James Carey, the Irish informer, was assassinated on board the
Melrose,' between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, last Sunday, the 29th July, by an Irishman who gives his name as O'Donnell. In writing three weeks ago we pointed out the great difficulty of keeping Carey's identity unknown in any part of the world where Englishmen and Irishmen go, and especially the additional difficulty which the presence of his wife and children with him would involve. It is pretty clear that the police made a very serious mistake in allowing him to travel with his wife and family to the Cape, if they wanted to secure his incognito. The passengers on board the ' Kinfauns Castle,'—the vessel in which he travelled to the Cape,—had, it is said, guessed his true name and story, in consequence of the presence of his wife and seven children ; and O'Donnell, who was with them, declares that he secured his own passage by the `Melrose' from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth on purpose that be might kill him. Ile declares, indeed, that it was only at Cape Town that he discovered who his fellow-passenger had been, but that is not quite consistent with the story which he is said to have told in London before his departure, as to the importance of the mission on which he was sent. He discharged three shots at Carey, who died crying out that O'Donnell had shot him. O'Donnell was at once arrested, and as his crime was committed on the high seas, it is believed that he will be sent back to England for trial.
