The Sun.
London, England, 1860-08-30 00:00:00

A correspondent of the North, British .Daily lttail
communicates the following :—On Sunday, the 19th
inst., 12 individuals—six males and as many females
—left Achnagart and Relong, in the parish of Kin-
cardine, Ross-shire, with the intention of going to
the Free Church, in the parish of Criech, Suther-
landshire, where the sacrament of the Lord's Supper
was to be dispensed. These two parishes are sepa-
rated by the Dornoch Frith, and the river Oikill;
The party, instead of taking the ferry, took a sal-
mon fishing-boat or coble, which might comfortably
carry seven or eight persons only ; and though the
wind was high, the frith rather stormy, the boat
overloaded, and the sail too large, everything went
on well till they were about one mile and a quarter
from Bonar-bridage. Theie it was considered expe-
dient to take do the sail, and while so doing the
boat took in some water, which so alarmed some of
the females as to cause them to spring to the oppo-
site side of the boat. She immediately filled, cap-
sized, and appears to have more than once turned
upside down in a part of the frith, which at the time
was from 12 to 14 feet deep, and is considered 300
or 400 yards from the shore. All were thrown into
the water. Only two could swim. These were
Donald Urquhart, a sailor, and Alexander Ross. Thu
dormer had his father and sister with him ; the
latter had his wife, a son and a daughter. On look-
ing about him,.Alex. Ross's attention was attracted
to his daughter struggling in the waves. He seized.
hold and attempted to save her, but after an earnest
effort he felt that he was in the utmost peril of los-
ing his own life, without any hope of saving that of
his daughter, a girl of 16 years of age. He was
most reluctantly forced to let her go, oa which he
succeeded in swimming about 20 yards, when he
found he could stand, though the water reached to
his neck. Donald Urquhart, observing Ross's
daughter sinking head foremost, swam directly to
the spot, got hold of her, and twam with her to her
father, who could keep the girl's head above water.
Without a moment's delay, Urquhart swam back,
in the face of a strong wind and rapid current,
to the others who were helplessly struggling for
life. Observing a female in the act of being sub-
merged, he made for the spot where she disappeared,
dived after her to the bottom (12 feet), succeeded.
in bringing her to the surface and swimming with
her to her husband, for she happened to be R,a4sPa
wife. Up to the neck himself, Ross manr.ged to
keep the heads of his wife and daughter above
water. Urquhart with all possible expedition, for
the third time swam -bravely to the scene of the

disastrous calamity, dived, as on the previous occa-
sion, and now brought two females from the bot-
tom. With these he emerged quite close to the
boat, which was rolling in the waves, and to which
he found another female clinging, but in imminent
danger of sinking into the surging water. She
managed to get hold of his clothes, as did her
sister—one of the two reamed and brought from the
bottom—the other was his own sister who was in a
state of utter unconsciousness. The noble fellow
has no distinct recollection of the manner in which,
he now conducted himself, but he struggled despe-
rately to bring the three with him to Alexander
Ross. With his unconscious sister in one hand,
and the two sisters (Ann and Bella Ross) clinging
to his clothes, Urquhart made the most determined,
and energetic struggles with the one free hand to
carry these to where the other rescued ones were in
the water. Without any human aid he succeeded,
akhough ho was much exhausted and quite be-
wildered. Five were still in the bottom of the

frith—amongst them his, own father—but the
brave fellow could do no more, and his helpless
sister demanded all his attention. Besides, there
was great necessity for making for dry land, as
the survivors were getting very feeble. Hitherto,
none of the multitude of spectators who had wit-
nessed the catastrophe at various distances were
able to reader any assistance, but when they were
able their services were of little avail. None of the.
five who sank to the bottom were rescued alive.
Dr. Gordon was soon on the ground, and rendered
much aid to those who bad been rescued, but
all his efforts to resuscitate Janet Urquhart
proved unavailing. From the above it will
be observed that of the twelve who were in
the boat, six were drowned—four males and

two females—and among these the father and sister
of Urquhart. Of the surviving six four were
rescued from certain death by the noble and intre-
pid sailor. The coolness, promptitude, energy, and
daring that characterised his conduct cannot be
too highly appreciated, when the rapidity of the
current, the strength of the wind, the roughness of
the frith, the depth of the channel at the time and
place when and where the casualty occurred, and
the distance he had to swim, so heavily encumbered,
are duly weighed.

ISLE OF WIGHT LIFE-Bo_l7'S.

