Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1892-11-18

SSstscsS1stssf@a-S seemaio, snlps boy
.iEslsfs a@S==- and eight men be-
fore the mast-fourtcen in all. Captain
Richards, who was part owner, was a
man of thirty, and was married to very
handsome English girl ut the Cape only
two weeks before we left port. She not
only accompanied him on the voyage, but
her sister Emma, girl OF twenty, was
on board, though she did not intend to
return with the brig.
Our cargo was curious one. It had
come from two or three derelicts which
had been picked up at sea and brought
IN, and their cargoes sold at auction.
Agents for parties at Bombay had bid
enough to load Il ship, and the Penguin
had then been char tered. Captain and
mates and one seaman were English.
There were two Spaniards, Lascar, an
African, two Norwegians aud man who
claimed to be an American. Steward
and cook were Africans. had run away
from the Nantucket whaler Obadiah III.
Jones, and there was no question about
my being Yankee. then lacked three
months of being fifteen years old. The
crew was up to the average, aud had the
voyage been free from disaster no COM
plant could have been lodged against
them. l can remember that some of the
men growlcd and grumbed because of
the two ladies aboard, and others de-
'clarcd that the mates were no sailors be-
cause they did not knock the crew about.
Jack is sure to grumble, no matter how
;:.yop put it, and his grunbles are seldom
to<Sc taken in earnest.
We had fair run up the east coast
and the Mozambique channel, and were
well clear of the northernmost point of
Madagascar, when We got sudden aud
violent squall one afternoon which
carried away the masts before au order
had been issued. Had the squall passed
off as it came we might have pulled
through right enough, but it proved to
be the forerunner OF bowling gale. 1t
was the chief mates watch on deck,
and he must nave been swept overheard
az the brig lay on her beam ends for a
moment. When she righted everybody
rushed to cut away tho wreckage along
side, and while rushing abouv aud giving
'oidels Captain Richards was thrown to
the deck and had his right leg broken
Just above the ankle. He had to be
carried below at once, and the command
;ot the brig devolved upon Mr.. Brooks.
the second mate. We got the wreckacc
clear after while, but all saw that he
was not the man for the place. Indeed
he admitted it when he left the deck to
Chlpps, the carpenter, and locked him
self up in his stateroom with bottle of
brandy. He was good sailor, but no
man for pinch.
1t was just at sunset that the souall
struck us, and as the gale followed so
fast and the sea became so ugly, we
could do nothing but let the BRIG drift.
OFF before it.
Chips and the steward got tho Can
tains leg in splints and did whatever
elsal they could for him, and he sent us
word that we would probably DRIFT
ashore on some of the islands to the
westward of US before midnight. He
suggested that we make ready a raft in
addition to the yawl, which had escaped
being swept away, but the men were
dcmoralized by the cowardice of the
mate and refused to raise hand. About
midnight we heard the breakers on
Magadova Island. Chips and the
steward and went to the cabin to get
the Captain and the women on deck,
while the rest Of the crew exhibited a
selishness truly surprising. They would
not even assist each other, and they
quarrellcd as to who should go in the
boat, though it was large enough to hold
all. The Captain was truly brave man
and not at all unneryed, though suffer.
ing great pain from his broken limb.
But for him we should have forgotten
the mate, who was lying in his bunk in
drunken stupor, and who lay like
log on deck as we dragged him out of
che cabin. Seeing how the brig lay, the
Captain sent Chips to the wheel in
hopes to pay her off. and as good luck
would have it we got her stern, to wind
and sea, and she drove straight ahead
for, the shore. Half mile from the
beech she struck coral reef with n
great crash, but drove over it and
brought up on sandy beach, with her
nose almost among the mangroves.
We were wrecked but we were saved.
The reef caught and broke the force of
che heavy seas, and they hadn't power
enough to break up the brig where she
lay. She lifted half dozen times after
f1ho obiuSh1 auo WdilOWGu OUT q ped
for herself in the sands, and settled down
as firm rs a rock. We carried Captain
Richards below, hauled the drunken mate
forward out of the reach of the water
flying over us, and there was nothing
else to do but wait for daylight and dis
cover our exact situation. The Captains
wife and sister-in-law had been pretty
badly upset by events, but yet they took
heart as soon as it was known that the
moment Of peril was passed. The crew,
with the exception of Chips and myself,
retired to their quarters to sleep as calmly
as if nothing had occurred. We were
called to the cabin, and after bit Cap
tain Richards said:
y NJust what the men forward will do
in such an emergency as this can't say,
but want to be prepared for the worst.
We are In the track of vessels, but it may
DO fortnight before we are taken off.