The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1852-04-22
THE DAILY DISPATCH.
----------------
WRECK OF THE BIRKENHEAD.
From the London Times Of April Z.

'tAs6C&A VI
From the London Times of April I.
Another terrible disaster has happened at
| sea. AT 2 o'clock in the morning OF the Goth
of February her najesty's steamer, the Birken-
head, was wrecked between two and three
miles from the shore ofSonthein Africa. The
exact spot at which the calamity happened was
Point Danger. OFF this Point she struck upon
| reef of sunken rocks. The ship was seam-
ing eight and half knots at the tine. The
water was smooth, and the sky serene, bur
the speed at which the vessel was passing
through the water, proved her destruction. The
| rock penetrated through her boitomjust aft the
foremast, and in twenty minutes time there
were few floating spars and few miserable
creatures clingiDg TO them, and this was all that
remained Of the Birkenhead. OF 63S persons
who left Simon's Bay in The gallant ship hut
| few hours before, only lS4 remained TO lel the
| tale. Mol than 454 Englishmen have come
| to SO lamentable an end.
Ihere Is no mystery about the calamity
We are not left, as in the case of the Amazon,
| TO conjecture the origin of the disaster. Just
what happened to the Orion off the Scottish
coast, or to the Great Liverpool off Finisterre,
has happened now. Captain Saimond. the
onicer III command, anxious 10 shorten the run
/ 10 Aigoa Bay as much as possible, and more
than was prudent. hagged the shore too close
| ". Four hundred and Eity.four persons have
LOST their lives IN consequence of his temerty.
| AS soon as the vessel struck upon the rocks
| 'he rush OF water was SO great that the men
| on the lower troop deck were drowned in their
| hammocks. Theirs was tile happier fate AT
| least they were spared the terrible agony of
.he next twenty minutes. At least the man.
| ner oil death was less painful than with others.
VINO We're first crushed beneath the falling
spars and funnel. and then swept away to be
oeVoufed by the sharks vino were prowlng
round the wreck. From the moment the ship
struck, all appears TO have been done that hn
man courage or GOODNESS could effect The
soldiers were mustered on the afterdeck. The
instinct OF discipline was stronger even Than
tne instinct OF life. The men fell into place
as cooiiy as on the parade ground. They
were told OFF into rel;efs, and sent--some to
the chaInputips, some TO the tackles of the
paddiebox bouts. Csptain Wright, of the 9lst
regiment, who survives to relate the dreadful
scene. tells us.-"Every man did as he was
directed, and there was not cry or a murmer
among them until the vessel made her final
plunge. could not name any individual Off
Ger who did more than another. All received
| their orders, and had them carried out as If
the men tcere em6arking Instead of going to
| the bottom there was only this difference, that
never saw any embarcaton conducted with
so little noise or confusion" Poor fellows!
| Had they died in battle field, and in their
! CuuSCy tiiCtF Idlc HOulC nave eXcfteU
| less poignant regret; but there is something
inexpressibly touching In the quiet, unfinch-
| ing resolution OF so many brave hearts strug-
gllng nanfully to the last against an ineyila-
/ Die disaster. Ii is gratifying also to find that
/ the women and children were all saved
Ihey had been quietly collected unaer the
! poop awning, and were as quietly got over
tne ships side, and passed into the cutter
| The boat stood off about 150 yards from the
4 HIST aPFpd ri. ,Rna If
mere is not the name OF q single weman or
child upon the list of persons who perished.-
| lhe other boats, as IS usual in such cases,
| were not forthcoming in the hour of need
One gig and two cutters were all that could
/ be rendered available. Ia one account we find
that when the men were ordered TO get the
paddie-box boats out, the pin the dasits was
rusted IN and could not be got out. Captain
Wright; on The other hand, tells as that when
| the tunnel went over the side il carried away
| the siarboard paddle box and boat, aud that
| the other padde-box boat capsized as it was
| beng lowered. Of the lS4 persons who were
saved, lI6 made their escape in the three
beats which succeeded in getting clear Of the
| wreck.
| Never was destruction more sudden Or more
| complete. Within fifteen minutes after the
vessel struck The bow broke short of. Five
minutes more elapsed, and the hall OF the ves-
| "oAN IA " W SIccSWdJes Just ludit ltlC ell
| gine-room. The stern part of the vessel i'm
nediately surged, filled, and went down. The
| only hope OF the survivors lay Id the ulaintop-
mast and maintopsail. yard, which still showed
| above the water. There were some fragments
OF the forcastle-deck still floating abonr; there
| were few spars, and driftwood. About As
people chung TO the yard, and, after remaining
there until O'Clock the following afternoon,
were picked off by the Lioness, a schooner
\ which w ailv ~
Wright asserts. thar of the 200 persons, more
or less, who were ciinging TO the driftwood
when ne got away, nearly every man might
have been saved had one Of the ships boar's
done her duty. Into this boat the assistant.
surgeon had got with eight men. They i'm
/ mfdiaiely pulled away, and landed about Is
| miles from the vessel.
| The fact appears to have been, that the poor
| creatures who were clinging to the driftwood
had been carried by the swell in the direction
| of Point Danger. There they got entangled
among the saaweed, which at this point Of the
/ coast is thick and of immense length. Capt.
Wright's opinion is, that had not the assistant
| surgeon carried off the boat, or even had the
boat pulled back te the scene of the disaster
after landing the medical gentleman in safety,
| the majority Of these persons might have been
picked off the seaweed. II only remains for
! US to mention here that Capt. Salmond, who
| appears to have done his duty afierih vessel
| struck, has not survived the calamity. When
last seen alive he was swimming from the
| stern.post of the ship, which mad just gone
| down, to portion Of the forecast.e deck, which
| was floating about 90 yards from the main
body of the wreck something struck him on
the back Of the head, and he never rose again.
| INDIA.
From The Overland Summary ofste Bombay
Il - Is