Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1895-12-18
IN THE BREAKERS.

As the violent storm of the other
night has thrown US on the CorsiCan
coast let me tell you terrible story
of the sea, of which the 6shormen 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 >ardinian Sea with seven
or eight sailors of the Coast survey.
1t was rough voyage for . novice;
we did lot have one good day
through March. The wind was fu.
rious, and the waves never Gained.
One evening, as we were flying be-
70, e the tempest, our vessel came for
fuge u the mouth of tho Straits OF
BonifacIo, among some little islands.
Their aspect was not allur ny.
They were great. bald rocks covered
with birds, some bushes of lentisk. u
few tufts of atsiuthe, aud here and
there, in the slime, decaying
pieces of wo d. But, by my
soul, it was better to pass the night
among these sinister rocks than to be
on a fraiI old bark, half decked,
where the blast came in as though
it were quite at home; SO we con-
tented ourselves.
No sooner had we disembarkeG
than the sailors lighted fire for the
fish soup, and the captain called me,
pointing to little inciosure sur
rounded by a white wall almost 10 t
in the mist at the end OF the island
..WIll lou come to the cemetery"
said he.
"a ce . etery, captain! Where are
we?"
ION the LavezZi Islands, monsieur.
The 90 men Of the frigate Semil-
lauIe are buried here at the spot
where she wa, st ten years ago
Poor fellows. AS they don't receive
many visits, the least we can do is TO
go and say 'BonJour' to them as long
as We are here"
with all my heart, Captain"
How sad it was, the cemetery OF
the Semillante! l see it still, with
its little. low wall; its open door.
rusty and hard to open: its silent
chapel; the hundreds OF black crosses
hidden 10y the weeds Not one
wreath of immortelleS not one sou-
venir--nothing. All, the poor, aban-
dUncd dead? How cold they must De
In their chance tombs.
We stayed a moment, knecling.
The Captain prayed aloud. EnCr-
nous gu!lS, the only guard ans OF the
cemetery, circled over our heads,
uingllng their hOarSe cries with the
waillng OF the sea. The PRAYER I'm
ished. we came sadly back TO the cor
ner OF the island where the bark was
anchored. No time had been O,t
during our absence. We found IL
great fire flaming in the shelter Of a
great rock, and the soup smukin1.
Sitting down in circle, with our
feet to the flames, soon each had on
his knees a bowl Of red lottery, in
which were two slices OF Lila X
bread, covered pIentifuily with the
broth. The repaSt was a silent one.
We wee wet. we were hungry, and
then, the nearness Of the graveyard.
However, when the bowls were
emptied we lighted our pipes aud
talked Internationally Of the
Semillante.
Tell me, how did it happen?" I
asked the Captain, who, with his
bead in his hands stared at tho
flames with a thoug htful air.
How did it happen" said tho
good LioDetti, with heavy sigh
ALAS no human being can tell. All
we know is that the semilante,
laden with troops, left TOulon the
even NJ before in bad weather. Dur
ing the night it grew worse-wind,
rain, aud a terrible sea, the like OF
which was never seen before. In the
morning the wind fell little, but
the sea was worse, il pOss bic, and
with it the devils own log, so that
one could not have distinguished a
beacon light four feet away. These
fogs, monsieu! You have no idea
how deceItful they are. But l also
have an idea that the Semillante
must have lost her helm in the morn
Ing, for the captain, even In heavy
fog, could hardly have made such a
mistake. He was a welltried ma
rner. We all knew him. He had
commanded the Corsican station Tor
three years, and knew the coast as
well as /, who knew nothing else
'.At what time 40 they think that
the Semillante perishe1?"
lit must have been at nGOn-yes,
monsieur, fully nom, but. fOrSOOth,
with that fog, that noon was worth
no more than night as black a. the
laws OF a wolf. A life-saver of the
coast told me that the same day, to-
ward 1890, having gone out o. his
cabin to fasten his shutters, the W nd
whirled away his cap, and at the risk
OF being carried off himself by the
blast he commenced to crawl along
the beach on ali fou!s after it. You
see, the douaniers aren't rich, and a
cap costs. Well, it seems that our
man, lifting his bead. saw right near
him, through the fog, a great ship
scudding along under bare poles TO-
ward the Lavezzi Islands.
This ship went very fast, so fast
that he had hardly time for good
look Everything points to the be-
lief that it was the Semillante, be-
cause a half hour later the shepherds
of the islands heard-why, here
comes the shepherd himself; he Will
tell you. Roui Jour, Palombo Come,
warm thyself. Have no fear"
A null ed man whom 1 had seen
sor me minutes prowling around
our & e, and whom had taken for one
Of the crew, because did not know
that there vas a shepherd on the
island, approached Us timidly. He
was an old leper, three quarters Of
an id OF ana a p:ey to know not
what other scorbutic evil, which
made his lips horrible to behold, so
swollen were they. They explained
TO him at length what we were talk
ing about; then lifting his dreadful
lips with his finger, the old man said
that on the day in question, about
noon, he heard from his hut fright
full crash on the rocks, but as the is