The Sun.
London, England, 1826-03-20 00:00:00

NiwiT HORRIBLE: SHIPWILECK.

()n the evening of the 7th inst. when the 'Biondi frf -
gate was
goilite at the rate of twelve knots, with a strong breeze, A vesst:l .
to leeward in ditureste was providentially descried from the meet
head, Mr which- the -Blonde inunediately bore up and boarded.
She proved to be the Frances Mary, a ship of :198 tone, of atid
from) St..lohn'S, New BrunsWick, belonging to Captain Pakter...
b1)11, tind consigned to Campbell and Mackie; Orleiverpeole
she teaS a complete wreck and water logged, and only
alio:it by her cargo of timber; her main-maet.end
yard were' the only spars standingond all her boats were washed.
stray.' ft seldom falls to our lot to,have to recadsteell
ralleled and unheard of sufferings ati those which the. Unfortunate
beings-of this melancholy amt. heart-rentling eireatinstence haver
wale through; Too hours 'did not elapse, from the :shipping-
the Wet. sea, till the whole of the crew and pititstaigersein all
sixteen souls, were compelled to get up in the maintop with
only a few pounds of biecuit, Where they reinaintal five days ;
with the remainder of their scanty stock of..bretal, they kept
themselves in existence ter live days more, when, horrible to •
reletee the cravings of nature, scarely supplied in any one way
for tie eotec of tetrllaye, compoited diem to live bn the corpses
of their deccas6d fellow sufferer:4, and drink their blood, and
thus for the space of tiventy-two days they subsisted in this hor-
rible manner. %Vhen they were picked up, their number was
reduced to six It:end:ill ( %laster), and hie wife, John
Clarke (illate), John Willson ((,arpenter), a seaman of the
stuns of Mc !mire, and a young woman, a passt.bger, named
Ann Saunders. They were in the most deplorable situation
when taken on beard the Blonde, some of them being scarcely
able to move, and all being reduced to mere. skeletons. It is
scarcely possible to conceive, much less to duserib.e the intensity
of suffering these unfortunate individuals must have. 'gone
through, the total want of Mod and water, which last, they were
without from the comniencement of their fisaster : all thus that
died bad fallen victims to an unquenchable thirst and raving
madness, produced from drinking salt water, which they Quaid
not resist indulging in. The two women were stronger than
the men, some of whom would not have. survived even when on
board the Blonde, but for the•great care and attention shewn
them, and they all say that a very few !murk must have terrine
nated their sufferings and their lives. They were picked up in
lat. 44, 43 N. and long. 21. 57 W. having drifted since their
shipwreck front lat.' 40.• 3li N. and long. 36. :W. W. •
The following particulars of the above dreadful occurreuce
have been furnished from on board the ship :
" Sailed from St. John's. Jan. 111.—Pele I, Strong gales
front the W.N.W.; carried away the nutin-top-mast and
nil:ten-mast head ; hove to • not boatie sails hi the maim rig-
ging, to keep the ship to the wind. A t 11 p, tn. shippid
heavy 11C11, which washed away the rehouse, jolly-boat,. and
distibled five men—Feb. 2. Cleared away the wreck, and
*uiadte sail before the wiled ; strong breezes.,.....jAb. if. ei
t4t,rting gales with a heavy sea—clewed the rase up, and hove
fte—itead to the Southward; shipped a sea, which carried
away the long boat, companion, tiller, unshipped the rud-
der, the best bower chain, and washed a man over-boarti,
who was efternards saved. At 11. 10. another heavy
sea struck us, which stove our stern in. Cut away our
foremast, and both bower anchors, to keep the ship to .the
wind : employed in getting what provielons we cuuld--by
knocking the boat-port out, saved 501hs. of bread, and slbs.
cheese, which 'we stowed in the maintop; got the master's wife
and female passenger up, whilst we were clearing away below,
lightening the ship ; most of the people slept in the top ; at
daylight found Pattick Cooney hanging by his legs to the ca-
duirpins, dead, from fatigue—committed lees body to the deep.
--Feb. H, at 8 a in., saw a strange sail standing towards us ;
made signal of distress ; stranger spoke us, and remained in
company 24 hours ; but received no assistance--the American
making sin excuse that the sea was running too )tile. Made
tent of spare canvas on the forecastle ;put the people on IA short
allowance of ti quarter of a biscuit a day—Feb. 8, saw a
brig to leeward ; strong gales.—Feb. ii, 10 3. tn., saw same
vessel to' windward, made the ;signal of distress ; stranger
bore up, and shewed American colours.—Feb. 10, He spoke
us, asking how long we had been in that situation, and
what we Intended to do—if we intended leaving the ship P--
Answered, yes 3 he then asked, if we had any rigging c—An-
swered, yes : night coming oil, and blowing liaiti--saw no
more of the etreinger. Suffered mocit from nuttger and thirst.
On agent the Feb. 11, sew ti large ship ao the Northward,.
Did out speak her ; bore head to the Sorthworti. At this
time all our provisions were out.—etiffered much front
hunger, having received no nourishment for nine days !
