Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 8.djvu/204

 162 NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 s. vm. FEB. 20, 1921. about 8 or 9 miles from the Cove, and sent back provisions for that day. The next morning I sent another day's provisions, and the men were removed up to a farm of Capt. Smales' about 12 or 14 miles up the country. Lt. Girardot, of the 43rd and Cornet Bond, of the 12trr Lancers, accompanied this party, which amounted to 68 men, including 18 sailors. I then went down to the coast, and during 1 Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 1 examined trie rocks for more than 20 miles, in the hope of finding some men might have drifted in. I fortu- nately fell in with the crew of a whale-boat that is employed sealing on Dyer's Island. I got them to take the boat outside the sea-weed, whilst I went along the shore. The sea-weed on the coast is very chick, and of immense length, so that it could have caught some of the drift wood. Happily, the boat picked up two men, and I also found two. Al- though they were all much exhausted, two of them having been in the water 38 hours, they were all right next day, except a few bruises. it was 86 hours, on {Sunday afternoon when I left the coast, since the wreck had taken place ; and as I had carefully examined every part of the rocks, and also sent the whale boat over to Dyer's Island, I can safely assert that when I left there was not a living soul on the coast of those that had been on board the ill-fated Birkenhead. On Saturday I met Mr. Mackay the Civil Commissioner of Caledon, and also Field Cornet Villiers. The former told me that he had ordered the men who had been at Capt. Smales', to be clothed by him, he having a store at his farm. 40 soldiers received clothing there. Mr. Mackay, the field cornet, and myself, accompanied by a party of men brought down by Mr. Villiers, went along the coast, as far as the point that runs out to Dyer's Island, and all the bodies that were met with were interred. There were not many, however, and I regret to say it could easily be accounted for. Five of the horses got to shore, and were caught and brought to me. One belonged to myself, one to Mr. Bond, of the 12th Lancers, and the other three to Major Seaton of the 74th, Dr. Laing, and Lt. Booth of the 73rd. I handed the horses over to Mr. Mackay, and he is to send them on to me here, so that they may be sold, and that I may account for the proceeds. On the' 28th of February, Her Majesty's ship Rhadamanthus was seen off Sandford's Cove ; so I went down there, and found Capt. Bunce, the Commander of the Castor frigate, had landed, and gone up to Captain Smales, to order the men down to the Cove, so as to embark in the steamer to be conveyed to Simon's Bay. On Sunday, when I was down on the Coast, the field-cornet told me that at a part where he and his men had been, a few bodies were washed up and buried ; also a few boxes, which were broken in pieces, and the contents strewed about the rocks. I then ceased to hope that any more were living, and came down to the Cove to join the other men. We arrived there at about 6 p.m. The order and regularity that prevailed on board, from the time the ship struck till she totally disappeared, far exceeded anything that I thought could be effected by the best discipline; and it is the more to be wondered at, seeing that most of the soldiers were but a short time in the service. Everyone did as he was directed, and there was not a cry among them, until the vessel, made her final plunge. I could not, name any individual officer who did more than another. All 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 nois6 or confusion. I enclose a list of those embarked, distinguishing: those saved. I think it is correct, except one man of the 91st, whose name I cannot find out. The only means I had of ascertaining the names of the men of the different drafts, was by getting them from their comrades, who are saved. You will see by the list enclosed, that the loss amounts to 9 officers and 349 men, -besides those of the crew ; the total number embarked being J5 officers, and 476 men (one officer and 18 men were disembarked in Simon's Bay). I am happy to say that all the women and chil- dren [7 women and 13 children] were put safely on board a schooner, that was about. 7 miles off' when/ the steamer was wrecked. This vessel returned to the wreck at about 3 p.m., and took off 40 or 50 men that were clinging to the rigging, and then pro- ceeded to Simon's Bay. One of the ship's boats, with the assistant surgeon of the vessel and eight men, went off and landed about 15 miles from the wreck. Had the boat remained about the wreck, or returned after landing the assistant surgeon on Danger Point, about which there was no difficulty, I air, quite confident that nearly every man of the 200 on the drift wood might have been picked ur> here and tjiere among the weeds, and landed as soon as eight or nine were got into the boat.* Where most of the drift wood stuck in the weeds, the distance to the shore was not more than 400 yards ; and as by taking a somewhat serpentine course, I managed to swim in, with- out getting foul of the rock, or being tumbled over by a breaker, there is no doubt the boat might have done so also. One fact I cannot omit mentioning. When the vessel was just about going down the Commander called out, "All those that can swim, jump over- board, and make for the boats." Lieu t.Giradot and myself were standing on the stern part of the poop. 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. On Sunday evening, at 6 p.m., all the men at Captain Smales', and the four I had myself on the coast were embarked in boats and taken on board the Rhadamanthus, and we arrived in Simon's Bay at 3 a.m. on Monday 1st March. 18 of the men are bruized and burnt by the sun, and the Commodore has ordered them into the Naval Hospital. The rest are all right; and 70 be stated that there is a letter from him in which he denies having left the wreck in the gig. On the contrary he was the last to leave the ship, and at length succeeded in swimming to the boats, which were then a mile from the wreck. That 24 hrs later they landed at Port D'Urban at least 30 miles from the wreck later rode 100 miles through strange country to Cape Town, and then proceeded to Simon's Bay to report the disaster.
 * Jn justice to Ass*-Surgeon Culhane it ought to