150 
MADAGASCAR. 
asked to be towed into Keunion, but this could 
not be done, as we were already in charge of one 
disabled ship. 
The captain of the man-of-war lowered his 
boat and came aboard our ship, and then ensued 
a scene which defies description. The crew of 
the sinking vessel, 104 in number, lost all self- 
command, and immediately lowered the boats, 
which they filled with clothing, boxes, &c., till 
they were nearly level with the water’s edge. 
They then scrambled into the boats and made 
their way to us, and our deck soon became a 
scene of excitement and confusion, as we were 
already full of Creole and Malabar passengers to 
Mauritius. One boat with twenty-eight persons 
sank from overloading, and although life-buoys 
were thrown from us to the men struggling in 
the water, we were only able to save one of them. 
Amongst the persons still on board the founder¬ 
ing ship was a Scotch gentleman and his wife 
and three girls. It appears that these people 
were at breakfast below, and knew nothing of 
wfhat was actually going on upon the deck of 
their own ship till the lady came up to speak to 
the officer in charge about some trivial matter. 
She then saw that they were deserted, and that 
they, with an old Arab doctor, and a sick sailor 
too ill to be moved, were the only persons left 
on board the doomed vessel. A lifeboat was 
