Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1890-12-25
How Three Portuguese Sailors
Boarded and Ran Away With
a Whaling Bark.
After a Long Chase and Terrible
Experience They We're Fin
ally Caught.
A British Survey Brig Loses a Mum
Der of Its Men in the
Fight.

In the year 1860, was one of the crew
of the British survey brig Advance, which
was surveying the islands to the south of
the Sandwich group. Kingman shoal,
Palmyra island and other shoals and is
lands had not been closely surveyed, and
we were spending the summer in this
work. The brig was craft of 200 tons,
! being a government vessel, was under
strict discipline. She was armed with
two cannon, and carried a supply Of small
cannon, and those days the inhabitants of
| some of the Soath Pacific islands were a
| bad natured lot, and nothing but the sight
of strong force would prevent them from
making troublesome visits to Il vessel an
| chored close in shore.
About the middle of September we were
at Tanning island, when a heavy gale
came up from the west, and we had to run
for the open sea To the east. The gale
struck US about o'clock III the afternoon,
and hung to US until noon the next day.
| During this time We were running a little
east of north, and having all we could do,
and when the gale broke we were at least
200 miles to the northeast OF our island.
1t was mid-afternoon before we gyt the
| brig about, and she had scarcely been head
ed back when d whalebOat came down up
ON us from the northwest, and after halt
iour of hard work we got her crew
aboard. Then we heard a very interesting
story.
THERE WERE EIGHT OF THEM,
first mate, two harpooners and five
| hands. All belonged to the British
whaling bark Penrose, of Liverpool.
Twenty days previously she had run into
! Ill, 4 -
! oil and skipped three Portus uese sailors
to replace hands who had been lost at sea.
| On leaving Honolulu she had cruised to
/ ly, and on the day the gale broke she
lowered four whales about 200 miles north
Of the group we had been surveying.
Three boats were down at once as the
bark ran into a school. AS the breeze was
light only skipper was left aboard, and
| he was a sailor who had just recovered
| flom hurt.
! The three Portuguese were in the CAP
tain's boat, which mace fast to a big bull
whale within quarter of mile of the
bark, and was immediately struck and dis
abled, and the line had to be cut. Mean
while the other two boats had gone to the
eastward after the school, ard they had
no sooner made fast than their victim
ran on at full speed. Owing to the direc-
ton of the wind the skipper could not
work down to the captain. His boat was
a wreck, but acting as float to sustain
the crew. In this emergency the three
Portuguese offered to swim to the bark
and return with spare boat, and they
in safety, but had no sooner got aboard
| 10 {r1p ,oI bo Il
was broug ht to the south, and she sailed
within 800 feet of the captain as she made
off. The dark-skinned rascals made no
bones of the fact that they were running
, away with the ship. Indeed, they boast
ed of it, and derided and insulted the
men hanging to the steven boat. 1t was a
HEARTLEss, COLD-BLOODED THING
| to do. The two other boats were FIVE
miles to the eastward, and it was an hour
after the bark made off before the men cut
loose from their dead whale to fathom the
mystery They found the wreck of the
captain boat to discover that only one
single man remained with it, the others
having been pulled down by the sharks
By the time they had heard his story the
bark was more than hull down, and just
then the gale broke. The boats were laid
head-on to the sea, and drifted slowly to
the east, dividing their men, so as to give
each an equal show to live out the gale.
During the night the second mates boat
was lost sight of, and, as it was never
heard of again, it must have been swamp,
ed. Had we been running a course the
surviving boat could not have fetched us,
but us we brought about to return to the
island she got the chance to do so.
AS soon as the story had been told our
captain decided to go In search of the
stolen bark. 1t was a question, however,
whether she had outlived the gale. She
must have received the full force of it,
and being so short handed she was liable
TO disaster. The main question was
whether she would scud or drift. We
had adopted the former course, as the
brig had habit of flooding her decks
| when lying head on. The mate of the
stolen bark whose name was Cummings,
| felt certain that the Portuguese would let
her drift. In that case we would have to
cover a hundred miles of ocean to the
west before beginning to look for them.
What did they want of the craft? What
could tEey do with her? There was only
| one reasonable answer. They would run
her down among the Southern islands,
find some safe spot to lay her away, AMI
then have good time. This meant
eating, drinking, smoking, and having
no work to do. They would not dare to
try a long voyage. nor to put into any
prominent port. As they would need the
services of the ships keeper, it was not
| likely that they would do him any harm.
1t was mate Cummings belief that the
Portuguese would head for Christmas, Is,
land, a hundred miles to the south OF
where we mad been surveying. and the
briggs course was accordingly LAID On
the afternoon of the third day after PICK,
ing up the boat we sighted the bark dead
| head. We were hen not twenty-five
ailes from the islanl. The stolen craft
lad evidently been taking things pretty
asy. She was under short sail when we
nrst esp:ed her, although the weather was
fine and the breeze lair. The thieves had
no fen of pursuit, and perhaps all
were captains except shlpkeeper
and would not obey each others orders.
We had her almost hull up when the fell
| slow became suspicious.
| THEN THEY SET EVERYTHING BELOW
and aloft, and to our intense chaerln
We discovered that the bark was faster
sailer than the brig. 1t was clock In
the afternoon when We sighted her anC as
darkness fell she had gained couple of
miles on Us. Having got the alarm 1t was
hard to tell what they would now do, but
after long consultation our captain de-
cided to ronnd Christmas island on the
north and west, and lay course for jarvis
island. The bark was headed directly
south when we last saw her.
Next day at noon we were to the west
of Christmas and running down ON our
course, when we suddenly discovered the