The Mineral argus., 1884-12-04
THE PAHes OF srARvAr7o,,
Horrible suFsrings caus.a
Food and Water. OF

Food and Water. OF
New York Tribune: "Wber 7
BACK to my W brief experience 40
think OF the poor fellows of the Groal-
expedition and the long, weary monr,
they suffered in the Arctic region,
think the mantle of charity and forr..
iulness should be thrown over their :
ton, said George W. Brewer. an a.
coXswaln OF the navy, who had been %
tacied to the Inflated steamer TaIlaroo
"a when she was attached Co tba al.
Squadron. One evening when retnrn
ing from a boat expedition we ,vor.
caught in n terrific squat and our bost
was capsized near a small island
My managed to reach thu
shore, but our boat drifted awav
IN the darkness. We Law down
in the bushes and slept that night
and when morning broke we realized
that we were IN a desolate island. Wa
explored the island and found on 4
only under brush and trees, nothing in
the shape of food and water. We had
only to hope that we would soon ba
rescued. The gale continued with VIC.
lence, and we spent another night in
our bed of bushes.
"The following morning we began 10
feel the pangS of hunger and thirst.
and finding an old barrel on the beach
we broke it up and used the slaves TO
dig for water, which we found so brack.
ish that we could not drink it. Then
we set up a pole on a cliff, with a shirt
of one of the men fastened on il as a
signal of distress. Our sufferings from
thirst were indescribable. We passed
the third night and day on the island
without any change, excepting in one
incident. With a companion l started
on a tour around the island, it being
our practice to take turns to search for
a passing vessel that we might signal.
and going through a clump of woods,
saw n cormOrant, a bird of carrion con-
sidered unfit to eat. i killed il with a
club, and we ra%venously tore il in
pieces and sucked it's blood, which, in our
condition we found refreshing. But
we did not mention the fact to our com.
rades upon our return TO camp. The
morning of the fourth day broke with
excessive heat, and one OF our party
was SO delirious that it required two of
us TO subdue him. Our tongues had so
swollen that we could hardly speak
above a whisper. Our lips we're also
cracked and split with the intense heat.
ain the afternoon one Of the men
who had been on his tour was observed
running toward the camp, and we could
Just distinguish as he came nearer that
he was crying "a boat, a boat. Those
who we're able started toward the end
of the island, where our distress signal
was flying, and we distinguished a boat
approaching us from the distance. As
it approached the shore we recognized
it as the launch of the Tallapoosa. As
the officer came on shore we begged
him TO give us water. He gave us a
couple of swallows each, which made
us crave for more, but it was denied US.
Then a fire was made on the beach, and
in a few moments a pot of hot coffee
was ready. Of that we received only q
few swallows each, and then we were
given a few pieces of pilot-bread soaked
in the coffee. Then we were assisted
into the boat, snd taken to the ship,
which we reached late at night. A few
days of careful feeding AMI tender
nursing restored us to our former
strength. 1 have often thought how
thankful | was for that rescue. Per-
sons who have never had like expert
enc can form no idea of the terrible
sufferings of men in that condition and
those persons who so harshly c~riticise
the survivors of the Greedy expedition
if placed amid similar surroundings
would no doubt adopt the same course"