THE following stirring account of the wreck of the above-named vessel is abridged from an interesting narrative of the same, which appeared in the ' Morning Chronicle' of the 2nd December last, as recounted by one of the sufferers, a gentleman formerly in connexion with that journal, and who, by his presence of mind, correct judgment, and firmness of character, was himself enabled to render important services to his co-partners in distress.

We do not select this particular case as one that stands by itself, - but as a graphic description of one of a class, of not infrequent occurrence, and which, as having but recently happened, will serve to show the necessity that still exists, and now from the increasing emigration and travelling to and fro of our countrymen upon the .seas, more and more exists, for the establishment of some authority which shall effectually ensure that no vessel leave a Port of the British dominions, unless properly officered and fully manned, as well as sufficiently furnished with rigging, sails, stores, wholesome provisions, good anchoring gear, suitable boats, and all proper appurtenances for saving the lives of those on board in the event of any casualty occurring.

Happily few lives were lost on this occasion, but the narrative speaks with a warning voice, as showing that but for the providential arrival of the Monmoufh at this solitary unfrequented spot, 105 human beings would have perished miserably from starvation, occasioned immediately, it is true, from the want of a proper look out being kept, but which bad look out was, it appears, itself caused by the vessel being imperfectly manned.

We are further induced to give admission to this otherwise rather too long a narration of shipwreck for our small periodical, from a desire to give publicity to, and to hold up to the example of the 'captains of our own merchant service the noble and truly Christian conduct of Captain LUDLOW, the Commander of the American ship Monmouth, as indeed that also of her officers and crew. Conduct which was an honour to themselves and to their country, and a most fitting example to hold up to the emulation of others.

The Meridian was one of a line of vessels engaged in the Australian passenger trade, and was a remarkably fine vessel of her class.

At the period of her sailing in June last, she was only a year old, having made her first voyage to Moreton Bay the previous year, with Government emigrants, under the charge of the same commander, Captain HERNAHAN', an able and experienced navigator. She was a large barque of 579 tons register; she had 26 chief cabin, and 58 steerage, passengers; in all 84, of whom 41 were children under the age of 16 years, 17 women, and 26 men. Her crew nominally consisted of 23 persons, but exclusive of the captain and the 3 mates, there were only 10 able seamen on board. There were 3 boys reckoned in the crew, one of whom was chiefly employed in looking after the live stock on board ; two cooks, and three stewards, as well as a former clerk in Somerset- house, who had never before handled a rope in his life, but who worked as a sailor in consideration of paying only 10Z. as passage-money. It may seem superfluous to add that in a ship so manned no allowance was made for contingencies ; and it happened that our complement of able seamen already too small, was further diminished by one of them being on the sick list for nearly the whole of the voyage, and by another being taken away to supply the place of the chief cabin cook, whom age and infirmity had rendered incompetent. As the ship was so short of hands, it was next to impossible to keep a regular watch forward, for with one man at the wheel, and another on the forecastle, there would only have been two able seamen in each watch to work the ship, and, accordingly, when work had to be done, the " look out" was called away to assist. We had, however, one of the finest passages that ever was made, till we reached the 20th degree of south latitude. But on the night of the 23d of August, when we were running for St. Paul's, which the captain wished to sight in order to correct a suspected error in his chronometer, we encountered a strong gale, which induced him to alter our course, and bear up for Amsterdam, an island in the same meridian of longitude as St. Paul's, but fifty miles to the southward of it. The gale continued all night and the following day, in the course of which we passed the barque John Sugars, of London, bound for Sydney, and which we ascertained by a printed list of departures to have left Gravesend 14 days before us.

We had spoken several vessels in the course of the voyage, and had invariably found, on comparing notes, that we had made a quicker passage than any of them. Captain HERNAMAN was strongly influenced by a sense of professional emulation; he could not bear to be beaten by another ship, and soon after passing the John Sugars he ordered the ship's course to be altered a point, steering E. by S., so as to let the Meridian go more freely before the wind though the night was very dark, the gale increasing, and he himself believed that his chronometer required correction.

