THE SARAH SANDS.

NZ Truth, Issue 104, 15 June 1907, Page 8

THE SARAH SANDS.

The Sarah' Sands, an iron steftnshlp, of ttfctut 2000 tons,, left P§its-=

mouth for 'Calcutta m August, 1867;,. having on board 300 soldiers belonging to the 54.-th Regiment. Hex voyage was successful^ till she reached a point about 40<J 3sail.es ftpm Mauritius, when, on 'Noive-mfc'er ii, about '3.45 p.m.,.- she was discovered to foe on fire,,

Captain , Castle went into the hold and found it to "be m flapies, so he ordered the engines to be all the sail to *ba taken m, and the ship brought before the .wind. The fireengine was got ready,' and every nee- . essary precaution taken. 'Colonel M-of-fatt ordered the ammunitipai to be thrown overboard, ami the starboard, magazine was cleared 011't.j The re-> mainder of the powder m . the port magazine, however., excited great apprehension, for already the after-part of the ship had. become . 'ALMOST .UNTENABLEffIh'e Colotiel lappaaled to his men for volunteers to rescue the contents of the -threatened iwa^azihe, and several brave fellows instantly came forward,, and (heroically succeeded m clearing it all but one or. two barrels.. The flames soon.. 'afterwards burst through the deck, and speedily set the whole on fire. There was a heavy gale to lowing;, and the ship pitching, so Oaptain Castle ordered the boats to foe lowered,., amcl the troops mustered on deck., . . The women anidt children, ."were lowered into the port lifeboat, which -was directed to stand off until, further notice. All hands then turned to constructing rafts of spare spars; and m a short time three were put together, which would foa-vefoem capable of savlimg a lot of those on deck. Captain Castle succeeded m launching a ', couple ; but meanwhile the whole of the oa'bins, saloon, etc., were 'one body of flame, awd at aWout nine o'clock th« lire burst through the upper decks, and ignited the mizzen rigging. 'Amidst this fearful suspense an explosion took place, whicli 'blew out the port wvartar. ALL' WAS CONSTERNATION, and the ship, from the main rdsftinff . to her stern, was one body of fire. Providentially, the bulkhead of the after part of ithe ' ship witiiiSitoiO'd: the action of the flames; Here, party, after party volunteered to keep the flames at Lay, and several fell senseless from the smoke^ and were dragged up apparently dead. To the great honor .of the troops they obeyed the officers with a calmness and energy which was almost, as-, tounding, and but for which the ship ImusV have peri&hed,' with those -on board. The men doubled their exertions, and by daylight were rewarded by the entire suppression of the flames. The after part of the ship was burnt out, MERELY ITS SHELL remaining, and now another , fate threatened her, for, as the gale still prevailed, the vessel shipped 'considerable water at the port smarter. She had 15ft of water m her. hold, and active steps had* to be taken for bailing, the water out. Eventually Oaptain^ Castle made for the port of Mauritius, and, to the joy of all, arrived there on November 23, Where they awaited the arrival of a ship to take them to their destination. .