The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1875-09-30

already white with foam.
went below, made hearty meal of
some salt beef and biscuit l found on
the table, drank a stiff glass of rum and
water, and turned into my berth to re-
new my nap, WEAKNESS drowning the
! sense of danger.
How long | slept, or what happened
in the time, / do not know. When |
awoke, the ship was rolling heavily, and
| there was a continuous, ominOus sound,
thud, thud, thud, accompanied with the
pouring of water, which caused me to
| hurry on deck, where a scene of terri
/ bic confusion met my eyes, for it was
/ broad daylight a mast had gone, the
( deck was Uttered with cordage and
| broken woodwork. All was confusion,
authority in abeyanee conviets, sailors,
marines were mixed up together, hur-
! rying to and fro, or working at the
pumps. The gale had abated, was dy-
ING out in fact, but there was leak
which could not be discovered, though,
in consequence of the number of hands
to relieve one another in pumping, the
water did not gain upon us. Finding |
was not wanted there, | went below
again to attend upon Phipps, who had
been left knew not how long, and was
too weak to help himself much. The
fever had left him, but he was low and
desponding, and asked me to read the
Bible to him, which did.
After time heard MacNab come
down, and went into the saloon out of
which our private cabins opened to
speak to him. | found him loading his
pistols.
"The leak has been found and
stopped" he said, "but dinna like the
look of the convicts; some of them haze
got arms, fear me-"
While he was speaking shouts and
shots were heard above, and he rushed
to the cabin stairs, [ following him.
Directly we reached the deck we saw a
body of convicts coming aft headed by
Williams, who had musket in his
hands.
"The game is up, lieutenant" he
cried; "you had better surrender"
MacNab's answer was a pistol shot; !;
Williams staggered but recovered him
self, ~evelled his muSket, fired, and
MacNab fell dead in my arms. In a
moment | was knocked down, bound,
and thrust aside to be a helpless specta-
tor of crimes could not move a finger
to prevent. Some of the ruffians rushed
down the cabin stairs and returned
dragging poor Phipps with them. With
brutal jeStS they bore him to the lee bull
warks, one took his shoulders, another
his feet, and they tossed him alive into
the sea All the sailors or marines who
were sick, or had been wounded in the
struggle, were in like manner thrown
overheard; the remainder were gather
ed together in a body, and Williams,
who had evidently been elected chief,
made them a speech, offering them their
lives if they would join them heartily.
Most of them shrank from the horrible
death before them, and acceded, but a
corporal of marines stood firm.
- You will all be taken and hanged
within a month";" he boldly said, "and
| had sooner drown with honest men
than swing with thieves and muir
derers.n
The words were hardly out of his
mouth when he was shot dead.
''And now, lads" cried Williams, 81
know what you are all thinking of-the
rum," (Cheers.) "Well, every man
shall have tot, and few at time
shall have a skinful. But most of us
must keep sober to manage the ship, so
1 have set a guard over the spirit-room,
and any man who tries to force it will
have his brains blown out | will tell
you what | propose to do, if YOU agree.
There are some islands near where we
are with the best climate, the finest
fruit, and plenty of food without work
ing for it. We will make for one of
these, land every thing out of this rotten
old ship, and then scuttle her. You
have made me your Captain, and APP
point Lloyd my chief officer. He is a
sailor and knows where these islands
are, and how to reach them, so he will
sail the ship"
Loud acclamations greeted this ad-
dress, and the assembly adjourned to
the grOg tubs.
| was not long left unmoleSted; knot
of fellows gathered around me, and dis
cuSSed what they should do with me,
and one at last suggested that | should
be made to swallow the contents of my
medicine chest, which was forthwith
brought up for the purpose, and some
calomel pills were actually forced into
my mouth. How [ wished that | had
been a homeopath!
While was struggling, a man came
up.
''What are you doing with the doc
tor?n he asked excitedly; Didn't the
captain say he wasn't to be touched?
He wants to see you, sir, down in the
cabin" he added civilly to me. My
prosecutors skunk off, grumbling, and
my deliverer cut my bonds and led me
to Williams, who had been shot in the
shoulder and wanted his wound attend
ed to. | managed to extract the bullet,
and when he was easier he said:
Il am sorry for all these horrors, doc
tor, swear | am. But you know the
men | have to deal with, and how Slight
my hold is upon them. You have been
kind to many of them, and are useful
besides, so / managed to save your life,
but when said Il word for the others
they would not listen. As for McNab,
he fired at me first, or he would never
have fallen by my hand.'
"1Ou are responsible to God and the
law, not TO me, l replied. .
Ought to have refused to tend his
wound? Was it my duty to beard and
upbraid him? L do not know; life is
sweet, and wished and tried to pre-
serve it, eXcuSing my pusiTlanimity at
the time by the thought that my testi-
mony, if l survived, might bring the
whole body of rascals to justice.
| quite understood the tenure upon
which my life was held, in spite of VIII
lams's plausible speeches. Therewere
many sick and several wounded, both
by the storm and in the fight when the
vessel was seized, and they needed my
services. When they thought they could
do without me l should be silenced for
ever, together with every other proba-
bic witness against them. Meanwhile
the ship was kept on hercourse towards
the Friendly Islands, under Lloyd's
management, and on the third day
land was sighted.
That evening a sailor who had Joined
the mutineers on eompulsion and had
been hurt, came to me and said: