The Grenada gazette., 1888-12-20
A STRANGE SHIPWRECK.
On the Ocean Thirty Days In q
Leaky Old Hulk.
Killing OF the Matt, and Mysterious Dis.
appearance of All the Crew
Eatr| cts from the Diary OF
the Sole Survivor.


EAtrS cts from the Diary OF
the Sole Survivor.
When you read of a shipwrecke,
crew being picked up after six, ten 0
sixteen days of drifting about on tn
Atlantic in yawl, you are surprised
that they were not sooner sighted
Novelists would have us believe tha
the ocean is dotted with sails, and tha
every square mile of it is plowed ovel
at least once a day by craft of some
sort. Let one look at the shipping ii
the harbors of New York, Boston anc
Philadelphia, and he will almost won
der how they can avoid each othe,
outside. 1t is hard for one to realize
the immensity of ths Atlantic unit
they voyage across it ! made voy.
age from Cape Town to Australia,
clear across the Indian Ocean withou,
one single cail being sighted. made
one trCm San Francisco to New Zea.
lane and sighted only two. | made
one from the Sandwich Islands to Lima
without passing any craft close enough
to see her hull. | was once wrecked
off Santiago, and during the seven DAYS
we were on u raft twelve ships came
within sight, and three or four OF
them almost within hearing of our
voices. and yet none noticed us. No
craft except a whalcr keeps lookout
hloft. A ship may therefore run with
In mile Of a raft or within two miles
of dismantled hulk, and see NOTHING
unless by accident. If the way ahead
Is clear, the average steamer, ship, or
brig has no eyes for any other point of
the Compass.
! In the year 1860 left the island of
Trinidad on the English brig Duchess,
hound for Parnuhyba, coast OF Brazil.
An English syhdicate had been boring
for coal Gil near that port, and with
such indications of success that we
were taking up Il large cargo Of tight
barrels to hold the stuff. These bar
rels had come to Trinidad as salvage
from a wreck, and had been bought in
by tho syndicate Each barrel had a
hardwood bung, and each bung was
driven in place as the barrels came
aboard. state this because these
simple details had great bearing on
The length of our voyage. Having sev-
era1 thousand barrels aboard, any one
OF which would have foatod two men
in the water, there was no danger of
the brig going 70 the bottom, no matter
If she started half a dozen planks. Il
was, doubtless, for this reason that
tho captain, whose name was Kimball,
left port short two men. Indeed, we
had a crew which would have passed
Tor shabby on any sort Of a craft.
There were only three of us who dared
rate as able seamen, and the captain
was almost too drunk to walk when we
left port.
| wanted to get down the coast to
Join Scotch whslet, or should never
have become one of the crew of the
duchess She had an unseaworthy
look from mastheads to the water.
line, and things aboard were very
slovenly. However, we got away aft
er deal of fuss and feathers, and,
hauling well out from the coast, set
our course. We had just four hours of
lalr weather, and this gave us time to
get the decks cleared of the ra fife.
lhen the wind suddenly veered about
and struck us head on, and we were
obliged to box the yards about. While
we seemed to be going ahead all the
time, we no doubt made drift enough
TO offset it. as the brig was little better
than a square box at most, and if she
mad any best sailing point, no one had
ever discovered it. Every time she
made tack 1t took all hands to swing
the yards, and after one night of it
there was a good deal of growing.
lhe captain shut himself up for a
quiet drunk, and the poorest man be-
lore the mast soon sized the chief mate
up correctly. His name was Hastings,
and while he made great show of
commanding the brig, 1t was easy to
see that he was very much worried
over the responsibility The second
mate, whose name was Walters, made
no bones about confessing his unfit
hess. having never been any thing
higher than mate OF coal schooner
On the English coast.
On the evening of the second day we
had trouble. A big negro who had
shipped before the mast refused to do
duty. Some mates would have knocked
him down Off-hand and half killed him,
but Hastings was afraid of him, and
went down to consult the captain.
That official was in drunken stupor,
md could not be aroused. The mate
'eturned TO the deck and made threats.
IND the result was a murder before our
'yes, and before one of us could lift
land to prevent. The negro was the
'niy mutineer, and all the rest of us
we're for the mate. Had he ordered us
o seize and bind the negro not lnan
you'd have hesitated While he was