42 THE WRECK OF 17B9 Eiou's second lettei** to the Admiralty was scarcely longer ^^J than the first. He excused himself for its brevity because letter. ^ Dutch packet was about to sail for Europe, and because "I find it more necessary than ever to exert myself in order to prevent the ship from sinking at her anchors." But Eiou was not in a condition to write long despatches. He had suffered greatly from fatigue, exposure, and anxiety, and, according to his own statement, had been unable since the accident to hold a pen or keep a joumal.t He had sus- tained painful injuries — his hand had been crushed and his leg hurt — but he said nothing of these things to Mr. Secre- tary Stephens. De«cription8 It was part of Riou's duty as captain to furnish a detailed wreck. account of the accident to the Admiralty, but no such report has been found among the Records. Many accounts, how- ever, found their way to London, and were published in the newspapers of the time.J The The boatswain of the Guardian, John Williams, writing bofttflw&in's account. from Table Bay, on the 27th March, gave a blunt but interesting account of the accident and the perilous passage of the water-logged vessel to the Cape. According to his version, § the Guardian came into collision with an " island of ice," which knocked away the rudder, broke the tiller in three pieces, broke one of the after-beams in two, knocked the stempost from the keel, and damaged the ship in a shocking manner." The handful of men left on board had he arriyed at Sydney, where he learned that his father was dead. He sailed for England in the Indispensable, in July. When the news of the accident to the G-uardian reached England, Lord Camelford's heir was supposed to be lost with the others -who had remained on board, and the moment the unex- pected intelligence of Riou's arrival at the Cape was received at the Admiralty, Lord Chatham, we are told, set off in a chaise and four to convey the joyful intelligence to " his noble relation." • Historical Records, vol. i, part 2, p. 310, t lb., p. 317. X A full narrative was published in the Annual Register for 1790. It will be found in Appendix B. A shorter account was embodied in a memoir of Captain Eiou, published in the Naval Chronicle for 1801. § Williams's narrative wiU be found in the Historical Eecords, vol. ii, p. 757.
