The Republican journal., 1877-03-01
An Appalling Tale of Shipwreck

Boston, Feb. 81. 1877. One of the mos
appalling tales Of shipwreck and starva
ton that has ever startled and Mortified
the civilized world reached this city yes
terday in letter from Captain Kane, o.
the American schooner F. f. MCDONALD
dated from Goree, on the west coast ol
Africa, on January "a The British bark
Maria, Capt. Grayson, sailed from Darien,
Ga, on the 21st of November last, tol
Belfast, Ireland. She was 800 tons burden,
and was built at Yarmouth, Nova Scotia,
in 1868, and was classed A ID at Lloyds
Her crew numbered fourteen including the
captain and officers Shortly after leaving
port the carpenter reported serious leak
The weather had been rough, and it is
supposed that some of the cargo shifted
with the rolling OF the ship and damaged
ing the efforts of the crew, the leak gained
steadily on them, and the ship began to
settle lower and lower i'll the sea The
cargo being timber, the ship did not sink
but the weight OF her masts caused her to
fall over on her broadside with her spars
in the water The unfortunate crew man
aged to scramble over the bulwarks and
gam the side OF the ship that was out Of
water, and cling with desperate grip to
the channels and rigging in the hope of
being seen and rescued from their dreadful
position. While thus hanging on for their
lives the sea frequently made q clean
breach over them. threatening them with
death and exhausting their rapidly falling
strength in their efforts to retain their
hold on the ships side
The laboring Of the wreck in the heavy
sea threw such an immense strain on the
masts. which were alternately buried in
the waves aud lifted above the surface,
that they broke off one after another. thus
relieving the ship of their weight The
result was that she righted again. but lay
buried in the sea- warterlogged and un-
manageable. Everything movable on her
decks had been swept away. Her boats
were destroyed, and the crew, after another
desperate effort, dragged themselves to her
decks, which was under water. All this
time the unfortunate crew had been fam
ishing with hunger and thirst The ships
stores were beyond their reach, being
slowed below, and the consequence was
that all the horrors of starvation stared
them in the face.
While drifting thus helpless at the mercy
Va tiiH NiN C7 tItJ NClC foCCIl bN lut ouIp
City of Montreal, Captain Mudgett, bound
for Liverpool. One of the unfortunate crew
had already died of exhaustion and hunger,
but the surviving thirteen eagerly watched
the approaching sail in the hope of being
rescued. But the captain of the City OF
Montreal could not approach them near
enough to render them any assistance
The tremendous gale that was prevailing
at the time and the terrific seas that were
rolling made it impossible to reach the
doomed ship, and her starving crew he
City of Montreal was obliged to abandon
them to their fate, and fill away for her
destination. The glaring eyes that fol
lowed her receding form and the thirst
blstered tongues and lips that endeavored
to give utterance to despairing yet appeal
ing cries for succor made even the horrors
of the dreadful storm appear less appall-
ing than the mute despair that was pie
tured on every wasted countenance. The
unfortunate vessel was again sighted on
the l4th of December by the Italian bark
Madre Figli in latitude 80 deg. 81 min,
longitude IL deg. o.. min., but no assis-
tance could be rendered to her crew on ilc-
count Of the heavy sea. and they were
again abandoned
After the departure of the Italian bark
all hope OF human succor seemed to have
abandoned the miserable men OF the wreck
The dreadful gnawng OF hunger rendered
them utterly savage. One by one the
poor wretches died Of sheer starvation,
while their surviving messmates crouched
watching for the last breath to depart
No sooner did one die than the furnishing
Ci npt hiS tbrnnt and Irapi tba cti
warm but almost putrid blood The vast
ing effects of hunger. thirst and exposure
reduced the frames of the miserable crea-
lures TO mere skeletons, and caused their
blood to decompose almost in their veins
Yet the living tried to live by these dread
ful draughts, and watched with eager eyes
for the signs OF a comrades approaching
death in order to enjoy another horrible
meal Not content with draining the
VEINS OF the dead the hungry survivors cut
up the bodies aud divided between them
the heart and the brains. The other parts
were found to be too offensive even for
cannibals, and the ordor from the bodies
could only be endured while the ready
knife ripped them open and cut out from
them the hearts, or while the ships hatch
ct broke in the skulls in order that the
brains might be extracted. Notwithstand-
ing the horrors OF their situation and the
awful lengths to which they We're forced
to 90 to preserve life, no violence was of
tered to any OF the living. The cannibals
from necessity did not murder their com
panions, but waited with patience until
they died.
For thirty-two days after the date OF
the first disaster this fearful tragedy was
progressing in the mid-Allantic and the
number OF the crew OF the Mar ia grew
smaller and smaller, until only two re-
manned out OF fourteen.
These We're rescued on the 18th Of De-
cember, 1876, in latitude 81 deg % min.
and longitude 32 deg 30 min. by the
schooner F. +. Mcdonald, Captain Kane,
bound from Boston to the west coast Of
Africa. BY mere accident Captain Kane
fell in with the wreck, and took the two
survivors on board his vessel. One Of
them, how ever, died in four hours after
he was taken from the wreck.
The solitary survivor of that awful voy-
age is James Nj. Linden, seaman, of Bel
fast, Ireland He alone was left 10 tell
the terrible story Of his dead shipmates
Since the loss of the ship Margaret Ty-
son, which occurred in the Atlantic ocean
several years ago, and in which all but
one man persisted, we have not had such
Il melancholy disaster to record. The sur
viyor from the Margaret Tyson was picked
up from piece of wreck after having
been on it fourteen days, but he was very
reticent about the fate of his shipmates,
some thirty in number. He said enough,
however, to show that they had been killed
and e,,ten--the strong devouring the weak,
to be dcvoured in turn by the strongest.
HENCE THOSE TEARS He left her and
stepped out to see a friend between acts.
"Why, Edward" said she, when he re-
turned, there are tears in your eyes"
Yes, pet" replied he, solomenly. II
suppose there are-l saw such sad sight
when | was out"
"You dd-what was t." inquired she
"Such a sad sight" continued he, keep
ing his face away that she might not smell
his breath Il discovered young man
whom | have known for years drinking