could save only a few of the passengers. The steamer
rolled dreadfully, and the fore-part broke off; but the
people had all got to the middle of the vessel, which
was firmly fixed on the rocks. Rockets and life-lines
were kept at the harbour: to get at them, a key having
been lost, a door had to be broken in; then the "shot"
was discovered to be useless, and a man had to go half
a mile to obtain powder; when this was got, no one
knew how to fire the rocket. Fortunately, an officer of
the Queen's ship Archer came up; he succeeded in
firing the line over the wreck; and a hawser was
stretched from the steamer to the pier. But there was
no "cradle " to convey the people to land: first a box
was used as a substitute, and then rope slings. While
the master of the Duke of Sutherland was exerting
himself to save the people, he fell into the sea and was
drowned. Some of the passengers were slowly drawn
along the rope. Meanwhile, six men, including the
mate of the steamer, put off for the wreck in a salmon
coble; they took two persons on board, and tried to
regain the shore; but their boat was swamped, and
five of the eight on board were drowned. The wreck
continued to break up, and several persons were washed
overboard and drowned. After the loss of the master,
the steward, Duncan Christie, nobly filled his place,
and mainly by his exertions fifteen persons were got to
land along the hawser: Christie remained by the
wreck to the last, and at half-past seven he was landed.
Sixteen persons perished. Two of them were cabin-
passengers—Miss Lawrence and Miss Bremner; the
latter was proceeding to Aberdeen to be married.

The Explosion of Fire-damp in the Arley mine near
Wigan, (mentioned in last month's Narrative, p. 67,)
was more fatal in its effects than was at first supposed.
Fifty-eight bodies were found; and, besides those killed,
a number of the colliers were burnt or bruised, and in
some cases their limbs were fractured. Arley mine
belongs to the Ince Hall Coal Company. The depth of
the shaft is 414 yards; the workings extend in different
directions to great distances. Soon after the explosion,
several of the living and a number of corpses were
got out; but before some of the galleries could be
explored large repairs had to be executed to restore
ventilation; and in the North working so much had
been destroyed, and the passages were so obstructed
with fallen material, that it was evident days would
elapse before the working could be searched: it was
supposed several persons had perished there. The last
of the miners taken out alive were two men who had
been in the pit eighteen hours; one had suffered so
slightly that he was able to walk home. There was
much difficulty in identifying the corpses, as many of
the miners were strangers from Wales, and known but
imperfectly at the houses where they lodged. When
the inquest was held on the bodies, the chief witness
was Mr. Darlington, the manager of the works. He
described the pit, and explained what persons had
charge of it. All the men worked—or were ordered to
work—with locked safety-lamps. The explosion
probably originated from some one having unlocked a
lamp, or from a lamp having failed, the ventilation
being imperfect at the time. Several men had been
prosecuted for taking off the tops of lamps. The
whole of the pit was in excellent working order. Mr.
Darlington believed that at the time of the explosion
the ventilation had not been maintained. Thomas
Jones, the underlooker, had told him, that on the
Wednesday he had permitted a furnace to become slack
in order that repairs might be effected in the shaft. He
did this without removing the miners from the pit or
consulting Mr. Darlington—Jones thought it was
"quite safe." When the furnace was low gas seems to
have accumulated; then the fire was increased, and the
gas which had collected was put in motion. Jones said
the workings had been examined before he increased
the fire. The man was generally very careful—
"exceedingly anxious for everything doing well." A
number of the miners were examined. From the
admissions, an explosion was a thing that might fairly
be expected at almost any time. It appeared that there
are rules for the guidance of the colliers; they are read
every pay day; but there is so great a crowd, so much
noise, so much inattention—the two latter apparently
wilful—that the reading is useless. The rules prohibit
the blasting of coal or stone unless under the direction
of an officer; they forbid smoking, and the unlocking
of lamps: yet blasting is performed by the miners at
their own free will; smoking is freely indulged in—the
men lighting their pipes by drawing the flame of their
lamps to the wire; and sometimes they unlock their
lamps, besides other irregularities. The jury have
returned a verdict that the deaths were "caused by an
explosion of fire-damp; and that the explosion occurred
from gas which accumulated in No. 6 (Griffiths's) drift,
and other drifts on the South side of No. 2 North jigger.
There is no direct evidence to show how such gas ignited
or the accumulation took place; but the jury are of
opinion that it arose from the door on the South side of
No. 2 North jigger being improperly left open for a
longer or shorter period. The jury cannot separate
without strongly expressing their opinion that the rules
for the regulation of the said colliery are very
imperfectly carried into execution."

Professor Liebig, the celebrated chemist, has Narrowly
Escaped a Fatal Accident at Munich. He was giving a
lecture on chemistry at the Palace, before the Royal
Family, when a bottle of oxygen gas being improperly
handed to him by his assistant, who mistook it for
another bottle, an explosion took place, and the bottle
flew into a thousand pieces. Fortunately, the explosion
occurred in an inner room, the door of which was
open. Still some fragments of the glass passed through
the door, and slightly wounded some members of the
Royal party who were sitting in the front rank. Queen
Theresa was cut in the cheek, and the blood flowed in
abundance; Prince Leopold was slightly wounded in
the forehead. Countess Luxburg in the chin, and
Countess Sandizell in the head. The professor was also
slightly injured, having escaped with his life by a sort
of miracle.

Hunstanton Hall, the seat of Henry le Strange
Styleman le Strange, Esq., in Norfolk, has been
Destroyed by Fire. The fire originated in the
sleeping apartment of the only female servant left
in the Hall, the family being abroad. The flames
were first seen to issue from the building about four in
the morning. A considerable part of the furniture was
saved. Hunstanton Hall has long been regarded as one
of the most ancient and interesting family mansions in
the county of Norfolk.

The Rev. M. Conway, Roman Catholic curate of
Cahirconlish, has met with a Terrible Death near that
village. He fell, it is supposed, upon the spikes of a
gate, and was impaled by the neck, until the police
patrol came up and extricated him, but he died before
their arrival at the fatal spot. He had been suddenly
called out on a very urgent sick message, and in his
anxiety to respond to the summons neglected ordinary
precaution, striving in a dark stormy night to make his
way to the bedside of a dying parishioner by the
shortest route, and against all obstacles. With this
view, struggling to surmount an iron gate, he sunk
exhausted upon the spikes and there expired.

Mrs. Robertson, of Ladykirk, in Berwickshire, has
had a Narrow Escape from Death by a singular accident.
While riding with Lord Elcho's hounds, in order to
avoid a bridge at the head of a reservoir near Chatton,
in Northumberland, she attempted to cross it where
some one had gone before, at what seemed a shallow
place; but her horse refusing, plunged into the middle
of this large body of water—supposed fifteen feet deep—
and threw her. Fortunately, Mr. Robertson, who is an
excellent swimmer, was near, and got instantly off his
horse and into the water, swam some distance, caught
hold of his wife after she had been twice under water
and was quite insensible,—a hold he happily never let
go until she was safely landed. Sir John Majoribanks,
without a moment' s hesitation, also sprang in to the
rescue of his relatives. Mr. Robertson and he swam
with Mrs. Robertson to the sluices of the reservoir,
where many anxious friends were ready to receive them.
All at once, however, they were stopped by the suction
or under-current of the water. At this crisis, luckily,
Lords Elcho and Aberdour, and Sir George Grey, got
on to a plank attached to the sluice, and were enabled
to hold out a hunting-whip to Mr. Robertson, who got