The Sun.
London, England, 1857-09-07 00:00:00

ti EWSPAPER

LOSS OP THE MAIL STEAMS/1
At the Greenwich Police-court on •Saturd-ay.„4‘, r.
Traill, assisted by Capt. Sullivan, R.N., 1:014- any'°
official inquiry into the hrs of
,the Peninsular and
Orir,ntal Steam Navigation Company's ship Erin,
of 850 tons burden, which was wrecked on the cast
coast of Ceylon, on the Gth June last, wino con-
veying her Majesty's mail, treasure, specie, and a
large cargo of opium, to the amount of 200,000!.,
from Bombay to Point de Gallo and China.

~~.

Mr. Cumberland attended from the Board of
Trade, and Mr. Stenning, of the firm of M'Leod
and Stenning, of Fenchurch-street, appeared on be-
half of the company.
Mr. Cumberland stated that the ship left B ,m-
-bay on the Ist June for Point de Galle and China,
and continued her proper course until the 6th
June, when she suddenly struck. The main que:-
tion for inquiry was now whether the proper sound-
ings had been taken and such measures adopted as
might have saved the ship.
Francis Bayley said--1 am in the service of the
Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Com-
pany, and am 29 years of age. I have a certificate
of competency froth the Board of Trade, dated
Aug. 7, 1852. I was captain of the paddle steamer
Erin belonging to that company. I have been five
years in the service of the company, and master of
the Erin since Jan. last, haviag previously com-
manded- a steamer from Sept., 1856, to Jan., 1857,
belonging to the company, on the Canton river.
Before that I was chief officer of the Erin for two
yews first between Bombay and China, for twelve
months, and afterwards from Hung Kong and Kur-
rachee. I Lad made the same voyage about 12 tiwcs
before between Bombay and China and Point de
Galle. On the Ist June last I sailed in the Erin from.
Bombay at half-past lin the afternoon having trea-
sure and a cargo of opiuM, valued at 200,0001., on
board. The ships also carried the mails, and ere
were eight or ten passengers. The crow consisted of
42 Luca's as sailors, and six Manilla men as steers-
men. There were four European officers, four en-
• gineers, and four firemen. This was the proper
complement of men, and the ship was in good older
and properly equipped. On the sth of June,
at noon, lat. 7 deg. 25 min., and long. 77 deg. 53
min. 30 sec. E. was the actu 11 position of the ship.
We steered from that point S.E. by E., southerly
true course. The compass course was S.E. by E.
E., and the deviation was about 6 dog. E. At 4
p.m. I again made observations, and the longitude
by chronometer gave 78 deg. 17 min. 15 sac. E.,
and latitude by account 7 deg. 1 rain. 0 sec. E. We
were then going from 9to 9i knots. At 9 o'clock
p.m. I observed the meridian altitude Ursa Major
gave lat. 6 deg. 36 min. N., the longitude by ac-
count being 78 deg' 57 min. E. It was then a parti-
cularly clear night, the moon near the full, and I
could have seen the land for at least 10 miles off at
that time. I left orders with Mr. Baynton, the
officer of the watch, to call me if it came at all hazy
or thick, or if he saw anything, and also to call nie
between half-past 2 and a quarter to 3 in the mo, r-
ing. I left the deck between halt-past 9 and 10, and
was awoke about a quarter to 1 by the ship striking.
My cabin was on deck, and the door partly opm. I
was on deck in an instant. The engines were going
at full speed. There was then a squall passing, and I
saw the land ou the port beam. I called out,
" Hard a-port," and the officer of the middle watch,
Mr. Giegory, then came to me and said, "It is coin-
ing up thick," or some such expression. This was
after the ship sti uck. She was also striking violently
at the time. Not more than two or three seconds
elapsed between my hearing the ship strike and
going out upon deck. The engsnes were stopped at
once. I afterwards went on the p tddlebox and triA
t get her off, bnt she was hard ant fast on the
rock.

John Cluirles Ba,ynl on said—l am in the service of
the Peninsular and Oriental Navigation Company,
and third officer on board the Erin. I have been
rather more than two years in the service of the
company as third offic?.r, and before that time
I served in various sailing vessels. I have a
certificate of competency from the Beard of Trade,
dated June, 1854. I sailed on board the Erin as
third officer from Bombay On the Ist of June. 0
Friday, the sth June, I recollect compa'ing my
observations shortly after 12 o'clock with the c ip-
tain's and second officer's, and my longitude was 7
deg. 58 seo., varying three miles to the eastward.
All the officers work by different chronometers.
The second officer's observwions were the same.
Our latitudes agreed. My watch ou that night was
first watch—from 8 to 12. At 9 o'clock p.m. I saw.
the captain on deck with his instrument. Tice cap-
tam toll me to look out for a star. The captain left
the deck atout a quarter to 10, and gave me orders
to keip a strict look-out and call him immediately if
it came on at all thick, and to pass the same orders
to Mr. Gregory, who would succeed we at the next
watch. The captain gave me orders to steer S.E. by
E. half E., and to call him at a quarter to 3. Teat
come I continued steering during my watch, to-
wards the remainder of which by constant inspec-
tion I found that -that course was steered. I
am certain that during my watch that corns° was
not varied, fur I went to the wheel about every
ten minutes. We had a standard and bin-
nacle compass on board. I had not compared
them that day nor during my watch. We
were steering by binnacle. The log was hove every
hour from Bto 12. The ship was going at an even
speed of from 9 to 9i knots per hour. The weather
was very fine during the first part of my watch.
The sky was clear until about 11, with bright moon,
and light fresh breeze from. the north-west. All
sails were set, and the engines on at full sped.
Between 11 and 12 it became overcast, the ino:m
and stars being obscured by clouds. Thera was no
haze. This was the state of the weather until I
left at 12 o'clock. -In that state of the weathr, in
my opinion, I should have seen laud on that par-
ticular coast six or seven miles off. I was relieved
by Mr. Gregory, and transmitted to him the orders
I had received from the master, making him repeat
them afterwards. I then left the deck.

John L. Gregory, third or supplementary officer,
who was not sworn, was next examined, and of er
he had made his statement,
Mr. Trail, Capt. Sullivan, and Mr. Cumberland
retired fur a short time, and on their rauin to

court,
Mr. TRAILL said he and Capt. Sullivan bad 1141
some conversation with respect to the inquiry un-
der consideration, and had come to the conclusion
that the certificate of Capt. Bayley with hiA (Mr.
Train's) report should be forwarded to the Baird
of Trade, when, in all probability, reference would
be made to the conduct of the third superior officer.

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