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ing. He trusted that if another crew came over to meet Oxford, the results of the experience of those who had gone before them would not be unserviceable. He had formed one of the unsuccessful crew, but from what he had seen of English oarsmen and English rowing, he felt that it was no disgrace to be beaten by the Oxford crew.

Mr. F. Willan next rose and apologized for the absence of the other members of the winning crew, who, he said, all lived far away from London, and had to keep long-standing engagements. He had rowed, he said, many hard races from Putney to Mortlake, but none so hard as the match of Friday. The best thanks of the Oxford men were, he observed, due to Messrs. Warre and Morrison for their efforts to improve the crew in their rowing and in their physical condition.

The company shortly afterwards broke up.

31. LETTER FROM MR. PEABODY.-Mr. Peabody addressed the following Letter to the Committee charged with the erection of his statue :

"Baltimore, August 31.

"I have the honour to acknowledge your communication of the 28th of July, announcing the inauguration of Mr. Story's statue of myself near the Royal Exchange by the Prince of Wales, and I have to express to you, individually and collectively, my warmest and kindest thanks for the deep interest you have manifested in the undertaking from its very inception, and my gratification at learning that the assiduous attention which you have devoted to it has been so perfectly crowned with success.

"The international character which was given to the ceremonies has been especially gratifying to me, as every thing has ever been which could tend to connect more closely the two great nations of England and the United States, both of them very dear to me, and never more so than at the present time.

"I feel under the deepest obligations to the Prince of Wales for the cordiality with which he accepted your invitation, and for the graceful manner and kind expressions with which he accompanied the ceremonies of unveiling the statue; and it has given me great pleasure to learn that, on that occasion, my friend Mr. Motley, the American Minister, addressed, as I believe for the first time in public, an English audience.

"And it has been a source of great satisfaction to me, that an eminent American sculptor should have so well performed the task you gave him, and that your choice has been sustained by the verdict of the London public, who have manifested so kind an interest and approval in the result.

"I notice with much gratification, among the list of subscribers, that a large number of the working men of London aided the undertaking by their subscriptions.

"I can but hope that the course of my life, now drawing towards its close, may justify, when finished, all the honours which have

been so freely bestowed on me, of which this is one of the greatest; and I cannot more strongly express my feelings than to say, that I do not believe there could be found in the whole kingdom a man of any rank, however high, who would not feel honoured by such a noble testimonial as you have just dedicated to a humble American

citizen.

"With great respect, your friend and humble servant,
"GEORGE PEABODY."

SEPTEMBER.

13. WRECK OF THE "CARNATIC."-A terrible shipwreck befell one of the fine fleet of mail steamers of the Peninsular and Oriental Company, the "Carnatic," a powerful iron-built vessel of 1776 tons, which was totally lost, with about twenty-six of her people, off the Island of Shadwan, in the Gulf of Suez, this morning.

The "Carnatic" had for some time been employed by the company on the service between Suez and Bombay, and Bombay and China. She left Suez for Bombay on Sunday, the 12th inst., under the charge of Captain P. B. Jones, R.N.R., commander, an old and experienced officer of the company. She carried twenty-two first-class passengers, twelve second, one native servant; and one child-in all, thirty-seven. She had a general cargo, shipped from the steamer "Venetian," from Liverpool, together with about 40,0007. in specie. A telegram of her departure was received at the company's office in Leadenhall-street, and the first they heard of the disaster to the ship was early on the 17th, when a relative of one of the passengers waited on the secretary with a telegram, reporting that the "Carnatic" was totally wrecked, and that his friends were to be telegraphed to that he was saved. Beyond this, no positive intelligence was received by the company till about noon, when the following came to hand from their superintendent at Suez:

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"Suez, September 16, two a.m. "The Carnatic,' steamship, from Suez for Bombay, was totally wrecked of Shadwan at one a.m. on the 13th of September. Passengers and crew landed on Shadwan, and arrived in the 'Sumatra' at Suez at two a.m., September 16, excepting five passengers and nine of the officers and crew, and fifteen natives. Mails, specie, cargo, and baggage 'went down in ship.""

