316 FATAL ACCIDENT. 



side against it in its most rapid part. The force 

 of the towing exerted against the short mast to 

 which the tow-rope is attached, of course tending 

 to make the barge lean over considerably on the 

 side against which the current was pressing, the 

 force of the current was too strong for the barge 

 to withstand, and she was capsized in an instant, 

 and all persons who were on the deck or raised 

 part being immersed in the current, were carried 

 down the rapid, and never more seen. Those who 

 had remained in the interior of the barge were 

 saved without the slightest injury, excepting a 

 good wetting, the force of the men and oxen 

 towing it bringing the barge alongside the bank 

 of the river in an instant after the accident had 

 occurred. The Austrian authorities appeared to 

 consider that no blame whatever was attachable 

 to any one. The aifair was a great deal the 

 subject of conversation whilst we were in quaran- 

 tine at Orsova, and I was favoured by the chief 

 of the lazaretto with a perusal of an official 

 report made on the affair, together with the names 

 of the unfortunate sufferers on the occasion. 



Our barge was deeply laden with cotton in bales, 

 a small space at the stern being left for passengers 



