The Portland daily press., 1884-11-19
The Rainier.
The second and Third Omcers in New
KOrk-Experiences o, the Wrecked Crew
AmOag the Marshall ISLANDS.

The second and Third Omcers in New
KOrk-ExPeriences o the Wrecked Crew
AmOas she Marshall ISLANDS.
The ship Pactolus was laEily riding at an
chor eff Castle William Saturday afternoon,
when New York reporter climbed upon the
deck. Tae mate. A. W. Drowhan, popalarly
known as "Whslen" told his ss0ry Of ship
wreck and hardship. la the group Of sailors
surrounding him was Harry Percy, smooth
faced, blaek-eyed lad OF 20 years.
"Whaleu" "snd Percy we're respectively second
and third Office rs of the ship Rainier, OF Bath,
Maine. The captain of the Rainier was
Samuel 81. Morrison, the uncle of Percy. The
vessel was loaded with coal oil, from Philade-
ph "a TO Kobe, Japan. On January 2, 1854,
after being baily used aud thrown off her
course by a gale that lasted two Gays, she
struck on an unknown reef IN the North PACT
fic. off the Marshall Islands. Toe Cfficers and
crew, twsr ty-aix in number, aud the mateis
wife managed 10 land oa neighboring is and
in the sdip's small boat. The vessel went to
pieces so rapidly that but little of the cargo
was saved, and what WAS saved soon rust5d in
the cans. The island on which they had land
ed was Que of the largest of a group of thiT-
teen. They found it Inhabited by a tribe of
natives called Ksnakas-a peaceably disposed
aud hospitabs race of savages.
THE w0ole population amounted to about
two huadred," said "Whaen" after he had
given the reporter the foregoing informa tion.
''They are good looking psope and treated
US kindly-thOagh OF course We could have
overpowered them, being fully armed. They
were not very black, but about saadle color,
aud had Ions, wsyy hair. The only clothing
they wore was kiUd OF mat, made outoi palm
bark, tied around the hips, aud reaching to a
little above the knee. the young ones didn't
wear anything.
sit was a cocoanut island, and bananas and
bread fruit grew everywhere. The chief was
King John be gave the captain his house
the bsst in the group-aud the rest Of us our
pick. The tribe used to DO cannibals years
ago, they told US. About 80 miles to the south
was group OF islands where the inhabitants
eth kept up the caunibalistic custom. Three
years ag0 crew was cast away there, and the
| savsgss ate them up.
AFTER we had been there sight days it was
| decided that should take the boat and four
men and make my way to the nearest civilized
| port or get into the line of Chiua traders.
| We took along good supply OF bread I,
| canned meat and wafer in the oil cans; but il
| was pretty tough stuff to drink, and one of the
| men died from it and exposure after We bad
| been ont five days. 1t cane on rough toe
second day ont; the bread got water soaked,
| we lost oar course and We were ABOUT ready TO
| give up on the eleventh day, when ship hove
in sight.
III was the bark Cataline OF London, for
| Saigon. They took US aboard. At Saig IN
| there was no United States consul but the
| British consul telegraphed our story to Colonel
| Mosby, the United States consul at Hong
Kong. 1 went down by steamer and applied
| to Colonel Mosby for relief a, soon as we got
| in port. The neXs day l learned that the
| Uaited States msn-of-war Essex, which had
been summoned by Colonel M0sby to meet me,
| had got into port"
| The Essex reached the Marshall Islands on
| Easter Sunday and took off the remainder Of
the crew, after sOionrn there of three months
| and ten days. Two weeks before her arrival
| Captain Morrison, concluding from their long
| absence that "Whalen" and his party were
| lost, had built little schooner ont Of the
| pieces OF the wreck, aud WITH seven men aud
tue mates wife hsd started in search OF sac
| cor. The schooner succeeded in reaching the
| slaud OF Jeute, 800 miles to the eastward, a
| little reef in ths ocean wilderness belonging to
| Germany. There this Essex fouud them and
| conveyed the whole party TO Yokahama,
who're "Whalsn" aud his party shipped
aboard tie Pactolus, ana arrived In New York
| on Saturday uoruiBg.