Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1845-08-21
Particulars of the Loss Of the
Whale Ship Tacitus, OF
New Bedford.
rco,,osnonJenes. of the N Y. Evening Gazette. !
RonAroxoA, April 10Th, i845.

tCorrosn nonjence. of the N u Evenna1Weie'i 4
RonAroxoA, April 10Th, l845.
/ DO not know whether you will have
heard, ere this reaches you, OF The un-
fortunate shipwreck of the Taci,us, but
send you The particulars, IN case Tins
letter should give you the Erst inlorma-
,ion. On Friday, she 9Th OF March, we
anchored al this island, one o! The Har-
yey groupe, lat. 81 II 5. lon. i6o W.
with Inc inie alton Sf recruiting ship pre-
vious to going to lhc N. w. Coast OF
America. We had got all our wafer ano
mos. of the recruits aboard, and would
have sailed in few days, when on The
\ ,I,h inst. the wsad canae Qua Toa hae
uorhwasd and westward, blowing r'ghs
on shore and k'sk@g UP a considerable
swell. AT 10 A.. M. we tet 60 the sec
ond anchor, but by nooa II was lou"o
that the ship began 10 drag, so lhas we
were obliged 10 get out tho stern and
kedge anckSIs, and give her all The
scope of chain that our proximity to The
reef would admit. Every thing was done
Ito avert the calamssy, that was posstb'e,
and no blame can be attached to the cap
tain, officers, or crew, Tor the uniortu-
nate result The shi p continued to drag
her anchors, and with every swell she
Iapproached nearer To the reef, upon
/ which the sea beat with violence, making
il evident, that unless the wind hauled,
so as TO admit OF our getting uuder weigh
We must 20 ashore , aud from sho yio'
llcnce of the sen on ,he coral reel, The
Ca.c Of the Tacitus was certain, u she
once struck. Al little time before sun
down she struck in n short time her re-
pea,ed lhunpings plainly told, that 1t was
all up with us as far as the ship was
concerned The captaia, in this 'ryme
situation, retained all his cOmpOsure aH'
: presence Of mind and though the los
is 10 him almost irreparable, he suffered
: no thought of self, to interfere with h'
> duty toward saving the lives OF the crew
and as much property as the circumssan
: ccs of the case would admit 0E lie WA
well and ably seconded by his first oif'
Ger, Nly. Bennett, than HON, a bette
man or n better sailor never tr0d dee
AS well as by the other officers aud ~
D crew. Daring the whole iims there wa
i, no noise or confusion, but perfect cbedI
7 ence to orders and implicit reliance b
Inc crew, upon the Judgment and skill q
The captain and officers.
u The boats were despatched tn an
'from the shore with such goods as wer
y handy and the effects, on landing, wer
Immediately carried by the native cor
$ stables up to the Kings slorehoust
c where they were placed under guard III
l., Ill such time as we could clam then
: 4 At 8 O'Clock p. NJ. it being unsafe to re
: main longer by the ship, she was ahar
e doned, and we all stood ashore, safe an
a sound and ,hankful no lives were lo'
/ on the occasion. The following day sh
C CONNIE need breaking up, and all hant
g were employed saving such articles II
h came ashore, and in few days no'hn
Il remained of the Tacitus but pieces of ih
c wrock, slrewn along the shore, we
}, ground up by the action of the surf o
y the coral reef. Ii is now the intention {
r the captain TO proceed To Oiaheite by tn
u first opportunity, to sci! the wreck for tn
4 benefit Of the underwriters. This islam
II is small, being about twenty miles IN eli
q conference, and ahounds in all the 'roi
ical fruits, but overrun with flies, mu
u quiloes, centipcdcs, lizards, und so lor,l
l. The natives are civilized, and the rec
nlations for preserving morality and goo
- order are enforced with great severii
~ by native authorities, under the dirct
, ticn OF The English Missionaries, of who
!. there arc three, with their families, res
ri dent here.