After the receipt of the above, another was received :—

"Suez, September 16. "The 'Sumatra' arrived at two a.m. to-day. The 'Carnatic' a total wreck off Shadwan at one a.m., September 13. Passengers and crew landed on Shadwan, and arrived in 'Sumatra,' with the exception of the following, who are missing :-Captain Pope, Mr.

Thompson, Mr. Cuppage, Mr. Pidding (Peninsular and Oriental Service), and Mr. Warren, Mr. Ransford (surgeon), Mr. Gardner (purser), Mr. M'Intosh (purser's clerk), Mr. Boque (chief engineer), Mr. Coll, Mr. M'Caw (fifth engineer), F. Ferguson (steward), Woods, Spratt, Harper, and fifteen natives. Mails, specie, cargo, and luggage went down in ship."

The following account of the wreck was given by one of the passengers:

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"The Carnatic' left Suez for Bombay on Sunday, the 12th inst., commanded by Captain Jones. By Sunday night, at half-past eleven, she had reached the island of Shadwan, the last of the group of islands at the bottom of the Gulf of Suez, where the broad part of the Red Sea commences. The sea was calm, and the night very starlight and clear, and the ship steaming at eleven and a half knots an hour, when she ran dead on to a well-known coral reef which fringes the island of Shadwan. The shock was not very violent, for she ran on to a slanting portion of the reef, her bows lifting right out of the water, and sliding so far up on to the bank, that she remained about evenly balanced on the edge of the reef, her forepart as far as the funnel resting on the coral, and her afterpart projecting, unsupported, over the deep water adjoining the bank. Her bows were thrown up at an angle of about twelve or fifteen degrees, and she was also leaning over to the starboard so much as to make it uncomfortable to walk upon her decks. The passengers, on rushing on deck, at once saw the long line of breakers stretching away on the right-hand for half a mile towards the island of Shadwan, and on the left hand for about 150 yards towards the Asiatic coast and the open channel; so that, had she been 200 yards more to the eastward, she would have passed in perfect safety. This reef is well known, and is passed at a safe distance by every steamer which travels up or down the Red Sea. The island of Shadwan was visible, apparently not a mile off, but, in reality, about four and a half miles distant, while behind was visible the island of Jubal, and the Ushruffi Lighthouse giving its cheerful rays. As the ship was making no water, and evidently in no immediate danger, the passengers dressed themselves, and, collecting together their valuables and a little hand-baggage, waited impatiently for the daylight. As soon as this appeared the situation was clearly apparent, and it was found that the reef was dry at low water, and had only three feet of water at high tide. At the same time, the wind had freshened considerably, and the ship, balanced on an uneven bed, bumped in a most uncomfortable manner from side to side. The disappointment of the passengers was very great when they were told they would not be put on shore, as they had all anticipated. They were, fortunately, only about thirty in number, of whom three were ladies and one was a little child, so that one boat would easily hold all. The crew commenced lightening the forepart of the ship by throwing over cargo, and endeavoured, fruitlessly, to pull her off the reef by putting out an anchor aft, which, however, would not hold in such

deep water. It was obvious, in fact, that, having glided smoothly up the coral at full speed, the larger portion of her weight rested on the ground, and that no available force could ever move her off again. As the murmurs against being kept on the wreck grew louder, the captain, after dinner, called the passengers into the aftercabin and explained that his motive for not having sooner addressed himself to any of them was, his desire to take every measure for the salvation of the ship, which he still trusted would be got off the rocks; and he recommended the passengers to choose a committee to confer with him as to the measures he had taken, adding his recommendation that he thought it much better to remain on the wreck. A committee of three was chosen, to whom he explained that he had put two anchors forward on to the reef to prevent her sliding into deep water, and was employing the pumps in keeping the after-compartment dry. By this time she had bumped a hole in her side, and the fore-compartments were full of water; the engine compartments were dry, but there was a constant leakage into the after-cabin, some of the berths being awash. These explanations reassured the passengers, who, seeing that it was too late to effect a landing by daylight, resigned themselves to passing another night on the wreck.