He told his passengers that he expected to make Amsterdam about twelve o'clock at night, and he contented himself by telling Mr. LAMBURD, the first mate, whose watch on deck commenced at six o'clock, to keep a good look out. It is but justice to that officer to state that he, as well as the rest of the officers and crew, had been up all the preceding night, and was no doubt much fatigued; but it is equally 'due to truth to add, that there was no look out on the forecastle, and that he and the whole of his watch (except the man at the wheel) were engaged a little before seven o'clock in baling the water out of his cabin, which had been partially inundated by a sea, which had just before then burst over the vessel.

After this the course of the vessel was altered, by the captain's direction, to east.

The tea-things in the cuddy had just been cleared away, and many of the children were being undressed, when a smart shock shook the vessel from stem to stern. At first I believed that we had run foul of another vessel, but in a minute or two afterwards five or six more violent shocks, accompanied by a peculiar grating sound at the bottom of the vessel, left no room for doubt upon the nature of the misfortune which had befallen us. And for a time all was confusion, terror, and despair.

The moment that the vessel struck, Capt. HERNAJIAN, who was standing in the passage leading to the cuddy, rushed up the poop stairs, exclaiming three times, " where is Mr. LAMBURD ?" As the captain gained the quarter-deck, the awful truth burst upon him, and, with another exclamation of " My God! it is the island!" he seized the wheel, and put the helm hard a-starboard. He then stripped off his coat, waistcoat, and trousers, shouted, " now every man for himself," and bade one of the hands, named CHARLES SNOW, assist him in casting off one of the hen-coops. While they were thus engaged a heavy sea burst over the poop, and swept him and SNOW overboard, but SNOW caught a rope as he fell, and climbed up again, some of the crew got into the main-top, others held on to other parts of the rigging, exposed, of course, to the fury of the waves, which, repeatedly washed over them.

Meanwhile, the situation of the passengers in the 'tween decks was awful in the extreme. The vessel lay very much over on her port side, towards the shore, and every sea that swept over the decks deluged the second cabin with water, and broke in the cabins on the lee side in less than five minutes after the vessel had struck.

Our situation, indeed, appeared so desperate that I believe very few cherished the hope of escape, and for my own part I exhorted all about me to think no more of this life, but to implore God's mercy and forgiveness while there was yet time vouchsafed for repentance.

The mainmast fell about half-past one o'clock in the morning, and the vessel parted in two close to the after hatchway on the main deck. The mainmast descended gradually, with all the rigging standing, athwart the breakers to the boulders above, thus forming a kind of bridge between the ship and the shore, of which such of the sailors as had not already landed were not slow to avail themselves. Some of the younger men among the passengers followed their example; but no efforts were made by the seamen generally, who alone could be of any service under such circumstances, to save the women and children. Mr. WORTHINGTON, however, the third mate, declared that he would not leave the vessel till every woman and child had quitted it, and he and SNOW repeatedly passed over from the shore to the ship, and back again, though knocked down several times by heavy seas, in order to conduct those who would venture over.

On landing, the sight that presented itself was indeed appalling. Before us lay huge boulders, piled up irregularly, till they reached an altitude of 40 feet or 50 feet, where they were hemmed in by a perpendicular wall of black ferruginous rock, about 100 feet high, rendering a further advance from the sea in that direction impossible. A small portion of the forecastle of the Meridian was still visible above water, but the rest of the forepart of the vessel was completely broken up, and pieces of the wreck were dashed by every sea on the rocks. The sailors—though with the exceptions already mentioned, they had done little or nothing to assist in the escape of the passengers—had not been idle since they got on shore. They had lighted a fire, and had opened several bales of clothing, which was distributed freely among all, as soon as they set their foot on the rocks. And it is not going too far to say that, but for this providential supply, half of the women and children must have soon perished from wet and cold. Before sunrise, by God's mercy, every soul on board had escaped from the wreck, with the exception of the unfortunate Captain of the Meridian, the old cook, THOMAS GEORGE, and a Swiss steerage passenger, named PFAU, all of whom were washed off the deck soon after the vessel struck.

