, 1897-11-19
THE ISLAND CAVE.

In the morning watch on board the
bark Pawnee. bound from Colombo.
Ceylon. to the cape OF Good Hope. we
were washing down the decks OH the
3Oth day of October 1866. when a man
who had been sent aloft to examine q
sail which had been damaged III ii squaIl
during the previous night shouted down
to the mate that he could see Il man on
a RAFT about II mile away and almost
directly III our course We were then
midway between Ceylon and the Cha.
gos islands, with sea room for 500 miles
i'll every direction
The announcement OF the man on the
raft did moi produce much excitement
Natives are frequently blown Oft the Is
lands OH rufts and catamarans from
which they have been fishing. and We
believed this Is to be such a case We
were up with him III ii few minutes and
great was our surprise to find him a
white maj and a sailor The raft was u
rude but stout affair. which he had
made FROM drlftwood. and 1t carried y
cargo as well as the man Securely
dashed to the planks Inc tlmbers were
four large elephant tuSks and an earthen
jar together with two other Jars con
tanning food and water The raft had no
sail. but was managed to u certain ex-
tent by u rude steering oar The casta.
way took things coolly and was neither
overgratctul nor greatly surprised at
tnlntu fIakni nm IA .nyt. m 4 4 flnf hta
cargo was safely aboard before he
climbed over the rail and he answered
no questions until he was alone with
the captain III the cabin Then he told
q story which cached us two or three
hours later
The name of the rescued sailor was
William Scott He was second mate of
a Ceylon schooner called the Happy
Day Three months before we found
HIM the sci 'uncr set out from some
port on the India coast for Batavia. but
encountered u typhoon and was blow a
long distance to the west and finally
wrecked on 4 coral rect surrounding an
island OF the crew OF eight men Scott
alone esca ped He was carried IA mile or
more by the waves and cast upon the
beach aud he was 50 bruised ana bat
tered that ne could not stand upright
tor three or our days He believed this
island to be- one OF the eisternllost ut
the ChuguS and yet When he came to
overhaul the chart aud read the descrlp
tinns OF the group he could not place II
among them 1t was an island about u
mile III circumference. rocky and bar
rem. but having plenty OF fresh water Oh
1t AS tor animal life. there WAS MOI
even u lizard to be- seen. AMI hut for the
ravlnes aud caves the man would hav"
been roasted alive by the hot sun There
were shelliish III plenty and he caught
many tlsh left III ponds rs the tide re-
coded INT he had no ire Scott lived
OIL the barren rock tor II long weeks
without once sighting IA sail and but for
his own individual efforts the time
might have been indefinitely prolonged
One day u lot OF wreckage from some
unfortunate native craft drove ashore.
and he secured planks and tlmbers ana
set about building a raft He had made
up his mind to put to sea take the
chance OF being picked up
The castaway had explored his island
several tunes but as III ground was
much cut up and difficult to get over he
had not eXaIulued 1t closely Entering
the island from the south side was u
narrow hay being o over ~ feet
vide though very deep This bay came
near cutting the island IN two. rs 1t
ran within 100 feet Of the north end
1t was III the still waters OF the bay
that Scott constructed his raft aud OH
~ when II wis finished that he made n
strange discovery He poled 1t along
one day to the head OF the bay as
ne reached the end he saw the mouth Of
u cave 10 teet uhove him OIL the right
IL seemed to INN that men had used
tools To widen the mouth and to smooth
the wav up to u from the water. and
his curiosity was aroused He found the
Iluuth Of the cav large enough to adj
mt IL hoysh"ad and there was every
reason to utiIpve thft u had once bten
bio1k.ai up with stones squared tM the
purtA,-. ami sr'nnent.si III lht-' stones
nat t~..ii shukrn insse Nv some great
nj ami mad RULED duwn inin the tAy
The ave wa- ~ feet long Uy ~ wide
ana ~ teei hign drv ana airy aud II
tut better n1use than RotilSIb rusn~
had Huw cmne the astonishing part IF
tine story Acss,rtii,R TO Scott he found
2iU elephant tusks stacked up III the
cave uIgether with tive lars Of gold
dust IN leaving b island on his raft
tie sAilos scoTst four Of the tusks TO
his raft and also ono Of tba iars Of gold
dust. Two other jars were emptied OF
their contents thai he might use the
jarslfor food and water,
Had the raft been without cargo the
mans story would have been laughed at
and ridicrled. He said he had found
gold and. ivory-a great fortune He
had the.4vory and the gold to prove his
assertions 1t made no difference that
he could not identify the island-that
the chart did not place 1t 1t was .
queer story. but with the proofs At hand
10 back it what co1ld We do but believed
Oar capeatn Vas = Sooschman. and he
ssok awhois day % ehink ths masser
GvD - a~ohi4NH ttae - se1@