The run of ill-lack which sometimes sets in against private
shipowners has evidently turned against Her Majesty's Fleet. First there was the loss of the Captain, then the grounding of the Agincourt, and now here is the wreck of the Megmra troopship, with 850 troops on board. No details are known, but a telegram has been received from Batavia stating that she had been run aground on St. Paul's Island in a sinking state. Her crew and passengers were all saved. It is alleged that this vessel was sent out from Cork overloaded and against the remonstrances of some of her officers, but with, it would seem, the approval of the Admi- ral in command there. If she reached the neighbourhood of St. Paul's Island in safety, however, she could not have been in very bad condition, and we know as yet nothing of weather, storms, or accidents. There may be a Pearl Rock out there, for anything anybody can tell yet.
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