Rescued almost by a miracle from certain death, we were yet placed in a situation, the contemplation of which would have made the stoutest heart quail, if its horrors then had been fully known to us. But we were mercifully spared that knowledge. The j island of Amsterdam is of volcanic formation, and is about 24 miles in circumference. It lies quite out of the track of vessels going ! to Australia, which usually shape their course at least two or three degrees more to the southward, in order to fall in with the westerly winds, which usually prevail in the higher latitudes. The island is uninhabited, | and produces nothing fit for the food of ' man, except some wild cabbages in the | north-eastern parts of the island, originally planted there by the shipwrecked crew of a | French vessel.

At the suggestion of some of the principal passengers, I was nominated to the office of storekeeper and distributor of provisions, and in the hope of doing some good, I accepted it, and endeavoured to prevail on the seamen and passengers, with whom I came in contact, to gather together as many stores as they could collect, while I employed my time in storing away in small cavities under the overarching rocks the few provisions that had been already found. By the evening we had got two bags of biscuit, one of them a good deal damaged by salt water, several tins of salt herrings, two or three pieces of salt beef, and a few bottles of port wine. A biscuit for every adult, and half a biscuit for each of the children, were served out as rations for the day, and herrings for those who chose to take them, but as no fresh water had yet been found, there were but few applicants for them.

That night all of us, except a few of the women and children, for whom a sort of tent had been prepared, with the help of a few boards and a sail, lay down on the rock, a hard couch for people who had probably never passed a night in the open air in their lives, except on the top of a stage coach, well wrapped up in shawls or over-coats.

The following day (Friday) much more activity was shown in collecting provisions, and a place was discovered, about a third of a mile eastward of the wreck, where an ascent to the top of the cliff was practicable.

At this point the cliff was about 200 feet above the level of the debris, which served as a breakwater against the surf, and thither the seamen repaired in the evening, followed by a few of the passengers. It was no easy matter to scale this ascent, for about 15 feet from the top a perpendicular mass of rock hung over the path, but the sailors passed down two guide ropes for the men, and a third for hauling up the women and children.

The majority of the passengers, with the chief mate and myself, passed the night, as before, on the rocks; but on the next day, the 27th, it was determined that a general removal to the new encampment on the cliff should take place without delay. Accordingly, with the exception of the chief mate and myself, who remained below to take charge of the stores, all the passengers ascended the cliff in the course of the day, and very little addition was made to the scanty stock of provisions which we had in hand. We had now only enough biscuit to last a week, a canister half full of preserved potatoes, a few cases of preserved meats, a large canister of very good tea, five or six pieces of salt beef, two hams, about twentyfive cases of herrings, the brandy and wine, a box of raisins, two dozen or so of candles, five boxes of lucifer matches, two doublebarrelled guns, a six-shot revolver, two ship's pistols, five flasks of gunpowder, and a small quantity of shot and bullets. These were all the means and appliances we possessed for the sustenance of 105 persons, a large portion of whom were women and young children, incapable of doing anything for themselves.

The Sunday night (the 28th) I passed again with Mr. LAMBURD on the rocks by the stores, in no very buoyant frame of mind, but still not without an humble hope that the all-powerful Being who had so mercifully preserved us from death by drowning and cold, might still point out some means for our deliverance. I need not attempt to describe, therefore, what my feelings were when I received, on the following morning, the unlooked-for intelligence that a ship was rounding the point, and that she had twice answered our signal flags on the cliff, consisting of two red shirts and some yards of white flannel, by lowering her ensign. Very soon afterwards I saw the vessel myself. She was a whaler, apparently of about 300 tons, and still kept her ensign flying. After a time she tacked, and tried to stand in, but the wind blew so hard from the land that she was compelled again to stand out to sea.

We were sanguine, however, in our anticipations that she would assist us in some way, either by taking us off the island or by supplying us with provisions. Unfortunately this impression had the effect of inducing the crew and the able-bodied among the passengers to abstain from further exertion.

