The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1876-07-28
Hunger, Thirst, and Exposure


Correspondence of Paris Figaro. June 80.
In the month Of July, 1875, an Eng
liSh ship, the Isabella, sailed from the
port of Newcastle Harbor, in Australia,
bound for Hong-kong. Either through
the ignorance of the captain or driven
by adverse winds. the Isabella left the
regular route followed by ships upon
this voyage and ran aground upon
some reefs in latitude 10 deg, | min,
10 sec. south, longitude l5S deg, p
min., 3 sec. east, marked as the Bamp
ton reefs on the maps. This was on
the 4th of July, 1875, toward A. NJ.
The ship was laden with iron and coal,
and consequently all hopes of setting
her afoat again had to be given up
The vessel had to be abandoned, but
the captain did not think that was
| enough. She had besides the crew 10
Chinese passengers aboard. who, after
having passed some time in Australia,
were returning to their country. The
captain and crew abandoned these I'M
happy people and went off in small
boats to an island in sight, which they
have since discovered was Round is
land. The following day and the one
after passed without the crews return
ing for the Chinese left upon the reefs :;
at last, becoming desperate, ten of the
| latter jumped into the water and were
drowned in attempting to swim to the
land. Meanwhile this is what happened
on the Round island. The captain,
together with the second mate and
eight of the crew, left in the gig with
the intention of reaching the coast of
Australia, leaving upon the strip of
sand ten persons. For provisions they
left them fourteen pounds Of bread.
There was absolutely no water, and
for clothes all they possessed WAS what
they had on. The shipwrecked crew
accepted their fate with resignation
and promised to wait patiently for
some passing ship which would take
them aboard. The second officer, with
whom we have had the pleasure of
cOnversing for few moments, told us
that they did not deceive themselves
while trying to console one another :;
in reality they only counted upon some
unforeseen chance to deliver them.
They knew. of course, that they had
diverged from the regular route
There were scarcely even a few tufts
of bushwood upon the island. These
served them us shelter, and they
went about in search of food. The
island being too small to have any
game upon it, they were obliged to
catch sea-gulls and to gather shell-fSh.
Food. however. such It's it was, was
sufficiently abundant; that was not
the greatest cause of their suffering
What nearly proved fatal to them was
the dearth of water, and three Of them
persisted for the want of it. The only
water they could procure was rain-wa-
ter, and several times they passed
several weeks without being able to
quench their burning thirst. Three
or four times they saw vessels on their
way to China, but they were at too
great distance for their signals to be
noticed.
After each one of these disappoiht-
ments their despair grew greater, and
the last of these unhappy beings was
nearly at deaths door when, for the
fifth time, rs ship was in sight, but
this time at less distance than the
preceding ones. Hope began to dawn
in the survivors of the crew of the Is
abella, and their JOY was without
bounds when they saw the vessel, a
schooner, come about and steer for the
hampton reef. If any of the Chinese
were still living there, they would
| probably tell their delivererS that the
crew had sought refuge upon a neigh,
| boring island. and boats would be sent
| for them. They were saved. Prov
| idence so decided. The captain of the
| schooner, the Laura Lind, had noticed
| the wreck of the Isabella, and suppos-
| ing that some of the crew might have
survived the disaster, sailed to the
reef. OF the seventeen Chinese four
were living, and the account of their
miserable existence during six months
was something heartrending. With.
0rt water or provisions they had en-
dured the same privations as the crew,
and had witnessed three of their num-
Der perish with hunger and thirst.
Several times, they said, they had res
olutely stretched themselves upon the
ground patiently awaiting the death
For some time every vestige CT
clothing had disappeared. They were
completely naked. and much Sun-burnt.
They were rescued the 9th of January.
six months after the wreck. The cap
tain treated them with the same kind
ness he had treated the Chinese. They
set sail for Noumea, which they
reached on the 18th of April.
1t is probable that the captain Of