, 1879-06-26
TwENTY-Tw0 DAYS ON A VRrcr

!uca rs UFlh1t aH y WoStnn 10 tGlG Hub uf M,
TWENTY-TwO DAYS ON A VRErr
Tho plk1ful Story Of tho solo surylyor =,
tho Grow.
fan ffanctstp Ala.
VietorIno Lopes, the soils survivor of ~.
wreck Of the Ellen j. McKtnnon, tI,e yc,s.,
destined for j. G. Duncan's escnpe te|,s th IN,
lowing narrative Of the hardshfps enlrr,,
He says: Wo sailed away from San Francis,
on the 2ith Of Mnrcll. Biz dnys aftcrwDrI ,sa
wcro oyeFtaken by gale which was Of tuch
violence TINT It strained the vessel very ,n,,rh
and CAUSED her to lutch 10 heavily tlmt tnmrht
several times she would capsize. On the tnnrn.
Ing Of tho sixth day was nt the wheel from ), ~
o'clock. The Captain. whose name I nrvo.
learned, came alouv md ordered The r,,st
Mate. O'i,ricn, to reef tho sails, to neavc -
md Keep her head we'll OF. This yos ,lo,a
and then tue Mate took tho wheel ,ro,u s' nv
and lasllet1 It., and told mo to still staml 's' Nv
At about 2:50 o'clock was still ut nv ,.s.
with tho wheel lnslicd, when tic ycmc1. a ' ,t,,
bottomcd one, shccred, and before she ,uuM
right again sl,o was struck by waye NJ,
and kcclcd right over. At this time, O'Brcn
tho htatc, Geurge aud Johpny, of lnr n,r,
watch Il don't know them by my other tamrs,
tile ona belonged to, wero on the deck, Tinvv
chung to the rigging: hung TO the wheel, aid
no.ised ,at thG farwar. scuttic hal oated
into tho forecastle aud prevented the men WIN
were asleep there from making Their esrsn"
The sltd!ng.scuttle on the cabin hnd not been r..
moved, SO made mr. way forward and pulled i.
awav, ind called to the Captaiu to come m,
Manuel, the Second Mate, first came out OF .ho
cabin, and was immediately followed by tlc c
Captain. who was tn his shirt anu drawers, iii
asked whose watch It -as, and O'lsricn replied:
.slinc. and slo upsct.' l'le Captain cla,nbcrsdi
sea was running very high at the time, aud one
wave, which seemed ~ be mitch higher ti,an
my had seen 1efore, caught tue Cantan. aud
enrr'el him away. ! heard him haIluo twiye,
ststnncc. That was the last saw Of lin.
Then took u ropc md fastened It around M
sya!st, attaching tho other cnd to thu vessel
Tho Other tnen flld the same. We remained in
nat position until daybrcnkt which, Il seemwi
to me, never would come. As dayireak an.
proachet, tho wind Gained somewl,ut, anI the
SEQ went dawn.
When light again f1awned, mud could onca
moro see about me, TOOK my shcash.knife,
ant', after running along the stdu OF the vessel,
cut nway the main md forward rigging and
braces. This nllowcd the masts to swaS With
the motion Of tho vessel. and In d short tinc lno
tnalnmast snapped oH nnd fell into the sc,l, u,ui
sosno time after. the forward mast uso went ~
the board. This lEphtrncd tile vcssel consti.
crably, unl allowed her to yet into a more tn.
right position, lying after this ut M angle ut
aoout forty-'ro degrees, which allowed Its lrura
eek-roon, at least 50 that VIC could, with care,
movo around. BY this timc The paRgs oE hun.
ger md thirst camc on. and. while nY cotnpa..
ions were giving way to despair, and were mt
making any Efforts 10 helm themselves, thought
Of procuring provisions, II possible. made ny
and box Of fruit, and nlso bnr of Dotatyes,
Thcse securrtl, md 1asiicd them 10 the fprwari
part OF the wreck. Wu ten took the lnaIni0
A,ld made sort Of tent Of 1t, nnl five Of US rot
under slis coygr,-:hc First md Second Mates
and two satlors, besides myself. '-N'''
"As inc day wore on thewiu moderated, md
wc Aoated With the tide. The provisions Witt
l ind seenrttl took charge Ut, artl dealt uut
sparlngly We kept watch und watch, III the
hope of seeing . sail, but every night, as dark
ness came on. tho dosparsug cry OF No salt in
sight, was uttered. At thu End Of tIle Third
day the Second Mntc died, and VIC pitched lin
overheard. had nIapa9cd to secure small
eask Of strup. which gave the men mixed with
liquor: That night fell nslcep, ard slept moro
a0lludly than at any tf1ne sncc the wreck, u,ul
on awaklug found that the men hnd eulls 10
the liquor md provisions tint W. had, aud ur-
,ast,ea them and lot them fai OVERHEARD, thus
pole managed to get into the hold and araw
up another sack Of potatoes. We Rtc them raw,
and subsisted On them atouc to tllc ninth .lar
after tha wreck. On TINT day could see tho
hoolea OF tho dead men In tito fu1cuastIc, right
under US. NY companions were becoming
weary. and I knew tint unless rot soma
food for them they would not long snrylye;
50 Ind to do The beat could. ffshel IN
meats which knew to be there. I uot u plesG'
OF iron and made tooit, and lashed It 10 The
end OF the pole. and commenced fishing. rot
lolo Of somethtnF. aud hauled II up, null found
T. vas ths 1odY q one Of The OTHER wutel. lla
boxes, which flau held him Sp ttrtlt tl1ut tIa