in saving a coastguard officer and four of his men, who had just boarded the wreck, and whose boat had been lost while doing so.

Rewards amounting to £28 were also voted to pay the expenses of the lifeboats of the institution stationed at Appledore, Wexford, and Broughty Ferry (Dundee), for various services during the month of October.

The silver medal of the institution was voted to Mr. Bartholomew Stephenson, of Boulmer, Northumberland, in acknowledgment of his general gallant services in the Boulmer lifeboat, of which he had been the coxswain for many years past.

The silver medal of the institution and £2 were also voted to Mr. T. Jones, master of the steamtug Ely, and £8 to his crew, and the thanks of the institution to Mr. Nichol, tide surveyor, in admiration of their noble and skilful conduct in saving nine men from the sloop Wool Packet, of Dartmouth, which, during a gale of wind, was wrecked on Bideford Bar a few weeks ago. It appears that the crew of the vessel had abandoned her, and that two boats' crews, consisting of nine men, afterwards boarded the wreck, with the view of trying to get her off the bar; but when the tide rose, the sea broke heavily over the vessel, and the men hoisted a flag of distress. The steamtug Ely now hastened to the rescue against a strong tide and wind. Before, however, she could get near the wreck, the nine men were driven to seek refuge in the rigging. The sea was breaking fearfully in all directions, and the vessel rolling from side to side; but Capt. Jones and his crew bravely proceeded through the broken water at the risk of their lives and vessel, and succeeded in the first attempt in saving three of the men. This was all that they could then accomplish, for the sea was now breaking so furiously over the wreck that the steamer was driven away; and the same want of success attended a second and a third attempt to approach the wreck. The captain then backed astern, and with consummate skill and boldness actually placed the steamer directly alongside of the vessel's rigging, with her bows over the deck of the wreck, thus saving the six men in the rigging; and within the short space of two minutes the wreck had actually disappeared, and was not seen afterwards. But for this bold and successful service nine widows (for the nine rescued men were all married) and forty fatherless children would to-day be lamenting the loss of husbands and fathers. The lifeboat of the institution stationed at Appledore immediately put off on seeing the poor fellows in the rigging of the Wool Packet; but before she could reach the wreck, the steamer which was in the neighbourhood had performed the daring service. The expense to the institution of the lifeboat expedition was £10.3s.

It may be added that the National Lifeboat Institution since its formation has contributed to the saving of 15,700 lives from shipwreck; and who can tell the number of women and children who, in the absence of these great and national services, would have become widows and orphans?

Various other rewards were also voted to the crews of shore boats, for saving life from shipwreck on our coasts.

Miss Ellen

During the month of October a legacy of £50 had been received by the institution through its Newcastle branch from the executors of the late Mrs. E. Neilson, of Newcastle, county Down. Goodman, of Eversholt, Bedfordshire, had also left the institution a legacy of £600, to pay for a lifeboat, its equipment and transporting carriage.

New lifeboats had been sent during the same period to Lossiemouth, N.B., and to Burnham, near Bridgewater. The Lossiemouth lifeboat, which was presented to the institution by the Bristol Histrionic Club, was exhibited in Bristol on the way to her station, and a grand demonstration took place in that city on the occasion. The Burnham lifeboat, which was the gift of the residents of Cheltenham, was also taken through that town, when the boat was formally presented to the institution by Mr. Schreiber, M.P. A demonstration likewise took place at Burnham on the arrival of the new boat. The several railway companies, as usual, kindly gave the boats a free conveyance to their destinations.

Payments amounting to £2,100 were ordered to be made on various lifeboat establishments. The institution decided to place a new lifeboat at Portmadoc, in lieu of an older boat there at present. John Ashbury, Esq., of Openshaw, had, through the Manchester branch of the institution, undertaken to defray the cost of the new boat, and to name it after his late father.

It was reported that the gas companies at Sunderland and Teignmouth had kindly laid on pipes to the lifeboat houses of the institution in those towns, and had undertaken to supply, free of charge, the gas for the use of the stations.