Feb. 21, departed this like,' Juries Clarke (seaman): read
prayers, and committed his body to the deep we were at this
tune on n half a gill of water a-day, and aufferiug much from
htinger ; during the whole period of being on the wreck, we were
wet fi•om top to toe.—Feb. 22, John Wilson (seaman) died, at
10 a. in. ; preserved the body of the deceased : cut hint up
in quarters, washed them overboard, end hung tntill up on
pine.—Feb. 23, J. Moore died, and was thrown overboard,
having eaten part of him, such as the liver anti heist.. From
this date to Saturday the sth of Alarelt, the following num-
ber perished from hunger:—Henry Davis Ea Welsh boy);
Alex. Kelly (seaman); John Jones, apprentice boy, nephew
to the owner; James Frier, cook; Daniel Jones, itearnan ;
' John lintehimion, seaman ; and John Jones, a boy threw
the last named overboard, him blood being hitter; :deo James
Frier, who was working his passage home under a promise ut'
marriage to Ann Saundere,.. the female passenger, wIlt), at-
attended on the Illester'a wife, and who, when site beard of
Prier's death, shrieked a loud yell, then towelling up a cup "
from Clerk (mate) cut her late intended husband's throat, and
drank his blood, insisting that she had the greetest right ton—,
a scuffle ensued, and the heroine (the words of the narrator)
got the better of her adversary, and then 'thawed Nina to drink
one cup to her two I—Feb. 20. On or about this day an Eng-
limit brig hove in might—hoisted the ensign downward—stranger
hauled his wind towards us, and hauled his foresail up, when
abreast of us, kept his course, about one utile distance, set his
foresail, and we' soon lost sight of him : fresh breete with a
little rain—ehe pea quite smooth,: but he went off having thewn
English colour,; had he at this time taken us dr the wreck;
much of the subsequent dreadful suffering would have been
spared US.—AI arch 4.. His 111ajesty'it ship Blonde, came in sight,
and to our relief, in lat. 44. 43. N. long. 21. 7. W. Words are
quite .inatlequate to express our feelings, as well those which
Lord Byron and our deliverers most evidently. posnemsed, When
they found they had come to rescue six of their relloW..ereattres
(two of them fernaleo from a most awful lingering, but certain ,
death. It cattle on to blow during the-night a fresh gale which
would* no doubt, have swept us all overboard. Lieut. t ;ambler
came in the ithipla cutter to bring tld f1r0133 the wreck —llo6l)Se:eyed
to us, you bare yet, I perceive, fresh meat,' to which we were
compelled to reply—' Nu, Sir, it is pert , of a man, one of our
unfeminine crew I—it was our intention to pot ourselves au
allowance even of this food, this evening, had not you come to
our relief,' The Illamter's wife, who underwent all the atom
horrid sufferings which the human understanding can imagine,
bore them much better than could possibly have been expected.
Site is now, eittioagli much emaciated, a respectable, good-look-
Mg woman, about twenty-five years of age, and the mother of
it boy seven years of age. But, what must have been the este
trettuty of watt to which site was driven when she eat the
Main,, of one of the apprentices, saying it was the most deli,
Gloats thing she ever tasted; and it is still more melancholy to'
relate, the persue whose brains she thus was forced by hunger
to eat, had hee,t three times wrecked before, but was providene:
Oldie, picked up by a vessel after being twenty-two days ()tithe
wreck, water-tugged; but, in the present instance, he perish.:
ett, having eurvtved similar sufferings for a space of twenty-
nine days, and then became food for leis rmaining shipmates I
:Ai::
khan, Sitlittict.
ittenic,lte:t
,hitil,ern:l:`eitulutialtol ,i d more strength in tier cala-
mity then most of the tnen, she performed the tittty of tinning
ink him
keeping two knives in her
nionkey-jacket end when the breath was announced tel have
flown, she would sharpen her knives, bleed the deceased in the
him up as usual. From want of
water, those who r r i I;ed drank their own urine anti Ault water:
they became rattling upon their hands round the deck
slit
narrativtlt:eYofenillitiilll''lte :titigttesnredr:liriYtigra°ng
We cannot feal..lC43' 10 ti pia that a 11101V110ititi and (At twir
it bus; atom Itten our
pailithi duty to recerd. The petite who will deeply lyinpr-
tilize with tile ,tyart.r., will hear with' tome Kti11,','4,‘,116„1: that t,,r„
six sorvivars,out of the tAstren perst,llti :UV 'loo',/1
Kendall, theq'llaater of the tanfvrrtln..;s Aril* t't
gfreest rhea e
rt tei: go
tile. their
14t
,rtglscere vet
t'',ll'',.ii(illoot'.i.:t..Y.lll.Bllt;ailoitirt:tat a
oi
gtatitrim!
lsot.l
euticil! anti full !
htnn`em it ilia!
the
arst,eh,nz
pasn4sidrecutiii...l;el,:ilot::,3i;c:iprosloolo:ft,to.:ll7o,nitlooL.
relief
ot.
the