'Out at sea such a vessel as the "Royal Charter," if well commanded,
ought to be proof against any gale of wind; and in point of fact
hardly any ship can pass from Australia to these shores without
encountering as heavy seas in mid ocean as that which raged a few
days ago so fearfully in the Irish Sea. It is only when such a ship
accidentally fouls land that much danger is to be apprehended.
Captain Taylor has shared the fate of his crew and passengers; and
one may hesitate to criticise one who is not here to answer for his
seamanship. But it seems clear that Captain Taylor knew perfectly
well where he was, and that, instead of putting out to sea, there to
ride out the gale of Tuesday night, he stood in for the Welsh coast,
burning lights for a pilot in a sea in which no pilot, it may be
assumed, could have joined him, with the whole force and scope of
the Irish Sea to windward and an iron-bound coast to leeward. The
result was, as a mere instinct in dynamics would suggest, that the
force of wave, wind, and current was greater them the steam power of
the "Royal Charter." Captain Taylor soon found that his anxiety to
keep in the most direct track to Liverpool was fraught with fatal
results. The ship gradually made leeway; and when he attempted at
length to put out to sea he could not. At last he threw out two
anchors; but the chains of one of them broke. The ship, steaming
away from the rocks, gradually neared the rocks; and at length came
the first fatal crash. Then the masts and rigging were instantly cut
away in a forlorn attempt to save her; but it appears that the
falling rigging fouled the screw, and from that moment it ceased
working. From that moment, probably, in spite of desperate exertions
and words of encouragement, all hope was really abandoned. After the
first thump against the rocks, the ship rebounded, only to thump
again with fearful force in a few moments by the stern; for it was
in the attempt to steam away from the coast, nearly head to wind,
that the first crash took place. Then she was completely at the
mercy of wind and wave; and as soon as the screw ceased working her
position changed, and she went broadside against the rocks. Still
she did not lurch. At this juncture a negro sailor volunteers to
swim through the surf with a hawser, and thus to gain a
communication with the shore. Lucky fellow! he was well rewarded for
his heroism. He escaped the wreck first, and two others, according
to the most reliable accounts, got to shore by the rope thus thrown
out.
'Then followed the last scene with appalling and unexpected
rapidity. Time after time the "Royal Charter" was driven with the
same heavy thump against the rocky shore; the darkness and the
tempest mingled together in increasing confusion and relaxing
discipline. Everything was felt and nothing was seen. The waves
dashed with overwhelming force upon the ship, and the wind drowned
every voice; for when the "Royal Charter" struck it was but two
hours past midnight and by seven in the morning, when the sun rose,
she had entirely broken up. The passengers during these successive
collisions with the rocks, had huddled together in the saloon,
where the chaplain was offering up a prayer. In the midst of this
Captain Taylor came down to offer a few words of hope, couched in
that ominous assurance that "there was no immediate danger." But he
had hardly spoken when the waves burst upon the ship with new force,
and after being thus struck several times, she suddenly parted
amidships, the machinery falling through, and the waves sweeping out
the crew. Nearly at the same moment the fore part of the ship thus
dissevered from the rest, is reported to have split longitudinally
also. Then of course all perished but those few who, in a manner
which most of them themselves cannot explain, found themselves on
the beach. The force of the waves seems to have dashed some on shore
before they knew what had happened, and before life had become
extinct; while later in the morning the sea began to give up also
its dead who had been tossed upon the ebb and flow. One child was
thrown on the shore yet breathing, but it expired shortly
afterwards. Most of the bodies washed ashore were found with sums of
gold upon them, and all were placed in a field adjoining the
churchyard of Moelfre for identification.
'Such is the sad story of the loss of at least four hundred and
sixty lives, of a fine ship, and of gold variously estimated between
300,000_l._ and 500,000_l._ The gold lost is again computed at
seventy-nine thousand ounces; but it is hoped that the iron case
which contained the treasure may yet be recovered. The ship had had
a favourable and remarkably fast passage. It was supposed to be
eleven days in advance of every other in its letters and
information, and to anticipate the next overland mail from
Australia. Probably the pride of all this contributed to the
catastrophe; and the captain appears to have been resolved to make
Liverpool as soon as possible after his successful passage. The
scene of the wreck is in itself an ill-fated one. At Moelfre, some
ten miles from Beaumaris, the wreck happened, and close to that spot
the "Rothsay Castle" was also wrecked some years ago. Only one
danger appears to have been experienced by the "Royal Charter"
during her whole voyage from Australia to Queenstown, and that arose
from proximity to an iceberg. All this seems a cruel result of so
much hope, and so much apparent prosperity. All the care and
watchfulness devoted to a voyage from the antipodes--all the
prospects of return after long expatriation to one's native
country--all the sums hoarded through years of industry in the gold
fields or in Australian farming--all the self-felicitations for a
voyage thus far so favourably encountered--thus vain, thus useless,
thus belied.
'Viewing the shipwreck simply in its bearing on nautical
management, we can hardly doubt that it might have been prevented;
but the only utility of that reflection is now to warn other
captains from hugging a Welsh shore in a gale from the North.'