The morning times., 1897-02-14
A BOYS STRANGE LUCK
BY CHARLES b. LEWIS.

One of the three boys we had with us
| as apprentices on the ship Malabar, which
was an Indianman sailing out of London
was Il lad seventeen years old named wa
Davis He was an American 10y and .
runaway fIom Philadelphia, and had mad,
two or three voyages before getting u
bcrth with as / was second mate of the
Malabar and ne was III my watch, and |
therefore came to know the huy pretty
well What did OF see OF his adventures
l heard later on from has own lips. In
the days OF which ! write nearly all
ships LoUnd to India passed up ard down
the Mozambique Channel, which body Of
, water separates the east coast of Africa
fIom the Island of Madagascar and from
the numerous smaller islands To The rortIi
In the palmy days OF the pirates these
smaller islands were the rendezvous of
various bands. and between the years
I $40 M 1890 they captured and destroyed
a full hundred merchantmen and traders.
The pirates had long since been wiped cut
and only the larger islands were inha bitpd
and that by gangs OF men who gathered
shells and sponGes and trafficEed in dye
woods with trading crafts.
We had got wen above NADIA gascar.
on the trip Of which l write, and were
making a fine run up the channel, when
one night a midnight we were boar dcd 10y
what is called bore" This is rcither
more nor less than great wave, which is
sometimes driven before a storm, and some
times is the result OF a volcanic disturb
ance deep down in the sea. The night was
pleasant, with a light wind, and an almost
almost before anyone had caught the sound
OF its approach. Il took us up bread
side on, and il was I, miracle that the ship
did not founder out OF hand.
That wall OF water was at least fifteen
feet higher than our rail, and as it bIokc
aboard it swept five hands away and
cleared the deck fron stem to stern For
q minute the ship was three or four feet
under the surface, Strainine and groaning
in every timber and seeming to be on her
way to the depths, and when she rose at
last she was as badly battered as if she
had fought with hurricane for three or
four days. Among the five sailors car
ricd overheard was the boy viii, hut it
was quarter Of an hour before we knew
the names OF the missing. The wave came
from the West, and l have no doubt that-it
Travelled at the rate Of thirty miles an rour
perhaps faster. The five hands were gone
in ii flash. and we could make no attempt
to save them. Indeed, we were lucky to
escape as we did 1t was three years
later before I met young Davis, and then
in London. and I Will give you the story
OF his adventures as he told it to me.
When Swepboyerbodrd with the other four
the boy had graSped the stats of an empty
hen coop, but for what seemed TO be two
or three minutes he was turned over and
over and was so far beneath the surface
that he MES almost gone when his head
popped above the foam. 1t was his
float which lifted him to the surface
lie did not drive along on the big wave,
but on the big waves folio wing Ii, and after
rushing to the east for half an our, during
which time his coop was turned over and
oyer many times, and he had no clear per-
ception OF his position, he was flung upon
one of tho Comnro Islands These islands
are seven in number, and lie about ninety
miles off the African coast The particular
island upon which the boy was cast is a
green and fertile spot, having q length and
breadt!; OF about q mile, with a clean beach
all around it and about fifteen acres OF for
eSb In tise center 1T is cliafteG as Coco
Island'' 1t has height OF about thirty
feet above the sea, and Davis was carried
by the waves clear over the beach and
among the trees
The large wave uprooted and ca rried
away scores OF trees, and rocks weighing
many tons We're whirled about like pebbles
He vas handled very roughly. huf got OF
without broken bones, and when daylight
came he found himself alone and the pro-