The South-Carolina & American general gazette — Charlestown [S.C.], 1783-05-17 00:00:00, page 4

N A X R A T I-V E
Of tie marvellous Efcape'of Capt. Inglefield, and
his Pinnace Cre^v, aftg quitting bis Majeffs Ship
Centaur, previous tober foundering.
WRITTEN BY THAT OFFICER.
IN the afternoon of the 23d of September, the
weather again threatened, and in squalls blew
Ittbng ;, the sea ran high, and one of the boats, the
yawl, Gove along fide, and funk. As the evening
approached, the ship appeared little more than ful
pended in the water. There was no certainty that
she could swim from one minute to another ; and the
love of life, which I believe never shewed itfelf later
in the approach to death, began now to level all
diftin&ions. It was impossible, indeed, for any man
to deceive himfelf with the hope of being saved up
On a raft in such a sea ; betides that the ship in fink
ing, it was probable, would carry every thing down
with her in a vortex, to a certain ditlance.
It was near five o'clock, when coming from my
cabin I observed a number of people looking very
anxiously over the fide ; and looking myfelf, I saw
that several men had forced the pinnace, and that
more were attempting to get in. I had immediate
thoughts of securing this boat before die might be
funk'by numbers. There appeared not more than
a moment for cohfideration ;'to remain and perish
withthe fhip's company, whom 1 could not be any
longer of use to, or seize the opportunity which'
teemed the only way of escaping, and leave the peo
plehvho I had been so well fatisfied with on a variety
Of occasions, that I thought I could give my life to
preserve them ; this indeed was a painful conflid,
andwhich I believe no man can describe, nor any
Irian have a just idea of, who has not been in a simi
lar fi nation.
~- The love of life prevailed—l called to Mr. Rainy,
the mailer, the only officer upon the deck, desired
him to follow me, and immediately descended into
Or boat, at the after part of the chains, but not
without great difficulty got the boat clear of the
ship ; jwice the number that the boat would carry
piffling to get in, and many jumping i^to the water? ;
|Mr. Baylis, a young gentleman, fifteen years of age,
leaped from the chains after the boat had got off,
j^d was taken in. The boat falling a ftefn became
exposed to the sea, and we endeavoured to pull her
-bow round to keep her to the break of the sea, and
70 pass the windward of the ship; but in the attempt
she was nearly filled; the seas ran too high; and the
only probability of living, was keeping her before
the wind. 1 C
ft was then that I became sensible how little, if
oany.thing better, our condition was than that of
those who remained in the ship; at best, it appeared
to be only a prolongation of a miserable exigence.
We were altogether twelve in number, in a leaky
boat, with one of the gunwales flove, in nearly the
-middle of the we^ern ocean, without compass, wuh
-2 Out quadrant, without fail, without great coat or
: <lbtfk; all very thinly eloathed, in a gale of wind,!
with a great sea running I It was now five o'clock in
tfe Evening,'and in-half an hour we loft fight of the
ship. Before it was dark, a blanket was difeovered
%4he boat. This was immediately bent to one of
-Ithe ftr.eto hers, and under it, as a fail, we feudded all
night, in expectation of being swallowed up by every
- wave, it being with great difficulty that we cculd
sometimes clear the boat of the .water, before the
return of the next great sea ; all of us hajf drowned,?
^rid fitting, except those who bailed; at the bottom
.of the boat; and without having really periffied, I
am fufe no people ever endured more. In tha
'morning the weather grew moderate, the Wind having
Shifted to the fouthWard, as We ' difeovered by the'
fun. Having fuFvTved the night,^we began to reTbl
led ourselves, and to think of ^Qf^uture prefer
vation. , i.r
V/l^en we quitted the ship, the wind was at N. W
or'N. N. W. Fayalthad bore E.. S. E. 230 or 260
leagues. Had the wind continued for five or fix
.c^ys, there was a. probability that running beforl
ihe sea we might have fallen in with some of'thte ,
, Wettern IRands. The change of wind was death tp ]
tye^ hopes.; for should income to blow,' we knew
there would be no preserving life but by running be
fore the sea, wh'ich'would carry us again to the
northward, where we must soon afterwards perish.
