Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1858-08-30

1t wns announced by telegraph Thursday that
the mutinecrs Of the whale-ship JuniT. of New
Bedford. had been committed for trial Mt Boston,
and that five of them had made written confess
sions, in which they have exoneratcd the rest.--
The names and ages of tho prisoners are a. FOL.
lows
Cyrus W. Plummcr. of Providence 24j Jacob
Wright. Of New York city, 26, William Sampson
of Buffalo, n. Y, o. Joseph Brooks, Of Utica, n.
Y, "a Wiinm H. Cnrihn, of Albany, N. Y, 20;
Adam Conncll of New York. 40; II. Stanley. Of
pcnnield N. Y. 23; William Herbert. OF Newark,
n. D.. Is. Plummcr the instigator and lead
or of the mutiny. Those who have conto,sed their
guilt nrc Plummcr. Hall, Cartha, Herbert and
Burns tho lattcr still ut large, Tho Boston Her
aid, referring to ,hcir appearance in court says:
The prisoners. who are nl Americans, arc not
very irroulous looking rot Of mon. Plummcr,
tho ringeadcr, has M evil eye, ON close inspection
Of his aspect, but hardly my Of thcm would bo
selected IN crowd as lit heroes for tho "P;rate's
Own Book" They were chained in couples by
their wrists aud the legs Of each wero ehainod to-
gcthcr. Plummcr had his coat of and blue
flannel shirt on. The remainder were dccently
dressed and nll looked clean and in good hcath.
They did not appear very anxious in regard to
their condition, hut during tho long delny before
tho commissioner took his scat on tho bench, they
talked and laughed with each other az il tho ratl-
ing of the chalns upon their arms and legs was n
rather pleasant joke.
tho Junior nothing equal to can be found in tho
annals Of crime on tho high scas. 1t appears
from more detailed accounts than heretofore pub
lshcd that on tho morning of Saturday, December
25th. 1857 everything wore tho usual appearance
until about ono clock, whom tho cabin was at
tucked by five men, cd ON by Cyrus Plummer.
who shot the captain with whaling gun. Threo
balls passed under his ribs and entered the side Of
the ship. The captain sprnng up in his berth and
said, MY God whit is sthis!"-Plunmer replied,
"God d-n you, il mel lle then seized the
captain by his hair and dragged him from his
berth and called upon tho others 10 cut him with
their hntchcts. Ilc struck him hroa or four times
with his hutchet and then let him fall the floor.
The mate shot by whaling gnn in tho hands
of John Hall alias Vim. Payne. ut the sumo time
the captain wns. The gun was 80 close to him M
l., burn the skin on his left cheek, and three balls
entered his left shoulder. lilo was stunned. and
when he camo To himself he called the steward,
who was met at tho door by Hall, who threatened
To cut him down. lie went into tho second mates
berth and found him dressing himself lie Ind
boen shot also. Th" third mato WAS out of hs
berth On tho deck, dying. lilo went IN tho cap
,ans room aud found himself stepping in blood,
aud being barciootod this naturally caused athrill
of horror. lie called the boy to bring IL light, aud
found tho captain lying on tho floor dying. Ho
got the captains revolver and loaded it, with tho
intention of shooting tho ringleader. The mate
found the ship on fro in the cabin and called for
help To how many were on his side. Nobody
came nnd hc told the mutineers TO come aud put
out the fire. They answered him with oaths and
told him to come up on deck or they would shoot
him. lie got bung borcr and went into tho hold
to get some water, and hoping to shoot tho ring
leader. He was two days without food or water.
lie had been in the hold five days when they made
proposals to him to take tho ship into port, and he
accepted them.
The third mate had the boarding knife run
through him several times by Cornelius Burns,
and Cartha struck ut the second mate with another
boarding knife. The mate caught the knife and
bent the point over n board when Cartha shot him
in the breast with pocket pistol. AT this time
came deck, saw the captain and third mate
were dead, aud the second mate wounded. Be-
tween one and two O'Clock Saturday morning all
the foremast hands, not engaged in the mutiny,
were reused from their berths and informed by the
mutincers that tho ship was in their possession,
and that the captain and third mate were dead.-
The mutineers then made the other sailors come
on deck and arm themselves to meet myself and
the second mate. When we game deck the
second mate was seized and put in the forecnstle,
and Plummcr set watch over him. AT this time
there fire below, caused by tho discharge Of
guns in tho berths, and oil hands except two at
each hatch, sent below to extinguish it. Az
the fire was subdued, II reef tackle was
bent on the captains ance, the body was hauled
on deck, and then thrown overheard
After these matters had been disposed Of, Plum,
mer ordered the ship to head W. N W., thinking
he steering for Cape Horn, but lac was in fact
heading for Lord aowe's Island After this the
ship was stcered for Cape Howe, Australia, and
made the land January 3, 1858. On tho same day
all hands made to come ON deck and throw
overheard every thing pertaining " the whaling
VOYAGE The mutinecrs then broke out the stops
in the ship and took all the stores. They then
broke into the cabin and took every thing that they
could luy their hands on. Such articles as they
wanted were kept and the rest thrown overheard.
The experience of the mate during the five days
that he was in the hold must have been one of
the most fearful ever encountered by mortal
On the second day, when he had lost all hope
from any other power, he prayed to God for wa
ter and heard stick moving on cask in such
way that he thought there must 10 water in it,
1t was with great difficulty that he procured wa
ter having to tear off his shirt collar, dip it into
the water cask and suck it. By crawling about
he found cask of bread with the bung up, and
extracted sustenance therefrom His shoulder
mortified from the effects Of his wound. The
wound was dressed, and his life saved by the mu-
tneers in order to save themselves from destruc-
ton lie consented to work the ship in order to
save his own lite, and tho ship for the owners
When these bloody murders were committed the
Junior was about four hundred miles from Aus
tralia of the Cape of Good Hope.
The crew left the ship in two whale boats, to
king everything of value eycould find, and land
ed ON Ninety Mile Beach, where six of them left
and went into the Interior the other four smiled
to Twofod Bay, where they gave themselves out
as Americans ON the voyage from Melbourne to
Sydney; Suspicious being excited they were ar
reste' but for want of evidence were discharged.
They continued in this locality some time, leading
Il gay and reckless life. Plummer, who called
himself Can't Wilson, became quite ladies man, |