The history and ultimate fate of our shipwrecked countrymen is calculated to awaken the most painful interest. On board the Nerbudda there were altogether two hundred and seventy-four people; of whom, twenty-nine were Europeans, two natives of Manilla, and two hundred and forty-three natives of India. The captain and the rest of the Europeans, with the two Manilla men, and only three Indians, got away in the ship's boats immediately after she struck, and were providentially picked up some days afterwards by a trading schooner, called the Black Swan, on her way down to Hong-Kong. The unfortunate Indians, to the number of two hundred and forty, who were left upon the wreck, after remaining by her for five days, managed to construct rafts, upon which they attempted to reach the shore. Many of them, however, perished in the surf, and others are supposed to have been murdered by the Chinese plunderers. The exact number, therefore, who fell into the hands of the Chinese authorities, and were imprisoned and subjected to the greatest privations, cannot be ascertained; but they were thought to amount, according to the best information which could be obtained, to more than a hundred and fifty. On board the brig Ann there were in all fifty-seven souls; of whom, fourteen were natives of Europe or America, four Portuguese, five Chinamen, and thirty-four natives of India. Out of all those who were taken prisoners, belonging to both vessels, only nine ultimately escaped an untimely fate, and were restored at the end of the war, according to the terms of the treaty. The following account of what befel the unfortunate sufferers on board the Ann will apply, with little variation, to those who were wrecked before them, in the Nerbudda. It is extracted and condensed from a curious journal, kept by one of the sufferers, a fine young man, who was a passenger on board. It was found concealed in his cell, after his unfortunate fate, and cannot but awaken feelings of deep commiseration for all his companions in distress.[57] It was written upon common Chinese paper, with a piece of bamboo, and the account was continued to within five or six days of the time when the final tragedy is supposed to have taken place. It was written day by day, as the various little occurrences took place, and some of the observations casually made upon the appearance of the island will be read with great interest; but I have thought proper to omit the minutiæ and repetition of abrupt and hasty notes, which would have been tedious and of little benefit.