The thanks of the institution, illuminated on vellum, were ordered to be presented, on their retirement from office, to A. A. Ranken, Esq., Arthur Owen, jun., Esq., Henry Rodd, Esq., and J. Kearney White, Esq., in acknowledgment of their valuable co-operation in the management of the Glasgow, Teignmouth, Tees Bay, and Valentia lifeboat branches of the institution.

Richard Thornton West, Esq., and Mrs. West, had given to the institution the whole cost of the lifeboat station about to be formed near West Wittering, on the Sussex coast.

The Government of Bombay had requested that two large new lifeboats might be built, like those of the institution, and under its superintendence, by Messrs. Forrestt and Son.

The meeting passed a very cordial vote of condolence to the family of the late Dean of Norwich, who had been for many years past a most zealous and valuable coadjutor of the institution on the Norfolk coast. The Dean's late father, the first Lord Exmouth, the distinguished admiral, took a deep interest in the formation of the National Lifeboat Institution.

Reports were read from Capt. Ward, R.N., the inspector of lifeboats of the institution, and from Capt. D. Robertson, R.N., its assistant inspector, on their recent visits to different lifeboat stations on the English and Irish coasts,

THE WRECK REGISTER AND CHART FOR 1865.

With a Chart.

A foreigner, looking at the Wreck Chart of the British Isles, might not unnaturally conceive that a very large proportion of the ships that pass to and fro from our ports every year were wrecked on our shores. When, however, he came to be informed that the number of vessels that cleared outwards and entered inwards last year alone, from the different ports in the United Kingdom (without counting vessels employed solely as passenger ships), was 409,255-that they represented a tonnage of 65,231,034-and that the value of their cargoes must be estimated at not less than £500,000,000-the said foreigner would probably be much surprised, after all, to learn that not one per cent. of this great multitude of vessels was wrecked either in our narrow

seas or on our coasts.

Such, however, are the facts of the case; and it is not for us to justify even the loss of this relatively small amount of valuable property. On the contrary, we are amongst those who contend that, as education advances, and careful and thoughtful habits are instilled into sailors, this percentage of wrecks must diminish.

Considering the increasing trade of this country every year, and the consequent increase of shipping frequenting our shores, the general average of marine disasters reported to the Board of Trade will probably continue to augment proportionately from year to year.

Again, it should be remembered that the number of wrecks in a year cannot fail to be increased or diminished, according to the prevalence or absence of gales of wind like those which proved so disastrous to the ill-fated ship London in January last, and to so many other vessels which were in such comparatively safe anchorages as Torbay affords, where it had been supposed the whole British navy might have ridden in safety during the fiercest storms.

Thus, in October 1859, there was the Royal Charter gale, and a loss of 343 ships. In January, February, and November, 1861, there were north-east and south-easterly gales, which added 460 to the number of casualties. In January, October, and December, 1862, there were westerly gales, with upwards of 540 casualties; and in January, March, September, October, November, and December, 1863, there were westerly gales, with 930 casualties. In November, 1864, there were 264 casualties, with the wind chiefly in the south-south-east and south-west; but, owing to the absence of any special gales of remarkable duration and violence during the previous part of that year, the total number of casualties in it was 274 below the number in 1863; and it is worthy of remark, that the whole number of casualties, other than collisions, reported in 1864, was less than the number reported in any year since 1858. The annual average for the ten years ending 1865, including collisions, is, for total losses, 505, and for

partial losses, 889; as, against this, the numbers for 1865 are,-for total losses, 540, and for partial losses, 1,116.

From the carefully-compiled Wreck Register of the Board of Trade, we find that the total number of wrecks and casualties, from all causes, on the coasts of the United Kingdom and in the surrounding seas, reported in 1865 is 1,656. The number reported in 1864 was 1,390. The corrected annual average of the eleven years, from 1855 to 1865 inclusive, is 1,372. It should, however, be mentioned, that the wrecks in 1864 were below the average of the preceding five years, although they were above the corrected average of the last ten years.

The number of ships lost or damaged in the 1,656 casualties reported in 1865 was 2,012, representing a registered tonnage of upwards of 377,000 tons.