Upon examining what we had to fulfill on, I
.found a bag of bread, a small ham, a single piece of
pork, two quart bonles of water, and a few of
French,cordials. The wind continued to the fouth-^
,ward for eight or nine days, and providentially never;
blew so strong, but that we could keep the fide bf
. the boat to the sea, but we were always most miser
ably wet and cold. We kept a fort of reckoning,
.but the fun and Gars being bid from us for twenty
four hours, we had had no very good opinion of our
navigation. We judged at this period, that we had
made nearly an E. N. E. courie, since the firft night'?
run (which had carried us to the S. E.) and expected
to.fee the island of Corvo. In this, however, We,
ware disappointed, and we feared that the ioutherly
wind had drive^-us far to the northward. Our
prayers were now 'for a northerly wind. Our con
dition began to b^fruly miserable, both from hunger
.and cold, for on ^jheLday ..we had difeovered that
our bread was nearly all spoiled by salt water, and
On the 13th day it fell calm, and soon after a
breeze @f wind sprung up from N. N. W. and blew
to a gale, so that we ran before the sea at the rate of
five or fix milts an hour under our blanket, till we
judged we were to the southward of Fayall, and to
the weilward 60 leagues; but blowing Grong we
could not attempt to steer for it. Our wishes were
now for the wind to fhift to the westward. This
was the i,h day we had been in the boat, and we
had only one day's bread, and one bottle of water
remaining for a fecorid supply of rain. Our fuffer
ings were now as great as human strength could bear,
but we were convinced that good fpiriis were a bet
ter support than great bodily strength; for on this
day 1 nomas Mathews, quarter matter, the stoutest
man in the boar, perched from hunger and cold;
on the day before he had complained of want of
Grength in his throat, as he expressed it, to swallow
his ißOrfel, and in the night drank salt wa^er, grew
delirious, and died without a groan. As it became
next co a certainty that we (hould all perish in the
lame manner in a day or two, it was somewhat
com or able to reflect that dying of hunger was not
Io dreadful as out imaginations had represented.
Others had complained of the symptoms in their
throats ; some had d r a>ktheir own urine ; and all,
but myfelf, h/d drank fall water.
As yet delpair and rJcom had been feccefifully
prohibited, and as the evenings closed in, the mtn
had been encouragedlby jurns to firg a song, or re
bate a dory, inttead of a Supper, butthis evening I
found it impoliibleno raise either. As the night
came 00 it led calm, and about midnight a breeze
of wind sprung .up, ue guessed from the westward by,
the (well, thattuere. not btirg a ftar.to be seen, we
were afraid of runnugcut of our way, and waited'
impatiently for the riling, fun to be our campafs.
As loon as the cawn appeared, we found the wind
to be exactly as we wrfhqd, at W. S. W. and imme
diately Iprcad our fail, running before the sea at the
rate of tour miles an hour. Our last breakfast had'
been feivrd with the bread and wa r er remaining,
when John Gregory, quarter marflef, deflated with
much confidence that he had law the land in S. E.
We had seen fog tanks so often, Whirh bad the ap
pearance of land, that 1 did net trufLmrfetf to be
lieve it,.and cautioned the people ^who were extra.:
vaganily elated) that they might, not feel the effects;
£. ci,appointment ; uh at length one of them broke:
out into a moli• imn'&trate fwearirtg fit of joy, which;
I could not icittain, and declared'he had never seen
laud n bis life if woat he now law was net if.
)i e immediately fosped o.ur course for it, though
QU my pare »jm vc y little faith. The wind frefi
erro ; the boaewent through the water ac the rate off
five or fix miles ran hour; and in two c hours time the
land was plainly leen by every minGh^he boat, but!
s,t a^very great distance; so that we did not reach ir
before cen atrigot. It mu tt have be-enar 'pad twenty
leagues fronts when fird difeovered ; and I cannot
^GP. ! en.a.'ki^g, with much thankfulness, on the pro
&±Qtial favour Ihewh to us in this inft^e.
In every part of the horizon, except where the
land was difeovered, there was so thick a haze that
we could not have leen ^ny thing for more than three
or four leagues. Fayall, by our reckoning, bore E.
by N. which courfewe were fleering, and in a few
hours, had not the sky opened for our prefervatiorf,
we should have encreafed our distance from the land,
g°§ to the eakward, and of course miffed all the
lilands. As we approached the land, our belief had
.^ erj g ( hened (hafjt was bayalL Theifland of Pico,
which might have revealed it to us.bad the weather
been perfectly clear, was at this, time capped with
crouds; and it was some time before we were quite
fatisfied; having travelled for two hours a great pan
of the island, where the sleep and rocky Ihore refund
u§ a landing. 1 his circumstance was bore with muth
impatience, for we had flattered ourselves that we
should meet with frefh water at the firft part of the
land we might approach; and being disappointed,,
the third of some had increased anxiety almost to a.
degree of madness; so that we were near making,
the attempt to land, and in some places where the
boat mult have been dashed to pieces by the furf.
