Delaware gazette and state journal., 1899-11-23
Mark Twain Resclis the story of an Amas.
ing Adventure,

Mark Twain Resc,is the story of an Amss.
,nG Adventure.
The title of Mark Twain's story in
the November Century, My Debut as
Literary Person. gives no idea al
the terrible tragedy of which 1t tells.
In May, 1866, a merchantman was de.
stroved by fire Mt sea, and the crew
and two passengers put off in three
boats, with rations for 10 days. Two
of the toats we're lost, but the cap.
tains, with 10 frightfully emaciated
men aboard, reached the Hawaiian
Islands 43 days later, after voyage u
4,C00 miles or so. One OF the two pas.
sengers still survives, and has long
been professor in Trinity College, I
Hartford Mark Twain got the story
from the survivors, whom he accom-.
panied from Honolulu TO San Fran.
cisco.
1t is an amazing adventure. There
is nothing OF its sort in history that
surpasses it in iinpossibilities made
possible. In one extraordinary detail
tho survival OF every person in the
boat-it probably stands alone in tile
history of adventures CT its kind.
/ Usually merely part OF boats com.
lany survive officers, manly, and
other educated and tenderly reared
mon, unused to hardship and heavy
lator; The unframed, roughly reartd,
hard workers succuniE. But in this
case even the rudest and rougkest
| stood the priyations and miseries nf
| the voyage almost as well as did ihe
college-nred young brothers and the
captain. mean. physically. The
minds of most of the sailors brol.e
down in the fourth week and went to
temporary ruin, but physically the en-.
| dprance exhibited was astonishing
| Those men did not survive by any
merit of their own. of course. hut by
merit of the character and intelligence
Of the captain; they lived by the
mastery OF his spirit. Without him
| they would have been children without
a nurse. They would have exhausted
their provisions in a week, and their
| pluck would not have lasted even as
long az the provisions.
| The boat came near to being wrecked
at the last. As il approached the shoe
| tho sail was let 60, and camn down
with a run; then tho captain saw that
he was drifting swiftly toward an ugly
reef, and an effort was made to hoist
| the sal again. but it could not be
done: the mems strength was wholly
exhausted they could not even pull an
oar. They were helpless, and death
imminent. 1t waa then that they were
discovered by tho two Kanakas who
achieved the rescue. They swan out
and manned the boat and pilptcd her
through narrow and hardly not see
able break in the reaf tho only break
in it in II stretch OF b miles! Tho
srot where the landing was made was
the only one in thai stretch where foot
ing could have been found on tho shore;
every where else procipices came shner
down into 40 falhoms of water. Also
in all that stretch this was The only
spot where anybody lived.
4 Within 10 days after the landing all
the men but one were up and creeping
about Properly, they ought to have
killed themselves with the food OF
the last few days--some OF them, at
any rate men who had freighted their
stomachs with strips of leather from old
boots and with chips from tho butter
cask; a freightage which they did not
get rid of by digestion, but by other
means. The captain and the two Eas-
sengers did not eat strips and chips, rs
the sailors did, but scraped the boot
leather and the wood, and made d
pulp Of the scrapings by moistening
them with water. Tho third mate told
me that the boots were cid and full of
hoes: then added thoughtfuiiy, hut
the holes digested the hest.'' Speak,
Ing of digestion, here is remarkable
thing, and worth nothing, during this
strange voyage, and for while after
ward on shore, tho huwcls of some Of
the men virtually ceased from their
functions; in some cases there was no
action for 20 and 30 days. and in one
case for Al ! Sleeping also came to be
iare. Net the men did very well with
out it. Duiin2 many days tho captain
did not sleen NJ all n, think, on
one stretch
When tho landing was made. all tho
men were successfully protected from
overeating except the Portygheo:"
ho escaped the watch and ate an in
credible number of bananas: 152, the
third mate said, but this was un-
doubtedly an exaggeration; ] think it
was 1ol. He was already nearly full
of leather; it was hanging out of his
ears. do not state this on the third
mates authority, foi we have seen
what sort of person he was; state it
on my own. The tPortyghee" ought
to have died, OF course, and even now
it seems a pity that no didn't: but he
got vol, and ms early as any of them !;
and all full of leather, too, tho way he
was, end buiter-ti timber and handkel-
chiefs and bananas Some of the men
did eat hanGl,erchiefs in these last
days, also socks; and he was one of
them.
I