# Shipwrecks and disasters at sea

CHEAP TRACTS, NO. 6.
Shipwrecks
AND DISASTERS AT SEA;
Comprising an Account of A Winter in Greenland,
AND Wreck of the Medusa Frigate, &c.
DUNFERMLINE: PRINTED AND SOLD BY JOHN MILLER. --- 1828.
Accidents & Disasters AT SEA.
A Winter in Greenland.
The ship Dundee of London, arrived at Lerwick in May 1827, from Davis' Straits, after having experienced the greatest hardships during a severe winter, in a place where man never wintered before. Commander David Duncan.
She was beset in lat. 74, 30, and was liberated in lat. 63; she drove, in one solid body of ice, from August 23, 1826, till April 16, 1827. The Haarlem Dutch ship, of Herlingen, was lost close by the Dundee, on August 23. The crew saved no provisions, but came (to the number of 40) on board of her, from the 23rd August to the 6th October; as, however, here was not the slightest appearance of the ice separating, they resolved to set out for Levely, a Danish settlement, about 350 miles distant they took their departure in three open boats with the frost so insupportably intense, that it seemed doubtful whether they would reach Levely ​I supplied them amply with provisions, and sent all hands to assist in dragging the boats towards a lean, or opening of water. From the mast head I watched the parting of the two ships’ companies, which was affecting in the extreme, and heightened by an acute sense of their mutual dangers.
On Friday last we caught a whale, and another on the 16th, which was a great relief to our crew, as by that means we caught the sharks which came to feed on the dead fish. All of us at this period were frost-bitten, some severely so. While we were disposing of the blubber, we found to our infinite regret that all the water in the casks was congealed to a mass of solid ice; the heads too burst; so they were hoisted on deck for the cooper to repair.
On February 22d an enormous ice-berg advanced direct towards the vessel’s stern : all hands were instantly on the alert, and most of the crew leaped on the ice with which we were hemmed in, with their clothes in their hands, concluding as a matter of course, that the ship would be lost. We lowered also on the ice six cwt of bread, and had scarcely effected our operations, when onwards with a tremendous crash came the ice-berg, cracking the ice in every direction. At this moment, a number of our men were behind the gigantic mass, and made certain that the vessel was crushed to atoms: in a short time however, they again saw her, and hailed her with three hearty cheers. When the ice-berg passed the ship, the cooper was working on the ​ice; it instantly ran over 30 tons of casks and one of the whale-beats, lines, &c. The few hands that remained on board assisted in loosing the headsails, and as soon as there was room for the ship to cant between the flaws of ice and the berg, she did so, and escaped uninjured. Our escape was really miraculous, for often at dead of night have we been alarmed by the awful sound of the ice-bergs, as they came rushing with the noise of thunder, towards us, tearing up whole fields of ice in their way. With a view to obviate the danger, we were in the habit of going across the ice with lanterns, and minutely inspecting it in every possible direction. We did not see the sun for full 75 days, during which time there was about four hours twilight; the frost was intense; the crew could not even walk the deck for five minutes without being frost-bitten. In short, we would all have perished, had we not luckily got some broken spars and staves from the Dutch wreck, with which we cooked our victuals.
The following heart-rending particulars respecting the poor Dutchmen are from the Montrose Review:—The crew of the Dundee, as may well be supposed, suffered severe privations from want of provisions; they killed immense numbers of seals and bears, which formed a great portion of their food; but, what was to them a double calamity, they were burdened for a considerable time with the whole of their Dutch neighbours, who, from sheer want, obtruded themselves as guests, on Capt. Duncan. It ​was a hard task for an Englishman, even in the peculiar circumstances in which the crew of the Dundee were then placed, to tell a number of his fellow creatures on the point of starving, that they could not be allowed to share in his coarse fare; but Captain D. had a still harder task to perform, in that he had to provide for the certain and fast accumulating necessities of himself and his men; and therefore, after allowing the poor creatures to remain on board for a time—and after hesitating awhile betwixt pity and duty—he desired them to leave the ship. But they had not been long absent, when they again returned, and implored his mercy and protection—again their emaciated looks and tale of misery excited his compassion—and they were a second time taken on board—but it was only for a short period. Captain D. seeing that it was not in his power to eke out a subsistence for the whole, again commanded them to depart; which they did.
