THE WRECK OF THE GOTHENBURG.

Grey River Argus, Volume XVI, Issue 2078, 7 April 1875, Page 2

THE WRECK OF THE GOTHENBURG.

Seven of the survivors of the wreck of the Gothenburg arrived in Melbourne on the 19fch March, and we make the following extracts from the Argus reports of their statements : — When the Rangatira neared the Sandridge Railway Pier, the shipwrecked men were at once singled out by reason of their costume, which, as a rule, consisted of a shirt and trousers, with cap and leather slippers. Fitzgerald overtopped, the others by a head, and was especially conspicuous from the fact that lie carried with him a piece of water-worn turtlesshell on the back of which waa inscribed in bold black letters, the words, ♦•Life Log/ Holborn Island, 1875." On the opposite side were the names of all the persons who were stranded on the island. and this record was instituted with some little foresight, in case none of them should be rescued alive. By that means any subsequent visitors to the island would know to whom the remains belonged. Another of the passengers, Mr Clelland, has had a previous experience of shipwreck, and, accoi'ding to his own statement, he has had quite enough of that sort of thing. Mr Thomas, another of the passengers who has been saved, is quite a young man, but he had been very successful at the Northern Territory diggings, and was returning with about IOOOoz of gold in his possession, all of which now rests at the bottom of the deep blue sea. It is a somewhat strange fact that in a majority of cases the passengers did not, as is usually the case, make frantic attempts to savethe gold they had in their possession. There are, however, on record two cases in which the attempts made to save valuable property resulted fatally. In one case one ■. of the passengers tried to save a box of gold, by carrying it under his arm while swimming. He had not gone far, however, before he was compelled to let it go, in order to make more energetic efforts to save his life. These efforts were not, however, successful, and his fellow sufferers saw. him sink to a • watery grave before their eyes. In another case a man stripped himself, with the intention of swimming to the reef, but not liking to lose all his gold, he put a considerable quantity 1 into his mouth., This made him top-heavy, and, as he found, that his heels were generally above water and his head consequently immersed, he was very glad to , let the gold go, and devote all his energies to saving his life, without any reference to , ; - : his valuables. ... MrW. Thomas, in his account of the circumstances following the disaster, said : — "It is but justice to say, however, that! the boats of the survivors had, after the collision of the steamer with the reef had proved in- '■-■■ ievitably fatal,: fully recognised their obligations to the widows and orphans of the ' perished, and it was: a fact,: on; a lone, bleak island, that the nucleus was formed of a subscription which has now extended all over Australia. When the first crash of \ the collision took place, I felt- as if struck by a spell ; and was unable;- to move or speak. •V With the first passage, .of the sea pver the -vessel, all the passengers in the rigging were swept clean .off ,the deck, and a few were • clinging with me in the main rigging. When I saw him last, the captain was on the bridge attending to his. duty, but a huge sea bame and swept him and the first mate away,! with ■■ severalof the passengers who had clung to - yj the main rigging, and I saw him no more." Other particulars are given, but they do &ot differ from the accounts already pub* Usllfld.