SAD STORY OF A SHIPWRECK

Grey River Argus, Volume 21, Issue 3100, 23 July 1878, Page 2

SAD STORY OF A SHIPWRECK

The Times of India of the 9th of May: publishes an interesting narrative, given by Mrs Nesfield, one of the passengers by the steamship Child wall Hall, of the loss of that vessel near Cape St Vincent. Fifteen lives were lost in consequence of that disaster. Mrs Nesfield, who arrived at Bombay on Bth May, in company with some other survivors, made the following statement :— " We left Liverpool on Saturday, 6th April, and excepting some mistiness, enjoyed fine weather until the following Wednesday, when it was rather drizzly and very foggy. At midnight the steamer was stopped. At four o'clock the next morning we heard the order given for the engines to be started, and five minutes after we struck heavily upon a rock at Cape Sargres. We struck three times at a point about a mile from the lighthouse. We all rushed on deck to see what had happened, when Captain Putt came up and said, • Don't be agitated ; I will do my best for you.' Besides the crew, which I believe numbered fortyeight, there were on board Major and Mrs L'Estrange, Mr Neafield, myself, and ' our infant, Miss Hammond, the Rev Mr Horsfall, and two second-class passengers. By order of the captain one of the small boats was lowered, but a heavy sea dashed against it, and it was broken. In the meantime some of the stewards had i lowered another small boat, and, notwithstanding they saw our plight, entered it themselves, pushed off, and left 1 us to our fate. Their behavior so annoyed ' Mr Brown, the chief officer, that after tying a rope round his body he threw himself into the sea, to try and bring the boat back for us ; but his gallant action , was unsuccessful, and cost him his life. 1 The captain then took Mrs L'Estrange by the arm, and led her to the bridge, to assist in getting the lifeboat out. We 1 ladies had all gone across, when a tremendous sea washed the deck, throwing down the stewardess, who received two severe blows on her head, and one on her back, Major L'Estrange also having his left arm somewhat injured, and he has not yet recovered from the accident. Having got upon the bridge, the captain called for the sailors, and was informed that all but cwo had left the ship. We then ascertained that 27 men, most of them being sailors, had made their escape in the best of the lifeboats and a smaller one. If these men had exhibited less selfishness, and waited a little longer, probably all on board would have been saved. Considerable difficulty was experienced in lowering the boat, and we ladies were told not to get into it until the order was given. The captain, doctor, and the officers who were left in the vessel, together with Major L'Estrange and Mr Nesfield, did their best to get the boat down, but the ropes would not move, and there were no hatchets or knives, except a small olasp knife, with which the ropes could be cut. In trying to push off the boat, Mr Nesfield's foot was jammed between it and the vessel, but fortunately the boots he wore were very strong, and he was not hurt. After immense trouble the boat was at last pushed off, but fresh, difficulties presented themselves, beginning with the side being broken in by the force of a heavy sea. I should have mentioned the doctor entered the boat with the. rest of us, but, seeing that his presence would add to our danger, he returned to the ship, and we have not heard anything of him since. He was a fine powerful young man, and very popular with all on board. Having got the captain and the doctor to throw us down several buckets, we started with twenty-one persons in the boat, including all the passengers except the Rev. Mr Horsfall, the second officer, two engineers, the stewardess, the steward, two sailors, a stowaway, and a native called Mahomed. Major L'Estrange and one of the sailors worked the oars as. best they could, with the boat so much under water, and Mr Nesfield and the second sailor exerted themselves in baling out the, water and keeping a keg of fresh water from being washed away. At last the boat got so much under water that the air valves and other buoyant things required all the attention of the men to keep them from being washed away, and Mrs L'Ejtrange and I then took the buckets and baled out the water, continuing to do so for, I suppose, an hour. I should have told you that a steamer came within sight of us an hour after we started from the ship, the fosj having then cleared away. We called out to attract, if possible, the attention of those on board, and we fancy they saw us, as the vessel appeared to stop and go on again, evidently thinking ours was a fishing-boat. The fog then set in again, and the only ray of hope that we had wa3 the sight of a Childwall Hall boat, floating some distance from us. We went up to it, hoping thereby to lighten our own craft considerably, but that idea had to be abandoned as the boat was stove in, and, therefore, useless. After about five hours, during which time the water was being incea-

