ADDITIONAL PARTICULARS.

[Saturday's Daily Times.]

STOKY OF THE DISASTER*

The Wairarapa's last voyage commenced auspiciously enough, for none of the passengers or crow as tbey embarked on her at Sydney bad any premonition t>f tho bhip'a fate. The ship was in tho beat of trim aud order as she cast off from the whaif at Sydney on Wednesday evening at 6 o'clock. In all she had about 230 euula on board, of whom the crew numbered ab ;ut 60. The passenger accommodation was fully occupied, and those on board for Auck-

land fully anticipated landing on Queen •treet wharf early the following Monday. At noon on Sunday she was off Spirits Bay, close fco the North C&po. Here the fog, in the obscurity of which the ship ran oh the Barrier, came dovn and hid everything from night. The weather was exceedingly thick, »nd after Ci>pe Mana was passed nothing whatever waa mon until the surviving rranhrd laud fit the Uieat Barrier on Myndiy moroing. A course was set for Cape Brett, and the ship kept on thab conrße until about 10 o'clock on Sunday night, when the vessel was somewhat to the north of Moko Hinou lighthouse, when jbhe course was altered to steer outside of the Big Hen (Chicken lilands). A bright look-out was kept tor the light, but owing to the thick fog it could not have been seen. To this failure'to pick up the Moko Ilinou light the loss of the steamer mutt be attributed. The captain continued on his course, iteering almost due south from tba vicinity of Moko Einou, outside of which light she mußfc have passed several miles. Usually the Sydney Bteamerssteer either five miles imideor five miles outeide the Little Barrier when approaching Auckland, but, the Wairarapa, misled by the fog fend the absence of the light, overran her course and brought up against the cliffs of the Great Barrier, 10 ot 15 miles out of her course. The distance from Moko Hinou to the Great Barrier fs 17 miles, and the steamer, coming through the water at the rate of 13£ knots an hour, very rapidly approached the island, at full speed through the fog, the Wairarapa suddenly ran bows on to a steep cliff with a fearful crash that aroused everyone on board. No one had any idea of the whereabouts of the steamer. Some had an idea they were on the Hen and Chickens, over 20 miles away from her actual position. Even the officers did cot know where they were until next morning. The precise situation was unknown to the Hurvivors. A westerly breeze was blowing at the time and a big eca was running. In the inten.*o darkness little could bo eeen but the wLite tops of the breaking waves, but by straining their eyes those on board discovered oh the starboard hand lofty cliffs looming up out of the blackness. The wreck was a frightfully sudden disaster. Going at full speed as she was, the jagged rocks at the base of the cliff had perforated her bottom, while the ship's bows were ■tove in from the impact when she ran head on to the perpendicular cliff, whioh impended fully 700 ft to 80Qft above the bows of the vessel. Rebounding from the terrible blow the iteamer hung on a sort of ledge, the waves sending her •ver on her port side. The saloon commenced to 011— a sign that the ship's bottom was destroyed. The pascengers, huddling on what clothes they corld, m»bed to the sides of the ship in search of the boats. The officers were already buby swinging out the lifeboats, of which the ship carried six, and clearing away the liferafts, lour in number. The captain gave orders to the office™ to get the boats out, but there was great difficulty in launching them, owiDg to the waves rolling the steamer about and the sea breaking completely Over the vessel. The boati on the port side were quickly out, one of the boats (No. 5) under the charge of the fourth officer being in the water in three minutea. The starboard boats were smashed, owiDg to the heavy list of the vessel and the heavy stan, and the few who were in them were thrown into the water. Only two boats succeeded in eventually gaining th« shore, all the others being «tove in and smashed. The seas broke over the whole of the steamer, washing many of the passengers and crew overboard. The liferafts were the means of saving a great many. A few minutes after the ship struck she suddenly canted over to port, and the waves, sweeping the deck, carried numbers overboard. The boats which had been tafoly l&UL tiled stood by the ship till daylight, picking up the people wherever possible. One of the officers stated that in the darkness the horses' heads bobbing about in the water were mistaken for human bti»gs, and efforts were actually made to rescue them under that impression. Those who did not leave the ship Jn the boats or who were not washed overboard took ti the tigging, numbers of them climbing to the foie and main shrouds. When daylight came a shocking scene presented itself to the gaze of the survivors. Straight ahead was a frowning perpendioular cliff with scattered rocks at its base, while the steamer lay over oh her port side, with her bows elevated, a perfect wreck, quite olose to the cliff. Dead bodies mingled with the wreckage, and the deck cargo floated around; while the sea for a considerable distance was covered with flot«am of all descriptions — portions of the deckhouses, doors, cases o£ fruit, horse stalls, &c. A few persons still supported themselves on pieces of wreckage, aided by lifebelts, and these were picked up by the boats. Not until later in the day were the survivors aware that they bad been wrecked on the Great Barrier. They were informed by settlers on the island of this fact, and astonifhfent was then expressed at the fact of Captain 'In tosh having been so much out of his course, was found that the high point where the vessel went ashore was the Miner's Head. The steamer had actually crashed into the cliff, where a large dent marks the spot of her impaot. The steamer has become partially wedged in a nook in the cliff. Ifc is stated that if Bhe should roll much she will slip off the ledge into 40 fathoms of water. (Fhom Otjb Own Coeresfondent. ) Auckland, November 2, A complete liat of names of those who have perished cannot as yet be ascertained. Even the entries in the books of the Sydney office could not definitely settle this mat.er, as & very considerable number came on board ju&t before the steamer lefb without having bcoked their passages, trusting to chance as far as accommodation was concerned. The total loss of life can therefore only be ultimately made up by the inquiries of friends and relations after their missing ones. The want of information more especially applies to steerage passengers, of whom it has now been ascertained there w ere 91, instead of 43 as was stated in the li.it which appeared in the Sydney papers, or 70, which was the number of whom the Union Steara Ship Company were advised by their Sydney agents. A careful computation now gives the number of passengers who perished as 101, and as 20 of the crew lost their lives, the total loss of life would therefore be 121. It has been ascertained that 93 passengers and 45 members of the crew were savtd. These figures would indicate that the total number cf persons on board the vessel was 259.