Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1889-10-11
4 LETTER THAT .NET'ER "a ME-.

bonair. NJ. r. SdHgster.
4 LETTER THAT NEWER CAHE.
In July, 1879, was ordered to duty ON
board the United States ship iiert, bound
for the China station with orders to visit
the South Pacific islands en- route. We left
San Francisco ON the 3d of August, and as
| recall the first part Of the voyage out,
we had strong favorable winds that carried
us TO the line, distance of over two thou
sand miles, in sixteen days, a very fair av-
erage for small steam corvette under sail
alone. We slipped through the Doldrum
regions at the rate of 100 miles a day, and
took up the southeast trades without being
conscious of having lost the northeast. The
morning watch would trim the sails steady
taut the braces, and sweat home the
sheets an hour would be devoted to rou
tine drills, and then the balance of the day
would he given up to delicious idling, the
officers with pipes and books, and the men
with clothing and di.ty boxes cooling
breeze swept through the ilattened wind
sails the royals and all-port stern sails
gave her a comfortable list. and day after
day rolled over and under us until the page
of the nautical almanac showed that one
whole month had been crossed off. Then
came a few days of tiresome calm. We
were in latitude "a s., longitude l2S W.
If you will take the trouble to look on a
map of the South Pacific ocean at about
that latitude and longitude you will FIND a
tiny speck, not larger than that made by
needle point, indicating an island. There
are hundreds of such specks in the Pacific
ocean, many Of them without names and
all Of more or less uncertain location. This
one, however bears the name of Elizabeth
or Henderson Island. have never been
able TO learn anything about it-when it
was discovered or who gave it its name.
Some Of the early English Adventures,
possibly one of the ships of the Wilkes ex
petition or some whaler, may have run
across it, taken rough set of sights, prick
ed it on their charts, named it after their
sweethearts or themselves, and then squared
away for new bits Of worlds. Maritime
history is wonderfully silent on many such
points. All | know i, that early ON the
morning Of September Sth the mast head
lookout reported Land no ~ and the next
day we drifted sufficiently near it to war
rant the captain sending an officer in boat
with sextant, chronometer, and artificial
horizon, to get careful set Of sights and
to give it IA hurried exploration.
Many an addition to accurate geography
has been made in Just such way, and
felt quite ilattered when the detail fell to me
to 20 on shore Aside from the stretch to
ones limbs which the solid earth promised,
there was the feeling that this strange bit
of land had perhaps never been trodden 10y
the foot of man before Perhaps it was
Mountain Peak of the lost Atlantis, silent
| witness to some terrific CONFUSION that
| sunk it beneath the wave. Who could tell:
| Here it lay, however, indefinitely charted,
| and liable 10 bring some unsuspectlng mar
iner to grief unless properly located. Here
was a chance to earn the fame of having
made known an unknown corner OF the
world, and | was pleased as well as tlatter-
| ed We left the ship in a whale boat, SIX
| strong oarsmen. "a coxswain, midshipman
to mark time for the observations, and my
self An easy swell lifted us gently to its
| crest and then lowered US with mid
taste Of toboganning to its hollow, while
| the sparkling wake behind us showed IA
| line of bubbles far down through the SHIN
mering blue. The land was fully five miles
off but the men bent to IA long, steady
stroke, and in an hours time we were near
enough to see an unbroken line Of white
breakers rolling and tumbling over the mar
row strip of beach The sides of the island
seemed nearly perpendicular, while the lead
failed to give bottom at thirty fathoms,
close as we were | turned to the south
ward in hopes of finding an opening in the
| breakers there that would permit me to
| land but the same threatening wall of blue
with its crest of kissing white roared de
hauce at me | began 10 despair of ever
effecting a landing, when on turning TO the
northward on the west side | found the
clasp of this white necklace, patch OF
blue that told of break in the reef and a
passage through to the tiny inlet beyond 1t.
Such breaks in the coral reefs that encircle
these lonely islands are very common,
and their explanation simple. The ram
falls find their way to the sea through some
depression. Where the fresh water strikes
the salt coral life is destroyed. Directly in
line with this break was gulch, the only
one observed during my circuit. All the
rain water from the top flowed TO the sea
through this gulch, hence the little bay and
the cut in the coral circle. Advancing eau
tiously, found that at about two hundred
wards from the beach, there were ten faith
oms of water This continued until about
fifty yards from the beach, when the depth alb
ruptly Swallowed to three fathoms. 1t was
only by the exercise of extreme caution
that our boat was successfully carried
through the narrow passage. clear of the
surf that writhed and dashed on either side,
and we were enabled to land
Having secured the boat, warned the
men about straying too far away and eat
ing any of the berries or fruit that they
might find, | started up the gulch for the
top of the island, accompanied by the mid
shipman and man TO carry the instru-
ments | got fine set of sights, sent the
man back to the boat and then took stroll
| al, ba ,,lataau. lilo ton IL WAS only
about mile in circumference, and covered
with thin coating of soil that supported a
rank tropical growth. As soon as | could
| examined the character of the island a,
veritable a corpse as ever suffering friends
followed to the grave Once living an &C
tive, energetic life, it was nov lfeless, an
inert mass an object of assault for wind
rain and wave The first blow of my ham
mer BETRAYED the dead coral, and subse
quent investigation proved that Elizabeth
or Henderson Island, lying in latitude 81
81 south and longitude l2S 10 west was
simply mass of coral, browning doubtless
some submarine mountain top, covered will
a thin soil of disintegrated coral and veg
etable mould, and planted by natures great
gardeners, the birds. We had experienced
great difficulty in getting to the top the
vines. which choked the gulch up which W,
as to cover up the holes and render passag,
dangerous, so | decided to confne my eX
ploration to the top, and not venture dow
} any of the other sides, particularly as the
cliffs were considerably undermined anC
threatened TO fall at any moment. a few
pandanus trees were scattered here an'
, there, thick grass, a net work OF vines
5 bright flowers berries, and blossoms wer'
( underfoot. | collected a few specimens
, and was about to return to the boat, whel
my attention was arrested 10y the blacken
ed ends of a log or stick that projecte,
5 above the thick brush. 1t was sufficient!
. conspicuous to excite my interest and
r walked over and examined it, Calling t.
e some of my men, had them tear aside tn
( vines and then | discovered evidences o
the work of human hands, for it wa
blocked in position by pieces of coral Fur
, Their, on careful examination, | saw that
) had been carved with English letters owe
its entire end Exposure had nearly oblit
4 Grated them, but enough remained for m
to decipher the following "Ro ......
ley sole su OF t'.... r ne
ia yes is re .... ook un ...
!, one tx pa . 5 II tn.
+ Nothing further could be made out, an
: felt sure from the general appearance d
n the rest of the log, which was probably
r capstan bar, that the substance of the mes
sage, disconnected as it was, lay in Oh
above cipher puzzled over it a long time
= All hands lent their intelligence to the work
I and we finally decided that the latter par
r. at least was "I.ook under stone six pace
If due north Sending for the boat compas
- | placed it in the centre of the spot, an
| off tha