The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1860-02-25

~ta-~-o~~-~>-~..-..-~>-- >>>--~. 49,
SATURDAY MORNING. FEB 70 'o0''
tn. Gaines, C,elie Tssde-Esss Of he tieFs
Temple with $50 Coolies on nos'e'
A ,.,t.r from China to the N. Y. Journai OF
Commerce. siyes the particulars OK the late
- ~ the American ship Flora Temple,
,.,,h eco a,oolies on board. every one OF whom
....arnwpea The vessel laid on Macao and
.',... ;n hsr cargo. The Coolies were cheated,
:...,.Iea or stolen, and either taken directly
o, ,hs .h,p or else confined in the barracoons
IN MACAO till the ship was ready to sail for
Hayana--ths Grey numbering fifty, and the
Coolies right hwrd,,d and Try. The letter con-
.inues:
Leaving Macao October sth saturday. the
deceived and stolen Coolies soon learned their
cruel destiny, and as all injured and betrayed
men would do, resolved to attempt toavert ii,
however desperate the chances. They had no
arms. and therefore had to struggle with every
disadvnn ,age in the Abort of recovering their
liberty. A PARTY collected on the deck on Tues
day morning, before the shorl OF their own
loved country had forever deAppeared from
their eyes, ami rushing upon the guard, SIN
gle individuals fight ensued, in which the
guard was killed
ing the noise, hurried upon deck with his re.
yoiver and his brother and an Englishman
interested in the kidnapping wit h him, both al
a.dozen rounds into the coolies, who were thus
driven back and defeated in their attempt TO
recover their liberty. How many were killed
and wounded, il is for the interest OF the kid
hampers not To tell, and the dead also tell no
tales Nor can they tel the cruel treatment
they reeei we'd before they were driven to this
desperate act-treatment, as they well knew,
which was only foretaste OF what awaited
them. Nor do the officers Of the ship or the
Enrlishman on board, who was trading in
stolen human flesh, inform the world Of IN"
course they took toward these miserable, de-
ceiyed and helpless men. when they were over
powered and defeated in their most Unsuitable
Attempts to assert their liberty. But n friend
informs me that they were driven below deck,
and confined there ike feions, almost without
light and air, and where, crowded together so
large a number in so narrow a space, the
greater part must inevitably have persisted in
the long middle passage. Think of $50 human
contracted, rayless, airIess dungeon, in which
they were to be deported from kChina to Ha-
vana all the long way over'the China Sea, the
Indian Ocean, and the Atlantic!
On the following Friday, Oct Ia, while sail
ing over the China Sea, att y O'Clock in the
evening the vessel struck upon reef which
is not laid down in the charts, a gale of wind
IN the meantime blowing, and the sea running
nigh. Every effort was made to save the ship
by the officers and crew the poor coolies,
battened down beneath the decks, being al
lowed no chance TO AID IN saving the snip or
themselves. Although the yards were "braced
around" and the ship "hove back, she struck,
first slightly, and then, soon after, several
times with "A tremendous crash, the breakers
running alongside very high. Pieces of her
,imbers and planking fioated up on her port
side. and after some more heavy thumps she
remained apparently immOvable. The water
rapidly increased In the hold till it reached
the ''betw cen decks" where the $50 coolies
were confined While this was going on. in
deed, almost Immediately after the ship first
struck, the officers and crew very naturally
became afraid of the coolies for the treatment
hat hqH ypd ordered he
boats to be lowered not to save the coolies, in
whole or in part, but to preserve himself and
crew. These boats, even under favorable cir
Gums tauces, were not more than sufficient for
the officers and crew, showing that pro-
vision had been made for the poor coolies in
case or disaster.
The boats passed safely through the break
ers, leaving the ship almost without motion,
all her masts standing, her back broken and
the sea making clear preach over her star
board quarter. When the boats left the ship
and steered away without making one effort
to save the $50 coolies, or allowing them to do
anything to save themselves, with their last
look toward the ship, they saw that the coolies
had escaped from their prison through doors
which the oncussion had made for them and
stood clustering together, helpless and de.
spairing, upon the decks, and gazing upon the
abyss which was opening its jaws to receive
them. My friend assures me that he knows
these poor creatures were completely impris-
oned all the night these terrible occurrences
were going on, the matches being "battened
down." and made as secure as Jall-dOOr I'M
der lock and bars.
The ship was three hundred miles from land
when it struck, and after fourteen days of toll
and struggle, one of the boats only succeeded
in reaching Towron, in Cochin China the
three other GOATS We're never heard of. Here
the French fleet was lying, and the Admiral
at once invited the Captain and his boats crew
on board one Of his ships, and besides, at re-
quest, sent one of his vessels to the ia tai scene
Of the disaster where some of the wreck was
To be seen, but not single roolie. Every one
OF the eight hundred and ftty had persisted!