TERRIBLE PLIGHT.

The Wiltshire had no passengers aboard, but she carried a large cargo, including 4,000 tons consigned to Auckland. The wireless operator kept the land and the rescuing vessels closely informed as to the position during the early hours of the night, and then came a long silence. He resumed communication at four o’clock in the morning, and reported that the third and fourth holds were full of water. At five o’clock he said: “Fear total wreck. Terrific sea. Only hope is to remain aboard until the weather moderates. Lifeboats cannot leave.”

The heavy seas prevented other vessels making an attempt at rescue, but the Katoa landed party to try to reach the Wiltshire overland, and horses were used to expedite their journey over the hills.

The silence maintained during the later hours of the morning lent colour to the worst fears, which were supported at two o’clock in the afternoon, when news arrived that the vessel had broken in halves. The crew had gathered forward in a perilous position, and were trapped like rats. Rescuing vessels are still prevented from approaching the Wiltshire’s side, and huge seas are rolling ashore. The Union Company’s steamer Moeraki left Sydney to-day with a rocket apparatus, but it is feared that she will be too late. An earlier report that several men had escaped on a raft, the crew having connected the vessel by a line with the shore, unfortunately proves to be inaccurate. Eye-witnesses describe the scene as heartrending. The cries of the crew massed in the bow of the ship are heard by watchers on the inaccessible cliffs above the wreck.