The Grange advance. [volume] (Red Wing, Minn.) 1873-1877, 1877-06-20

succeeded in reaching the rigging. The
natives followed, but the men gained the
foreyard, ond kept them at bay with
blocks, cut away with the mates knife.
The struggle aroused the captain. He
started to 90 on deck, but as he laid his
hand on the top of of the companion it
was chopped off with an AK, and he i'm
mediately retreated to the cabin. Here
he remained with his son, and was subse-
quently!joined by Purcell and Shaw, the
latter one Of the first men attacked. On
lying down to sleep Shaw wrapped q
rugfand a thick bag about his shoulders,
and this alone saved him from immediate
death.
According to his own story, he awoke
in sort Of dream and found himself one
mass Of clotted blood from wounds on
the head and arms. The men on the
foreyard-the mate SO wounded that he
had to be lashed to prevent falling
supposed that all hands, save themselves,
were dead, and did not dare venture
down. The villainous wretches, not able
to attack them in their position aloft,
commenced search for the bodies of
their victims and such others as might
have evaded their attacks. The steward
had shut himself up in his galley and es-
capped theirsmurderous intentions. Shaw
and Purcell, as we have seen, had crawled
away to the cabin. Coming across the
body of Troy, one of the two first struck,
they found him still alive. They then
chopped his body and Glove his head,
till all life, all semblance of humanity,
was lost in the horrid butchcry Trem-
bling in his galley, and momentarily ex-
pectlng his own fate, the steward heard
the poor victim groan out: ooh, God!
I'm finished now.'
The wounded, mutilated men in the
cabin attempted, and vainly so, to load a
pistol, but flowing blood clogged the
weapon and so damp edthe powder that
they could do nothing.
Daylight came at last, and with it came
some hope for the poor bleeding victims
of the murderous ticnds, although de-
liverance was yet to be delayed. The
situation as the day dawned was as fol-
lows: The three blood stained demons
held the deck, three men were on the
yard, the steward was hidden away in
the galley, and the captain, with his boy,
held watch in the cabin, with two poor
wounded men, weltering in their blood
beside them. One of the villains COM
menced pelting the men on the yard with
stones and pieces of coal obtained from
below, while his fellows, with axes in
hand, renewed the attempt to ascend the
rigging. The sling blocks kept them at
bay, and at last they gave up the attempt.
Then the natives discovered that the
steward was in the galley. One was sent
to guard the companionway, while
another burst open the galley door. Jump.
ing through the other door, the steward
rushed to the companionway, and. dodg-
ing a murderous blow aimed at him by
the guard. tumbled below into the cabin.
This changed the situation OF affairs.
An unwounded man was now below, and
in that cabin there was revolver, and
ammunition. The watchful sentinel,
thirsting for their life's blood. cunningly
shielded himself, but at last, in an in
cautious moment, he exposed his head
and a bullet from the stewards revolver
went crashing through his brain. The
two remaining natives exchanged few
hurried words in their own language, and
one of them went to pick up their fallen
comrade. Then the sailors dropped from
the rigging. One of them seized a hand
spike and dealt the third native stag
gering blow on the head. The one who
had gone to the dead guard, seeing that
the game was up, jumped overheard and
was not seen again. On visiting the shore
the survivors found the bodies of their
comrades in the hut. The attitude of the
bodies Indicated that the unfortunate
men could hardly have been aware of the
death stroke. The vessel. was at once got
under way for Cairns. On reaching that
point the three worst wounded were
placed in hospital, and at last accounts
were progressing favorably. The survi-
vors will probably never forget the night
of terror spent on Chilcot island.