Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1873-01-15
Wrsok Of the Golden Hind.

From the Sow orlean. rlmra. 1nnuarr :.

Eight Dnys In Opsn Bonts in
shc straits - Magellan.
From the New Orleans Times, January ..
One Of the most extraordinary IN.
stances 0 fhuman ptiSatlon on record,
and calamity that has rarely been
equaied IN the history of maritime
disastor, las bccn brought to light
through Mr.. john Snviilc, frat officer
lof the American ship Golden Hind,
who reached the city from Rio do Ja.
nciro oil Tuesday.
The wreck Of the ship Golden Hind
has already been recorded, but the
unparalleled sufIerings Of the portion
OF. her crew who yet survive, We be-
liere has v yet been made public.
In n long interview, yesterday, Mr..
Saville detailed Nil the fearful partic-
ulars, and We give tho frightfuf story
in his own words:
THE FIRST OFFICERS NARRATIVE.
The American ship Golden Hind,
Capt. Benjamin +. Robbins, left New
York OIL the 10Th of February, OH n
voyage to San francisco. When in the
latitude Of st. GATHERINGS VIC expe-
~ricnced u series Of heavy westerly
gales, which continued for nearly a
month with great violence. On the
18th Of june last, when OIL the west
side of Patagonia, aud at the Pacific
entrance of the Straits of Magellan,
the pintals and gudgcons of tho rud-
der gave way and it foatcd oil. Three
days were consumed in constructing
q temporary ono of spare spars. II
lasted about n week, but in another
heavy gale this was also carried away,
and we driftcd at tho mercy Of the
winds. On the second day after this
last disaster, the Golden Hind
STRUCK BETWEEN TWO ROCKS,
one forward and one aft, OH the
western coast of Patagonia. Three
boats were hurriedly prepared, the
men put oil suits of extra clothes,
laid i'll a small quantity of provi-
sions, and ut 7 o'clock that evening
lowered away. In the hurry of de-
parture nearly all of our nautical i'll
struments were left OH board, and, in
fact, many articles absolutely neccs-
sary. There were three boats low
cred, the first under the command
of Capt. Robbins, the second CON-
manded by myself, ana the third in
charge of Mr.. Webb, the second
mate. Each contained seven men.
MIR. Webb asserting hat he knew
the situation better than We did part
ed company almost Immediately, and
1t being then quite dark, we lay I'M
der the Ice of the land until morning.
The sea at the time we left the slip
was breaking over her fore yard, and ,
during the night she beat to pieces !
OH the rocks.
SEARCH FOR THE MISSING BOAT.
The next morning the last vestige
OF the Golden Hind had disappeared,
and q search, which continued two
days, was made fol the other boat.
but no trace of her could be seen. We
have long ere this concluded that shc
was swamped, and her entire crew
were drowned. Upon examination
it was found that we had q small box
and 4 bag of hard bread, tho latter
soaked with sea water, about TWEEN.
ty cans Object, n little tea and coffee.
AN allowance Of one cracker to each
man, and one can of beef to fourteen,
was at first issued, but this speedily
decreased to half Il cracker, and final
ly VIC did not taste beef more than
once 4 week.
WITHOUT A COMPASS.
A few days after we left the wreck
the captains boat was swampcd, and
VIC lost our compass, the only imstru- {
mcnt we had, and a quantity of pro-
An attempt was made to
Sandy Point, a Chilinn convict {
settlement, and coaling station of !
the Pacific Mail steamers, about two
thirds the way through the Straits of
Magellan, but our course could only t
determined by the sun. and stars. c
THE DREARY ASPECT. C
1t was then mid-wjnter, the moun- j
taIns along the coast were covered S
with snow and ice, and the mercury Q
must have been several degrees below
zero. We pulled close to tho land, ,
working all night in fair weather, a
md during heavy blow landing and y
into camp. n
There were plenty of scrub trees p
along the coast, and MS We were pro- r
Vided with two hatchets and a good q
OF matches, a fire was always "
be procured. During these visits "
secured quite a good supply of Ii
'hell-iish resembling the muscle, but s.
we found that this diet brought on Y
constipation, and the entire party be- "
unwell. e
ILLNESS. L
For about twenty DAYS the men :
held out admirably, but in the bitter ~
old a number were frost-bittcn, and Il
our legs and feet were terribly swol- t.
ell. l.
On going into camp we construct n
I'd a tent of the boats sail aud a miz- Il
:cn royal sail with the oars. A fire W
built in the center and the four G
cen men sat around it the night
trough. We suffered terribly from
oss of sleep, as 10 one dared to re- >,
main away from the fire for fear of l. =
to death, and the tent was o
90 small to hold all in a reclining il
POSITION. n
AT the end of the twentieth dav =
he general debility from insufficient r.
God, and tho extreme pain in our o
limbs, rendered the progress slow, tt
nd very often we camped for sever U
| days at q time. The allowance of =,
had been reduced to p
QUARTEH OF A CIR IA nav %