The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1870-04-09
wreck of the Golden City. !



AS a matter of public justice, mention should
be made of the manly conduct Of p. Ii. Cootey,
master Of the whaling bark Massachusetts, in
connection with the late disaster of the Golden
Cly. Captain Cootey had been whaling with
some success in Magdelena Bay, and was about
leaving for lahaina, Sandwich Islands, to reft,
when he was hailed by I. W. Hart, second officer
Of the Golden City, who had been sent by Cap
tain Comstock, of that ship, down the coast in
search Of assistance. He represented to him the
true state Of the disaster, that the noble vessel
was a total wreck-that four or five hundred pas
sengers, men, women and children, were cast ON
q sandy shore, without shelter, food or water,
where death by exposure, hunger and thirst was
inevitable, without speedy relief.
Captain Cootey did not hesitate a moment as
to his duty. His ship, the old Massachusetts, is
a large, square-bowed bark; the winds were
dead ahead, and after q fair trial, she could not
make sufficient Roadway to suit him in so urgent
a case, and he resorted to another e~xpedient to
hasten relief. Having put his ship in charge of
the first mate, he manned two of his best whale
boats each with six picked men. Having slowed
away on board some hard provisions and all the
water he could carry, he took the command of
one Of the boats himself and gave that Of the
other to his second mate, and with oar and sail,
he set off, beating up against the steady and
heavy wind. For q part OF the way he could
make no use Of sails whatever, and his resort
was wholly to the oar. For four days and nights
the brave men fought their way in constant
struggle, impelled by sympathy, nerycd by cour-
age, and sustained by hope that they could reach
the wreck In time to mitigate suffering and save
life, before it was too late. They kept ON, night
and day for ninety-six consecutive hours, till
finally they came in sight Of the noble wreck.
And here We will mention a little strategy Of Cap
tain Cootey that showed true generalship. He was
well acquainted with the whole California and Mexi-
can coast, with their bays and Inlets, and when in
formed by Mr.. Hart where the disaster took place,
he knew that it was on a long tongue of sand that
ran out for a great distance parallel with the coast,
on which there was not Q drop of fresh water that
would be obtained to save life. This tongue of sand
was divided from the main land about ten miles back
by a deep lagoon, not 10 be crossed except in boats.
This lagoon is about fifty miles in length from oppo-
site the wreck to where the lagoon debouches into
the sea. Captain Cootey ordered his ship to meet
him at the mouth of that lagoon, on his return from
the wreck. He, with his two relief bnts went up
this lagoon. Several things were intended to be
gained by this plan He would get fifty miles of
smooth sea in navigation. There was good water on
the east side of the lagoon, on the main land, and
his boats would be in the very place where they
would be wanted to cross over and obtain the same.
Besides, his own ship would be only fifty miles dis
tant, where a sufficient supply of provisions could
be obtained to preserve the lives Of the passengers
for some time. He made his rendezvous on the
lagoon opposite the wreck the fourth day, and lost
no time, with his party in walking across the sand,
ten miles. to the wreck, where they arrived, as may
be supposed nearly exhausted with the hardship of
their long and extraordinary voyage. There they
found q far better state of things than they had
feared. The passengers had all been taken off by
the Colorado, who most fortunately discovered the
wreck on her way up the coast from Panama. The
captain of the Golden City was there, in quite COM
Portable circumstances under n tent on shore, and
with some others was guarding q million and u half
of treasure that had been landed from the wreck.
Oh the Golden City nothing remained visible but
the walking-beam of the engine it still kept its
erect position above the waves. The wood work of
the steamer was broken into splinters, and was
strewed for ten miles along the beach. Not a life
had been lost. Indeed, one new human being was
added to this living, breathing world while the pas
sengers were encamped on the shore, before the az
rival of the Colorado.
To show the spirit of the brave men whom Cap
tain Cootey took for the relief, it will be remembered
that from the lagoon where the party landed, it was
ten miles across deep sand. For that whole distance,
two men bore a t~en-gallOn key of water, intended
for the Imaginary sufferers, suspended between them
on a pole. But, fearing that the ~perishing five hun
dred would, IN their insane thirst, contend over it,
on fail to distribute it equally, they took care to hide
1t a mile or SO outside the camp till due order could
be secured in the distribution.
we nave seldom known a more daring, humane
and persevering effort to carry relief to supposed
sufferers than in this case, and none were more
thankful that the loss of life and extreme suffering
had been providentially relieved before the arrival Of
captain Cootey and his noble crew, than they them
selves. Captain Cootey's conduct stands out In bold
contrast with that of Captain Eyre of the Bolabau.
After q sufficient rest from the exhaustion, the re-
lief party from the .MGSSIchuSettS returned to the
mouth OF the lagoon, where they found their ship
ana proceeded on their voyage. The CONSEQUENT de-
tention delayed the passage of the Massachusetts
fifteen or twenty days.