The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-09-23
CHAPTER VIII.
KERGrELES LAND

drowning by her intervention, lay gasp
ing at the bottom of the boat. Augusta,
overcome by Eomcntary falHsness, let
h.f head fall forward on to The bundle OF
blankets in which she had wrapped mp the
child sho had rescued. and who, too terri
fcl t0arcak o. cry, stared about lin with
wide opened and frightened eyes. When
she lifted IL q few seconds later, q ray
fr0n the rising SIN had pierced the mist
and striking iull or the sinking SHIP rs,
Ter storm well out Of the water and her
bow we'll under it, she relied srllenly TO
cd fro IL the trough Of the heavy sea-
seemed go wrap hcg FROM hull 20 truck III
Wild AID stormy light.
"Sho'5 eoing'-by heaven, she's going
-a.l the seaman Johnnie, and as be SAID
.lo mighty ship slowly reared hcrsei.
rp CD end. Sl1viy-very slowly, amid
fLo i ieJ,s end dcspailing shrichs 81 TIE
G'-rCl yro,cae1 on board OF hes She
lifted hc- stem higher and higher, and
plunged Lcr bows Deeper and deeper
They sh..el.ed. they cried TO heaven for
..elp, but heaven headed them not, for
mans agony cannot avert mans doom
Vow, for a space, sno was standing o..
most upright upon the water. out ct
which about O hundred feet On her vast
length lowered ike some monstrocs
ocean growth, while men fell from her in
showers. like flies bcngmbed by frost.
down into The churning foam beneath
Then suddenly. with a swift and awful
rush, with rending sound OF breaking
spars, a loud explosion of her boilers. and
q sm0thered boom OF bursting bulSheads
she pluuged down into the mcasureless
doeps. aud was seen no more forever.
The water closed in over whore she had
been. boiling and foaming and sucking
down eli things in the wake of her last
Journey. while the steam and prisoued air
came up in huge Kissing jets and bubbles
that exploded into spray ON the surface
Tho men groaned. the child stared
s.upoaod, and Augusta cried out On
OH like one in pain.
Row back" she gaspcd row back
and see if we cannot pick some OF them
up"
"Nol no" shouted Meeson, they will
sink the boatw
'Taint much uls any way said John
mic Il doubt that precious few OF them
viii come up again They have gone TOO
deep
However. they got the boats head
round again-5i0wly enough Augusta
th3ucht-and as they did So they heard a
feeble cry or Two. But By the time that
they he'd reached the SPOT where the
Kangaroo went down there was no lly-
irr .reatgre 10 b. seen; nothing but tho
wash of ihe great waves over Which the
mist oac' more closed thick and heavy AS
q PAIL They shouted. and once they
heard D faint answer, and rowed toward
II. bI. when they got TO the spot whence
the s0rui seemed 10 proceed. they could
500 nothing except some wrockarc They
wer3 all dead. their agony was done. their
cries 10 moro assembled 90 tho ptlleas
heavens. and wind, and sky aid sea
were just as they had been.
"Oh. Joy God' my Cody wept Augusta.
cl.nciag 20 the thwarts of The tossing
boat
conc boat got away-whcrc is it,
asked Nr MeasOn who. wet and
vro,chcl figure. was huddled up in tho
stern sheets. as hc rolled his wild eyes
ro.nd striving 20 pierce thocmtain Of the
mist
There's something said Johnnie,
pointing through a fog dog IN the mist.
that seemed - grow donser rather than
otherwise as the light increased at q
round. boat Ike object that bad suddenly
appeared 10 the starboard of them.
They r1wed UP 20 it,; it was boat bat
empty and floating bottom upward.
closer examination showed that il WAS
tho cutter. which. when full of women
and children. had been fastened to- the
vessel and dragged down with her rs she
sunk. ~ certain depth the pressure OF
tho water had been 900 great and bad torn
tho ring In the bow Bodily ont Of her. sd
that she returned 80 the surface. Bnt
those i'm her did not rctun--at least, not
yet. Once moro. two or three days hence,
they would arise from the watery depths
ana look upon the skies with eyes that
could not see. and then vanish forever.
Turning from this awful and most NOV
inr sight. they rowed slowly through
quantities Of floating wreckagc-barrcls.
hen coops (in one of these they found two
drowned fowls, which they secured. and
many other articles, such as oars and
wicker deck chairs--and began 20 shout
vigorously i'm tho hope of attracting the
attention Of the survivors in the other
boat which they imagined would not be
far of. IT, ir efforts, however, proved
fruitless. owing 10 the thickness OF the
f0g, and in the considerable sea which was
running 10 was impossible to SEQ moro
than twenty yards or so. Also, what be
tween the wind and the wash and turmoil
Of the water, the sound Of their voices
did not travel far The ocean is a large
place. and q r0Wb0at is easily lost sight OF
upon its furrowcd surface, therefore it is
not wonderful that although the two
boats were at that moment within half a
mile Of each other, they never met, ana
each took its separate course in the hope
of escaping the fate Of tho vessel. The
boat in which were Lady Holmhurst and
some twenty other passengers, together
with the second officer and crew Of six
men, after seeing the Kangaroo sink and
picking up one survivor shaped a course
FOR Kerguelen Land, believing that they
and they alone. remained 70 tell the tale
of that awful shipWreck. And here it
NAV be convenient 10 state that before
nightfall they were picked up bya sealing
whaler that sailed with them 10 Albany,
on the coast Of Australia Thence an ac-
count of the disaster, which, as the
reader viii remember, created a deep i'm
preston, was telegraphed home, and