Of these 2,012 ships, 1,690 are known to have been ships belonging to Great Britain and its dependencies, with British certificates of registry; and 238 to have been foreign ships. Of the remaining 84 ships the country and employment are unknown. Of the British ships, 1,198 were employed in the British coasting trade, and 492 were employed in the (over sea) foreign and home trade; and of the foreign ships, 11 were employed in the British coasting trade. Thus the number of British vessels wrecked continues to maintain a sad preeminence in the work of destruction; and we regret to add, as a natural result, in the sad loss of life.

Of the total number of casualties (1,656) reported in 1865, 354 were collisions, and 1,302 were casualties other than collisions. Of these 1,656 casualties, 540 resulted in total losses, and 1,116 in partial damage, more or less serious.

We find that 470 total losses took place from causes other than collisions: 245 only were caused by stress of weather; 99 were caused by inattention, carelessness, or neglect; 38 arose from defects in the ship or in her equipments (and of these 38 no less than 30 appear to have foundered from unseaworthiness); and the remainder from various other causes.

Again: of the 832 partial losses other than collision, 501 were caused by stress of weather, 137 arose from carelessness, 48 from defects in the ship or her equipments, and the remainder from various causes which we believe to be, in the majority of cases, obviously preventible if ordinary care and skill had been shown.

It is for those who feel an interest in preventing shipping disasters, to ponder over these startling facts, and to continue to direct publie attention to this important subject. Our object is, to some extent, accomplished in thus calling general attention to it; but our main purpose at present is to make a few remarks on the distressing loss of life which these various and inexcusable causes of disasters inevitably produce.

We find that the total number of ships reported to have foundered, or to have been lost on our coasts from unseaworthiness, in ten years, is 423; and that the number of casualties caused through unseaworthy ships, unsound gear, &c., and resulting in partial damage, in the same

time, is 499. With these 423 vessels sank, probably, one million sterling's worth of property, and several hundred valuable lives.

In 1865, there were 98 casualties to fishing smacks and vessels. There can be no doubt that the weather must have been most severe to have produced such havoc amongst our fishing craft; but, even in these cases, the indications of handy trustworthy weather-glasses, or barometers on the plan of those so usefully employed by the National Lifeboat Institution at nearly all its numerous lifeboat stations, might probably have saved many a fishing vessel and her hardy crew from the terrible fate which overtook them, not without unmistakeable atmospheric warnings, during the fearful gales of last winter.

But excluding these 98 fishing vessels, the number of ships employed in the regular carrying trade that have suffered from wreck or casualty during the year is shown to be 1,914. If this number be again subdivided, it cannot fail to be observed that more than half of it is represented by the unseaworthy, over-laden, or ill-found vessels of the collier class, chiefly employed in the coasting trade. In corroboration of this remark, the reader has only to cast a glance at the accompanying Wreck Chart. It will be observed that the North-east coast is, as usual, completely covered with the sad results, in too many cases, of unseaworthy, over-laden, and ill-found vessels in the coal trade.

The wrecks are thus specified in the Returns to the Board of Trade:

Stone ores

109

Ships with other cargoes, and other ships in ballast

980

It is a remarkable fact, that, taking the past seven years as our guide, we find that casualties, to comparatively new ships, continue to bear a very high proportion to the whole number of disasters; thus:908 casualties happened to nearly new ships, and 1,701 to ships from 3 to 7 years of age. Then there are casualties to 2,087 ships from 7 to 14 years old, and 3,477 from 15 to 30 years old. Then follow 1,267 ships from 30 to 50 years old. Having passed the service of half a century, we come to the really old ships,-viz. 230 between 50 and 60 years old; 102 from 60 to 70; 48 from 70 to 80; 14 from 80 to 90; 6 from 90 to 100; and 4, 101 years and upwards. The ages of 3,002 are unknown. The state of rottenness and the want of repair of some of the ships above 20 years old often call for remark. Even at the age of 25 to 30, it sometimes happens that a ship is so rotten as to fall to pieces immediately on touching the ground, without giving the crew the slightest chance of getting out the boats. In one case, an old ship, a foreigner, which went to pieces as soon as she