The Press. (Stafford Springs, Conn.) 1883-1935, 1898-02-17

as 0AOAS AANAAS Va LUSH WNOO1s
most of it covered with verdure and
wild fruits. shrlmps and shellfish SO
plentiful that shipwrecked crew of 90
men could get along there for months.
Wallace and l were inclined to look
upon the affair as lark We erected a
hut in the woods, procured fire by rub
bling two dry sticks together, and after
a thorough exploration of our domain,
which was not over two miles across in
any direction, we slept, ate and talked,
and had pretty easy time of it
We had been on the island about
three months, when we awoke one
morning to find the sea like a 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 APP
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 it were pol
luted.
After surveying things for awhile
Wallace gave it as his opinion that we
were in for typhoon or an earthquake
The sulphury smell in the air inclined
him to the latter, and as soon as we had
eaten we started for the center of the
island There was high hill in the
center bare of everything but couple
of trees and few bushes and we sought
it 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. 1t was midday before anything &C.
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 full
minute it was like riding choppy sea
in a 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 sue
ceeded were thrills rather than shocks
They ran through the island from east
to west and out to sea, and we heard a
| chorus of what may be called shrieks of
| distress from the birds with each vlbra-
ton. 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 big ship on the
crest of it. -
l sprang up and followed his gaze.
| Ten miles awaG there was wall of wa
| ter, which seemed to lift it's 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 seq
onds the wall seemed to stand still.
Then it came rolling on like a railroad
train, and almost before | could have
counted 20 1T struck the shore of our
island and swept across it The island
was a good 80 feet above water i'll every
part, while on the hill we were at least
| 100, but all portions save the hill were
covered by at least ten feet had
my eye on the ship alone 1t 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 our feet, resting
almost on a level keel, was as strange a
sight as the eyes of sailor ever beheld
1t was a ship to be sure, but one had
to rub his eyes and look again and
again to be certain of it There was the
great hull-there the three masts-up
aloft the yards, and there were scores
of ropes trailing about like Shiny ser
penis 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 off her decks
and out of her hold in such a sobbing,
choking way as to bring the shlvers.
Not a word had passed between the pair
of US while the wave raced in and
across the island, and the ground below
us was clear of the last water before
Wallace said:
81 think this ends it, and let US both
thank Cod 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 day or two be-
fore we investigate.
After a couple of hours, to let the
ground dry out bit, we descended the
hill to see what damage had been done.
About half the trees on the island
had been uprooted and carried out tC
sea, and of our hut not vestlge re-
manned. There was scarcely stone as
large as a hem 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 tC
the tide to bear away Two hours after
the last shock the sky cleared, the sur
came out, and by night the island was
fairly dry in all parts. We, however
gave the ship all next day to get rid OIL
her water and harden in the hot sun
You are prepared to hear, of course
that she proved to be the long lost Stal
of India We found that out before we
had been aboard of her a quarter of ar
hour, and later on we had a dozen rea
sons for believing that the dying Malay
had spoken the truth.
| tell you that ship was queer sight
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 vi
had heard of the Star or her loss, but
we knew this wreck to be that of an In
diaman, and we went at it to clea1
away the stuff and get into her We
were a full week doing this, and al
every turn we came across evidences tt
prove the story OF the Malay Three OF
four of her guns were yet in place, anC
from the way she had been knocked
about by cannon shot it was easy to fig
ure that she had made hard fight anC
suffered great loss of life before SHE
gave in Even before we began worl
we found the auger holes bored in hel
bottom to scuttle her The great cabiI
and every stateroom had two feet O
mud on the floor. and | may tell yo1
that we worked hard for four weeks be