Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-08-02

miles from York Sound on the Australian
coast. AS this island lay very little out o
his course, Captain Willis determined t.
coast around it, but without any intention
of making a stop. An hour later tn
Molly's Hope had run up to within a mil
of Browse Island.
There was rather heavy sea running ant
dashing noisily against the northeast poin
of the island, which 1t kept enVeloped il
the midst of the breakers. Nor was it pos
sible to form close estimate of the size ol
the island, as Captain Willis had not come
full upon 1t, but enough could be seen of it:
conformation to show it to be an undulatine
plateau without any considerable rise oi
ground. But as he had no time to lose
Captain Willis was about to give the order
to go ahead again full speed, which had
been somewhat slackened down, when Zach
French called his attention to something on
the point of the island.
'sLook, captain" said he, 'fsn't that q
mast standing on that point?"
The boatswain indicated the direction of
the cape which jutted out to the northeast
and terminated in q rocky crest with per-
pendicular face.
ga mast?" No; it only seems to me
to be the trunk Of a tree" answered
Willis, and then reaching for his glass he
took closer look at the object designated
by French.
'You're right, Zach, it is a mast and I
think can see a scrap of flag torn by the
wind. Yes, it must be a signal"
'In that case we would do well to bear in
with the point.
'T think so, too" replied Captain Willis,
L IL l. IL IL.
at half speed. This was done at once and
reefs, which encircled the island about 800
feet out. A violent sea was beating against
them, caused not only by the high wind
blowing, but also by the force of the current
which was driving the swell in that direc-
tion.
The character of the coast soon became
plainly visible. It was wild, barren and
desolate, with no trace of verdure. On this
side of the island, however, there were nc
signs of pieces Of wrecked vessel, no
shreds of rigging, no fragments of the hull.
The staff erected on the extreme end of the
might be made of piece of a
bowsprit. AS to the shreds Of bunting
which the wind was blowing out, it was
impossible to discern their color.
"There are castaways therel' cried Zach
French.
"Or there have beenp replied the mate
"There is no doubt that some vessel has
run on this island" said Captain Willis.
"Yes," added the mate, sand that the
crew of some wrecked vessel have taken
refuge there, as testified by that signal yon-
Ter. And it may be they have not been
able to get away, for It's rare that vessels
bound for Australia or for the Indies pass
oh Of pro,psa Tc1opd
81 suppose you intend TO go ashore, Cap
ain" asked Zach French.
Certainly, Zach" replied Willis, ~but
1p to this moment haven't observed any
point where landing would be possible.
Let us coast around before We decide. IF
he island contains any castaways they will
De sure to see us and hoist signals"
"And if you don't see anyone" asked
Zach, "what will you do then?"
'rWe shall attempt to make lauding as
,uickly as possible" replied Willis, seven |
f it turns out to be desert island, yet we |
nay find some evidence of wreck and |
hats q very important matter for us"
"And who knows but" began Zach.
'You mean, Zach, that it's possible that |
he Dreadnaught may have run upon this |
sland, quite off the route which she was to
ollow?''
''why not, Captaip?"
"While its extremely improbable" an
wered Captain Willis, "that's no reason
7hy we should not try to make landing
nd get at the truth of the matter"
Browse Island is about six or seven miles
n circumference, as was shown when the
Iolly's Hope made the tour of it, but at no
oint on its shores was there anything like
harbor or even an inlet in which the
teameP could take shelter few hours. 1t
-as soon discovered that it would be neces-
lry to lower away some of the steamers
oats, and even then they had not as yet
ome upon any safe landing place.
While searching the beach with his glass
sptain Willis discovered break in this