The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1875-02-20
The Escape Of Communists from New
Caledonia.


One Of the Two men who lately escaped from
the French convict settlement at New Caledonia
has furnished the Brisbane Courier. with the
following account Of the affair
Prom the time Of my arrival at New Caledonia
/ constantly brOOded Over the idea Of escaping.
The thought was never absent from my mind,
and although time passed away without any OPP
portunity occurring I continually kept making
preparations 10 avail myself OF the first chance
that was offered. Prom my scanty ratiOns /
regularly put apart and concealed a portion. and
i managed 10 accumulate n quantity Of -four bag
ging, out Of which I managed during the nights
and any leisure time when | could be secure from
observation % make n tOlerable sail. can hard
~ say in what manner I hoped 20 find the means
Of crossing the ocean, bat at length the arrival
Of one Of the trading vessels which supply the
island with cattle appeared to afford as good a
prospect Of success as was likely to occur. sly
preparations had escaped all attention, and all
that remained 20 be done was 70 evade the guards,
procure n boat, and make a dash for 10. From
the place where | vas CHARTERED, the ship at
anchor, a short distance of the shore, could be
plainly seen, and I observed with delight that a
boat vas floating astern Of her. Unable 10 en-
dGre the daily insults and menaces Of the warders
/ said 70 myself. therefore, this night ! shall
escape or | shall drown myself, one OF the other I
an determined on. I have but the two things 10
choose between. Feeling that, in an undertaking
OF this sort, one man would be helpless single
handed, | addressed myself to one Of my fellow
prisoners whom I knew 10 be discreet, and to
whom j conhded my resolution. He hesitated a
little, but concluded by eOnsenting to share the
risk From this moment 1 thought DO more Of
putting an end to my existence, bat fixed all my
thoughts on making my 90 Australia, where /
had always heard people would be ready TO give
me employment. On the 9Th Of December / said
10 my eomrade that we would make a start that
anne evening. He consented. About an hour
after midnight we quilted our quarters, and,
eluding the sentrIes who guarded the camp, we
succeeded in gaming the shore. Taking noise
lessly 10 the water, we swan out towards the
vessel, and, successfully reaching il, cut the
painter which attached the boat riding astern,
and noiselessly impelled il away from the ship.
Arrived az a safe distance we scrambled on board
and quickly reached the shore. Here We em-
barked our little store Of provender, amounting
10 twenty-nine biscuits and about twelve or
fifteen litres (about eleven or thirteen quarts) OF
water. My SAIL we also put on board. We then
set out on our course without being 50 far per-
ceiyed either from the shore or by the guard slOOp
which watched the coast and lay right in our
way. Seeing. however, that we should not have
time to clear the land that night we ran into a
rocky and wooded part Of the shore, where We
concealed our boat among the rocks by breaking
bOughs and heaping them over her. In this stu
alton We hy hId during the whole Of the follow
ing day IN spite OF the search which was no
doubt made when the boat was missed. The
following night we left our hiding place, and
arrived without being perceived at the reefs which
intervene between the shore and the open sea.
The darkness, which favored US in one respect,
nearly cused our ruin IN another way, for, having
no knowledge Of the passage through the reefs,
and not being able to see where dangers lay, we
came plump in the midst Of tho coral. Luckily
the sea was calm, OF We must have been dashed
20 pieces. As II was we found il impossible 10
get clear that night, and were Obliged 10 get out
Of the boat and hold on to her, sometimes st1nd-
ing on the coral and sometimes winning in deep
water, 80 as to prevent the waves staying her
against projections. Here my companion got his
foot badly bruised between the keel OF the boat
and the coral, and had we not both been able TO
swim we should certainly have persisted. The
following morning, at daybreak, we managed 10
make our way through, and although the guard
slOop saw US, their great draught and The long
extent OF the reef made pursuit impossible. We
set sail rs happy a. kings, but an hour later our
boat was nearly full Of water. She had been 80
bumped on the coral in spite Of oil our Efforts
that she leaked seriously near the stern. We
were compelled 10 keep battling with our shoes
night and day. Our troubles were not diminished
by the discovery that our water key shrunk. and
we had lost nearly all our water. 10 lasted US
i've days, drinking at the rate Of a halElitre daily
(about three-quarters OF n pint,) and we ate
daily a biscuit and n half between US. | had
Judged that We should not take more than six or
seven days in the passage. When seven days
had elapsed We only allowed ourselves half n
biscuit a day. Matters went on in this fashion
during the remainder Of the transit. We suf-
fered greatly from thirst, but not 30 much from
hunger. / had the additional worry Of keeping
up the spirits Of my comrade, who on one oeca
sion threw himself into the sea, telling me that |
sought TO cause him to perish with thirst. We
were very nearly coming to blows while far at
sen Zen pleine mer) However, / got him to
listen to reason. telling him that we could not
possibly exceed ten days in our voyage.
At length, on the morning Of the 22nd Of
December, we sighted land. and Mt noon we
reached the shore, and. to our unspeakable joy,
once more tasted fresh water. We had been four
days without water, and during the first three Of
them had drunk sea-water, but found it added to
our torments instead Of relieving them.
We were received by four brave E~nglishmen,
who dashed into the water to meet US, the break
ers being very heavy. Bot for them l believe
that we should have been drowned. Thanks TO
them we sustained no harm. 1 shall ever have
Cor EnglIshmen the greatest esteem which man
can have for his kind, were it only from the
Thoughts Of that day on which these men threw
themselves into the waves in order to save US,
and for all the attention they subsequently
bestowed upon Us For their name and their
memory | would gladly lay down my life.