§ MR. G. H. MOOREsaid, he wished to put a question to the First Lord of the Admiralty with regard to the reported loss of Her Majesty's ship Nerbudda, off the coast of Africa, in June last. He had been told by the relatives of officers who were on board that ship, that the first information they had received of the disaster was contained in The Times of August last, and that no official report had been issued from the Admiralty either to the public, or to those more immediately interested. Great surprise and great pain had been caused by the absence of any official information as to the loss of a ship containing 180 souls, and he therefore requested the right hon. Baronet to state 1219 whatever details had reached him the subject.
§ SIR CHARLES WOODsaid, he was very sorry to say, that all the accounts he had received were of a completely negative character. The only information in the possession of the Government was, that the Nerbudda had been sent to the eastern coast of Africa, and had never since been heard of; but of course the Admiralty would not be justified in making any public statement on the subject until the last chance was gone. He could not, however, entertain the slightest hope that the Nerbudda had not foundered at sea. The Admiralty knew that she had not gone into any port of Madagascar, and, in fact, the only information they possessed was, that there was an absence of all information.