ACCTDENT TO THE SHIP ZEALANDIA.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 19, Issue 1401, 14 August 1872, Page 2

ACCTDENT TO THE SHIP ZEALANDIA.

The following is an extract from a a letter received by Mr Kemp of Wellington from Dr Batt of the ship Zealandia which left Lyttelton for England on the 16th March. The letter is dated Valparaiso, May 2, 1872: "On the 12th April we encounteved a terrible storm in latitude 5S deg. 30 niin. S., longititude 104 deg. W, which very nearly settled us altogether; as it was, we lost our captain overboard, one of ihe saloon passengeis* Mr Kennaway, brother to the Provincial Secretary of Christcburch, and one steward ; the saloon, was completely smashed up, the whoJe fxojaJk of it being caviled

away, and all the cabins on the poifeside* together with table, swing trays,, piano, and all furniture. Twelve people might walkedt abreast of the saloon on to themain deck ;0 the interior was smashed up just as if it had been made of gingerbread. Those who were in the saloon at the time of the-grandsmash very narrowly,escaped-drow&jng,, or ,severe injury from the debiiswhich knocked about from side to side with the rotting of the ship. Fancy our piano and a. heavy side board with marble slab being washed away fiom their fixings,, and floating abour about in the saloon,, mixed up with broken tables, chair?*,. settees, swing trays, and passengers' luggage of all kinds. I was on deck when poor Capt. White and Mr Kehnaway were washed away—in tact, I was within three yards of but was behind the mizzen rigging and had a firm hold of the ratlines, and somanaged to hold on. Thesea we shipped: was a horrible one; it swept our deck* fore and aft, and carried away* besides the poor men, hencoops full of poultry, a lifeboat, pinnace, and cutter, cowhouse and cow, nearly all our sheep and pigs, forward compass and binnacle on the poop, and smashed in the saloon skylights. As soon as I saw White go, I got aft, and threw a life buoy, but of course, it was no use to the poor fellow,, as the sea was simply raging, and the ship being on her ends, with the foroyard in the sea, it was utterly impossible to lower a boat. For about fifteen minutes every man in the ship thought she must go down, and all we could do was to hang on to the rigging for our very li\es, and to try to think about what was to come next. They managed to right the ship at last by cutting the main braces, &e. and clearing the wheel, which had got fixed ; v and when once they got her hove to she behaved admirably. We had a tearful night of it, all the passengers and stewards (more than thirtv of us) being stowed away on boxes and portmanteaus in one of the aft cabins, all of us wet thtough to the skin, and everything about us equally we* - . The gale lasted all day Saturday, 13th April, and did not abate until 4 a.m. on Sunday. At i 5 a.m. we turned out and worked hard ' all day, clearing the wreck of the saloon, and baling out water, but we had to pass another night in the stern cabin before we could get the remaining cabins on the stai board side clear for the ladies. The gentlemen slept until we reached this port on hay and dry sails in the stern cabin. Burdett behaved uncommonly well after the storni, and if it had not been for him and one or two others I don't know what we should have done. We arrived here on the 18th April, after a fortnight's run, and I expect we shall be here another week or ten days.'* The following is a list of the passengers, one of whom, it will be seen was washed overboard, and lost with Capt. i White and Mr Perrett, the steward of the vessel :—Mr and Mrs A. Thompson, ! Mr and Mrs Banford and 3 children, Mrs Hutchinson, Mrs Richardson and 4 childien, Mrs Oscar, Mr and Mrs Burdett, Mi>s Slater, Misses Percival (2), Ma«tcr F. Butler, Rev. E. Giles, Messrs E. Reeece, W Slater, O. K Kenuaway, J. Munyard, D. O'Kane, R. Kendrick, C. Ghesworth, L. J. Mitchell, Wright, Adam, Goodyear, and Dr. Husband.