East Saginaw courier., 1865-08-09
THE WRECK OF ST. PAULs.
BY HueM maxwell, U. s. n.


am rather an old fashioned fellow, an,
as l live too far away from my worl
to admit of my going home to dinner
l carry my basket containing tha
meal with me, and as soon as / hav
despatched my midday meal, / hav,
habit of peering about under anC
around any old craft we may chanc'
to have in hand, pondoring and spec
ulating upon tho vicisitudes, storms
and accidents she may have been sub
jected to during her nautical life.
One day, recently, while lying a
full length on my back, under the bot
tom of an old brigantine, whose early
years had been passed in the South
American trade, / observed on hel
bottom, and directly over where / lay,
a plank less worn than was the plank,
ing generally. An examination OF
the plank discovered to me the fact
that it was of the bright yellow Bra
lillian wood called epte, much used in
that. country for ship-building pur-
poses, but unknown in the United
States. l had just settled the charac-
ter of the plank by chipping it lightly
with an adze, and sat there wonder
ing what might have been the nature
of the accident that made that plank
OF foreign wood the companion of our
native oak, when my speculations
were suddenly terminated by some
one addressing me from point just
outside the ways;
Wondering where that plank came
from, and why it was put there, are
you, Mr.. Carpenter ?"
looked out from under the bottom
and saw standing there bronzed,
fine looking man, aged, should Judge
about fifty, and who, though clad in
conventional broadcloth, had about
him an air of salt water easily enough
recognizable by an old sailor
No sir, / was not wondering where
the plank came from, for i have work
ed many u one out of that wood, in
the country where it grew. But i
was wondering how it happened to be
needed there"
Well sir, can tell you all about
it, for 1 was sailor on board the
brigantinc at the time. i heard but
yesterday that the old craft was haul
ed out here for repairs, and / have
come in from the country, matter of
twelve miles, just to have one more
look at the same old plank" 81.
The old tar came under the bottom,
sat down on block of wood, and for
sarprallo minutes gazed up at the strip
seemingly Win tn'rnnsle;,-..vJcs,~s ..,.,.h
denly he turned toward me and re-
marked
''That plank, sir, reminds me that
the circumstance which made it ne
oessity there, also made the fortune of
the man who was chief mate of the
brigantine at that time, and my own,
too, i may say. 1t has been there
twenty years, and yet you see it looks
new compared with the others. It's
but short splice of a yarn, and if you
care to hear it, I'll ball it Off to you
before the bell rings"
81 shall be delighted TO hear it."
Well-you see the vessel was
somewhere about four year old craft
at the time, and we were outward
bound, from Boston to Rio, with n
general cargo of flour, hams, butter,
goldfish, &c. The N. +. trades had
scented us all the. way from about If
degrees up to the variables, and so we
| fell to leeward of the usual line cross
ing, in spite of all We could do. The
equatorial current caught us strong,
and unhorsed us away down to the
west and until we sighted st. Pauls.
L reckon you know where st, ,Pauls is
Mr.. Carpenter ~ 49,,
"Yes--a low, barren cluster of cor
al rocks, just above water, in about
3 deg. 20 min. north and 46 deg. IL
west longitude. I've beon to them
twice, when we couldn't help it,"
Exactly. You SEQ nobody ever
sights st. Pauls if they can help it
but now and then some unlucky craft
, brings on 'em, and never comes of
again"
"Well--it was just in the grey Of
the morning when our chief mate, Mr.
Farley, got sight of the rocks. W.
were heading up S. S. W., with a -four
knot breeze to S. Il, and tho rocks
,, were dead to leeward of US, six miles
or such matter, and a two and {
half knot breeze setting us righ
square upon them. In about tiftecI
minutes after we first sighted th'
rocks, Mr.. Farley, through his glas
discovered q white signal flying, and {
great many people on the main rock
Down he went into thccabin to inform
the captain of his discovery, and Will
we stood wondering who those peopl
were and how they came there, an,
what the old man" would do abou
!. it, he came on deck. After a long
d steady look at the shipwrecked peo
IS pie, and their signal of distress, til
' captain turned to the mate and YER
coolly observed ,aI ~.
"We'll go in stays, Mr.. Farley
We can never clear those confounde
rocks on this tack" oN
y "Mr. Farley stood still and stare
at the captain as though he had n'
:. heard word of, the order.
n "Did you hear me, sir 2. Well g
fy in stays, I say, and stand off on til
to other tack" s..a ~
0 re "And those people on tho rocl
i for all l sec. There's q circle OF cor
reefs running entirely around then
and if we could, i should not brea
my insurance by running in anon
ck them breakers, Besides we are sho
:" IN of both provisions and water for on
selves. 'Haint got nothing to spa
for strangers" ,.,
:. "My God! Captain FELTON,, will y'
r. - In 4. no