The Portland daily press., 1877-11-26
Loss of the Dehor.h .. sou,e.

Horatio McBrean, first mate of the brig De.
borah S. Soule, was in town Saturday and gives
very graphic descriptionof the loss of that
vessel. The brig sailed from New York on the
23d of October.with cargo of slate amounting
to some $50 tons, bound for Queenstown. There
were eight persons on board, Capt. John Gale.
his wife, mate Horatio Mclean, steward and
four sailors. At the time of sailing the wealth.
er, Mr.. Mclean said, was all that a sailor could
wish, and it continued 10 that state until Sun
day, November Sd. On that date, while the
brig was in latitude AZ deg. longitude So deg.
the wind, which, had been blowing freshly
from the northwest, accompanied by running
sea, suddenly veered square to the west and in
an instant was converted into q perfect gale,
All that day and night the violence of the gale
never abated, and when midnight drew on
apace it seemed to increase rather than dimin-
ish. The seas ran mountain high in the wake
of the brig, often breaking over the deck, while
occasional squalls of hail and rain fell from
the murky and cloudy sky. At 2 o'clock in the
morning the brig was laboring in the trough of
the sea; wave after wave dashed over her
sweeping her decks fore and aft with a force
that was irresistible. One time, when her bow
lay deep in the mad waves, towering billow
dashed against her, smashing her jibboom and
bearing 1t, together with all the sailing gear
attached, far out on the raging waters. The
topgallant mast. thus deprived of all support,
was also carried away, and the staunch old
brig was left at the mercy of the waves. All
this dreadful night Capt Gale and his men
were dashed to the bulwarks of the doomed
brig, without hope of surviving thu terrible
ordeal.
faint streak in the clouds towards the east
led Capt. Gale and bis sailors to hope that their
bitter experience was at an end. At 9 o'clock
in the morning mountain of mad, seething
waters broke oyer the decks and struck the
mainmast, which, unable to resist the force,
came thnndering to the deck, only to be lifted
moment after by another incoming wave and
borne away. at this moment a sailor who had
been dashed to one of the pumps, cried out in a
voice OF terror, "We have sprung aleakr' All
hands were now set to the pumps, which were
Kept steadily going the entire day. In the af-
ternoon three feet of water were reported in
the hold. At o'clock heavy sea broke over
the brig, staving in the quarter bulwarks'
breaking the staunchions. tearing up the
"booby" hatchway and crashing through the
cabin windows. The sailors manfully piled the
pumps, but all to no avail. for at o'clock there
was five or six feet of water in the hold,
Capt Gale now said that it was simply i'm
possible to save the vessel; that, in fact, the
waters of the ocean would close around her in
less than twenty -four hours. He accordingly
swung the American ensign, union down, from
the stump of the mainmast, in the forelcrn
hope that some passing vessel wonld hasten to
his relief. All that afternoon the gale contin-
ued, but during the night it moderated, and
when the morning of November dawned it
blew but very lightly. At s o'clocki.the sailor
on watch deserted to the eastward the welcome
spars of steamship, and in a moment the
welcome cry, "a sail! A sailp' rang through
the brig The steamer proved to be the Hol-
land, Capt Ely, of the National line, and,
having answered the signal of distress, bore
down to the succor of the wrecked crew. Chief
officer Robinson and crew of six men put out
10 the long boat and took off Capt. Gale, his
wife, and the crew, and such of their effects as
they could get together, leaving the brig to its
fate. On board the Holland everything was
done to render the crew of the abandoned brig
comfortable, and they speak in the highest
terms of the kindness shown them by the off,
GERS of the Holland.