WRECK OF THE CITY OF VENICE.

Press, Volume XIX, Issue 2706, 2 January 1872, Page 2

WRECK OF THE CITY OF VENICE.

Intelligence of the loss of the iron clipper ship City of Venice comes to us (Argus'), by way of Mauritius. The City of Venice ■was a fine large iron clipper of 1199 tons, belonging to the well known City line of -Messrs' Smith and Son, of Glasgow, and was launched about five years ago. She was built specially for the Indian trade, and at the time she was wrecked was on her voyage from Glasgow to Bombay. She left Glasgow in command of Captain Muir, on August 1, with a large cargo, and a crew of some twenty-eight hands, all told, and struck on Rodriguez Island at 2 a.m. on October 6. The captain of the barque Sharston, which arrived in port yesterday from Mauritius, picked up first one and then another of the boats belonging to the wrecked vessel, and from his log we condense the following particulars of his falling in with the captain and crew of the City of Venice :—

" Monday, Oct. 9.—At 10 a.m. saw a boat bearing S.W. by W., with a kind of flag as a signal-at the end of a boat oar; steered for it, and hove to, main yards aback, when the boat came alongside and reported having in her part of the crew of the Bhip City of Venice, which was wrecked on Rodriguez Island on Friday, Oct. 6, at 2 a.m., and the hands in the boat—a small thing about 19ft. in the keel—had been in her ever since. There were thirteen of the crew in the boat, and on Captain Le Gros inquiring for the captain and the remainder of the crew, the boatswain stated that the captain of the City of Venice and the rest of the crew, fourteen in all, had left the ship at 7 a.m. in a lifeboat, and that they could, not be far away. Captain Le Gros then steered as near as he could judge in the direction given, and at 11 a.m. he came up with the lifeboat and took the captain and crew on board his vessel, hoisted the boats up, and entertained the shipwrecked men, who were rather hard tip for provisions and water." From the minutes of the evidence taken before the Marine Board at Mauritius, in reference to the loss of the City of Venice, it appears that the vessel was bound to Bombay, with a general cargo worth about £150,000. At noon, on October 5, the east end of Rodriguez bore north, distance 110 miles. The captain thought that the courses steered would take the ship some 30 or 35 miles.to the eastward of the island, and he did not expect to see the land. At two in the morning he considered that the ship had got to the northward of any danger. He had not jbeen off the deck two minutes when the ship struck on a reef. There was no appearance of land or broken water when he left the deck. In his evidence the captain stated :—"As soon as the ship struck the sea rolled in on the starboard quarter. It knocked him down. All hands were on deck immediately. Gave orders to get the boats out. ; They were all inboard, capsized on the skids. Had no time to save any documents, or to provision the boats properly. Saved a chronometer, a sextant, and a compass. All the people got off the vessel into the boats in about an hour. It was a matter of considerable difficulty, on account of the sea. Had a little water and bread in his own boat. In the mate's boat there was biscuit and cheese, but no water. In the boatswain's boat there was neither.food nor water. After leaving the vessel pnlled along the southern and western edges of the. reef, and seeing no way of getting inside, bore up for the Mauritius." The result of the inquiry was that the.Board came to the opinion that, .although there were not sufficient grounds for depriving the captain of his certificate, he deserved severe censure—lst, for not allowing his officers to participate in the navigation of the ship ; 2, for not heaving the log ; 3. for not attempting: to ascertain the correctness of the chronometers by lunar observations; 4, for going so near so dangerous a spot as Rodriguez.