The Sun.
London, England, 1866-02-06 00:00:00

round easily, She answered the helm readily
although so deep in the water. Whenever I wags on
deck the ship was close hauled.

To Captain Baker—The crew rendered every
assistance they could on Wednesday night till they
were worn out.

Master Walter Molesworth Edwards examined
by Mr. Dowd. I reside at Bedford. I was mid-
shipman on board the ship London on her last
voyage. I joined on the 28th of December, the
day of her departure for the docks. It was my first
voyage. We left Plymouth a little after midnight
of the sth January. The weather was quite fine
and calm, and so continued until four in the after-
noon of Saturday, the 6th, when it began to blow
hard. From that time till Wednesday we were
continually on deck, with the exception of a short
time on Tuesday and Wednesday, when we went
below. I heard of the jibboom being carried away,
and subsequently it was brought on board. At 11
o'clock on Wednesday I saw it on deck, just aft the
funnel on the port side ; the thickest end was aft.
It was first washed against the bulwarks, and then
against the hatch and skylight.
Mr. Traill—lt was fastened, then?
Witness—Yes.

To Mr.O'Dowd—l saw it again in the afternoon,
between three and five o'clock, and it was still
knocking about. I saw no attempt made to secure
it. I never saw it secured. It was beating against
the framework of the hatchway. It was beating
sideways.

Mr. Traill—lt has been stated that the jibboom
was secured at four in the afternoon ; when did you
see it secured ?
Witness—l never saw it secured at all.

To Mr. O'Dowd—lt might have been lashed at
four or five. I was below when the engine-room
hatch skylight was carried away, and I did not
come upon deck till Thursday morning at ten
o'clock. I saw the skylight on the port side. It was
quite whole. It was not broken at all, not even the
panes of glass nor the frame work.
To Mr. Trail—l am certain about this. I cannot
be mistaken. The captain must have seen it. I did
not speak of it to the captain, as he saw it aswell as
I did ; and he might have thought that I was in-
terfering in what did not concern me.

To Mr. O'Dowd—l saw no attempt made to
replace the skylight. I saw the pinnace lowered
and capsi zed. The passengers all came to see her
lowered. When she was capsized they all went
down again into the saloon. I think I heard one
lady say it was of no use to go into the boat. Mts.
Owen was going into the boat, and the captain dis-
suaded her. The skylight was washing about a
little. It had been carried a little farther forward
than where it had been washed off.

To Mr. Traill—An attempt might have been made
to replace the skylight during the night.
Mr. Traill—lt is stated that an attempt was made
during the night, and that the skylight was smashed
by the sea.

Witness—l saw it at ten o'clock in the morning.

And you mentioned what you saw to no one
No. I once spoke of something else to Mr. Angel,
one of the officers, and he told me to mind my own
business.

To Mr. O'Dowd—l was saved in the cutter. I
was not told by the captain to save myself. I jumped
into the boat from the wizen shrouds. I asked
King, Smith, and Daniels if I might come in. They
told me to jump in. I jumped in amongst them, a
fall of ten feet. The other midshipman was told to
jump in also, but he was afraid ; he remained be-
hind, and went down with the ship. Daniels was
my hammock man. There were a bag ship biscuits
weighing two cwt., and two bottles of brandy, and
two bottles of champagne, and some turnips and
carrots, placed in the boat. There was some water,
but it got mixed with salt water, and was thrown
overboard. I picked up three bottles and placed
them under my coat. Mr. Greenhill, and Daniels,
and Quin knew I had them. King and Quin each
placed a bottle of brandy in the boat. A little spray
came over the boat at the ridge of each wave. At
three in the morning a great sea broke over us,
and nearly half filled the boat. One of the passen-
gers baled continuously. Another sea came over us
as we came within about forty yards of the Italian
barque. We had to turn the stern of the boat to
every sea, and commence pulling again at the crest.
But when we neared the barque the men became
excited, and did not escape a sea.
By Capt. Harris—One of the stewards was saved.
When I last saw the captain he was on the poop. It
was about one o'cock. Mrs. Owen was going into
the boat with her little child; and I believe she would
have gone had not the captain dissuaded her. He
said there were several drunken seamen who would
get into the boat, and that she would only be chang-
ing from a sudden death to a lingering one. At 5
o'clock on the Thursday morning the captain came
into the saloon and said, " Ladies, I am afraid there
is no hope for us ; nothing short of a miracle can
save us." The passengers had their meals regularly
up to Wednesday evening ; but the captain was not
down to dinner Qither Tuesday or Wednesday. The
fire in the donkey engine was put out by the sea on
Wednesday, and the pumps were worked by hand
all that day. On Thursday morning the fire in the
donkey engine was again lighted, and the engine
continued to work till the ship went down. From
5 o'clock to 10 I was below in the saloon. The
passengers were praying and sobbing. There was
no screaming. After he told the passengers there
was no hope the captain came down once and took
something out of the cupboard. After the boat was
lowered many of the ship's company came round and
stood ready to jump in. Smith, King, and Daniels
told them to go to the other pinnace, and while they
were so engaged they entered the cutter and we
shoved off. The captain retained his self-possession
to the last. His feelings only overcame him once,
and that was when he told Mrs. Owen it was no use
for her to go into the boat. Mr. Harris, the sailing
master, behaved exceedingly well. Mr. Grant also
exerted himself to the utmost. Every one attended
to his duty.

Mr. O'Dowd—Did you recognise Mr. Brooke, the
actor ?
Witness—No.
Mr. Trail! askedif heknew any of the passengers ?
Witness—No, except Mrs. Owen. Her cousin
was my schoolmaster.

Mr. Traill—l have received numerous applications
for details of the last moments of the passengers.
Witness—All on board expected immediate death.

And what were your own feelings ?—I felt sorrow
for my mother. I feared nothing for myself. On
Monday I felt some fear, but after that I became
accustomed to look death in the face.

To Captain Harris—On Wednesday afternoon a
ship crossed our stern and nearly ran into us. We
saw a ship two hours after we left in the boat.
There were no signals made by the London ; no
rockets or blue lights.
John Ring, of the George Hotel, Aldermanbury,
examined by Mr. O'Dowd—l was an able seaman
on board the London on her last -voyage. I have
been at sea 13 years, always on foreign voyages.
The day after we left Plymouth, on Sunday, the
7th, the wind freshened, and in the evening it was
very severe. The wind was blowing, I should say,
from the N.W. The ship was on the starboard-
tack. Our staysail sheets fore and aft were set on
the port side. We were also under steam. On the
Monday the wind increased till it blew a gale. On
that day I was employed in lashing cases on the
poop—plants and flowers that were going out to
Australia. On the Monday night, I think it was,
our spanker blew away. Captain Martin and my-
self tried to recover it and succeeded. The spanker
split as we were on a tack. On Tuesday our fore-
topmast staysail, and the main staysail blew away.
About nine o'clock on the morning of Tuesday, the
jibboom was carried away. We lost the starboard
cutter and another boat the same day. On Wed-
nesday morning I fell off the poop and hurt my
back. I could not move. I was not on deck all
night. About half-past eight on Thursday morn-
ing I went again on deck. I was not on deck when
the hatch was washed away. On Thursday morn-
ing I did not see the skylight, nor did I hear that it
was on deck. I heard that it had been washed
away, but did not see it. I noticed that the sky-
light was gone, but the combings were there. For
a quarter of an hour I attempted to stretch some
sails over the engine-room hatch, but finding my