The sole addition to our stores on Sunday was two baskets of dried apples; and Monday night closed in, without any greater augmentation of our supplies than four tins of smoked herrings. On the Monday night a gale rapidly set in upon the land, and continued until the morning, by which time all that remained of the once proud Meridian was the mere outer planking of the poop, which had been driven end on upon the rock, and lifted at least 10 feet higher than it was on the previous evening.

The remainder of the provisions were now got upon the cliff, and the encampment there presented an aspect of something like comfort when contrasted with the uneven surface of the craggy bed on which the majority of the passengers had passed the first two nights.

The following day (Wednesday, August 31) it was arranged (for we had seen nothing of the whaler since the Monday) that an expedition should be sent to traverse the island, and find out some place where a boat could land and take us off. Whilst, however, the exploring party were preparing to start, and as the morning's rations were being issued, the cry was suddenly raised, " A boat, a boat!" and running to the point where the flagstaff was erected, we distinctly saw a whale boat rowing near the shore, at a safe distance from the surf. The steersman waved a flag in his hand, and pointed it two or three times towards the quarter from which the boat had come; and then the boat, turning its he.id round, pursued its way back again. All was now bustle, hope, and joy. Many audibly expressed their humble thanks to Almighty God for their deliverance, which they expected to be immediate, and preparations were made for instant departure.

Alas! neither we who were on the cliff, nor those who were in the boat below, were at all aware of the dangers and difficulties of the road which we had to traverse, nor of the sufferings which we were destined to undergo before our final rescue.

The captain of the vessel, who was himself steering the boat, fully calculated upon our arrival that evening at the point where his ship was in waiting to receive us, for the distance by the coast was only about twelve miles, and we ourselves, though we did not know what the distance was, entertained the same impression. But a heavy gale of wind sprang up, soon after the boat left us, and it was with great difficulty that the captain and his boat's crew were enabled to regain their ship. The vessel was obliged to stand out to sea immediately, and when the gale ceased, which was not till 48 hours afterwards, the brave fellows were 80 miles from the island of Amsterdam. As we were to follow the boat, it was necessary to keep the sea constantly in view, and the route taken, therefore, lay along the cliffs, on the eastern part of the " island; the greater portion of it ran through a thick jungle of tall, green cane, generally much higher than a man's head, and occasionally interspersed with patches of sharppointed rushes.

The difficulty of the route may be estimated, from the fact that it took the seamen two days to accomplish this journey, and the reader, therefore, will hardly be surprised to learn that it took a train of halffamished, foot-sore, shoeless women and children, assisted by a few men, three days to travel a distance of 12 miles. Frequent rests were indispensable to fathers and mothers with infant children tied behind their backs, having nothing but a herring a-day to eat—some had only two herrings for the three days—and the last day almost entirely without water.

It may here be mentioned, that on the second evening of the journey, just as the large party with which I was travelling had taken up their ground for the night, a tall, powerful man, in a sailor's garb, appeared on the brow of a hill which we had just descended, and told us that he was the mate of the boat which we had seen the day before, and that he had been landed by Captain LUDLOW for the express purpose of looking after us. He had already made his way across the mountain to the encampment on the cliff, and having slept there on the Wednesday night, he was now on his return to the cabbage-garden, where we were to be embarked. The whole party sprung up at this announcement, as if they had simultaneously received an electric shock; hunger and exhaustion were alike forgotten for the moment, and every one struggled on as far as he could, till darkness fell upon the now widely-separated party, and made a further advance for the night impossible.

And here it is but an act of justice to mention the obligations which the passengers in general incurred to the seaman in question, SMITH "by name, and an Englishman by birth, who did everything in his power to assist and encourage the jaded travellers.

The supplies which we had brought with us were now exhausted, and all hands, especially the women and younger children, were reduced to such a state of weakness that it was evident to all who thought about the matter that it was next to impossible for a great many of us to hold out until the middle of the next week. The Saturday and the Sunday (3rd and 4th of September) passed away, and still no signs of the ship.

