The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1874-09-03

sea-captain must have been when he
saw his beloved spruoe-beer flowing
down the throat of common armorer's 3
| mate,
That audacieus wretch was clapped
in irons presently, while his infuriated
commander, having refreshed himself,
returned to the deck, which he paced
with unsteady steps, revolving in his
mind what punishment would be suffi
cient for crime so heinous. It ought
to be something unusual, startling, ap-
palling as the act which it avenged.
Suddenly his eyes caught sight of a
small island, now turned into Jewel
by the rays of the sun, which was
sinking in the west, and the inspiration
came.
Lieutenant ~ he cried,
"Sir |"
"Man the gig, end send for that fell
low have had confined"
1t wes done, and then, to the lieu
tenants horror, his superior officer
ordered him to take the prisoner, land
him on the barren rock, and leave
him.
"I'll have no thieves on board my
Ship" he said.
The captain was evidently the worse
for drink, and his lieutenant hesitated
DO you hear me, sir % thnndered
the astonished commander, and disci-
pline prevailed.
Deeply as he loathed the act, the
lieutenant had no option but TO obey
the crew, though they n1ttrmured, did
not mutiny, and Robert Jeffrey was put
ashore without food or drink. He had
his knife, and one sailor gave him his
handkerchief, and another long stick
which he had thought to throw into The
boat as they showed of, For the de-
serted man to signal with. By this
time the sun had sunk, and when the
boat returned to the ship it left the
poor fellow behind, alone, in the dark.
He fully believed that the captain only
meant to frighten him, and bore up
pretty well through the night with that
idea. But when the morning dawned
the Recruit was mere speck in the
distance. which slowly but surely
passed away beyond the horizon. Then
the unhappy man realized that he was
castawey.
The Recruit, indeed, had caught a
favoring breeze, which carried her
quickly to Barbados, where she Joined
the squadron under Admiral Sir Alex
ander Cochrane. Her officers and crew,
mingling with those of other ships,
spoke freely of the affair, which pres
emily reached the admiral's ears, who
sent for the captain, Questioned him,
and finding the story true, severely
reprimanded him for his brutality, and
ordered him back to rescue the man.
The island upon which Jeffrey had
been sc barbarously loft was one of the
Leeward group, desolate rock called
Sombrero, and the Recruit got back to
it just a fortnight after the event. A
careful search was instituted, but all
that was found was a pair of trowsers,
not Jeffrey's, and tomahawk- handle,
no trace of the missing man being dis.
coverable.
This result being reported on the
ships return to Barbados, Sir Alex.
ander Cochrane felt satisfied that the
man had been rescued by some passing
vessel, and let the matter rest for the
time. But q good many formed c if
terent opinion, and suspected that
jeffrey had come to some violent end !;
and when the squadron returned to
England the affair was taken up by
people at home, and made so much
noise that, after two years had elapsed,
the captain was brought to a court
martial, condemned, and dismissed the
service. This, however, instead of ap-
peasing the public excitement, only in
famed it the more, by the authentic
details which were brought to light in
the course of the court martial. The
of the mans having been
pressed at all-the veniality of his Of
Tense, especially considering the cir
cumstances of thirst caused by short
allowance of water in SO hot climate,
and the ready temptation to appease it
placed directly in his way, combined
with the inhuman cruelty of his
abandonment to stir the public indigna-
tion. Meetings were held, articles
written, petitions signed, urging the
of endeavoring by all means
to discover what had become of
the missing man; and Sir Francis
Burdett lost no opportunity of keep
ing the question before the Govern
ment, in the House of Commons.
Illegal DRESSINGS, el-hauling fog
gings to death, were not so very un-
in the navy at thai time as to
account for the usually indifferent pub
lies espousing Robert Jeffrey's cause
so warmly but it did so, and mado
man of him.
The first authentic news came from
George Hassel, mariner, who deposed
On oath before the Mayor of Liverpool
that he had just returned from Beverly,
, town in Nassachusa satts oD1 tbot q
nan was living there who was nick
named the Governor of Sombrero,
whose real lame was jeffrey. Where
1pon this Jeffrey was communicated
tl' and in due time letter in reply
to come from him was re-
'eived, giving full account of his ad-
ventures.
When the Recruit had quite disap-
oeared, he remained for sometime over
yhelmed with despair. but after
while he grew calm, and felt very hun
cry, so he explored his island to see if
here was anything to eat upon it, but
,.ould find nothing except birds, which
lew away, as birds will, when he tried |
o catch them. At last he discovered
N egg, but, alas it was an election
'gg-a very good missile, but not edi-
lie. Soon, however, the pangs of hun
,er gave place to the severer sufferings
# thirst, which he tried to appease by
wallowing the sea-water, and that of
curse made matters worse.
But heaven, more merciful than man,
ent him shower of rain, which lodged
n the crevices of the rocks, and in
icted ACCOMPLISHMENTS of Tantalus unon