The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1869-11-01
a S IA

Thirty-tyvo OF Der Cre.y-Terri0le Suffer.
ings OF the Smviv0rs--TwcIvc Days i'm an
Open Boat Without previsions--Cotien Xxx
ported from Bombay During the Year-The
Envoy fEv4n the hashbegi Of Eastern
TGrlsisfun-. IN Enaiish Army Captain Com
vcVted to Observation-Disclosures English Sol.
diers Profess Themselves HInssnImeu.
BOMBAY, Sept. 20, 1869.
The principal event OF local American interest
since the last mail has been the arrival from Port
Louis OF captain oher; the chief mate, MI. Browne,
and MI a. G. Shalders, passenger OF the American
ship J. T. whitney, which has been totally lost, while
her way from Calcutta TO Mauritius This vessel
was, when lost, owned by Messrs. McAllster ~
Field of the American Tudor Ice Company, at CAL
cutta aud Bombay but was formerly in the hands OF
Mr.. r. d. sumner OF New orleans. she was Maine
built snip, OF 1900 tons burden, and about Giteen
years old. Her owners hold American policies OF
insurance for the fun value. The following Is Mir.
SHaders version OF the disaster, and as II has been
revised by the Captain II IL undoubtedly anthem
TIC account of the shIpwrec&. ii VIII be noticed that
the second mate, Mr.. Rainey, and thirty lone Lascar
sailors have been drowned, While the suhernss Of
those VINO have had the good iortane to escape have
been very great. The report says
After the ship lett Calcutta she experienced light,
variable winds, VITA occasional Squalls aud neayy
seas TIL the Sth Oh April, when the barometer indi-
Gated change, and the wnolc appearance OF tue
heavens was thal OF an approaching storm. Every.
thlng was dous that q careful ana experienced
shipmaster would do under the circumstances, but
the Wind increased to a gale, with heaVy seas,
wAIch continued III the following day when IL
blew a hul rIeane ana the waves broke frequently
over the sides and fOreuastle AT three in the mora
IuI d heavy sea sCrucN the snip, and carried away
the buwarks OH botn sides fore and ait sweeping the
decks ana slowing IN the lore part OF the cabin
and the after part oI the main house Tue snip now
labored very heavly, as there was confused cross
sea, which rendered Ler almost unnan1geaole and
on the pumps being sounded 1t was discovered that
she nad sprung "a leak An hands were Immediately
moderated little, but the leak gaining very
fast and there were five feet OF water IN the hold.
Oraers were now gwen to throw overheard some OF
the cargo, which was Immediately done rom the
hateh III the carpenters room, us it was Impossible
open The main hatch. In spite OF all that could be
done however the water continued TO deepen In the
hoid ana at nine O'Clock at night 1t was clear that
the ship was rapidly setting aud would have to be
abandoned. The night was very dark, but there
was nothing else TO be done, SO tho captain gave
orders TO have All the boats ready, with water ana
provisions, 10 leave the ship At half-past nine the
boats were lowered, but the sea was so ugh that
0. them was stove In ana Mr. taney The second mate,
and about twenty OF the men were drowned The boat
IN which was contained the captain, the chief mate
myself and eight seamen. AS nearly as we can
reckon IT, the wreck occurred In latitude Is OF south,
Longitude II 10 east. Here Were 400 miles from
Rodriguez the nearest land Tor which the captain
Intended to steer in the morning. our boat was
only nineteen feet long by five feet beam, ana, OWING
to The Captains instructions AZ 10 water and neces-
sarieS not having been properly carried out, we
had only three pound tins OF preserved meat and
four tins or fruit, three small l0aves or bread and
morning the sailors soon got tired OF rowing put
small cotton sheet was found on board, which
made TO do service as san. For several hours aiter
daylight we kept III the vicinity OF the wreck, In the
hope OF finding some OF the rest OF the in the
other boats. Alter some time we met I'VE men on
raft constructed ont OF one OF the boats with the
captains bedsfead stretched across IT, They reported
TINT me other two boats had gone down and begged
10 be taken on board This was impossible, how
ever, as our beat was already loaded 80 the gun
vale and the sea was very heavy. Hard a. 1t
fate the captain feit kmsef unable to do
anything else. 10 have attempted have saved
them would almost certainly have resulted in the
sacrifice OF al the lives imperlIled From the time
we lett the ship untIl we made the SIX Islands-a
period OF twelve days-we suffered terribly from
starvation and exposure to the sun The first day
the Captain very wisely determined to out /.
