The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-08-11 00:00:00

(FURTHER PARTICULARS.)

The following details of this lainentable catastrophe arc
contained in a letter from P. Jenks, one of the survivors, to
his employers Messrs. Hortuusjee, J)orabjee, and Co., of
Bombay, published in the Bombay Gazette of June 22 :

" We left Karrack on the 28tH ult., with the following
passengers :—Captain Earle, Dr. Davis ; Lieutenants Grant
and Walker; about 180 Sepoys 24th Regiment Native In-
fantry, and 1501 arine Battalion and followers, in all about
340 souls, besides 95 of our own crew. Our passage was
tedious out of the Gulf, and after getting to S.E. of Rasel
Had about 250 miles, we had variable winds mostly from
E.N.E., with a long heavy swell from the southward causing
the ship to labour much, and the sails, though a new suit, to
be quite worn out in the three days that this lasted. On the
15th inst., the weather becon4 cloudy with rain, and the
wind veered round to the south-westward, with a heavy sea.
At noon on the 17th we were in lat. 18 53 N, long. 71 38 E,
the ship going about 10 knots an hour ; got the fore and
mizen top-gallant-mast on deck, and all the rigging, and
made the ship as snug as possible. From noon steered
E.S.E., to allow for a heavy sea bearing us to the northward.
Ship going 94 and 10 miles per hour until eight o'clock
p.m., then in 16 fathoms, stood on until half-past eight, then
in 11 fathoms, and nothing in sight, hauled to the wind on
the starboard tack, and at half-past nine saw Kenery Island
bearing E.S.E. in 14 fathoms, found the ship drifting fast
towards the island; wore round and hauled close to the wind
on the larboard tack ; immediately the ship was round and
the sails trimmed, saw Bombay light bearing N.N.E., at half-
past ten or nearly so, found by the island we were drifting to
the.E. fast, thought it better to bear up for the harbour at
once ; steered from N.N.W. to N.E. altering the course
gradually, for I was afraid of Tull Reef, the sea being so high,
that I thought we must be nearer to it than the light from
the short time we bad left Kenery. At 11, in ten fathoms
mud. I now thought we should haul up E., and just as I
mentioned this to my first officer, the people forward re-
ported a ship a-head ; waited a little to see what this was,
when a light was shown ; got a light up to answer, and by
this time found it was a vessel on shore ; hauled up immedi-
ately to the E., but not being able to trim our sails quickly
from the heavy lurching of the ship, she very soon struck
very hard about the rudder, paid off before the wind, and at
half past 11 was close to the other unfortunate vessel ; but
such was the noise of the sea that we could not tell what she
was until she went to pieces about 12 o'clock when we hauled
two poor fellows on board.
" We now commenced to get the boats clear, got the long
boat over the side and kept her in the tackles until daylight ;
then being low water and the sea much less, lowered all the
boats, and us they could not lay alongside the ship got them
to the bows ; sent the people down into them as fast as they
could, and when full, attempted to veer them on shore ; but
one of the ropes parted, and the other was cut ; after that
sent as many as we could on rafts made from the spars, &c,
until the tide rising, the sea became so high, that we thought
it better to wait, trusting that the ship would hold together
till the next low water ; cut away the masts and continued
making rafts. Unfortunately the ship commenced breaking
up about three p.m., and so quickly was it, that the rafts were
in the water in the mass of the wreck in a very few minutes;
it is impossible to describe the coolness with which the poor
Sepoys worked all day, and their apparent cheerfulness under
our dreadful calamity. Poor Captain Earle was the whole of
the time hard at work in assisting, and after we had finished
sending in the morning all we could, he mustered the Sepoys
and found 130 had been landed ; several of the crew having
also left without leave. Poor Dr. Davis and Lieut. Walker
were both very unwell, but always at hand with suggestions
for the benefit of the whole. It was at Grant's suggestion
that we commenced making rafts, who worked himself hard
during the day.

