The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1877-09-14
THE GHOSTS OF THE G. ULF.
a PHANTOM SHIP AND CREW SEEN by THE
ST. LAWRENCE FISHERMEN.

y PHANTOM SHIP AND CREW SEEN Bl 1HE
ST. LAWRENCE FISHERMEN.
/ A special Quebec correspondent of the
n. y. World says that the Westport and
Balina fishermen have been for centuries
ready to make oath that the wild Con-
naught coast thereabouLs is haunted by
lights not of this earth. In the days OF
old,
/ When Scots came laundering from the Irish
And the sea foamed. struck with hostile oars,
or. in other words when the Irish squad
rors invaded the seas of Britain, i great
fleet left the Connaught shore, and the le-
geud runs that many of the galleys were
lost off the mouth of the Moy, or MunadaS,
and that their signal lights are the ideh-
tical lights which to this day alarm the
western fishermen and are visible even TO
pilgrims on the top Of Minbrea, Mount
Nephin and Croaghpatrcl. The old men
say that on that night in August, '9S, when
Humbert and the three French frigates
sailed into Killala, these phantom lights lit
up .he coast for miles, as though honoring
| the bold invaders.
! 1t is probable that ships of that Irish
Armada were driven across the main into
the Gulf of St. Lawrence, for phantom
/ lights are thicker here o nights than Oh
the Mayo coast. The most singular of
these phenomena in the 81. Lawrence wa
Chaleurs. 1t has been seen by the French
fishermen these hundred years and more,
+ and there are scores of witnesses now liv-
ing who will swear to it. Tue best descrp-
tiou of il ever given was that by the editor
Of the Miramicii Times (of the 18th No
vember, 1861, who saw 1t clearly. lie
says
''On the night Of Monday, the 11th ult.,
| while in Caraquette, a fine settlcment about
forty miles below Bathurst, in the county
of Gloucester, tins famous light,
apparently short distance below Point
( MIzZenet, but far out in the bay. 1t ap-
peared as if the huh of som" little craft
was on fire. and the devnurug element was
| sweeping through the rigging and consum-
ing everything within its reach. Such, of
course, were the first efforts ''f the imagi-
nation in eudeavoriug to give outline or
shape to an indefinite something that mas
far beyond the powers Df closer investiga-
tion. 1t was pointed out To us 10y John
Mcintosh, of that place, in Whose company
were ut the time of its appearances
The light in its appearance and movements
is totally different from the IgRts FdtuuS,
or Will o the Wisp. 1t precedes a north
, easterly storm, and is a sure fureruuner of
1T. 1t is not confined to one locality, but Is
seen from time to time at different places
by the nhabiiauts of Caraquette, Grauance,
New Bandon, Salmon Beach i'll fact, by
the WnOle pppuidtlon DetWeen MlScou ana
I Bathurst. 1t is not confined to summer
nor to the open water, but is as frequently
seen on the ice during he frost of winter.
In the summer season parties bave gone
out 10 examine it in the boats, but as they
approach it it disappears, and after they
have passed the place where it had been to
some distance, it reappears behind them,
giving The curious but little chance of Il
close Investigation
hot how tl,n
mined craft So distinctly that they could
even see sailors of wild aspect moving To-
and fro on board, aud distinguish the row.
els; while others declare they have heard
voices speaking the old Irish tongue, How
do they know it WAS the Irish tongue >
Because in 4S aud '49 hundreds of fugitives
from the plague aud famine came from
Munster aud Connaught to the st. Law
renee, thanking God in their Irish that
| they had been permitted to escape the two
des rowing angels. This is matter wor-
! thy the attention of Busio and New 1OIk
! Spiritualsts. The naturalization Of the
ship, the crew aud the Irish language is
! perfect, and, beyond question, honest.
! The craftiest of BlisSes or Katie Kings
| could not play such tricks.
OFF Poute Magdcleine, in the Gulf, the
| French fishermen hear the cry of an un-
| baptized infant. Near that pleasant wa
! :erIng place, Tadousac, the wall OF wo-
| man, believed to have been the wife of
| wicked sciguior i'll the feudal days of Que
! bee, makes hideous the DeSccntc des
Femmes, and is often heard on River aux
! Cdnards on the south bank of the Lower
| Saguenay. y phantom boat is seen in the
| fall in Lac ST. Jean, aud when the first ice
| of winter is forming III the Ashuapmouch-
! oun River, in the Parish of St. Louis
! ROberval, Il boat appears toiing for houIs,
! while the ghostly crew strive in vain TO
! break through. There is indeed rich
! harvest in these regions for those who com
! mune with the ''other shore"