passengers. A rush is made to the boats. If
they be launched, the Lascar crew will refuse to
work, and in the general rush they will be sunk or
stove in. Quietly seated on the poop, Lord Elgin is
conversing with his usual tranquillity. Some few
days before our arrival ho remarked to mg that
Gallo was an unpropitious place for him, as there
he first heard the news of the Indian mutiny in
1857. " 41sit omen" was my reply ; but in the
very height of the crash, amid the howling wind
and the hissing sea, he asks if I remember what he
told me about Gallo. Baron Gres nobly seconds his
colleague. He is cool and collected as though walk-
ing on the Boulevards, and England and France