The New York herald., 1872-12-01
STORY OF THE SURVIVORS.
Hungry and Thirsty, Struggling with
the Tempest in an Open Boat.
aoUT OF THE JAWS OF DEATH"
A PrOyidential Deliverance from
. Terrible Fate.
LAND AT LAST! SAVED! SAVED y

The MORO Castle, six days from havana, arrived
here yesterday. She had on board four OF the sur
svivors OF the Missouri disaster. representative
of the HERALD boarded her at Quarantine, and was
enabled hear from the lips Of the four men them
selves the story OF their terrible sufrerings
The unfortunate men seemed glad to see the
HERALD representative and shook hands with him
cordially.
They were small men. To look at them no one
would have thought they were able to pass
through such trials One, Charles Sinclair,
whose statement is given below. looks to be
very young man; the others are men between
thirty and forty years Of age. They all looked
hearty, pleasant; the purser's kind treatment has
made them almost forget the terrors Of the dis
aster They are plain, straightforward men, and,
instead OF exaggerating, they passed over some
OF the most fearful scenes OF the shpwreck. OF
their own privatlons they spoke in the most unas.
Stunning, matter-of-fact way, and the purser, who
was present while they told the stories Of their
surerings. had to remind them of several interest
ing statements they had given him.
NARROWING TALE
They told terrible, narrowing tale. There the
four men seated before blazing fire, slipping
q delicious Scotch whiskey punch, and but short
while ago they had been out on the ocean, alone in
asmal frail boat, without food without water, with
out clothing almost, and no help near except that
Of the Almighty Himself. The boat in which they
were had drifted away from the burning Ship
What day it was The sun was setting and the
whole sky seemed one molten sea Of fire. Flakes
Of black foam passed over their heads. They could
not see the fated ship. The sea ran high. They
looked for long WHILE and still could not the
ships sails. 1t was cold. and they trembled in all
their limbs. In the hurry in which they had left the
Missouri they had taken along nothing but their
pantalOons and undershrts. Their heads were
bare, and their bare feet stood in the water which
had flooded the boat. They had no coats, and the
bitter gusts OF the wind seemed to go through their
very hearts
THE BURNING SHIP.
At last they saw the ship-all one mass OF flame.
tremendous bilow had hurled 1t into the air,
and the four men could see her as she was plunged
forward. In the next moment they had lost sight
OF her. fash of lightning, quick and terrible,
blinded them; then came the hollow rumbling OF
the thunder. The boat-it contained five others
besides the 1our who survived the disas
ter-felt the shock, as it seemed as If the
storm would rend it. 1t soon became night, and
the total darkness only broken by the lurid
glare OF the lightning. The men hudded.
"Ill tell you,' one said, who afterwards jumped
overheard, "this is our last day."
Never say die, !" said young Sinclair. 81 wonder
what has become OF the ship.n
They saw her again by the gleam Of the lightning.
Her masts were waving; she was at the top Of an
immense wave; on sudden she went down into
the hollow OF the sea. There was q nash again she
was visible, her masts totterng, the black masses
Of water partly shroudng her in darkness.
.'She is lost" one OF the men IN the boat said;
s.she Is lost.n
thick black vapor seemed to be where the ship had
been just minute before. All was black, the
reach. sky, sea, air, all, all looked back-and the
men standing at one end OF the boat could
scarcely distinguish others sr at the other.
This total darkness had come very suddenly.
Some OF the men sat down in despair, and said it
would be better to die at once than to pass this
dreadful night in this small boat, hungry, thirsty
and half naked. The rain poured down IN
the middle OF the night drenching them thoroughly.
What would any one of them not have given Tor one
blanket to wrap himself ns They could not sleep.
The wind howed, and some OF the men became
almost wild with despair The sea was ashed into
a still greater fury. Big black waves-every-
near they were higher and higher ana nnay they
would sweep with a tremendous force over the
boat, passing almost over the heads OF the men,
What mournful sound it was-this bowling,
whistling wind! Ii kept them awake all night.
A TERRIBLE NIGHT.
They watched for a SAIL counting every minute
which brought them nearer to daybreak. Now
they shivered and shook as the storm tossed the
breeze, and the small craft yielded to the tempest
At last it dawned. The driving black clouds still
ned the N;sa sky and the wind stu till h9wied ana
drink, no sail III sight, no help near, 1t was no
wonder that the men began to despair. Another
sn' one before @ p&SSe The limbs @ and arms q the
men, from the constant washing OF the
waves became covered with sores which were eX-
tremely painful. The cold was biting, but they did
not feel that SO much as they did hunger. one OF
the men SAID it would be better for them all to per-
ish IN the boat that night; he would rather die that
night, he said than TO perish OF hunger. II was q
long night-it seemed to last years.
THE FIRST DEATH.
When daybreak came there was no change The
weather was not SO stormy, but still very bad. Still
they had undergone, the pain from hunger and
thirst and cold had Deen too much Tor some OF the
had talked in wild incoherent strain; the stormy,
cold night had made them worse, and now one OF
M pseea the oo as
sn1 m9arnu M ne ne single
h0rri1ed the four men; the others were sitting at
one end OF the boat staring wildly into the dark
changing hollows of the sea. The man, who had
lost his senses from the terrible sufrerings he had
undergone, asked for his wife, and he wildly
iancied that he saw ner In the water. He plunged
into the sea- but was rescued "a, by one OF tae iour
IN THE SHARKS JAWS.
II was OF no use The night was stormy, and all
OF sudden the men heard the water splash and
the sound of familiar voice. He had again sought
lls death, and this time he had accomplished his
purpose. Next morning, as the sun rose over the
wild, tossing waves, they saw his corpse, and
what a horrible spectacle ,-as it came noat-
wave, huge dark mass OF flesh is
sued from under. the green waves and
f1arted at the body II was a large shark The
monster opened Its Jaws and before the very eyes
Oh tne men the head OF the corpse disappeared as
itS laws closed Then the shark plunged into the
deep below, taking its prey with him.
Tfis trightful spectacle was enough to render
complete the madness OF the others, who had
already shown signs OF arrangement on the previ-
Gus night. They began 20 act like maniacs-
howled, and moaned, and sereeched And now
they heard the mutterngs OF another
tempest. Billow rose above bilow and dashed
over the unfortunate men. They were 40
weak that they could scarcely move. At night the
sharks crow ded round the boat-their heads and
their vast iaws would loom up before the very eyes
OF a man VINO hsd, perhaps, for moment dropped