" My officers, gunner, carpenter, and a sailor of the name
of Blake, I cannot say too much in their praise ; no men
could have behaved better, and the Syrang and a few of the
crew also behaved well.
,g My most grateful thanks are also due to all those who so
gallantly endeavoured to assist us ; and while I deeply regret
the loss of life that has taken place, I feel truly
many
were
letroe
that good Providence through whose mercy so an
saved.
" The devotion which the captain and officers (both those
belonging to the detachment and the ship Castlereagh) evin-
ced (says the Bombay Gazette) cannot be too highly esti-
mated: they stuck to their vessel while a plank remained;
and the heroism, courage, and cheerfulness under danger
and privation which distinguished the Sepoys, adds another
leaf to the crown of laurel which will associate their name
with the proudest and most boasted achievements of the Bri-
tish soldier. But what can we say to those who directed
and conducted the efforts which were made to save the suf-
ferers? If we had a branch of the London Humane Society
here, their medals would honourably decorate each manly
breast. A richer reward awaits them--:the respect and at-
tachment of their fellow-citizens, and, better far than all,
the satisfying whispers of an approving conscience.
" Among those who 'particularly distinguished themselves
on these days of misery in saving the sufferers at the peril of
their own lives, we noticed the following gentlemen. If we
have left any names out it is inadvertently. We then say,
that, under Providence, the saving of so many lives was due
to Captains Saunderson, Montriou, and Webb, of the 1.N.;
to Captains M'Gregor, Nogg, Baxter,'
Ayres, Willis, Bou 1-
ton, Knox, and Jones, of the Country Service • Mr. Midship-
man Sandiman, Mr. Rooper, (Bombay Castle,) Mr. Middle-
ton, (Lady Grant,) and Mr. Brooke, (of the Scaleby Castle.)"

" A case occurred at the petty
June,
British w which,
seamen,for
we
thee humanitywsiaskheneveria
ofs on Friday, the
19th ofsessions
and the cha-
racteroccurred. Capt.
Morescy, L.N., commanding the lion
of
steam-
ship Sesostns, appeared before the sitting Company's
Danvers, Esq., and brought up Wm. Jackson,g magistrate, agi
lex' strate, E. F.
Robt. Simpson, Richard Goodman, Alfred SayerA Roberts,
Leets, of the crew of that vessel, on the charkeo,fa!id Thos.
refusing
to obey orders when desired to get the vessel under
weigh,
with a view to save people from the wrecks of the ships'
William Russell and Lord Castlereagh. They
were
found
Lord
guilty of the above charge, and William Jackson, Alexander
Roberts, R. Goodman, and Thomas Leets, were sentenced
to be imprisoned for 21 days, and Alfred Sayer and Robert
Simpson for 14 days, in the common gaol in Bombay. Now,
this is almost the first instance in our recollection when a tar
refused to hold out a hand to a sinking brother."

