, 1892-03-22

Copyright, 1899, by Charles B. Lewis-l
There is a sailor now employed by a ship
chandler on South street, in the port of
New York, who attracts attention by his
walk on the street. His right leg seems to
be attached to his body with a view of
walking sideways instead of the usual
fashion. At the first glance you would call
1t a natural d%eformity, but If you followed
him for a hundred feet you would feel
quite certain hat some accident had hap
pened to him and that he owed his condi-
ton 70 the ignorance or carelessness OF
those who practiced surgery on a broken
leg. L will call his name John Lee, and i
will reel off his story as he told it to ms
not a fortnight ago.
In the year 1858, after the government OF
the japanese islands had put down the re-
bellion which had been in existence for
two years, many heads were Topped of
and many rebels banished from the coun-
try. Among the latter were a score or
more of adventures who were not natives,
but Europeans. Some had gone in with
the rebels for the sake of adventure and
plumber, and others had been forced to join
by circumstances. The fear Of being in
volved with other governments decided
the Japanese authorities to spare the lives
of these foreigners and at the same time
rid the islands of their presence. There
was in the port of Yokohama at the time
an Australian brig named the Robert May,
commanded by Captain Henry Welles, and
she was chartered to take fourteen of these
rascally Adventures TO the south and land
them upon any one of the stands of the
BONN group which should prove the most
convenient. AS all of them were looked
upon as desperate men, the Japanese gov
m was willing to pay a good price
to get them out of the country. There
must have been money in it, for the brig
or the captain would not have meddled
with such a dangerous argo.
The brig had an English crew OF nine
men and a boy. and the captains wife was
with him. John Lee, the sailor with the
twisted leg, was one of the crew. The brig
had part of a cargo of tea, and a space in
her hold under the main hatch was fitted
up to receive the prisoners. A dozen mus
kets were brought aboard, the prisoners
guarded the same as convicts would have
been, and Captain Welles set sail in the
full expectation of landing them accord
ing to instructions. He was not the man
to deal with such ~rascals, however, IA
events speedily demonstrated. Every man
in the pen knew where he was to be land
ed, and that without shelter or provisions,
and from the first going aboard there was
a determination to rise on the crew and
take the brig. 1t was on the night of the
fourth day out and during a squall, which
came near dismasting the brig, that the
plot was carried out.
There are many things to be said in IA
vor of the desperadoes, They desired to
capture the brig without ~bloodshed, and
but for the dogged obstinacy of the cap
tain this would nave been done. He called
upon the crew to rally, and when he found
himself unsupported he fought the gang
aloRe and single handed until killed by a
musket ball. He was the only one killed,
though some of the crew were wounded in
the first rush. John Lee was aloft at the
moment, and In his fright and confusion
he met with a fall which broke his leg.
Vhe mutineers set it and gave him careful
attention, but in the setting they twisted
it around and the bone knit and left it in
its present shape. Having got possession
of the brig the desperadoes were for a time
divided as to what should be the mex
move. They had had enough of Japan,
and no one had any idea of turning pirate
In waters where a man-of-war was to be
met with two or three times a week. 1t
was finally decided to run to the southwest
and and upon some uninhabited island
above Formosa and enjoy a free and easy
life for a season. To this the crew of the
brig agreed, some pleased with the pros
pect of such p life and others realizing that
opposition would be of no use.
Mrs. Captain Welles was a woman about
thirty years of age, full of energy and res
olution. Her treatment by the mutineers
did more than anything else to win the
crew over to their side. The fellows were
led by an Englishman named Tom Jones,
who was no doubt a thoroughly bad man,
but in this case he should be accorded all
due praise. On the morning after the cap
Al L. NJ ~ a
viewed in the cabin. She was told that
the men bad possession, and that it was
proposed to get her out of the brig and out
of harms way while they were yet under
control. They did not dare speak a ship
nor land her at any port, but wou set
her ashore on some island and provide her
with means to taxi care of herself. She
agreed with them that this was the best
they could be expected to do, and for the
next two days and nights she was left en-
tirely undisturbed in the cabin. There
was plenty of rum aboard, but between
the mate, who was now acting as captain,
and Tom Jones, who was the leader, moth
ing like drunkenness had occurred. The
good times" were being put off until they
could find a safe haven somewhere. John
Lee was lying in his berth with a broken
leg, but was kept posted as to what was
going on forward and aft.
On the afternoon of the third day the
brig reached the island of Shangwen, one
of the Loochoo group and a BOAT was low
cred and pulled ashore to investigate. 1t
was only a small island, nearly circular and
about three miles across, and was found to
be uninhabited. John Lee says he begged
for the captains wife to take him along,
but she probably either feared that he
would prove a serious case on her hands or
become a menace to her safety il he got
well. and she decided that she would rather
go alone. The boat which set her ashore
carried all her clothes and the personal
effects of her husband, with beef, pork,
bread, wine, a musket and ammunition,
some books, and in fact whatever else she
asked to be allowed to take. Jones and
three men went ashore with her, and they
not only found a good spot for a camp, but
constructed a shelter for her and put all
her goods under cover. No woman could
have fallen into the hands of more des-
perate men, and yet no woman could nave
been more tenderly treated. The brig
sailed away just at shutdown and she was
left to begin her Crusoe life.
The island had scarcely been left behind
before the men on the brig began their ca
rouse. Two days later they beached their
vessel in a cove on one of the Borodine
group of islands, and for many months
peace and war reigned by turns. From