The Sun.
London, England, 1841-11-26 00:00:00

EXTRAORDINARY VOYAGE.

A VESSEL BROUGHT FROM THE WEST
INDIES BY TWO MEN.

Oa Tuesday eveniag the schooner Whim, Captain
Kerridge, belonging to Harwich, arrived in the West
India Import Dock from St. Domingo, with a cargo of
mahogany, after a passage of sixty-four days. The
voyage was performed under the most extraordinary
circumstances, and is, we believe, unparalleled in the
annals of navigation.
The crew of the Whim, on leaving St. Domingo,
consisted of five persons—viz., the captain, mate, two
men, and a boy. Four days after sailing, the mate,
George Struts (unmarried, but the only support of a
widowed mother), caught a severe cold during a suc-
cession of tremendous gales, which prevented him from
attending to his duty, and notwithstanding the usual
remedies, which were kindly furnished by the captain,
he gradually got worse, and on the twelfth day he ex-
pired. Next morning his body was consigned to a grave
in the abyss of the ocean, the prayers for the dead
having been previously read over it by the master.
Captain Kerridge being thus deprived of the services
of his chief officer, his duties were necessarily rendered
doubly laborious and irksome ; but, unfortunately, he
had soon to contend with greater hardships and privations.
A few days after the death of the mate, one of the
seamen, named Michael Shey, a native of Kinsale, Ire-
land, was attacked with a lingering disease, and being
confined to his hammock in the forecastle, he was
unable to perform any kind of duty. In this state he
has arrived with the vessel in the West India Import
Dock. About the time of the mate's death the appren-
tice got also disabled, in consequence of a severe ulcer-
ated leg, which made him unable to stand, and he, too,
has been brought home an invalid, and it is feared am-
putation of the leg will become necessary to save his life.
There was now only left the captain and one seaman,
named John Lilly, to bring the schooner to England, a
distance of nearly 4,000 miles ! This they deemed a
task almost impracticable ; but, as their own lives, ves-
sel, and valuable cargo must be sacrificed if they did
not persevere, Captain Kerridge, and his only remaining
seacuan (Lilly), resolved on prosecuting at all hazards
the voyage. Tee weather was, at the advanced period
of the season, unusually tempestuous, Capt. Kerridge
stating that he never experienced such a continuation of
heavy gales, at times approaching to a hurricane. The
foreyard and part of the schooner's sails were blown
away during one of these tornados, and they were not
replaced by others, the captain having to steer the ves-
sel, and one man being incapable of making a refit of
sails, &e. In this partly disabled state the voyage was
continued, and Capt. Kerridge and Lilly, when almost
worn out with fatigue, descried a ship at some distance
from them, and, on nearing each other, Capt. Kerridge
solicited from the master of the stranger vessel one of
his crew to assist him, at the same time acquainting him
with his distressed condition. Capt. K. was answered
by the master that he also was short of his crew, and
could not spare any of his men.
Capt. Kerridge did not fall in with another vessel
until he reached longitude 15 W. Having perceived a
sail at a short distance, he hoisted a signal flag, and the
ship, belonging to St. John's, New Brunswick, and
bound for Liverpool, immediately bore down upon him,
and the captain kindly gave Capt. Kerridge one of his
crew. Thus manned, the Whim successfully accom-
plished the remainder of the voyage, and that notwith-
standing having been exposed to the late disastrous
gales.

Strange to state, Captain Kerridge did not have a
chronometer on board the Whim, and his arrival from
St. Domingo, under all these extraordinary circum-
stances, is almost a miracle.

The schooner and her valuable cargo are, we under-
thnd, partly insured, and as the owners, underwriters,
and others, have been, by Capt. Kerridge's unexampled
courage and indomitable perseverance; as also that of
Lilly the seaman, prevented from sustaining a heavy
loss, it is to be hoped that such untiring zeal, suffering
and fatigue, will not be permitted to go unrewarded.
The above facts are specially deserving the kind con-
sideration of Lloyd's.