The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1875-01-05 00:00:00

THE TERRIBLE DISASTER TO AN
EMIGRANT SHIP.

The Cospatrick contained emigrant. from almost every
county in England, several from Scotland and Ireland,
and still more from the hills of Wales. The names of
Gloucestershire. Somerset, and Wilts recur again and
again in the hot; hut the most striking peculiarity of the
camlogue is that every shire, or almost every shire,
vx rerting Dorset, from Cornwall to Shetland. sent its
co it 'Agent of labourers and artizims ha the ill-starre.l vessel
. .

-•-• • •
lie number of male adults was ree Limed 7; females,
l'15; male children, .5,. al 4 • female children, 53: awl infants
in arms, Id -in all .11:1 pa-i+ensers. representing, in
emigration parlance, 3.57 i statute adults. r posed as
follows :—English people, 21i ; :Irani', 12; Irish, ligi ;
Welsh, 13: Ilannel Islanders, 10; French, 10: and SW6.•
I. The bulk of the emigrants were farm labourers, but
there were artificers of almost every kind there too.
Mean. Shaw, Samill, and Co. received the following
letter addressed to them by thi; Captain of the British
Sceptre :
......

---:•.511-Cp.oritish Sceptre, Thursday, 3d December.
Ist go I leg. I* min. 8, long. I deg. 10 min. W.
" Mgoaacs. 1341.1 W, SATILL, AND Co.—Gentleman. It is a
painful duty to rue to have to inform you of the total loss
the Oespatriek. She caught lire in :0 deg. S. 12 deg. Fs,
and was totally destroyed, and it is to be feared that the
only survive, of all on board are three men picked up by
! sue on Vila November when in lat. 2* deg. 50 min. 5,
12 deg. 44 min. E. Having had a severe gale from wall
! after pausing the Cape of tined Hope, during which I ran
dead before it, I was to the northward of the usual tract
of homeward-bound remain. We had just got into SE
. trades wind, (oak and squally. at 131 p.m. We saw some-
! thing a Heat at a distance on our lee bow. Having passed
• alted of drift wood in the morning, tat first imagined it
• wan another piece of the same sort, but another look con-
vinced me that it was something of • wreck. I kept the
ship towards it, and when near here the ship hack, when
a squall cause on, and we drifted past, not without, how.
ever, seeing that it was • boat with human beings in it,
' and that they had no oars to propel the beet with. A
piece of board was erected as a mast with a cross piece
nailed on, on which was extended • rag as is Sail- I
tioned to them to run the boat before it to our lee
quarter, which they did. Having shortened a deal of
canvas I threw the ship tint aback and hacked right up to
boat, which succeeded well, for we seen had her alongside.
The sight was something horrible; there were live men in
her alive, one dead body. One man was stripes,' naked up
to his waiste, his feet swollen, full of seem, himself raving
mad. One coloured man barely alive, but still in his
! senses. Mr. M'Donald, late emend mate of the Cospatrick,
in charge. They were Noon passed on deck, and every
kindness and attention was shown them. Wenn water
both*, weak brandy and water, nourishing food with
medicines adapted to their symptoms has been the treat-
ment adopted. Here I would remark that in the doctor's
book, as authorised by the Hoard of Trade, no ads ice has
been twee to captains how ti, act in such a ease, which
should he brought before their notice. Notwithstanding
all mar cue the poor paaaetater, tette never regained his
muses, died last Sunday, susd wan buried on Monday
morning. The coloured man_ died yesterday, and was
buried this morning. Mr. Milonald has been 'very ill,
but is now Improving: the other two men are improving.
For fear that they might have a relapse I shall call at St.
Helena to get doctor's advice as to landing them are
pamitri„„cikhany
wtheulli ngs
no dffesrnirby of the empeowpnlne in
li the
and
proceeding with theirs, I enclose a narrative of the loos
olsifiettheunstil
will add a poetecript from St. Helena. The passenger's
nailic was unknown, hut I give you here a description by
which his friends might recognise him. Height sft. 10ein.,
stout built, fair complexion, blue eyes, light brown hair,
slight tawny moustache, light whiskers, inclined to real
towards the beard, age apparently td; supposed to belong
to the county of Cork, to be a farmer's son from what I
could learn Irons the surviving seamen,—! have the
honour to be, gentleman, yours respectively.
(Signed) • W. 11. JAIINKE,
Master Ship British Sceptre, British Shipowners'
Company, Liverpool.
" P.S. I have to add that 11. 111.1 ',maid, Th. Lewis,
Edw.. Cotter have been landed here : are sent to the
hospital under charge of Board of Trade although still
very ill. I have every hope of their ultimate recovery.—
'fours respectively,
(Signed) " W. H. JAHNKE,
" Master of the British Sceptre.
Helena, Dec. 7."
. .