At length we difeovered a fifhing canoe, which con
duced us into the road of Fayall, about midnight ;&
but where the regulation of the port did not permit
us to land till examined by the health officers ; how-.
ever, I did not think much of keeping this night in
the boat, our pilot having brought us some reftefh
it was nec&Tary to go to an allowance? One bif
tuit dividedinto twelve morsels, for breakfaft, and
Ithe fame for dinner; the neck of a bottle broke off,
with the cork in, served for a glass, and this filled
with water was the allowance for twenty-four hours
to each man. This was done without any fort of
partiality or diHindion ; but we might have perilbed
ere this, had we not caught fix quarts of rain water ;
and this we could not have been blessed with, had
we not found in the boat a pair of sheets, which by
accident had been put there. These were spread
when it rained, and when thoroughly wet, wrung
into the kidd with which we bailed the boat. With
this short allowance, which was rather tantalizing
than {attaining, in our comfortlefs condition, we be
gan to grow very feeble; and our cloaths being con
tinually wet, cur bodies were in many places chafed
into lores.
THE
Sduth-Carolma Weekly' Gazette,
Will be published in future by
ROBERT BRUC E,'
AND
NATHAN CHILD S,
UNDER THE FIRM OF
NATHAN CHILDS, & COMPANY.
They hope for the Continuance of the Favour of
their Friends and the Public in general, as they will
endeavour, by every Means in their Power, to give
general Satisfa&ion .
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ADVERTISEMENTS not exceeding eight Lines,
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firft Week, and taco Shillings for every Week after ;
hose of a greater Length in propopticn.
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MAY have constant Employment, and good
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No 8;, Church-street. -
W A- N T~E D,
As an Apprentice to the Printing Business,
A smart, active L A D,
About fourteen years of age, who can read and write
tolerably well, and is of a good character; no other
will be taken.
¥ lncent Guerin has in his possession a yellow
bay Filly, rising 4, about 12 hand's and a half
high, branded on she mounting {boulder and buttock
I M, taken up near Lenud's ferry,-north fide Santee.
lofeph Bell at Silk Hope, has in his possession a
brown bay Mare, 13 hands and a half high, branded
on the mounting buttock P C, with ferey forehead ;
a bright bay Mare, 12 hands and a half high, brand
ed on the off shoulder 74, with a-large star. in her
forehead, left by the enemy in May 1780; a forret
-Horse; 12 hands high, branded on the off shoulder
qH in one, and has a roach in his face; a grey
•Horse, -12 hands high,,branded on the mounting
shoulder ^and onAorump and buttock P. Taken
from the enemy at Quinby July 26,31781, by a ne
gro; a grey Mare, 12 hands and a half high, brand
ed on the mounting Moulder JM joined, left by the
enemy in February 1782; a small roan Mare, brand
ed on the mounting shoulder but not to be made out,
with both hind feet white.
1 have in my possession a red and white Cow,
marked in &ne ear with a swallow fork, and the other
with a flit and upper keel, the brand 32, with an
unmarked yearling. The owners of the above must
prove their property before
HOPSON PINCKNEY, J. P.
St. Thomas's Paris;, April 5, 1783. 4^.
ments of bread, wine and water. Tn the warning
we were visited by Mr. Graham, the Englilh Consul,
whose humane attention made very ample amende
for the formality of the Portuguese. Indeed I cast
never fufficiently express the sense 1 have of his kind,
nefs and humanity, both to myfelf and people ; for
I believe it was the whole of his employment, for
several days, contriving the best means of restoring
us to health and strength. It is true, I believe there
never were more pitiable objects. Some of the
stoutest men belonging to the Centaur were obliged
to be supported through the streets of Fayall. Mr.
Rainy, the mailer, and myfelf, were, I think, in bet.
ter health than the rest; but I could not walk with
out being supported ; and for several days, with the
best and molt comfortable provisions of diet and
lodging, we grew rather werfe than better.
J. N. INGLEFIELD.
Fayall, Ollober 13, 1783.
Names of the Officers and Men who -were saved in
the Pinnace.
Captain Irgtefield; Mr. Thomas Rainy, Maffer;
Mr. Robert Bayles, Midihipman ; Mr. James Clark,
Surgeons Mate; Timothy Sullivan, Captain's Cox.
swain; John Gregory, Quarter - matter; Charles
M'Carchy, Flinn, Gallohar, Theodore
Hutchins, Thomas Stevenson, Seamen ; Thomas
Matthews, Quarter-master, died in the boat the day
before they law the land.
Names oj the Officers left in the Ship, fufffed tg
have periled.
John Jordan, ift Lieutenant ; Trelevan, 2d;
George Lindsay, 3d; - - Scott, 4th ; — Bre
ton, sth ; John Bell, Captain of Marines ; Thomas
Hunter, Porfer ; - Williamson, Surgeon ; Tho
mas Wood, Boatswain ; Chailes Penlarick, Gunner ;
Alien Woodriff, Carpenter; Messrs. Dobfon, War
den, Hay, Everhar, Minfhaw, Sampson, Lindsay,
Chalmers, Thomas and Young, Mates and Mid
lhipmen.