The Sun.
London, England, 1850-10-10 00:00:00

WRECK of the MARY FLORENCE.

The annexed interesting details relative to the loss
of the ship Mary Florence, on the Arabian coast, have
been furnished by Messrs. Henry and Calvert Toul-
min, of St. Helena-place, City, owners of the vessel.
The Mary Florence left London for Aden on the
16th of February last, with coals, which she had
taken on board at Shields. She was quite a new
ship, coppered bottomed, and this was her first voyage,
her cargo being fur the depot of the Peninsular and
Oriental Steam Navigation Company at Aden. Her
master, Captain Christopher Short, it seems, had a
small share in the vessel. He was accompanied by
his wife, a lady of very respectable connexions re-
siding at Blythe, in Durham ; the crew, consisting
of first and second officers, carpenter, steward, and
12 seamen. The ship, we understand, sighted the
Comoro Islands, in the Mozambique Channel, on the
25th of May, and Cape Guardafui on the 31 of June.
The latter is a headland forming the extreme eastern
portion of the African coast, a few hundred miles
south-east of the port of Aden and the entrance of the
Red See. It was about 4 o'clock in the afternoon
when the cape, as the master supposed it to be, was
sighted, though, from what has since transpired, it is
evident he was mistaken, and that he had taken the top
of a high mountain inland fur the headland at the
point. The course of the ship was north-west by north,
while the point of land round which they had to bear
stood north north •west. She had her topsail single
reefed, topgallant sails set, and was running about
nine miles per hour,with a smart wind blowing south-
west. She continued in this course till about twenty
minutes after ten o'clock at night, when the crew
were startled by the ship striking heavily, and dis-
covered, to their utter amazement, that she had run
ashore. The impression on their minds just before
was that they had rounded the Cape, and were bear-
ing up for Aden. Attempts were instantly made to
get the vessel off, but without success. A heavy sea
and a strong current running in from the Indian
Ocean swept the ship in towards the land. Next
morning some of the natives swain off to the vessel,
and appeared friendly, offering to render assistance.
The master, finding he could not get the vessel off,
accepted their aid, and with some of his crew con •
trived to get an anchor ashore, and bent a hawser to
it, securing the other end to the masthead. On the
following day, the sth, the sea increasing and beating
over the stern of the ship, the stores and sails were
got ready to send ashore, and by means of the hawser
the first officer gained the beach, and two seamen
followed, when those on the deck commenced floating
the stores to them. The natives exhibited every desire
to assist, and in the course of the afternoon large
numbers came down to the beach. Most of them
were armed, and a chief headed them. The latter dis-
played the same feeling as the others, and appointed
guard to protect the property that had been got
ashore. The next day the same friendly spirit being
evinced, the master continued to send, his stores
ashore, and in the afternoon it was determined to
effect a safe passage along the hawser for Mrs. Short,
as the weather was becoming boisterous. By means
of slings attached to the hawser she was conveyed to
the shore in safety. Captain Short was about to
follow, when the unfortunate lady, notwithstanding
the protection of the first officer and seamen, was at
once seized by the Arabs, and, apparently to those in
the ship, was carried away, the natives at the same
time attacking the crew with spears, and driving
them into the sea. The chief officer got hold of the
hawser that communicated with the ship, and was
making an attempt to gain it, when the natives
rushed forward and cut the rope. He was consee
quently precipitated into the sea, and must have pe-
rished had not one of the seamen swan to his as-
sistance, and brought him into shallow water.
Captain Short had the pinnace instantly launched,
and was in the act of jumping into it
with one or two of his men, to go to his wife's
assistance, when a sea struck the boat, and broke
her away, and she was carried ashore. - The moment
the boat touched the shore it was seized by the natives,
who got into it, and endeavoured to push off, as it was
supposed, to board the vessel, but, owing to a very
heavy ground swell, as soon as they got off, the boat
was carried back again further up on the beach.
Already had the plunder commenced. The stores and
goods that bad been landed were scattered in all ,di-
rections, and a general scuffle took place among the
natives in their endeavours to possess themselves of
the property, amidst yells and cries of exultation.
Captain Short was most anxious to afford assistance
to his unfortunate wife, but it was impossible, with
the few hands be had with him, to make any endea-
vour to rescue her, all the firearms and 'ammunition
having been sent ashore. The captain and the men
who remained on board were on deck the whole night
in the hope of meeting with an opportunity to gain
the beach in the longboat, but they were deterred
from making the attempt in consequence of the hos-
tile attitude assumed by the natives.
In the course of the night shrieks were heard from
the shore, which were supposed to proceed from Mrs.
Short and the men belonging to the ship. Next
morning the chief and his followers were seen strut-
ting about in the articles of European clothing they
had stolen from the ship's stores. Captain Short, ex-
pecting an attack would be made on the vessel, re-
solved to launch the longboat and abandon the wreck.
This was accordingly done, and putting into the
boat all the provisions that remained, the crew
shoved off, and anchored about 300 yards from the
ship. The natives soon afterwards swam off to the
vessel in great numbers, and boarding her proceeded
to strip her of everything that was valuable. Having
completed this outrage they attempted to gain posses-
sion of the longboat, and would have succeeded had
not the crew immediately put out to sea. Having a
fair wind for Aden, the boat in two days gained
eighty miles up the coast, when, the wind veering to
the north-west, she was driven back. An effort was
then made to obtain fresh water from a place called
Cape Felix, but the natives came down to the
beach, and drove the helpless mariners away. About
ten miles lower down, however, they succeeded in
getting ten gallons of water at the price of a gold
watch and other valuables. They then took a course
down the coast of Africa, enduring horrible privations.
The allowance of water was only one gill per day
each man, with hardly anything to eat. On the 19th
of June they anchored about 300 yards from the
shore, in a small bay about 100 miles south-east of
Cape Guardafui. In this bay it appears, a vessel
named the De wan was lying, though the crew of the
Mary Florence were not aware of her proximity.
The natives swam to the boat, and plundered the un-
fortunate seamen of their money, a chronometer,
sextant, and other articles. One of the natives, who
could speak a little English, offered to apprise the
people of the Dewan of the condition of the unfortu-
nate sufferers. Captain Short immediately wrote a
note, which the native undertook to deliver, and on
the following day the master (Mr. J. Reed Jefferies)
came overland to the assistance of, his country-
men. In weighing the long-boat anchor a sudden
squall capsized it, and one of the crew was unfortu-
nately drowned. Mr. Jefferies at once obtained
a supply of food for Short and his men, who
were almost reduced to a state of starvation. Mr.
Jefferies, hearing of the infamous conduct of the
natives, sought out the chief and complained, but
'he found that the chief participated in the plunder.
Indeed it was found necessary to pay a ransom of 4/.
,for the boat before the natives would deliver it up.
As soon -as possible Mr. Jeffries got the crew over to
his vessel, and in a few days sailed for Muscat.
There Captain" Short and his men received the greatest
kindness and ,hospitaity, the son of the Imaum placing
120 dollars at their disposal, and other parties
affording every assistance that was desirable.
As soon as Captain Short had partially recovered
from the exposure and privation he had endured
during the 15 days and nights he had passed at sea in
the longboat, he obtained a passage to Bombay, and
on his arrival there he at once communicated the cir-
cumstances of the wreck to the Government authori-
ties, and prevailed on them to dispatch a steamer to

