The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1901-06-12
A WOMAN CRUSOE
She Was Cast Upon q Deser.
islar@ and Lived There
For Four Years.


On the 26th day Of October, A. d.
1871, the trading. schooner Little
King sailed out of the port of Sin
gapore, bound for the Kinderoon is
lands, to the north, and only one of
her crew was ever again met with,
For five years before the schooner
had belonged to and been command
ed BY Captain Ezra Williams. an
American from San Francisco. He
traded between Singapore and Su-
matra, Java, Borneo and the smaller
islands Of the Java sea, and in Nav,
1874, died at Singapore of fever.
He had then been married for three
years to an English woman, whose
maiden name was Danforth, who
mad been q domestic in an English
family in Singapore. She had ac-
companied him in all his voyages
and had secured much experience
and information. As she could not
readily dispose of the schooner, she
determined to continue in the busi-
ness, acting as her own supercargo.
Mrs. Williams secured an Eng
hshman named Parker as captain,
another named Hope as mate, and
with three Malays before the mast
and Chinese cook and with about
$4,000 in specie in the cabin she
sailed away on her first voyage, and
it was four years later before she
was again heard of. The purpose
Of this narrative is to chronicle her
adventures in the interim as I had
them from her own lips.
While it was bit queer to start
on voyage with woman virtually
in command of the craft, Mrs.
Williams had nothing to fear from
her crew. The officers were good
nayigators, and the men were will
ing, and all were anxious for q
profitable voyage. She haG no COM
plants to make until the islands
had been reached. The group lies
between the Malay peninsula and
the island of Borneo, about 100
miles off the coast of the former
and from $50 to 300 miles from
Borneo. There are 10 islands in
the group, covering length of 1870
miles By about 40 broad. There
are only seven or eight which are
inhabited, and at the time Of which
I write the people were lawless
set and a share of them out and
out pirates.
The products were dried fish, sea-
shells, cocoanuts, dyestuffs, various
herbs and roots for medicinal pur-
poses and several sorts of spices.
The schooner had been there once
before and made profitable trip of
it. She had clothing, powder, shoes,
axes and great variety of notions,
and where none Of these was wan..ad
she paid cash. -it
On this trip the schooner worked
to the northward and made her stop
at the island of Quewang, being tho
third one from the HoTtliernrnost is
land of the group. She met with a
cordial reception and at once began
bartering for and receiving cargo.
She was anchored in q sheltered
bay within 500 feet of the beach
and had been there five days before
anything occurred to arouse Mrs.
Williams sGspicions that all was
not right. She then observed that
the entire crew were drinking deep 4
ly of a native liquor which the ma
tives were supplying in q liberal
manner and that some Of the fell
lows were becoming impuden.ly IA
miliar.
When the captain was spoken to,
he laughed sc her idea Of trouble
and promised better things, but the
drinking continued. On the after
noon of the seventh day several wo-
men came off in the canoes. One of
them who could speak English pref
ty fairly was presented with some
ornaments by Mrs. Williams, and in
return she limited to her that it was
the intention of the natives to cap
ture and loot the schooner that
night. They had discovered that
there was a large sum of money on
board, and they had found the crew
an easy one to handle. che native
woman hadn't time OF opportunity
to say much, but mo- sooner had the
crowd Of natives left the schooner
at dusk, as was their custom, than
Mrs. Williams set out to sound the
alarm. Imagine her feelings when
she discovered that every single man
on board. from captain to cook, was
SO much under the influence Of liq-
uor as to be unable to comprehend
her words. She doused them with
sea water and pounded then with
Delaying pins, but all to no purpose.
The entire lot were stupidity drunk,
just as the natives had planned for.
1t was perilous situation for the
woman to be placed in. f the ma
ltlves captured the schooner, they
would murder every one OF Che
crew as a natural sequence, and the