Asheville daily citizen., 1892-06-13
CAPTURED WHILE AT SEA
HOW CONVICTS TOOK s'iiH'
SESSION Gf' = BR1Ei.
sailing Five EIuHdred Miles will
n Gang Of I;IOcdthtrsty Villains
and "A Narrow Escape AT the
End of the Voyage.

and ~ Narrow Escape al the
End of the voyage.
copyright lSa@, by Charles b. Lcwis,l
The brig in which shipped to make
voyage from jamaica to Pernambuco and
return, calling at Georgetown en- route,
was called The Little Queen. She was
trim, new craft, just out from England,
and was commanded by one of the oldest
mariners ever saw in active service. His |
name was Rothsay, an Englishman, and |
he was hale and hearty at seventy-two |
years of age 1t may be recorded as curl |
Gus thing that he was the only English |
man aboard of an English craft. Both |
mates, cook and all foremast hands were
Americans, and three of the men were Cape
Codders. The explanation was that we
had been wrecked in q sugar vessel in the
| Caribbean sea and picked up and carried
to jamaica by British steamer. There
were nine of us all told as the brig left the
island.
Georgetown, as you will see by the map,
| is on the north coast Of Brazil, in the state
| or province of Guiana. \ strip of territory
| 800 miles long by 500 broad is divided up
among the British, Dutch and French, and
the two latter have established penal colo
MES there. We reached Georgetown in
due time and discharged Il part of our
cargo, and just as we were ready to sail
we were notified that ten convicts from
the French penal settlement of Cayenne
had got away to sea in the yawl of Il French
merchantmen. Little attention was paid
10 this notice, as such escapes were by no
means rare, and when we began our run
down the coast the incident passed out of
our minds. One day Mt noon, when we
were to the south of Cayenne and about
forty miles off the coast, IL man aloft dis
covered ships boat about two miles
away and heading down across orlr course,
AS she was standing in from scaWard our
first impression was that she carried a
shipwreckcd crew. had just come on
watch when the boat was reported rs
soon us levelcd the glass at her / detected
the clothing of French convcts and counted
an even ten men. The craft was under
sail, but the breeze was light and the sea
= smooth. She was ON our port quarter, and
if we held OH she would intercept us.
AS soon as the captain was notified of
the discovery he ordered the brig kept of
four or five points, and then called the
crew aft and notified them that if the CON
victs got aboard they would not hesitate
at murder. Half dozen muskets would
have given us u powerful advantage, but
, there was not even II single barrelcd pis-
$ tol in the brig. If it came to Il fight we
could only arm ourselves with capstan
bars and Delaying pins. We had hopes
however, of getting off without coming tC
close quarters. While the wind was light
we had all sail on the brig and there was
no question but that we could outsal the
r yawl. As soon as we shifted our helm the
s yawl raised u signal of distress and the
convicts shouted in chorus We paid ne
:. attention of course, and she swung into
our wake about II quarter of a mile aStern
- They must have realized that we had cs
tablished their identity, for half dozel
, of them sprang up and shook their fists a
y us and roared like wild beasts. | got I
plain view Of the visages of three or fou
of the lot under the glass, and more vii
lainous countenances | never saw. w
were rapidly leaving them behind and con
graduating ourselves on the fact, when til
breeze began to puff and die, and in til
- course of quarter of an hour it fell flat
When this occurred we heard Il fain
cheer from the convicts, and they shortl
: doused their sail and put over two pairs c
oars.
Of ut seems that we have got to fight fO
to it after ALL" observed the captain after
look through the glass. "Mr. l.cnoX, yo
will arm the crew and hold them up I
their work The boat can only board us Il
| . l,nt t1,n ,,,l- hnl ett,,,1
of hot water ready. Give every man I
understand that lie must fight for his life.
A quarter of an hour later the yawl la
I. Off our port quarter within speaking di
tancc Every man Of the ten looked IL
villain. Only desperate men could hay
{. attacked and overpowered the guard an
escaped as they did. There was neither
young nor an old face among them, but a
were middle aged men. Some were
full convict uniform, while Others ha
=. thrown away their jackets Their Lead
was short, stout man, so dark cor
pleXioncd that he seemed to be a Spaniar
and as the boat drew near he stood up
lG. the stern sheets and called out:
. Hello, captainl Why you run awi
=. from poor, shipwrecked sailormen2 o.
si''p ~ Wv" II vi >, '''io wv ''o ''''l s'7''
oay , afternoon ..,c..,
mo" @ YOU '' snou.ou CipUaiai no's's' sH
~ Cayenne. If you attempt to board III "
'f will find us well prepared"
NJ lney couiu iloV Niio" no" Meii VI M nt
''' poorly "rniea We "c''' anu We "cio Ill
10 enelr Iel, ,.,..,.
les eap'"',i' you ele'H 'Iol9' a",o ,
ieauer u,Itr ave oriei consui.,''loh WIN
,ilen' we are coh''e's iIoi'i o"yeii.
out we are innocent .,l i,'el'' we uo toV wi
nd 10 poafu you. we nave M i,ei.ler ~, .h l' ioou Il
uri''N' anu "c ASK you Ill ''o ''a'lio
a. humanity II, 10 supply us;,... US;
O. Inc captain M consulted WIN me III reg,
- tolt' ihey must come aloh9siue Ill ora
TO receive suppheS' ana wheh they II
: once hookeu ON VINO couiu say wlHt th
mignt attempVF hes,ueS' we iiau i''tie
y, nOJhlnS 10 spare. lhey hau Deen alC