The primitive Republican. (Columbus, Miss.) 18??-1852, 1852-05-06
wreck &c Birl.inhe

NAAHt-RNSA 1880
sea. At 2 o'clock in the morning Of che
18th February, Her Majesty's steamer, The
Birkenhead, was wrecked two or three
miles from the shore Of Southern Africa
The exact spot at which the calamity hap.
pened was Point Danger. OFF this point she
struck upon reef Of sunken rocks. The
ship was steaming eight and a half knots al
the time. The water was smooth and the
sky serene, but the speed at which the yes.
sci was passing through the water proved
destruction. The rock penetrated through
her bottom just aft of the foremost, aud in
twenty minutes time there were few float
ing spars and q few miserable creatures
|clinging to them, and this was all that re-
manned Of the Birkenhead. Of 638 per-
sons who had left Simon's Bay, in the gal
liant ship but few hours before, only 184
now remain to tell the tale. No less than
453 Englishmen have thus come to so la
mentable an end
There is no mystery about the calamity
We are not left, as in the case of the ANA
zon to conjecture the cause of the disaster.
Just what heppened to the Orion off the
Scottish coast; Or to the Great Liverpool of
Finisterre, has happened now. Capt. Sal
mond, the officer in command, anxious to
shorten the run to Algoa Bay as much as
possible, and more than was prudent, hug
ged the shore too closely. Four hundred
and ffty-fouF persons have lost their lives in
consequence of his termerity. As soon as
the vessel struck upon the rocks, the rush of
water was so greatithat the men on the low
err troop deck were drowned in their ham
mocks. Theirs was the happier fate; at
least they we're spared the terrible agony of
the next twenty minutes At least the man
ner of death was less painful than with 9TH
ers, who were first crushed beneath the fall
ing spars and funhely and then swept away
to be devOured by the sharks who were
prowling round the wreck. From the mo-
ment the ship struck, all appears to have
been done that human courage or coolnesss
could have effected The soldiers we're mus
tered on the quarter deck The instinct of
discipline was stronger even than the in
stnct Of life. The men fell into place as
coolly as on the parade ground. They were
told off into reliefs, and scnt-some to the
chain pumps, some to the tackles of the
paddle-box boats. Capt. Wright, of the
9lst Regiment, who survived to relate the
dreadful scene, tells,-''Every man did as
be was directed; and there was not cry or
a murmur among them until the vessel
made her final plunge. l could not name
any individual officer who did more than an
other. All received their orders, and had
them carried out as if the men were embark
ing instead going to the bottom; there was
only this difference, that | never saw any
embarkation conducted with so little noise
or confusion" Poor fellows! Had they
died in battlefield, and In their country S
cause, their fate would have excited less
poignant regret; but there is something in
expressibly touching in the quiet unfinch-
ing resolution Of so many brave hearts strug-
Cling manfully to the last against an inc
vitable disaster 1t is gratifying also to find
that the women and children were all saved.
They had been quietly collected under the
poop awning, and were as quietly got over
the ships side, and passed into the cutter
The boat stood off about $50 yards from the
ill-starred Birkenhead, and were all saved.
There is not the name of a single woman or
child upon the list of persons who persisted
The other boats as is usual in such cases.
we're not forthcoming in the hour of need
One gig and two cutters were all that could
be rendered available In one account We
find that when the men we're ordered to get
the paddle-box boats out, the pin of the da
Wits was rusted and could not be got out
Capt. Wright on the other hand lis US thai
when the funnel went over the side, it car
ried away the starboard paddle-box anC
boat; and that the other paddle-box boat
capsized as it was being lowered. Of the
1874 persons who were saved, 116 made theil
escape in the three boats which succeeded il
getting clear of the wreck.
Never was destruction more sudden Oh
more complete. Within fifteen minutes af
ter the vessel struck, the bow broke shor
off. Five minutes more elapsed and the hui
of the vessel broke in two, crossways, jus
abaft the engine room. The stern part O
the vessel, Immediately surged, filled, anC
went down. The only hope of the survivor
lay in the maintOpmast and maintopsail yard
which still showed above the water. Their,
were some fragments of the forecastle-decl
still floating about; there were few spars
and driftwOod About As people chung t.
the yard, and, after remaining there unit
2 o'clock the following afternoon, were pick
ed off by the Lioness, a schooner which wa
providentially at hand Capt Wright as
serts that, of the 200 persons, more or less
who we're clinging to the driftwood when b
got off, nearly every man might have bee
saved, had one of the ships boats done he
duty. In this boat the assistant surgeon
had got, with eight men. They immediate
ly pulled away, and landed about fftee
miles from the vessel.
The fact appears to have been, that tn
) poor creatures who were clinging to tn
: driftwood had been carried by the swell i
e the direction of Point Danger There the
got entangled among the seaweed, which, q
this point of the coast is thick and of in
) mense length. Capt. Wright's opinion il
e that had not the assistant surgeon carrie
: off the boat, or even had the boat pulle
! back to the scene of disaster after landin
the medical gentlemanin safety, the major
' ty of these persons might have been pickle
off the seaweed 1t only remains for us
e mention here, that Capt SalmOnd, who a
: pears to have done his duty after the vess
: struck, has not survived the calamity
! When last seen alive he was swimming frol
$ the stern post of the ship, which had ju
:. gone down, to portion of the forecast
; deck, which was floating about twenty yart
= from the main body of the wreck; SOM