The Shasta courier., 1866-08-25
SHASTA COURIER.
Dreadful sufferings at Sea.

without living witness OF her fate. Mrs.
Casey. of Padstow, has forwarded to the
Western Morning News letters received
from her husband, the Captain of the Jane
Lovden. and the sole survivor of the crew of
sixteen, all told. He writes from Holland,
having been conveyed thither BY the cap
tain Of the Dutch bark Ida Elizabeth, by
which he had been taken off his vessel after
incredible suffering. The captain states that
he was thirty-thre days in the maintop of
one of the masts of his ship, and that during
twenty-eight days he never tasted food. On
the 2lst Of December his ship filled during
a heavy storm, and it was not until the I'D
of January that he was picked up
taken up. When taken off his ship he had
been ten days alone on the ocean, the last
man on board having died ten days before
The Rev. J. NJ. Arnold gives the follow
ing statement. derived from the lips OF
Captain Casey himself, of the fearful suffer
ings of the Jane Lowden's crew
The Jane Lowden, with seventeen men
and cargo Of wood was proceeding. from
Quebec to Falmouth, and encountered four
heavy gales, the last on the 2lst of Decem-
ber, in lat. 46 deg, long. SO deg. W.,
which completely disabled her, the fearful
seas mounting forty feet high, such as Cap.
tain Casey had never seen before, carrying
of everything on deck. and every soul on
board washed off. Nine of the crew were
thus lost, but the Captain and the rest of the
men managed to regain the ship, notwith-
standing it was dark. being six o'clock P. M.
They all took refuge in the maintop, which
measured FIVE feet by four feet While there
the vessel capsized, immersing them in the
waves, but they held on and she soon right
ed herself. The vessel was gradually driven
TO II deg. W. longitude, during which time
the poor sufferers, having endured the pangs
of hunger, and now tormented with a raging g
thirst, had the agony of seeing ten vessels
in the distance successively pass on their
course In spite of the Captains prohibi-
ton, some of the men stole down while he
was asleep during the lull, to try and slake
their maddening thirst with the sea water,
but this only increased their torment and
brought on delirium. Two men became
violent, and the Captain was obliged to strap
them down, in which state they expired
One poor lad William Thomas) 10 years of
age, died on the twelfth day after the vessel
was struck, in quiet delirium calling re-
peatedly on his mother to give him drink,
and to shut the door to keep out the cold,
and extending his hand to shake that of the
imagined near friends, he sank peacefully
to sleep. Another, Hugh Rice, died about
the eleventh day, from exposure and the
effects of drinking salt water.
1t may be well to give the names of the
rest of the crew. Edwin Mahlev, Chief
Mate, leaves destitute family at Plymouth
Samuel Bird, Second Mate, address not
remembered, leaves wife and children in
England. John Abrey, cook, leaves a wife
only. Henry Pope, address unknown, II
years of age, was the main support Of his
widowed mother, and the eldest of six chill
dren. Evan Davies, washed overheard,
leaves a family at Milford. Francis Martin,
aged 25 or SO, married, died after Is days
exposure and starvation before becoming
delirions he proposed eating the dead body
of one of the crew, which the Captain for
bade Alfred Bolton. who had run away
from Liverpool, aged 16 or II, died delirious.
after drinking salt water. John Pugh, who
married fortnight before sailing, was
drowned. James Griffith, James Connolly,
of GLASGOW, Thos. Geak, all young lads,
were drowned William Maitland, of
Plymouth, young and unmarried, died after
IA DAYS of exposure and starvation. Thos.
Bowen, married, died after Is days. The
last of the crew who died by the Captain s
side was James Beatt, the carpenter; he
was hopeful till almost the last. talking with.
in an hour of his death, which did not take
place till the 18th day. As the poor fellows
sank one after the other, all dying apparent
ly in their sleep, their bodies were dropped
off the maintop on the deck, but the last
body the Captain kept twenty hours by his
side.
The temptation to open vein aud drink
the dead mans blood was strong upon him,
but he firmly resisted it, and fingered on for
ten more long, long days. sustaining his life
by drinking as much rain as he could col,
lect by tying his cravat around the mast,
and, when it became drenched, sucking it,
The tar thus absorbed with the rain he
justly thinks helped to preserve him from
utter exhaustion. The fact, too, of his being
better clothed than his crew he thinks na3
also account, humanity speaking, for his mar
yelous preservation. On the twenty eightf
night he laid himself fiat on the maintop. a
he expressed it, resigning himself to hi
doom, whatever it might be, perfectly con
scious of his critical position, yet not losin;
all hope or his reason, though his brain be
came so weak that he often heard voice
calling, sometimes in most piteous accents
"Captain, Captain" On one occasion b
said that he distinctly heard voice sav,-
"Captain, your forecastle is blown away.
So distinct and clear was it that he exclaim
ed, " Who are you2' and then, . cam t he'll
it," He said he still felt that the God VIII
had extended His mercy to him so long coul'
still save his life, and he again prayed that
vessel might come to his rescue. The follow
ing morning, the 18th of January, his pa
tient hope was realized, for the Ida Elizabeth
unknown to him, had neared the wreck th
previous night with the intention of destroy
ing the next morning so dangerous an object
Captain Casey, having now for the frs
time sighted the ship, raised his feeble arm
to display his colors. Captain Doren, OF
seeing this unexpected sign of life, had the
exhausted man carefully conveyed on board
the Ida Elizabeth, where, according to hi:
prayer, doctor was ready to receive him
who, with the captain and crew, showed him
the sympathy and attention of brothers ra-
ther than strangers. In nine days they reach
ed Niuwe dep. The day after the arrival Of
the Ida Elizabeth, Captain Casey was remov.
ed to the Marine Hospital, and placed in a
most comfortable apartment, one assigned to
naval officers. 1t is hoped that in a fortnight
or three weeks he may be able to return to
his home, and that his blackened, frost bit
ten fingers and toes may be cured without
amputation. He is progressing favorably,
but is still very weak, and he says he feels
his strength coming as slowly as it left him
during his twenty eight days of exposure and
utter privation