Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1898-02-05
THE ISLAND CAVE.


were washing down the decks on the
30th day of October, 1866, when man
who had been sent aloft to examine a
sail which had been damaged in a squall
during the previous night shouted down
to the mate that he could see man on
a raft about mile away and almost
directly i'll our course. We were then
midway between Ceylon and the Cha
gos islands, with sea room for 500 miles
in every direction.
The announcement of the man on the
raft did not produce much excitement.
Natives are frequently blown off the is
lands on RATS and catamarans from
which they have been fishing, and we
believed this is to be such case. We
were up with him in few minutes and
great was our surprise to find him a
white man and sailor The raft was a
rude but stout affair, which he had
made from driftwood, and it carried a
cargo as we'll as the man. Securely
lashed to the planks and timbers were
four large elephant tusks and an earthen
jar together with two other jars con-
tanning food and water. The raft had no
sail, but was managed to certain ex-
tent by rude steering oar. The casta-
way took things coolly and was neither
overgrateful nor greatly surprised at
being picked up. He saw to it that his
cargo was safely aboard before he
climbed over the rail and he answered
no questions until he was alone with
the captain i'll the cabin. Then he told
story which reached US two or three
hours later
The name of the rescued sailor was
William Scott. He was second mate of
Ceylon schooner called the Happy
Day. Three months before we found
him the schooner set out from some
port OH the India coast for Batavia, but
encountered typhoon and was blown a
long distance to the west and finally
wrecked on coral reef surrounding an
island. OF the crew of eight men Scott
alone escaped. He was carried mile or
more by the waves and cast upon the
beach and he was SO bruised and bat
tered that he could not stand upright
for three or four days. He believed this
island to be one of the easternmost of
the Chagos, and yet when he came to
overhaul the chart and read the descrip-
tions of the group he could not place it
among them. 1t was an island about a
mile i'll circumference, rocky and bar
ren, but having plenty of fresh water on
it, AS for animal life, there was not
even "a lizard to be seen, and but for the
ravines and caves the man would have
been roasted alive by the hot sun There
were shelltish i'll plenty, and he caught
many fish left i'll ponds as the tide re-
ceded, but he had no fire Scott lived
Oh the barren rock for | long weeks
without once sightinga SAIL and but for
his own individual efforts the time
might have been indefinitely prolonged.
One day a lot of wreckage from some
unfortunate native craft drove ashore,
and he secured planks and timbers and
set about building a raft. He had made
up his mind to put to sea and take the
chance of being picked up
The castaway had explored his island
several times, but as the ground was
much cut up and difficult to get over he
had not examined it closely Entering
the island from the south side was a
narrow bay, being not over 20 feet
wide, though very deep This bay came
near cutting the island in two, as it
ran within 100 feet OF the north end
1t was in the still waters of the bay
that Scott constructed his raft, and on
ly when it was finished that he made a
strange discovery. He poled it along
one day to the head of the bay, and as
he reached the end he saw the mouth of
cave 10 feet above him on the right.
1t seemed to him that men had used
tools to widen the mouth and to smooth
the way up to it from the water, and
his curiosity was aroused He found the
mouth OF the cave large enough to ad-
init hogshead, and there was every
reason to believe that it had once been
blocked up with stones squared for the
purpose and cemented in These stones
had been shaken loose by some great
jar and had rolled down into the bay.
The cave was 30 feet long by 20 wide
and 10 feet high, dry and airy, and a
far better house than Robinson Crusoe
had Now comes the astonishing part of
the story According to Scott, he found
2l0 elephant tusks stacked up i'll the
cave. together with five Jars of gold
dust On leaving the island on his raft
the sailor secured four of the tusks to
his rast snd also one of the jars Of gold
dust. Two other jars were emptied Of
their contents that he might use the
jars for food and water.
Had the raft been without cargo the
mans story would have been laughed at
and ridiculed. Ia said he had found
gold and ivory-a great fortune. He
had the ivory and the gold to prove his
assertions 1t made no difference that
he could not identify the island-that
the chart did not place it. 1t was a
queer story, but with the proofs at hand
to back it what could we do but believe?
Our captain was a Scotchman, and he
took whole day to think the matter
over and assure himself that the stuff
before him was actually gold and ivory.
Then he made Scott proposition. The
sailor knew the worth of what he had
secured-knew that he was fixed for
life, and having knocked about Oh the
raft for nine days before we sighted
him he was not at all anxious about
what he had left behind in the cave
Our captain was, however, and SO was
every man of the crew The matter was
talked over, and it was finally agreed
that Scott should pilot us to the island