The evening times., 1900-02-06

aboard while We were taking water, end
/ inspected the craft Our crew was Ameri-
1 can and English, and comprised eight men,
/ besides ourselves and two Chinese cooks.
After we had been out some time we
ran short of provisions and encountered
bad weather, as this was the typhoon sea-
son. We looked on the chart and finding
| our location. determined to put into San
Fernando. as the Consul had told us we
could enter any of the island ports. We
tried to make San Fernando, but saw no
| light. and We got as far in shore az possi-
! BILE
On Coal Reef.
In the night the wind dropped and a
| strong current carried us down the coast
At 10 a. m. the following day August %
| we were met by the Concord which told
US that San Fernando had been blockaded
with the other ports, and that We could
not go in, but they sold us provisions and
| gave us fresh water as ours had gone bad,
4 We then left the coast and after meeting
the Concord again on August "a. we struck
| the Scarboro shoal at 3 a. m. on September
| >. nine days later. Captain Crocker and
I were in the cabin al the time. but We
rushed on deck and let go all sails and
halyards, as we found the ship TO be well
up on a coral reef. and spent the rest of
| the day in trying 10 back of with the sails
and haul off with the anchors. but It was
no go as the cable chains all snapped on
the corals, the ship being too firmly
wedged
We had cleared the boats when the
vessel first struck. and as the tide in its
rise and fall was breaking the back OF
. the vessel We decided 10 abandon her.
Nobody slept that night, and all set to
on the second day cutting up spars,
bcoms and gaffs into lengths. with the
topmasj, and lashing these together We
| nailed the planks from the cabin top
across. thus forming raft in which We
placed a case of bOyril. water. one-half
tin Of biscuit and some flour.
Finding the ship wasn't breaking as
/ rapidly as We thought. we then proceeded
10 build a boat not trusting the raft for
safety. We did this by saving the jibboom
in half for keel, lashing the hatch bars
10 this for . stem and stern, and making
the whole solid with frames of wood. We
took the foresail and covered the rough
frame, sewing il fore and aft. and knottins
the reef points TO prevent leaking we COW
cred the structure with three coats of
paint Nt udu already lSlLlSODeu the
greater part of the cargo and launched the
ships boats. Two men were in her try
ing 10 place provisions when the storm
upset her staving in her side on the reef.
Fight With sharks
The men were in the water and num-
Der Of sharks were swimming in plain
sght causing the men to cry out in fear,
so the captain and ! used our rifles to keep
them off. They finally managed to right
The boat and after signaling with their
hands during which they drifted further
out. we cut the raft loose and they man
aged 10 catch hold of it. We now had
nothing left but the canvas boat which
was anchored astern. away from the break
ers. so a sailor swan out TO ii. while We
kept the sharks of with out rifles. and
line was passed.
We then passed in a small keg and
drum of water. some bovril biscuits, and |
little -four; the navigation books instru |
ments. etc. The raft sfgnaled not to mind /
them, and with paddles of our manufac-
ture we struck out There were eight of |
us in this shaky canvas boat and we had 4
10 stand on the frames for fear of going |
through the canvas. The last we saw of /
the raft was before dark and We saw moth |
ing Of them afterward.
For eight days We padded this way
dividing the watches and doling the ra-
tiuns. and it was fortunate the weather
was fine and the sea calm or our shell
could not have lasted. During the journey
We could not prevent the Cinnamon from
sea water. but contrary to all
traditions they didn't go raving mad.
.'On the sixth day We sighted a distant
peak and as We drew nearer
we sighted land 1t was then we did our
hardest padding though progress seemed
terribly slow. Then a slight squall blew
off land filling our boat with water and
driving us further out. but with favora-
bic wind the following day we reached
land by p. m.
Captured by Rebels.
''On shore We came across a native vii
lage named Magalawa where we were met
by people armed with bows and arrows and
bolos. We surrendered our rifles-the cap
tain and / had one apiece-and the first
hing they did was to fill them with sand
20 spoil them for use. After taking US to
he village and feeding us they padded us
n canoes to town named Palawig, hand
ng us over to the local President who
tent us the following day to Iba where
he Governor received us kindly and cloth |
d and fed US Luckily we had destroyed d.
he ships papers, except the articles. so .
here was nothing to show we were from :
IN American ship. We sent a declaration !
o Aguinaldo Of how We had come ashore. .
md the people promised to inform the .
British Consul for us. .
After being marched back and forth be- :
ween the two towns order came sud- :
enly from Aguinaldo stating that we were
OF being American spies. and we .
we're separated and taken to different i.
owns CAPTAIN Crocker. two Americans I.
nd one Chinaman were taken north. ard 1