The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-04-27 00:00:00

DESTRUCTION OF THE SHIP AUSTRALIA

The following are extracts from a letter received in Edin-
burgh, from a cabin passenger of the brig Australia, in which
the dreadful hardships' to which the unfortunate crew and
passengers were exposed, after the destruction of the vessel,
are detailed with but too faithful accuracy. The picture

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drawn is most vividly pourtrayed ; and although the chief
incidents in the dreadful story are mentioned, the most har-
roling details are avoided. The delivery of the great ma-
jority of these on board is truly remarkable ; and few indeed
will peruse the following, without participating in the feeling
of thankfulness to the Almighty for their deliverance, so elo-
quently expressed by the writer. We have not as yet heard
of the receipt of Captain Yule's first letter :
" I shall endeavour to give you an account of this awful
calamity, and the miseries we have endured since ; for pre-
serving me to be able to do so, I trust I shall ever be grate-
ful to Almighty God who heard our cry, and has wonderfully
guided us and brought us to this land.
" The 25th of December being Christmas day, we were
becalmed, and from many associations, that day was spent
very happily. In the morning we killed a shark : and I pre-
vailed on the captain to lower the stern boat to get a few
hours shooting at the sea birds, which surrounded the ship
in great numbers, which he was kind enough to allow. We
had an excellent day's sport. I shot four of those lac ge birds
the Albatross, they measured from the tip of one wing to the
tip of the other, ten feet ; we had them dressed, intending to
eat them for our New Year's dinner, hut, alas ! our expec-
tations were miserably frustrated, and instead of the happi-
ness we expected, we were on that day a crew of half-starved
miserable creatures, our New Year's dinner consisting of a
quarter of a biscuit soaked with sea water, about two inches
of raw ham, and a table spoonful of water.
" From the 25th to the 29th we had very rough weather,
the ship rolling tremendously. We had supped at seven
o'clock, and went upon deck after, as was our usual custom.
On going below to the cabin, a smell of smoke was perceptible.
which was thought might proceed from the steward's pantry,
or some of the ladies' berths. We soon found on removing
the goods from the after-cabin and passengers' berths, that
the smoke proceeded from the hold, and was now increasing
rapidly. We now hove the ship to, being off the Cape of
Good Hope, in lat. 35 30, and long. 8, the Cape being 34 30,
and long. 18, so that we were upwards of 500 miles in a direct
line from land, and sailing with every sail set the ship could
carry. The order was now given to throw the cattle over-
board, break in the bulkhead to endeavour to get at the fire
with water, and to open the main hatches. The confusion
on board was now awful. One of the bulls got loose in en-
deavouring to get him overboard ; the deck was covered with
spars and sails, and the smoke had now increased to such a
degree, that no person could work or remain below for any
time, and was bursting through every crevice of the ship fore
and aft • it was impossible to get off the hatches to get at the
fire with water. We now saw it was impossible to save the