The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1867-04-27

Loss of the Bark N Wood.
Before daylight on Wednesday morning. Capt
J. Richmond. with n boats crew Of the whaling
bark DGHiel Wood. belonging 10 New Bedford
arrived at this port III q whale boat from French
Frigate Shoals. where tine bark was wrecked
April 18th. Ii will be remembered that the
whale ship South Seamqn, a fine. nearly new
vessel. was lost March %, 1859, on the same
shoals. which consist of Il series Of rocks. reef.
and sandbanks, located about $50 miles to the
north and west of these Islands. Owing To theiI
low position. being in no case more than six feet
elevation above the sea, and also the fact that
strong and variable ocean currents prevail in their
neighborhooi. they are peculiarly dangerous 10 ma
~yi-ators. especially to ships bound hence 10 the
n~orthward. On some of the islet-, which are
very small. consisting Of only an acre or two each,
a limited supply Of bracki-h water can Dee obtain
Cd, although that Is not TO be depended Oh At all
seasons. Turtle usually abound, and fresh fish
are easily taken. while sea birds flock there in
myriads TO deposit their eggs, which, contrary TO
general suppo-ition, are very palatable and de-
void Of fishy taste.
The Daniel Wood arrived nj Honolulu on the
9TH of April. from a cruise 10 the westward. with
i hundred and odd barrels of sperm oil, which
was here discharged for shipment home, the bark
leaving again on her cruise To the northward on
the 10th. On Saturday, the 18th. Capt. Rich
mOnd asccrtained his position at ) z. ". To be
lat. D 10, and long. lG4 90, the shoal on
which the vessel afterwards struck, which is
known on the chart a. Basse FRANCHISE Shoal,
then bearing west by north half north. distant 50
miles. The course Of the vessel was given north
west, which would have made, with the yaria-
ton, n course of northwest by north. and ifno cur
rents had intcricgcd, and the position Of the shoal
been correctly laid down, the vessel would have
gone f~orty-fvc miles 10 the windward of all dam
ger. On Saturday night the weather WAS beau
tiful, with a clear atmosphere. and Il full moon,
and the bark, under all sail, was steadily pursu-
ing her course with n fine favorable breeze.
At l O'Clock Sunday morning, Capt. Richmond,
who was below, heard the second officer, in charge
of the deck, shout to the man at the wheel:
=. Hard up the helm - The Captain Immediate
" sprang up on deck and ordered the vessel to he
put about: but before this could be accomplished
she struck heavily IN the reef, and pounding her
way over the first or outer rocks. went on t. the
inner ones. Here the breakers were reached.
about half Il mile from the place where she first
struck, and the vessel hecicd over to the blows of
the breakers. IL having become apparent that
she could not he saved and was about breaking
the masts We're cut away To keep her upright.
The crew all went into the boats with the exceu-
tion of the Captain, second officer. cooper and
three seamen, who remained on board a. long as
safety would admit, and got about a hundred
gallons of water into their boat before leaving.
At daylight the only sign of terra frma in sight
was a bleak looking rock, for which the Loats
pulled. At a distance of fifteen miles from the
ship they reached a small sand hank. barren, with
the exception Of here and there a tuft of grass.
On Monday morning they again boarded the
ship, through a heavy sea, and the Captain was
washed overheard, but fortunately regained the
deck. On this occasion they secured six casks Of
water and a lot of bread and meat. 1t occupied
them a whole day and a good part of one night.
to tow the casks Of water To the sand bank
tortuous channels, and on getting there
the men were given each a pint of fresh water.
broaching two of the casks they were found to
contain salt ,edfa-, and they were the first of the
TX that were landed. Imagine the feelings of
-he>e shipwrecked mariners when the thought
rose that they We're on ga lone barren isle"
fresh water,
On Monday noon the ship broke up. and the
of the crew, expert swimmers. were
lctive in the water in securing provisions. The
-aptain decided at once TO proceed to Honolulu
Or assistance. Taking u fayorite large whale
,Oat, named the Ann E.. Wilson, lac put on her
the sailors call a sister gunwale and a
. wash-board," and declared his intention to
tart for Honolulu. As an instance Of Yankee
.n-errri-a oDI Accommodates, e .I,-,..o- -
.iffcult circumstances, it Is well 10 mention that
he only tools the Captain and his men had to
Terate with in making their boat scaworthv for
he long and perilous voyage Of nearly five hun
miles to this port. was a saw. a hammer and
chi-el. The nails with which to fsten their
york they had To draw from the fasteninrs Of the
Their boats.
On Tuesday, the 10Th, the boat being ready.
be Captain, second officer and six men embarked
[ 3 P. ". with a necessarily limited stock Of
-ater and bread. bound for Honolulu. leaving
wenty-scyen Of their ~shipmatcs on the sand bank.
with a feeling of uncertainty. both on
he Part Of those who went and those who re-
a. 10 whether they should ever see one
again. One party left on an unfrequcnr-
] barren sand beach in mid-ocoan. and the other.
scanty provisions, undertaking. in an open
cat- a -ea voyage Of hundreds Of miles.
For the first four days after leaving the shoal
he Inn +. Wilson encountered strong winds
the north and north-northcast but made =
cry good Roadway in the desired direction. some ,
mes pulling and sometimes sailing when the +
ind gave a slant. For prudential reasons all ,
lnds in the boat were put on an allowance of t
ne pint IF water and one biscuit a day. Thus !
leE ~,rugsloI on. until Sunday morning. april .
81. when they made the Island of Niihau. I