The Sun.
London, England, 1859-10-11 00:00:00

TIIE WRECK OF TILE ALMA.

Yostetqav'morning the official inquiry into the
loss of the Alma was resumed at the Greenwich
Police-court before Mr. Traill and Capt. Walker,
H.E.1.C.5., as on the former occasions.
Mr. Cumberland appeared for the Board of Trade.
Mr. Wilde, Q.C., again attended on the part of
Captain Henry and Mr. Davis.
Sir J. Bowring, examined, said—l must beg to
mention that on my leaving China I was in a very
shattered state of health, and had not the oppor-
tun-41- of making such observations as I otherwise
should. J. retired to rest at 10 o'clock on the night
preceding the wreck. At that time the weather
ryas
5o much so as to be the subject of
remark very
amongti
the passengers. We thought we
had a complaint against the company for delay at
Galle.

Mr. Traill—That is not a part of the present

inquiry.
Sir John Bowring—The weather was hot, and I
lay down with few garments upon me. 1 was
aroused by three crashes about
.3 o'clock. I was
below in the cabin saloon. The crashes rapidly suc-
ceeded each other. Very soon the vessel reeled over,
and through the open portholes on the starboard
sid3 the sea rushed in in torrents. I made my way
through the porthol2s of my cabin and endeavoured
to reach the deck. I saw distinctly the jjarnish
Islands in the distance. Trey were on the port side
of the steamer, In the direction of the reef. I have
no recollection of having seen the reef at that time.
The outline was not very distinct, but I could see it
was there. he outline was against the sky. Un-
doubtedly, if the vessel had not been aground, I
must have seen the land distinctly. There was no
chain or rope, and the bulwarks being high it was
impossible for me to reach the deck, or to make any
one know my position. After a long waiting we
were dragged on deck through the skylights down
to the port side, and after sitting some time we were
lowered let° the boat, When I was on deck on
the port side I not only saw the islands but the
reef. There were several delays. We were lowered
into boats waterlogged, in consequence of which we
could not escape from the wreck. We were after-
wards conveyed by the lifeboat to the reef. The
reef presented a dark black line, the reef descend-
ing into the sea, and the lower part being lost in
the water. Between the part of the reef where we
struck and the higher part there was water.

Mr. Cu alberland—Did you see any haze between
the ship and the reef?
Sir ,John Bowring —None at all.

Mr. CumberlandL-Any haze beyond the reef and
the Harnish Islands ?
Sir J. Bo wring—No.
Mr. Gisbourne, civil engineer, examined—l was
passenger on board the Alma, and joined at Aden.
I was employed in laying down the Red Sea tele-
graph. We had three vessels assisting in the ex-
pedition, 'one a man-of-war vessel, the Cyclops,
Capt. Pullen, which had been 15 months surveying
the side and soundinc, bottoms, and she acted as our
pilot. I was on board all three vessels at different
times, but was always engaged on board the vessels
in laying down the cable. The cable is laid down
on the other side of the Harnish Islands, more on
the African co ist. lam not allowed by the Admi-
ralty to state the exact line. I had never.made any
passage between the Aboo Islands and Jiber Zoo-
gur. My experience is, that there are very variable
currents in the Red Sea, which renders tae position
of a ship very uncertain to the extent of three or
four miles in 12 hours. The currents are variable
in the Red Sea generally. The night preceding the
wreck I was on deck. I remained there about half
an hour until about 11 o'clock, when I lay down on
deck on the starboard side. It was then a beautiful
moonlight night. I awoke on the ship striking,
and heard a voice which I believe to be Mr. Davis's,
saying "23 fathoms sand." I was next awoke by
hearing " Hard a•port," repeated twice, about the
time when the ship struck. My impression was
that we had run over a native boat—it was a slight
shock. I felt a bump within a minute or half a
minute of the first, and then there was a third
scrape and the vessel stopped. I then heard some
one say—l think it was Captain Henry, but can't
say—" Don't reverse, but go on ahead !" I had
heard no other orders given about the engines be-
fore, I got on my legs, but was knockd down
by a lady with a chair. I succeeded in getting
on to the bulwarks, and was there within
five minutes of the ship sinking. I saw the
bow of the vessel was on the exposed rock, and saw
in the distance the loom of land against the sky. I
could then see the water playing on the edge of the
reef, but the reef itself was scarcely visible. The
bow was up a detached portion of the reef. The
Harnish Islands behind overshadowed the reef.
I did not see the mounds until my attention was
called to them at daylight. I may have seen them,
but I looked upon them as the foreground of one of
the Harnish Islands. The background was a loom

