The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-07-25 00:00:00

THE COLUMBIA STEAMER.

Sailor on the darkling sea,
Lift the heart and bend the knee.
Mac. HEMANS.
Much anxiety was felt, towards the middle of last week,
as to this noble steamer, which was due at this port on
the Saturday previous, but had not made her appearance;
and many began to apprehend that some misfortune had
befallen her. On Thursday, the arrival of the Thernis,
from the Bay of Fundy, brought the tidings that the Co-
lumbia had suffered a disaster on her passage from Boston
to Halifax, through the prevalence of fog. The fact,
however, that all the passengers and crew were safe, re-
lieved the anxiety of their friends.
The steam-ship Margaret arrived at this port on Sun-
day, under the command of Captain Shannon, late com-
mander of the Columbia, of the fate of which vessel she
brings more certain intelligence than that previously com-
municated.
The following ;particulars of the melancholy disaster
have been furnished us by Lieut. Parsons, who was on
board the Columbia, in charge of the mails. They were
penned on board the Margaret, at sea, on the 13th inst.—
" The beautiful and most excellent sea-boat Columbia
sailed from Boston in prime order, and as well commanded
and manned as any of this noble line. She carried the
American mail for England, and eighty-seven passengers.
At 2 p.m. on the Ist of July she steamed out of Boston
a ers, walking the water like a thing of life, the admira-
tion of beholders, and the pride of science. Within a
short time a dense fog, the scourge of this coast, wrapt us
as with a mantle; but, rejoicing in a well-tried pilot, we
thought not of danger, and continued to run at the rapid
rate of ten knots till ie following afternoon, at a quarter
past one, when she grounded, and healed over to port.
Alarm guns were quickly fired in vain for two hours, and
our alarming situation was apparent to all nautical men
on board. As the tide left, and exposed the jagged and
sharp-pointed rocks on the larboard bow, standing ten
feet high, and nearly within reach of a long arm from the
ship, we ascertained that she had, from her speed, forced
herself up an inclined plane, and hung from fore foot to
paddle boxes, with her stern in thirty feet water. This
occasioned her to strain prodigiously, as evinced by the
opening of her butt ends. At 3 p.m. our guns were an-
swered by the faint sound of musket and horn, and never
were faint sounds listened to with more forcible delight.
At 4 p.m. a boat, of ten tons, that had sought us some
time in vain, came alongside, with information of our
whereabouts, which was that the Columbia lay on a for-
midable reef of rocks, one mile and a half from Seal
Island, and about 130 miles from Halifax ; that two fami-
lies occupied the island, their houses one mile and a half
apart ; that the master of the light-house at Seal Island,
Mr. Hitchens, commanded the boat, and that he would
land the ladies, which he accordingly did, though the fog
continued so dense, that from the ship we saw nothing
but the sharp-pointed rocks under our larboard bows.
At five on Monday morning, perceiving the ship would
become a total wreck, got the royal mail into a couple of
boats, and was towed by Mr. Hitchens to the rocky and
stony beach of Seal Island, up which we with difficulty
conveyed it to the loft of a small outbuilding, half filled
with imperfectly cured fish, that became a mail and bed-
room to me during our stay on that delectable piece of
Dame Nature's formation, in which, being hurried, she
had neglected to piace fresh water, what little it contained
being the drainings of decayed vegetation. I found our
lady passengers huddled together in two small rooms of a
small house, the mistress of which was named Mrs.Crowell.
The whole family were kind-hearted and obliging. The
gentlemen passen. ers, of whom there was a strong detach-
ment of thirty, had waded through bog and brier, and
reaped their reward in the lighthouse and its adjoining
building. After four days and nights, spent in this small
island of fog, tempest and dreary desolation, the steam
contract vessel Margaret anchored within two miles of us.
Save and except the mates and crew, we all embarked in
the Margaret, and landed in Halifax on Friday afternoon—
where we: left many of our passengers—and on Sunday
evening proceeded with as much speed as the Lady Mar-
garet could put forth for the merry shores of England."
The steamer Margaret found the Columbia in such a
position as showed that there was very little chance of
saving aught but the machinery. The timbers were fast
giving way, and every moment increased the water in her
hold. On Wednesday she broke her back, and, when the
Margaret left, was swinging by the bows, and certain,
from the least violent commotion of the wind and waves,
I to become utterly destroyed.
A meeting of the passengers was held at Seal Island on
I the 6th instant, when a resolution was passed, appointing
a committee of five to draw up a letter to Capt. Shannon,
expressing their high opinion of his conduct. The letter
was subsequently written, approved, signed by the whole
of the passengers, gentlemen and ladies, and transmitted.
It is highly complimentary, acquits the captain of all
blame, and expresses the greatest gratitude to Captain
Shannon for his strenuous exertions on the trying oc-
casion.
The disaster which has happened to the Columbia is
only the third which the vessels composing the line have
sustained since its establishment three years ago.
LIST OF PASSENGERS BY THE MARGARET.
From Boston.-11r. Harper and lady, Mr. Roger Stew-
art, bearer of despatches, and lady, Mrs. Reid, Mr. D.
Meinertyhagen, Mr. Louis Huth, Mr. John Philli ppi,
Mr. James Williamson, Mr. J. Mose and lady, Mr.
Wanroy, Mr. H. Hoffschlaegar, Mr. Matthew Clark,
Mr. V. A. Pitray, Mrs. S. Kirkpatrick, Mr. A. H. Hol-
lander, Mr. Charles Morrison, Mr. 0. H. Evans, Mr.
Hayn, Mr. E. Schmidt, Mr. Werk, Mr. James Al' Con-
nell, Mr. Alex. Rodgers, Mr. W. J. Cooper, of Liver-
pool, Mr. Francis V. Woodhouse, Mr. Simpson, Mr. I.
Bouiller, Mr. I. Timeon, Mr. Swift, Mr. B. Armengol,
Mr. R. Hasluck, Mr. John Hendrick, Mr. John Cole,
Mr. John Creagh, of Ohio, Mr. Wotherspoon, Mr.
Fotherby, Mr. Hammond, Mr. A. W. Prirnet, Mr. G.
Eden, jun., Mr. George Green, lady, servant, and four
children, Miss Jessie M`Kenzie, Mr. John Stewart, Mrs.
Eleanor Collingwood, Mr. J. Smith, Mr. A. Boursaud,
Mr. Wm. Steel, of Liverpool, Mr. John Hunt.
From lialifax.—Mr. Ingram, Captain Thomson, Mr.
Liddell, Mr. 3l'Leary, Mr. Graham, Mr, Anderson,
Mr. Bertram.