A faint idea may be formed of the appalling difficulties and sufferings to which the Dutch crew were exposed, in their open boat for a period of nearly two months, during which they traversed an extent of nearly 600 miles, under circumstances of distress at which humanity shudders. One of the survivors was brought to Peterhead, by Captain Hogg, who, from the little English the Dutchman could be taught to speak, has been able to collect but a very imperfect particulars. Deprived of the assistance of the English, on which they hung nearly their last hope of safety, the Dutch crew betook themselves to their boats, and pushed for the nearest ​Danish settlement. Their progress thitherward was one scene of danger and toil, while the accumulated evils of every succeeding day threatened that termination of their sufferings, which nature seemed no longer able to withstand. The boats were drawn over large fields of ice, until a spot of open water could he found, in which, again afloat, they were soon impeded by the bay or lighter ice which formed around them, when the oars being no longer useful to them, nor the ice strong enough to allow their passage, the crew were compelled to remain in their boats till next day, when all was solid, to admit their being taken on the ice and dragged on as before.
For many days this labour and sorrow continued, until at last, a ray of hope of their deliverance being at hand, cheered their weary souls on their reaching the northernmost Danish settlement, called Opiernawnck, in lat. 73 deg. The prospect of assistance here, proved however almost quite delusive—the poor residents, a man and his wife, having barely provisions for their own subsistence during the winter, so that all that they could do for them was to allow them to remain three days, to recruit their strength sufficiently to attempt the next station. Some of the natives, called in the language of the country Yacks, were sent forward with them as guides; and after encountering a series of like calamities to those to which they had already been exposed, they reached, about the 28th November, Four Island Points, in lat. 69 deg. a distance of 240 miles—Before they could gain ​this station, it was necessary to cross an arm of the sea, and to have the assistance of boats, placed for transporting the natives to that settlement. Two days elapsed before the customary signals for the boats to come over could, from the state of the weather, be observed—and the miserable Dutchmen were compelled to remain during that time in the open air, without provisions. Several, it is understood, had fallen victims to this aggravated distress, while others died after reaching the settlement; and the survivors exhibited the lamentable effects of the intense frost, either by the loss of part or the whole of their toes and fingers, or of their limbs. Five or six, who had escaped unhurt, proceeded farther southward to Leevly, from which they got on board British ships this summer, our informant being of the number.
On the passage he conducted himself much to Captain Hogg’s satisfaction, and expressed his gratitude for the kindness and attention he had experienced. Soon after he came on board, the shipmates beheld him with astonishment, after getting a biscuit, deliberately cut off a piece of blubber from a whale they had just killed, and placing it on the biscuit, eat it with the greatest relish; although, after being a short time accustomed to the ship’s provisions, he nauseated that species of food as much as the other seamen. A Dutch ship had been sent to Four Island Point to bring home the more wretched part of the crew remaining there, the pitiable condition to which, it is said, they were reduced, being such as to render it difficult to have them removed.
Wreck of the Medusa Frigate.
The French possessions on the west coast of Africa, extending from Cape Blanco to the mouth of the Gambia, having been restored at the general peace, an expedition, consisting of a frigate and three other vessels, was sent, in the month of June, 1816, to take possession of them. It was complete in all its parts, as the French expeditions usually are, including men of science, artisans, agriculturists, gardners, miners, &c. amounting, with the troops, to nearly two hundred persons, exclusive of the crews. The naval part was entrusted to M. de Chaumareys, who had the command of the frigate, La Medusa, of forty-four guns.
