The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1875-03-02

my leisure Hme when L could be secure
from observation, 20 make a tolersble sail.
can hardly say in what manner hoped
10 find the means OF crossing the ocean.
b1 at length the arrival of one of the
trading vessels which supply the island
with bullocKs appeared to afford as good
prospect OF success as was likely TO oc-
cur. My preparations had escaped all at
tention, and all that remained TO be done
was 70 evade the guards, procure a boat and
make a dash for it. From the place where
was qusrtered the ship az anchor, q
short distance off the shore, could be plsii,lv
seen, and L observed with delight thai a
boat was floating astern OF her. Unable TO
endure
THE DAILY INSULTS
and menances of the warden, said TO nv
self, therefore, this night shall escape or I
shall drown myself; one or the other am
on. I have but the two things
to choose between. Feeling that in an ur.
dertaking of this sort ore man would be
helpless single-hsnded, / addressed myself
TO ooe of my fellow prisoners, whom knew
20 be discreet, and to him confided nv rsso-
luton. He hesitsted little, but concluded
by consenting to share the risk. From this
moment ] thought no more of putting an end
to my existence, but fed all my thoughts on
making my way TO Australia where / had
always heard people would be ready to give
me employment. On the Sth OF December I
said to my comrade that we would make
start that same evening He consented.
About an hour after midnight we Quilted our
quarters, and, eluding the senTries who
guarded the camp, We succeeded in gaining
the shore. Taking noiselessly to the water
We swan out toward the vessel. and
successfully reaching it, cut the painter
which attached the boat riding sstern and
nOiselessly impelled it away from the ship.
Arrived at p safe distance we scramb le5 on
board and quickly reached the shore. Here
we embarked our little store of provender.
amounting to twenty-nine biscuits end
about twelve or fifteen litres (about eleven
or thirteen quarts) of water. NV sail we
also put on board. We then set out on orr
course without so far being perceived. either
from the shore or by the guard sloop which
watched the coast and lay right in our wsv.
Seeing, however, that we should not have
time to clear the land that night. we ran
into rock, and wooded part OF the shore.
where we concealed our boat among the
rocks by breaking boughs and heaping them
over her. In this situation We hid during
the whole OF the following 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 preceIved at the
reefs which interviewed between the shore
and the open sea. The darkness, which
favored as in one respect, nearly caused our
ruin in another way, for having no knowl-
edge of the passage through the reefs. and
not being able to see where dangers lay, we
came plump in the midst of the coral. Luck
Ily the sea was calm. or we must have been
dashed to pieces. AS IL was, we found it impos-
sible to get clear that night, and were obliged
TO get out of the boat and hold on to her
) )metimes standing on the coral and some
tin1es swimming in deep water, so as to pre-
vent the waves from staving her against
projections. Here my companion got his
foot badly bruised between the keel of the
boat and the coral; and bad we not both
been able to swim, we should certainly have
persisted. The following morning, at day-
break, we managed TO make our wsv
"a tOugh, and, although the guard sloop
saw Us, their greater draught, and the
long extent of the reef, made
as happily as kings, bat an hour later our
boat was nearly full of water. She had been
so bumped on tbs corsi in spite of all our eff
forts, that she leaked seriously near the
stern. We were compelled to keep bsihng
with our shoes, night and day. Our troubles
we're not diminished by the discovery that
the water keg shrunk, and we had lost
nearly all our water. 1t lasted Us five DAYS,
az the rate of a halt litre each day
about three quasters of pint-and We ate
daily biscuit and halfbetween us. had
judged that we should not taxa more than
six or seven days on the passage. When
seven days had elapsed we only allowed
HALF BISCUIT DAY.
Matters went on in this fashion during
the remainder of the transit. We suffered
greatly from thirst, but not so much from
hunger. 1 had the additional worry Of
keeping up the spirits of my comrade, no
on one occasion threw himself into the e.
telling me that I sought to cause him to
perish with thirst. We were very nearly
coming to blows while far at sea Zen pIeine
mer). However, 1 got him to listen 10
reason, telling him that we could not posi-
bly, exceed ten days In our voyage
At length, on the morning of the 22dof De-
cember, we sighted land, and at noon we
re sched the shore, and, to our unspeakable
joy, once more tasted fresh water. We had
been four days without water, and dur ng
the first three of them had drunk sea water.
but found IL added to our torments instead
of relieving them. We were received
by four brave Englishmen, who dashed
into the water to meet us, the break.
ers being very heavy. But for them be-
lieve that we should have been drowned.
Thanks to them, we sustained no harm. j