and some scientific persons, were also consulted. To some eye-witnesses, it appeared that the fire had broken out in the store-room, to which the store-keeper had been seen going with a lamp; the storekeeper declared that he was quitting the store-room when he saw the fire below, between the boiler and the bulk-head, where the fireman had placed a large quantity of newly-tarred coalsacks; others attributed the fire to the circumstance that the stokers had been seen to hang up red-hot "prickers" in contact with the deal bulk-head of the engine-room. Whatever may have been the origin of the fire, there was no difficulty in accounting for its rapid spread-the ship indeed appears to have been a perfect "fire-ship." The whole of her upper works were of new pinetimber, highly resinous; and the engine-room was surrounded on all sides by pine-wood partitions, in most places in close contiguity to the boilers. Immediately over the boilers was the store-room, the floor of which was within a foot or less of the top of the boiler or steam-chest, and supported by a hollow iron beam which came close to the boiler and extended across the stoke-hole where several furnaces were radiating great heat. In this store-room there were stowed 568 gallons of oil and 22 cwt. of tallow in iron tanks, 1024 lbs. of soft soap in casks, three tin cases of boiled oil, and a tin bottle of turpentine. Twentyfive newly-tarred sacks were packed in between the store-room and the steam-chest; other tarred sacks were lying upon the boiler. The whole of this combustible mass lay heating together; and, consequently, the moment it caught fire, from whatever cause, such a

volume of intense flame burst forth as drove every one from the vicinity and rendered any attempt to subdue it impossible.

The officers who conducted the inquiry reported, that the great sacrifice of life was partly attributable to the too great anxiety of the superior officers to save the vessel, when all exertions were evidently useless, instead of enforcing order and arrangement at the first, with respect to the escape of the passengers and the crew in the boats. They acquit the Directors of the Company from much blame that the public opinion had attributed to them. In their opinion the Amazon was not sent to sea before she was ready, nor were the crew in an imperfect state of discipline; the boats were ample and excellent of their kind, but the mode in which they were secured was unusual and difficult; the means of extinguishing fire were scarcely adequate for so large a vessel, although there were twelve pumps; but the instantaneous destruction of the "donkey engine" and " Downton - pump, should have forced the water through the ship, would have rendered any extent of hose unavailable. The singular fatality that the flames prevented the engineers from stopping the engines, pointed out the necessity of having some command over the machinery from the deck.

which

Upon the whole, the lamentable destruction of this fine vessel, and the dreadful fate of her crew and passengers, would appear to be attributable to circumstances which consummate prudence and foresight might have prevented, but which appear to be in some degree incident to a system of navigation, the extension of which to

long sea voyages is too recent to have afforded necessary experience. The misery and affliction extended so widely and severely by this great calamity, excited great compassion throughout Great Britain; nor were the continental nations and the United States backward in answering the appeal. A sum amounting to nearly 14,000l. was speedily collected, which was distributed according to the need and position of the desolate. Mrs. MacLellan, Mrs. Angus, widow of the chief engineer, and Mrs. Fullerton, widow of the surgeon, receive each an annuity of 251. ayear, with 251. as an apprentice fee for each of their children. In the second class, eight widows of inferior officers and second class passengers receive 201. a-year each. A third class receive a single money payment, proportioned to their position in life-to Miss Smith was given 2001.; the Rev. Mr. Blood, one of the surviving passengers, 100l.; Miss Brady, sister to Lieut. Brady, the Admiralty agent, 2007.; Mrs. Brown, a widow with three children, sister of the Rev. Mr. Winter, a first-class passenger, 2501.; Mrs. Lewis, a widow, the mother of the third officer, 1251.; Master Symons, son of the captain, 501. for an outfit. Various poor women, mothers of a portion of the crew, who entirely or occasionally assisted them, were granted sums varying from 25l. to 51.

Miss Symons, the only daughter of the captain, a child, was granted a widow's annuity of the first class -viz., 251. per annum.

Besides these grants, various

orphan institutions opened their charitable doors to 21 orphans ; and a benevolent lady, Miss Noel, of Romsey, generously took three others under her own protection.

The West India Mail Company has been most unfortunate in the loss of their steam ships. Since the establishment of the Company in 1841 no less than eight of their fleet have been destroyed by casualties on the sea. The Medina, wrecked on the 12th of May, 1844, on a coral reef, near Turk's Island; the Isis, on the 8th of October, 1812, sunk off Bermuda, having previously struck on a reef; the Solway, wrecked off Corunna, on the 8th of April, 1843; the Tweed, on the 12th of February, 1847, on the Alacranes Rocks, Gulf of Mexico; the Forth, lost on the same rocks on the 15th of January, 1849; the Act@on, lost in 1844 in the Negrellos, near Carthagena; and the new steamer Demerara stranded in the river Avon, near Bristol, not long since. The wreck of the Tweed (recorded in the ANNUAL REGISTER in its place) affords one of those remarkable instances of fortitude and energy under circumstances of great danger, which give so vivid an interest to narratives of shipwrecks and disasters at sea. By the exhibition of these high qualities, a large number of persons were rescued from a death scarcely less appalling than befell the unhappy passengers of the Amazon, and suggests the doubt whether similar resignation and foresight might not have rendered that calamity less fatal.

The sensation caused by the destruction of the Amazon had scarcely subsided, when, in the beginning of April, intelligence was received of the wreck of Her Majesty's steam troop-ship, Birkenhead, near the Cape of Good Hope, with fearful loss of life.

The Birkenhead was built at the port of that name, entirely of iron; and being destined for a ship of war, her framework and plating were of the strongest construction. She was divided into three watertight compartments by iron" bulk heads," and was fitted with engines of 550-horse power. Not proving efficient as a war frigate, her guns were taken out, and she was converted into a troopship, for which she proved well adapted. The unfortunate war with the Kaffirs requiring additional forces, the Birkenhead was ordered to take out detachments to reinforce the several regiments serving at the Cape. She sailed from Queenstown on the 7th of January, and arrived at Simon's Bay on the 23rd of February. Here she took in some horses, and landed a number of women and children, and a few invalids.

Owing to the loss of the muster-rolls and books, the precise number of persons who were at this time on board cannot be ascertained. The troops are supposed to have consisted of the following detachments:-12th Lancers, Cornets Bond and Rolt, and six men; 2nd (Queen's Royal) Regiment, Ensign Boylan, one sergeant, and 50 men; 6th Regiment, Ensign Lawrence Metford, one sergeant, and 60 men; 12th Regiment, Captain Blake, one sergeant, and 14 men; 43rd Light

Infantry, Lieutenant Girardol, one sergeant, and 40 men; 45th Regiment, one officer, one sergeant, and 70 men; 60th Rifles, one sergeant and 40 men; 73rd Regiment, Lieutenants Robinson and Booth, and Ensign Lucas, one sergeant, and 70 men; 74th, Lieutenant-Colonel Seton and Ensign Russell, one officer, and 60 men; 91st Regiment, Captain Wright, one sergeant, and 60 men; making a total of 13 officers, 9 sergeants, and 466 men. Besides these, there were on board, 20 women and children, and some officers of the medical staff. The crew consisted of about 130 officers and seamen ; making a total of 630 persons.

The Birkenhead sailed on the 25th about six A. M. for Algoa Bay. At eight P. M. the ship's course was duly pricked off on the chart, within False Bay; and the man at the helm received directions how to steer. A leadsman was on the paddle-box, and look-out men were placed; the night was fine, starlight, and calm, but a long swell setting in on shore; the land was distinctly visible on the port bow. About 10 minutes before two A. M., the leadsman got soundings in 12 or 13 fathoms, the ship then going about eight knots; before he could get another cast of the lead, the ship struck on a precipitous rock, with two fathoms water under her bows, and 11 by the stern.

The Master-Commander of the ship, Mr. Salmond, rushed on deck, ordered the small bower anchor to be let go, the quarter-boats to be lowered, and to lie off alongside the ship; the paddle-box boats to be got out, and a turn astern to be given by the engines. This last seems to have been a

fatal measure; for as the ship backed from the rock, the water rushed into the large orifice made by the concussion; and the ship striking again, the whole of the plates of the foremost bilge were "buckled up," and the partition bulkheads torn asunder. The consequence was, that in a very few minutes the forward compartments and engine rooms were filled with water, and a great number of the unfortunate soldiers were drowned in their berths. In the meanwhile, Mr. Salmond and his officers, and the commanders of the military, were doing their duty on deck with heroic composure; the survivors of the soldiers had mustered and awaited the orders of their officers with firm discipline. Mr. Salmond gave orders to Colonel Seton to send troops to the chain pumps: the orders were implicitly obeyed, and perfect discipline maintained. The women and children were calmly placed in the cutter, which lay alongside, in the charge of an officer, and pulled off to a short distance to be free from the danger of a rush; two other boats were also manned; but it would appear that even in this disciplined man-of-war, where the crew were well exercised in launching boats, the same unfortunate difficulty

