The Sun.
London, England, 1866-11-03 00:00:00

SCUTTLING OF THE SHIP BEVEL&

MANSION-HOUSE.
(Continued from our First Edition of,yesterday.)
Mr. Thomas Ward, of Botolph-lane, said that he agreed
with the three prisoners and Holdsworth to allow himself
to be registered as owner of the vessel, for which he was
to receive £5O.

Captain Hugh Thomas Leyland, late master of the
Severn, said that he had an interview with Berwick and
Holdsworth in March last, and then Webb was introduced.
The two first parties explained to him that it was their
intention to scuttle the vessel, and described Webb as
being the person who was best adapted to carry out their
intention,
doan
aynthing. T
d that he (witness)
n itniestse) was merely net to say
r view took place at
Newport, and it was there arriiag,e,l what remune_
ratio.' he and the other p irtie3 engaged were to receive.
At au another interview with Holdsworth, the latter told
him that he was to keep .as much aloe, from We .b, as
possible, to say nothing to him ; to have nothing, in fact,
to do with him. He said afterwards that he waited him
to carry a cargo of arms, and presented him v, ith a pair of
six-pound revolvers, which he said was a sample- of
the cargo. The cargo was stated to ho, destined for
Shanghai, and on the. 10th or 11th May Holdsworth
gave him £lO on account of the supposed cargo. He heard
Berwick tell Holdsworth to put 12 months' provisions on
board, in order to give the vessel a good name. Holds-
worth gave him a bill of lading, which was made up in
Holdsworth's own hand, and represented the cargo to con-
sist of carbines and swords. Ho gave him three other
bills of lading in blank, which ho requested him
to sign, as time was pressing. Ho did so. He sailed
from Newport on the 15th of May, and the vessel drew
22 feet 6 inches of water. There were 2,008 tons of coal
on board, consigned to Shanghai. Shortly after they sailed
Webb was in the storeroom stowing 12 cases which had
been put on board. He said to witness that
the cases contained jars of salt. They proeeoded on
their voyage, and had fine weather. On the 14th of June
they sprung a leak, and he said to Webb, " What have you
been doing with the ship?" to which he replied, " No-
thing." The vessel gained water rapidly, and Webb said
to him, " What is done cannot be undone." Webb then
proposed to get the boats out, and he (witness) asked him
to stop the leak as he had done a mad act, for they were 13 or
14 knots leeward of land, and they might be all drowned
Webb had previously told hini that he had made a hole in
• the "run" of the ship near the rudder. asked him to
stop the leak, and Webb said it was impossible as he had
broken the plug. lie asked him to see what he could do
to stop the leak, and he repeated that it was impossible to stop
it, as the water was oven- the "skin" of the vessel. The vessel
was then making water at the rate of two feet an hour.
Ho sent one half of the crew to rest and kept the rest at
the pumps. On the following morning (the 15th), about 8
o'clock, the crew requested him to get out the boats and
leave the ship. He then gave directions to Webb to get
the tackles up in order to save their lines, and to
get provisions for twenty days. The long boat
only was filled with the provisions. Whilst he was in

the cabin the long boat droppod astern, and Webb came
to him and told him that he should shove off. Webb
hailed the long boat, and he took hi _n into the cabin and
told him (Webb) that he would destroy them all by the
course he was pursuing. Ile (Webb) said, " Never mind,
I can buy them all over." He told Webb that this was a
matter that might lead to transportation. He told Webb he
would not leave the ship, as the transaction would be dis-
covered, and he would sooner go down in her than run the
chance of exposure. Webb said that such things had oc-
curred before, and made light of the matter. At that time
the ship was settling fast. Webb got into the gig with
him, the boatswain, and two boys. It was six o'clock in
the evening when they left the ship, which, after they got
out of sight of her he never afterwards saw again.
He supposed she could not have lasted more than half
an hour. When they got into the boats there was a very
strong breeze, and the water rolled over the gunwales
during the night. The men were employed in baling the
boats. The coppers, some bacon, and heavy articles were
thrown overboard. The gig was separated from the long
boat, but they saw her on the lee bow the next morning,
and got up to her. They kept company that day. He never
saw the third boat containing a portion of the crew after
ho parted from her on their leaving the vessel. Three
days after leaving the ship they met a Hanoverian schooner,
and he and the carpenter wont on board of hor. It was a
small vessel with only a crew of six, and as their crow
amounted to 17 the captain said he could not provide them
with provisions, and recommended them to cruise about,
when they would be sure to be picked up. They met a
vessel the next day, which took them to Pernambuco.
The witness then entered into some further details subse-
quent to their arrival at Pernambuco, and stated that Webb
told him that he was to have £3OO for what ho had done
in regard to the sinking of the ship.
The case was then adjourned, and from the number of
witnesses to b 3 examined it is likely to prove a very pro-
tracted as well as important inquiry.