Los Angeles herald., 1890-12-16
A SPECTRE HELMSMAN.

In the summer of 1889 the ship Vul-
can, under the command of Capt. Isaac
johnson, was on her homeward bound
passage from the Indies with half
cargo Of tea, and she stopped at Cape
Negro, on the coast of Benguela, after a
lot Of ivory to make up her load. Hav-
ing gone on shore at the Cape the
captain learned from the native con-
tractor that he would have to go some
fifteen miles M the Cannibals river. as
the elephant hunters had all the boats
further up in the country, so that con-
sequently they had not been enabled to
bring the ivory down.
Capt. johnson was somewhat disap-
pointed at this cause for delay, but with
out waiting to find useless fault he de-
termined to man his own boats and pro-
ceed at once up the river. 1t required
four trips to bring all the ivory down,
but as they had opportunity to take ad-
vantage of the slight tides the task was
accomplished in four days. On the last
trip the captain went himself, leaving
the first mate in charge of the ship, and
on arriving at the small village where
the ivory was stored he was not a
little surprised to find that nearly all the
miserable huts were deserted. Several
times Capt. johnson inquired the mean
ing of this, but the natives were either
unable OF unwilling to give any plain
answer, and it was not until the last lot
of tusks had been conveyed to the boats
and the natives had been remunerated
for their labor that the least clew could
be obtained as to the cause of this strange
desertion, and then for the first time the
captain received the startling intel1i-
gence that the cholera was sweeping
down the river
AS soon as this fact became known to
the seamen they wildly huddled into
their boats, as though the fearful death
angel was at their heels, and silently,
yet with powerful strokes, they pulled
down the fatal stream. AT length they
reached their ship, and though they
breathed somewhat more freely as they
trod their own deck, yet each counte-
nance bore the stamp of deep fear. The
ivory was soon got on board, and with
all haste the old Vulcan was got under
way. 1t was nearly night when the
ship got off, and with a good breeze
from the northward and eastward she
stood well on her course On the next
morning, shortly after breakfast, and
while the crew had begun to think that
they had no occasion for further fear, a
young man named Walter Addison was
taken suddenly sick.
Young Addison was the favorite both
of the officers and the crew, and as it
was reported that he was thus i'll gen.
eral CONSERVATION seized upon all hands.
The young man felt at first a giddiness
and sickly chill, and in the course of
two hours he sank into an alarming de-
bility, the countenance assuming q
deadly paleness and his skin bearing all
the appearance Of a corpse. Poor Addi-
son suffered till noon, and then the
startling announcement went through
the ship that he was dead.
This was the first, but who should be
the next? A panic had seized upon the
men; the cholera was with them, and
none dared remove the form of their
dead shipmate from his berth. Night
approached, and with it came an almost
dead calm, but the corpse still remained
go thither. The captain urged that the
longer presence of the body would breed
more dangerous contagion, but the only
answer he received was a mournful
shake of the heads about him.
At length, finding that all arguments
were useless, he turned to his mate and
asked him if he would assist himself in
throwing the body of the dead man over
board. The mate at first hesitated, but
in moment he signifed his consent, and
together himself and the captain went
down into the forecastle. They dared
not remain long enough with the corpse
to sew it up, nor even to attach to it a
sinking weight, but throwing over it q
single blanket, they managed to get il
upon deck and lay it across the bull
wark of the starboard bow. A moment
Capt. johnson hesitated-he opened his
lips, breathed prayer for the soul OF
the departed, and then, while a shuddel
ran over his frame, he let the cold form
of young Walter Addison slide into the
blue water! Instinctively he cast his
eyes over the side as the deed was done,
and by the pale phosphorescent light he
COulu oCO Oio poO ohOh AisS
and sink again, and then with heavy
step and still heavier heart he walked
aft.
The first watch had been set, but the
other watch dared not go below, and
huddling themselves beneath the long
boat they sought the repose which they
feared to seek where their companion
had died; but each seemed to fear his
neighbor, for none knew where the con
tagion might be. At II o'clock the
slight breathings of the air, which
seemed for the last few hours to have
had no settled point, began to gather
more force from the northward and
westward, and ere long good fresh
breeze filed the ships canvas and started
her through the water. The wind con
tinued to increase, and before midnight
all hands were called to take in the top
gallantsails. At 10 o'clock the mic
watch was set, and all hands were for {
few moments brought in contact with
each other. No further symptoms O.