The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1850-06-25 00:00:00

were in danger of sinking before the boats reached the
shore. Into one of the boats a number of gentlemen had
crowded, when a cry arose that the ladies should go in
first; and accordingly a number of the gentlemen did get
out and admit ladies; but the boat had not left the ves-
sel's side when she swamped ; but after being emptied of
her first live freight she righted, and although half full of
water a number of others got into her, and I believe
ultimately reached land. I Am, however, unable to give
any information on this part of the melancholy narrative,
as I was in the cabin for some time, and when afloat my
range of vision was too limited to enable me to see
what was passing around. Mr. M'Neill, of Collonsay,
his wife, two daughters, and two sons were on
board.. The sons alone escaped. The eldest daugh-
ter, though alive when she was brought ashore, soon
died. She was a handsome, joyous, happy creature, and
walked the deck till a late hour in all the health and
joyousness of youth. Alas ! how soon was all changed ;
and ere a few hours had elapsed she was a corpse. Mr 3.
Merrilees, of Liverpool, had a little child about nine
months old in her arms. When she was overpowered
with the waters she sank, and, on rising to the surface,
her baby was dead, and floated away out of her arms.
The mother was saved, and when she recovered herself so
far as to recollect her loss she was bewailing her sad be-
reavement, when the body of the little innocent was
brought into the house. The scene that ensued may be
imagined, but cannot be described. Mr. Tait, baker, of
this city, swam on shore with his little boy on his back
most of the way, and both were saved. The Rev. Mr.
Peugh, fhe Episcopal clergyman of Paisley, had a little
child on board, about 12 years of age, which was given in
charge to the stewardess. After the alarm was given she
proceeded to dress her little charge and took her on deck,
the poor child exclaiming, 'I know you will not leave me.'
No, no ! I never will,' exclaimed the noble woman, but,
alas! heroism availed them not; the remorseless surge
claimed them as its own. An immense quantity of lug-
gage was recovered, partly floating and partly thrown on
shore. This may be accounted for by the fact that most
of it was on deck. Four instances came under nay own
observation where husbands and wives were saved through
their mutual aid in circumstances of awful peril and almost
hopeless danger. There were about 20 bodies recovered
when we left, including Dr. Burns. Several of these were
women, and three of them children. The women had
little else on than their night clothes, and some only:their
chemises. Nothing could exceed the kindness of the vil-
lagers to the wants of the survivors; their houses, their
larders, their wardrobes—their all, were freely placed at
our disposal. Nor should Dr. Douglas, the medical gen-
tleman of the place, be omitted. He literally ran from
one to another from the hour of the wreck, administering
relief to these who required it, with a degree of kindness,
skill, and perseverance, which must ever be remembered
with gratitude by all. An investigation was at once set
on foot by the authorities at Portpatrick, and several of
the Passengers were precognosced by the procurator-fiscal.
The night was beautifully clear and calm. There was a
slight haze or fog crawling along the land, but the shore
was quite visible and distinct; the lighthouse loomed
close over the vessel when she struck. The distance be-
tween the rock and the shore did not appear above 150
yards, if so much. The rock on which the Orion struck
is well known to all the seamen and fishermen of the
place, and is a very short distance from the mouth of the
harbour."

Another of the passengers saved, whom we have seen
and conversed with, a seaman named Hugh APGill, gives
the following account of the occurrence and of his own
fortune in connexion with it :—" I am a seaman, and was
a steerage passenger on board of the Orion at the time she
went down off Portpatrick. I am not one of her crew,
but I saved myself, along with Captain Henderson and
the mate, by climbing up the rigging to the topmast at
the time she went down. The hour, as near as I can re-
collect, would be about half-past one o'clock, and at that
time there was no fog ; I am sure of that, for I could see
the shore as clearly as I now see the other side of the river
Clyde, and the distance was so short that I could have cast
a pennypiece from the one to the other. The mate's
name is Langlands, and on going up the shrouds he and I
had a struggle which should first get to the top. Captain
Henderson also was there, but whether he was up before
us or came up after I cannot say, on account of the con-
fusion that was going on. The Orion, I think, went down
in seven fathoms water. I was in the bulk in the fore-
castle when she struck. At first when I heard the noise
of her striking I thought she would not go down, but I
found I was mistaken. The life-boat was hoisted out as
fast as possible after the passengers came on deck, and 1
lent a hand to get her out. As the ship was settling down
forward the water rushed over her bows. The passengers
then made for the quarter deck as fast as possible, and it
was thought that her stern parts might remain above wa-
ter, but we were mistaken ; the air which had collected
below burst out there, and then she settled down. At
this time I had one of my feet on the gunwale of the boat
alongside that capsized, the tackle of which I endeavoured
to clear away, but as I found her going over I clung with
my left band to the shrouds, and by exertion reached the
cross-trees of the mast, and then got up to the topmast.
Great confusion was caused when she went down forward
at first by the passengers and crew making for the quarter
deck. I think it would be from 10 to 15 minutes after she
struck before going down.

