A middle-distant view from the cliffs looking at a port side view, just forward of the broadside, of the passenger liner Malta (1865), mostly submerged by the stern, off the rocks in the bay on the north-east side of Kendijack Castle looking towards the bluff of Hendijack Cliff Castle. The ship is submerged from the stern to the funnel and then with the waist bulwarks above water to the forecastle which is still above water. The sea is pouring over the wreck. Six rowing boats are off the port side in the swell. Flotsam and jetsam can be seen floating off the port bow. In the foreground at the bottom of the cliffs are a group of men salvaging wood and cargo as it floats shore.

The Malta was on passage from Liverpool with 40 crew and 21 passengers, and a cargo of about 2,000 tons for Falmouth to complete loading and then to Gibraltar. Having left Liverpool on 14 October the Malta struck the cliffs close to Cape Cornwall at a little after 7pm on 15 October 1889 at full speed (9 knots). The passengers were landed by about 830pm and the crew came off at about midnight [see Wreck Report for Malta, no. 3919].