The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1883-12-26


the angry sea rolled necessarily to-.
ward the shores. Ofthe fate Of these boys
Vail is vet ignorant, although he has
heard that the Captain had arrived at An
giers and had .een reported in Europe,
but as to the fa,e of the two bows, or in
deed of any of his ship companions, he
has no knowledge. 1t is, however,
probable thai some of them, at least,
escaped. Finding himself alone upon
this island, he was compelled TO exert
bis wits to contrive ways for sustaining
lie He had wed nothing except the
clothing uvon his person, and had not
even ought dry matches ashore with
him. ow;ng t. the splashing and duck
ing he received in getting from the boat
to dry lard With flints and old dry
rags, which he found, il succeeded in
striking some sparks and getting fire
kindie4. ich. when it had once got
to burning. lie was careful never again
to let 90 entirely ont so long as he re-
NAMED upon the island There was
wood TO be picked up along the shore,
and some small trees and bushes grew
upon the island, so that he had no great
trouble in getting a supply of fuel
As TO shelter, he found this already
provided for him, as there were some
sheds used by the fishermen who make
periodical visits to the place for the
purpose of catching and curing fish
These fish were q species Of mackerol,
which they cure by splitting them, as is
customary with Yankee fishers, and
then lay them upon the dry ground to
cure, In addition to the mackercl is q
kind of shark, which is very fat, and is
taken and melted down for the OIL, the
bones being saved and made an article
of traffic and used in manufactures.
The large iron kettles used in this bust
ness We're sitting in their positions Just
as left at the end of the previous fishing
season, and by putting some sea-water
in one of them and drying it out again
by means of fire, Mr.. Nohl secured a
supply of salt He found plenty of
good oysters at low tide, and in basins
among the rocks many fish We're LETT in
4 condition TO be easily taken. There
was thus no danger of absolute starya-
ton. Being thus thrust into this utter
solitude, a species OF lethargy or tor
por seemed to seize upon the steward,
which almost bereft him of the use of
his faculties for some eight or ten days,
but it gradually wore away and he
found him.eff again possessed Of his
normal mental activity and physical
vigor He soon found that for him the
supreme virtue was patience since to at
tempt escape by any effort OF his own
making was quite out of the question.
He saw that if he lived his rescue was
q mere matter Of time, as the people
who were in the habit OF visiting the
island would certainly return. At least
ne had the best of reasons for expecting
them to do so, since they had left prop
erty there and the place afforded them
profit. He soon became tired Of his
fish diet and looked about for some
means Of varying it. The island is
some twenty miles in extent in one
direction and is destitute of any game.
There We're, however, some small land
birds sometimes to be seen. but without
4 gun he could not secure them. After
enduring this sort of life for some fifteen
weeks the japanese boats arrived and
the steward rushed to meet them. Al
though unable to speak an intelligible
word to these people he grasped one by
! the hand and found it more welcome
even than that of brother in n for
| eign land. In short, these people were
| kind to the stranger and did all that
| they could to make him comfortable,
| and in few DAYS the first boat started
| fer Tcobe and he went with it. and
thence to Yokohama. Reaching that
city he was protected by the American
Consul and sent by that official TO this
city. where he arrived few days ago
! WOhl is very well-informed man and
| repeats the story of his adventure in a
| very entertaining manner, despite his
| foreign accent and imperfect command
of the English language. He has two
motherless children living near San
! Francisco. and he has set about the
business of gaining support for them
| by commencing again as steward on
board of one of the Northern coast col
ljcrs, with the captain OF which he ha,
long been acquainted The story a
told by its hero does not equal the
famous picture of Robinson Crusoe. a
painted by the brilliant pen of Defoe
but in the very important particular o
reliability it far surpasscs it, being, u
the reader may rest assured, entirely
true. The genius which changed Sci
kirk into Crusoe, removed an island t.
the opposite side of a continent an,
magnitied lonely life of four years to
term of two decades, and called tribe
of warlike cannibals to engage in dis
tant and unnatural expeditions. is quit
too fertile to be lightly challenged.
| Alta california.