The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1888-08-09
Secrets of the Sea.

on the 2oth Of last .|anuary .hc good clipper
~hip FarraSul, Captain lIardwicke. sailed from
Calcutta homeward bound. From that time
nothing has been heard of her, for the report
that her wreck HAD been seen sonic twelve
hundred mics from Calcutta does not appear
to have my Solid foundation. She passed away
into the ocean like many >tanch vessels be-
fore her. and the probability is that her fate
will never be known Already she has been
struck on he maritime list. which means that
She is III intiycly given up as lost. The re-
cords of marine disaster contain many more
eases of this Kind than lan,l>men would he apt
10 suppose. \ ship leaves port apparently in
good condition. her cargo well slowed her
>par- sound and generally we'll found. After
that nothing : ever heard If her, and ronject-
turc is vain. \ sudden >quall may have taken
her aback and sent her 10 The bottom stern fore
most or She may have foundercd in a gale after
all her boats h;tl been destroyed. or her boats
may have got away and persisted one by one On
the wide ocean plains Sometimes. but rarely.
there has been mUtnV and massacre, and the
survivors may have nude their way to some
tropical island. there to i've a> bcacl-comber>"
or turn savage with the Savagcs.
When fire occurs at sen on il merchant vessel.
unless The weather is very bad at the time. the
crew generally succeed in getting away. A
ship as Il means of destroying terminating evi-
lence. In the China seas there are still some
piratc~. aud 4 vessel becalmcd IN the neIghhor-
hood Of some OF the islands scattered in groups
there might incur the danger of attack by the
wicked-looking illnks that are usually conceal
ed in the passages between the Slcts. In such
case IL there were no firearms on board it
might 20 hard with the ships company, but
Il gool supply of >hot-gun> or rifles in the
hands Of white men is usually Il guarantee
against Chinese pirates. Still. many vessels
have met their fate iii that unllckV region. and
nothing has remained to tell the story. ~
phoon>. too, are doubtless responsible for not
Il few mysterious disappearance of vessels.
and once in a while probably waterspout
bursts over 4 ship and sinks her suddenly with
all hands. In the Indian Ocean furious squalls
often come up at night with a sWlftne>> very
menacng to any heaNy-sparred clipper slipping
along with studdingsails set allow and aloft, and
here again is a possible cause of destruction,
and one which might overtake the most ca,-
:ious skipper if his officers We're less sedulous
in consulting the glass.
Occasionally the mysteries are presented in
the most bcwidering way. Such ease was
that of Il vessel which. several years ago, was
found drifting with all sail set and not a soul
on board. All her boats We're on the tlayits,
the materials for a meal were in the galley cop
pers, the chrOnometcrS, compasses, charts, and
instruments We're in the cabin. but no ships
papers. The name on the stern was painted
out; nothing had been left by which to identify
her. Yet all these precautions had been taken
deliberately. while the final evacuation seemed
to have been effected with suddenness sug-
gcsting mortal panic. The mems things were
all in the torgallant forecastle; the captains
and officers effects were all in their respective
cabins under the poop. The whole appearance
of the vessel indicated that her people had left
her on the spur of the moment, driven by some
oNcrmastering impulse or fear. She had en-
countereu no bad weather since the teSertion
Her yards We're braced up as for Il trade wind,
and there was no disorder on her decks or
down below. No line of writing was found to
give q clew to this dark secret of the sea, and
to this day it has remained an insouble puzzle
to every seaman acquainted with the facts.
SAD and mysterious as are disappearances such
that of the Farragut, it must be admitted
that there is something even more perpleXing
in the discovery of lerelicts abandoned so in
comprehensibly as was the vessel here referred
to. 1t should he added that she was not leak
ing, nor were her spars sprung or strained, and
no reason could be perceived in anything about
her for the disappearance of her crew an, Of
ticcrs. New York Tribune.