The Sun.
London, England, 1845-12-26 00:00:00

LOSS OF LIFE

The fearful gales from the I\l.W. and N.E. that
have prevailed for the last week, have occasioned the
most distressing casualties off all parts of the coast.
Already intelligence has been received of the loss of
upwards of 30 coasting vessels, and many homeward-
bound foreign ones, with wealthy cargoes.
The gales commenced on the morning of Thursday
week, and continued up to Wednesday. In the
Channel their effects were truly frightful. At Bide-
ford, on Monday night, two vessels were totally lost
within sight of the shore, and both crews, with the
exception of one man, perished. One was a schooner,
or what is called a brigantine, named the Albion,
belonging to Brixham, laden with iron. Her loss
took place on the Bramstone ' Sands, and when
discovered, she lay on her beam-ends, with her
masts gone, and the sea sweeping over her deck.
In a few hourse she broke up, and totally
disappeared. Another vessel, a large barque, also
was driven ashore, and but for the prompt arrival of
the life-boat, which took the crew off the rigging and
landed them, they would have met with a watery
grave. In the vicinity of the coast of St. Mumble's
Head, and Cardigan Bay, the casualties were of a
most fearful character, upwards ofiforty lives having,
it is supposed, perished on board one vessel. All the
information that has been received, which was from
the Coast Guard, who state that large fragments of a
large vessel, about 600 tons, were, at daybreak, on
Friday morning, discovered by them washed upon
the beach a short distance from St. Mumble's Head,
and they had every reason to believe it to have been
the same vessel which they. saw in the offing on the
previous evening attempting to run in for shelter.
There were between thirty and forty persons seen on
her deck at the time, and should she prove to be the
same, no doubt every soul has been lost.
Another wreck is known to have occurred near the
hsrbour during the same night. The general belief
is, that she foundered with all hands, and she is ex-
pected to be the Dora.
Further along the coast, the north of Cardigan, a
shocking sight was witnessed. At one o'clock on
Sunday afternoon, the wind blowing terrifically, the
Victory, fro n Penmaudre, struck on the bar in thirty
feet water. The crew ran up the rigging and lashed
themselves to the topmast, which was out of water,
where the poor fellows remained, with the sea beating
over them, for sixteen hours before the life-boat could
venture out to rescue them. When brought ashore
they were in a miserable state of suffering.
About five miles eastward of Cardigan harbour, a
fourth wreck occurred, viz., that of the Margaret and
Mary, of Aberystwith. It was discovered by one of
the Coast Guard on Monday morning, who perceiving
a mast-head protruding from a cave under a high
cliff, immediately proceeded to the spot and found it
to be a wreck. The master, Mr. Jones, was found
on the rocks dead, and also a seaman dreadfully
bruised; the rest of the crew were drowned. She
was from Drogheda, laden withli mestone.
A disastrous and total wreak took place on the
rocks in Cemaes Bay, on the north coast of Anglesey,
witnessed by more than two thousand persons, who
had been attracted by the heavy firing of the signal
guns of the unfortunate vessel. She was barque-
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Fbruierndden,,maasntedr, called
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hides, sugar, cotton, and other merchandise, and was
lost within a few hoars' sail of her destination—
Liverpool—after a favourable passage from Bahia.
The particulars of the melancholy event will be found
in the subjoined statement of the commander. Ile
states—" The barque under my command arrived
from Bahia, off the above coast at two o'clock in the
morning of the 18th instant, with the wind S.W., or
off the shore, and a moderate breeze, the ship standing
along shore under all sail for the pilot station, when
the wind suddenly shifted, with a violent blast,
into the N.E. quarter, and the ship in con-
sequence became close on a lee shore, and, a
tremendous gale coming on instantly, the only
resource we had was to let go the anchors under the
lee of the Middle Mouse and cut away all the masts.
This was immediately done, and by the time the ship
held, her stern was only 50 yards from the rocks, with
a most dreadful sea breaking on them, and there
seemed not the slightest chance of any of our lives
being saved. The ship fortunately held on till day-
light, by which time our guns and other signals of
distress attracted many persons to the cliff, some of
whom promptly came down on the rocks, at a great
risk, to aid us. After many ineffectual attempts to
get a line on shore, I was enabled to throw a hand
lead, attached to the log line, on to the shelf of a rock,
where Robert Griffith and Richard Owen, having
lashed a rope to themselves, succeeded in reaching it
with a boot-hook and line. I must here mention the
gallant conduct of a youth named Owen Highland,
who, seeing the line foul of a projecting rock, watched
the receding of the sea, and rushed out, at the risk of
his life, to clear it, when a tremendous sea broke many
feet over him, but, on its passing off, we and the
people on the cliff were happy to see he had clung to
the rock,horeand climbed acrd, watching
up
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a few feet of the rocks, in peril of being instantly
dashed to pieces whenever the one should part, which
event took place about two hours after, and in less
than five minutes the ship was shivered to atoms
against the cliffs, killing a large Newfoundland dog anti
other animals I had on board." It %sill be seen that the
vessel is a perfect loss, and the unfortunate crew lost
everything they possessed, with the exception of the
clothes they had on. It is reported that tha amount
of the loss of the ship and cargo will exceed 20,0001.
Along the same coast, off Pwllheli, Aberystwith,
and Portwllaen, a number of other casualties hap-
pened. At the latter port, a boat, marked " Three
Brothers," of Liverpool, was washed up on the
beach, as also several timbers and a piece of a
vessel's figure head. It is feared that they be-
longed to vessels lost during the storm. The ship
Rob the Ranter, from Glasgow, put in for shelter on
Sunday, having been struck by a tremendous sea the
day beti)re, which swept the decks of their boats,
bulwarks, &c., and carried overboard two seamen,
named Neil and M'Eachern, belonging to Islay, and
Christopher Growley, a native of Belfast, both of
whom were drowned. The collier lost on Friday
last, near Bowcastle, is supposed to have been from
Bideford. Her unhappy crew acted bravely to save
her, but the situation they brought her up in (cer-
tainly the only chance they had of preserving her),
and in such a gale and sea, it was utterly impossible
to rescue her from destruction, and at ten o'clock at
night her cables snapped, and she was carried among
the rocks, where she soon became a wreck. The
coast guard, under tne direction of Mr. Annis, the
chief officer at the station at Bowcastle, rendered
every assistance, which, unfortunately, was much