3-034-567 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Loss of the Megaera: the island of St. Paul, from the sea, 1871. 'The loss of the Megsera, an iron screw steam-ship, on her way from the Cape to Australia, has been recorded. Complaint had been made, before she left England, that the ship was overcrowded, that she was unseaworthy; and it was stated that her crew had protested against going to sea in her. On behalf of the Admiralty those allegations were denied. But it is not necessary to enter into these matters, nor into the consideration of the letters and speeches which the loss of the Megaera has occasioned. It will be sufficient, at present, to state that she was run ashore in a sinking state on St. Paul's Island, about half way between the Cape and Australia; that, happily, all the crew and passengers had been safely landed, and that a steamer had been chartered at Hong-Kong to take them to Sydney'. From "Illustrated London News", 1871.