"During the night a great change for the worse took place. The leak in the after-saloon increased seriously, and chairs and seats were awash at the farther end. The water slowly gained upon the pumps and got into the stoke-holes and put out the fires, stopping the engines. The waves began also to break over the after-taffrail. As daylight broke it was evident the ship would in a few hours be full of water from stem to stern, and might any moment slip down off the reef. The passengers were all ordered on to the forecastle, as there were signs of straining below deck near the engines. The crew continued to throw over cargo, and hoisted sails on the foremast to keep her from sliding back; they also lowered the yards from the mainmast. Boats had previously been got alongside, with a little water and provisions, in case of emergency. During all these long hours of gradually increasing danger, the island lay refreshingly in sight, close at hand, the water between being in a state of dead calm from the protection of the reefs; but, to the astonishment of every body, no attempt was made to man the boats, or put the passengers on shore. The committee had been badly selected, for it comprised among its three members the only two persons on board who were in favour of remaining on the wreck, and its action was therefore paralyzed. The passengers, behaving with wonderful presence of mind, could do nothing but exchange murmurings against the captain, and calmly await the result. At seven o'clock a fresh leak sprang in the main saloon, which began to fill rapidly with water, and by nine o'clock the water inside and outside the ship was pretty nearly on a level. The stern had sunk considerably, and it was reported, that while bumping from side to side she had worked herself six feet down the slope. Although she was

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now virtually a water-logged wreck, no attempt was even now made to put the mails and passengers on shore. By eleven o'clock the wind had freshened considerably, and the waves becoming rougher, strained her so that she began to get hogged, and her stern sank under the water, so that her quarterdeck was all awash with deck-chairs, seats, hatches, &c. The order was now given to take to the boats, and the passengers, who had waited nearly two days and nights with their little bundles of valuables by their sides, began instantly to crowd down off the forecastle and to enter the boats. But the order had been given too late, for the gallant vessel had only five minutes to live. The boats had kept alongside with a man or two in them, and the three ladies and a little child entered them together with four or five other passengers. The vessel was now settling down fast, each wave reaching farther and farther up the decks; and before the last of the ladies had fairly been got into a boat, the vessel parted clean in two amidships, with a noise like thunder, and the after-part glided down into deep water, leaving an immense gulf in the waves as it disappeared. The fore-part of the steamer rolled over first to starboard and then to port, finally settling down into deep water, but with her foremast and part of her bulwarks still above water. The crash was instantaneous, and as the crowd of passengers was descending in close file to the boats just as she separated beneath their feet, the majority of them fell, together with an immense mass of cargo and luggage, into the water just as the returning wave from the sinking vessel came back on the top of them, and for a few moments formed one struggling mass of human beings, mixed up with sheep, fowls, boxes, barrels, cargo, and deck lumber of every description, whirling about in inextricable confusion. By degrees the agitation of the water subsided, and those who were fortunate enough to escape, were seen struggling up the rigging, or swimming ashore among the wreckage. Numberless deeds of gallant daring were now done, the survivors rendering assistance to those who were still in the water, and in many cases when they were too exhausted to help themselves.

"The boats were at once taken possession of by the Lascar crew, who, though they had hitherto worked very gallantly, now lost discipline, and consulted their own safety; but they were soon brought back, and picked up those who were still floating or clinging to the rigging, and it being now high water, the boats were floated over the reef, and made their way to the island of Shadwan, where darkness came on before all were disembarked.

"On mustering together it was found that twenty-six souls were lost, of whom about fifteen or sixteen were Europeans; and there was enough water and food on shore to last about two days on short allowance, the total number being about 200 souls. There was one signal-rocket, but no means of producing a light. The 'Sumatra' was known to be due, and great anxiety was felt lest she should pass us in the night without our having the means

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