Owing to a very relaxed state of discipline, and an ignorance of the common principles of navigation which would have disgraced a private merchant ship, this frigate was suffered to run aground on the bank of Arguin. Attempts were made to get her off, attempts, however, which, according to the narrative before us, were as inefficient and discreditable to the naval officers, as the gross ignorance which had carried the ship into that situation; and it was soon discovered that all hopes of saving her must he abandoned, and that nothing remained but to concert measures for the escape of the passengers and crew. Some biscuit, wine, and fresh water were got up, and prepared for putting into the boats, and upon a raft which had been hastily constructed; but, in the tumult of abandoning ​the wreck, it happened that the raft, which was destined to carry the greatest number of people, had the least share of provisions; of wine, indeed, it had more than enough, but not a single barrel of biscuit. No embarkation list bad been made out—no disposition of any kind for the distribution of those on board.
There were five boats; in the first were the governor of Senegal and his family, in all thirty-five; it might (says our authors) have carried twice as many; the second took forty-two; the third twenty-eight; the fourth, the long-boat, eighty-eight; the fifth twenty-five; and the jolly boat fifteen, among whom were M. Picard, his wife, four children, and three young ladies. The military had, in the first instance, been placed upon the raft—the number embarked on this fatal machine was not less than one hundred and fifty; making, with those in the boats, a total of three hundred and ninety-seven.
On leaving the wreck, M. Correard, geographical engineer, one of the writers of the narrative, who had volunteered to accompany his men on the raft, wishing to be assured that proper instruments and charts for navigating it had been put on board, was told by the captain that every thing necessary had been provided, and a naval officer appointed to take charge of them ; this naval officer, however, jumped into one of the boats, and never joined them.
The boats pushed off in a line, towing the raft, and assuring the people on board that they would conduct them safely to land. They had ​not proceeded, however, above two leagues from the wreck when they, one by one, cast off the tow-lines. It was afterwards pretended that they broke: had this even been true, the boats might at any time have rejoined the raft; instead of which they all abandoned it to its fate, every one striving to make off with all possible speed.
At the time, the raft had sunk below the surface to the depth of three feet and a half, and the people were so squeezed, one against the other, that it was found impossible to move; fore and aft, they were up to the middle in water. In such a deplorable situation, it was with difficulty they could persuade themselves that they had been abandoned; nor would they believe it until the whole of the boats had disappeared from their view. They now began to consider themselves as deliberately sacrificed, and swore to be revenged on their unfeeling companions, if ever they gained the shore. Their consternation soon became extreme. Every thing that was horrible took possession of their minds; all conceived their destruction to be at hand, and announced by their wailing the dismal thoughts by which they were distracted. The officers with great difficulty, and by putting on a show of confidence, succeeded a length in restoring them to a certain degree of tranquility; but they were themselves overcome with alarm on finding that they had neither chart nor compass, nor anchor on the raft. One of the men belonging to M. Correared had ​fortunately preserved a small pocket-compass, and this little instrument inspired them with so much confidence, that they conceived their safety to depend on it; but this treasure, above all price, speedily snatched from them for ever; it fell from the man’s hand, and disappeared between the openings of the raft.
None of the party had taken food before they left the ship, and hunger beginning to oppress them, they mixed the biscuit, of which they had about five and twenty pounds on board, with wine, and distributed it, in small portions to each man. ‘Such,’ says the narrator, ‘was our first repast, and the best we made during our whole abode upon the raft.’ They thought themselves, however, not quite lost: and the hope of speedy vengeance on those who had so basely deserted them, tended to revive their courage. They succeeded in erecting a kind of most, and hoisting one of the royals that had belonged to the frigate.
Night at length came on, the wind freshened, and the sea began to swell; the only consolation now was the belief that they should discover the boats the following morning. About midnight the weather became very stormy; and the waves broke over them in every direction.
‘During the whole of this night,’ say the narrators, ‘we struggled against death, holding ourselves closely to spars which were bound firmly together. Tossed by the waves from one end to the other, and sometimes precipitated into the sea; floating between life and death; ​mourning over our own misfortunes, certain of perishing, yet contending for the remains of existence with that cruel element, which menaced to swallow us up; such was our situation till break of day—horrible situation! how shall we convey it an idea of it which will not fall short of the reality.”
In the morning the wind abated, and the sea subsided a little, but a dreadful spectacle presented itself—ten or twelve of the unhappy men, having their lower extremities jammed between the spars of the raft, unable to extricate themselves, had perished in that situation; several others had been swept away by the violence of the waves. In calling over the list it was found that twenty had disappeared. ‘Already says the narrator, with exquisite simplicity, already was the moral character of the people greatly changed! Two young men threw themselves into the sea, after deliberately taking leave of their comrades; some fancied they saw the land; and others, ships approaching to rescue them.
All this, however, was nothing to the dreadful scene which took place the following night. The day had been beautiful, and no one seemed to doubt that the boats would appear in the course of it, to relieve them from their perilous situation; but the evening approached, and none were seen; from that moment a spirit of sedetion spread from man to man, and manifested itself by the most furious shout; night came on; the heavens were obscured with thick clouds; the wind rose, and with it the sea; the waves broke over them ​every moment; numbers were swept away, particularly near the extremities of the raft; and the crowding towards the centre of it was so great, that several poor wretches were smothered by the pressure of their comrades, who were unable to keep upon their legs.
Firmly persuaded that they were all on the point of being swallowed up, both soldiers and sailors resolved to soothe their last moments by drinking till they had lost their reason. They bored a hole in the head of the cask, from which they continued to swill till the salt water, mixing with the wine, rendered it no longer palatable. Excited by the fumes, acting on empty stomachs, and heads already disordered by danger, they now became deaf to the voice of reason; boldly declared their intention of murdering their officers, and then cutting the ropes which held the rafts together: one of them, seizing an axe, actually began the dreadful work—this was the signal for revolt; the officers rushed forward to quell the tumult, and the man with the hatchet was the first that fell—the stroke of a sabre terminated his existence.
The passengers joined the officers, but the mutineers were still the greater number; luckily they were but badly armed, or the few bayonets and sabres of the opposite party could not have kept them at bay. One fellow was detected secretly cutting the ropes, and immediately flung overboard; others destroyed the shrouds and halyard; and the mast destitute of support immediately fell on a captain of infantry and broke ​his thigh; he was instantly seized by the soldiers and thrown into the sea, but was saved by the opposite party. A furious charge was now made upon the mutineers, many of whom were cut down: at length this fit of desperation subsided, and was succeeded by the most egregious cowardice: they cried out for mercy, and asked forgiveness on their knees. It was now midnight, and order appeared to be restored; but after an hour of deceitful tranquility, the insurrection burst forth anew: they rushed upon the officers like desperate men, each having a knife or a sabre in his hand, and such was the fury of the assailants, that they tore flesh and even their clothes with their teeth: there was no time for hesitation ; a general slaughter took place, and the raft was strewed with dead bodies.
Some palliation must be allowed on account of their miserable condition ; the constant dread of death, and want of rest and food had impaired their faculties—nor did the officers themselves entirely escape. A sort of half-waking dream, a wandering of the imagination, seized most of them : some fancied they saw around them a beautiful country, covered with the most delightful plantations; others became wild with horrors, and threw themselves into the sea. Several, on casting themselves off, said calmly to their companions, ‘I am going to seek for assistance, and you shall soon see me return..’
‘In the midst of this general madness,’ says the narrative, ‘one saw these unhappy men rushing upon their companions, sword in hand, and demanding from them the wing of a chicken ​(illegible text) appease the hunger that was preying upon (illegible text)em; others asked for their hammocks, that (illegible text)y might go between decks and get a little (illegible text)ep; many imagined themselves to be still on (illegible text)ard the Medusa. Even after this fatal night (illegible text)ny imagined themselves, in the morning, (illegible text)akened from a frightful dream, in which battles (illegible text)d slaughter had disturbed their rest.’
On the return of the day it was found, that in (illegible text) course of the preceding night of horror, sixty-(illegible text) of the mutineers had perished, and two of (illegible text) small party attached to the officers. Before (illegible text) allowance was served out they contrived to (illegible text) up their mast afresh; but having no compass, (illegible text)d not knowing how to direct their course, they (illegible text) the raft drive before the wind, apparently indifferent whither they went. Enfeebled with (illegible text)nger, they now tried to catch fish, but could (illegible text) succeed, and abandoned the attempt.
