The Sun.
London, England, 1858-03-05 00:00:00

rAYS.

tion of the bill on conspiracies against foreign sove-
reigns. Nearly all the bureaux, while admitting
the necessity and the principle of the measure,
propose to introduce amendments which will seri-
ously modify it. It appears that the announcement
of M. Brofferio having been chosen reporter is
premature.

The Corriere Mercantile of Genoa announces that
several political refugees have been ordered away
from La Spezia.

THE LOSS OP THE ELLEN.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE BUN.

Sir,—l beg leave to communicate to you the fol-
lowing distressing account of the loss by fire of the
ill-faied ship Elltn, which I have received from my
brother, who writes from Madras, under date the
18th (Jf January. My brother was a passenger on
board the Ellen, and your publication of the an-
nexed extract may serve to dispel the anxiety of
those whose friends embarked with him on the
voyage, which met with so melancholy an interrup-
tion.—l am sir, yours, &c., A READER.
March 1.

" I take the first opportunity that has offered
itself to me, to communicate an occurrence of a very
painful character. I left London on the 7th of
October, and had a very pleasant sail until the 7th
of December, when we were aroused from our beds
at two o'clock in the morning by the cry of " Fire."
Little can I describe the feelings which agitated
me when I reached the deck, the ship being
already a mass of fire. We immediately
directed our course for Algoa Bay, 500 miles dis-
tant. I had to go to the pump at half-past two
o'clock, and remain there all that day and the next
night, together with other of the passengers, until
my fatigue became almost intolerable.
'The smoke now made its way out of the
hatches,' and diffused itself in all directions, which
compelled us to stop up every part of the ship to
smother the fire, but for which we should all have
been suffocated. All this time a strong gale of
wind was blowing from the south-west, and a strong
sea running. On Tuesday, Dec. 8, we sighted a
ship, and at once bore down on her, hoisting our
flag of distress. She heaved down upon us, and
upon our making known to her our position, she
said she would take us on board~ The boats were
then lowered ; the sea rolling mountains high, and
Almighty God only knows how we reached the
ship in safety. Thank God, in his great mercy,
however, not a life was lost, and our preservation:
was most miraculous against such a sea anct
wind. The ship that took us on board, was
Swedish schooner, from Shields, laden with coals,
for Madras, and she was called the Thor of Gefle.
I still look back with horror on the frightful fate
that threatened us in the ill-fated vessel. Every
night I thought we should have been burnt up at
her. Our rations were reduced to a pint of water i
and two biscuits. a day, which had to serve us n
place of breakfast and tea, and we were kept on
two meals a day, at nine and four o'clock. Wef
could not eat the meat for fear of scurvy. You can
hardly conceive my feelings in this shocking situa-
tion, which lasted for four weeks. At the end of
that time we fell in with an English vessel, which
furnished -us with some wholesome food, and we
landed at Madras a fortnight afterwards—on the
16th of January. The only things I saved from
' the ill-fated vessel, were—one blue shirt, a pair of
slippers, a cap, a pair of trousers, and my old coat,
and not a farthing in money.