The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1890-03-11
LIKE A FAIRY TALE.
The Strange Mystery Of Harsen's
PrOvidential Island.

Had it not been for the excitement of
the & t year of the civil war the queer
adventures of Captain Harsen, of the
Boston merchantmen American Chief,
would have gone the rounds and been
much discussed. They were told and
retold in marine circles ior many Gears,
and now and then some newspaper or
magazine hss briefly referred to liar
sens Rom ar.e." The story, as whole,
is fell of in rest.
Ia the spring of 1861. ,ghiie was Sec
on9 mate aboard of the English brig
EnchantreSS and whGI. three days out OF
Zanzi BAR. bound for the Gulf of Bengal,
we sp0ke the American Chief, home
ward 'oun' md loaded with Indian
products Threa days before. in vio-
lent squall. Captain Harsan had been
wa. he'd overheard. and the ship was now
in charge of the irst mate. The ship
was taken home, Captain Harsen report
ed dead. and six years later. when he
had been forgotten by all except his re-
lations, ne suddenly turns up in way
to dumfound every body.
In August, 1867, j was first mate of
the Sea King, a small but stanch ship
plying between Cape Town and Mel
bourne. Our ship was a feeder for the
big India steamers. We took machinery
and other stuff from them at the Cape.
and brought back wool and other prod
ucts. We had the width of the Indian
Ocean before US on every voyage. with
never a speck OF land for the waters to
fret against until the voyage was fin
ished.
One morning in the month I have
named, the hour being about eight
o'clock. with wind and sea light, the
lookout reported man in a boat dead
ahead and only half a mile away. |
went forward with the glass. and made
him out very plain at once. Indeed, no
glass was needed. Il was a rough-look-
ing boat, provided with mast and sail,
and he had let fly his sheet and was
rising and falling on the waves 10 wait
our coming. We were up TO him in a
few minutes, and when we came to look
him over many were the EXPLANATIONS
of establishment. The craft was half raft
and half boat, put together in the rough
est fashion. and constructed OF drift
wood. The sail was grass mat. The
man at the steering oar was clothed in
single garment. made of the same material
as the sail lie had made large mat and
put his head through an opening in the
middle and belted it at the waist. His
hair fell upon his shoulders and his
whiskers reached TO his waist. He
looked veritable Rip Van Wrinkle, and
our surprise was so great that we forged
past him without extending a hand.
When we got him aboard he wake up
to the captain. ex tended his hand and
said:
Captain. | am Captain Harsen. of the
Boston ship American Chief
But where's your craft?" exclaimed
our captain.
Cant say. | was lost overheard six
years ago TO the north of this
''You don't say that you are that Cap
tain Harsen?"
But | do. NY death was no doubt
reported in the papers. but here | am.
Let me have a bite and then I'll tell you
all about it,"
When Captain Harsen got ready to
tell his story he had more surprises in
store for US. / will give his adventures
as he related them. but in my own way.
The wave which swept his ship and car
ried him overheard took along lot of
deck rattle. and upon striking out for
himself he got hold of a crate in which
two kangaroos mad nado the journey to
Cape Town. 1t was li.cht rough to float
two men of his size. AMI, Though the
seas used him roughly TO- several hours,
he pulled through the dan ~cr and finally
found way TO lash himself and even
get some sleep. He knew that he was
driving to the south with the seas, but
as to how far be dIifted during the
thirty hours he Was. :-.iuat cC:,E Oily be
guessed at. l. has b,~n @ors-',4-F e g
urea II Gve n,2ics a. hou- - E1S
asleep VIA cast ashore b ta'- iidc. AS.