July, where one passenger, Claude G. Sawyer, an engineer and experienced sea traveller, left the ship and sent the following cable to his wife in London: "Thought Waratah top-heavy, landed Durban". Sawyer later testified to the London inquiry that he had booked passage on Waratah through to Cape Town, but had decided to disembark at Durban, as he had been nervous about the behaviour of the ship during his voyage. He also claimed that he had been disturbed by visions he saw in dreams during the voyage of a man "dressed in a very peculiar dress, which I had never seen before, with a long sword in his right hand, which he seemed to be holding between us. In the other hand he had a rag covered with blood." Sawyer claimed that he took these visions to be a warning to leave the ship at the earliest opportunity. In any event his decision to leave the ship at Durban saved his life. Disappearance The Waratah left Durban at approximately 20:15 on 26 July with 211 passengers and crew. At around 04:00 on 27 July she was spotted astern on the starboard side by the Clan Line steamer Clan MacIntyre. As Waratah was the faster ship she drew level with Clan MacIntyre by about 06:00, at which point both vessels communicated by signal lamp, and exchanged customary information about the name and destination of their respective ships. Waratah, going approximately 13 knots, then overtook Clan MacIntyre at a location abeam of the mouth of the Bashee River on southeast coast of the Colony of Natal. Waratah remained in sight of Clan MacIntyre, gradually steaming away until she disappeared over the horizon by about 09:30. This was the final confirmed sighting of Waratah. Later that day the weather deteriorated quickly (as is common in that area) with increasing wind and rough seas, this had developed into a hurricane by 28 July. The captain of the Clan MacIntyre said it was the worst weather he had experienced at sea in his 13 years as a seaman, with winds of exceptional strength causing tremendous seas. There were several further unconfirmed sightings: At around 17:30 on the 27th, a ship called the Harlow saw the smoke of a steamer on the horizon. There was so much smoke that her captain wondered if the steamer was on fire. When darkness fell, the crew of the Harlow