River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1875-05-21
Scene Of the Wreck of the Schiller
Other Like Disasters on the Same
Rocks.


Other Like Disasters on the Same
Rocks.
The Scilly Islands form a group about
80 miles west-southwest of the Lands
End, Cornwall, England They consist
of abont l40 islets and rocks. st. Agnes
is the southermost of the group. and St.
Mary's, to which the survivors have been
taken, is the largest Of the islands. Hugh
Town, the capital Of the Scilly Islands,
is upon St. Marys, and is the seat of
government. Packets run regularly be-
tween st. Mary's and Penzance, and it is
thus that communication with the main.
land is preserved.
In BLackwoods Magazine for August,
1873, american reprint, p. 208-9) the
following brief description is given Of
them: 1.-The Sicily Isles lie comparative
ly so low-the highest land in them not
exceeding two hundred feet that al
though, when the distance is clear, they
may be always seen from the high ground
about the Lands End, they are not ylsi-
bic when approached from the east, until
you are halfway over. Their first APP
pearance is very irregular. The easter
most, viz: St. Mary's and st. Martins,
which happen also to be the two largest,
are of course the most conspicuous; but as
they are separated from each other by
considerable sound several Others, and
many rocks, are seen through them, and
fill up the background. 1t should be OBJ
served, that those only are consinered
islands on which there is any greensward;
the rest are rocks; and that of the isles,
though they are forty in number, only
six are inhabited. The rocks are almost
innumerable, and Uften Of the most fam
tastic shapes; and he whole group, scat.
tered as they are over many miles of wa.
ter in detached and irregular shapes.
form complete archipelago, resembling
the lagoons of Venice or the coast Of Nor
way, or reminding one Of the line of the
inner Hebrides which one threads be-
tween the Caledonian canal and Oban.
As one nears st. Mary's, Bryher and
Sampson disclose themselves ON the right,
and, as you round the point and stand
for the harbor, st. Agnes, with it's church,
village and beacon, opens out on the left;
behind which again, but seven miles far
Their west, the Bishops Rock lighthouse
Ia lofty and conspicuous object, of late
years constructed and reconstructed on
the dangerous reef Of that name, and
Scilly, not any land, but rock, and vet
giving the name to the whole, form, as it
were, the rearguard Of the off islands,
on the extreme west and north
west. The wrecks on these dogs of Sell
ly, as they have been well called, have
been at all times numerous and heart
rending. The loss Of the steamer Thames
on her passage from Dublin to London,
when only four out Of sixty-fve were
saved, and of the Duro, with all hands
have been the most conspicuous of late
years; but it is we'll known that in 1907
Sir Cloudesly Shovel's squadron return.
ing from TOulon, with several distinguish
ed personages on board, went to pieces
here on the 'Gilstone' rock, with loss of
two Thousand lives, including the admir-
al. There were miraculous escapes in
that catastrophe. Sir George Byng, in
the Royal Anne, was so near the 'Trenem-
err rock that he had it under his main
chains, and as the ship passed it knocked
of the larboard quarter gallery. The St.
George, commanded by Lord Dursley, es-
| capped as narrowly. She struck on the
same rock with the flagship; but the very
wave which beat out the lights of the lat
ter lifted the St. George from the rocks
and set her afloat again.
Dangerous, however, to the outside
world as these shores have ever been,
Providence has made them singularly
livable for their own small population.
Not only are several Of the islands acces-
sible to each other at low water, and,
from the mutual protection they afford,
capable Of supplying many safe anchor
age, but from frequent encroachments
of the sea, many isthmuses have been
formed, of which one side or the other is
| always in smooth water. This is especi-
ally the case with St. Mary's, where the
| New Town extends literally from one sea
to the other, and consequently has a
double beach, and two-fold scene of
maratime operations. Hugh Iown--a
few school boys know il to be the capital
Of Scilly-is a very tidy little place, hav.
| ing population of 1900, with one prin-
! cipal street running north and south, a
| good roadstead, modern Gothic church,
two very tolerable inns, an ugly dwarf
windmill perched on the hill Immediately
above the church, and spelling both it
and the general view Of the town fine
Elizabethan fortress, which, though UNI
garrisoned now, would make quarters
that any regiment might covet; some ex.
cellent Photographic shops, and a few
smart private residences.