It was necessary, however, that some extreme (illegible text)asure should be adopted to prolong our miserable (illegible text)stence; we shudder with horror on finding (illegible text)rselves under the necessity of relating what (illegible text) put in practice; we feel the pen drop from (illegible text)r hands; a deadly coldness freezes all our (illegible text)bs, and our hair, stands on end—Reader, we (illegible text) do not entertain, for men already too unfortunate, a sentiment of indignation; but (illegible text)eve for them, and shed a tear of pity over (illegible text)eir unhappy lot.’
The ‘extreme measure was,’ indeed, horrible: (illegible text) unhappy men, whom death had spared in (illegible text) course of the night, fell upon the carcases of (illegible text) dead, and began to devour them; some tried ​to eat their sword-belts and cartridge-boxes;- others devoured their linen, and others the leathers of their hats ; but all these expedients and others of a still more loathsome nature were of no avail.
A third night of horror now approached; b(illegible text) it proved to be a night of tranquility, disturbed only by the piercing cries of those whom hunger and thirst devoured. The water was up to the(illegible text) knees, and they could only attempt to get a litt(illegible text) sleep by crowding together, so as to form an immoveable mass. The morning’s sun shewed them ten or a dozen unfortunate creature(illegible text) stretched lifeless on the raft; all of whom were committed to the deep, with the exception of one destined for the support of those who the evening before had pressed his trembling hands in vowing eternal friendship. At this period, fortunately a shoal of flying fish, in passing the raft, (illegible text) nearly three hundred entangled between the spars. By means of a little gunpowder and linen, and by erecting an empty cask, they contrived (illegible text) make a fire; and mixing with the fish the flesh of their deceased comrade, they all partook of (illegible text) meal, which by this means, was rendered less revolting.
The fourth night was marked by another massacre. Some Spaniards, Italians, and negroes who had taken no part with the former mutineers, now entered into a conspiracy to throw the rest into the sea. The negroes had persuaded the others that the land was close to them and that once on shore, they would answer (illegible text) their crossing Africa without the least danger ​A Spaniard was the first to advance with a drawn knife; the sailors seized him, and threw him into the sea. An Italian, seeing this, jumped overboard; the rest were easily mastered, and order was once more restored.
Thirty persons only now remained, many of whom were in the most deplorable state, the salt-water having entirely removed the epidermis of (illegible text)eir lower extremities, which, with contusions (illegible text)d bruises, rendered them unable to support (illegible text)emselves. The remains of the fish and wine were calculated to be just enough to support life (illegible text)r four days; but in these four they also calculated that ships might arrive from St. Louis (illegible text) save them. At this moment two soldiers were discovered behind the cask of wine, through which they had bored a hole, for the purpose of (illegible text)inking it through a reed; they had just before (illegible text)edged themselves to punish with death whoever would be found guilty of the like proceeding, (illegible text)d the sentence was immediately carried into (illegible text)ecution by throwing the culprits into the sea.
Their number was thus reduced to twenty-(illegible text)ght, only fifteen of whom appeared able to exist (illegible text) a few days; the other thirteen were so re(illegible text)ced, that they had nearly lost all sense of (illegible text)istence; as their case was hopeless, and as (illegible text)ile they lived they would consume a part of (illegible text)e little that was left, a council was held, and (illegible text)er a deliberation at which the most horrible (illegible text)spair is said to have presided, it was decided (illegible text) throw them overboard. “Three sailors and (illegible text) soldier undertook the execution of this cruel (illegible text)ntence; we turned away our eyes and shed ​tears of blood at the fate of these unfortunate men; but this painful sacrifice saved the fifteen that remained; and who, after this dreadful catastrophe, had six days suffering to undergo before they were relieved from their dismal situation.’ At the end of this period, a small vessel at a distance ; she proved to be the Argu(illegible text) brig, which had been despatched from Senegal to look out for them. All hearts on board were melted with pity at their deplorable condition.—‘Let any one,’ say our unfortunate narrators, ‘figure to himself fifteen unhappy creatures almost naked, their bodies shrivelled by the rays of the sun, ten of them scarcely able to move our limbs stripped of their skin; a total change in all our features; our eyes hollow and almost savage; our long beards which gave us an a(illegible text) almost hideous—we were in fact but the shadow of ourselves.’