NEW ZEALAND

Papers have been printed, by order of the House of Cott-

mons, containing the reports of Captain Hobson, R.N., of
his proceedings on arriving at New Zealand. The first of
these is an address of congratulation on arrival, presented to
his excellency by the (45) inhabitants of the township of
Kororarika, expressing their gratification at his safe arrival,
and declaring that the establishment of British laws and Bri-
tish authorities had long been the desire nearest to their hearts.
There is also a letter, by Capt. Hobson to Sir George Gipps,
stating that, immediately on arriving, he had issued an invi-
tation to all British subjects to meet him at the church at
Kororarika, to hear read her Majesty's-commission, extend-
ing the limits of the colony of New South Wales, and his
own appointment as governor of such part of the colony as
may be acquired in sovereignty in New Zealand. The most
interesting portion of these papers, however, is a letter ad-
dressed by the Lieut.-Governor to Sir George Gipps, from
the Bay of Islands, describing the proceedings at a meeting
which he had called of the native chiefs of the confedera-
tion, and of the high chiefs who had not signed the declara-
tion of independence, for the purpose of explaining to them
• the command which he had received from her Majesty,
and of laying before them the copy of a treaty which he
had to propose for their consideration. A vast number of
chiefs, with a multitude of followers crowded in from
every quarter, and assembled under spacious tents, decorated
with flags. His excellency proceeded to the tent, supported
by his officers, Mr. Busby, the late resident, the members of
the Church Missionary Society, the French bishop, the offi-
cers of the government, and all the principal European in-
habitants in procession, and took his seat on a raised plat-
form. In the centre of the area, within the tents, the chiefs
seated themselves upon the ground, leaving a space around
them for the Europeans. His Excellency opened the meet-
ing by explaining, in the fullest manner the object of his
mission, and the reasons that had induced Her Majesty to
appoint him. He then read the treaty, and dwelt on each
article, offering a few remarks explanatory of such passages
as they might be supposed not to understand. Mr. H. Wil-
liams, of the Church Missionary Society, interpreted and re-
peated in the native, tongue, sentence by sentence, all that
his Excellency addressed to them. When his Excellency
had finished, he invited the chiefs to ask explanations on any
point they did not comprehend ; 20 or 30 chiefs in conse-
quence addressed the meeting, five or six of whom spoke with
so much violence and effect that his Excellency was appre-
hensive that they had fairly turned the tables on him, but at
this crisis the Hokianga chiefs, " under Neni and Patawoni,
made their appearance," and nothing, says Captain Hobson,
" could have been more seasonable." His Excellency insi-
nuates that underhand influence had been at work, and two
chiefs whom he names as being followers of the Catholic
bishop, were the principal opposers. One of these orators,
" Revewah," said, " Send the men away : do not sign the
paper : if you do, you will be reduced to the condition. of
',laves, and be obliged to break stones' for the reads. Your
lands will be taken from you, and your dignity as chiefs
destroyed." In this dilemma, and when things appeared
to be looking very black for his Excellency, at the first pause
" Neni" came forward and eclipsed all rivals. He spoke

with so much "natural eloquenceIf
as surprised all the Eu-
ropeans, and turned aside the temporary feeling that had
been created by the arguments of the other orators. No
wonder, then, that Captain Hobson should speak favourably
of his talents. He was to him a friend in need, and
seems to have done his part of the business effectually.
He pointed out to the New Zealanders how impossible
it was to govern themselves, and concluded his harangue
by strenuously advising the chiefs to place confidence
in the promises of the British. He was followed by
two other favourable chiefs, and after an adjournment of one
day, it having been announced that the chiefs had become
impatient to sign the treaty that they might return to their
homes, his Excellency gratified their wishes ; and having
accordingly proceeded to the tents, the treaty was signed in
due form, by 46 head chiefs, in presence of at least 500 of
inferior degree • which, being held to be a full and clear re-
cognition of the sovereign rights of Her Majesty over the
northern parts of the island, was announced on the 7th of
February last by a salute of 21 guns from Her Majesty's ship
Herald. By the first article of the treaty, the chiefs of the
confederation of the united tribes of New Zealand, and the
separate and independent chiefs expressly cede the powers
and rights of sovereignty to Her Majesty over their respective
territories ; and by the second, Her Majesty confirms and
guarantees them in the possession of their lands and estates,
forests, fisheries, and other properties, so long as they wish
to retain them ; but they yield at the same time to her Majesty
the exclusive right of pre-emption over such lands as they
may be disposed to alienate; and the third grants to the na-
tives of New Zealand all the rights and privileges of British
subjects. The acceptance by the chiefs is as follows :—" We,
the chiefs of the confederation of the united tribes of New
Zealand, being assembled in congress at Waitangi, and we,
the separate and independent chiefs of New Zealand, claiming
authority over the tribes and territories which are specified
after our respective names, having been made fully to under-
stand the provisions of the foregoing treaty, accept and enter
into the same in the full spirit and meaning thereof. In
witness whereof we have attached our signatures or marks at
the plates and dates respectively specified. Done at Waitangi
this Gth day of February, in the year of our Lord, 1840."