Mr. Manl,tJtl, who.. dark, swarthv complexion is
rather surigestive of Spain and Portugal than of the Land
Cakes. is nevertheless every inch a "tansy Scot," with
all the intelligence and good qualities of his countrymen,
the outcome of events in which he has figured ni pro-
minently fully justifying the inferenee that he possess.*
in a high degree the qualities essential in is good 'tiler in
the inerclant service. His simple unaffected story, and
the demeanour of his two subordinates, show that .Inong
the ten days" agony of their bitter trial he maintained
portal discipline in an at first crowded boat, and that lie
has the knack of conciliating the esteem of his sulardi.
ieateo while insisting im all neoes•sry otalience. Ile is •
suanglydwilt man, above the middle height, but of the
wiry, muscular build, which his own sad experience shows
to stand up best against such it terrible trial. Indeed, it
was is matter of remark loy all three that the strongest
hien to all appearance, and the fattest men, were the
first to sink under their sufferings. Lewis, the ible
seaman, is Dian of iron frame, who seems to have sufferml
ledst, states that he was the thinnest Mali of the mew,
and very temperate. All the survivors were able to tell
II) hit;i hours before the end is hi were the next
victims marked out to die. These Unfortunates would
suddenly Iregin to wander in their minds, to sleep re
thaii „sow. .i,id to show Signs of suffering l, the bawls
and feet. t tne Isar fellow for two days I.fore his death
bowled lie saw people walking on a neighbouring 114
that there were white housetç with fields nod
and me vivid were these hallucinationo that lie used to
implore Mr. Misolonsd.l to allow the boat to be steered in
the direction of his ahalowy 1411.1. Most of the sufferers
a5..4 quietly, going off in their sleep. one poor (elite,
who was known in the boat Ai "Jerry "see Ito reeover
his senses at the moment of deceatie, for after the usual
orelitninary wandering and inclination to sleep he roused
huiuteehf suddenly, and. recognising the seanrin who was
steering, said, " that you. Lewis, " iii, ;ilarimi, his
arm railed Lewis's neck, died with a placid sonie cuf
satisfaction on his lips. Moat of the orilipants of
Macdonald's Iciest were at first companitively cheer.
ful, in spite of their sufferings, and of the disnal prospect
before them. They seemed to think their ultiniate remme
a matter almost of certainty, and one poor fellow who
succumbed early was fond of diLsting on the enjoying:HUl
he would have, and especially of the deep draughts of
native time he Would quaff when the boat realist the
Cape id 6..04 llope. Sono:thing of this general cheerful.
new was due to Thomas, Lewis, the able seaman who
survived. Ile is a Welshman, a native 01 Marro. in
Anglesex, anti If etews of Ago. though his seamed and
wrinkled features and his rapidly whitening hair justify
his oWill sad remark that his suffering has aged bio, ten
years. Ile was bred a flslienuan on the will, rocky eisast
of his native county, and to the skill he thus acquired in
the management of open ISM'S hi. two surviving ship-
inistm mainly attribute the safety of the frail cutter
during the ten days it was navigating the stormiest rezion
of the South Atlantic. Beneath what, at first sight, is an
unattractive exterior are hidden many good nuslitjoe,
which shoos out during the period of trial. Of kindly
heart, undying pluck, and boundless hope, he never lost
heart himself, and sucosesied in impressing his sanguine
views on less buoyant companions. On the occasion if
the agonising direPPeintment, when, on the dawning
of the ninth day of their suffering, a barque pissed
within Hi yards of thew, not hearing or disregarding
their feeble shout of joy at what souniml certain
resew, and when of the eight wretched hien all sure • nie
lost the last lingering ray of hope, stoutloarted Thonsas
forsooth, the apparition of the barque made bon think
Lewis refused to give way to the general despoil..
.1,0%m.,
they hail got into the track of ships. From the .Icy of
the wreck he seems to have taken a fatherly interest in
the young ordinary seaman Cotter, a stout young Sailor of
la, of metropolitan birth and parentage. He did his best
to keep up the lad's courage, and, knowing the iiiip,,rhnore
of the mind being occupied in such • case, he used to alo
his last to keep him employed in haling, steering, or
keeping a looks.ut On the last morning of their
suffering the exercise of this duty met with its re-
...rd. young Cotter suddenly saw a long stztatuer if
kelp floating not far from the boat, awl calling to Ina
obi friend who WWI steering. to put hie holm over,
Lewis brought hia broken oar into and the huge
piece of seaweed was secured. On the leaves of kelp
were numerous blidera filled with blackish water
and many_ little crabs about the size of large English
sowers. Ti the famished Olen these were godsends. PIO
the crabs were crunched and the watery bladders sucked
with thankful hearts, young Cotter in the fullness of his
joy, exclaiining, "we are in luck tic-clay; thia is the first
thing we have found." "Anti so we were,- said young
Cotter, as he told the story, "for that was the day we
were nicked up." The sufferings they have endured
together have induced between the officer and his old and
young shipmates a feeling of friendly cordiality which is
shown at every mousent of their intercourse, witlinst any
relaxation, however. of the restraints of that maritime
discipline which their different positions entail. All three
concur in saying that their suffering froiu hunger wail not
severe for the fint four or five day., but that after that
period the gangs increased in intensity until, a Lewis
expressively put it, "a man would eat anything." Often
during their long probation did they recall that on the
day before the wreck a sheep had been killed a.nsl put in
second mate's lost, and the carcass being thrown over
Isar,' in the hurry of lowering as the tire gained the
ascendancy. Ile afterwards saw it floating alongside
without thinking of picking It up. Though in pursuance
of the honest policy of telling the truth and the whole
truth in roansetion with his sad story, Mr. Macdonald
did not attempt tie conceal or to soften the horrible expe-
dient to which they had been driven to ...naafii life when
he tells us that on Monday, the 23rd of November (on the
seventh clay), " four men died the same ail the others"
(that is to say lightheaded Ilail prostrate), "hut we ware
so hungry and thirstr that we drank the bliss' and ete the
liver id two lif them. The subject was es blently lawful,and it wei only on one occasion sulrequently referred W.
Cott.r seems to have been sinking on this particular day
ant to have still revolted at the idea of touching the liver
ef his dead commies. Lewis, however told him that ha
would dic if he did not, and at hat tips lad said that he
would not milesa his officer did. On this Macslawd.l
replial, "Well, I will Mate it: in fact, I must ; " met all
three seem to have partaken of a mudh portion. of this
horrible mind Cotter said that it tasted to him but like
drinking cream milk; while Lewis said it had no taste in ,
It at all.

