The Sun.
London, England, 1866-01-19 00:00:00

The

Indon.

(From the Western Morning Netos.)
DETAILS OF THE CATASTROPHE.
To the harrowing narrative of the loss of the
Australian passenger steamer London we have now
the good fortune of being able to add a multitude of
interesting details of the most melancholy event,
taken from the lips of several of thesurvivors during
their passage by train from Falmouth to London on
Wednesday. Very considerable astonishment has
been expressed that no effort was made during the
two days that the ship was in' imminent danger of
going down to prepare rafts and use similar means
to give an additional chance for the safety of the
289 souls on board. The testimony, however, of
both passengers and the rescued crew goes to show
that Captain J. B. Martin—of whose skill as mani-
fested during the storm they speak in terms of the
highest commendation—did not order the construc-
tion of rafts because the wind blew with such seve-
rity, and the waves leapt over the steamer in such
quick succession and tremendous force, that no men
could have worked on the deck, and even if they
succeeded in building a raft there could be no hope
of any of the unfortunate people being enabled to
cling to it alive for many minutes in such a sea. So
soon as it was determined to launch the lifeboat,
plenty of assistance was at hand to effect the launch-
ing, but the passengers and crew, who had beheld
the starboard lifeboat washed away on the preceding
day, were horrified at observing their only remain-
ing lifeboat slip through the stern davit, break into
two parts, and, of course, become utterly useless.
It was then resolved that the iron pinnace, capable of
carrying 50 persons, should be launched, and by
the aid of the donkey engine the pinnace was raised
and hung over the leeward rail. When let go, how-
ever, she foundered, one man, a Dutchman, being
drowned, and three others, who were rescued, being
cast into the surf to leeward. Two of the men who
were overboard were John King, an able seaman to
whose marvellous skill as steersman the survivors
all entirely and with gratitude attribute their preser-
vation, and Mr. Munro, a passenger, who hung in
the davit until brought in by Mr. Edward Gardner,
the steward. King had one of his sides bruised and
his thigh dislocated by being beaten against the
steamer, and Gardner received injuries in his back.
Nothing then remained on board the ship, but an
ordinary six-oared captain's gig and a still smaller
boat on the top of the cuddy or cookhouse. After
considerable hesitation it was agreed that a boat
should be launched for the second time, and an op-
portunity was presented for passengers to embark
in her, but only three passengers and 16 of the
crew welled themselves of it, and if they had de-
layed three minutes longer than they did they would
have perished in the ship. The precaution was taken
that only three or four of the 16 of the crew who
committed themselves to the boat should be allowed
to jump into her while she was being lowered, and
by this means she reached the water without mis-
hap, and the rest were enabled to follow. The
crowd on board were afraid to leave the ship, hav-
ing naturally been frightened by the sinking of the
iron boat, and those who put off in the second boat
were shouted at not to make the attempt, as their
chance was hopeless. Some heroic sacrifices were
made. One of the passengers in the boat, Mr. John
Wilson, a native of Montrose, went down into the
cabin and endeavoured to persuade a friend, Mr.
John Hickman, from Ballarat, and Mother to Mr.
Hickman, solicitor, of Southampton, to attempt to
save his life by going into the boat, hut, after being
entreated, he said, " No, I promised my wife and
children to stay by them, and I will do so." The
water was then a considerable depth on the lee side
of the saloon, indeed over the top of the berths, and
he asked Mr. Wilson to help him removing his
four children to the windward side, out of the
water. This was done, and then he shook hands
with Mr. Wilson, with " Good bye, Jack," and
parted from his friend for ever. When last seen
Mr. Hickman was standing in a row with his
wife and children. This occurred about an hour
before the boat put off, but probably they had
perished by that time, as the water had before'
then poured into the steamer through her cabin
windows, and when the boat left the sea was flush
with the top of the poop deck, and the corpses of
drownel women and children were floating over the
deck. When the men were all in the boat, one of
the seamen cried, " There may still be room ; fetch
a lady." Mr. Wilson then sprang over a portion of
the deck in search of a lady he knew, but not see-
ing her, and knowing that every instant was pre-
cious, lie said to a young girl, " Will you go?" She
did not refuse, therefore Mr. Wilson seized her and
took her to the bulwarks, but when she looked over
the rails and saw the distance which she must spring,
she said in despair, " Oh, I cannot do that." There
was no time for persuasion or parley, and Mr. Wil-
son was obliged to drop the girl and jump from the
steamer to the boat, which he fell into safely. The
ship was being washed over to the boat, towards
which it lunged heavily. The captain, who was
walking calmly up and down the poop, but refused
to leave his ship, but just before the boat put off he
had the consideration and presence of mind to give
those in the boat their course. He told them that
it lay E.N.E. to Brest, which was correct. Before
the boat could be got off it was in great danger of
being sucked down with the ship, which was rapidly
settling beneath the water. The swirl of water round
the stern that preceded the foundering had already
begun to be excessive, and the boat was therefore
hastily cut away. At that moment those in the
boat were piteously called upon by a lady about 23 I
years of age, who with a face which was, it is stated,
livid with horror, shrieked out an offer of " 1000
guineas if you'll take me in." But iu that solemn
hour millions of money would have been accounted
valueless, and to return must have resulted in de-
struction to all. One of the seamen has stated that
when the boat was pushed off,
wished those in her" and the captain had
God speed," the men resolved
no danger must be allowed to accrue to them from
further crowding, and that some
cutting
of them drew their
knives with a determinationo
of those who might leap from theu shiptmg off the hands
and endeav-
our to cling to the boat's gunwales.
i
It s also stated
that long before this, when it was first made known
that the vessel must go down, a Passenger brought
on deck a carpet-bag, and that on his doing so the
captain gave a short melancholy laugh,
and then
smiled, as one of the passengers expressed iatt:
such
"
the preposterous idea of the man's thinkin at
g
a time of his property."

Down into the waves with 269 others has Bunk
Gustavus V. Brooke, the famed tragedian, who
was bound for the country which had been the
scene of a reverse of fortune to him, but previously
of many brilliant successes. He will be well re
membered as a tall man, of powerful build, and he
is stated by the rescued passengers to have exerted
his strength to the utmost in helping to keep the
ship afloat. The Dutch portion of the crew, 21 in
number, refused to work, and according to the
English sailors who were saved these men went to
their berths and remained there, so that the pas-
sengers had to work at the pumps for many hours
with the English seamen. Mr. G. V. Brooke ex-
erted himself incessantly. Attired only in a red
Crimean shirt and trousers, with no hat on, and
barefooted, he went backwards and forwards to the
pumps 'until working at them was found to be use-
when last seen, about four hours before
less, and
the steamer went down, he was leaning with grave
composure
upon one of the half doors at the com-
panion. His chin was resting upon both hands,
and his arms were on the top of the door, which he
gently swayed to and fro, while he calmly watched
saw him has
said, who
the scene. One of the
said, " He had worked wonderfully, and, in fact,
more bravely than any man on board of that ship."
To the steward, who made himself known, Mr.
Brooke said, "If you succeed in saving yourself,
give my farewell to the people of Melbourne." The
rescued men remember with gratitude and respect
the efforts put forth by ministers on board. The
Rev. Dr. Woolley encouraged the passengers to
work at the pumps, in which he was seconded by the
stewardessthe passengers pas ra b
who
had
_a son on board, and cheered
her collected demeanour
and
constant attentions. Next must be mentioned a
circumstance the
Publication of which may prove to
be of great importance. Mr. Munro states that
a passenger named Eastwood, with whom he had