The Fenella steam-ship from Fleetwood caught sight of
the Orion about five on Tuesday morning, and went into
Portpatrick, staying there a considerable time and taking
off the passengers saved from the unfortunate vessel, to
whom the utmost kindness was shewn by Captain Wheeler
and his crew, who very liberally took the passengers to
Troon free of charge, whence they were despatched to
Glasgow by a special train, arriving at half-past 1 o'clock.
A gentleman who was a passenger by the Fenella steamer
from Fleetwood to Troon, gives the following particulars:
" It was a quarter to six this (Tuesday) morning, the
weather clear and beautifully calm, when, as the Fenella
passed Portpatrick, a boat came out with the captain of
the Orion to request that the commander of the Fenella
would take some of the survivors on board. The Fenella
accordingly brought to for nearly an hour, and took on
board 10 of the survivors. From the accounts that could
be gleaned from their statements, it would appear that it
was exactly a quarter to two o'clock when the vessel
struck, not at stem on, but rather towards the bilge; and
almost immediately after she sa►rk gradually by the
head ; and before any of the cabin passengers had time to
dress the water was up to their knees in the cabin. The
first boat that was launched was so crowded with the pa-
nic-stricken passengers that she instantly sank, and al-
most all on board perished. Into the second boat a num-
ber of ladies were put, and they reached the shore in
safety. In the meantime the vessel gradually filled with
water, and the crew and passengers were left floating on
the surface of the calm waters. As soon as the accident
was discovered from the shore a number of boats put off,
and picked up all that could be seen floating on the loose
portions of the wreck or swimming towards the shore,
The wreck lies with the masts and funnel vertical, and
half out of the water, and to the rigging several of the
survivors clung until they were relieved. The place where
the wreck lies is not 150 yards from the shore, and quite
close to the lighthouse of Portpatrick. At the time the
Fenella left only nine of the bodies had been recovered."
We believe the whole of the crew have been saved with
the exception of Mr. Graham, the head steward, a female
stewardess, and one sailor boy. Graham, it is said, got
on shore, but died soon afterwards.
Amongst the providential occurrences which are nar-
rated as the means of having prevented a number of in-
dividuals belonging to Glasgow going by this ill-fated
vessel, we have heard of the following :—The family of a
respectable Glasgow banker, consisting of two sons and
one daughter, were on the eve of taking their passage by
the Orion, from Liverpool, but were prevented solely by
the importunities of one of the sons, a mechanical genius,
who insisted, in spite of all remonstrances and intreaties
to the contrary, on remaining in town until he had been
gratified with a view of some inventions and machines
which had caught his attention. Forced almost against
their inclination to accede to the desires of the young
man, the family remained in Liverpool, and in this way
were preserved from the accident by which so many others
have perished.

The Liverpool Times says :—We have just seen Mr.
Henry Anderson, of Clifton-park, Birkenhead, who,
together with his wife and daughter, were passengers on
board the Orion. Mr. Anderson is confident that there
were at least 220 persons on board the Orion, and the
results of his inquiries have satisfied him that not more
than 120 persons have been saved, and that upwards of
100 have lost their lives. He further says that he him-
self and a few other gentlemen took the trouble to ascer-
tain the names of parties saved, that a complete list
amounting to upwards of 95 names was made out and
forwarded to Glasgow, with a request that it should be
immediately published, but for some unaccountable rea-
son this list has been suppressed, but we know not by
whom. Mr. Anderson's statement is to the following
effect :—" We left here about 4 o'clock, and made the
Point of Ayr in six hours. The sea was a s smooth as a
millpond until we struck, which was about half past one
o'clock. I was in bed, but not asleep. I never saw a
more happy company on board a vessel. There were co
persons ill, and all went on comfortably until we struck.
I then leaped out of my berth and ran on deck. I thought
there had been a collision with another vessel. When I
looked over the starboard quarter I saw large detached
masses of what I conceived at first to be the fragments of
a vessel which we had run down, standing up Out of the
water ; but on a closer examination I felt convinced they
were rocks, and I saw the shore, bold and clearly defined,
rising at about 400 yards distance. The vessel drifted in
a little after striking. When we struck we were about
600 yards beyond the Portpatrick Lighthouse. Therewas
no rebound after the vessel struck ; it was a cutting,
crushing sound, as if from the speed at which she was
going and the sharpness of the shock she was incapable of
offering resistance, and the water rushed in. The engines
ceased immediately; they did not even make a halfturn
after the shock. In a moment or two after the shock it
was visible the vessel was going down head-foremost, and
when the water got into the engine-room and quenched
the fires the deck was enveloped in steam. At this junc-
ture the boat on the starboard quarter was taken pos-
session of by a crowd of terrified passengers, but in
consequence of the fore tackle being undone before the
after gear, all in her, with the exception of three, who
clung to the seats, were thrown into the sea, and many of
them were drowned. The after tackle was subsequently
let go, but this boat never righted. I then turned my at-
tention to the boat on the larboard quarter ; a large
number of passengers was gathered about her. The vessel
at this time was fast settling down, and perhaps five
minutes had elapsed from the time of striking when for
the first time I saw the captain. He stood up on one of
the seats on the quarter-deck and requested the whole of
the passengers to remain quiet ; there was no danger to
be apprehended, and only those who
inleft the vessel were
sure to be lost. The vessel swamped four or five mi-
nurtees afterwards ; but before she did so she struck heavily
on her starboard quarter, and the passengers gathered
about the second boat lost their footing, and were thrown
into the scuppers, the water rushing over them. Many
found a grave on the deck of the Orion. The large life-
boat was Yfig3 tlitUch difficulty got out just as Wt xekeel