The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1881-08-16
THE VIGILANT.
Supposed Discovery of Her Wreck.
FORTUNES OF A WHALING FLEET IN
THE NORTHERN SEAS.

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 1.-THE Alaska
steamer ST. Paul has arrived and brings the
following intelligence:
Capt. Hooper Of the Revenue Cutter Corwin
received intelligence of the discovery of a
wrecked whaler by Indians, May Goth, and at
onco sent out sledge party under Lieut.. Her
ring to investigate He landed on Koluetiniuo
Island, June 2, and made his way over the ice
westward to the mouth of Waukeram River
about 100 miles from Cape Serdze, where he
fell in with natives, in whose possession were
found articles taken from wreck. The Cor
win party also saw and talked with natives
who had boarded the wreck and exhibited two
piles of articles which they said they had taken
from her. They consisted principally
of carpenters tools, &C. The following arti
Treasury Department.: One whaling iron
marked "B. K.," possibly the initials Of the
Vigiant, with five dots, supposed to mean
"boat 5" one pair of silver-bowed spectacles
and case, one pair of marine glasses and one
knife marked "V." on the handles. The ma
tives said the wrecked essel carried pair of
reindeer horns on the end of her jibboom. The
Vigiant is known to have carried such orna-
ments, and is said to be the only one in the
whaling fleet having such, which leads to the
conclusion that the wreck was that vessel.
Her cabin was full of water, her masts gone
and fonr dead bodies found in her, one of them
in d BERTH the others on the floor.
The natives said the dead men looked as il
they had been dead many moons, and that the
skin of their faces was withered and drawn
tight. From this description it was surmised
that the vessel was wrecked as far back as the
winter Of 1879, the first winter out. The
wreck subsequently drifted out to sea and was
lest sight off. The sledge party being unable
to go farther westward on account of melting
snow proceeded to Cape Serdze and was picked
up by the Corwin June 29th. They travelled
in all 100 miles. The cutter had her rudder
carried away by ice June 1st and repaired in
from the wreck of an old whiskey smuggler
ashore there. The last intelligence of the cut
ter's movements is up to July 9th, when she
sailed from Norton Sound to Goulooit Bay.
Thence she was to proceed northward to Kot-
zebue Sound and Point Burrow to look after
revenue matters, then westward to Wrangel
Land before the ice closed in to search for the
jeanette. The mildness of the previous win
ter and thinness of the ice encountered by the
Cor win gave Capt. Hooper strong hopes Of be-
ing able to reach and explore that land. The
whalers who were interviewed considered the
prospect favorable. Fears are entertained
that some whalers have been lost, as early in
July large quantities of whale oil was reported
seen by the natives. Other hunters on the sea
about Snak Island say four casks of whale oil
These signs give rise to the apprehension that
some returning whaler was wrecked in the fog
on an outlying reef of rocks about that island
The fact that the packages of oil found were
unbroken is thought to indicate that possibly
one entire side of the unfortunate vessel was
broken, thus letting the cargo out. No further
details of the supposed wreck had reached
Ounalaska up to Aug. 18th, when the st. Paul
left.