New national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1870-1874, 1873-01-23
4 Fnislscd Crew,
Terrible SufTsrings OF the Survivors OF the
Wrecked ship Golden Hind.

TO light through Mr.. John Saville, first officer
| of the American ship Golden Hind, who
reached this city from Rio dc Janciro on
| Tuesday. The wreck Of the ship Golden
/ Hind has already been recorded. bat the uu-
/ parll!e!ed suferings of the portion of her
crew who yet survive, we believe has ne ger
| yet been made public. In q long Interview.
yesterday, Mr. Savi!le detailed the fearful
particulars, and We give the ifighifl tory in
his own words.
TIKI FIRST OFFICERS NARRATIVE.
The American ship Golden Hind. Capt.
Benjamin Robbins, left New York on In,
i2th OF February, on a voyage t. san Frau
cisco. When in the latitude Of -. Cath
crimes we experienced a series ot heavy
westerly gales, which continued for nearly
month with great violence. or the lyil
oil June last, when on the west side Of l'ata-
Sonia, and At the Pacific entrance to tho
strait, OF Magellan, the piuta.s AMI U1-cous
81 the yUdcer gave way, and it Coated OF
Three days were consumed in constructing n
temporary. one OF spare spars. 1t lasted
about week, but in another heavy gale this
also gave away, and we dritted at the mercy
OF the winds. On tho second day afta. the
last disaster, the Golden Hind struc,. be-
tween two rocks, one forward and ore aft.
on the western coast Of Patagonia Three
boats were hurredly prepared, the men ru:
on extra suits OF clothes, laid in small guam
tity Of provisions, and At o'clock that even
ing lowered away. In the hurry ofdeparture
nearly all OF our nautical instruments were
lett on board, and, in fact, many articles alb
Soiu.e!y necessary. There were three boats
lowered, the first under command Of Capt.
robbins, tho second under command OF my
self, and the third in charge Of Mr.. Webb. the
second
MIR. Webb asserting tina. he knew the s.tua-
IT," Letter than we did, parted company al-
most immediately. and it being then quite
dark, - ~ under the lee Of the land until
morning. The sea, at the time we LETT the
snip, was breaking over her fore yari. and
daring the night she beat - pieces uu the
rocks.
The next morning the last ycstigc Of the
Golden Hind had disappeared, and a search,
which continued two days, was made for the
other boat, but no trace of her could be seen.
We have long ere this concluded that She
was swampei, and that her entire crew we're
drowned. Upon examination it WAS found
that we had a small box and a bar 81 hard
bread, the bread soaked with sea y tier,
about twenty cans Of beef, a little tea and
coffee. An allowance of one cracker 10 each
man, and one can beef to fourteen, va, at
first issued, but this speedily decreased to
haii cracker, and finally We did no. taste
bec!more than once a week.
low days after We left the wreck The
Captains boat was swamped and we lost our
compass, the only instrument we had, an! a
quantity OF provisions. An attemp. was
made to reach Sandy Point, CHILEAN convict
settlement, and the coaling station Of the
Pacific mail steamers. about twJ-lhig,- the
way through the Straits OF Magellan, hut oar
.y,l,r b.. It..
IT va, 'h-n ml.winter IN, mountain,
along tbs coast wcrr covered with snow and
ice, and the mercury must have been several
degrees below zero. We pulled close TO the
land, working all night in fair weather. and
during heavy blow landing and going into
camp. There were plenty Of scrub trees
along the coast; and as we were provided
with two hatchets and a good supply of
matches, a fire was always TO be- procured
During these visits we secured quite II good
supply Of shcl-f,Ii resembling the muscle +;
but we found that this diet brought on con-
stipaton, and the entire party became an
well. For about twenty DAYS the men held
out admirably; but in the bitter cold a mum
Der were frOst-bitten, and our legs and feet
were terribly swollen.
On going into camp we constructed a cent
OF the boats sail and 4 mizzcn rnya! sail with
the oars. \ tire was built in the centre, and
the fourteen men sat around it the night
through. We suffered terribly from loss of
sleep, as no one dared to remain away from
the fire for fear of freezing to death, and the
tent was too small to hold all in a reclinin"
position. At the end Of the twentieth dav
the general debility from insufficient food, and
tn. extreme pain IN our limbs, rendered the
progress slow, and very often we campcd for
several days at time. The allowance o.
bread had been reduced to a quarter Of a
cracker day, and very often the men did
without for day or two together to he'll, out
the supply. Their conduct throughout the
dreadful ordeal was most courageous. !.lcry
man rendered implicit obedience, ani, a.
though the ravagcs Of hunger rendered each
almost AN animal, the general welfare was
never lost sight Of.
Almost the entire month Of July was spent
in pulling IN what was believed to be the ,..
rcCtOn - Sandy Point. The ONLY human be-
ings We met were an Indian and two aquaws
in Il canoe. Thcy treated u cordially. and
willingly exchanged Il duck for small quan.
tity OF tobacco, but they had no other proyi-
sion5. We had secured from th. ship two
rifles, AMI one Of the crew shot Auck, bal
the powder became wet, and our weapon ,
we're useless. y dcad duck found anon. III:
the exception Of the shcll-ii.h, this wa. the
only food We secured.
In the latter part Of July the weather be-
came teartully tcmpcstuOus, and, after several
I days Of irutless buheting, We went into our
last encampment. 1t was terribly bleak
and desolate spot, shut out from the sea, by
high cliffs, and filed with low, stunted trees.
We found, however, a few roots. some Der
fies, ana, strange t. -.ty, 4 little celery, aud,
not knowing whether the vegetables were
/ poisonous or not, each man partDok raven
! Ou5ly OF whatever he could End. The higl.
/ tides prevented our securing any shel-dsh,
and the few seals Ne saw were too timiI 70
capture, but we secured water in abundance
from the streams running down the mountain.
Herc the men became seriously i'll. Their
legs were swollen to ffight.ul proportions,
but few could wear their boots. and a ma
JOr!ty wandered about with their feet tied
4 mp IN OLD cloth and piece, Of canvass. Some,
unable 10 wal al AL, craw!ei about on their
! hands and knee. At length man named
/ White, a seaman, became de!iriDu, and
shortly atterwarA died. The ground was 81
hardly frozen ,.IIt it was .mpo,,ia.. u liz q
grave, 80 sc carried the bot. Il short d..
taEcc from Tbs zen. aa! laid !: IL. the bushes.
} The next one aka .-i was Il Young fellow
we called D..a-sa..Or~, you know. never give
their foil names except Uu the article and
lac died within ihrec hour, after nc became
delirous. The carpenter, :, man from Liver