Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1900-02-01
THE WRECK OF THE ORIENT"
Ry NJ. Quah

By NJ. quad.
We had been out on the African sta
ton in the English man-of-war Ven
! geance for nearly a year when a
strange tale came to the captains
ears. The story was to the effect that
a Liverpool ship called the Orient,
bound for the Cape of Australia, had
and that at least fifty OF her people,
including fifteen women, were held in
captivity. The disaster had taken
place eight months before, and as we
only got the story through the captain
of a small trader, it was at first look
cd upon as a false report. No move
would have beer made but for the ar
! rival at Sierre, Leone of a French mer-
chairman having on board a sailor
named William Bird, VINO had formed
one OF the crew of the Orient. This
man had left the Hottentot coaGt n
night on a frail craft. with little to
eat or drink, and had been picked up,
PiH SoJ AobSA ol 0Cd ny liz TIGHCu-
man. According to Bird the unfor-
tunate ship had a crew of 80 men and
carried about 40 first class and 80 sec
n class passengers. She had been
blown in on the coast by a terrific
gale, and out Of the 162 people all but
fifty had persisted. OF the sailors only
| four Wnro cnuod aC fhnxr 1ol -. -
in boats and had been swamped.
! There were children, but all had per-
ished, and as soon as getting ashore
the survivors were attacked by the ma
tives and a number were killed. The
man believed that only about 35 were
living at the time he escaped, and of
these about fifteen were women The
prisoners had been divided up between
three tribes and were widely scattered,
and hence it was impossible to fix the
exact number. With the tribe from
which he had escaped there were IA
people from the wreck-eight women
and six men. Bird could give the
names of all. and it was found that
some Of them were wealthy and prom
inent. The Hottentots had at first
been inclined to murder everybody.
but had finally decided to hold tho
people for ransom. Bird had taken
the chances of escape because OF a
quarrel with n of the natives and
the threat that he should be punished
with death.
The Vengeance at once made pre-
parations for a run down the coast.
and after an uneventful voyage, she
cast anchor in H~ottentot Bay. Not a
yestige was left of the wreck of the
Orient, but Bird recognized many
landmarks and was sure of the place.
Two hours after bringing up a boat
was sent ashore to secure information
and deal with the people. who could
be seen on the beach in great num-
bers. In addition to Bird. who had
caught up many words of the langu-
age, the Vengeance had brought along
a trader who could make himself
perfectly understood. On reaching
the beach the boat was received with
every demonstration of joy and wei
come. The chief embraced Bird and
laughed at him for running away, and
in answer to inquiries he replied that
all the white people were well and he
would be glad to get them of his
hands. There would be 10 trouble in
gathering them together by noon next
day, and he did not seem inclined to
set a high figure as a ransom. He
Toasted the boats crew, sent off fruits
and fowls to the ship. and then in
vited the captain ashore to settle on
the ransom. Fortunately for Captain
Bascome, he was not feeling well that
day, and the first lieutenant was sent
in his stead. Supplies OF cloth, beads,
knives and muskets were taken along,
and by and by twelve of the crew OF
the Vengeance la: landed. Two ann
ed saiie-s weG5 iefl to guard the BOAT
on the beach. and the remainder re-
tired with the natives to a grove a
quarter of a mile further away and
hidden by a forest A feast had been
prepared as a complete surprise to
the white men. Only a shot or two
was fired, and those on board the Ven
geance had no idea what had happen
ed until a canoe brought a note from
the lieutenant Instead OF releasing
any prisoners the Hottentots bad in
creased the number by twelve. Cap
tain Bascombe found himself in ! yery
painful position His natural impuzse
Wa 70 land men enough 70 extsrmin-
81 The tribe. but he realised that an
hostile move - III uaxk wonIH -