Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1870-03-08
A Narrow Escape,

] lOi ltW uIOutllO III AtDUy. OiO VI tuC
FIVE ports originally opened to foreign
trade i'll China, and there the event
occurred OF which | am about to write. /
| must say few words of the posi- /
tion of the town, or my story will
not be clearly un iersto d. Annoy is /
situated on an island of the same
I name, about four miles from the open
sea. The river which separates it
from the mainland is very wide, and
the tide runs with great rapidity. hav-
4 ing ordinarily a rise of over twenty
/ feet
At the mouth of the harbor, with .
! the channel on both sides, stand the .
chauchots, 'ry large and dangerous
coral-reelS avoided carefully by all .
sealaring men, and particularly by
/ the Chinese fishermen, who dread the
effect Of the sharp coral spurs upon
their not very strong boats. These
reefs are somewhat uncovered at low
water, but at high tide are complete
/ ly hid out of signt.
One afternoon in December, my
husband, who was captain ofan Amer
lean vessel then in the port, and a
friend of ours, an English naval officer,
proposed that We should take a sail
down the harbor in our yacht. a lit
tie pleasure-boat Of some thirty or for
ty tons burden.
The weather was fine, and the usu-
al gentle northeast breeze was blow
ing, which prevails during the winter
months in China. but still | could not
divest my mind of a certain feeling of
apprehension. | never did like small
boats, they are so likely to be upset,
particularly when commanded, as was
the case at this time, by seafaring men
so used to handling large craft that
they do not realize the caution nee
essary in sailing a little boat.
Ny husband overruled my ohjec-
tions, and insisted that nothing could
happen to US. therefore consented
to 90 myself, but stood out with regard
to my children, and utterly refused to
take them.
1t was about balfpaSt two when
we left the wharf and dropped out
into the stream. The wind was very
nearly fair, and we had a splendid
run down the harbor, with the wide,
beautiful open sea before US.
Every thing was so charming, the
air so clear and bracing, that forgot
all my fear, and enjoyed the passing
moment to the utmost; so that it was
who asked for an extension Of our
voyage. when we ought to have turned
our faces homeward.
At last, the captain of our little
craft decided that we must turn back.
As | mentioned before, we had been
running with the wind but the mo-
ment we went about, we became con-
sci0us OF such a great increase in It's
force that, as we tegan to beat up the
stream against it, it seemed almost
gale.
No one who has not seen the sud
den gathering of squalls in the China
Sea, can form any idea of how almost
inStantaneousIy the sky will fl with
clouds and the wind increase to a
hurricane.
We were to experience it! As we
turned on the starboard tack, we no.
ticed the gathering of the clouds, and
heard the angry scream Of the wind,
the premouition of the coming tenn
pest. Before we could take in any
sail. the squall struck US,
There was an instant of horrible
confusion, in which heard the slap
ping Of the sails, the swapping of cord
age, the hiss and bubble Of the foam
ing sea, and then followed a jerk that
threw me completely over-sudden
darkness, and a plunge into the ice
cold water. Our boat had been over
Iurued.
With the natural instinct of self
4 preservation, aided by some slight
knowledge of swimming, | beat the
water with my hands, and managed
to sustain myself for an instant which
seemed an hour until my husband
and his friend, both expert swimmers
were beside me and held me up
Fortunately, none of US had received
any injury from broken sparS or blows
of any kind. But, though we were
not Immediately drowned, what were
we to do? The water was very cold,
our prettr little boat was bottom up,
and drifting inland with the tide,
which had just turned; the city lay
long distance of, and the night was
closing fast about US.
We looked around and discovered,
in the gathering darkness, that we
were near the dreaded reefs of the
chauchdts, and that some OF the rocks
were still above water. This was
onr only hope. Never before had the
chduchats been looked upon il the
light of friends, | imagine. Ny hus-
, band swan with me, and, before many
5 minutes, we were all standing on a
small fat space on the reef, ABOUT two
t or three feet square.
1 We felt reprieved. Here at least
/; we were out Of the water, and, though
!, | was wet and very cold, thought
!: some belated fishing boat would be
u likely to come and take us off. |
s thought of my little ones at home, and
hoped that should see them again
h a hope which, few minutes before,
y when struggling in the water, had
d utterly abandoned.
But suddenly we became aware
n that our position was anything but
d one Of safety. The tide was coming
d in In few minutes the place where
e we stood would be covered. The an.
CRY waves Tapped about the reef, like
It monsters hungry for their prey.
y The water rose steadily, until it
d reached my knees. found that was
d growing numb. The cold was so pain
l. full that | could no longer endure it,
and begged my husband to leave me
to die, and to make an attempt to
le swim across the channel, to some small
lr huts on the other side, where be could
Is get some kind of boat to take hin
back to Annoy. urged him to do thl:
for the sake of our children, who might
-, else he loft. fatherleSs and motherles,