The subjoined is the second officer's account of the
shocking affair :
PIARIttTIVE OP NIL MACDONALD, SF.COND OVFICUL
Tbe chip esispeArick (of London), Captain A. lihuslie.
left Gravesend for Auckland, on the Ilth September, 11,41,
with upwards of PM emigrants and ctlsin passengers. and
a crew of II men all told. Tuesday, id lb November noun,
las, 37 I:, ; long. Id Xi I; wind light from NNW., ma
smooth. It was my watch on deck (nail S p.in. till mid-
night ; everything was quiet. I was relieved liy the chief
officer and went to bed. I hail just &mused .41 to deep
whim I AIM awakened by the alarm of fire. JUIIIIIiII4 out
of bed I niet the captain, who ordered toe to go forward
to see what was the matter. I ran forward and aaw amok.
come out of the furehateh, the paesenzers rudiing lin daek,
and the chief officer getting the funceimuitte, at work. We
poured water down the fonsecitttle, a, everybody stud that
the tire was in the boatswain's locker. I ran aft to put
the chip before the Wind. WWI found the captain endeavour-
ing to do m. but in vain. The lire WWI rapidly gaining on
Games bursting out of the fore hat: : and we still
continued our endimvistint to extinguish it. The passengers
rushed all about with loud sentants for helo impeding us
in our work. The ship came head to wind, which drove
the dame. and a thick body of awoke aft, setting tire to
the forwanl boats and iie to recede. I asked
the if we „haul.' lower away the remaining lemts,
liut " but to endeavour to ...atinguish
the lire. The passengers rushed the two quarter
'setts, which wen: hanging in the davits over the side,
and crowded them I consider that no less than Mk
mostly w. men, got on and in the starboard boat, when
the davits bent down with the weight, and the imat's stern
dipped under the sea. The heist filled and capsized, and
all the occupants were drowned alongside, it being in,.
possible to render any assistance. I had stationed some
sailors by the port boat, giving strict orders nut to lower
away unless by order of the captain, but pitmengans made
a rush for her, and we could nut prevent them front
getting in. l'sy Gib time the foremast hail fallen over the
side, and the name. wen: Iruriting out of after hatch. I
than heanl the captain, who was standing by the wheel,
my to tliooi aroused " Now, everybody try for hiturolf to
own life,- or e ord.+ to that effect iiia wife, win
and the doctor were mending alongside of him. The mak*
lemtswaiii, tltinl officer, and myself wens trying to turn the Lag., pinnace over, to launch her, but could get no
axiiihitani•e, snit am her imws were catching fire we left her
Some lowered the captain's gig over the side, hut a„ mare of her. I ordered the port teat to be lowered, and when litlf down I got hit her When we got chair of the ship's mile the chief
ethrer jumped overboard. W the boat, And
we helped him in. as aLso a female hem,.. "Cr Ti
'mat was kept off from the ship's side, being over
loaded with 31 persons. The timuunaat etiortly after-
wards fell over the Sid* and must have killed a good
maw, and thee the &les stem blew out under the peep