The Forrest City times., 1891-06-19
MY FIRST SHIPWRECl
A TRUE TALE OF THE SEA.

as first-class boy-that IS, a lad who can furl sky-s'l, or mizzen-royal or steer his ''trick" at the wheel, when the sea is not running too heavy.
 was on board the ship Panther, bound from Bombay to New York, and was running down the Indian Ocean, when we encountered @ cyclone. The gale did not break upon us sud denly, but grew in strength gradually. Sail after sail was taken in and snugly slowed, until, as darkness came on, we were scudding before the wind un- der the three lower top-s1 and fore-sl.
 rt The sea was lifting, as landsmen would term it, mountains high" and as the great waves rolled up one after another under our stern, they threat ened to board us, and sweep every thing from aft forward.
 Iremembsr seeing the captain stand ing beside the two men at the wheel, with eyes fixed on the raging waters, watching their every roll, with an ex- pression more of anxiety than alarm upon his weather-beaten features.
 "That mizzen-tops'l cant stand it much longer, sir" called the mate in his ear, as the chief officer came aft upon the poop-deck.
 ''Then let her burst" was the reply. ''We must keep what sails spread that we can in order to outrun this sea-" Then, more to himself than to the mate, the master continued. "I wish we had 'hove-to' an hour ago. It would be the next thing to suicide to attempt 1t now"
 He had scarcely finished speaking when 8 big green fellow that was fol- lowing us lifted itself high above our heads, broke against the stern of the vessel, and tons upon tons of water fell with terrific force on the deck.
 For 8 few moments 1t seemed as if we must have been run under" 1 was borne off my feet, carried along the top of the after-house, hurled down upon the main-deck, and wash ed beneath @ spare spar that was lashed along the starb'd bulwarks.
 The vessel rolled heavily, and soon succeeded in freeing herself of the greater part of the water. With con- siderable difficulty l dragged myself out from my uncomfortable position and crawled slowely aft, only to witness a terrible scene of ruin and death.
 But one of the men who had been steering was at his post; the other was stretched lifeess by the gangway of the cabin, the doors of which had been burst open.
 The captain and mate had been more fortunate, in that they had not lost their lives, but they were horri- bly, bruised, and unable to speak for some time.
 As the skipper saw me approaching, he struggled to his feet, and gasped:
 "John, call all hands. Tell the sec and mate to stand by to heave the the end of us all"
 "As repeated thecaptain s instruc- tions to the second officer, the old sail or shook his head, and grumbled:
 "I dunno-I dunno. She's as safe running before 1t as she would be 'hove to- But obey orders, if you break owners.'
 s And with that he mustered his men to be ready to undertake the task, which had now become so perilous from the height of the seas.
 When every man was at his station, the captain waited for what is termed by seamen 8 smooth" or slight de pression in the force of the waves and wind.
 Then the helm was put down, the yards braced gradually into port, and the ship swung slowly round into the trough of the sea; but there she stop ped-her bows would not come up to the wind. B
 ''There's too much head sail. Jump aloft a couple of you, and put your knives into that fore-top-s1. Work lively, and look out for yourselves when she slats."
 At this, two of the men crawled in. to the rigging, and made their way " tbC top-S etli. W llh lIiCii sheath knives they began to cut, and so great was the strain on the canvas that it required but few ''cloths' to be started when the whole sail burst with loud report, and went flying of tole'ward in cloud of white threads Based from this, the vessle's head be gan to point up," but ere she was il aposition to safely meet the sea, 6 tremendous wave caught her little forward of the main rigging, boarded and as a portion of it swept under hel keel, it "tripped" her, and the next moment we were lying upon our beam ends.
 The two courageous men, who, with out flinching, had gone aloft to obey the captains orders, were never seer afterwards.
 "Quick, quick' called the master s'get your axes to work upon the starb'd lanyards of that rigging, ano cut away the masts."
 This was the only thing that could be done to right thevesse and save us from terrible death.
 So great was the strain to which tho shrouds and backstays were subjected that it required but few blows tc sever the ropes, and the masts an6 spars, with all attached, went over the side. But, alas for us, the main in going broke off below the deck, anG thus forming powerful lever, wrench ed us open from stem to stem.
 The hull, however, frightened, but w were a complete wreck, wallowini