The San Francisco call., 1899-05-14

tempt for the gold that lies buried
Il in the hold of the American ship
General Grant. A low estimate
places the buried treasure at half a mill
lion dollars.
OF all the strange stories Of shipwreck
that have ever been told that Of the Gem
eral Grant in 1866 is surely one of the
strangest The vessel was driven into a
cave on Adam Island. one OF the Auck-
land group, just south of New Zealand
There was plenty of water underneath
her but the rise and fall of the swell
within the cave caused her masts to
punch against the top of the cavern. This
wrought havoc with the decks and then
the bottom. The mainmast was driven
clear through the keel and food of
water sank the vessel in five minutes.
The greater number of those on board
perished and the sufferings of the sur
vivors before they were rescued eighteen
months later is almost beyond belief
The General Grant was a fine full
rigged sailing ship of 1900 tons. and was
owned in Boston by an extensive shipping
firm. The voyage which she had lately
completed from Boston to Melbourne was
her maiden trip
For the return voyage the General
Grant was billed to England. They were
wild and eventful times in those early
years of Australian gold diggings. and
what with the "bushrangers.' 'sharpers
and escaped convicts and the like, the
miners life was often a short and rarely
q merry one. They had TO maintain their
rights with a strong arm, which often
proved awkward to the bully ana the
thief Il was Of such men that the pas
senger list of the General Grant was
largely composed-men who had toiled
hard and with their well-earned gold were
returning TO their old homes in Merry
England. There were eighty-three souls
on board In addition to the general
cargo there was one commodity on board
Of far greater value. for slowed away IN
some safe nook in the captain cabin and
known only to a few trusted men were
several boxes containing each 1000 ounces
of gold. valued at about $4,000 each. This
was the gold that was insured, and in ad-
tition to this there was the individual
wealth Of the returning miners. carried
privately including a large amount OF
jewelry.
On Nav 4. 1856 the General Grant set
sail When clear of Port Phillip Heads
the tug was cast off and with her canvas
spread to the breeze the doomed vessel
sped away on her course to the eastward,
and as a call had to be made at New Hea-
land a course was shaped as TO make
the middle island of that colony; but by
some extraordinary circumstances which
no one Of the survivors seemed ever able
TO explain the vessel passed away south
Of her intended course.
At four bells in the first watch 90 ?. no
of May 13. just one week out from Mel
bourne. the lookout" man reported land
on the ''lee beam" three or four miles
distant. At first it was thought to be
fog or cloud bank. The wind was light
southwesterly one. but there was very
heavy swell on the sea The vessel was
kept to the southeasUward. and in "A short
while the land became more clear and
distinct. and it was soon ascertained
that they were on the weather side OF
disappointment Island
Toward midnight the entire Auckland
archipelago lay before them and the cap
tain resolved TO shape a course between
Disappointment and me mainland. but at
this most critical moment the wind fell
and il was soon painfully evident that the
heavt swell was rapidly drifting the
doomed ship toward the rocky shore.
Everything was done to avert the newt
able disaster and the sails were centinu-
ally trimmed" to catch every breath of
wind that would help the vessels steer
age way. but these little puffs became
feebler and feebler till at last not a
breath remained. The vessel was entirely
shut off by the high cliffs. against which
the sea roared Winter in this hemi-
intensely covered with thick clouds. the
night was dark and the air was murky
with mist.
Soon after midnight the ship was so
close to the cliffs that stone could have
been thrown against them. but a current
evidently drifting her along on a parallel
line TO the shore kept her clear of the
rocks until a bout l a. m. when all pro-
gress in this direction was stopped by the
-+rfl- sv,-+ +fY,cv
ton Of the cliff. The iibboom snapped
with a noise like thunder clap and with
the fOretopmast staysaii was carried
away. The poor General Grant trembled
from stem to stern with the force of the
shock. reCoiled and went astern for few
hundred yards. but alas she was doomed
10 meet the same fate and her backward
course was arrested by another mass of
projecting rock upon which her stern
struck heavily carrying away her rudder
and spanker boom.
The man at the wheel had no time to
escape. being struck by the shattered
boom and mortally injured. 1t was he
tween these two protecting points that
the vessel began rapidly to drift. each sue
ceeding swell urging her inward little by
little and II was soon apparent to every
one the cliff was opening OUT instead
of narrowing. and that the ship was
drifting bows foremost into one of those
great riffs caused by the erosion and the
action of the sea.
Lights were hung out on the ships side
and by means of their glimmer both pas
sengers and crew could see that they were
surrounded on all sides by a great wall of
smooth rock rising to an immense height
Behind them the big waves rolled in and
drove the vessel still forward. while in
front OF them all was blackness. Deeper
and deeper into the rift they went and
then cry Of horror arose from every
mouth. for by the flicker of the lights on
the great masses of rock overhead they
saw that the cliffs had closed together
above them. and then the awful truth
dawned upon them that their vessel had
drifted into a great ocean cavern. there to
he beaten and broken to pieces by the
fury Of the waves. The captain now
gave orders to have the boats cleared
away.
AS the ship drove inch by inch into the
cave the tall masts began to scrape the
roof Of the immense cavern and immense
masses Of earth and rock commenced
raining down upon those below Nothing
more terrible can be imagined than this