Ever since the fearful shipwrecks, attended with
much loss of life, which sad events took place last
year, the inhabitants of the Isle of Wight have, in
conjunction with the Royal National Life-boat In-
stitution and the Royal Victoria Yacht Club, been
most sedulously striving, by voluntary contributions,
to establish lifeboat stations along the more dan-
gerous parts of the coast of the island, the scene of
so many melancholy disasters, and it is this week
our pleasing duty to record the accomplishment of
this most desirable and truly philanthropic under-
taking. Two substantially-built houses for the
lifeboats, with resuscitating rooms adjoining, have
been provided, the one at Brook and the other at
Grange. After the arrival of the boats at their
respective stations overland, the local committee
assembled in the resuscitating room, at the Brook
Lifeboat Station-house, for the purpose of
choosing a crew and launching the boats. The
chairman, Mr. Seeley, having requested the hon.
secretary, Rev. J. Pellew Gaze, rector of Brooke,
to read the list of names of fishermen and others
volunteering to form the crew for service in the
lifeboats, eleven volunteers answered on their
names being called over, the whole of whom were
introduced ; and, being welcomed by the committee,
the men ranged themselves on one sile of the room,
when the chairman kindly addressed them, request-
ing that they would select from among themselves
one in whom they could place the utmost confi-
dence for their coxswain. They unanimously
elected John Hayter, and for the second or assist,
ant coxwain, William Cooper. The Lifeboat
Inspector to the Royal National Lifeboat Institu-
tion then explained to the crew their relative
duties and poQition, urging the necessity of obe-
dience to the command of their coxswain when
on duty, for by discipline, good order, and sobriety,
their exertions in the time of need would be doubly
effective. The committee adjourned to the shore,
accompanying the beat on its carriage drawn by
korses, and when at the water's edge, ready for
launching, the crew having equipped themselves
in the lifebelts, and a large number of spectators
standing around, Mrs. Seeley took the bottle of
wine, slung for the occasion, and dashing it against
the boat, said, " Success to the Dauntless." Mr.
Seeley and the honorary secretaries, the Rev.
Edward M'All and the Rev. J. Pellew Gaze,
with the crew, amidst much cheering, en-
tered the boat, which readily glided from her
carriage into the element on which it is hoped
she may be the means, under Providence, of
saving the lives of those who may unfortu-
nately be wrecked on this coast. The committee
and visitors afterwards adjourned to Grange, where,
at half-past two o'clock, a similar ceremony took
place, but on this occasion Lord Heytesbury was
in the chair. After the appointment of the crew,
their coxwains, James Buckett, and William Mer-
weed, being unanimously elected, the Rev. Edwd.
M'All remarked that it was a great pleasure to him-
self to bear testimony to the orderly honest charac-
ter of the man the crew had elected for their cox-
wain. The rev, gentleman had known Buckett
for a period of upwards of 20 years, and he could
also bear testimony, though gained by sad experi-
ence as an eye-witness, that nearly the whole of the
au t
ta
eleven men he saw before him had distinguished
themselves in the cause of humanity by hazarding
their own lives when endeavouring to save the
lives
men.Suc
by
Such men,
with
of
thteher flow-
w providedmieaenlsnoboofat was then
Lifeboat Institution, in conjunction with their own
serviceexertions,i
n twouldhe h bu er ,
of
fy
need.G od' s help,The thheethfNn
the m
National
sure,os
lt
conveyed on her carriage to the sands, and after a
short pause, the silence was broken by the dash
of
a bottle against the bow of the lifeboat,_ and Lady
Heytesbury, wishing success to the Royal Victoria
Yacht Club Lifeboat Rescue,
signal for spontaneous heartfelt
•whilst
cheering,
hundreds of handkerchiefs betok
seemed as it were the
both from far and near.
into the water and Eighteen persons, in-
cluding the crew, were seated in the boat on her
galley. Every
carriage at the timeof her
ecaomneedatsh
lei
vely response,
as. a
launch, when she readily-
boundedthe day felt satisfied that a most effective lifeboat
one who witnessed the doings of
establishment on the coast of the Isle of Wight is
now a reality, and it is most sincerely hoped that
the usefulness of these all-important undertakings.
will not be retarded for the want of funds to defray-
the necessary incidental expenses, as a small yearly
contribution from the many will enable the com-
mittee of management to carry out matters which
from time to time may be considered to be most
desirable for their efficiency. Who can tell that
he or she may not shortly be truly thankful for the •
assistance rendered by a lifeboat and her gallant
crew, either for saving their own life or that of
some dear relative or friend.