The Mineral argus., 1884-01-31

in quest OF h treasures OF lhe eaIIh'
they started back. A storm came mp
! and a terrible gale blew the Nellie upon
> a sunken rock just opposite their place
of habitation. She went to pieces and
The men had great difficulty IN getting
ashore. Brown was taken sick October
ms, and one Of the Cinnamon became III
two or three days alter.
Matters began to look very gloomy Tor
the little party and a few days alterward
Bascom, who was feeling in much better
health than any of the others, went in a
Whale-boat. which was thrown upon
shore after the wreck, to get assistance
and obtain medicines tor his comrades.
He was caught in a severe storm ana, In
spite of his most strenuous efforts, was
blown out to sea. For days he was
tossed about in his little boat and a.
though be ate very sparingly his small
supply of pro, isions SON gave out. Al
ter be had been without food for three
DAYS and was about to give up in despair,
Bascom saw a sail. With a~desperate eff
fort he attracted the attention of the YES
Sc. and was taken on board. 1t was a
native Chinese craft, on a fishing cruise,
and it was many weary weeks before he
was 'anded at Hong Kong. During all
this time he had, of curse, heard moth
ing of his comrades and was extremely
J duAlUuS W ICnuGI EOAlC dooioA1lCC ~
them. For a long time no opportunity
offered until finally one day he succeed
ed in finding q vessel s5und for the Ok
hotsk Sea and secured passage on her.
HIS supply of money contributed by
his fellow explorers lad dwindleG pretty
low, bat was replenished to some extent
by charitable people to whom ne had
told his story. The vessel in which
Ba scomb secured passage was the
schooner Hannah Rice, owned by a firm
of traders, Dinholm q Co., OF Wadin-
stock, and was on her way with supplies
for d new station ju-t established at
Mungur or Shanta Bay. Whenthe party
under Bascomb's lead reached the spot
where his party had set up its cabin
they were startled to find lying 8 few
| va lis from the door the detached bones
of a man. Pushing open the door an
overpowering stencil greeted them
They fell back precipitately, but finally
mastering courage again advanced. A
horrible sight met tha eyes. just over
the threshold lay a -docOnposed body
and in a bunk built in the
side was another. They were
entirely unacceptable. There was
a small store of salt beef nard bread,
tea, molnsses, tobacco and two rifles,
three old rusty sabres ami some ammu.
ulliOus III lD6 DliUk Will lHG UOuH WAS
the log. Parts had been torn out, pre-
sumably to preserve some secret. Near
ly all the entries were made in the
hands of Captain Thompson and many
OF them bore his signature.
The story told by the log is one of ter
rible suffering. Although the log was in
a delapidated condition Bascom secured
what remained intact of it and recently
permitted your correspondent to inspect
il. The entries for January, 1877,
showed that heavy snow and intense
cold was experienced. Both Brown and
the Chinaman got much better untIlthe
latter part of the month, when Browns
leg began to swell badly and he was con.
fined to his bed. In February there
we're very heavy falls of o
On March 9Captain Thompson's entry
says: "This month brings sickness and
misery into this house.
March 81 was compel ed to lie
down, with my legs swollen and turn
ing black which l put down to scurvy.
March 20-One OF the Chi iamen on
his back with the same disease. Brown
still getting worse and complaining that
he cannot live.
"March 30-This month ends with !
the sickness of our other Chinaman,
who IS just able to walk. My Godl when
will this end?
April 5-This month brings the great
est misery l have ever experienced.
Brown is net able to turn on his blanket
Al none of us are ab e to give him q
helping hand. The poor Chinanlan is
only able to give him a cup of tea once
in a while.
"April S-Poor old Brown died and
not one of us able to close his eyes.
april l0-One ofLhe Cinnamon gone.
We had an awful time getting the body |
into the snow.
April 12-This night 1 feel more like a
dying man than ever.
april I6-IheIe is absolute misery in
the ranch, One Chinaman died during
the night. THIS morning | tried to get
up, but tainted. We tri d to get the dead
Chinaman outside, but all efforts failed
L feel that we are all doomed"
The next and last entry has no date
and is written in a very feeble, shaky
hand, 1t reads:
"How long 1 have laid here 1 don't
know. all is a blank l am alone. I'm
able to move. The others are dead.
Oh, what agony / am inl / feel it eat.
ing at my vitals. This must be death"
Here the logabrubtly ended. A grave
was dug by the party and the remains
were laid in as best they could be. The
door of the cabin was strongly fastened
to keep out the bears. Two years after
Bascom visited the same spot. He says:
"The cabin still stood above the COM
mon grave and / could not look upon it
without a shudder passing over me to
think of the terrible tragic months
these men had passed, dying one by
one of that slow, certain dis
ease, far from home, he. D
and civilization. The shores of this
wild, desolate country are the silent
custodiaus of many a tragedy. The
counterpart of this and lonely graves
mud nhnatlu cEnlnAonn n.-o ou;Ln.-a