Such is the history of these unfortunate men. Of the hundred and fifty who embarked on the raft, fifteen only were received on board the brig and of these six died shortly after their arrival at St. Louis ; and the remaining nine covered with cicatrices, and exhausted by the suffering to which they had been so long exposed, and stated to be entirely altered in appearance and constitution. We are shocked to add, that such was the neglect and indifference of their ship mates who had arrived there in safety, that had it not been for the humane attention of Major Peddy and Captain Campbell, they would in a(illegible text) probability have experienced the fate of the⟨ir⟩ unfortunate companions. ​Of the boats, two only (those in which the (illegible text)overnor and the captain of the frigate had embarked) arrived at Senegal: the other four made (illegible text)e shore in different places, and landed their people. They suffered extremely from hunger and thirst, and the effects of a burning sun reflected on the surface of naked sand; with the exception, however, of two or three, they all reached Senegal.
The governor, recollecting that the Medusa had on board two hundred thousand francs in (illegible text)ecie, sent off a little vessel to visit the wreck; (illegible text)at no part of this wretched expedition might reflect disgrace on another) with only eight days’ provision on board; so that she was compelled to return without being able to approach (illegible text); she was again sent out with twenty-five days' provisions, but being ill found, and the weather bad, she returned to port a second time. On the third attempt she reached the wreck; (illegible text)ty-two days after it had been abandoned; but what were the horror and astonishment of those who ascended it, to discover on board three miserable wretches just on the point of expiring!
It now appeared that seventeen men had clung to the wreck when boats and raft departed; their (illegible text)st object had been to collect a sufficient quan(illegible text) biscuit, wine, brandy and pork for their (illegible text)stenance for a certain number of days. While this lasted, they were quite; but forty-two days having passed without any succour appearing, twelve of the most determined, seeing themselves on the point of starving, resolved to make for (illegible text)land: they therefore constructed a raft, or float, ​which they bound together with ropes, and on which they set off with a small quantity of provisions, without oars or sails, and were drowned. Another, who refused to embark with them, took it into his head, a few days after, to try for the shore; he placed himself on a hen-coop, dropped from the wreck, and at the distance of half cable’s length from it, sunk to rise no more. The remaining four resolved to die by the wreck one of them had just expired when the vessel from Senegal arrived; the other three were so exhausted, that a few hours more must have put an end to their misery.
Loss of the Lady Hobart Packet.
This packet, on her voyage from Halifax for England, struck against an island of ice, and foundered, on the morning of Tuesday the 28th of June, 1803, in lat. 46 deg. 33', long. 4(illegible text) deg., being then three hundred and fifty leagues distant from Newfoundland. The captain, with twenty-eight passengers and crew, had just time to save themselves in the cutter and jolly-boat before she went down. During this calamity the men behaved with a coolness, composure and obedience to orders, that could not be surpassed; and one of the men, while the boats were hoisting out, emptied a demi-jean (or bottle) of rum of five gallons, for the purpose of filling it ​with water, and which afterwards proved their (illegible text)eatest supply.
Captain Fellowes, three ladies, captain Thomas of the navy, and fourteen others, (illegible text)ked in the cutter, twenty feet long, and two (illegible text) six inches deep, and brought her gunwale (illegible text) within six or seven inches of the water. The master, lieutenant-colonel Cooke of the (illegible text)ards, and nine others, took to the jolly-boat, (illegible text)rteen feet long, five feet three inches deep.
Their provisions, &c., consisted of between (illegible text)ty and fifty pounds of biscuit; the demi-jean (illegible text)th five gallons of water, a small jug of the (illegible text)e, part of a small barrel of spruce beer, a (illegible text)mi-jean of rum, a few bottles of port wine; (illegible text) compasses, a quadrant, and spy glass; a (illegible text)all tin mug, and a wine glass; a tinder-box, (illegible text) deck lanthorn, and candles, and some matches, (illegible text)t in a bladder (by which they were enabled (illegible text) steer by night), and a few nails and tools. (illegible text) one was permitted to take more than a great (illegible text)t or a blanket, with the clothes on his back.