rescue his unfortunate wife and the remainder of his
crew, whom he supposed tobe in the hands of the na-
tives at Cape Guardefui. Just, however, as the steamer
was about starting on the expedition, intelligence ar-
rived from Aden to the effect that a portion of the
crew had been taken off the coast by Captain Ram-
sey, of the Columbia, on the 12th of August, but
that the remainder, and also Mrs. Short, had perished
in an attempt to escape from the natives.
A letter received from Captain Ramsey observes
that when his vessel was off the village of Aisle, near
Cape Felix, on the Soowall coast, he was hailed from
a canoe, which proved to contain the steward of the
wrecked vessel. Learning from him that the chief
officer of the ship and two seamen were in the hands
of the natives, Captain Ramsey dispatched his boat to
bring them on board, but the chief refused to deliver
them up unless he received 130 rupees ransom money.
This demand was complied with, and the men were
taken on board and landed at Aden.
The owners of the Mary Florence have learned the
names of those who perished with the captain's wife—
namely, Mr. Wishart, the second officer ; S. Williams
and Thomas Jones, seamen. Those taken on board
the Columbia were the chief mate, Junius Perkins ;
the steward, David Roberts, and John M`Kinnon.
It is now ascertained that poor Mrs. Short, with
the other sufferers, met their sad fate on the evening
of the same 'day that they landed from the wreck.
The natives stripped Mrs. Short of her rings, ear-
rings, and other jewellery, and also took from her
120 sovereigns. She managed afterwards to free her-
self from them, and rushed down to the beach, where
a portion of the crew were assembled. They ma-
naged to get to the boat, and, although there were
no oars in it, at the earnest entreaties of Mrs. Short,
it was determined to make an attempt to regain the
ship. The boat was got off, but was swamped by the
heavy surf, and the seamen who accompanied her met
with a watery grave.
The spot where the ship was wrecked is on the same
part of the coast where the East India Company's
steamer Memnon was lost some few years since.
The Mary Florence was nearly 600 tons burden,
and cost 12,0001. She was partially insured at
Lloyd's.