WRECK OF A ROYAL MAIL STEAMER.

Globe, Volume IV, Issue 433, 2 November 1875, Page 3

WRECK OF A ROYAL MAIL STEAMER.

Telegrams from Brest and Conquet report the loss, on August 14, of the Boyne, Royal mail screw steamer, at Moline. Her crew and passengers were saved, and sent on to Brest. The Boyne was from the Brazils, and, having touched at Lisbon, was on her way to Southampton. The Boyne was built at Dumbarton in 1871, of iron, was 372 ft long, 40ft in breadth, depth of hold 33ft, 3318 tons gross tonnage, 500 horse-power. The Boyne left Lisbon on August 11, for Southampton, having on board at the time 108 passengers, a crew numbering 113, a valuable cargo, consisting mainly of coffee, tapioca, hides, &c, and £20,682 of specie. The Boyne was commanded by Captain R. H. Macaulay, an officer of much experience, in whom the company have had every confidence. The steamers of the company are not in the habit of calling at Brest; they have, therefore, no regular agent there. It is believed that a fog was the cause of the steamer striking on the rocks. The Southampton correspondent of the Times says that the Boyne was one of the fastest and finest vessels of the Royal Mail Company’s fleet, and had always performed her voyages out and home with the most exact regularity. The Boyne broke asunder and become a total wreck. When a frigate was taking on board the crew and passengers of the Boyne an order was given that seamen should be searched. Directly the men heard of this intention many of them began to fling overboard pocketsful of gold and diamonds in the most lavish manner. They were at once put in irons, and so conveyed to their destination, England.” The following is an extract from a private letter from one of the sufferers by the disaster; —“ The wreck was twenty-two miles off her course, and never should have been where she was lost. We were six hours in open boats at night, and our rescue from death is simply a miracle. Our boat had no tiller, was leaking, and we had no food, water, or compass. A breeze would have sunk us. Indeed, nothing but favorable weather saved us. We had nine women, three children, and ten men in our company, and I never can forget the fortitude of the ladies who were with us. They behaved with that calm courage which ever characterises English gentlewomen in the hour of danger, and looked death in the face unflinchingly. Mrs Cope, the wife of the second secretary of her Majesty’s Legation in Brazil, and Mrs Chasserau, an English lady, resident at Lisbon, bore up with wonderful resolution, bravery, and patience, and, when death seemed certain, never murmured. Such women are an honor to any nation. The inhabitants of Moline, where we landed, deserve the highest praise for their humanity; and the Commissaire de Marine, Captain and Mrs Scales, and the syndic, Mr Hedawin, with his wife, merit special mention.”