, 1889-12-27
HOW II FEELS TO DROWN.
One Who Has Had tho Experience Tells
All About II.

ouo VINO mas ma tho Experience Iels
An About 1t.
The ship was the George Pollock,
Capt. Withers, bound from London to
Lyttelton, New Zealand. We were
about ], 900 miles south of the Cape of
Good Hope, a very cold latitude in the
month Of October. / was a saloon
passenger, and had been fishing for al
batrosses and mollymocks over the
stern with a long line and hooks
baited with salt pork all the morning.
About midday we went down to din
ner, but ], being anxious to catch a
bird, made a hurried meal and has
tened back on deck. The Sir George
Pollock was an old fashioned ship
with a high poop, and, as we had cows
on board, a number of trusses of hay
had been dashed to the stern taffrai1,
where they were less liable TO be wet
by the sea than elsewhere.
When l got on the poop, no one
else being there but the man at the
wheel, l found my line had got tan
gled with the rudder. / climbed on to
one of the trusses OF hay with the in
tention of casting the line loose, and
was leaning down to do so when the
ship gave a pitch. l lost my balance
and fell plump into the sea. From
where l was perched on the hay to the
water, as the ship rose on the wave,
vas a clear drop of twenty feet or
more, and as / fell flat on my chest
the wind was knocked out of me and
/ was half stunned for the moment.
When came TO myself / was floating
pretty comfortably, my thick wooden
clothes supporting me, and my wide
awake hat floating by my side.
There was a heavy swell, and as l
rose to the crest of a wave, / saw the
ship, looking very small. as if she were
already a long way off. 1 noticed,
however, that she was hove to, and /
felt sure then that / should be picked
up. My only fear was that the alba
trosses might swoop down upon me
and kill me with their terrible beaks,
as they had the carpenter of the same
ship the voyage before. A long time
passed-hours it seemed to me-and,
my clothes having become soaked, !
tioated low in the water and could no
longer empty my mouth fast enough
to get breath or keep the ship in
sight. Every wave that came sank
me deeper and made me swallow more
water. l began to feel deadly cold,
and / thought it was all over with me.
l could not help blaming my friends
on the ship for their cruelty in letting
me drown, when they might SO easily
have sent a boat for me, but / forgave
them and said my prayers to myself.
All / could do now 1 could not keep
my head above water, and at
last l saw it green over my eyes
as l looked up, my head swan
round and l thought l was going
to sleep. l was aroused by some
thing touching me, forcing me down
in the water, and then dragging me
out altogether, and the next thing /
knew | was among men who were
talking, though / could not under
stand them for the rushing and whiz-
zing in my ears.
The first words l understood were
something about ''handing me up"
and at the same time L felt myself be-
ing lifted up to the ships side and
seized by n number of arms. Then
my clothes seemed to come off all at
once-they had been cut Off by the
doctor with a sharp knife-and then ]
felt warmth all over me. Soon / knew
that l was lying in warm blankets
with hot bottles under my armpits
and feet. | could hear voices round
me and knew what they said, and /
could feel hands rubbing my limbs
and turning me about. But / could
not speak or move, Dr. show any signs
of life, and in my inside / still felt so
cold L thought l must die.
At length | felt something very hot
in my mouth, and l gulped and it
went down my throat. 1t came again
and again, and warmed me and made
me feel better, though fearfully sick.
Then l felt a terrible pricking and
twitching dixie pins and needless
when your foot has gone to sleep all
over me, After that / got drowsy, and
the next thing l remember l was ly-
ing in my own berth with my father
and sister sitting by me. / was still
very weak, and l had a very bad
cough, but | was out of danger and
fast recovering. Two days later the
children in the saloon, who were all
great friends of mine, were allowed TO
come and see me, and bring me little
presents they had ready for me, and in
a fortnight l was up and again catch
ing seabirds over the stern. / had ac-
tually been half an hour in the cold
waters of the Southern ocean, and it
was two hours before they could tell
for certain whether l was dead or
ahve.-Edward Wakefield in New
York World.