Daily Yellowstone journal., 1890-04-08
AMONG THE ARABS.


was a stout, active boy of 16 when
! shipped on a small brig called the In.
dian Prince for a voyage from the port
of Gogho, in the Gulf of Cambria, 10
the port of Alden, in the gulf of that
name. While these waters are a part
of the Indian ocean, they are par
ticularized as the Arabian sea. The
brig was owned in Gogho. and her
captain was well known to my lather,
who was an English merchant and
factor there. Ny ewes had become
weakened from hard study. and
1t was decided that | should make a
sea voyage in hopes to benefit them. l
could have gone anywhere in those
waters as a passenger, and by the very
finest craft, but ! preferred to go as a
regular hand on the tight little brig
and have a full taste of sailors life.
There were two boys of us. captain,
mate, cook and two men. The other
boy was the captains nephew, and
was naped Henry Williams. All but
the cook were English. Williams was
a year older than myself. and had
made several voyages.
We had a lair run about half way
down the Arabian sea, when the
weather suddenly changed and we got
Q heavy gale from the north. AS we
had to lie 10 this drifted US a long
ways to the south, or out upon the In.
dian ocean; and it was while we were
seeking TO recover our lost ground, and
in the darkness of night, that a ship
crashed into US and nearly lifted the
brig out of water. The ship struck us
Oh the port bow, crushed in "A dozen
planks, and then raked US along the
whole side and disappeared in the
darkness astern almost before any one
had raised his voice to give the alarm.
1t wasn't over twenty minutes from
The time we were struck until the brig
was at the bottom of the sea, and we
were afoat in q yawl. We had q
breaker OF water and q bag of biscuits,
but nothing was saved from the brig.
The watch below did not even ave all
the clothing they had thrown off on
turning in, and the captain was with
out q hat and the mate without a coat
% we counted noses and compared
notes.
An observation taken by the captain
at noon had given our position about
thirty miles TO the east of the island
Of Socotra. This island Is 200 miles
Oft the African coast peninsula which
pushes out to make the gulf, and we
were intending to run between the
coast and this island to make our
port. Being without a compass,
our course had now TO be laid
by guess work. The yawl was pro-
vided with mast and sail, and after
we had seen the last of the brig we
sailed away TO the west. 1t was the be-
ginning of a voyage of suffering and
death. When morning came and the
sun rose out of the waters it was seen
that We had been steering wide of the
course for several hours. A change
was at once made, but the weather
thickened up until one could not have
seen a ship a mile away, the wind
hauled to the west, and the island
which We expected TO see by s o'clock
In the morning never greeted our
vision. We passed it TO the north,
by how many miles no one ever
knew, and at the end Of two days
sailing the captain announced that our
only hope was in being picked up by
some Of the craft voyaging up and
down the gulf.
This gulf, between the island of So
cotra and the Arabian coast, which is
Its widest part, Is not more than $50
miles wide. Craft were numerous
even at that day, and the chances
seemed ten TO pne ia u favor. On
the morning Of the fourth day when
we must have been fairly in the gulf,
We sighted two sailing vessels, but
they were afar off. On this morning
the captain was found dead, though
up to 10 o'clock at night he had seemed
TO be all right and in good spirits. lie
had laid himself down in the bottom Of
the boat ~ sleep, and he must have
died without a word or a struggle. We
were on short rations of biscuit and
water, but there was no suffering, and
on this morning, too, half an hour af.
ter we had placed the captains body
In the bows and covered it with a sail,
the cook began TO rave and curse and
demand that he be allowed TO eat and
drink his fill. We realized that his
mind had given way under the men
tai strain alone. He was looked upon
% q harmless fellow, and even when
we found him crazy We took no pre-
cautions in his case. This was q Grim
inal oversight on our part, as, about
half an hour before noon. the sun
beating down very hot, he rose up,
drew his knife and declared that be
would kill any one who intexisssd
with his eating md drinking. Hs a.
tsmptsd TO get ~pcsssssfon q ths watsr
ksg, which ives N The 49, sbssts u
~ feet Of the matt. Al whsn ~
rulssd be hurisd.him Rueen "a a.
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