Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1859-07-01
MI $ & T. l. l. A N Y.
A FEMALE ROBINSON cRusoE.

Il Young lady Rescued alter hring three
ycars upon barren and unHhabiied Island
IN Lake Supsrior-!Slcfoh Of her Ship
Wrcek. her LiIs on hs Island, and her Res
cue.
A correspondent Of the New York Times.
writing from Chicago, April 10th, gives the
interesting particulars Of a remarkable case
OF dcsola,e life. The schooner Oxella. Cap.
tain Marvin arrived at Racine from Mar.
que,te.o on the 18th, having on board young
lady, Miss Sophia Richardson, formerly Of
Cleveland, Ohio, who has been living three
years IN solitude upon desolate island in
lake Superior. near the British cast, upon
which she was cast away in the spring Of
1856. TIE correspondent was a, Racine
when the OtcllA arrived, anI had an inter.
view with the young lady. She is about
30 years old, and ofA pleasing and intelli.
gent countenincc. Her clothing was any.
thing but fashionable and elegant, and her
hand. were rough and Drowned with expo.
sure.
She lest Cleveland in May, 1886, in the
bark Mary, Capt. Edward, bound ior Green
Bay, with u cargo OF provisions, heavy clio.
thing, &c. the crew consisted OF eight men.
The mate, George Richardson, was her cou.
sin. and under whose charge she was on her
way 10 Green BAY 10 meet her afianced hu'-
hand, TO whom she was to b. married upon
her arrival there. She belonged to re-.
spectacle and iolcrahly wealthy family and
had a good ouif, Of clothing. The voyage
proceeded ples'sp,ly enough until the YES.
scl was abou, entering the Straits Of Mack.
NAV. \ whi.key barrel was nppci, and
captain and crew INDUCED copiously. 4
furious storm came up and the captain be.
came bcwlldcrci a. to the locality in which
he was, and the vessel went ashore among
the rocks The only lIfe prcser,er had hccn
given 20 Miss Richardson, who adjusted II
under her arms. Tho captain and crew
lcapcd overheard and the mate and Miss Il.
were about TO follow when spar from the
shattered mast fell. striking HIM on the
head and killing hlm instantly. llcr cour-
age then ior-ook her anil she fell in.enslblc
upon the deck. From this ppint her mar.
ratyc is given in her own words.
e" How long remained in tins condition
canno, tell, but when reslincd my sen.
- -aw that the storm was dying away,
and that the vessel was still sticking fast
where he frst struck. Al my side lay
George. hi. face covered with blood, and
hi- eye. staring wide in death. almos,
tainted agrin at the sight, bu, by strong
eGIrt reprc-'ed my feelings and got upon
my feet. The waves were yc, rolling hea.
Willy. but a. looked upward. the clouds
broke away and the sun bcamcd down upon
me knew that the water would become
more Tranquil as night approached, and |
hoped that II the captain and crew had
reached the shore they would endeayor TO
rescue mc. went into the hold and ob.
served that the leak did not increase. The
seams Of the vessel were open and her tim.
bcrs were Strengthened and broken but she
appeared & be 20 tightly jammcd between the
rocks she could not sink. The wind blew
strongly toward the shore, and | saw spar,
and barrels thrown upon the shore by the
waves, and then washed oG again by the
returning sea.
Hours passed by and saw and heard
nothing OF the captain or crew. Twas alone
with the dead The thought became un.
bcarabie, aud resolved to leave the wreck
and endcavor to reach the land. ] brought
up my trunks from the cabin and lashcd
one to each end Of the spar which had xii.
led poor George. Then with infinite labor
got them over the side into the water,
which had now become comparatively calm.
Summoning up all my resolution | lowered
myself into the waves. Tho lie prescrver
supported me admirably, and managed to
reach the spar 70 which my trunks were
lashed. The wind CARVED US slowly tow.
ard the breakers. There were passages be-
tween tho rocks, and fortunately We were
noated through one Of these and finally
thrown upon the the shore. | was terribly
lacerated aud exhausted, but managed to.
crawl upon the sand out Of the reach OF the
waves and then lay down with iul! and
grateful heart Alter resting for perhaps
halt an hour, united my trunks and rol.
led them upon the sand. The shore was
covered with casks and boxes, and succeed
ed IN securing some OF them. This IA.
iigued me exceedingly, as | was then un-
used to labor aud was not 80 robust as now
am.
Night was approaching. Ny garments
were wet and began to shiyer with cold
and hu unger. had eaten nothing except
some biscuits which had deyoured just be.
fore leaving the wreck. The loniness and
danger Of my situation rushed upon me. |
feared should perish with cold and hun
ger. I knet down upon the sand aud
s,roye TO pray-but no words came to my
lips. arose again in utter wre,chedness
aud walked towards the water. a dark
bale Of goods was tossing near the shore,
and saw that by ventaring into the wa
ter a short distance | could save it. made
the attempt and got the bale safe to land
but its weigh, prevented me from rolling
it out Of the waves. Ny scissors were
around my neck, and cut of the covering
Al. h,Ia n, ,,as .o,,,,,c.oJ nf buffalo