Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1876-08-11

| llAOLhSlll AtSS6l1UR our ClltllC6S U
safety. There was a sudden flashing III
of her light Just as the soualI struck ant
then we lost sight Of it entirely. The faint
report of a musket followed, a signal Of
recall, but We could neither answer mol
Foley it.
Onward we rushed, before the wind
shrinking down into the boat, and clingine
to the gunwales and the thwarts, all of u,
but the officer, who held fast to his steer
ing-oar to keep her head in the only safe
direction. No word was spoken Dy the
neil, but each fully realized the peril we
were in, and each asked himself the ques-
ton of life or death, how long is this
going to last?
IL was answered by shock so sudden as
to throw US all togetherin a confused heap.
In a crash of everything moveable, and a
cracking of the boats fabric itself. we
rolled into the sea and were overwhelmed.
| can hardly tell in words what followed.
As soon as l regained breath a little. |
struck out and grabbed nothing but a
smooth, slinpery substance, on which l
could get no hold, AMI The next moment
was rolled off again and plunged into the
sea. / understood the truth now. In the
| darkness we had run OF to the whale with
out seeing it.
At my next attempt l clutched a rope,
which l felt to be the bite of whale line,
and undermining this, soon came to the
pole of an iron or harpoon. By this was
enabled to hang on, and, after being half
drowned in my struggles, | succeeded in
drawing bite of the line under the whales
fin, until it brought up firmly at the
"knuckle." | could then secure myself
upon the whale to avoid sliding off at every
H.. |,
pleasant one, as | had all | could do to
keep my mouth entirely above water.
While | was thus being absorbed in the
one object of securing my own temporary
safety, the rest Of my shipmates had all
disappeared, nor was any to be seen or
heard, either of them or the boat. A light
spruce pole and paddle were dashed in
my way, and l secured them by cutting
holes with my sheath-knife, and planting
them, like masts, in the blubber of the
whale, but these were all could find. The
waif set in the whale by Mr.. Andrews still
stood in its place, and this was important,
as it might be the means of the ship find
ing me, could keep alive where was till
daylight. Within halt an hour after Sc
cured a landing upon the floating island
the squaIf was all over, and the wind set
tied down again to steady moderate
breeze. The heavens were clear overhead,
and it was as light as it could be on
moonless night. But where were my COM
rades? And, of more vital Importance to
poor me, where was the Druid?
"Light no :" | actually sung out the
words, as had Just spit half pint or less
of brine from my mouth, and shaking my
eyes clear, they rested upon bright light
directly in the winds eye from me- Then
there was binding flash, and the report
of the Druid's old carriage gun thundered
forth, so near as to be startling, and
roared with all the voice at my command,
which was not much. hoping TO make my
self heard. More light! a fierce flame, now
evidently nearing me. Very soon l could
make out the ships sails in the immediate
glare of the light, and then the whole out
line of the stern old craft.
My lungs were strained to their utmost
power, for my only chance of safety de-
pended on attracting their attention before
they should sweep on before me. If left
astern unknown to them, there was little
or no hopes of salvation.
But sharp eyes were on the alert, below
and aloft, for they had found the whales
g ''slick and were following it down. My
cry was heard and the ship brought rapidly
up in the wind, while two boats were drop
ped into the water and manned as quickly
as eager men could accomplishit. never
relaxed my cries until one of the boats
were near enough to see the waif, and sent
up their answering shout / was pulled
from my cramped position into the boat
Captain Gibbs, who, seemingly excited al
most to insanity, had come himself on this
errand of rescue.
7 told ir1o &c faFv de
as possible, excited them still more. We
shot alongside, and l was helped up the
deck, while he was issuing all sorts Of
urgent orders.
All three boats were soon down, with
directions to "spread their chances" and
to search thoroughly every foot of ground"
or sea as they went. A set Of signals were
rapidly agreed upon, and the ship-keepers |
had their orders issued faster than they |
could take in their meaning. As the cap
tain sprang down the side again into his |
boat, l overheard him say in a low, bitter |
tone:
"God help me! Why did do it?"
And God did help him. Within an hour |
the reports of three muskets from the |
boats told us that the lost ones were found |
and strange to say all were alive, though |
well-nigh exhausted. The boat had filed |
and rolled bottom up, but all succeeded in
climbing upon her bottom, through the
superhuman exertions of Mr.. Andrews,
who, all said, appeared to take little care
of his own life, so that he could save the |
others. The stronger supported the weaker |
ones, and kept them upon the boats bot
tom; but the preservation of the whole
crew seemed to be miraculous, when I
think of it this present writing.
The old colored boat-steerer, Beers, was
almost gone, being, in fact, quite insensi-
BILE when help arrived.
When the first excitement was over, l
saw the captain take Mr.. Andrews one
side, and heard words which could not
make out, but his voice seemed choked
with emotion, and they stood grasPing
each others hands for some time, as If
their whole souls were in the act. "A bond
OF brotherhood was established between
them which was only broken at the close
of their lives. i
We were so fortunate as to find and
secure the whale the next day, and in the
happy. feeling consequent upon our good
luck, the perils of our adventures were
soon lost sight of; but upon Captain Gibbs
the lesson Of that fearful night was not
lOSI.