185 ANNUAL REGISTER, 181^. 



heart-rending cries and lamenta- 

 tions were such as cannot be ex- 

 pressed — families, fatliers, mo- 

 thers, and children clinging to- 

 gether I The wreck breaking up, 

 stern from midships and fore- 

 castle, precipitated all on it into 

 one common destruction. Under 

 these melancholy circumstances 

 206 souls perished, and the sur- 

 vivors have to lament the loss of 

 dear relatives and friends. 



" The officers and men of the 

 Royal Veteran Battalion, who 

 were returning home after a long 

 and arduous service in Canada, 

 and other remote climates, have 

 now lost their all — the savings of 

 many years, what they had looked 

 upon with a pleasing hr>j)e of 

 making themselves and their fa- 

 milies comfortable with, on re- 

 tiring from the service of tlieir 

 king and country. By this im- 

 fortunatcev cnt, theorphan daugh- 

 ter of Siu'gcon Armstrong lo^^t her 

 father, mother, Ijrother, and two 

 sisters ; and the wife and sur- 

 viving daughter of Lieut. Wilson 

 are left wholly destitute. The 

 disaster was so sudden and un- 

 locked for, that not an article of 

 baggage was saved j not even 

 money, of which some had con- 

 siderable sums, the ])roduce of 

 their effects sold at Quebec, which 

 were paid for in guineas, on ac- 

 count of bills of exchange being 

 attended with a loss of se\en and 

 a half per cent. : for immediately 

 after the ship stiitck she bilged 

 and filled, drowning some who, 

 from motives of humanity, at- 

 tempted to secure articles of dress 

 for the disti'pssed females, who 

 were hurrietl on deck in an un- 

 dressed state. 



" The rock which tire sitrviv^ 



ors were landed upon was about 

 100 feet above the water, sur- 

 rounded at the flowing of the 

 tide : it being high water soon 

 after the latter of them was 

 saved, it was found imjK)ssil)lefi>r 

 these distressed objects to Ije got 

 over to the main land until the 

 next morning : on the top of this 

 rock they were obliged to remain 

 during the whole of the night 

 without shelter, food, or nourish- 

 ment, exposed to wind and rain, 

 and many without shoes : the only 

 comfort that presented itself was 

 a fire, which was made ft-om 

 pieces of the wreck that had been 

 washed ashore. 



" At day-light on the morning 

 of the l^th, at low water, their 

 removal to the oi)posite land was 

 effected, some being let down by 

 a lope, others slipping down a 

 ladder to the bottom After they 

 crossed ovei', they directed their 

 course to a house or fisherman's 

 shed, di'^tant about a mile and a 

 hnlf from the wreck, where they 

 lemained until the next day : the 

 proprietor of this miserable shed 

 not haA ing the means of supplying 

 relief to so considerable a number 

 as took refuge, a party went over 

 land to Trepassy, about 14 miles 

 distant, through a marshy coun- 

 try, not inhabited by any human 

 creat-arcjand the foot- path through 

 a morass. This party arrived at 

 Trepassy, and reported the event 

 to Messrs. Jackson, Burke, Sims, 

 and the Rev. Mr. Brown, who 

 immediately took measures for 

 alleviating the distress, by dis- 

 patching men in their employ 

 with provisions and spirits, to 

 assist in bringing- all those for- 

 ward to Trei^assy who could 

 walk. Necessity prompted many 



to 



