The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1870-06-24
A FEARFUL DEATH.

tered about by one of these tremen-
dous cyclones that are SO frequent in
the Indian Ocean at the change of the
monsoon. However, ny q knowledge
OF the law of storms, we were enabled
eventually, to sail out of it, and gel
once more into fine weather. IL was
just at this time that the man at the
masthead reported wreck in sight
Having made sail, and altered tho
course SO as to bear down upon her, il
was not long before we were neal
enough to lower a boat for the pur.
pose of boarding her. For this opera.
ton 1 was selected, and difficult
matter it was.
The dismasted wreck, which ap.
peared 10 have been a barque, was
rolling frightfully by reason of hel
having no sails to steady her. Con
sequently, was not without great diff.
ficulty, and much risk of being
swampcd, that we were enabled to
get Oh board of her at all. Once
there, it was hard matter to keep
ones footing. 1t was dismal sight
Her desks had been swept by the sea,
her boats were gone, and she had a
desperate hole in her side, made by
the falling masts. Here and there,
still hanging by the tangled wreck OF
rigging which yet encumbered the
tempest-tossed hull, futtered long
strips of canvas. These strips or
shrcds, many of them dashed by the
fury of the waves into hard, 1ncom-
prehensible knots, were all that now
remained of those good, stout sails of
her that had stood through many an
Atlantic gale.
Towing i'm the sea from her star
board quarter was that which told a
sadder tale. TWAS the bow of a boat,
the rest stove in and battered to
pieces. Possibly she had been crush
cd by some towering sea before, with
her living freight, she could get clear
of the ships side. At all events, her
destruction must have terribly les
soned the few chances of escape left
to the crew. for merchantmen are
never adequately supplied with boats.
The whole of the vessels bulwarks
had been swept away, and every sea
washed i'm at one side, across the deck
i'm torrents, and out at the other, with
each alternate roll.
She was leaking very much and the
leak being just at the water line, as
she sank deeper in the water she filled
more rapidly.
1t was evident she was settling
down fast, and it was quite uncertain
ut what moment she might sink. Be-
ing unwilling to risk the lives of my
men, / sent them back to their boat,
with orders to keep as near the YES
sci as possible, whilst | continued the
search for any of the crew or passen-
gers who might have been left on
board.
On entering the saloon Twas nearly
overpowered by the fumes arising
from a large headless cask Of rum
that stood in the doorway. From
this it was clear that the cowardly
crew, i'm their fierce despair, had bro
ken through all restraint, and, like so
many other unprincipled men i'm sim.
liar situations, had sought courage in
drinking saVagely.
But this was not the worst feature
i'm the case. AT the end of the saloon
L observed an old man, sitting appar-
emily fast asleep, his face buried in his
arms as they rested on the table. i
fastened to awake him, and shook
him by the shoulder, but he gave no
signs of life. then lifted up his head,
cold to my touch, and turned his face
towards the light. Heavens! what a
sightl His bloodshot eyes met mine
with dull, CLASSY stare /; his face, pale
and wan, was feaHully emaciated,
and from his mouth protruded black,
shrivelled-up tongue. He was dead
-stone-dead!
His must have been fearful death,
caused by starvation and thirst! Star
walton? Was not the floor strewn
with biscuits, and tins of preserved
meats thrown here and there, in the
haste and confusion Of stocking the
boats prior to the hurried abandon
mcnt of the vessel? On a swinging
tray, not two yards from his head,
there yet remained untouched clear
glass jug of bright, cool water, and a
decanter full of red wine. How then,
was thirst possib1e2 Yet nothing but
the bitter agony of thirst could SO
have parched that tongue. Naught
but the cruel pangs and cravings OF
unsatisfied hunger could have with.
cred that once strong, handsome face
and turned that thick young hair to
the snowy whiteness of age.
But how could these things be?
The mystery was soon solved
Looking down at his wrists, L per.
ceived from under the sleeves of his
pilot-cloth jacket, the bright steel
rims of pair of handouts. The
short chain connecting them was fas-
tened down to staple by stout iron
cable, driven through and clenched
on the other side. His feet were sim.
ilarly secured to the deck.
This then, was doubtless the fiend-
ish work of his drunken, mutinous
crew, for to all appearances, he was q
captain. He probably had forbidden
their abandoning the vessel, knowing
that she could have been saved, Gas
indeed she might have bcen,) and they,
having taken the management into
their own hands in their cowardly
drunken humor, had thus prevented
bis ever leaving the vessel.
The edge of the table had been
gnawed and bitten, and the oil-cloth
that covered it was eaten away as far
as the poor wretch could get at it.
His left arm bore the marks of his
teeth, where he thought TO assuage,
with his own blood, the burning thirst
that was killing him. Both wrists
were black and swollen with his
writings TO get free from the cruel
irons that so firmly restrained him
from seizing the food which lay every
where around, and the clear cold wa
ter which stood so near, and which
together were his very life.
Think of that man sitting watching
the rats at his feet gorging themselves
on the food he was dying for the want
of, which the suns rays streaming
through the skylight upon the decan-
ter of ruby wine, making liquid-look-
ing purple lights dance upon the table
before him, as if in bitter mockcry of
his fearful thirst! Think of him dy-
ing with drought with his longing,
upturncd eyes eagerly fixed on that
delicious, sparkling water, that hung
within a few feet of his parched lips
Think OF mis- last dying, starving mo-
mcnts, disturbed by the incessant rat
thing and rolling of those canisters of
food, touching him, even as they rolled
l.