Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1897-08-05
The Mariners Return.

The Mariners Return.
! That truth is stranger than fiction has
never been more fully exemplifed that
his home in Lynn of James C. Brown,
who has been absent therefrom nine
years, during which he has suffered
the greatest of privations, a-d had
long ago been given UP by his family
and friends in his home city as dead
He has been shipwrecked repeatedly,
and on each occasion has been one of
the few to be saved; he has been
abandoned in strange climes and
among strange people; he has been
stricken with disease and left to die
among strangers, and on one occasion
was left an exile on the Solomon
islands, among a race of uncivilized
and savage people, four long years.
His experiences border upon the I'M
real, and were it not for the sim
plicity of manner which characterizes
his narration Of them, and his eager
ness to conceal them from the public
print, they would seem to be the boast
ings of an "old sea dog"
Brown is about sixty years of age,
and is we'll known in Lynn and
throughout New England by all sea-
faring men. FOrty-seven years he has
followed the sea, having first shipped
at the age of thirteen years. He
shipped from Boston on the bark
Clyde of Salem in the latter part of
November, 1887. The bark was bound
for Madagascar with a cargo of 500
bales of cotton. While lying in the
harbor there they were visited by a
terrific cyclone, which capsiZed every
thing within it's range. More than
twenty-five crafts, including men-Of
war, German briggs, ETC., were victims
of the hurricane, but none suffered
more than did the Clyde and her
crew. After he had gone down for
second time, Mr.. Brown was rescued,
but during several days his life was
despaired of.
The vessel finally set sail again, and
after two days out she went to pieces,
and again the men were obliged to
battle with the elements for their
lives. They were rescued, however,
and after returning to Madagascar har-
Dor Brown shipped with another YES
sci, going to the isle of Mauritius in
the Indian ocean, where he was
stricken with fever, and during four
months fingered between life and
death His sufferings were most in
tense, and being left to care for him
self as best he could he often prayed
that death would visit him and re-
lieve him of further torture Finally,
the American consul was appealed to,
and he had Brown transferred to Mel
bourne, Australia, on the bark Elixir
By the time they had reached their
destination Brown had so far recovered
that he concluded not to stay in Mel
bourne, but instead returned on the
Elixir to Mauritius, where he remained
about a month, shipping once more for
Melbourne, and remaining ashore
about two months. The bark could
not leave on account of scarcity of
men, and one day the captain of the
ship started for the Solomon islands to
procure help, Brown was one OF the
crew. The bark anchored in the har-
Dor, but after vainly trying to get
men sailed hurriedly away, leaving
Brown stranded and alone on this
practically desert island
1t had been the custom of this cap
tain to visit the island when short of
help, and on previous occasion he
had killed two or more of the natives
for refusing to join the crew. Con-
sequently, when he landed again, the
natives were bound to secure revenge,
and, fearing this, the captain hurriedly
set sail for Melbourne. The feeling
Brown experienced when he found he
was left among savages is best told by
himself, as he related the story to
! a Boston Herald reporter recently at
his home, No. 16 Lincoln street
Imagine yourself in menagerie, y
he said, with 10000 wild animals
running madly about, and each one
| seemingly thinking of swallowing you
whole, and you have a faint idea of
my f1rts experience among the natives
of the Solomon islands. They live in
| a condition which BELTS savages,
though 1 am free to confess that after
while I made many friends among
i them. The climate there is almost
intolerable, and few moments spent
| in the sun by anybody but a native
would mean instant sunstroke
During four years I was an in
habitant of that island; an exile, not
alone from my friends, but from a
single English-speaking or white per-
son. Not day passed that I did not
pray that q ship would anchor and
take me away, but it seemed that I
was doomed to my terrible exile
After several months had elapsed, and
these months had grown to years, I
abandoned all hope of ever again
looking upon my family and friends,
and endeavored to make living among
the savages as bearable as possible
They are said to be a treacherous race
of people, and innumerable times !
concluded I would be made the victim