Starving Rats Grewsome Scene On Board A Deserted Vessel On The English Coast

A correspondent of the NeweastW (England) Chronicle, describing scènes on the Northumberland coost. tells a curious story about rats: '-What a scène of devastation did St. Mary's island witness as the resul t of the breaking up of theGothenburg City. I was one of a party that went on board that illfated vessel a few days bef ore shebroke up, and saw a sight to be remembered. I shall never forget it. To all appearances, as we approached her, the vessel might have been sailing comfortably out of harbor, save for the absence of any apparent life on board of her. But we had no sooner put foot on deck than we were immediately attacked in such a manner that such of us as had got on board had to make tracks for the rigging, while the rest of us feil back into the boats. Rats! I never saw so many in my life, and never hope to again. Great, hungry, lanky, lean-looking rats, many of them with their tails chewed off, swanned up from below in neverending thousands, squeaking and squirming over one another in a manner sickening and horrible to behold, particularly to those of us up in the rigging. At last we cut off some loose ropes, knotted them into convenient lengths, and so armed we descended and attacked the rodents, eventually succeeding in beating a passage to our boat. An3'one would have supposed that they knew by instinct the impending f ate of the vessel, for they no sooner saw us over the side than they began to swarm down the ropes and try to enter the boat, and it was only with difficulty we were able to beat them off before casting the boat clear; and they squeaUed in a horrible wanner in their ang-uish and mad frenzy as we rowed away f rom the vessel' s side. They were too far both from the island and the mainland to swim ashore. They could not feed on the timber and coal, so that was washed ashore to warm tha shins of the coast folk. White every other part of the vessel seemed to go to splinters, the deckhouse, strange to say, carne ashore on the island intact."