Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1898-04-01

the whole island suddenly began to heavo
and tremble. For what seemed a full
minule It WAS like riding a ohoppy sea
IN Il small bout, cnly the sensation was
strangely bewildering and made the
heed swim.
Thee was moro than n shock, but
tic first was the most violent and lasted
LONGEST. The thvvo g. four which Buc-
ccedcd wcru thrills rather than shocks.
They ran through the island from east
10 west aud cut to sea, and we heard a
chorus Of what may be called shrieks of
distress from the lirds with each vibra-
ton. Two Or three minutes after tho
fourth or fifth shock Wallace stood up
and looked ont upon the sea to tho east
and shouted to mo:
"Louk, look, tEo tidal wave is COM
ing in, and thoro's Il big ship ON the
crest Of IT,"
l sprang up and followed his gaze.
Ten miles away there was q wall Of wa
ter, which seemed to lift its white crest
almost ~ tho sky and to reach north
and south as far as l could see. Riding
on this crest was a great ship, with her
thrco masts standing erect and some of
the yards across. Fer the first ten SEQ
onds the wall seemed to stand still.
Then II came rolling on like q railroad
train, and almost before ! could have
counted 20 it struck the shore of our
island and swept across it. The island
was a good 30 feet above water in every
purt, while On the hill we were at least
100, but all portions save the hill were
covered by ut least ten feet. l 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
struck the earth and was turned full
about. While it hung there the waters
passed on, and, 10, at orr feet, resting
almost on q level keel, was as strange a
sight as the eyes Of a sailor eyor beheld.
1t was Il ship to BIO sure, but ono had
to rub his eyes and look again and
again to be certain Of it. There wal the
great hull-thero the three masts-up
aloft tho yards, and there were scores
Of ropes trailing about like Shiny SER
penis. From stem to stern and from
keel to masthead the falric was covered
with mud and slime and barnacle and
sea grass and shells, and rs she rested
there the water poured off her decks
and out of her hold in such a sobbing,
choking way rs to bring the ahivers.
Not t. word had passed between the pair
of as whiio the wavo raced in and
across the island, and the ground below
us was clear Of the last water before
Wallace said:
Il think this euds it, and let us both
thank God! This ship "a hoaved up
from tho bottom of tho sea, where she
must have rested for a good many years.
but wo'll have to wait L Gay or two be-
fore we investigate"
After q couple of hours, to let the
| ground dry out Il bit, we descended the
hill to see what damage had been done.
About ore-hnlf the trees on the island
had becu uprootod and carried out to
sea, and of our hut lot a vestige re-
manned. There was scarcely a stone as
large rs a hens egg OH the island pre-
vious to tho wave, but now we found
that hundreds of rocks had been distrib-
utcd around, whilo tho dead fish were
W hAAAiCAOuo lAlnt w WIZ AOGAo ~
gathering them MP 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 arc prepared to hear, Of course,
that she proved to be the long lost Star
of India. We found that cut before We
had been aboard Of her a quarter Of an
hour, and later on We had a dozen rea-
sons for believing that the dying Malay
had spoken tho truth.
1 tell you that ship was a queer sight.
Her ocean bed had been hundreds Of
feet deep, and the mud covered every.
thing to the depth Of a foot-in some
places two or three. Neither one of rs
had heard Of the Star or her loss, but
we knew this wreck to be that Of an In.
diaman, and wo went at it to clear
away the stuff and get into her. We
were o full week doing this, and al
every turn we came across evidences t
prove the story of the Malay. Three OF
four of her guns were yet in 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 an6
suffered great loss Of life before shC
gave in. Even before we began worl
We found the auger holes bored in hel
bottom to scuttle her. The great cabir
and every stateroom had two feet o.
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 ship our home for s'
months and were then taken off by
whaler, and our story was the first new
received Of the long lost ship. The Eng
lish government sent q man-of-war Il
the island to overhaul the hulk, and me
mentos of her have long been OF exhi
bition in the British museum. Nothing
could be more queer than the way w
found her, or, rather, the way she wa
heaved up by the sea to DO discovered
From soundihgs made to the east Of tn
island in 1867-S it was estimated tina
tho great ship rose from a depth of owe
1000 feet. Nothing but an earthquake
could have lifted her from that depth
uothinn but a ida wave held her u