WRECK OF THE S.S. BUNCOORA.

Press, Volume XLVIII, Issue 7937, 10 August 1891, Page 3

WRECK OF THE S.S. BUNCOORA.

MELBOURNE, July 15. Sfelbourne has been visited by the severest flood it has experienced since 1863. It began to rain on Saturday morning about one o'clock. The previous day had been one of the few really fine days of the winter, which has been depressingly wet; but towards nightfall it became overcast. Though _____ tugs seemed likely, no one could have anticipated such remarkably bad weather as followed. Early on Saturday forenoon a south-west gale sprang up. This increased hour byhour, and with it the rain increased also. This is a very unusual occurrence in Melbourne, where heavy rainfalls are always marked by the absence of wind, but on this occasion the wind blew with extreme violence, driving ,a. pelting rain before it in sheets. Except that the cold was not correspondingly intense, it was the kind of weather one might expect at the Auckland Islands. All through Saturday night it continued, the rain never ceasing for an instant, and the wind sometimes reaching a velocity of from forty to fifty miles an hour. The same state of things lasted all day on Sunday till far in the evening. At intervals the wind was a trifle less violent, but it always blew a gale, and Sunday was certainly as boisterous and miserable a day as was ever known in the city. About seven o'clock there was a final burst, and thereafter the wind andrain gradually ceased, though after nine o'clock no less than an inch of rain fell. The total fall during the forty-eight hours or so was 5.40 inches. As the same rainfall had been experienced all the way up the valley of the Yarra. naturally that river was soon in

roaring flood- It overflowed its banks in its course through the suburbs and the city on Sunday, and rose till about eleven o'clock on Monday. At the Johnston street bridge at Studley Park, where it is confined between high banks, the river was 41ft above summer leveL The .present flood was very slightly higher than, that of 1863, perhaps 6in. The improvemßnts made by the .Harbor Trust on the jtawer river enabled -_» flood waters to gejr away better than of yore, but above Priice's bridge, where the tide has little effect, the spread of the water was pretty much the same. Some houses in the lower parts of Richmond close to the river, such as near the old Cremorne Gardens, were almost entirely covered by water. The flood reached close up to the Richmond railway station, covering the beautiful bowling-green which lies close to the railway line, and on the South Yarra side it spread up to within a few yards of the South \arra railway station. Persons conversant with the locality will understand how far the waters reached, when it is stated that they were up Punt road as far as the railway bridge which crosses that street. At Richmond they were washing some 2 or 3ft of the walls of the South Yarra skating rink. Over the hollow in Toorak road, just beyond Chapel street, they were as high as the lamp-posts, and the Friendly Societies' grounds, where Pain's fireworks were exhibited, were covered 6 or Bft deep. The Fleradngton racecourse on which the Grand National Hurdle Race was to have been run on Saturday, was flooded to the extent of at least three feet on Monday, the water being just awash with the railings ia the straight, while the tops only of the steeplechase jumps were visible. These fevr particnlars will suffice to give people who have visited Melbourne some idea of the height of the flood. There were only two or three cases of drowning. One was a man who was in a boat alone on Monday afternoon, just below the Falls Bridge, where the shipping begins. His boat capsized, and he was drowned in sight of the thousands who lined the bridge and river banks to see the raging waters. In another case a young fellow got some drink in a house in South Yarra deserted by its inmates and he fell asleep in bed. The waters rose and drowned him. Considering the very severe gale which prevailed the shipping disasters were not numerous. A ship dragged her anchors in the bay and got on to a mud bank, but she was towed off unhurt. Two small schooners from Tasmania with potatoes were driven on shore east of Port Phillip heads and became a total wreck. From one of them two lives were lost. There is also a well grounded belief that a schooner, name unknown, foundered off the coast in the same neighborhood and all hands were lost.

