Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1889-08-18
through many a mans brain there as It did
through inc, but not even when at Last the

through many a mau.s brain tlrere as It did
through inc, but not even when at Last the
angle of e deck became so steep that the
men had to hold onto the ships sides, or to any
thing they could claw at, was there the least
grI1rn Or sound Of discomfort from any one.
Such Is the result Of military discipline upon
the mind; the victory of mechanical obedi-
enceover al doubts or questlonings OF rea-
son, even over all the natural impulses of the
mind and body together.
While we were tins cooped up the captain
and his crew had not been idle. All ranks
had shown the greatest presence Of mind
There was no confusion, and although every
thing was done with the utmost Quickness
there was no hurry
The boats had been got out and the soldiers
q company at a time, were taken off to low
lying reef about $500 yards from the ship
and which was between the ship and the Isl
and Of Banea. The renf on which we had
struck was consequently about three and q
half miles from that shore.
These seas were then little known and the
reef, whose acquaintance we had made sc
disagreeably,, was not even marked on ouI
very detective charts. It was tbs old story
Of being wrecked upon Charybdis, through
giving Scylla 6oo vide a berth. Our master
had taken extra care to avoid a long cora
reef, which the chart showed to stretch out
from Sumatra far into the straits, and in Sc
doing he had run US upon the unknown reef
near the opposite shore.
Our men landed in full uniform, with their
arms and accouterments and as much am
munition as we could collect. Those local.
ties had then very bad reputation for pi
rates, and it was deemed desirable that We
should have the means of defending ourselve:
in case of any trouble with them.
Few prisoners ever hailed an order fol-
their release with greater relief and satifac
ton than my company did the order for u
TO go ON deck.
How pleasant the fresh air was when We
got there! Below every thing was death like
the men not being allowed to speak, and there
was nothing we could do. On deck, when We
reached it, all was hustle and excitement, al
hands not employed in the boats being busy
in striving to get up fresh water, food and
ammunition from below Nothing was known
of the Island Of Banca, and we had no idea
whether we should find any fresh water neal
the part upon which we were' destined tc
land From the ship the shore seemed tan
Sicu CI 3LAiSit, WAN iiO VI ioAitiL
habitation anywhere.
Before sundown we were all, soldiers and
sailors, establishedin pleasant bivouac un
der wide spreading india rubber trees, to the
surprise and apparent annoyance of the hun
/ dreds Of great baboons, who jabhered round
us.
There were two points connected with the
] wreck which must not BE passed over with
out remark, even though want Of space pre-
vents me from describing our adventure:
during the ten days spent Oh thaswih island
The first was, that The reef, which from It:
proximity TO !theFslGp e1absd US to dissctf11
bark so quickly as to be abae to save good
deal of biscuit aad+ Other provisions, wa:
never once uncovered again during our stay
in its neighborhooa. The other was, that we
were wrecked off the mouth Of the only fresh
water stream in That part Of the island
Gen. Lord Wolseley9fn Youths Companion.