that had been so fatal in the Amazon was present-one of the life-boats that was lowered into the water was immediately swamped, and the other, and the boat on the booms, could not be launched at all. Thus, no more than three boats, which were deeply laden with 78 persons, were all that were actually available for 630 persons. In ten minutes after the first concussion, and while the engines were still turning astern, the ship, as stated, struck again under the

engine room, bilging the side several feet, and tearing open the bottom. Instantly the ship broke in two, abaft the mainmast; the bowsprit sprung up in the air towards the foretopmast; the funnel went over the side, and the forepart of the ship sunk instantly; the stern part, now crowded with men, floated a few minutes longer, and then sunk, leaving the main topmast and topsail - yard only visible above water. To this awful moment the resolution and coolness of all hands were remarkable,

"far exceeding," says Captain Wright, "anything that I thought could be effected by the best discipline: every one did as he was directed, and there was not a murmur or a cry among them until the vessel made her final plunge. All the officers received their orders and had them carried out, as if the men were embarking instead of going to the bottom; there was only this difference, that I never saw any embarkation conducted with so little noise and confusion. When the vessel was just about going down, the commander called out

all those who can swim jump overboard, and make for the boats.' We begged the men not to do as the commander said, as the boat with the women must be swamped. Not more than three made the attempt." Under this heroic obedience to discipline the whole mass were engulphed in the waves by the sinking of the ship. Such as were not sucked into the abyss clung to the mast and yards; some

yard had little prospect but of a brief respite; those who were floating a still more horrible anticipation-the sea at this part abounds with numerous sharks; the coast is inaccessible for miles owing to heavy breakers, and to those who should be fortunate enough to escape the jaws of the fish of prey and reach the shallow water, an immense mass of weed, perfectly impenetrable, stretches out and bars access to land, to the wretch who would struggle through it. Nearly 200 persons were floating on the drift wood; Mr. Salmond was seen swimming strongly, but he was struck on the head by a piece of floating wood, and sunk; the commander of the soldiers, Colonel Seton, went down with his men. The current swept the swimmers along the coast-many were bitten and carried away by the sharks by the side of their companions, who heard their last shrieks and beheld them carried down beneath the waters-more were swept into the bank of seaweed, entangled, and drowned, their corpses affording prey for many days afterwards to the voracious fish who congregated in immense numbers along the shore; someperhaps 30 or 40- -were fortunate enough to find a passage through the weed and reached the shore, exhausted, naked, and shoeless. Under a burning sun they had to traverse arid sand thickly planted with prickly shrubs, and destitute of inhabitants, until at length they reached a farm settlement where they received every assistance. The country was alarmed, and all hastened to the coast. Boats were obtained, and the shore, and particularly the outside of the sea-weed, were diligently searched, only four persons were

but

found alive. The corpses were collected and decently interred. "There were not many, however, and I regret to say it could easily be accounted for." It seems very probable that had the boats kept near the scene of the wreck, and assisted the swimmers to the nearest points of the beach, a large proportion would have been saved. Five of the horses swam to shore.

In the meanwhile the persons in the three boats had pulled along the shore to find a landing place; after they had proceeded to some distance without success, they descried a sail far at sea, and pulled after her. She was, however, too far off to perceive them, and sailed away; the boats therefore returned to the coast and pulled on, every stroke carrying them away from their perishing companions. The gig succeeded in finding a small cove in which her crew (nine persons) landed, and sent a messenger to Simon's Bay with intelligence of the disaster. Captain Wyvill, the commander on the station, instantly dispatched the Rhadamanthus to pick up the other two boats, and to save any persons who might yet be found alive. The Rhadamanthus was too late to be of effectual service in either mission; for she shortly after fell in with the Lioness,-the schooner previously chased by the boatshaving a large number of the shipwrecked men on board. After the boats had lost sight of her, as related, she had changed her course, and sighted them; immediately bore down and took their crews on board

amongst whom were the women and children—and learning from them the fearful position of the other survivors, she ran down to the scene of the disaster in sufficient time to take off about 40 persons,