Evening journal., 1891-07-07
A SAILING ADVENTURE.

My father owned the brig Penshaw, which
/ was tidy craft Of 200 tons burden sailing
/ out of Australian aud New Zealand ports
| During the year | was fifteen years old tn,
| brig was voyaging between Sydney and
Wellington, a stretch of water about 20,
miles wide. One night AZ we entered the
straits, beating our way slowly up against
a head wind, we came in collision with q
| coasting schooner running ont. She had
no lights set, and as was afterward shown
all her crew, captain included, were hall
drunk and did not see ours. Twas on look.
out and saw the schooner first, but as we
were close on the wind and she close at
hand we could do nothing She struck us
on the starboard bow with a great crash.
Our foremast went by the board the
sehooner's bowsprit was twisted off and
the two craft bumped and crashed for three
or four minutes aud then separated.
In such emergencies men act on impulse
and cannot always clearly remember what
occurs. In this case climbed aboard the
schooner, thinking she was the least in
iured, and 1t appeared that every one Of
her crew tumbled on to the decks Of the
brig for the same reason. Tt was some
minutes after the craft separated before
discovered that was alone The schooner
was then in the trough Of the sea and roll
ing about at great rate. / first went for
ward and used an AK and my knife to cut
away the jsbboom, bowsprit and foretop-
mast, which were floating alongside. The
mainboom Of the foresail bad been broken
and dropped this sail. The foresail was
all right, but dropped the peak. The stay
sail and two iibs were gone. | now got the
schooner dead before the wind and she ran
of at great pace
now began to wonder how badly she
had been damaged. had seen that her
bulwarks for a distance OF fifteen feet on
the starboard bow had been stove in, but
as TO the hull itself | could not say
should have laid her head to the sea and
wind but for her damages. Young as I
was was born at sea, and q pretty fair
sailor, and knew | could not set a storm
sail IN the forerigging nor hold her up
without IL. | could not leave the wheel
without fear OF her broaching to, and SO
for the FIRST hour ] stood there expecting
she would iii and founder. As she con
tinued buoyant, and | failed TO hear the
swash Of water below decks, finally came
70 the conclusion that she had received no
great injury Such proved TO be the case.
broken above the water line, and the bnl-
warks had been torn away as the bowsprit
was wrenched out, but her crew had no
call to leave her.
The accident occurred about 10 O'Clock.
The wind was then blowing lively rate,
but by midnight there was half gale and
a heavy sea. There was foresail enough to
lift and send her, and / don't remember
that | was anything more than anxious
over the outcome. | was being blown to
the east, right out into the South Pacific,
but at that season Of the year the gales
were likely TO be OF short continuance.
This one reached its height at midnight,
and when daylight came the sea had very
much decreased and the schooner could
not have made over ten miles an hour run
ming with all sails set
After / could see the length OF her I
brought her head on, and by lashing the
foresail boom amidships and dropping the
peak little more I found she would hold
there with the wheel lashed a-port This
done ! went aloft for a look around, but
could see nothing. Returning to the deck
! got out the Union Jack and set il in the
main rigging as a signal OF distress, and
then inspected damages. The little craft
was MS dry as a bone, though her bows
above water were a complete wreck There
was little or nothing | could do to mend
matters, and so / turned to and prepared
breakfast. BY the time that was eaten the
wind had dropped to three knot breeze,
while the sky promised good weather for
the next day or two.
When ! came co inspect the cargo
found it 70 consist mostly Of lumber This
was TO have been taken up the coast to the
site OF new town. There was also some
hardware, provisions, machinery and dry
goods. The lumber in the vessel would
float her, no matter II the hold was full Of
water, and / need have no fears on the
question Of food and drink When came
TO look for chart ] could find nothing
not even coast survey ch9rt The cap
tain had seemed to trust entirely TO mem
ory or luck in making his voyages up and
down. l had looked over fathers charts
many time, but in such a cursory way
that could not now remember what land
lay TO the east Of me. ! remembered that
the nearest coast was that Of South Amer
lea, but that was thousands Of miles away,
and / concluded that my chance lay in be-
ing picked up by some vessel.
After dinner I lay down and slept for
several hours, and on awakening went
aloft for look around. Nothing but sky
and water were in sight. had been driv-
ing 60 the west all day at the rate of about
three knots an hour, and when ! came to
figure up the probable run OF the night be-
fore l estimated that l was 100 miles oil
the coast. The breeze still held from the
same quarter, and freshened somewhat as
night came on. l remained awake until
about 10 O'Clock, and then bunked down
on the deck, and was so little disturbed
that ! slept right through the night, and
awoke at 6 o'clock next morning to be
treated to a tremendous surprise. The
schooner was high and dry on sandy
shore and before me was beautiful green
forest. She had taken ground SO softly
that had not been disturbed.
/ was ashore on the Chatham islands a
group Of fourteen verdant islands TO the
east of New Zealand. and the only break
in the wide waters stretching to the coast
| OF Patagonia. had struck one az the
largest ones, called "Catharine, - and was
no sooner on my feet than there was such
chattenng Of birds as almost deafened
me. These islands were not then inhabit.
Ell, and have such a sparse population now
that the number is not recorded ON the
charts. Land being SO plenty and cheap Oh
the island Of New Zealand itself, aud there
being 50 many fertile islands along its
coast, no set of people care 20 isolat,
themselves by taking up "A residence on the
Chathams. got down over the bows and
reached the beach dry shod, aud after three
hours Of walking about found l had