The Sun.
London, England, 1842-11-24 00:00:00

LOSS OF THE RELIANCE.

The following is a copy-of the letter addressed by
Captain Green, on the 4th instant, to his brother, Mr.
R. Green, of Birchin-lane, one of the owners of the
Reliance, which arrived in town by post on the 16th
instant, but in consequence of that gentleman's ab-
sence at Boulogne remained unopened until Tuesday :
" Reliance at Sea,
" Lat. 48 20 north; lon. 14 10 west.
" Friday, Nov. 4, 1842.
"My dear Robert,---A shit) is near us, which I hope
will be able to supply us with some provisions, and I
send Mr. Walsh on board to try to procure some. We
have been on short allowance for nearly three weeks,
and have on board to-day ten days' provisions at two-
thirds allowance per man, with the exception of flour,
of which we have not an ounce. This, in ordinary
times, would be quite enough, but we have been so
miserably uufortunate.vonwirals, that I &iriot Con-
sider it right to run the risk of starvation. I have
desired Walsh to procure, if he can, two casks of beef
and two of flour.He will draw on you for payment
if he can get all or any part of the above, which I
will thank you to honour. My passage from Cape
Verd has been the longest I have ever made in
my life. I have never, since I have been at sea, seen
such a continuance of adverse winds. Each succeeding
change of moon has disappointed us in a change, and
for five weeks we have had nothing but easterly gales
and fresh breezes to contend with—some days making
only 10 miles and never more than 65, except one
day—The day before yesterday—when we made 130,
and I was in full hope that all our miseries were at
an end, the westerly breeze having set in with the
change of the moon ; but after blowing very hard for
eight hours, it moderated and before noon flew round
again to the north-east,, having let us enjoy it only 15
hours. lam almost worn out with anxiety, particu-
larly when I remember that the insurance was out on
the Ist of this month ; and I am afraid they will con-
sider us a missing ship, and charge accordingly.
" Our passage up from St. Helena to the Cape Verds
was a beautiful one ; every one was confident that,
even with the usual run of luck, we should be in the
docks by the 22d or 23d of October, whilst now it is
much more likely to be a month later. We are now
about 330 miles from the Lizard, a distance which
we could run easily in two days ; but if we are to go
on as we have done these five 'weeks, it will take us
at least eight, and may he more, for the wind is very
obstinate, east-north-east, and the barometer rising.
" The native seamen feel the cold a good deal, and
at this moment I have twelve men off duty from sick-
ness, whose loss we feel very much.
" This is a melancholy ditty; but I hope to see you
even before you receive it. Remember me affection-
ately to Joseph and all at home.
" I remain your affectionate brother,
" THOMAS GREEN.
" Mr. Robert Green, Birchin-lane, London."
The other letter, written a few hours before the
wreck, and referred to above as having been picked up
on the French coast, is as follows :
" East India ship Reliance, English Channel,
November 16.
"My Dear Mother,—lt is with the greatest pleasure
that I take this opportunity of writing a few lines to
be ready
,to send ashore the first opportunity. In
my last I told you that I expected to be with you the
latter end of September or the beginning of October,
which the Captain fully calculated upon, but the
fates are against us. We made a long and tedious
voyage of two months and a half 'from Whampoa to
Batavia, since leaving which we have encountered
nothing but unfavourable gales and light Winds for
nearly four weeks.- We .have been on short allowance,
but r have enjoyed very good health all along. Not
so with the rest ; we have had about 20 on the sick
list. We arrived at St. Helena on the 3d of Sept.,
when I was highly delighted to receive your letter,
also one you wrote me last voyage. We left Whampoa
on April 24, so that we shall make about a seven
months' voyage home. We are now, we believe, off
Start Point, but having had it blowing very hard for
the last two days, and very thick weather, we have
not been able to get an observation. But we are in
hopes of getting a pilot to-morrow, and then I shall
have an opportunity of sending this ashore. If the
present wind last I think we shall be in the Downs
about Saturday morning, and in the East India Docks
about Wednesday or Thursday. I will write imme-
diately on my arrival in London. I think I shall
have to stay a day or two to make arrangements for
next voyage, but will lose no time, you may depend,
in hastening to `canny Newcastle,' where 1 look for-
ward with great pleasure to meeting you all again in
good health. I hope you will write to me on receipt
of this, telling me how you have all been since I last
heard from you.
" I shall not close this letter till the pilot comes on
board. I shall write to uncle George by the pilot."
(The letter here breaks off.)
The following is-the certificate of the Consul as to
the finding, of the above letter :
" I certify this to have been picked up on the coast
off Merliemont on the 15th instant, about twenty miles
to the westward of Boulogne, and claimed by me.
" Witness my hand and seal of office,
" W. HAMILTON, H.B.M. Consul.
" British Consulate at Boulogne,
One o'Clock, r.si., Nov. 16."

