Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1896-10-03
The STORY Teller.
THB LONG-LOSl ship
A SECRET OF THE SEA

In the year 1849 the Honorable Eas
India company's ship, the Star of In
dia, set sail from Madras for London
having on board over 200 passengers
and among them Lord Glenham, Gen
eral Swift, Lady Artwell and her two
daughters, and other men and womer
of note at home and abroad. Aside
from her general cargo, the ship car
ried treasure to the amount of $3.50,
900. The bankers at Madras figured
out that the passengers must have al
least 100000 among them, while an
Indian potentate on his way to lie re-
ceived as a guest of royalty, had 8
strong box of ,jewelry and gems, val
ued at 80 great sum that no one
dared speak it. 1t was intended thai
the ship should be conveyed as far as
the Cape of Good Hope by a man-of
war, as there were plenty of pirate
craft still afoat, but the government
vessel met with a mishap at sea, and
was detained somewhere, and the Stal
finally decided to sail without her, as
there was little fear but that she could
take care of herself. Two days out Of
Madras she was sighted and reported
but that was the last seen or heard oi
her until the year 1864.
The loss of the Star made a(grea,
sensation for several reasons, and
when it was finally concluded that she
had been lost, various vessels were
sent in search of her, and every effort
was made to ascertain her fate. In
1856 Malay sailor who died aboard
an English tea ship told her captain
that the Star was attacked and captur.
ed by pirates to the south of Ceylon,
and that he was one of the men en-
gagged in the attack. He said there
five native crafts, and that they came
upon the Star in calm, and carried
her by boarding. The ship made q
long and stubborn resistance, but was
finally captured, and the pirates had
suffered such heavy loss that in re-
venge they killed everybody to the
last child. They then looted the ship
and scuttled her, and the plunder was
subsequently divided on an island in
the China Sea. Some people believe
this story, and some said it was absurd.
The general idea was that the Star
foundered at sea during heavy gale.
The dying statement of the pirate was
never fully investigated for some rea-
son. So far as the investigation went,
it was proved to be a fact. The pi-
rates had long been scattered, many
were doubtless dead, and the idea OF
bringing the gang to justice was given
up as impossible.
In the year 1863 I was one of the
crew of the English brig Swiftsure,
which was making survey OF the is-
lands to the northeast of Madagascar.
At the Chagos group, as we were pull
| ing into land one day, with seven men
in the boat, we were upset in the surf,
and only two of US escaped death. My
companion was a sailor named Wal
lace, and while in half drowned state
we were swept along the coast of the
island by current, and finally thrown
on shore in a bit of a cove. A boat
put off the brig as soon as the disaster
was noticed, but only two bodies were
recovered. The three others were
pulled down by the sharks before the
boat got to them. Believing this to
have beer the sad fate of all FIVE, no
search was made for the pair of us cast
ashore, and before we had recovered
from our exhaustion and prepared a
signal, the brig had departed for an
other field. The island on which we
were cast is one of a group of nine,
and the innermost one of all. 1t is
likely the same today as then, having
plenty of fresh water, most of it COW
cred with verdure and wild fruits,
shrimps and shellfsb so plentiful that
ship wrecked crew of 20 men could
get along there for months. Wallace
and 1 were inclined to look upon the
affair as lark. We erected hut in
the woods, procured fire by rubbing
two dry sticks together, and after a
thorough exploration Of our domain,
which was not over two miles across in
any direction, we slept, ate and talked
and had pretty easy time of it.
We had been on the island about
three months, when we awoke one
morning to find the sea like sheet of
glass and the air as still as death. The
sky was overcast, and yet of cop
perry color, and the birds on the island
appeared to be in great alarm. Great
focks of them came in from the sea,
and all along shore the fish were leap
ing out of the water as if it were pol
luted. After surveying things for d
while, Wallace gave it as his opinion
that we were in for typhoon or an
earthquake. The sulphury smell in
the air inclined him to the latter, and
as soon as we had eaten we started
for the center of the island. There
was a high hill in the center, bare of
everything but couple of trees and a
few bushes, and we sought it on ac-
count of the tidal wave we knew would
surely follow an earthquake. AS to
disturbance of the earth, we were
helpless, except to keep clear of the
forest. 1t was midday before anything
~, 1o11 g