, 1897-11-18

and shouted TO me:
Look. look. tho tidal wave il COM
ing in, and there S u big snip Oh tine
crest OF it."
l sprang up and followed his gaze.
len miles away there was a wall Of wa
ter, which seemed to lift its white cres;
almost to the sky and to reach north
and south as far as l could see. Riding
on this crest was Il great ship, with her
three masts standing erect and some OF
the yards across. For the first ten sec
onds the wall seemed to stand still.
Then ii came rolling on like a railroad
train, and almost before l could have
counted 20 it struck the shore of our
Island and swept across it. The island
was a good 80 feet above water i'll every
part, while on the hill we were at least
100, but all portions save the hill were
covered by 1T least ten feet. / had
my eye on the ship alone. 1t am
straight for the hill, but as the wave
divided II was swept to the left and
struck the earth and was turned full
about. While it hung there the waters
passed on. and, 10, al our feet, resting
almost on a level keel, was as strange a
sight'as the eyes of a sailor ever beheld.
1t was d ship to be sure, but one had
to rub his eyes and look again and
again to be certain Of it. There was the
great hull-there the three lnasts-up
aluft the yards, and there We're scores
Of ropes trailing about like Shiny ser
penis. Prom stem to stern and from
keel to masthead the fabric was covered
with mud and slime and barnacle and
sea grass and shells, and as she rested
there the water poured off her decks
and out Of he" hold in such Il sobbing,
choking wav as to tring the shiyers.
Not d word Lad passed between the pain
OF Us while the wave raced in and
across the island. and the ground below
us was clear of the last water betur,
Wallace said:
Il think this ends it, and let us both
thank God. This ship was heaved vi
from the bottom Of the sea, where she
must have rested for a good many years,
but well have to wait q day or two be.
fore we inyeTtigare."
After a couple of hours, to let tire
ground dry u Il bit, we descended the
hill to see what damage had bgeu done.
About one-half the trees on the islah /
had been uprooted and carried out tC
sea, and Of our hut not Il yestige re.
manned. There was scarcely a stone IL
large az Il hens egg on the island pre-
vious to the wave, but now we found
that hundreds of rocks had beru distrib-
Uted around, while the dead fish were
SO numerous that we We're hours in
gathering them up and giving them tc
the tide to bear away. Two hours afte1
the last shock the sky cleared, the sun
came out, and by night the island wal
fairly dry in all parts. We, however,
gave the ship all nex day to get rid Of
her water apd harden i'll the hot sun
You are prepared to hear, of course,
that she proved to be tine long lost Sta1
of India. We found that out before we
had been aboard Of her Il quarter of al
hour. and later Oh we had Il dozen srea-
SONS for believing that the dying Malay
had spoken the truth.
l tell you that ship was a queer sight.
Her ocean bed had been hundreds OF
lttt p. IN tlN AluNA w
thing to the depth of u foot-in some
places two or three. Neither one of US
had heard of the Star or her loss. but
we knew this wreck to be that of an In
diuman, and we went al it to clear
away the stuff and get into her. We
Were IA full week doing this, and ut
every turn we came across evidences to
prove the story Of the Malay. Three or
tour OF her guns We're yet i'll place, and
from the way she had been knocked
about hy cannon shot it was easy to fig
urC that she had made u hard fight ard
suffered great loss OF life before she
gave in. Even before we began work
we found the anger holes bored in her
bottom to scuttle her. The great cabin
and every stateroOm had w feet OF
mud on the floor, and l may tell you
that we worked hard for four weeks be-
fore we got the hulk cleaned out.
We made the ship our home for six
months and were then axe off by Il
whaler, and our story was the first news
received Of the long lost ship The Eng
Ish government sent a man-of-war TO
the island to overhaul the hulk, and me-
mentos Of her have long been on exhi-
bition III the British museum. Nothing
could be more queer than the way we
found her, or, rather, the way size was
heaved up by the sea to be discovered.
From soundings made to the east Of the
island i'll 1S61-S it was estimated that
the great ship rose from il depth of ovel
1000 ieet. Nothing but an earthquake
could have lifted her from that depth,
nothing hut IA tidal wave held her w
and swept her to L feet.