The Republican journal., 1871-11-23
Shipwreok and Terrible Sufferinqs.
I From the Alta California, Nov. G.,

-'"''
On the I'd of June last the American
brig Shelehotf, 2l3 tons, was despatched
hN Messrs. tiildemcister, Muecke q Co..
from san Francisco, bound to Callao, with
q cargo Of about POO, 900 feet of lumber
Her crew and passengers numbered in all
twelve She had u rough voyage down.
and ON the night of the Sd of July was
caught in a cyclone. Fortunately the
steamship Moses Taylor, on her down.
ward trip from San Francisco to Honolulu,
encountered heavy weather, ran off her
course for several hundred miles, and at 9
o'clock on the morning Of the 10Th of
October, in the latitude % deg. 40 min.
north, longitude l4S deg. - min. west,
Tell in with and boarded the wreck of the
brio. Found one man, the captain, alive
ON the torecastle deck, in an exhausted
condition. All others, crew and passen-
gers, had died from privation. The cap
tain, who had been a man Of 235 pounds,
WAS found an emaciated skeleton, and
when discovered in the forecastle of his
wrecked ship, weighed less than 1870
pounds. The sutf'erings he endured for
over three months cannot be told. From
the Hawaiian Gazette, of Oct oath, we
CLEAN the following particulars Of the dis
aster, given.by passenger on the Moses
laYlor-
DETAILS OF TIE DISASTER.
ON Thursday, Oct 10Th, at A NJ, a
all vas discovered by the wheelman on
The steamer Moses Taylor. The vessel
lay directly in the steamers track, and
appeared to be disabled, having but one
lnAst standing, and only her lower topsal
set, lnuning before q fresh southeast
wind. On approaching her, it proved to
be a brig, apparently deserted. 10 per-
IONS appearing in sight on board. A sail
spread over the forecastle and a tent
rigged in the foretop crosstrees showed
mat the crew had occupied these places
for some time. AT every lurch the sea
made 4 clean breach over the vessel from
stem to stern. TO all appearance it was
q wreck which had long been waterlog-
ged, and her crew taken off by some
passing vessel Her stern was broken
away, the bulwarks on both sides gone
md her sails flying from the foremost in
rags. On reaching the wreck the steamer
stopped, and Capt Bennett sent off a boat
To ascertain whether any persons were on
board, and it none, whether any record
could be found respecting her. The sea
being quite rough the brig lurched heavi-
IN, and the boat approached her with some
difficulty. She was boarded, however, by
the third officer and seaman from the
steamer, who Immediately went aloft in
70 the foretop, and finding no one, went
into the forecastle, where they discovered
4 weak, emaciated man, who exclaimed,
rs he saw them: ''Great God Almighty
am | saved ?" He was lifted in the boat
and taken to the steamer, the only article
brought with him being small canvass
bag containing a nautical almanac, and a
vial incosing a sheet of paper, with the
date of the wreck and names of the crew
and passengers. 1t proved to be the
American brig Shelehotf,, 2l3 tons regis
ter, of San Francisco, bound to Callao
with cargo of lumber The survivor
was Captain Luder Hopken, the last OF
twelve persons on board at the time of the
disaster. The brig was caught in cyclone
on the night of July Sd, the same date of
the solar elipse. Soon after midnight,
when the cyclone was at it height, she
was thrown on her beam-ends, and found
to be rapidly filling, and in order to pre-
vent total loss OF the vessel and her
company her maintopmast was cut away,
anu Silt ilSiilcd up No tiille was allOW-
ed to save any provisions or clothing from
the cabin, and the crew We're obliged to
retreat to the foretop to prevent being
washed overheard, us every wave made a
clean breach over her The mate, Mr.
johnson. died first, six days after the dis
aster, Two half-barrels of salmon, a
half-barrel of tongues, and box of China
4tarch were lished up ont of the hold. but
the drinking water was all found to be
bfackish. The salmon, tongues, starch
and l few fish caught with II hook from
time to time, and occasionally a little rain
water caught in a sail, and always more or
less brackish from the salt spray, were all
that the. ships company had to subsist on.
Hopken's account of the sufferings of his
men and passengers is most heartrend-
ing one After the death of his mate, on
the 9th of July, none occurred till Sept. G,
when they began to become delirious and
weak from hunger and thirst, and several
died OF jumped overheard in their
delirum. Boils and disease, induced by
hunger and salt water, added to the in