It was agreed that their allowances should be (illegible text)ed out with the greatest economy, at the rate (illegible text) half a biscuit and a glass of wine each per (illegible text)nty-four hours; and that the water should be (illegible text)t in reserve. The trapawling of the main (illegible text)chway, which had been thrown into the boat, (illegible text) cut into lengths to form a bulwark against (illegible text) waves, and proved of great service to them. (illegible text)yers were regularly said by one of the ladies.
Their bag of biscuit got damaged by salt-water, (illegible text)ch made it necessary to curtail their allowance ​and which was cheerfully agreed to. P(illegible text) of a cold ham was found on board; but, after taste of it being given, it was thrown overboard least it should increase their thirst without t(illegible text) means of allaying it.
The weather was at times wet, cold, and w(illegible text) fog and sleet. The cutter could sail, but h(illegible text) only two oars. The jolly-boat, which had three oars and a small sail, &c., was frequently oblig(illegible text) to be taken in tow.
The third day they were much benumbed w(illegible text) wet and extreme cold; and the ladies were th(illegible text) prevailed upon to take the stated allowance (illegible text) spirits, which they had before refused. It afforded them immediate relief.
The fourth day was stormy, foggy, and w(illegible text) heavy seas, and the spray of the sea freezing (illegible text) it flew over the boats. All felt a depression (illegible text) spirits. In the commencement of the storm, (illegible text) cutter having shipped a heavy sea, was obliged to cast off the jolly-boat’s tow-rope; when (illegible text) was lost in a fog, which occasioned much distress, and particularly as she had on board considerable part of their stores, the quadrant and spy-glass. The men began to be dejected but were roused to duty and to exertion. The ladies behaved with great heroism,, and afforded the best examples of patience and fortitude. (illegible text) joined in prayer, which tranquilized their minds and afforded them the best consolatory hopes (illegible text) bettering their condition.
The fifth day it rained, and was so cold, t(illegible text) those in the boat could scarcely move : th(illegible text) ​hands and feet became swelled and black, from their confined state, and exposure to the weather. At day-break one third of a wine-glass of rum and a quarter of a biscuit were served out; and at noon some spruce beer, which afforded great relief.
This day they discovered a sail; and, by means of one of the ladies’ shawls they made (illegible text) signal; and, on nearing, it was found, with great joy, to be their jolly-boat. The sensations of joy and disappointment were beyond expression. The distress in each during the separation of two nights, had been nearly equal. The jolly boat was again taken in tow, and a more equal distribution of provisions was made.
In the evening, rock-weed, and birds, such as (illegible text)e frequently eaten by the fishermen on the Banks of Newfoundland, were seen, which afforded great hopes; and the few who were able to move, were now called upon, and roused to make their last efforts to save themselves by rowing, and to take every advantage of the little breeze they then had.
They had been six days and six nights constantly wet and cold, without any other sustenance than a quarter of a biscuit and one glass of fluid for twenty-four hours; and their stock (illegible text)ould not, with the greatest economy, have (illegible text)sted two days longer.
In the night they had been under the necessity of casting off the jolly-boat’s tow-rope, (illegible text) enduce her crew to exert themselves by rowing.
​Seventh Day. Their separation in the night gave great uneasiness. The sun rose in view for the second time since they quitted the ship. During the seven days they had been in their boats, they could take no observation of sun, moon, or stars, and could not dry their clothes. When the fog dispersed, they saw land at a mile distance, and at the same moment their jolly boat and a schooner in shore standing o(illegible text) towards them.
Their sensations were at that moment interesting and affecting, and joy discovered itself in various ways. All joined with great devotion in thanks to Heaven for their miraculous escape. The schooner, being now within hai(illegible text) took both the boats in tow, and landed the crew in the evening at Island Cove, in Conception Bay.
The men could with great difficulty be restrained at first from taking large and repeated draughts of water; in consequence of which several felt great incouvenience; but being afterwards more cautious, no other bad effects followed. Every attention and kindness were paid to these twenty-nine miserable objects.
FINIS.
This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
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