Kanawha Valley star. [volume] (Charleston, Va. [W. Va.]) 1856-1861, 1857-09-29

upsas long as possible, ana we utu nv.
make known the result of our c~onfersas
tidn, but urged al hands to renewed ei-.
foft. Capt. Herndon requested that the
seSand offieeran myself should remain
with him, q expressed his determination
not to leave The ship while there y a q
soul oh board, but would remain until
she sunk from under him. His only
regret was his family-and lie died like
"A brave man.
At 87o'clock on Saturday night the
waiter, was lip q the door Of the dining
saloon. and all then went to work calmly
to devise means each for lis own safety.
Al half hour previous to the ship sinking,
there were two lights seen ON distance
10 tie lceward. supposed to be brig MAJ
rine and the schooner that spoke us an
iodF 81 two previous, but, having aIfresh
breeze and high sea. they were unable
to work up to the windward.
Il al quarter Of an hour before DC
steamer sank, one Of our boats hailet us,
and}a voice cried that his boat WAC stove
and hejconld not take any onelm board.
This Boat was endeaYorin to- return
from the Marine, but wgs disabled. 1t
was doubtless the impression Oh board
both Tile brig and Tie schooner that the
steamer would be able to keep uptuntil
morning, hence they probably did not
keep as near as during the night as they
might have done. Indeed, il was the
opinion III many On board that we would
hold up all night and | did not think
that Slid woull 90 down before midnight
AT I'D minulessof s o'clock, Captain
Herndon took position on tile wheel
house with his second Office and fired
rockets d~puaulfd, the usual signal, to
the brig and schooner that we were sink
ing rapidly, This was a fearful moment,
and must have been also to the ladies' on
board the Marine, who understood the
signal, an Of whom had husbands or
friends dn board.
Ifnow procured 4 board six feet long
and six inches wide, tearing i of the
front OH berth rad took my position on
the taffrail, and held On The after awning
stauncheon. AT THAT time thcre were
two ii three huniaed On the quarter
deck, breathlessly waiting thd final sink
ing. There were8two seas swept pyer
the deck about this time, the last one
sweeping nearly All the passengers ION
the main deck into the sea. Tire ship,
Immediately after, 1t 8 o'clock. on Sal.
urdaySSeESttming, sank, going down at All
angle Of degrees, stern FOREMOST. The
suction Of sIe ship drew the passengers
under water for some distance, and threw
them III / mass together. When they
reached tlhe surface the struggle for life
was intense, with cries and shrieks for
help, especially from those unabh %
swim. Many unable to swim chung to
those who could, dr laid hold of the lar.
ger pieces of The wreck, which were soon
sWamped. in ten minutes not less, pro-
badly, thanthrse hundred had sunk to
rise no More, whilst myself and Others
who had suSceededia holding On to some
means of4sapport were scattered over
the dark and dreary ocean, floating off
with the:tfls. There were a large num-
Der Of passengers who had bags of gold
dust, and some doubtless persisted I'M
their eforts4o save it. / may also Here
add thar from fifty "a sixty Of the pas
sengers shut themselves up in their State
rooms in despair, and sank with tile ship.
Those who had succeeded ID keeping
themselves aloat, soon scattered over tile
surface b the ocean for a distance of
about q mile. One hour after the ship
sank saw alight az the leeWard, which
was seen most of those rescued. sup
posed to % that Of the schooner Soyer-
eign, butt soon disappeared. We knew
that the ships b the ieeward could not
reach VS. Ind turned our gaze ID the pp-
posite direction.
At ! 9elpck on Sunday morning we
saw approaching us under full sail the
Norwegian bark Ellen ran into Dur
midst, ana those oh watch were aston
ished with tile orv DC human BEINGS
Capt. johnson, the commander. immeii.
ately hoveGhis vessel to. under shortEsail,
and commenced tot rescue us. The
steamer all this time had been down over
FIVE hours He launched his boat, and
threw out ropes and buoys, and did every
ching that good ~seanianship and a hu-
name heart could indicate to save AS ma
,ny as possible. / was The fourth h
rescued, and witnessed the noble exer-
tons of himself and crew throughout
the night He continued his search
among the drift-wood, lacking back
ward and forward, up to LEI O'clock on
Sunday, but did not find any one after
8 o'clock i'm the morning, and cease
quently reinqpished the search a noon.
On the morning of Sunday tire brig
Marine was out Of sight, and the schoo-
ner was some six miles to leeward, and
appeared to Be laying to, but soon bone
away 81 her course, doubtless being SAT-
is6ed that was impossible to reach ID,
also seeing the bark backing and filing
TO windward.
The same day at 2 o'clock we spoke
the bank Saxony, bound to Savannah
she reported seeing a brig with a num-
Der of ladies On board supposed to beI
the Marine under full sail, steering
North.
We bore away with d fair wind fof
Norfolk as the nearest port, and arrived
off Cape Henry on Thursday. evening
five of III reaching Norfolk in a pilot
boat AZ day light on Friday morning.
which we had chartered for that purpose.
5s85Hs TNaAFHH t8I4 49, MEsH 1877 H. liz