The principal disaster was the wreck of the well-known steamer Buncoora, which occurred at half-past two o'clock on Monday morning near Bream creek at a distance of about Beven miles west of Port Phillip Heads, four miles from the Barwon Heads, and three miles east of where the Joseph H. Scaonmell was wrecked a few months ago. The vessel was bound from Calcutta to Melbourne with a general cargo and she was under command of Captain Britten, who had charge of her for the first time. Her crew consisted of ninety-four persons, and she carried twenty-two passengers besides a general cargo. The whole of the passengers and crew have been rescued, but there appears to be little prospect of saving the vessel as her bottom is already stove in and she is half full of water. The Buncoora left Adelaide on Friday morning last and, had all gone well, expected to enter Port Phillip Heads on Sunday morning. Immediately after leaving Adelaide the vessel encountered a tremendous South-west gale and she was struggling with this from that time until she ran ashore. What was supposed to be the Cape Otway light was seen about midnight on Saturday, and the vessel held on her course expecting to sight the Heads about daylight. The rain was falling in torrents, the weather was thick and hazy, and a tremendous sea was running. The vessel appears to have cruised about all Sunday looking in vain for the Heads or for a pilot boat. When they were not sighted a course was steered out to sea to obtain a good offing. Then about midnight on Sunday the course was changed, and the vessel's head was put again towards the Heads. Two hours and a half from this time she was ashore. It was the watch of the*_econd officer, Mr Sharp. The passengers and crew were soon on deck, and in the wildness of the night, with the sea making clean breaches over her, it was not expected that the vessel could hold together for an hour. The first thought was of the boats, of which there were seven, and under the direction of the officers the crew, assisted by several of the passengers, worked manfully, but without panic or disorder, in the effort to launch them. This was no easy task, for the men were repeatedly driven from their posts by the heavy sea, but in an hour or two they were ready to launch. It was then fouud that the vessel was holding together well, and did not appear to be in immediate danger of going to pieces, and therefore it was determined to stand by her until daylight, when the chances of a successful landing would be greater.

When daylight broke the occupants of the vessel for the first time found what their position was, and it was seen that it was by no means so desperate as in the darkness and the blinding storm they had feared. The vessel lay no more than 200 yards from a sandy beach, and she appeared to be firmly bedded in the sand and able to withstand the shock of the waves. Nevertheless, no time was lost in securing a means of escape should the vessel go to pieces. The second officer and several members of the crew went ashore in a boat, taking with them a line, which was firmly fixed on the beach, and formed a constant means of communication with the vessel. The Lascar sailors, never to be relied on in cases of emergency like British sailors, were the first to leave the vessel as soon as communication with the shore was opened, but it was.not until : evening that the European passengers and the officers landed. The only European lady on board was Mrs Rout, the wife of a sea captain. She with her infant was landed early and conveyed to Geelong. Captain Britten, of "the Buncoora, is an old and trusted officer of the British India Steam Navigation Company, and during a long term or service has never met-with an accident before. He has been ailing in health for some time past, having suffered from an attack of Mauritius fever, and he gladly accepted the Company's, offer to take charge of the Buncoora on this voyage in order to benefit his health by a trip to cool latitudes. He is not a stranger to the port of Melbourne, having been here before on several occasions, on one of which he was in command of the vessel which is now stranded. The trip S roved very beneficial to him until after ape Otway was passed and the tempestuous weather was fallen in with. .Then he was on the bridge, for two days and nights without sleep, and experienced an anxious and trying time. Just before the vessel struck he was lying down in a cabin on deck with his clothes on, snatching a few minutes' rest, while the second officer remained on the bridge, and the chief officer, who had his watch below, had turned in. Captain Britten states that he saw no lights on Saturday or Sunday, and believed that he was about forty miles away from the point where the steamer struck. He is much distressed at the occurrence, and intends to remain on board until he receives further instructions. One of the few remarks he made about the stranding of the vessel waa—" It is a sad pity to see a fine vessel lying like this. God knows how she got there, for I don't."