We have nearly lost Cleopatra's Needle, and have paid for
it more than it was worth. On Sunday, the 14th inst., the ' Olga' steamer was towing the obelisk, inclosed in the quaint iron box devised by Mr. Dixon for carrying it—a box which he calls the 'Cleopatra '—across the Bay of Biscay, when she was struck by the gale. The Cleopatra,' towing behind, was thrown on her side, and six men sent in a boat to aid her were swept away, and have, it is feared, perished. The towing-cable was slipped, and the 'Olga,' first taking the men off the Cleopatra,' steamed after the missing boat. It was not found, nor was the Cleopatra' when the '
Olga' returned, and it was of course supposed that the obelisk was lost. The old monolith, however, which, to use Mr. Disraeli's words about his race, "has seen and has survived the Pharaohs," was not destined to die so. It was seen drift- ing ninety miles north of Ferrol by the steamer Fitztnaurice,' and was towed into Ferrol, whence, we suppose, it will shortly be brought over to London. The claim of the captain of the Fitzmaurice ' for salvage will be an odd one. Will the obelisk be valued as so many tons of old granite, or by the price which it would fetch if put up to auction,—and what is that latter price ?
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