The steam-boat Royal Tar left St. John's, New Brunswick, for
Portland in Maine, on the 21st of October, with about one hundred passengers, two camels, an elephant, and other animals, forming a me- nagerie of wild beasts. On the 25th, when crossing Penobscot Bay, the steamer was discovered to be on fire. The engineer and fifteen others got into the largest boat and made off. Captain Reed, the com- mander, took possession of the other boat, and with all expedition pos- sible conveyed the passengers to a revenue-cutter, which a signal of distress had called to their assistance. But, notwithstanding his exer- tions, many were forced to leap overboard, to save themselves from drowning. The cutter, unhappily, bad no boat of any size; and there being gunpowder on board, her commander durst not approach near to the bursting vessel. The last boat left the wreck a little before sunset, with one solitary frantic female, the last on board, whose sister and child had both perished before her eyes. The loss of lives is estimated at from twenty-six to thirty-two ; there being some small children on board, who had not been inserted on Captain Reed's passengers' list, the precise number cannot be ascertained. The prompt and praise. worthy decision of Captain Reed in securing the boat, was the only means by which the life of an individual could have been saved. The elephant, camels, and horses, jumped overboard, and all the animals in the cages were burnt.
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