Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-04-12


then proceeded round toward the southeast end
of the island, where it was proposed to land
another party with the same object. The
sea, however, rose too high, and no boats could
be landed She lay at an .hor here till Oct. IS,
waiting for a chance to reach the shore but the
weather got worse till, at midnight on this day,
heavy storm burst upon her. The Trinity lay
about three-quarters Of a mile from the shore
having two anchors out, with a ridge of reefs
on the southwest, and q heavy gale blowing
from the northeast. She was gradually being
driven on the reefs. when, at a. m. Oct. II,
the position was so peril0us that Capt. Williams
called council in the cabin to know what
should be done to save their lives.
- The verdict soon was, says the second mate.
ito slip the cables and run the ship on shore.
The captain thought this was our only chance,
and, at $50 a. m, We slipped them both
and made sail We were then a hard crew to
look at. with a wide waste Of waters on the star
board bow, ice bound cliffs and breakers on the
port bow, and wide beach astern. The ship
was not safe on any tack and death stared us in
the face. At 1910 she grounded about fifty
yards from the beach. the sea going clean over
her. We could not lower the boats 90 two or
three of the crew jumped overheard and swan
ashore, and haule d some of the others to land
with ropes. Soon after the ship swung round
sideways to the surf, which gave us cnance to
lower a boat. In this the remainder of the
crew got On shore, all safe and sound, except
seven negroes, who were frOstbitten. We
hauled ashore also about two months prOvis-
ions. which were packed in casks. About 9
o'clock at night all hands put up tilt. we lit a
fire, dried our clothes, and lay down, 20 in alsl'
From this day, October II, 1880. until the
rescue on January 49, 1882. the unfortunate
seamen lived on this uninhabited island with
out any communication with the outer world.
EsmOnd describes the first realization of their
loneliness thus: Then our troubles appeared
in their proper shape. We saw that there
was nothing out to Robinson Crusoe it for
twelve months at least, for we knew that no
ship would come before then. We knew
more three mouths afterward than we knew
then, for then we began to see that we should
have to live without any natural food"
About midnight on the first night of their
sOjOurn on the island, EsInOnd, happening to
walk down to the shore with two negroes saw
the ship gave q weather ROLL and with violent
lurch, she got clea Of the beach and fioated
away, taking with her six months provisions
This was the finishing blow to the seamen, who
now had nothing but the resources of the is
land and the few provisions they had saved to
depend on There grew kind Of wild cabbage
on the island in plenty and this together with
the flesh OF the sea elephants and leopards,
formed their chief sustenance There were no
quadrupeds on the island itself, but there was,
fortunately, plenty of fresh water. The party
lived in four shanties which had been pre-
viously built by some whaling crew, made of
wood. stones, and sods. The captain, officers.
sailors in another, and the negroes in third
Esmond and two negroes lived in the fourth
structure, which was built on the southeast
side, and used as a lookout for coming ships
These three were always on duty, and remained
at the lookout station till they were taken Off
The weather was always cold. 1t was below
freezing point when they landed, and summer
brought no change of any consequence. Being
situated in the antipOdes. the months of June,
July, and August were the csldest, the darkest,
and the dreariest, and at this period of the year
they only had about three hours daylight in the
twenty-fOur. though occasionally the moon
shone very brightly.
During the whole fifteen months strong gales
blew all the time. The only occupation of the
men. besides sleep, was each day patroIling the
beach In search Of food. When they had sufil
Gent for immediate wants they stored up for
a rainy day. They did not organize in any way
either for recreation or prayer service. They
had no cards and no games. Their existence
was one vacant dreariness. relieved OCCASION
ally by sitting round the blubber fire spinning
sailOr-like, long yarns. With few exceptions
they did not suffer hunger; once they became
accustomed to the only food they could get
This consisted OF the flesh of the sea elephants
they caught, but for a long time many of the
crew could not get used to it. There was no
fuel on the island. and they used the fat, oily
blubber of the sea elephants in its place When
they had sufficient binbber for fuel they had ex-
tracted the oil from what they had on hand and
stored 1t In casks. In this way they had accu-
mulated about 500 barrels. in measure, of oil
when rescued, and they left it all on the island
to be at some future day taken away as q valu
able prize by somebody. They had blankets
with them and beds were made from the feath-
ers OF the sea hens which they caught. Their
own clothes had to last them all the time they
were there, but they made boots, gloves,
mittens, &C., out of the skins Of the sea
animals they caught. For the last seven
months they were entirely without tobacco,
and this the seamen seem to regard as the
worst Ill OF all. There were no clocks or
watches among the crew, but Esmond says he
made sun dial on the roof Of his shanty,
which sufficed fairly. correct reckoning Of
the days and months was kept in the simplest
possible manner. calendar was marked out
on large board and affixed where it could
be easily seen. As each evening came round
another day was scored of by man whose
duty it was to tick it off with piece Of chalk
Sunday was the same as any other day, and the
routine Of patrOlling the beach for food be-
lOnged to the seventh as well as to the other
six days Of the week. No attempt was made to
celebrate Christmas day, the Fourth Of July, or
other festivals. Fortunately they had no sick
ness among them. except in the case Of those
who became frOstbitten. There were q few
copies Of Hd,per's Magazine In the settlement,
which belonged to the captain but beyond this
they had no literature save some books on navi-
cation. And yet, with all their apathy Esmond
uSSSiiuCe thCm do VII TIC WuOIc cheerful anu AZ
ways animated by hope. He adds: "Such q
lOyal-hearted crew under such circumstances
have not been among before. We all stuck it
out very well, and never looked on the dark
side"
Several events, in the shape of disasters and
otherwise, occurred to vary the mOnOtony of
their existence. In January, 1884, terrible
misfortune happened to them. Five men were
sent to spot called Fairchild's Beach in search
Of elephant meat. Three only returned at
night, having missed their comrades. A
search was instituted and the bodies Of both
men were found about mile and a half apart,
near an iceberg. They had both been frozen to
death. One was the ships carpenter, named
George Watson, . native Of Scotland. The
other was named Kelley, and he came from New
York. They were both buried In one box
About Nov. /, 1881, the penguins began to lay
| and the eggs which were In plenty gave them
new life. The volcanic mountain on the island
once or twice emitted flames and smoke. and
caused great alarm, but this soon subsidized.
All this time the party had not heard from
the four men left by the Trinity On the othel
side Of the island, from whom they were sepa
rated by an impossible field Of ice. But In De
| cember, 1881, these four men, having built
boat from the boards of their shanty, paid theil
comrades visit by sea, and remained some
time They guhoauJlo0flv rof,,r,,od IN tho;r <,lS