The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1898-01-11
BY CHARLES B. LEWIS.

BY CHARLES B. LEWIS.
We had called at Mauritius on our
way from Liverpool to Bombay in the
ship Farewell and were five days out
from the island when the adventure o.
CURED by which we lost the captain and
laid the foundation for this story. 1t
was o'clock in the afternoon of
bright day, and the ship was not max
ing above four knots an hour. What
sea there was on would not have both
cred quarter boat, and the ship lifted
to wave only at long intervals. The
second mate and / were experimenting
some work forward, while the captain
was alone on the quarter deck All of
sudden and without the slightest warn
ing the sea began to boil and heave IN
der and around us in the most violent
manner, and for five minutes every man
had to hold on for his life. In her pitch
ing the craft shipped three or four green
seas, which swept the decks of every
thing movable. We were congratulating
ourselves that all had escaped when the
captain was found to be missing. The
last wave we shipped had no doubt car
ried him away, and by the time we had
come to this conclusion it was too late
to make any move.
The sea had been disturbed by an
earthquake. just where we were when
the agitation began the chart showed
the depth to be full mile. Three
months later, when soundings were
taken by French vessel, it was found
that a mountain two miles in circum-
ference at the base had been heaved up
until its crest was only 40 feet below
the surface The set of wind and wave
the westward, and ten minutes after
the ship had come back to a level keel
the wind changed to the east and blew
half gale for the next seven hours
AS a matter of record, the ship pursued
her voyage and made the port of Bonn
bay without further adventure, and the
remainder of the story relates to the
captain. He was swept overheard by
the last wave, just as we concluded, and
presently found himself far to leeward
among a lot of spars and casks which
the same wave had taken from the main
deck. While the man seized spar and
passed lashing around his body he had
no hope of rescue.
Almost before he realized his position
the ship was mile away, and he felt
sure that no boat would be lowered to
make search for him. The spar to
which he was dashed drifted away to
the west, and evening came on. Between
8 o'clock and sunset four ships passed
the drifting man, but all too far away
to see or hear, and when night came
down he felt that there was no longer
the slightest chance for him. He drift
ed to the westward, as 1 have told you,
but how far has never been known.
Night passed and another day came,
and toward the close of that day Cap
tain Graham lost consciousness. He
may have drifted day after that-per-
haps two days. When he came to his
senses again, he was lying on a sandy
beach, with his feet in the water. He
had been cast ashore on an island It
was surely an island to the north and
west Of Madagascar, but for reasons
which will be explained later on it can
not be more definitely located. For an
hour after opening his eyes the man
could not unlash himself from the spar.
When he had finally accomplished that
object, he had to crawl on hands and
knees to reach the shade of the bushes
1t was high noon and the weather hot,
and the captain was SO exhausted that
if he had not found fresh water and
wild fruit at hand he must have perish
ed. He ate and drank his fill and then
slept, and the sun was just rising next
morning when he awoke.
The island, when the castaway came
to survey it, was about two miles and
half long by one mile in breadth, and
its average height above the sea was
not over Is feet. It was of volcanic orr
gin and was entirely covered with YER
dure, and there were six or seven differ
ent sorts of wild fruits. Along the
beach were oysters and shellfish in
abundance, and the captain soon assured
himself that starvation would not be
one of the perils of his situation. What
struck him curiously was the entire alb
sence of life on the island. There was
neither animal nor bird, reptile nor in
sect. There should have been dozen
varieties of birds and an abundance of
insect life on so fair spot with its
tropical climate, but 1t was simply ten
antless. And yet there was life there,
and where the oastaway least expected.
He had been on the island week or SO
and had twice walked clear around it
when one day as he was gathering fruit
in an open spot he was suddenly and
fiercely attacked by naked man. The
surprise was great, and the captain had
not yet recovered his strength, but,
shaking the man off, he seized club
and laid about him SO vigorously that
his assailant ran away.
1t was white man, and from the
marks on his hands he must have been
a sailor. How long he had lived there
and how he reached the island in the
first place are matters for conjecture,
but the fact of his being nude went to
show that he had been there long enough
to wear out his clothes. In breaking
away from the captain he ran for the
beach. The latter followed at his heels,
shouting for him to stop, but the IN
known ran to the water, plunged in and
swan straight out to sea, looking back
now and then and seeming to be in
terrible fright. He held to his course
until he could no longer be seen, and
there was no doubt he went to his
death, as he did not return. In dense
thicket the captain found rude shelter
which the man had used, and among
the dried grass forming his bed were a
few fragments of cloth which had once
been pea jacket. There were also sail
or's pipe and an empty tobacco box.
Living there alone for years and years,
with neither the note of bird or the
chirp of cricket to cheer him, the
man had lost his mind and, looking
upon Captain Graham as an intruder,
had meant to take his life.
When the castaway had been month
ou tno 1sIaHu Wltuout sIBntAHS sd1A'
he made up his mind that the fate of
the POOR fellow who had dashed into the
sea would some day be his. He felt that
he would lose his mind unless he made
an effort to divert it from the gloomy
situation, and he began closer survey
of the island. The center Of it was con-
siderably higher than elsewhere, and
exactly in the middle was single tree,
surrounded by thicket which he had
never yet penetrated. In carrying out