At 10.30 A.M.

on the 21st December a large steamer was observed, on her beam ends, trying to work into the bay. A very heavy ground sea was running, and a gale blowing from the south-west. A steam trawler was standing by her, but it soon become apparent that she was in a very perilous position. The Life-boat Elizabeth and Blanche was launched a few minutes after 11 o'clock, and pro- ceeded to the steamer, which by this time had been anchored. They found that she was the s.s. Hellopes, of Liver- pool. Twelve men had already been taken off by the trawler, and the steamer was foundering. The coxswain immediately established communication with the vessel, and by means of a line saved the captain, mate, and two engineers, hauling them to the boat through the water. Within a few minutes it was necessary to cast off, as the steamer was rapidly settling down, and as soon as the Life-boat- was clear of her the vessel sank in twenty fathoms of water..