Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1878-05-31

raIu. Inc man continued to shout, al
though rescue was so nigh. His erie,
were not ineligible, but it could b,
distinguished that he used no English
AS the boat neared the raft one of tn,
sailors pushed off again with an ex
clamation. The man on the raft uttered
a scream of despair. "What did YOU
do that forp' the mate asked. The Of
Tending sailor made no reply, but point
ed underneath the raft. Following hi,
finger, the others saw three or four i'm
mense sharks swimming leisurely there
Now and then one would thrust its nose
between the light bamboos as if to pry
them apart. More than once the open
mouth of one could be seen raising it.
self over the top of the raft within a
yard of the occupants feet. When
this happened the man on the raft
ceased to shout and seemed to become
dumb with terror.
Again approaching the raft, the res
cuers this time secured it to the boat
and transferred its single passenger to
their own craft. No sooner had he
touched the ships deck than his
strength, sprung from excitement and
the instinct of self-preservation, aban-
| doned him, and he fell unconscious.
As he lay on the deck it could be
seen that the sores on his body had
been made by the continued wetting
with salt water. Crystals of the salt
were visible on the raw edges of the
wounds. The bodywas emaciated and
the bones at the joints seemed as if
about to thrust themselves through the
skin. The ordinary black hue of his
skin was turned dirty drab. His
tongue, swollen to unnatural size, hung
half out of his mouth, and the wonder
was that he could have uttered a single
sound. After he was aroused he could
only gasp inarticulate means and point
to his mouth for water
1t was nearly week before his appe-
tite, and with it his strength, returned
so that he could be questioned. There
was not Portuguese scholar on board
the Carrie Z. Long, although one of the
crew knew little Spanish 1t was
more by gesture than by word of mouth
that he told his story. He said that his
name was Manuel Francisco, and that
he had been at sea ten days when res
cued. Originally, there were three on
the raft, but one had been washed over
board and devoured by sharks before
his eyes before they were two days out
The second died from exhaustion on the
fourth day. He threw his body to the
sharks, thinking in that way to cause
them to quit following the raft, but aft
er they had torn his comrade to frag-
ments they only followed him the more
intently. He dared not sleep, for fear
of walking off the raft into their open
jaws. Water gave out on the sixth day,
and thirst was added to the loss of
sleep. His only food was bread, which
had become musty from long confine-
ment in the kerosene can, and the eat
ing of which consequently only added
to his thirst without satisfying his hun
ger. His sufierings became so intense
that he was about to cast himself to the
sharks when the Carrie Z. Long hove
in sight.
Where did he come from and what
h. Ioi~s IN the raftp FranciscO
failed to answer this question satisfac-
torily. He insisted that he had origi-
nally sailed from the Brazilian coast, but
took advantage of his questioner's ig-
norance of the language to avoid eX-
planning why he had put to sea on so
frail craft. The contents of black
bottle found on the raft in measure
answered the question, and accounted
for his unwillingness to be more def
mite. In it was a magistrates COM
mitment of felon, presumably Fran
cisco, to eight years penal serVitude
for some small theft. The date of the
commitment showed that the prisoner
had served three years. The Brazilian
penal island of Fernando Noronha, sit
uated three degrees below the equator
and about 400 miles from the main
coast, was within few hundred miles
from where Francisco was picked up,
and it was coniectured that he had es-
capped from there. This conjecture
was confirmed when the Carrie +. Long
arrived at Matanzas and the customs
officer came on board. AS soon as the
accents of the Spanish tongue fell on
his ear, Francisco ran below and evinced
great fear of recapture. On hearing
his story and reading the commitment,
the Brazilian agent at that port wanted
to hold Francisco until the Governor
of Fernando NOrOnha had been COM
municated with. But Capt. Park put
his foot down at this and declared that
Francisco should not be removed from
the vessel. The agent did not press his
claim and Francisco arrived in this city
on the Carrie E. Long on Monday
night. On the voyage he made him
self useful serving as seaman. The
sailors called him Monday, because he
was rescued on that day.
When the writer saw him yesterday
he saw stout, healthy man, with moth
ing in his smiling face to indicate the
horrors he had passed through. He is
thorough black, with the crisp, curl
ing hair peculiar to the inhabitants of
hot countries. He seems intelligent,
and rather ashamed that he can speak
no language but what he calls g Bra
lillian. ~. Y. Sun.