A correspondent of the Times gives an account of an
exploit . performed by Admiral Chicarro which, if true, will lead to a. demand by the British Government for his immediate dismissal. It is nothing less than an assertion that Admiral Chicarro, on board the ironclad Vittoria,' either deliberately or carelessly, rammed the 'Ellen Constance,' British steamer, laden with iron- ore for Hull, and sunk her. The captaimand most of his crew jumped on board the ' Vittoria,' but three men were too late, and were drowned, owing, according-to this account, to the Spaniards declining to let the English lower a boat. The night (January 7) was bright, and the time about half-past one ; but Captain Ashton could not see the Admiral till eleven next day, and was then told that he and his men would be retained. The' Lord Warden,' however, was near, and he obtained permission to see Admiral Yelverton, who detained-him forcibly,—he having been compelled to promise to return to the ' Vittoria '—and demanded and obtained the release of the other eighteen men. It would appear that the Admiral took the steamer for a blockade-runner, and that his regular practice is to run down such vessels, a thing he has no more right to do than to hang their crews. The case of the Murillo ' was bad enough, but here we have a ' Murillo ' under an Admiral's flag.
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