The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1897-02-17
STORY OF SOUTH SEAS.
Becalmed Nearly a Month With
Captains Body Awaiting Burial.

Becalmed Nearly a Month With
Captains Body Awaiting Burial.
The strangest voyage / ever made
in my life was in the English brig Ro-
sario before I joined this vessel" said
McLeavey, the carpenter Of the British
steamer Pochahontas. at the Mediter-
ranean pier, Brooklyn. 1T was my first
voyage. We crossed over TO Brazil
from Birkenhead, drummed up some
trade around the Horn, and finally
found our way back TO Old England
again after an absence OF eighteen
months.
a hundred miles out Liverpool
gutter-snipe crawled out from under
the berths in the fo'csle. 1 had seen
the lad, but supposed he was one of the
crew. His name was Peter Rowen, and
bad lot he was. Captain Price made
the stowaway work his passage TO Rio.
After that he appointed him steward.
ct was an unlucky selection for the
captain. The stowaway was detected
as the author of an anonymous note,
which has been left in the captains
chair. 1t read:
You will take us around Cape
Horn. will you? Beware some dark
night, From yours
a DEADLY ENEMY
Before the skipper had disciplined
the writer a thing happened that placed
Captain Price in the stewards power.
The Rosario was then at Paranagua.
An America beach comber, John Kiel-
er, who came originally from New York
and who was poorly, had Joined the
brig at Rio
..Kieler went aft one evening and
told the captain that he wanted an
ordinary seaman's wages in addition
to his board and clothes. The captain
flew into a mighty rage and told the
man to strip off such Stops as he had
already given him, for no beach COM
Der should get any show on his ship.
Keller removed the clothes the captain
had given him, dressed himself in his
ragged togs, and with his stick and
knick-knacks in a bandana handker-
chief dropped from the bObstay into
Paranagua bay. He started to swim
ashore.
Next morning the steward said
goodby to the crew and dived from
the rail into the bay. 1t was put-up
job on his part, for few strokes took
him to a native canoe that lay near by.
On the next day the body of Keller was
found on the beach, 600 yards from the
landing. There was a bullet-hole
through his head. Then up hobs the
steward and charges Captain Price
with murder The steward was the
principal witness and told the court
how Captain Price had quarreled with
Keller.
After a veXatious delay and trial
that worried the captain into his last
illness the prisoner was acquitted, and
we were off for Valparaiso. We all
knew on board that steward left the
brig with the mates pistol. We had
our suspicious. They were that the
stowaway had stumbled on the beach
over the body of Keller, who had
doubtless been drowned, or maybe he
had committed suicide by drowning.
In order to get the captain into a
scrape, as we always thought, the stew
ard had put a bullet into the corpse.
Captain Price never left his cabin
alive but once after that. AS the brig
tremity of South America he was help
ed I'D the companion way to gaze at
Terra del Fuego. l built an easy chair
for the captain and tended to the fire
in the cabin stove He got friendly and
generally invited me to share his gin.
When the captain died l built a coffin
for him Coal tar and lime was packed
all around the body. For twenty-four
DAYS the coffin lay in the captain s |
berth The mate, Mr.. Price, couldn't |
make up his mind to drop it overheard. |
THE brig was becalmed all those |
DAYS. We never had so much as fair |
wind. l told the mate that we never |
would have a breeze till the captain |
was buried in the ocean.
AT last Mr.. Price ordered the body |
brought on deck, but his courage failed !
him. He compromised by leaving the !
coffin on top of the house. There the
sailmaker will sit on that coffin mend
ing the topmast staysail
LAS we never had no wind the mate
gave in ii at the end of four days and
the body dropped overheard
Within two hours after we had got rid
of the captains body fair wind came
along and blew us into Valparaiso. The
Rosario had been given up as lost. We
were ninety-five days from Parana-
go, opd bod Iacc than one bag of hard