santly baled out of the boat, and all to no purpose, two of the ship's crew became maddened with fear. One of them insisted on coming and crouching down near us ladies who were seated on an elevated part of the boat out of the water. Another, a youth who was making his first voyage, seized hold of me for protectection, and I was obliged to rid myself of him by tearing the sleeve of my dress away. As it was, the poor boy's extreme fright nearly cost me my life. Presently we all became aware that the boat must capsize or sink, and we seized oars and bits of the boat which, as it continued to breakup, were getting more numerous every minute. Mr Nesfield and I (unlike the rest) were unprovided with life-belts or cork jackets, and so we secured a water keg on which to hang when the boat should fail us. We were, not, however, • allowed to have the benefit of the keg, for the terrifieV lad, whom I have previously r spoken of, notwithstanding he was sup-' plied with a cork belt, clutched the keg, and when my husband tried to take it „ . . from him, to our great horror it was ' washed away. Almost immediately ... afterwards what we had feared happened, the boat capsized, and we were struggling in the water. When - I rose from the water, I heard some one say, 'On to the keel !' I imitnmediately struggled up and saw Mr Nesfield a short distance from me rising, a second time. I held out my hand, which he seized, and we both climbed upon the overturned boat. We had not, however, been on the keel more than two "''" or thtee minutes at the utmost, when the boat righted itself, and we were again thrown into the water. As many of us as could do so scrambled into the boat, but the capsizing was repeated several v times before our deliverance. . There was no wind, the sea was calm,, arid probably the boat would not have capsized but for the restlessness of the two sailors. Each time we were capsized some lives wera lost ; I need not say that those who lost their presence of mind were the first to be drowned. For two hours and a half the " terrible state of things I have described , continued, and we had become thoroughly exhausted, when, the fog cleared,, and we ; were delighted to see close to us a J ; steamer, the Palmyra. Our cries ted the attention of the captain, who waved his hat to us, and sent two boats to our assistance. One of them picked up Major L'Estrange, who was kept afloat by the life-belt he wore, and Mrs L'Estrange; The latter, who was then holding to an oar, probably owed her life to' the fact that she was 'able' to ' ; ' swim. The .sailors who; manned' the , same boat likewise took out of the water the steward, but he died within three minutes of being placed in thu boat. Mr Nesfield and I was picked up by the latter boat and taken to the Palmyra, into which we could not get without assistance, so exhausted were we all. Captain Bruce behaved very kindly to us, providing tubs of hot water, brandy, and even clothes, for we were only able to partly dress, when the steamer struck, arid some of the clothing we did put on had to be sacrificed when we saw that we should be thrown into the water. The attention we received on board gradually revived all except my husband, who almost lost hii circulation, and was for some time in a=s .- condition that caused us great; anxiety^ Altogether thirteen persons were saved by the Palmyra's crew, out of twenty-one • who left the Child wall Hall. The Palmyra was bound for Malta, but Captain Bruce kindly went out of his way to take Us to Gibraltar. The European -residents of Gibraltar acted with great kindness to us, and provided us with clothing, so that we were able" to resume our journey in the P. and O. steamer Khedive on the following Tuesday. When we went on board the Khedive, both Mr Nesfield and myself were suffering from congestion of the luags, the result of our immersion, but thanks to the skilful treatment and great attention of the company's surgeon, Dr Barrett, we have com- ' pletely recovered. Our fellow-passenger, Miss Hammond, was provided with a life- v belt, and she seems to have lost her life through being kept in the boat when it capsized, having apparently been caught by a piece of rope. The second officer (Mr Williams), the chief engineer (Mr Norvell), and the fourth engineer (Mr ' v Leyland), behaved particularly well to me. ■ On one occasion, when my head was completely under wate*, Mr Williams raised me by clutching my hair, and the other two gentlemen, when, my husband was some distance from me and unable to help me, saved me from floating away.