Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1901-09-25
THE HERMIT OF CARE MARIA.


THE HERMIT OF CAPE ArALEA
Why he Lived and Diod on n Stupend Qua
Gin, Within Sight nnd Sound or tho
Ocean. .F b.
There Is one feature Of Cape Malea that
rarely falls to attract the notice OF the
most careless voyagcr doubling 1t by
day, touch Of human tragedy and
pathos, belonging in point OF chronology
to our own time, but in universal inter-
est to all ages. At the extreme pitch OF
the cape a stupendous cliff rises sheer
from the fretting waves for about hun
drcd feet. Then comes an Irregular
plateau or shelf, of perhaps two acres
nbrpnfSS' N areSS' ,ahIna the mountain rising sgan
1000 feet. This plateau is apparently app, Yin in
accessible, and yet perchcd upon a hugo
nowlder In It's centre, u mass of rock de-
house. 1t is rudely built OF wooden
fragments ingeniousy fitted together,
Of its desKmes SoYnyy at beem once the nn
Saxon. 1t must be firmly built, too. for
hondinp Is eTposed srd TO The fun fury Of wind re-
the observer instinctively wonders why,
II a house must be built on that shelf.
Iec,ee So eerrib,yy ,yo, exposed @ position was Sc;
hear, its story. says i. 4. Bailen, ] in the The
London Spectator.
About twenty-five years ago there was
integrity OF character and frmness OF
Will reached at the age of &c the summit
or his Sambitlon-bccoming master Of what
would then be called good-sized steam
ship. some 900 tons register. Upon this
aGGession ir, sf IT., to gooa fortune he married the
waited for him since as boy and girl
sweethearts they parted on his first going
owners gave him the incstimable privilege
him. How happy he was! How deep anu
down the grlmy Thames, he "es Explained to
that she was now Witnessing for the first
time, but which he had made familiar to
during the few bright days between
several Mediterranean ports, the time be-
Ing late autumn and consequently the
could possibly be imagined. Cadiz, Genoa,
Naples, Venice, delightful tour with not
one Wsary Siny mo, moment wherein to wish for
old Rome from Naples had been possible
for the two officers, rejoicing In their
% no % cares should sW trouSe hIm h
and bore willing testimony, In order that
ne should get as much delight out OF
entire, crew were as docilc as could be
wished. devoted to their bright command
cr and his beautiful wife.
Then at Venice came orders to proceed
TO Galatz and load wheat for home.
Great was the glee Of the girl She
ube. Life would hardly be long enough
to recount all the wonders Of this most
wonderful Of wedding trips: And they
Joy as the blue sky above them seemed
weliing Ing, oyer }yo,v With t,, sunlight Wind and
sSaow them nothing
until. nearing Cape Malea at that fatal
hour of the morning, just before dawn.
when more collisions occur than at any
a
laundering Greek steamer coming the
other ttn io,a way, and and c%t down ,, amidships to
or quiet appreciation OF the nights sill
vern ,splendors succeeded the overwhem-
steam, ste nth the snfrocnting @ embrace G e Of Stn denth
In that dread fight for life all pcrishei
but one-he SO lately the happiSst of
to piece Of wreckagc. he had been
washed ashore under Cape Malca at the
ebbing Of the scanty tide, ana his strong
to climb those rugged battlemcnts and
reach the plateau. Here he. was found
had wandered down tine prccipitoiis side
Of the mountain. They cndcavorcd to
to the world. but In vain. lie would live,
ProyisoIn sIG n". bM, from tha, ,n nwa,cning place
woe, sympathzcd with him so deeply
tntt without payment or nope OF any
kept him supplied with such poor NOR
sells OF food and drink as sunlccd for his
Stunted needs.
And there, with his gaze fixed during
all his waking hours upon that inscru-
table depth wherein all his bright hopes
had suddenly been Qucnchcd, he lived
until quite recent years. the world for
getting, by the world forgot" n living
monument of constancy and patient, un-
complaining grief. BY his humble friends,
whose language he never learned. he was
regarded as n saint, and when one day
they came upon his lifcless body fallen
window through which he was wont 10
look upon the sea where his dear one lay,
they felt confirmed I'm their opinion of the
sanctity Of the hermit of Cape Malca.