The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1870-11-24
THE LOSS OF THE CAMBRIA.
Terrible Incidents of the Shipwrcck-rhe
Dreadful story as Told by the sole Sur
vivor.


yivor.
The three boats of the Cambria are
still missing. One boat has indeed
come ashore at Bushfoot, but this is be-
lieved to be the one in which McGarth-
land embarked, and which drifted away
from the steamer Enterprise when he
was taken out of it. 1t then contained
the body of a lady firmly wedged under
the seats, and the belief that the boat
now recovered is McGarthland's one is
supported by the fact that the body of q
lady has been washed ashore ON the
coast at no great distance from the boat.
Though to all appearance few years
older than the girl described by Nc
Garthland, there Is little doubt the body
now cast on the beach is the one which
occupied the small boat with him. All
along the coast from Lough Foyle to
Portrush great quantities of wreckage
have been discovered, composed for the
most part of ships fittings and cargo
but absolutely nothing has been found
which can in any way be identified as
belonging to the three boats which Nc
Garthland saw launched and filled with
passengers before his own boat was cap
sized. Part of o life-boat was found on
Saturday, supposed to have been on
board the Cambria as an extra, and
washed away when she went down; a
seaman's chest is also among the wreck
age on the Derry coast, and mirror has
been picked up in the vicinity of Port
Ballantrae, but nowhere has vestige
been found of the three boats. Unless,
therefore, they have foundered, which
is altogether unlikely, they are either
still ahoat or have drifted towards the
coast of Islay. They had not been seen
at 1slay on Saturday, nor was any part
of the wreckage found there, and on
Friday the Kintyre coast was examined
along sixteen miles of its exposed part
without yielding any evidence of an
extensive shipping catastrophe on the
opposite shore. One other alternative
is certainly open to us when speculating
as to the fate of the boats there is the
chance that they were dashed to pieces
on the rocks surrounding Innistrahul,
and in that case the bodies would not
reach the beach where the wreckage has
been cast up, which is fully thirty miles
away. AS yet no examination of the
caves and rugged shores of Innistrahul
has been practicable, owing to the bois-
ferrous character of the weather, but the
occupants of the lighthouse affirm that,
SO far as their examination has gone, it
has yielded no trace OF the absent pas
sengers. An affecting statement is made
by the principal lightkeeper. On the
night when the Cambria was wrecked
he had opened door or window in the
lighthouse apparently a few minutes
after the steamer struck on the rocks.
Looking to seaward he observed light
short distance away which suddenly
disappeared, and then there rose above
the roar Of the tempest the agonizing
shrieks of men and women, which were
quickly stilled. Whether this may be
taken as evidence that other boats were
swamped besides McGarthland's, or is to
be accounted for by the capsizing of
that one, cannot, of course, be deter
mined. We have additional proof of
the extreme violence of the gale. The
wreckage which has been cast on the
Derry and Antrim coasts is chopped into
pieces so small that it is almost impossi-
BILE to believe them part of a large
steamer, and such was the commotion of
the sea around Innistrahul that at least
two Clyde ships narrowly escaped the
fate of the Cambria, owing to the bea-
con lights being hidden from view. 1t
was while one of these ships was strug-
Cling against wind and wave in an en-
deavor to weather the dangerous rock
that the Cambria flew onward to her
grave; she was seen dashing past by the
crew of the ship; at least they notify
that q large steamer went by them, and
from the position they were in at the
time there is no reason to doubt it was
the Cambria, and that they were the
last to see her before she disappeared for
ever. 1t seems hard thing to say that
those she carried have disappeared with
her; still, though fond hope will yet
be indulged in of rescue at sea or a
landing on an unexplored coast, we fear
the evidence we have points to the con-
clusion that John McGarthland alone
lives to tell the tale of one of the most
terrible shipping disasters which it has
ever been our part to chronicle.
The following has been received as the
the only person saved:
"Between 10 and IL o'clock on We'd
nesday night the Cambria, Captain Car
nigan commander, was nearing Innis-
trahul. The passengers were generally
below, and preparing for bed, no alarm
being felt, it would appear, when the
vessel struck on Innistrahul rock, and
Immediately commenced to fill with
water. 1t was at once evident that a
large hole had been made in the ship.
The engines fires were at once put out,
the crew and passengers, in great con-
sternation, rushed on deck, and orders
were given to launch the boats. -Four
boats were accordingly let down and
McGarthland got into the first launched
along with about 10 other passengers.
The boats were quickly drifted from the
wreck; and McGarthland cannot say
what became of those which parted from
him. The boat in which he secured a
seat was almost Immediately capsized
and, after regaining consciousness, he
found himself grasping the gunwale Of
the boat, which by this time had righted.
He succeeded in getting into the boat,
and he then discovered the body OF a
lady, dressed in black silk, under the
seats. He tried whether any conscious
ness remained with his fellow-passenger
but he soon saw that life had fled. The
lady had, no doubt, been drowned dur
ing the time the boat was upset. Nc
GaIthland spent the night from between