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Lyttelton Times, Volume II, Issue 98, 20 November 1852, Page 7

Shocking Occuekence at Cockatoo Island. —The following are the particulars of a sad catastrophe at this penal establishment, In one of the wheat siloes, 4000 bushels of wheat had been deposited for some time, and from which, it having been purchased by a contractor, quantities amounting to about 1000 bushels had been withdrawn from time to time upon his order. The siloe was opened on Saturday, the 25th Sept., and a quantity taken out and placed in bags, which were kept on the ground for some time awaiting the contractor's boat to remove them. It came on to rain heavily, and the

overseer fearing that the wheat, not being under cover, would be damaged if allowed to remain any longer in the wet, ordered it to be shot out of the bags into the siloe again, This order, given with the best intentions, led, it is to be feared, to the shocking occurrence we are about to relate. Upon its being requisite to open. the siloe again, a gang of the prisoners who have been accustomed to the duty, were directed to perform it. Upon opening the siloe, three men descended, but were immediately struck, senseless by the foul air, which it is supposed had been generated by the unfortunate process of throwing back the wet wheat on the former day. Their situation being perceived, two of the overseers, and a gangsman, without hesitation, descended to attempt their rescue, but they also immediately fell. The alarm was given,, and every endeavour made to save the six men. In a short time the bodies were got out of the siloe, when it was found that the three generous fellows who had attempted to save the first three were dead, and every effort to restore life was unavailing. Bleeding and other usual remedies were applied to the others, who may now be considered out of danger; although fox some time very little hope of their recovery was entertained, their blood being nearly jet black when the lancet was used. . We may add, that one of the three men who thus lost his life, was within a few weeks of obtaining his liberty!— Sydney Morning Herald. Extraordinary Changes and Chances.— I have come in contact with almost all the men who in my time have played a part in the world's history, more or less important, both at home and abroad—from Washington to Napoleon, from Louis XVI to Alexander, from Pius VII to Gregory XVI, from Fox, Burke, Pitt, Sheridan, Londonderry, Capo d'lstria, to Malesherbes and Mirabeau ; from Nelson, Bolivar, Mehemet, Pacha of Egypt, to Suffren, Bougainvlle, Lapeyrouse, and Moreau. I was one of a triumvirate which is without parallel. Three poets of antagonistic interests and different nations, were about the same time Ministers of Foreign Affairs—myself in France, Canning in England, and Martinez de la Rosa in Spain. I have passed successively through the eventful years of my youth, the busy, years of the" Republican era, the magnificence of Napoleon, and the reign of legitimacy. I have traversed the oceans of the old and new worlds, and trod the soil of the. four quarters .of the globe. After encamping under the hut of the Iroquois and the tent of* the Arab—in the wigwam of the Huron, and amongst the ruins of Athens, of Jerusalem, of Memphis, of Carthage, and of Grenada: in Greece, Turkey, and the Morea ; after wearing the bearskin of the savage and the caftan of the Mamlouk ; after suffering poverty, hunger, thirst, and exile—l,a Minister and Ambassador, embroidered with gold, and covered with gems and orders, have sat at the table of Kings, and at the fetes of princes and princesses, only again to l'ali into indigence, and suffer incarceration in a gaol. I have been on terms of intimacy with crowds of men distinguished in arms, in religion, polities, jurisprudence, science, and art; I possess materials in the greatest abundance: more than 4,000 private letters, the diplomatic correspondence of my different embassies, and those of my Ministry of Foreign Affairs, amongst which are some particularly addressed to mysel f, \vh ich have never been made public. 1 have shouldered the musket of the soldier, carried the stick of the traveller, and the staff of the pilgrim : as a navigator, my destiny has bean as inconstant as my sail : like a kingfisher.* I have made my nest upon the waves. I have been mixed up with peace and war: I. have signed treaties and protocols ; and have published a vast number of works. I have been initiated into the secrets of party, both of Court and Government ; I have seen around me the victims of misery, the most favoured by fortune and the most renowned by fame. I baye assisted at sieges, congresses, conclaves : at the restoration and destruction of thrones. I have fbnncd a part of history, and am able to write it: while my life, solitary, thoughtful, and poetic, has strolled through this world of realities, catastrophes, tumults, and confusion, with the children of mv songs,—Chactas, Bene, Euuore, Aben-Hamet; and with the daughters^ my imagination,—Atala, Amelie, Blanca, \ ahe.ia, Cymodocee. Both during and beyoml my generation, I have exercised, without perhaps wishing or seeking it, a triple inlluciuv --;vngious,"political, and literary--^/ cmoirs of ._..