Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1892-01-05
A MUTINY.

=. .wo occasions the story Of the mntiny
-. French merchant ship Albatross has
9 related in my presence BY the solo sur
- and the particulars are 80 full Of In
80 that am going to give the affair IN
an The Albatross was . stanch, new ship
|. an tons burden, built and fitted out by .
rrercb syndicate, which had purchased,
amntied or stolen-no one ever knew
A.ot.a large tract OF land on the coast Of
80, near the mouth Of the Amazon. The
IL was to send out colony, and the syndi-
nuhlisbed maps and pictures and vari-
advertisernents Of an alluring nature,
vi sbout $50 persons finally made ready TO
ID, Cor this new found paradise. Each one
a. i heen promised fifty acres Of land, seed
IN two years crops, free native labUr TO
buld their houses and fence their farms, and
M syndicate even dared claim that tho
rovernment sanctioned tho enterprise.
The ship carried crew Of twenty-fcur,
I'D was differed after o curious fashion.
Hs IT,, cantain was Spaniard, her first mate .
rrsnchman and her eecond an Englishman.
IN crew was made up Of Portuguese.
nutcb French, English, Americans and
r~ades Each officer and man was to re-
..;ve 80 much per month for the voyage,
IN from so to 200 acres Of land In the
colony as sort Of prize chrome.
ut was.n said William Carew, the sur
;vor s.the worst crew ever saw on q ships
aeck Twas young fellow Of %, and shipped
rom spirit of adventure, having no care
-hicb way we headed nor what port we
made suppose the same sentiment actu-
I'll most Of the others We were not shipped
tho regular way, but picked up one by
one by the syndicate or its agents, This fact,
together with the promise Of land in the new
.olony. made each sailor a sort OF partner in
III enterprise, and that feeling was prejudi-
rial to good discipline We all saw before
ha Albatross was ready to sail that none Of
M officers were competent men, and as
PATCHED the crew go about their work / was
atisfied that we had not more than seven or
ieht able seamen aboard. Each sailor was
permitted to bring on board whatever arti-
lies he desired, and great many bottles Of
Whisky, therefore, found their way into the
orecastle.
"But il the crew was open to criticism,
What can say of the mob Of colonists be-
tween decksl There might have been dozen
respectable, honest men and women-peopie
Who had been basely deceived by the dowery
circulars of the syndicate All the others
we're the riff raft and rabble, and not q few
belonged to the criminal classes. think tho
xact number Of the colonists was 252. OF
This number about sixty were women and
twenty were children. for one should have
been better satisfied with a passenger list Of
Sc lunatics We sailed from Havre at 8
o'clock in the morning, April 81, 1s47, and
we're roundly jeered and loudly cheered as
We moved off, The captain was in bis cabin,
drunk and asleep, the first mate had imbibed
nough to render him silly, and the second
nate hardly knew enough to get sail on the
hip after the tug left US in the offing. Three
bf the foremost hands actually had more to
10 with getting the ship on her course than
my officer in the ship.
at was late in the afternoon before the
captain and mate sobered up and the ship
vas put in order. Meanwhile the few real
ailors aboard had opportunity to size up the
crew and realize what a slouchy set we had.
The passengers We're AN impudent, wicked
ot, as we soon had reason to know. They
knew the condition of the captain and his
mate, and would therefore pay no attention
10 the orders of the third officer We
we're not two. hours off the land when
hey began quarreling and fighting, and in
IN hour more two of the people complained
hat they had been robbed. On the third
hay cut twenty of the best people among the
migrants demanded Of the captain that he
bhould put them aboard the first vessel
poken, no matter to what part Of the world
he was bound Luckily for them on that
very day we ran head on to a French ship
bound to Havre, and the emigrants made
erms and were taken aboard. These twenty
we're probably the only honest people in the
whole lot. After they had gone, the conduct
pf the others was simply outrageous. Had
re had the right sort of captain, every
hing would have gone smoothly, but he was
constantly under the influence of drink, and
Ehen reasonably sober was in close commune
eation with three or four of the emigrants-
he most villainous of the lot. As we finally
tame to know, they were conspiring against
he syndicate and perfecting plans for their
pwn aggrandizement. Our captain was,
appeared, not only an egotist, but
political demagogue. His dream was
found colony or republic and become its
uler, and this idea was fostered and encour-
sed by coterie who also had personal axes
grind Never was ship taken SO com
Pletely into the hands OF Providence. During
!ae nrst two weeks out we were twice on fire
y the carelessness of the emigrants, but the
James were subdued without serious damage.
pay after day we had favoring winds, and
made good progress, and the ship seemed tc
axe care of herself, independent of the
pmcers. In due time we reached the Cape
serde Islands. That locality was compare.
tiveiy unknown then, and the captain and
ns schemers had mind to take possession
u one of the islands, We were at anchor q
week while they were looking around, hui
aey had to abandon their idea. Some OF
me emigrants became suspicious, called q
neeeing OF all, anu for couple of days
error reigned aboard. Those who had
tarted Tor the Amazon in good faith wanted
continue the voyage at once, and threats
we're made to take possession of the ship in
aSe the anchor was not weighed On The
oeiore We left forty of the emiSrants
ENG again the most respectable portion
e.'he alarmed at the outlook, and took al
ner belongings and went on shore. Tht
ap'ain attempted to prevent this move, bui
ne men were armed and determined, enc
arried their point. They landed on one Of
49, H. small outlying islands, plentifully sup
..e with fruits and water, and three month.
se every one was overwhelmed by ths
uai wave, which rolled across the Atlantic
rom the coast of Africa.
We mad no sooner left the islands thar
troubles aboard increased. A portion Of
sn migrants were for returning to France
aae 'he remainder were determined to pro
~ 70 the Amazon. These two faction.
az ~ INSTANTLY quarreling and fighting, ant
sue,r .racases three or four were severely