Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1897-02-19

In the year 1858 l was one ol the
crew of the English brig Swiftsure,
which was making survey or the
islands 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 sailor named Wallace
and while in a half drowned state we
were swept along the coast of the island
by a current and finally thrown on
shore in bit of cove. A boat put
off from the brig as soon as the disas-
ter was noticed, but only two bodies
were recovered. The three others
were pulled down by the sharks before
the boat go. to them. Believing this
to have been the sad fate of all five
no search was made for the pair OF us
cast ashore, and before we had recov-
cred from our exhaustion and prepared
signal the brig had departed for an
other field. The island on which we
were cast is one of group Of nine and
the innermost one Of all. 1t is likely
the same today as then, having plenty
of fresh water most of 1t covered with
verdure and wild fruits, shrimps and
shellfish so plentiful that shipwrecked
crow OF twenty men could get along
there for months. Wallace and l were
inclined 10 look upon the affair as a
lark. We erected hut in the woods,
procured fire by rubbing two dry sticks
together and after thorough eXplor-
alton CT 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
flocks 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 a
while Wallace gave 1t as his opinion
that we were in for a 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
high hill in the center, bare of every
thing but a couple of trees and few
bushes, and we sought it on account
of the tidal wave we knew would sure
ly follow an earthquake.
There was more than one shock, but
the first was the most violent and last
ed longest The three OF four which
succeeded were thrills rather than
shocks. They ran through the island
from east to west and out to sea, and
We heard a chorus Of what may be
called the shrieks Of distress from the
birds with each vibration. Two or
three minutes after the fourth or NTH
shock Wallace stood up and looked
out upon the sea to the east and shout
ed to ME:
Look! Look! The tidal wave is
coming in and there's big ship on the
crest of it,"
l sprang UP and followed his gaze.
Ten miles away there was wall OF
water which seemed to lift its great
white crest almost to the sky and to-
reach north and south as far as could
see. Riding on the crest was a great
ship, with her three masts standing
erect and some of the yards across.
For the first ten seconds the wall
seemed to stand still. Then 1t came
rolling on like railroad train, and at
most before could have counted TWEEN
ty it struck the shore of our island
and swept across it. The island was
good thirty feet above water in every
part, while on the hill we were at least
100. but all portions save the hill were
covered by at least ten feet. had my
eye on the ship alone. 1t came straight
for the hill, but as the wave divided it
was swept to the left and struck the
earth and was turned full about While
it hung there the waters passed ON, and,
10! at our feet, resting almost on a
level keel, vas as strange sight as the
eyes of a sailor ever beheld. 1t was a
ship, to be sure, but one had to rub his
eyes and lcok again and again to be
certain of it. There was the great hull
there the three masts, up aloft the
yards, and there were scores OF ropes
trailing about like Shiny serpents.
From stem to stern and from keel to
masthead the fabric was covered with
mud and slime and barnac1e and sea
grass and SHELLS, and as she rested there
the water poured off her decks and out
of her hold in such sobbing, choking
way as to bring the shivers. Not
word had passed between the pair OF us
while the wave raced in and across the
island, and the ground below us was
clear of the last water before Wallace
said:
IL think this ends it, and let us both
thank God! This ship was heaved VI
from the bottom CT the sea, where she
must have rested for good many
years, but we'll have to wait day Of
two before we investigate"
After a couple OF hours, to let the
ground dry out bit, we descended thu
hill to see what damage had been done
About one-half the trees on the islant