Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1898-11-24

and it needed his every effort to pre-
vent this larger boat from being
swamped. Compasses, charts, rudder
in fact everything above decks
was carried away by the waves, and
had it not been for the apparently
providential breaking of large cask of
oil made of turtle fat, which stilled
the troubled waters, the boat would
probably have foundered.
Then began de Rougemont's adven-
lures proper. For fifteen days he
drifted about with long sweeps or
steering oars to take the place of the
rudder, passing at one time between
Melville and Bathurst islands, but be-
ing unable to land because of savages
who threatened his life. At last on the
fifteenth day the Velelland struck a
reef and began to go to pieces. A
monster wave struck him and washed
him overheard, and so great was it's
force that it destroyed forever the
hearing of his right ear, and, for q
time, of his left What followed is
best told in his own words
HIS DOG HELPS HIM TO LAND.
"By dint of tremendous struggling
L managed to get close up to the
shore, but found it utterly impossible
to climb up and land. Every time I
essayed to plant my legs on the beach
the irresistible backwash swept me
down, and in my exhausted condition
this filed me with despair. On one
occasion this back-wash sent me roll
ing over into deep water again, and I
am sure l should have been drowned
| had not my brave dog come 10 my
rescue and grasped me by my hair,
which, I should have explained, was
very long, never having been cut since
my childhood. Well, my dog tugged
and tugged at me until he had got me
half way through the breakers, and
Shis exertion didn't seem to cause him
much trouble in swimming.
az then exerted myself sufficiently
to allow of sletting go my hair, while
I took the end of his tail between my
teeth, and 1 let him help me ashore in
this peculiar way. He was ren1arka-
bly, strong and sagacious brute-an
Australian dog-and he seemed to en-
10y the task At length I found plyy.
self ON my legs upon the beach,
though hardly able to move from ex-
leustion Of mind and body. When
AT length I had recovered sufficiently
10 walk about, ! made o. hAsty survey
OF the little isi- nd or sandbank upon
which ] found myself Thank God,
I did not realize at that moment that
I should have to spend a soul-killing
two and half years on it. Had 1
done so must have gone raving mad.
1t was an appalling, dreary- looking
spot, without one single tree or bush
growing upon it to relieve the terri
BILE monotony. L tell you words can
never describe the horror of the
agonizing months as they crawled by
HE DESCRIBES HIS "Is1AND."
"'My island was nothing but
little sand-pit. With here and there {
lew tufts OF grass struggling through
its parched surface.
"Think of it, ye who have envied
the fate Of the castaway on a gorgeous
and fertile tropical island miles in ex.
tent! 1t was barely 100 yards in
length, ten yards wide, and only eight
feet above the sea level at high water
There was no sign Of animal life upon
it, but birds were plentiful enough,
particularly pelicans. My tour of the
island occupied perhaps ten minutes,
and you may perhaps form some con-
ception of my utter dismay on failing
to come across any trace of fresh
water"
Shortly after the storm abated, and
he was able to go to the wreck and
take from it blankets, food, and what
ever else he was able to lay his hands
on. These he loaded on a raft which
he had hurriedly constructed, and re.
turned to shore. ''When I regained
the island" de Rougemont says in his
narrative, 81 made another survey OF
it to find the most suitable spot for
pitching my camp, and in the course
of my wanderings [ made discovery
that filled me with horror and the
anguish of blacklist despair. MY
curiosity was first attracted by hui,
man skull that lay near large
circular hole in the sand about two
feet deep. Upon closer examination
came to the conclusion that the hole
must have been dug by civilized
beings with spades, and commenced
scratching up the sand with my fingers
at one side. / had only gone few
inches down when / came upon
quantity of human remains. The
sight struck terror to my heart and
filled me with the most dismal fore
bodings.
"That morning made my break
fast off raw sea gulls' eggs, but was
unable to get anything to drink. Be
tween and 10 o'clock, as the tide
was then very low, 1 made my way
back to the ship without much diff
Guilty, and collected as many things as
/ possibly could to transfer ashore.
had to take dangerous headers into
the cabin, as the whole ships interior
was full of water, but all 1 could
manage to secure were a tomahawl
and my bow and arrows.
"Among the things I brought from
IL i L