Star.
London, England, 1825-11-02 00:00:00

LOSS OF THE COMET.

. It was reported in Edinburgh on Monday last, that
the Comet has been raised, and thirteen bodies found
on board. •
John M'Lellan,• one of the under-stewards of the
• Comet, whit) was saved, is now sufficiently recovered to
detail all he knew of the unfortunate catasuophe. The
following is his statement, and nearly in his own
words.:—Whea the concussion of the vessels took place,
•he was descending the steps which lead to the cabin.
He hastened down, and seeing John Heron (another of
the steasat ds, whose body has been found), resting on
'his right arm, apparently asleep, he cried to him,
.• " Johnny,.haste ye, the boat will sink r Heron rose
.upon his legs, and rubbing his eyes, replied to him in
a manner as• though he deemed his messmate was
joking ;•but he had scarcely uttered half a dozen words,
• when the water; to use his own expression, " came rush-
ing in like a burn.", All that were below now rushed
towards the stair leading to. the deck in the greatest
contusion, many of them screaming in a most pitiable
Planner. As soon as M'Lellan reached the deck, Cap-
tain SUtherland, who was earnestly speaking to his
Lady, having hold of her hand, turned round to him,
and asked—" Steward, will you be able to make for
shore?" He 'made, no answer, not knowing what to
think of the matter.. In the course of a few seconds,
he heard one of the crew, M'Lachlan be thinks, express
his fears that they would be lost ; upon which he pulled
off hii shoe-, buttoned up his fustian jacket, and as-
cended one of the ropes affixed to the funnel. When he
was a little way up, Captain Sutherland made another
appeal to him, but he was out of breath with climbing,
and could m.ke no answer. Ile was too much af-
frighted at this time to notice what was going for ward
on board the Ayr, but saw their own crew and passengers
all clustering together, and called to the crew of the
other vessel to save them by the most earnest appeals.
On Loking rout,d, he observed the vessel sinking at
the how end. •
The screams that were uttered were dreadful in e'e
extreme. Mrs. Sutherland exclaimed, "Oh, my Goo!
my Goo! she's sinking—we're lost!" and clasping her
" 'husband round the neck sunk with him into the abyss of

waters. livery one on deck was clinging either to the
pet son next to them, or past of the vessel. The piercing
cries and. groans that a ete uttered at this moment, baffle
all description; sleeping or waking, he says, they are
uppermost in his mnd. He would choose to amuse
himself in any way rather than fall asleep, so strongly
do the horrors of this catastrophe work upon his imagi-
nation. He climbed to the top of the rope, where the
heat was so intense that he could scarcely hold on; he
held fast, however, and when the b')at sunk, he went
down with her. When rising towards the surface of the
water he hit against something which he supposes to be
a human body, which again sent him down. Herrnm,-
diately rose to the surface a second time, and fnuad
himself surrounded by the passengers and crew,clinging
some to each other, and some to pots of the luggage
that floated. After swimming for a few minutes, he
observed a person making towards him, but think;ng he
Might cling to him, and being touch fatigued, he JD
all in his power to evade him. lie deems this person
to be the Captain of the Carnet, who was saved. He
s AM at random for some time, but recovering some-
u kat from his fright, recollected the wind blew to shore,
and be took that course.
When he came to the shore, or was near it, he was
caught hold of by the persons there waiting. He was
almost stopitied, and. cann..t describe the emotious he
felt when he heard human voices around him. The
dancing, he says, had finished some time ete the acci-
dent occurred—shortly after the moon went down. lie
has no doubt in his own mind- that, by the slightest
mansettere, the Ayr might have cone alongside the
Comet, and saved all that were on the deck. He is cer-.
tain that a Homan named M'Nab, wi.o was lately a'
conk to a family at Boss was-below in the steerage
at the time the vessel went down.

The Russian brig -Wolga left New Archangel, in the
island of Sitka, on t` .e 16th May, this year, and Arrived
on the 18th of June, at Ochotyk, v ith a cargo of furs.
The Russian colonies on the North West Co-Ist are pro-
vided with all necessaries, and were on good terms
with the neighbouring tribes.
A grand entertainment was given at Bogota, on the
12th August, by COlCltlel HAMILTON, Charge d'Af-
faires at Bogota, in honour of the KING'S Birth•day.—
The ball was attended by every person of dist4nction
hi Colombia.