, 1877-09-23
4 TRAMP OF THE SEA

\ TRAMP OF THE SEA.
! New TonK, Sent. 1s.-A Wilmington, ~. c.
dispatch says that the schooner Jonas Smith. with
black crew Of thirteen and only one white man,
was spoken by Pilot Joe Burris twenty miles south
! Of Cape Fear, last Friday. They claimed, to be
| from Eoston for Sayannah. out three weeks, and
hearings, and the vessel squared away for the
south. As 1t did SO, and the backs OF the black
crew turned from him, the white man on board
made signals for Burrls to return. On Saturday
the cutter Co1fux sailed In search Of the schobncr,
but returned on Monday, and will not give any ac-
o hs5
with her forcboom patched anu mainsai1 sorn since
when nothing has been heard Of her.
To the Editor Of the Courant: The above ap-
pearcd in the tclcgraphic columns Of our eycn-
Ing papers yesterday. The Courant's kilograms
from Wilmington add some particulars this
morning:
Some Of her ealls had been blown entirely away,
a few beng at all Eeryjccablc. Near the wafer
line weeds and grass a foot long were growing
from the hull, erldcncin. that she had been long
The affair has caused considerable discussion
here and there arc msnv snrn,ise* as ts the char
acer OF this vcssel and her ultimate destlnation;.
but the opinion most generally received is. that
tho crew nf negroes are mntnccr5. anu that tho
wn,e man seen on boarn WAS retained by the crew
when they mastered the vessel, for the purpose Of
navigating her.
It sounds like dreadful mystery, but can
throw some light upon It which may dspel
some Of its darker features. These poor fellows
arc not mutineers- 1 know them to be men OF
good character. Four mouths and half ago
was at sea, with the Rev. Joseph Il. Twicheil, OF
Hartford, iu the steamship Bermuda, Capt. An
grove We had sailcd fro1n Hamilton, Ber-
n,uda, on the Quecn's birthday, May "a. At
n. n,., Nav Is, twenty-four hours out, our posi-
,,,;1a frrxr fn
When read tho above te1egrans, I said,
"Hcre is something have been watching the
papers for during great many weeks" hunt
Ell up my old notebook Of our Brrlnuda voyage.
and turned to the date May Is. There found
rude pencil-skctch OF 4 disabled vessel, and
this note concerning it:
Frtday. 22.--Ionas Smith. ten days ont from
flag in the main rigging, With the union down..
Went ont OF our course 10 see her. Heavy ground.
swell on tho sea, but no wind. They launched
their boat. stern fr:t, from the deck amitishtp.
tof course it filled with water at oncc', and then
a man took hoid OF 4 rope that was rove thruuSha
block ut the starboard end Of the fo!eyard-arm,
and SWING himself oil over the sea like spider
at the end OF his thread The vessels deck stool
up as high Us house. che was 90 empty. Natur~
aflJ, she rolled fcarfully in the gIound~swc1l:
The man would swing far out over the waves, anu
then 60 rushing back again like a pendulum and
slam against the ships side. The boat never was
there when he aEriyea However, he made his TIP tnl
lowed him in the same p.ccarious spider fashion,
They pulled off to our ship. and proved to DC two
coo:el men ana 4 Portuguese, who was 9lackcr
than both Of them put together. They said thcT
had sailed from Bermuda for NcT York ten days
before, with tyc days provisions! They wcre
about our Of everything now-had little bread cit
and q caak and half Of water- The vessel haa an
ab:urdly large crew.-se could see - many asa
dozen colorcd men lying around ana taktnR u sass
On her deck. We luaded four barrels O. poIatoes
into their boat, together with some 3oo poanoS y!
eals Junk and great quantity Of sea-olteal.:, ous
no water for it vas slowed where we enutn n9I
well re, at it. We the snn 90 down on INC roll,
{ug and tun,bling hulk, and later canshL , nnai
frack OF the moon. Shall We ever heaf OF tnose Nc
groes again:
One of the three men Wno came to rs in the
boat was the Captain and owner OF the hulk
we questioned him freely, aud all that ne sa1a
was confirmed afterwara by three Of our pas
sanpers WHO knew all About the matter. he
moor old tub had been condemned officially in
Bermuda and sold ut aurtfon.-aud queer!y
enough, not rs whole, but piecemea}, as one
mar say. For instance, one man bought the
land al the sails, thfnk); another
had bought an anchor; another such odds and
ends as, BKylghts and such things. and this
colorcd man had bought what was left, viz. the
empty hulk and the stn1nps Of the fore and
main masts. Hc paid :e42 for bis bargain. Then
be bought three old rags, aud made one do duty |
as spencer on thes mainmast, another IS 1lo, !
md the third as sort OF fVipg-lib, Of 1lb-
stay-sail, whichever you please to cali it. |
These had become rags indeed when we saw