The Times, Thursday, Feb 01, 1866; pg. 7; Issue 25410; col A THE LOSS OF THE LONDON. ----------------------- OFFICIAL INQUIRY. The official inquiry directed by the Board of Trade into the circumstances under which the London foundered in the Bay of Biscay on the 11th ult. was resumed in the Greenwich Police-court yesterday, before Mr. TRAILL, police magistrate, and Captain H. HARRIS and Captain BAKER, nautical assessors. Mr. O'DOWD appeared for the Board of Trade; Mr. T. SALTER for the relatives of Mr. and Mrs. THOMAS, who, with their children, went down in the ship; and Mr. BURRELL, of Glasgow, who had lost a son in the London, on his own behalf, and that of Mrs. TENNENT, of Edinburgh, whose husband was drowned at the same time. It will be seen from the statements of the witnesses that additional testimony was borne as to the qualities of the ship; and an emigration officer gave evidence as to the manner in which her dead weight was stowed. Mr. HUMPHREYS described the arrangement of her engine-room, with the view of showing that she was furnished with a very superior kind of bilge pump. It will, however, be remembered that the fires of the London are said to have been put out, not by a flow of bilge water, but by a torrent of sea water which had swept over the upper deck, rushed down the hatchway, extinguished the furnaces, and made it impossible for the engineers and stokers to remain at their posts. If this be so, no bilge pump, however efficient for its purpose, could have prevented such an inundation; and the question raised by the occurrence is that of a better covering for engine-rooms as a protection against water from above. Mr. William BUNDOCK was examined, and in reply to Mr. O'DOWD said he was sailmaker and ship's husband to the Messrs. WIGRAM. He made the sails for the ship London, and now held in his hand the sail report book, which contained a list of the sails of that ship, signed by Captain MARTIN. The witness read the list, annexed to which were memoranda as to the condition of the sails on the 28th of November, signed by Captain MARTIN, the commander of the ship. The witness saw these sails before the London proceeded on her last voyage; five of them were new, and all were made of the best Irish flax canvas. Those of them which had required repair were repaired before the ship started on her last voyage. Captain HARRIS. - From that list she does not appear to have any storm sails? The Witness. - The storm sails were the foretop staysail and the mizen staysail. Captain HARRIS. - What canvas were they made of? The Witness. - They were of No. 1. Captain HARRIS. - Are you in the habit of fitting out the sailing ships of the Messrs. WIGRAM? The Witness. - Yes. Captain HARRIS. - And is it your practice to have storm sails for them? The Witness. - No; not other storm sails than those I have mentioned. Captain HARRIS. - Not for a vessel going on a voyage in the winter months? The Witness. - No. Captain HARRIS. - Did Captain MARTIN forward any requisition for additional sails, or make any request on the subject? The Witness. - No, none whatever. Captain MARTIN was on the survey of those sails. Captain HARRIS. - Had he done so, would they have been supplied? The Witness. - No doubt they would have been. Captain HARRIS remarked that no description of storm sail could have been of stronger canvas than the No. 1 canvas referred to by the witness. Captain Peter John REEVES, general surveyor of shipping, was the next witness. In answer to Mr. O'DOWD, he said he had been for 23 years acting as a surveyor. He surveyed ships on his own account, and also for the Emigration Commissioners. He surveyed the London on the 28th of November last. The witness handed in the memoranda of the survey, which stated that the London had been examined throughout; that she was a strong-built ship, and well fastened in every respect; that he and another surveyor who had conducted the survey with him found her in first-rate order, and scraped and painted; that some of her upper-deck water-ways had been caulked; and that her anchors, chains, davits, &c., were "the same as before." Mr. REEVES stated that some of the upper water-ways had required caulking, which was not an extraordinary occurrence in a new ship. The caulking was done, and though he made a report that the ship was in such first-rate condition, no special observations concerning her were called for. He had surveyed her on two previous occasions, and the words "same as before" referred to his previous surveys. Mr. Samuel T. CORNISH, a general ship surveyor, who, in conjunction with the last witness, had surveyed the London previous to her last voyage, stated that he had heard Mr. REEVES's evidence and concurred in it. He had signed the report put in by Mr. REEVES. Mr. Alexander GNUN [?GUNN], a clerk in the Record Department of the Registrar-General of Seamen, produced the official copy of the articles of agreement of the London. These articles were between the master and the crew. There were 15 foreign seamen on board. There were in all 34 able seamen - foreigners and British subjects included; all the foreigners were able seamen. The total number of the crew "all told" was 83. He believed that previous records would show the conduct and ability of the crew on previous voyages. The articles to which he referred were signed on the 23d of December last. Of the 15 foreigners it appeared from official records that 12 had previously served in British ships. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Day 3 of the inquiry to continue..... Petra