, 1854-12-02


was probable the eighth Of q mile elenr of
the Arctic. Instantly, at about fifteen
minutes to five O'Clock, P. N, the ship went
down, carrying every soul on board with
her.
soon found myself on the surface again.
and after brief struggling, with nv own
helpless child in my arms, again felt my
self impelled downwards to a great depth,
and before | reached the surface the second
time, had nearly perished, and had lost my
hold on my child. As again struggled
upon the surface of the water a most aw-
full and heart rending scene presented itself
to my view; women and children strug-
Cling together amidst pieces of wreck Of
every kind, calling on each other for help,
and imploring God to assist them. Such
another appalling scene may God preserve
Inc from ever Witnessing l was in the act
OF trying to save my child again, when O
portion Of the paddle-box came crashing
up edgeways, and grazing my head, and
falling with its whole weight upon the head
of my darlikg child In another moment,
beheld him lifelcss corpse upon the sur
face Of the waves. succeeded, in com
lpany with eleven others, in getting on the
top Of the paddle-box On, however find
ing all could not be supported on this piecc
of the paddle-box, left for another which
was floating near. The others remained
until they were one by one relieved by
death. We stood up to our knees in wa
ter at the temperature Of forty-fve de-
grees, and frequently the sea broke direct
y over us. We were soon separated from
our friends on other parts of the wreck,
and passed terrible night, each one ex-
pecting every hour to be his last. '1"
Capt. Luce and young man named AL
len, on the same piece of wreck, were e.
nally picked up by the ship Cambria, aud
taken to Quebec. Capt. Luce says: ~,
"As late as the early part Of the last
night there were six Of us remaining on
the piece of wreck, of whom three fell
down from exhaustion and were washed of
by the sea. Young Keyn, the German
boy, who was with US, suffered intensely.
He happened to have some, biscuit with
him, which had become soaked with the
salt water, and eating these only increased
his thirst, and to make matters still worse,
be drank some Of the sea water. His suf-
ferings were beyond all description. Twice
he jumped overheard, saying he would ra-
ther die than suffer as he was doing; and
each time we pulled him back on the
wreck. At one time be cut opena vein in
his arm and sucked bis blood, The last
time he jumped over, was about fifteen
minutes before we discovered the Cambria.
Capt. Luce states that the smallest boat
that left the ship with the engineers, was
capable of carrying more persons than the
largest boat took away; and that the boats
on board were large enough 10 have car
ried three hundred safely While Capt
Luce was preparing one Of the boats for
the reception of the company with Mr.
Gilbert he found two fremen seated in it,
He ordered them out; when one Of them
replied that his life was as good as that Of
any person on board. Capt L. raised
carpenters mallet, and threatened him
with death il he did not instantly obey,
whereupon, he drew knife. He did not
use it, however, but sullenly left the boat.
The passengers report that at the time Of
the collision, the Arctic was on the topo of
long wave, while the Vesta was in What
is called ''the trough Of the sea, so that
the Arctic was injured below her waler
line. This will account for the reported
difficulties in stopping the leak,
The French screw steamer Vesta arrived
at St Johns n. B., onthe 30th Sept. haS-
ing lost forcmast, and bow shattered to
pieces. The Vesta lost thirteen, Of her
men Fourteen of the Arctic's passengers
and thirty-one Of her crew arrived at st.
Johns, N B.. 3.'f 10 oA1'i sii eai@