Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1881-07-14
THE STORY OF FaE LOST wHALERs

The following is the story of the lost
whalers Yigilant and Mt. Wollaston, as told
by the Captain of the Thomas Pope, just ar
rived from the Arctic: just as he was ready
to come out OF the Arctic he met and gam
moned the bark PROGRESS, and from Captain
Frederick Barker her commander. he gained
the startling intelligence that natives on the
coast to the eastward OF East Cape had seen
the Mount Wollaston and Vigilant. In the
fall of 1868 Captain Barker had been wrecked
in his ship, the japan, on East Cape and
was obliged to winter among the natives.
During that time he had become conversant
with the native language, and it was from the
chief in whose tribe he had spent that winter
that he learned tidings of the missing
whalers. According to their story-and it
was told very circums.antially-the natives
on East Cape had learned from natives living
in the vi.inity of Kaloutchin Bay, that last
season they saw two whale ships in the shore
ice, one about 40 miles to the eastward of
East Cape and the other so miles. They had
been on board the former, which they had
described as having pair Of deer horns upon
the end Of her flying libboom. This renders
il certain that the vessel was the Vigiant
as no other vessel in the whaling feet had
any such distinctive feature. The vessel had
been stove in forward by the ice, and filed
with water, which caused her to keel over
on her side, and she had settled down for
ward. o. the deck they found the bodies
of three men in boxes. They said the bodies
had swollen and then burst open, showing
that they had evidently been frozen to death
during the winter of 1S79.S0, and the heat of
the succeeding summer had eAused the frozen
corpses to swell and afterwards burst. The
boxes. as they called them, Captain Barker
took to mean wooden shelters which they
had made upon the deck to keep eff the
severity OF the winter cold It is believed
that the rest of the crew took to the ice and
persisted before reaching shore, as had they
ever landed there is no doubt but that the
natives along the coast would have seen and
succored them. The latter, however-the
Tcnuktches-report that no white people
have been ste1 on their coast since the " big
steamer" professor Nordensk jold'S ship
Vegal wintered in kaloutchin bay, the year
before the whalers were lost
"You are sure the ship you saw was not a
steamer" asked Captain Barker.
mo" replied the old chief, and making a
motion with his hand, he told how she bad
no screw to stir up and make the water white
The natives found sack filed with money
hurriedly, spY-gass, with the glasses
broken, a bomb gun, several bomb lances
and fowling-piece. These they brought on
shore, and still have in their possession
Captain Barker says that he judged from
what the chief told him that they had SUPER
atitious fears to remain long in the vicinity f
the corpses, and so lett hurriedly, intending
to visit the wreck the following day with a
large number of their companions and bring
off some more plumber. That night, how
ever. the wind came on to blow from the
south, and by mcrning the ice and ship had
moved off shore, and to board her again was
rot pos. IDLE. The Mount Wollaston had also
been driven off shore AS soon as the news
OF the terrible fate which had overtaken the
crews of the two vessels was made known to
Captain Barker, he communicated it to Cap
tain Hooper Of the Corwin, and he at once
directed lis first officer to take two dog sleds
and suitable number of men and natives
and proceed eastward along the coast to the
point where the Figilant was seen, and OBJ
tain what further tidings he could, and at
least gain possession of the relics brought on
shore.
This in brief is all that is known of the
fate OF the poor fellows. The last seen of the
Mount Wollaston and Vigilant was on the
10th of October, 1879, when they parted
company with the Helen Mar in latitude II
so north, longitude 173o As west. Two days
after that the Mercury, which was close to
the Helen Mar, was abandoned, and the
crew came on board of the latter.