The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1891-05-29
MARINE YAPNS.
Strange Things Seen at Sea as
Told by a Sailor.

tp hlm IN distant ScdS-nS VIII Sttupin
or never talk to You about them If he
suspects the particulars are desired for
publication Jack Is no friend TO the
newspaper. JIc has been held up to
ridicule and contempt as a story-teller,
until he is afraid To relate truths which
can be backed 10y affidavits-
During the last year, according To my
newspaper clippings, no less than sew
enteen instances have occurred where
portions of shipwrccllcd crews have
been picked up at sea after voyages IN
small boats from one t. fifteen days
In all these instances the particulars
related do not. in any one case, make
haIt a column of newspaper print,
though enough must have occurred to
make a book. Jack simply wouldn't
talk. Captain or mate gave the partic-
ulars OF the disaster as briefly as posi-
Bile, and then got ashore To be lost sight
OF
During the years served before the
mast and as second and chief mates !
met with some things beyond my power
TO explain or unravcl and at the risk OF
being criticised l shall relate some of
them here. The quceTest thing OF all
perhaps, occurred ia the Indian ocean.
to the south OF Madagascar. was IN
an English brig called the lielpmate,
bound up the Mozambique channel
but driven to the east by a furious gale
We were working back TO our course,
and the weather had become pleasant
One night, as l came On watch at mid
night. I found we were only making
stcorage way. there being only faint
brcczc from the east. 1t was bright
1 L Il =
was large ship headed To the south.
The course we were bOth steering
would bring US almost within speaking
distance.
While ! could see the strange ship
well enough with the naked eye As
could all the men in nay watch. when /
came to put the glass on her l saw her
Iookouts' on the bow and noted all the
particulars of her rig. / took her for
an English ship bound around the cape.
and one which had come down from the
gulf of Bengal to the east of Madaras-
car The sea was so calm that we could
have launched a canoe, and when the
stranger was = mile away every rope
stood out IN the moonlight like q silver
thread. She was Il pretty sight. and every
man in the watch kept his eyes on her.
She was almost opposite and not more
than forty rods away-to give a lands
mans measure ryment-whcn She sudden
" settled away in the wafer and was
gone in 4 minute. thought my eyes
were full OF sticks" and that / had
been the victim II an optical illusion.
but while rubbed them two or three
of the men cried out in chorus:
shes struck rock and gone To the
bottom with every soul on board-'
Men, have we been looking at a
ship out there l asked.
''Of course. sir
''Nas her hull painted blacIS?"
lit was"
a new foretopsail?1
Yes
"A gilded figure of a mermaid or an
angelo"
Something % that, sir.
And she went down.
Aye, like Il stOn.. lung ovrrboardr'
l ordered the brig hove up to check
her headway, and the captain came on
deck to see what it meant The other
watch was called, two boats lowered.
and away we pulled for the spot. never
doubting that we should find men
clinging To some of the wreckage. /
can show you in the British museum
to-day what we found and all we
found. \ sailors bag marked P"
two ships buckets, unmarked, two
oars marked M" Il sailors oilslzin
coat, not marked, n cage with dead
parrot in it. OF all the thousand
articles aboard of that ship which
would float we found nothing else
though we lay by until noon next day
Now, what sent her to the bottom?
We, of course, expected to find a rock
not charted, but though we made
soundings for two miles around we
found nothing. Later on n man-of-
war spent week in that locality, but
with no better success. 1t was two
years before the lost vessel was ascer-
tanned to be the French merchantmen
Mis5non. As no rock could be found it
was generally supposed that she was
struck by whalc-that monster of
the deep probably came up directly
under her and smashed out half her
planking. \ French novel writer has
made use of this incident TO dispose of
some of the characters in his pages.
Suppose landsman knew that when
ever he left his house he was under
surveillance-shadow by some one
who meant him evil, and was only
waiting favorable opportunity to stab
him in the back, His feelings need not
be envicd. Take the same instance on
the broad ocean-one craft shadowinC
another day and night with evil intent
and you can imagine Jack Tar's feel
ings-no law to appeal to-no chance to
evade the grim pursuer. Such Il case
happened to me when second mate of
an Australian trading schooner. and
some of the queer points about it Will
never be cleared up. We had picked up
a cargo among the spice islands of the
Banda sea, and the intention was to
proceed to Singapore for i market. At an
island called Netta, where we stopped
to take on the last of our hard wood.
we were Offered big price to take
band of about fifty natives-men, wo-
men and children-to the island of
Timor, lying to the south. This charter
was made. and we had a pleasant run
and no trouble Oddly enough there
We're about a dozen natives at Coepang.
which il the chief seaport of Timor,
who wanted to go 10 the east end of
the island of Java They were. as we
afterward knew, conspirators who were
planning against the government of
Java but they paid us a good price, and
we carried out our part of the contract.
The difference il made to US was that
ne must now coast along the big island
% Sunda Straits. matter of seven
hundred miles, instead of voyaging
through the landlocl1ed Flores and
ava seas. While open piracy was un-
.nown, there were many suspicious
raft IN those seas, and at brief inter
ais traders were plundered or captured
outright. We had no cannon. but our
rev of eight men had muslSets and
aud could Toe depended on %