The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1868-01-07
me wreck % ne uanonrahsla.

4puasts etata from S. Ntu shortly
aftIF he arslqaake
Yn aill ta somewhat startled II
learn from this that the N9aga6a4
lies a tins tine high and 5ry on the
Island q ST Cruz
We bad jasi finished dinner on the.
afternoon of the 18th Nov. aud I with
several others bad gone As usual, to
have our accustomed smoke on the fore
castle, when We Ngrc suddenly startled
Is o loud rumbjng noise and violent
shaking Of the snip from stem to torn.
Our FIRST thought eaE ame accident ID
the engine room. some damage "a the
boilers. The mtu below decks rushed
up IN dreadful c9nstervation some
running "a the sides Of tie ship 70
throw themselves into the sea. and an
apparently COMPOUNDED with tho polsa
and agitation, 80 strange and anacoun-
table. Az that moment one u our ol
hcers, who was looking toward the hand
exclaimed 'Itisaa earthquake There
goes the tower oflhe English Church Z
But Just then al vas quiet again. We
thought our danger past, when now,
seemingly in eesoud for SO rapidly
did all these things happen, that we
could not note the time saw a large
iatboat, which WAS anchored short
distance ahead Of us, going at tremeu.
dous speed directly on TO the land, and
our own vessel sAltaneSuslv settled
upon The bottom Of Ihe bay, from which
every inch Of water had disappeared.
The cham 10 which pur anchor was
attached brought .pwi,A violent ierl,
We Immediately let out more, which ran
with a fearful velocity until the whole
length Of 100 fathtms was run ont in
less time than il takes to tell it. As
orr cham was going out, We swung
nearly all the waypund, and were thus
being fast driven on TO the shore. Our
position now was frightful: certain
death seemed imminent We were am
chored about quarter Of mile from
the land IN five fayhoms Of water, but
with the rapidity Of bought all this
water had receded from under us the
ship had careened over, and was fast
aground on a bottom which seemed al
so fast sinking besyaih MS. At this mo-
ment one of the men aloft in the RIO
ging surg out: my God look, look
out to Zen I" There, about three miles
from land, we saw perfectly solid wall
OF water, coming directly toward the
ship, and threatening to carry every
thing before it into irretrieyable des-
tfuction. II was about thirty feet in
height, and extending the whole length |
OF the island. You viii not wonder that
Tor a moment fearful panic should !
have paralyzed some Of tie men, but It |
is no more than simple Justice to say
that at that awful moment the majority /
OF the crew were cool and collected. |
obeying every order quietly and with |
alacrity, though expecting in very few !
moments to be overwhelmed in the i'm |
pending destruction. Most providen-
TALLY, however, before the sea struck us
the water had deepened under us suf |
tciently to float the ship again. Had
it not been for this, nothing could have
saved us, II came first upon our quar-
for, aud t,,tned -udJSIuads Side to IL, then |
lifted us bodily and rushed as in shore
at speed past all reckoning. When the /.
sea reached MS, we were still lying on
our port side, but the sudden shock sent /
us nearly as much upon our stalboard |
SIDE; indeed, we came within an ace of |
going on our beam S end on that side. |
If we had done SO, the ship and all
hands would most certainly have been
lost
Following Immediately behind this
wave were two Others not quite so large |
yet very nearly SO. Each one Of these,
as IN turn it struck the ship made her
tremble in all her joints. Already we
were on the inland side Of the street
which runs parallel with the water,
and the action of these consec utiye
waves was first to draw us back a little !
N the recession, and then to impel us
forward again and land us upon bed 1
p coral inst opposite to the hotel from /
which nm now writing. We passed /
over n long row of sheds, which we
helped the sea knock down. and then
directly in front Of the second story
Of houses upon the street, with
IN which we could distinctly hear, as
we went along, The heartrending
screams Of the unfortunate women and
children who had not had time to make
their escape
1t is most curious that, notwithstand-
ting all the hard knocks and sddden
Jerks through which we passed, not al
single spar was lost The rifle gun up
On the forecastle was forced from,
is fastcn'ngs upon the first lurch, and
lost oves. ar!, carrying one u tie crew
With u, nho, however, was fortunately
rescued Ore man jumped overheard
and at once disappeared and three who
we're in the boa. at the tima wolc also
drowned.
just as.so0n as VIC were firmly landed
.he crew made rash for the side Of tie
ship, and began to scramble down to
-he ground upon ends Of ropc, u what
ever they could lay their hands upon.
This was soon stopped, however, and ]
was detailed TO 20 ashore and bring
back the runaways found that quite
! number q them, ia their rapid descent
were badly burned, and some almost
iayed alive. One poor fellow, when
10 was about half way down, fell and
broke both lpge which have since baeY,