Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-06-17

| The General Grant set sail from Mel
bourne. Australia, On May 4, 1866. She
was q fine full-rigged sailing ship of 1000
tons, and was owned in Boston by an ex-
t~ensive shipping firm. The voyage which
she had lately completed from Boston to
| Melbourne was her maiden trip. For the
return voyage she was billed to England.
They were wild and eventful times in
those early years Of Australian gold dig
gers, and what with the "buhsrangers,'
"sharpers' and escaped convicts, and the
like, the miners life was often a short
and rarely a merry one. They had to
maintain their rights with a strong arm,
which often proved awkward to the bully
and the thief. 1t was of such men that
the passenger list of the General Grant
was largely conIposed-men who had
toiled hard and with their Well-earned
gold were returning to their old homes
in Merry England. There We're SO souls
on board. In addition to the general car
go, slowed away in some safe nook in the
captains cabin, and known only to a few
trusted men. were several boxes contain
ing each 900 ounces of gold, valued at
about $1s,0 900 each. This was the gold that
was insured, and in addition to this there
was the individual wealth Of the return
ing miners, carried privately, including a
large amount of jeWelry.
She cleared the port of Melbourne at
dawn ON a day such as only Australia can
/ ~ oilliSe. iltI wy USt lDI the HrSC rev
| days a trip through fairy land.
The hearts of her passengers were beat
ing high with hope; thoy were successful
miners returning home. AS a call had to
be made at New Zealand, a course was
shaped so as to make the middle of that
colony. but by some extraordinary cir
cunstances, which no one of the suryiy-
ors seemed ever able to explain, the yes
sci passed away south of her intended
course. At four bells in the first watch
90 p. NO. OF May IL, just one week out
from Melbourne, the lookout man re-
ported land on the "lee beam" three or
four miles distant. The vessel was kept
to the southwark, and in a short while
the land became more clear and distinct,
and it was soon ascertained they were on
the weather side Of Disappointment Is
land, one of the largest of the group.
The story of the wreck is one of a
thousand. The peculiar feature was that
the final coup came from above rather
than below. The ship struck on some
shallow sands near a huge cave. The
cavern is supposed to run into the in
terror Of the island, and has never yet
been fully explored. AS the ship drove
inch by inch into this truly awful place
the tall masts began to scrape the roof Of
the cavern, and immense masses of earth
and rock rained down upon those below.
Nothing more terrible can be imagined
than this deadly shower, combined with
the agony of uncertainty.
The terrified passengers hurried aft.
and together they huddled to avoid the
falling stones which fell with every heave
and rise of the vessel. a sounding taken
at this time showed that the depth was
five fathoms under the keel. To get boats ,
out in this terrible darkness would nave
been madness. When daylight was
breaking the mizZen topgallant mast
came down, and this decided the captain
to hesitate no longer. SO the order was
given to lower the boats. The utmost or
der had prevailed during this fearful n
trying ordeal, but after daylight all was
confusion and panic. Some leaped over
board, while others so rowde the boats !
as to nearly swamp them. Some few
sick and disheartened ones, refused to
leave the ship at all.
But if the terror of the situation and
the hope of self representation had driven
most Of the passengers into a panic, there
was one brave a who kept cool AMI