The Sun.
London, England, 1861-06-28 00:00:00

THE LESS OF THE CANADIAN.

The following extracts are from a letter written
by one of the passengers on board this ill-fated
vessel to his father, who resides in Glasgow :

" About three minutes after she struck, word was

brought to the captain that she was rapidly filling.
He went down to see what was wrong, and in a few
minutes more the steerage passengers came running
up on deck, as the water was already two feet in the
steerage, and so rapidly did the water rise that some
passengers were drowned before they could get up
on deck. For some time after she struck I had hopes
that, being built in compartments, she would float
for some time, so with Mary Anne in one hand and
little Katie in the other, I remained quietly on the
deck. By this time all the life-preservers had been.
secured by the passengers; but being too clumsy to
take into lifeboats, they were nearly all afterwards
dispensed with. One gentleman had an airtight
preserver wrapped round his chest, which saved his
life, as he was some timein the water. Immediately
on seeing the extent of the damage, the captain had.
given orders to get the eight boats ready, and, as it
turned out, there was not a minute to spare, as had
there been the least delay in launching them the
loss of life would have been much greater. When
the boats were pretty well filled with passengers_ I
stepped up to the captain on the bridge, and asked
him if I should get into the boat, when he said,
Hold on a little.' Mary Anne and I were about
the last to get into the captain's boat. After I had
put them in, they refused to admit me, as she was
full. I said I must follow my wife and child. I can
assure you, in moments like these, every one looks
to himself. The captain and two or three more got
in after me, and, being quite full, orders were given
to shove off. They took some few minutes to get
of the tackling, as the sea was running pretty high.
The steamer was now going down fast, and the
anxiety became very groat to get clear of the ship,
as had we remained by her two or three minutes
more we should all have been lost. She imme-
diately went down, head foremost, with a great
plunge, and, when she struck the bottom, the stern,
which all this time had been out of water, sunk in
a moment. Then followed a loud explosion, leaving
the sea foaminc, and gurgling, and all you could see
of the wrecked steamer was a few spars and a few'
bodies floating about, and one boat turned upside
ant
down, with a man sitting astride on the keel.. B
our danger was not yet over. In fact,. the impres-
sion was that we should be swamped in vie
got clear of this other danger. We werel
whirl-
pool ; but, by pulling desperately at thnenowarasd,
rwifte
on the Atlantic. The land was ondlLdab
miles off, but the north of Newfoundland w
e were in
inha-
bited only by a few fishermen, su five
shunger and cold, and
danger of starvation from
ssaible chartered oneTerhoefe
ofituhrlegyt
picked up by four vessels,
tswe
this might have been our fate,
were wrecked. The
who ha dv
owr
ye not
in beerkn-
oar passage, but
a
ably hove in sight jus
us
assure you we had to put
I will not now describe
vessels captain, toa sbsoon g aspi ca n
on deck, and a bitter cold •
molunntthoefedabisicnomthfeorret. w
wind.
nuipghwtitwh
enoa,ept
chilled us through.
five beds for about 20 ladies, so that a few hours
thepti ncga cabin, n f e,
at a time was all that any one could get. All the
sslaeiplotrssitatnindgpnarss
leynignegrsa,heoxuete
ww
elnat into the
aieswh
ship's hold at night, and slept there, with a few
hoops and sails spread over a cargo of' salt. It was
a strange sight to see about 16 •
0 of us lying in the
hold, with sails for a blanket. Such a noise and
confusion—some grumbling that they had not
enough room ; some that they could not stretch
themselves ; some were frightened, even strong-
looking men, that some nights when we were among
the ice they were running up on deck every ten
minutes. I believe one night we were in some dan-
ger, being in the midst of icebergs, and I was told
that in one instance we passed between two almost
near enough to reach them with the hand. Some
of these icebergs were of immense size, not unlike
Ailsa Craig. There has been an unusual quantity
of ice on this coast this spring. I will only further
remark, in relation to our shipwreck, that Captain
Graham conducted himself with perfect coolness and
judgment during so dreadful a scene ; and it was no
doubt a good deal owing to his presence of mind in
immediately launching the boats that so many lives
were saved. There was little of that excitement
and terror which we frequently hear of on such oc-
casions, and which greatly increase the risk of loss.
The only exception to this was the cowardly conduct
of some five of the crew, who went off in one of the
boats, instead of waiting for others who were as
anxious to escape as they were. The mail conduc-
tor, a very nice man, was lost in his over-anxiety
to save the mails."