The following is a correct list of the passengers and
crew who perished in the Reliance, with the names of
those who left the vessel in China, as well as of some
who shipped in that country :
Thomas Green, commander; J. S. Walsh, chief
mate ; John Green, second ditto ; N. T. Martin, third
ditto ; Thomas Griffin, fourth ditto ; William Gray,
sixth ditto ; James Catena* surgeon ; Charles Sim-
mons, boatswain ; William Falkner, boatswain's mate ;
William Till, gunner • William Finucane, captain's
steward; George Hares,i ship's steward; Jerry.
Knight, ship's cook ; Robert Shearer, captain of fore-
castle ; John Collier, Trumble Crummil, Matthew
Lane, Lawrence Beatty, Andrew Willson, Peter An-
derson, Francis Eagle, David Schroter, Richard
Thomas, Richard Coleman, William Edwards, James
Woodrow, William Leary, William Anderson, John
Pearson, William George, William Lettis, Martin
Johnson, Andrew Nicholson, Henry Thomas, John
Lawson, John Daly (all common seamen) ; John
Hyde, of Cork, shipped at Whampoa; Richard Letter
of Gravesend, ditto ; Thomas Munroe, of Newfound-
land, ditto—also seamen; John Handless, cooper;
George Atkins, butcher; Alexander Morier, ar-
mourer ; James Shafe, armourer's mate; John Lehn-
berg, sailmaker ; Richard Crabtree, midshipman's
steward ; William Makepeace, cuddy servant ; John
Mouling, ditto ; John Toorney, officers' servant ;
Henry Houlton, caulker; William Loveday, quarter-
master ; David James, ditto ; Daniel Smith, ditto ;
James Woods, ditto; William Worster, joiner; 27
Chinamen, who joined the ship at Whampoa, and 17
Manilla men, who shipped from Macao.
Midshipmen—Messrs. Curran, Sepper, Blake, Her-
ring, Dodman, Lakes, Ford, and Legge.
Passengers—Captain Tucker, R.M. ; his servant, a
youth; an old man-of-war's man, named Kelly, from
her Majesty's ship Rodney; a cabin boy, invalided,
from the same ship ; John Lee and John Winstall,
from her Majesty's ship Blenheim; and a merchant
seaman from the hospital at Macao.
Henry Kutingham, seaman, died in Macao • John
Weide, seaman, died three or four days before the
wreck.

'William Marsh, fifth mate ; Peter Fisher, baker ;
M'Gowan, Captain's servant ; David Fraser,
boatswain's mate, were left in Bombay ; and James
Hardy, seaman, in China.
The names of the survivors, which have been al-
ready given, though somewhat incorrectly, are—
Robert Dixon, carpenter; William O'Neill, seaman ;
John Anderson, a native of Norway, seaman ; Charles
Barz, a Prussian, seaman; and three Manilla men.
The Reliance left Gravesend on the 15th of June,
1841, having on board 70 Englishmen and 60 Lascars.
The China men and Manilla men above alluded to
supplied the place of the Lascars on the homeward
voyage.
It has been mentioned that one of the mates pro-
mised the crew just before the vessel struck that they
should be in the Downs in the morning, and on the

afternoon of the 10th, about 36 hours before the
wreck, so fully did the Captain expect to be shortly
in the river, that the royal yards were sent down, and
every preparation made for running up to Gravesend.
The British Consul (Mr. W. Hamilton), whose
prompt assistance to the sufferers, and kind and un-