Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-01-23
MODERN CRUSOES.
and Hardships of Two
Brothers, Voluntary Castaways, ON a
Barren Island I'm the Southern At
lanffe.

the adventures of unfortunates cast on
desert islands have been matters of in
tense interest to young and old. Fire,
tempest and sometimes treachery, have
generally been the causes of their ban
ishment from the world. When we
read of two men voluntarily casting
themselves upon barren island, with
no higher motive than the hope of OBJ
tanning seal skins. curiosity and inter-
est are more likely to be aroused by
their stories than sympathy or admir-
ton.
To the British surveying ship Chal-
lenger we are indebted for the history
of the two German brothers Soften
hoff, who passed nearly two years on
Inaccessible island, IN the Southern At
lantic ocean. The island is so named
from the apparent impossibility, as
viewed from the sea, of ascending its
precipitous cliffs, which are 1900 feet
high. To this fordidding place the
brothers wilfully banished themselves,
their sole object being the acquisition
of little wealth by the successful
hunting of seals. Here, on Nov. q,
1871, they landed, having journeyed
from the group of islands called IRIS
tan d'Acuna, thirty miles further
south. Their provisions were OF
the most meagre description, con.
sisting of very moderate quantities OF
-four, rice, biscuits, coffee, salt, a little
tobacco and sugar. Their most valu-
able stores were whale boat with mast,
cr,,oH 1ar0.n o1x
empty barrels for oil, and six dozen
boxes of matches. Their battery con-
sisted of a small muzzle-l loading Enfield
rife, an old German fowling- piece, with
three and one-half pounds of powder,
200 bullets and some lead. 1mmedi-
ately upon landing, the younger of the
brothers started out IN pursuit of game,
climbed to the top of the island, but
was unsuccessful in his hunt, and too
tired to return that night. This
was a foretaste of the adven.
lures to follow. Four days after land
ing the brothers werevisited by sixteen
mon from Tristan, this being the be-
ginning of the sealing season. The
men from Tristan behaved with great
kindness to the exiles, and assisted
them In building a hut on another
portion of the beach, where, by means
of long grass running from the back of
the hut up the sides of the cliff, it was
possible to reach the top. After nine
days sojourn the Tristan men left the
island, promising to return at Christ
mas.
The brothers, thus left to their own
devices, may be said to have fairly be-
gun their hardships. Their first hut
failed to keep out the rain, and another
was built. The hunt for seals waspur-
sued ut times, but without success.
The scaling season ended in January,
1872, and no seals had been captured.
The Tristan men failed to return. when
landing on one of the trips round the
island, the whale-boat was seriously
damaged in the surf. In the begin
ming of April. 1872, the tussock grass,
by means of which the ascent of the
cliffs were made, accidentally caught
fire, and the whole of it was destroyed.
The means of reaching game being cut
off, and the winter approaching, 1t be-
came imperative to lay IN provis-
ions. The whale boat was cut in halves
and ''sea-cart" constructed, on which
the brothers sailed to another portions
Of the island and shot two goats. Win
ter set in IN June with heavy gale,
during which the "sea-cart" was wash
ed away. This was a great calamity,
as it deprived our adventures of the
only means of leaving the beach except
by swimming round a high bluff. I'm
able to reach the plateau after the loss
Of the boat, the store of provisions be-
came so reduced that it was necessary
TO diminish the daily allowance to a
quantity Just sufficient to sustain life,
and toward the middle of August both
men were little better than skeletons.
In October, a schooner, the Themis,
came in sight. The captain gave the
brothers quantity Of salt pork, biscuits
and tobacco, but declined giving any
thing more except IN exchange for seal
skins, which the StOttenhotfs did not
possess. Theschooner agreed to return
IN few weeks time, which was spent
by the exiles in trapping seals with
which to pay their passage to the Cape
of Good Hope. In November the sup
ply Of penguins' eggs, an article of diet
upon which the brothers chiefly relied,
and the biscuits and pork were
exhausted. 1t now became neces-
sary, to seek other susten-
ance. The men accordingly SWAN
round to the rocky point or
bluff to the southwark, and landed at
their first resting place. They were
successful in obtaining food, and also
in capturing six seals. They were WIS.,
tied by an American whaling schooner,
and exchanged their seal skins for some
tobacco, three shirts and % pounds of
-four. Expecting the return of the
Themis, advantage was not taken of
this opportunity to quit the island.
They returned to the north beach on
the 10th of December, and nine days
after a party of Tristan men visited
them after a remarkably successful
seal hunt. The Tristan men had
arrived at the western side of
the island the day after the broth
ers left it, and had captured more seals
in a few days than the luckless exiles
had in a year. The Tristan men de-
parted, assuring the StOttenhoffs that
the Themis would certainly return for
them. This was the last communica-
ton the brothers held with any one
until their rescue ten months after
wards. The rest of their history is a
series of almost unparalleled sufferings
and privations. For six months the
brothers were separated, one man
living at the top of the cliffs and the
other on the beach below. Their forti-
tude and reliance upon each other
never seems to have deserted them
When rescued by the Challenger on
the 10th of October, 1873, they were
simply sustaining nature upon the most
meagre food. Their rifle had burst in
two places, and their musket was use
full only as blowpipe to freshen up
the fire, Thus, after two years of exile,
the modern Crusoes, bankrupt in
health and spirits, travelled as paupers
to a strange land. Their hardihood
and endurance have served no purpose,
unless they prove that true philosophy
does not consist in blindly seeking mis-
fortune, but in accepting it with forti