In  spite  of  the  difficulty  of  launching  boats
in  the  heavy  sea,  all  the  passengers  were  got
safely  to  shore.  Undoubtedly  Lord  Elgin  and
Baron  Gros,  by  their  coolness,  had  inspired  con-
fidence that  prevented  extreme  panic,  and  they
saw  all  the  other  passengers  safely  embarked
before  they  left  the  ship.  The  consequences  of
the  wreck  threatened  to  be  serious.  In  the  hurry
of  the  transfer  from  the  Simla  to  the  Malabar,
even  the  luggage,  marked  **  Cabin,"  had  been
put  into  the  hold,  and,  of  course,  it  went  down
with  the  ship.  Not  even  Lord  Elgin's  port-
manteau, which  had  been  taken  to  his  cabin,  was
saved.  It  was  in  charge  of  a  servant  whom  he
trusted  to  do  what  he  could.  But  this  man
showed  exclusive  zeal  for  his  own  safety.  When
the  ship  was  beached  he  hailed  a  native  boat,
tossed  into  it  his  own  portmanteau,  and  made  for
shore  alone.  Lord  Elgin's  personal  effects,  his
stars  and  badges,  the  Order  of  the  Thistle  and
of  the  Bath,  his  clothing,  his  papers  and  his
books,  lay  at  the  bottom  in  Galle  Harbour.
Baron  Gross  losses  were  similar.  The  powers
to  treat  with  China,  which  each  Ambassador  pos-
sessed, went  down,  and,  but  for  their  recovery,
though  it  was  in  a  half-ruined  condition,  delay
might  have  been  involved  in  waiting  for  the
arrival   of  new  powers.      For  two  weeks  Lord


SECOND   MISSION  TO   CHINA    227

Elgin  remained  at  Galle,  interested  most  of  all
in  watching  divers  slowly  fish  up  his  efifects  from
the  sea,  and  studying  the  effect  of  salt  water  upon
gold  and  silver  plate.  ''As  yet,"  he  wrote  some
days  after  the  wreck,  '*  I  have  got  nothing  but
some  cases  of  champagne,  and  a  box  of  linen.
