The Sun. — 1844-06-24 (London, England)

SUSPECTED CASE OF PIRACY. THE SALADIN.  The above vessel, commanded by Captain Mackenzie, bound from Valparaiso to London, was lost on the 21st of last May, near Ireland Harbour, Nova Scotia, and was communicated in this paper upon the 17th instant. Since then circumstances have transpired whicn lead to a very strong impression that a terrible act of piracy and murder was committed previous to her destruction, and which has engaged the attention of the naval and civil authorities of Halifax since the time of her loss; and although nothing at present of a positive character has transpired to fix the crime upon a portion of the ship's crew, there is much reason to fear that if not guilty of the more serious crime, they are not quite blameless as regards the lesser one. So strong was this impression entertained by the authorities at Halifax, that the crew had been taken into custody, and had undergone an examination, and from the evidence collected, in the words of the writer of a letter received at Lloyd's, there can be but one opinion as to the fate of the officers. From the particulars furnished by Lloyd's agent it appears that this vessel was bound from Valparaiso to London with a cargo of 70 tons copper, guano, 8,500 dolls. specie, and some bars of silver; that she left the former port on the 17th of February last, that Captain Mackenzie, her commander, died about the middle of April, and the mate about three days after. The second mate and two men were subsequently lost from the fore-yard; that no log had been kept after the 14th day of April (about the time the captain died), or any notice of sickness on board up to that date (circumstances, it will be presumed, of a very suspicious nature) ; and that the complement of men when the vessel was lost was six. She went on shore, however, during a thick fog, which certainly gives some reason to suppose that she may have been lost accidentally, but at the same time does not do away with the impression that such an opportunity may not have been waited. The Admiralty Court at Halifax had taken possession of the cargo saved from the wreck, in consequence of the suspicion of piracy. All the letters on board which were supposed to contain invoices, bills of exchange, or bills of lading, are said to have been torn open by the crew, and that many were missing, as also about 1,000 dolls. The articles saved from the wreck consisted of 730 pegs of copper, seven bags containing about 7,564 dolls., thirteen large and one small bars of silver, two chronometers, one gold and one silver watch, and two silver stones ( ? ) with all the materials, &c. The most suspicious indication of one of the most revolting crimes to civilised nations having been committed is the sudden death of the captain, for sudden it would imply to have been the case, from the fact of no mention of sickness having been made in the log-book, at any period of the voyage, previous to his death; and most of our readers do not require to be told that the illness of the commander of the vessel (who, when at sea, is more of a monarch, as regards actual power and influence, than any reigning sovereign) is too important and serious an affair to be treated lightly, and should have been, according to practice, inserted in the log. The next suspicious circumstance is the deach of the mate, upon whom, by the decease of his commander, devolved the charge of the vessel, &c. ; and subsequently that of the death of the next officer in authority on board, which, though it is alleged to have occurred, together with that of two of the crew, from falling off the fore-yard, there is, when all other things are taken into consideration, some ground for supposing it to have been anything but an accident, and this appears to have been the view taken at Ha• lifax upon the subject.