Our situation on the Sunday night was indeed critical. The supply of water had just failed, and there was none to be had within less than the distance of nearly a mile, which was far too great for us to walk several times a-day, in order to fill with water the few wine bottles or boots that we possessed. There was but a day's supply of cabbage remaining, and unless God should send us immediate aid, it was clear that two or three days would put an end to the sufferings of many. But at daybreak on Monday morning our deliverers were at hand, A long and tremendous shout of " Ship, ship," from the stentorian lungs of SMITH, aroused the whole encampment, and fervent thanks were offered up to Almighty God for this renewed instance of his mercy. The Monmouth was seen standing in towards the shore, with a fair wind; but as we could not tell when she would be able to send her boats, we again betook ourselves to our allotted occupations of collecting fuel, &c.

And we had just boiled and eaten the first sardine tinful, when a shout from below aroused our attention, and looking in the direction from which the noise proceeded, we saw SMITH, and a tall, commandinglooking man, the latter of whom had enough to do to shake hands with the people who thronged around him. It proved to be Captain LUDLOW, of the Monmouth, from Coldspring, in the State of New York, who had come ashore in his own boat to bring us off at once. He was followed by the second mate of the ship, who brought with him some biscuits and a piece of pork, which was rapidly distributed among the famishing multitude; but Captain LUDLOW allowed no one to sit down and eat it, and told us that not a moment's time was to be lost, and that it was but a quarter of a mile to the place where the boats lay.

The spot selected for embarkation, the day being fine, and the water remarkably smooth, was a ledge of rocks jutting out into the sea, at a point where the surface of the island was more than usually depressed. It proved, in fact, a natural wharf; but so rarely is it available, owing to the surf, for the purpose to which it was that day applied, that Captain LUDLOW was the only person on board the Mommouth who was aware of its existence. More biscuits and pork were distributed here, and were devoured with a relish which famine only can impait.

There were four whale-boats employed in taking us off, the women and children going first, and by noon all those who had escaped from the wreck were on board the Monmmtth, with the exception of the chief cabin steward and a little girl, whom he carried on his back (both of whom were brought off on the following day), and a steerage-passenger, named PELL,who severely injured his foot among the rocks on the first day of the wreck, and who was unable to travel. Plenty of provisions, however, had been left with him at the encampment on the cliff, and, to save this man, Captain LUDLOW left on the island four of his own men, including SMITH, with instructions to bring him off as soon as possible, for he declared that, unless he saved the life of every person who had escaped shipwreck, he should look upon his work as incomplete.

And surely, when Captain LUDLOW stood upon the deck of his staunch old vessel, and gazed upon the grateful but haggard countenances and emaciated bodies of more than a hundred fellow-creatures, almost reduced to the last extremity, he might well feel a degree of anxiety in the completion of an achievement which nothing but an indomitable resolution would have enabled him to accomplish. Another gale sprang up on the Tuesday, after we had embarked, and we were again obliged to stand out to sea, uor could we approach near enough to take the men off till the Friday afternoon, when the captain manned his own boat, and brought PELL and his own four men on board. With three hearty cheers for Captain LUDLOW and his brave crew, we then left Amsterdam; and after a very fine but rather slow passage of 17 days, we arrived at the Mauritius.

On board the Monmouth all that could be done by respectful sympathy and unobtrusive kindness was done for us, in order to make us forget the hardships which we had undergone, and that not merely on the part of Captain LUDLOW, but by all hands in the whaler, down to the cook's mate. And it must be borne in mind that every man of the Monmouth's crew incurred a considerable pecuniary loss by his participation in Captain LUDLOW'S views. In a whale-ship, no one receives any wages, but every one takes a certain share in the profits of the voyage, according to his rating in the ship. They had been out two years, and had not been very successful, the Monmouth being only half full of oil. They had come upon fishing-ground, where, in a few days, they might have filled the ship, for I myself saw several whales sporting about, close to the shore, and one monstrous fellow showed his black back above the water, within an eighth of a mile from the boat which carried me to the ship. But not a murmur was heard from the lips of the gallant " Monmouths," at the loss of their whaling-season, and with it a sacrifice of their means of living. We were liberally supplied with food, and the quality was such that I should like to see it emulated in English passengerships.