East Saginaw courier., 1865-08-09

| -.~Nf tAooo s"pteih, 10 toohy uS Al III
had been discussing bill of lading.
"Then by the living God +! 1 wi
not sir. The brigantine shall go t
the relief of these people, and in, owe
or through those reefs, or pound he
bottom out in the attempt"
what What's that you say, sir
DO you intend open mutiny agains
authority ?"
"Yes In the name of common hu
manity l disobey you, and assum
command of this vessel myself"
Go below, sir, this instant Yo,
are put,off duty. Go below, / say
or by Heaven, I'll have you put il
double irons"
Capt. FELTON, went striding abou
the deck, purple with rage, but tn,
young officer did not bulge an inch.
"Mr. Riper! Ho Mr.. Riper, say
Bring pair of handouts here, ant
clap them on this mutinous rascal ?
the furious captain fairly yelled.
Up came Mr.. Ripper, cur second
mate, big, burly bully of a Swede
whom everybody detested. He ap-
preached Mr.. Farley, and began un-
screwing one of the iron ruflles. But
the big Swede made a grand mistake
in his reckoning that time; for as
soon as he got within reach, the chief
mate let fly at him with his starboard
flipper, taking him square between
the eyes, a blow that knocked him
clean off his pins, driving his bull
head, like battering ram, slap into
the old mans stomach, shutting him
up like a jack-knife, and sending them
both to the deck in pile. Mr.. Far
ley gathered up the handouts which
Riper had lost hold of in his down
fall, and called to us forecastle chaps
to come aft.
Here, my men, couple of You
put these ornaments on that fellows
wrists. "Mason," said he, addressing
myself, "you 20 aloft on the fore top
gallant yard, and look out for the
clearest spot in that reef down yonder
The balance of you go to the weather
braces and stand by to square the
yards. AS for you, Captain FELTON,,
you had better go below, taking with
you your Swedish pet there. Don't
attempt any interference with my or
lers, sir, unless you wish suit Of
cold iron"
''There was not sailor in the YES
sci that would not any day have lent
4 hand to drag the mainmast out by
he heel and pitched it overheard at
Mr.. Farley's bidding; fact which
he captain knew as well as any one
md accordingly he deemed it prudent
20 follow the mates advice.
"1n five minutes we were off square
before the wind, heading right down
'or ti.-, al my percu d.OAy .seo.--N.
,ce that the water was less broken
han at any other point on that side.
could also see that there were sew
,ral clear channels through the west
,rn reef, but if we were TO run round
20 that side, we should have the wind
lead in our teeth, and we could never
Deat her up with the reef, while our
single small boat would be useless in
such sea as was running outside,
and the strong current would cut us
far down away from the island, in
spite of all we could do. So there
was nothing for it but 10 jam her in,
MS Mr.. Farley had said /; and that Of
licer, down on the deck there, knew
all that just as well as L did on the
bunt of the fore top-gallant yard.
"In twenty minutes We were in the
outer pinge Of breakers, and the sea
was so great that at times the little
craft stood almost on end. i scanned
her carefully from aloft, yelling with
all my might to drive my voice down
to the deck audibly amid the roar of
mad breakers. The belt of coral was
but q quarter of a mile in width, and
We, were two-thirds of the distance
over it without having touched, when
she went reeling down from a vast
wave and settled with a rending crash
upon tho sharp coral spars with a
shock that sent everything not lashed
fast, waltzing about deck. The fol
lowing sea lifted her clear, and she
shot over into deep water without
striking again.
"The basin within tho reef was cir
cular, about mile across, with good
anchorage all over its bottom, and the
water was smooth rs mill pond
The rocks of st. Pauls were just about
the center of the basin, and passing
the largest one-that on which the
shipwrecked people were-keeping i
close aboard, and rounding too to lee
ward, we let go our anchor within
hundred fathoms of the rock, ant
within twenty minutes from .he time
our anchor went down, Mr.. Farlc.
and myself were among the ship
wrecked strangers.
1--WE soon learned that the unfortu
nate people were the officers, crew an'
passengers of Dutch East Indiaman
homeward bound from Sumatra. Th
ship had touched at Rio for supplies
and sailing thence, she had got near
ly up to the equator, when the win.
scented her. Then it baflled and fel
stark calm, and in spite Of everything
that could be done to save her, sh
was caught by the strong current an
drifting on the dangerous reefs SUI
rounding st. Pauls, where within fol
ty-eight hours of the catastrophe sh
was entirely broken up and had di'
appeared.
4" A considerable quantity OF waite
and provisions had been saved frol
the wreck, and also many of the ligl
sails and smaller spars, from whic
sufficient shelter had been constructc
to protect nearly all the urfortnnat'
from the fierce rays Of a blazing trol
ical sun.
"There werc some eighty passel
gcrs--among them over thirty womc