456 EXPLOSION OF THE HELEN m'gREGOR. 
were displaced — the deck had fallen down — the machinery 
was broken and disordered. Bricks, dirt, and rubbish were 
scattered about. Close by the bowsprit was a large rent 
through which, I was told, the boiler, after exploding, had 
passed out, carrying one or two men in its mouth. Several 
dead bodies were lying around ; their fate had been an en- 
viable one compared with that of others — they could scarcely 
have been conscious of a pang ere they had ceased to be. 
On the starboard wheel-house lay a human body, in which 
life was not yet extinct, though apparentl}^ there was no sen- 
sibility remaining. The body must have been thrown from 
the boiler-deck, a distance of thirty feet. The whole of the 
forehead had been blown away : the brains were still beating. 
Tufts of hair, shreds of clothing, and splotches of blood might 
be seen in every direction. A piece of skin was picked up by 
a gentleman on board, which appeared to have been peeled off 
by the force of steam ; it extended from the middle of the arm 
down to the tip of the fingers, the nails adhering to it. So 
dreadful had been the force that not a particle of the flesh ad- 
hered to it ; the most skillful operator could scarcely have ef- 
fected such a result. Several died from inhaling the steam or 
gas, whose skin was almost uninjured. 
The number of lives lost will, in all probability, never be 
distinctly known. Many were seen flung into the river, most 
of whom sunk to rise no more. Could the survivors have been 
kept together until the list of passengers was called, the pre- 
cise loss would have been ascertained ; that however, though 
it had been attempted, would, under the circumstances, have 
been impossible. 
Judging from the crowd which I saw on the boiler-deck 
immediately before the explosion, and the statement which T 
received as to the number of those who succeeded in swim- 
ming out after they were cast into the river, I am inclined to 
believe that between forty and fifty must have perished. 
The cabin passengers escaped, owing to the peculiar con- 
struction of the boat. Just behind the boilers were several 
large iron posts, supporting, I think, the boiler-deck : across 
each post was a large circular plate of iron of between one 
and two inches in thickness. One of those posts was placed 
exactly opposite the head of the boiler which burst, being the 
second one on the starboard side. Against this plate the head 
struck and penetrated to the depth of an inch, then broke and 
flew off at an angle, entering a cotton bale to the depth of a 
foot. The boiler head was in point blank range with the 
