The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1854-10-12
THE STATEMENT OF PETER MccABE.
TwESrY.sIx HOURS ON A RAFT.


than that presented by the Peter McCabs who
after twenty six hours exposure frA raft was res
cusd BY MI DoriAn, the third mate Of the III fated
Arctic HcCabs is native Of Dublin, Ireland, and il
about twenty I've years Of sgs. Hehas 6ns ingenious
expresion OF enAree and has altogether the sp-
pearance ofa man who, undsr the most discoursg
| Ing circumstances, vouli hope to the last whso
vs visited him yesterday At the seamsns Retreat on
Ststen Island, he did not appear like . who
quIed the care Of physician aud had not the
extent Of his injuries before !eft should have
tho.sht he had perfectly recovered from the effects Of
Els long exposure. One Of his feet, however h In .
Horribly acerated condition. large pieces OF the aesh
having bsen torn from it by rubbing against the raft
asg the bene IN many places quite BARE Ths skin has
also been torn from his angers, and both OF his hsrds
have parboilsd appearance He has, at our request,
furnished With the following painfully Interesting
| psztieu'ars of his escape from the wreck -
We lst Liysrpoo on the 2oth of Sspts mber and up
Wednesday,, the 27th nothing particularly worthy o
About twelve oclsck Of that day, when
about forty miles OF Cape Race, and eaveoped
In fog came in collision with some unknown vessel
which Afterwards however, found to be propeller
Ths Arc.i, running at the rate Of thiresn knots
an hour but the corcussion appeared slight that
~. board, not the Captain, supposed that this
ssr ,ge extensive His fears only excited
nv ,hs 7ndition Of the other vessel which it be
>e in . sinking state. Immsdstsly after the
:, ri.,t. tss -cpeler passed the starboard
side when II >-as 6iscoversa That her bows
were completely ss..ve in, and that she was
otherwise extensively darsgsd Our course was
instantly reversed, BY orders Of the captain, and
went in pursuit of the vessel for the purpose Of
rendering her all the assistance 10 our poTer little ina
girEg tha. much in nssd o. it ourselves at
the tine On coming up with tde propeller, We passed
A.rira bar "A Aa<~ hrao
hundred people on her deck BY order of Capt. LHcs
bcat, containing the drst officer, Mr. Goure, the
aoatswain and four Ave Sailors sent to her re.
sf but before they returned he ascertaned the fesr
su extent Of the damage to sell The propeller
had struck her with terrible force making large hcle
in her siarboad bow through which the water was pour
ns in torrent. Soon after the cpison l. with Others
rushed upon deck, having apprehepsions, however,
to safety bat in very short time we were made
Of the terrible reality The boat arrived from the
propeller but Capt Lue refused to take the men on
board, as ne knew they could be of assistance and
that better to keep them in readiness to receive
the passengers The fremen and engineers, 6riven
from their post by the water, row came upon Dock
increafir the number 0. the terror-stricxen crowd
Every one now prepared himself for the worst. The
life pressrvers were brought into reqnisiton and por
on of tbs set themselves to work the construc
tion Of RATS The two foreyard do and
ashed together making raft about forty feet long and
three or four feet wide engaged with the rest in
making this raft and Mr. Dorian, the third mate took
most active part in the work. When It was finished,
We launched the larboard sde in few minutes
after there were about seventy persons cngng to it,
Tour OF whom were women. Several other RATS were
made but mono of them large that which was
engaged Door, barrels and in fact everything that
foaed, used On Of these there were two and
three but the largest could not support more than four
or fve
remained on the vessel till she sank when went
down with her. had been employed few minutes be-
fore with two others, one Of whom called I" Tom
the storekesper, In ashing casks together
was driven away by the water, which rushing
in with fearful impsuosity. Jumping upon toe paddle
box, sprang the saloon Deck and In instant
engulphsd in the sursDg waters, which closed
over our heads. Down, down We sank with our noble
vessel into the bosom of the ocean, and the terrible
thought took possession Of my mind that WAS drown
ing; that should my dear friends and my
home again. retained my consciousness, however, all
the time under the water, and it with feel
ing of intense joy that found after about half mi
nute that rapiUy rising towards the surface. 1t
all darkness before but could Gim light
above me, and in few seconds the top Of the
water, struggling for lifs Being good swimmer, and
having besides, the support Of life preserver suc.
!. oeeded in reaching door, which floating a
few feet from where / rose. ! looked around me
but there trace Of the vessel except few loose
tmbers and the RATS which floating about, some
with and others without passengers Finding could
not retain my hc IT the door with safety left It, and
to . barre, which lay few feet from me; from
this again to the large raft which had IS have
said, about seventy persons cinsiag to It The sea,
though not strong rough, and the waves - they
dashed over it, washed away portion Of its living
freight. shall forget the awful scene. There
we were the mest Of the ocean, without the slightest
hope Of assistance while every minute or more Of
unfortunate fellow passengers were dropping into
their watery grave from sheer exhaustion Those who
had life preservers did not sink but Aoated with their
ghastly faces upwards reminding those who stin re-
manned alive Of the fate that awaited them.
In the midst Of all this, thank Heaven, never lost
hope but retained my courage to the last One by
l saw my unfortunate companions drop of some Of
them foated of, and eaten and gnswed by
ashss, while others were washed under the raft,
and remained with me till l was rescued.
could see their faces in the openings ~ they were
wayed to and fro by the Waves which threatened every
moment to wash me Off. The raft at one tms was 70
crowded that many had t, hold on by one hand Very
few words spoken BY any and the only sound that
We heard was the splash Of the waters the heavy
breathing Of the poor suerers they tried to
their breath after had passed them. Nesrly
all were submerged to their pits, while few could
with great difficulty keep their heads above the surface
The women the 6rst to co. They were unable TO
stand the exposure than three four hours They
all fell of the raft without word except poor GIRL
who cried out, in intense agony, "oh, my poor
mother and sisters"
When was about eighteen hours on the raft there
not than three or four left One Of these
gave what appeared to b. small map, bat which
understood him to say sort Of title deed to his
| property. In few moments after took IL, he too
unlcosed his hold and added to the number that
| hoated about the raft.
endeavored to get the paper into my pocket, but
found this impossible, account Of my crampsd posi-
tion 20 placed it between my teeth, and held IL thsre
tin was overwhelmed BY wave, when lost my hold Of
IT, and It washed away Another, who had an oiled
silk coat on called on me- for Heavens sake to assist