The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-02-06 00:00:00

THE RESCUE OF THE SURVIVORS OF
THE " COSPATRICK."

The Correspondent of the Daily News writes :

"DUNDEE, Sunday evening.
"On Saturday the ship British Sceptre, of Liver-
pool, Captain William Henry Jahnke, by whom the
survivors of the Cospatrick were rescued, arrived in
Dundee from Calcutta after a passage of one hundred
and thirty clays. The British Sceptre is a fine iron
vessel of 1,450 tons register, and was built six years
ago, and belongs to the British Shipowners Company.
Her commander furnishes some interesting particulars
regarding the rescue of Macdonald andhis companions.
Several days before he discovered the boat he was con-
vinced that some catastrophe had occurred. He had
daily been paing large masses of floating wood in the
train of which there were immense flocks of boobies. The
presence of those birds in such large numbers be be-
lieved could only be explained on thegrounds—first, that
some wreck had occurred, or that there was land in
the neighbourhood. He inclined to the former suppo-
sition, but notwithstanding the keenest observation
was unable to learn anything calculated to confirm it.
On the 27th November, however, two days after the
British Sceptre had passed the Cape of good Hope,
while Captain Jahnke was walking about on the poop,
he noticed, some distance off, what appeared to be a
larger piece of wreckage than any he had hitherto
seen. On procuring the glasses the object which had
attracted attention was discovered to be a boat. The
captain now had all his former suspicions confirmed,
and lost no time in making towards the spot. He
was surprised that no effort was made by those on
board to secure assistance from the British Sceptre,
but he soon learned the cause. While the ship was
being manceuvred towards the spot a violent squall
was experienced, during which all traces of the oasta- I

ways were lost. Later in the afternoon, however
the weather cleared up again, and the British Sceptre
was so finely handled that she was brought right
alongside the boat. One of the seamen was swung
from the vessel into the tiny craft, and in a short time
thereafter the emaciated occupants were trans-
ferred to Captain Jahnke's cabin. The captain
states that he never witnessed a more distressing
spectacle. The men were so reduced that the only
way in which they could be removed was by placing
them in a blanket, the corners of which were
held by four seamen. It was not the captain's in-
tention to touch at St. Helena, but the condition
of the rescued was so deplorable that he thought
the only chance of keeping them in life was to get
them ashore at the nearest land. Fortunately during
the time Macdonald and the other men were on
board the British Sceptre the weather was very
fine, and consequently Captain Jahnke was able to
afford them attentions- which ii 'Other circumstances
it would have been impossible for him to have
rendered. At first the men had to be fed with a
spoon, and were regularly bathed, and as there was no
medical officer on board, the treatment was carefully
superintended by the captain. It was surprising to
observe the avidity the poor men exhibited for food,
but Captain Jahnke, knowing the danger there was in
giving them a full supply, kept their always hungry,
at the same time furnishing them with the choicest
-victuals at his disposal. The three survivors gradually
improved, but even when they were put ashore at
St. Helena they were very far from having recovered.
In regard to the missing boat, Captain Jahnke
has formed a very decided opinion. He is quite
certain that the Cospatrick must have been destroyed
in lat. 37 S. and long. 12 E., as stated by Mac-
donald, and he feels perfectly certain that the ship
could not have been lost in 12 W. After the boat
left the vessel a strong southerly gale prevailed, and
there was a strong current running to the north, bringing
the boat exactly to where the British Sceptre overtook
her. The boat had drifted upwards of five hundred
miles, and the captain believes that had the second
boat been in existence he should have probably fallen
in with her, as she would, in all likelihood, if not lost,
have been in company with that in which Macdonald
and his shipmates were. The captain thinks that none
of the other people, who left the Cospatrick will ever
be heard of. To-day Mr. Macdonald, the second mate
of the Cospatrick, called on Captain Jahnke in
Dundee, in fulfilment of a promise which he made at
St. Helena that he would come to Dundee as soon as
the British Sceptre, arrived."