Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-08-06
THE WRECK.

night has thrown US ON the Corsican
coast, let me tell you q terrible story of
the sea, of which the fishermen of the
place often speak at eventide, and about
which chance has enabled me to learn
strange particulars
1t was three years ago. was sailing
the Sandman sea with seven or eight
sailors of the coast survey. Ii was n
rough voyage for n novice; we did not
have one good day through March The
wind was furious, and the waves never
claimed. One evening as we were flying
before the tempest our vessel came for
refuge to the mouth of the strait of
Bonifacio, among some little islands
Their aspect was net alluring. They
were great bald rocks, covered with
birds, some bushes of lentisk. n few
tufts of absinthe and here and there in
the slime dccaying pieces of wood But.
my soull it was better to pass the night
among these sinister rocks than to be on
n frail old bark. half dccked, where the
blast came in rs though it were quite at
home. So we contentcd ourselves.
No sooner had we disembarked than
the sailors lighted n fire for the fish
soup, and the captain called me, point
ing to a little Enclosure surrounded by n
white wall almost lost in the mist Mt the
end of the island viii you como TO
the cemetery" said he.
"A cemetery, captain! Where are
we?''
ION the Lavezzi islands, monsieur.
The 600 men of the frigate Semillantc
are buried here ut the spot where she
q coll A.
| they don't receive many visits, the least
we can do is to go and say 'bonjour' to
them, so long as we are here.
with all my heart, captain
How sad il was, the cemetery Of the
Semillantc! / see it still. with its little,
low wall; its iron door. rusty and hard
to open; its silent chapel, the hundreds
of black crosses hidden by the weeds.
Not one wreath of immOrtclleS, not one
souvenir-nothinG. All. the poor. aban-
doned dead. How cold they must be III
their chance tombS.
We staid Il moment knecling. The
Icaptain prayed aloud. Enormous gulls.
the only guardians of the cemetery, cir.
cled over our heads, mingling their
hoarse cries with the wailing of the
sea. The prayer finished, we came sadly
back to the corner of the island where
the bark was anchored. No time had
been lost during our absence. We found
n great fire flaming in the shelter of a
rock and the soup smoking. Sitting
down i'll a circle. with our feet to the
flames, soon each had ON his knees q
bowl of red pottery. in which were two
| slices of black bread covered plcntifully
with the broth. The repast was n silent
one. We were wet. we were hungry.
and then the nearness of the grave
yardl
However. when the bowls were emp
tied, we lighted our pipes and talked 4
Extraordinarily Of the Scmillante-
Tell me, how did it happen:"
asked the captain, who. with his head
ON his hands. stared Mt the flames with
n thoughtful air.
How did it happcn:" said the good
Liurctti. with n heavy sigh Alas. nc
human being can tell. All we know i
that the Ssmillante. laden with troops.
left Toulon the evening before in had
weather During the night it grew
worsc-wind. rain and n terrible SEA.
the like of which was never seen before.
In the morning the wind fell a little,
but the SEA was worse. il possible. and
with il the DEVILS own fog. 50 that Ons
could not have distinguished beacon
light four feet away. Those fogs. mon
sisur! You have no idea how deccirfu
they are. But also have an idea thai
tho Semillantc must have lost her helm
in the morning. for the captain even in
a heavy fog could hardly have made
such n mistake. He was n well tried
mariner We all knew him He had
commanded the Corsican station fui
three years and knew the coast rs wei
as /, who know nothing else"
AT what time do they think th'
Semillante perished?''
1T must have been at noOn-yes
monsieur, noon-but, forsooth, witt
that fog that noon was worth no NOR
than n night as black rs the jaws of q
| wolf. 4 life saver of the coast told mt
that the same day toward half past IL,
having gone ont of his cabin to fasteu
his shutters, the wind whirled away hi:
cap, and ut the risk uf being carried OF
| himself by the blast he commenced &c
crawl along the beach on all fours aftel
| it You see the Souaniers aren't rich.
and cap costs. Well. it seems that oul
man, lifting his head, saw right neal
him through the fog a great ship scud'
ding along under bare poles toward the
Lavezzi islands This ship went very
fast, so fast that he had hardly time fol
a good look. Everything leads to tbs
belief that il was the Semillante. BE-
cause n half hour later the shepherd a
the island heard Why, here comes the
shepherd himself. He will tell you.
Bonjour, Palombos Come, warm thy
self. Have no fear"
A muffied man. whom i had seen foz
some minutes providing around our fire.
and whom had taken for one Of the
crew, because i did not know that there
was shepherd ON the island. approach
ed US timidly. He was an old leper.
three-quarters an idiot and n prey to
know not what other scorbutic evil,
which made his lips horrible to behold.