ol'lajid clearly defined against the sky. The land
I saw was in the formation of au amphitheatre, and
at right angles where I stood it was rather more
astern to the ship than the port bow. The moon
had gone down. It was starry and clear overhead,
but dark over the water. The boats with the pas-
sengers disappeared when proceeding towards the
reef. If the weather was such as that half an hour
previously to when the vessel struck the loom of
the land ought to have been seen.
Ellin, the quartermaster, examine ion a previous
occasion, was then recalled, antdmrst.atesdhtehwe courses
steered steered on the night of the wreck. He said—At
12 o'clock, when I came on deck, I had the course
steering that
crinnmeiv T Mills, N. byheWfirst order to change
course was just before the sinking at four bells,
when Mr. Carter, the third_officer, directed it to be
altered to N.W. W. The next change of course
was about half an hour before we struck, when it
was again altered by the direction of the third
officer to N. by W., which was the course she went
ashore. (The witness then repeated the principal
points as given by him in his previous examination.)
Captain Henry was then recalled—l produce the
protest made by me before Captain Playfair at
Men, about 10 weeks after the wreck. Some time
ConapttoaimnsP,
wlahyifcahirhceaslaleidd
uponatt e r
,nelleensTrivahmanida: ehdie.
etlabhirsdatelpideerleioppntoieelsdsoittt
taondafesepret.d mle asacwopytt
oiNivraadsibteontradictory to what I had stated. I saw
Bushier there and spoke to him, but there was no
possibility of my proving to him by any other per-
son that he was wrong.
Mr. Traill here rind the protest in question, set-
ting forth the illness of Capt. Henry at Aden, and
calling upon Mr. Davis, the chief officer, to take
the vessel out of the harbour, and naming the
courses to steer, as contained in Capt. Henry's first
examination.

Capt. George Davis Cook said—l was a captain
in I er Majesty's service, and was on board the Alma
at the time of the wreck. I was asleep on deck,
but on awaking I looked up and saw the reef
around extending the whole length of the port side
of the vessel, and at the time of the second and
third shock the vessel turned on her side. I then

went on to the bulwarks and saw the reef perfectly
plain. The vessel was on the detached portion of
the reef, and I saw one mound on the reef perfectly
clear at a distance of 250 yards. I could not ob-
serve that there was the slightest haze to prevent
the reef being seen.
Mt Cumberland proposed under the 273 d section
of the Merchant Shipping Act, to put in as evidence
the protest made by Bushier, the Persian pilot, to
Brigadier Cogan, the political agent at Aden, but
after soon : discussion,
Mr. Traill said he was disinclinedto receive such
protest as evidence, it not appering that Brigadier
Cogan was an authorised person to receive such
statements. However, in so far as portions in con-
nection with that protest had been made use of in
court during the examination, such parts would be
used as a means of reference.
This being the whole of the evidence,
Mr. \\Tilde addressed the Court at great length,
recapitulating the various points as given in evi-
dence. He was very glad the inquiry had bean
continued s( Fong as it hid, because it had had the
effect of disabusing the public mind of a variety
of statements which had been put forth
from time to time, and which had been
further given credence to in the opening speech of
the learned gentleman who appeared for the Board
of Trade. One part of h,is statement was that the
vessel had been plundered'by the-native crew, and
that after soundings of 23 fathoms had been ob-
tained the crew went on recklessly to destruction.
So far from this being the case, the soundings as
then obt..ined would place the ship in the exact
position as expected, and not have denoted danger
as approaching land. No doubt the statement made
by Mr. Cumberland was given in good faith on the
information which the Board of Tr•ad: had received,
but so• far from there not having been a good look-
Jut kept, there was positive evidence to the con-
trary. Then it was said the crow consisted of more
Lasears than there ought to have been, but such a
.4A:ten-tent was altogether unfounded, because if
they asked those who were experienced they would
find that Asiatic se Anew were better fitted for the
navigating the Red Sea, thisth
igtists crew,
climate than Europeans. It was also proved that
in
crew cost the company more than an
En
at,11:11
o lnotwithstandingarned
A,ciourise
conclusion,dang e dangers
th was
ad
become
mfier sat
wreck vessel
l, in
belonging to the company
abundance of look-out men wealjriceisntaeiLsyhsi
and urged that Mr. Davis could only be :le
referred to the fact of her
having been aground three , although an
an error of judgment.
Mr. Trail! and Captain Walker
here retired, and
cnCug:acegldoepodsi