very small quantity of tue stores. our only meal
consisted Of small piece OF bread and two spoon
fuls OF water; Iascars aud Captain were
al hs served ,n ake wn dhe s,, nexS day. Sunday
morning, ana 1t was clearly impossible to steer for
Rodriguez. Fortunately the captain had preserved
his Charts. and on the wind greatly freshenlng the
captain aud the MAZE came to the conclusion that
they were In the southeast trades, and that would
Chagos Archipelago This day tin OF preserved
veal was served our. when gave spoonful an round
WIND, tho boat shipped heavy ana
The remainder Of tho bread was saturated
limited stock OF water, which was In an open jug,
was also spoiled; but this was only temporarily Il
source OF great regret as shower OF rain fell In the
afternoon, and enough waier was caught in the
sheet san and an oisSin coat OF the captains TO
remove all fear Of our Running very shorS. on Mon
day we rugged up a Jb san, which Helped the boat
along little. great deal OF surprlse hal been leit
at the wonderful patience with which the Lascars
seemed 10 endure the thirst, from which we were
suffering greatly; Tor although there was now
good deal OF water IN tho boat, It was thought
lest to serve II out very sparngly as IL
Of course impossible TO tel how long 1t would
be before land made. BY carefully watching
them, however, II was discovered mat these mon
mad got q jar Oh sugar. which not only aleviated
their thirst but also served instead of food. The
sugar was, OF course, taken away from them aud
throw n nm I'm Iartpt IN, Iay
the only rations served out were three spoonfnls OF
sugar and three little wooden measures or water per
men. on Tuesday the sea was very heavy, and the
waves threatened to swamp tue boat every moment.
II commenced with long swell, but the waves soon
got shorter as Inc wiad increased, and at last broke
over the boat SO eafuy That we all thought our last
hour was come. IL was with difficulty that the cap.
tam could steer and the water had to be constantly
balled out. Fortunately, the boat was built sharp at
Doth ends, and tile captain, VINO held the tier be-
Ing very stout, his broad back, to great extent PIE
served the boat from being nlled and swamped The
mast, winch was good, Stout ash oar, bent like q
reed, and at last the captain, to tighten the boat
ordered all the clothes to be thrown overheard
rs they Were saturated with water ana very
heavy. Shirts, coats, trousers booIs--all alike
we've cast into me sea. though we now
felt that IL was a fororn nope, we determined
to struggle 10 the last. Stern despair was stamped
on every race-a looK none VINO shared that terrible
voyage Win ever forget. But Is useless describe
delail the daily inlseres we endured through that
terrible twelve days voyage. Some days our only
1000 was little sugar and water, ana all the time
We were hoyering between life and death.
At last, on the 2lst Of April we sighted the six
ing out four lnnes to meet our boat. Many
OF the men when they Landed were weak
that they could scarcely stand. Mr.. Lapierre
treated us VITA the utmost kindness, giving
US clothing and feeding US for two months until
tao English brig Ibis, Captain Dolphia arrived at
fbe island ana gave us free passage to Port Louis.
On the way we touched at Che Agaagar Islands,
where we were kindly entertained by the Admins.
tration, Mr.. s. G. Feuiharde. None OF these gentle
men-Mr. Lapierre, Captain Dolphin or MIR. Feuil-
harde--would accept any offer Of pecunary conf
pensaon for their hospitality.
such acts OF generosity and kindness, fortunately
for the sake OF humanity, are to be found the world
over: but they deserve nevertheless, some special
notice. and am pleased to hear that IL Is the lntcn
ton Of the American Consul TO lay The facts before his
government
There is very little other news OF interest Tue
famine IN Rajpootana and most parts OF the Interior
is making Itself felt In great duness OF trade. The