The Press., 1898-02-17

as then, having plenty of fresh water. most of it covered with verdure, and wild fruits. shrlmps and shellfish so plentiful that a shipwrecked crew of 20 men could get along there for months Wallace and l were inclined to look upon the affair as lark. We erected hut in the woods, procured fire by rub bing two dry sticks together. and after thorough exploration of our domain, which was not over two miles across in any direction, we slept, ate and talked. and had a 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 a coppery color. and the birds on the island ap- peared to be in great alarm Great f1ocks of them came in from the sea. and all along shore the fish were leap ing out of the water as if 1t were pol Iuted.
 After surveying things for awhile Wallace gave it as hls 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
 
 island. There was a high hill in the center, bare of everything but a couple of trees and a few bushes. and we sought 1t on account of the tidal wave we knew would surely follow an earthquake. AS to disturbance of the earth, we were helpless except to keep clear of the for est. It was midday before anything oc- cured The menacing look of the sky and the sea increased, and fish by the thousands drove up on the sandy beach to their death Just about noon. when we were wondering what it was to be. the whole island suddenly began to heave and tremble. For what seemed a full minute it was like riding a choppy sea in small boat, only the sensation was strangely bewildering and made the head swim.
 There was more than one shock, but the first was the most violent and lasted longest. The three or four which suc- ceeded were thrills rather than shocks. They ran through the island from east to west and out to sea, and we heard 8 chorus of what may be called shrieks of | distress from the birds with each vibra- tion. Two or three minutes after the fourth or fifth shock Wallace stood up and looked out upon the sea to the east and shouted to me:
 Look, look. the tidal wave is com ing in, and there's a big ship on the crest of it. U
 1 sprang up and followed his gaze. Ten miles awas there was a wall of wa ter, which seemed to lift its white crest almost to the sky and to reach north and south as far as could see Riding on this crest was 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 l Then it came rolling on like a railroad | train, and almost before 1 could have counted 20 1t struck the shore of our island and swept across it The island was a good 80 feet above water in every part, while on the hill we were at least l 100, but all portions save the hill were covered by at least ten feet 1 had my eye on the ship alone It came straight for the hill. but as the wave divided it was swept to the left and l struck the earth and was turned full about While 1t hung there the waters 1 passed on. and, To, at our feet, resting | almost on a level keel, was as strange a | sight as the eyes of sailor ever beheld- It was ship to be sure, but one had to rub his eyes and look again and | again to be certain of it There was the l great hull-there the three masts-up aloft the yards, and there were scores | of ropes trailing about like slimy ser pents From 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 of her decks and out of her hold in such sobbing choking way as to bring the shlvers | Not word had passed between the pair of us while the wave raced in and across the island, and the ground below 1 us was clear of the last water before | Wallace said:
 ''I think this ends it, and let us both thank God This ship was heaved up from the bottom of the sea. where she must have rested for good many years, but we'll have to wait a day or two be- fore we investigate.
 After a couple of hours, to let the ground dry out a bit, we descended the hill to see what damage had been done. About one-half the trees on the island had been uprooted and carried out to sea, and of our hut not vestlge re- mained There was scarcely a stone as large as a hen S egg on the island pre- | vious to the wave, but now we found that hundreds of rocks had been dlstrib- | uted around. while the dead fish were | so numerous that we were hours in gathering them up and giving them to the tide to bear away Two hours after the last shock the sky cleared, the sun came out, and by night the island was fairly dry in all parts. We. however, gave the ship all next day to get rid of her water and harden in the hot sun. You are prepared to hear, of course, that she proved to be the long lost Star of India We found that out before we had been aboard of her a quarter of an | hour, and later on we had dozen req sons for believing that the dying Malay had spoken the truth
 l tell you that ship was a queer sight l Her ocean bed had been hundreds of | feet deep. and the mud covered every thing to the depth of foot-ln 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 diaman, and we went at 1t to clear away the stuff and get into her We were a full week doing this, and at every turn we came across evidences to prove the story of the Malay Three or four of her guns were yet Tn place. and from the way she had been knocked about by cannon shot it was easy to fig, ure that she had made a hard fight and suffered great loss of life before she gave in Even before we began work Il
 bottom to scuttle her The great cabin and every stateroom had two feet of mud on the floor. and 1 may tell you that we worked hard for four weeks be- fore we got the hulk cleaned out | We made the ShlD Our home for si N