The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1883-06-28
ACROSS THE PACIFIC,
fcriIouS FoynSc of Buffalo Man From
Snn Fruncisco to Austrnlin.

Tho San Francisco Chronicle says =
On the 10Th of August, 1882, Bernard
Gllioy, native of Buffalo, N. Y, left
the port OF San Francisco, bound I" on a
voyage OF pleasure" to Australia. The
craft i'll which he sailed was n dory l8
Icet long, 6 feet beam, depth of 2 feet
! lnchcs, and register of two tons.
Gllioy was the only passenger, and
started with the determination Of per
forming the unparalleled feat of crossing
! tho Haclhc SlnglC-handCd in common
! sailing boat. Tho cutter, for she was
niue moro, was named the Pacific, and
was covered III all over, with the cXcep-
ton of Il couple of matches, one amidship
ana ono aft. The fore part was used
mostly for the water casks, which were
filled with salt water rs the fresh was
used up, and the after part was used as
kitchen, cabin and sleeping room. Moth
ing was heard Of Gilfoy until the arrival
: IN San Francisco of the barlentine
/ Iropic Vance from Tahiti, whose Cap
, tain reported that he had sighted the
Pacific Nov. 10. He had given Gilfov
ms correct bearings and a quantity Of
fruit, and had learned that after q week
of favoring weather the Pacific had on
cOuntcrcd 20 days of alternate calms and
hcad-winds. which had driven Gilfoy to
shorten his allowance. He crossed the
line i'll longitude 1916 deg. on Friday
Sept. 20, and then met with good'winds
before which he ran south between lnti-
tudcs 5 deg. and Is dcS. south. His
principal discomfort he said, had been
! the too familiar habits of the sharks,
; which every night came humping the
boat with their ugly snouts. TO rid
/ himself Of them he made harpoon out
of boat hook, and succeeded in rcn-
dcrinG them SO shy that by proping up
his shirt nt night i'll the place where he
usually sat by day he was enabled to
take his rest comparatively untlisturbcd.
The conclusion of the Pncitic's extra
ordinary voyage is gathered from n long
account published in the Mnryboroueh
(Quecusland) NTOnjcic of Feb. 3. 1t
appears that after leaving the Tropic
Vance things went badly with Gilfov.
On the l4th of December, being then to
the sout of the Friendly Isles, q heavy
sea broke over the boat and capsiZcd
her He went backward into the water.
and it wa% only by an hours hard work,
with the all of II "flOating anchor. -
that he was "IHlcl to ri@ht the dory.
No sooner WA, she riGlttcd than another
Again he ri2htrd her and passed the
night i'll bailiuS and the day in making
Tint gs rs ship-shapa rs possible. By
In" 2Oth of December he had got things
under way again and was enjoying pleas
n't Weather, When the boat was pierced
by Il 9wOrd-tieh.
On Christmas Day he found himself
near Hunter Island, II barren rock, with
nj: his Instruments como and Dofbino lor,
of his provisions except twelve pounds
of corncl meat, two quarts of alcohol.
and fifteen gallons of water. He then
tried to make for New Caledonia, but the
wind and current were against him, and
on the 14th of january he ate tho last OF
his meat. Two days after he lost his
rudd"r, and had to rig up n lnnkcshift,
and from that time on he had to subsist
on whatever fish he caught or birds he
shot. On the Goth Of january he ate
his last cooked meal, n bird singcd over
heap of broken matches, and after that
he sacked the banaclcS. Then the
days came, in which he knew nothing
and cared nothing, steering aimlcSslI
here and there. just as the last hope
had fled he sighted the Alfred Vittcr,
on Monday. ,JaA. %, bound for Mary.
borough The N!tcrv saw him and \
few minutes ;.it'r Gill"y W;ut saved. lie
was then but t6U miles off Sandy Cape
and, after hcir% fed, told the Simpnlal
story OF IN extraordinary feat SO nearly
accomplished. II" was kindly cared for
on his arrival at marlborough, but the
latest news r"rnrIs him as bcir & down
with typh"i fever, thr result of exposure
and hrrola!np..