The Sun. — 1833-06-29 (London, England)

THAMES POLICE.  EXTRAORDINARY INVESTIGATION.-Thursday Thornas Henry, the mate, and John Wood, the carpenter, of the brig Matchless, of Aberdeen, now lying in the St. Katharine Dock, and which has lately arrived from Bahia with a cargo of sugar and coffee, attended before Mr. BALLANTINE, to explain the circumstances connected with the sudden disappearance of Captain Nicholls, the master of the vessel, at sea. The inquiry originated out of an application made by a Gentleman to the Magistrate on Wednesday evening, who stated that the Captain and a boy bad disappeared during the voyage; that the ship had been brought home in charge of the mate; and that, from the fact of the crew having left the vessel directly she arrived in the port of London, and other suspicious circumstances, it was strongly suspected that the Captain and boy had been murdered. Mr. Nicholls, the brother of the deceased Captain, and several Gentlemen, his friends, were present during the investigation. Mr. BALLANTINE read the journal from the 27th of November to the 4th of December la-t, when the Captain was missing, from which it appeared that he displayed evident symptoms of insanity during that time, and behaved in such a strange way as to endanger the lives of all hands on board. He laboured under a delusion that the crew "ere mutinous and wou'd not obey his lawful comm ends, though they always did their duty with alacrity. One day he asked the mate to take charge of the ship. and bring her through the Straits of Messina; hut on his refusal to do so, and telling him that be bad the command, he confined the mate below. He subsequently veered the ship in contrary direction, at one time standing for Corfu, and at another making for Messina. He swore that it was a day later than it really was, and on the mate refusing to alter the dates in the log-book, he compelled the carpenter to nail it to the companion. Many other strange acts were mentioned in the log-book, such as his ordering the cook to he bound land and foot, asking the crew to put him ashore at Calabria, throwing a piece of wood overboard, and swearing lie would go ashore upon it, and speaking to the Captain of an American ship to supply him with fresh hands. On the morning of the 4th of December, when the ship was within a few miles of Messina, he came below, and borrowed pen and ink of the mate. Soon afterwards, and while a portion of the ship's company were at breakfast, he took the helm from the carpenter, and sent him below, and ordered a boy named Jefferies to take it. After the carpenter was gone he sent time boy forward and took the helm from him. On the return of the carpenter be found no one at the helm, and asked the hoy what had become of the Captain. The boy replied, " I don't know; is be not below ?" The carpenter said he was not. An instant search was made, but he was not again seen. Al hands w, re immediately called on deck, anti they at once concluded the Captain had committed suicide. The Captain's hat, handkerchief, and sea jacket were found att, hut on further search the deep-sea lead was missing. Subse quently a note in the Captain's hand-writing was found behind the looking-glass. It was to the following effect :  Mr. BA LLANTINE saw no reason for suspecting that the Captain had met with hie death unfairly. There could he no doubt he had committed suicide, and that from tl,e time the ship left Bahia he was in a state of insanity. The British Consul had already investigated the circumstance, and if he had seen any grounds of suspicion he would have given notice to the authorities here. The mate said the boy was missing during the Captain's lifetime, and while the ship was at Gibraltar.