The Palatka news and advertiser. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1902-1905, 1903-09-18
FINDING IRE MAGNET.
LconvrighL. lgOs. by G. B. lewis. !

craft called the Magnet, containing
about sixty gold seekers, had left
that port for the coast of Africa. AS
she had not been spoken and as we
were bound to those seas we were ask
ed to keep "a lookout for signs of her.
Forty days later one day when | was
aloft in the crows nest | sighted
derelict not over four miles away.
What | made out was craft with all
her masts, yards, bowsprit and stand
ing rigging gone. She was nearly bows
on to me- so l could not make out how
badly her bulwarks were damaged.
The stump of the foremost was about
twenty feet high, while the others had
broken off lower down. The hull was
very buoyant and tloated high, but, as
was to be expected, it presented
weather beaten and forlorn appear
ance.
On descending to the deck l reported
my discovery TO the captain, and an
hour later, the wind being very light,
we were up with the wreck. 10 our
great surprise the drifting hulk proved
| to be that of the missing Magnet
| From the time of sighting her to the
moment of heaving to we looked for
signal to show that some one was still
| living aboard of her, but none was
shown. Whom we had her under our
| lee the crew ran aloft to look down
| Il fpn nf
had crushed her bulwarks, but the
damage h0G been repaired afterward,
though the new work had not been
painted. AS for the hull, it was appar-
emily as tight and buoyant as when 1t
sailed out of Rio. 1t was terribly
weather worn, however, and seemed to
be sailing in bed Of grass.
A musket was brought up and fired
three or four times, and the crew shout
ed in chorus again and again, but as we
got no response the captain ordered Il
boat lowered to go aboard. We board
ed her at the bows, and when fol
lowed the captain over the rail braced
my nerves to meet a greWsome specta-
Gle. Nothing living or dead was In
sight, however Every bit of the wreck
was gray white in color because of long
exposure to the weather, and here and
there about the decks were black spots
of decay. There were few coils of
rope, heap of clothing and bedding
little better than black mold, and three
or four water casks had rolled about
The door of the cooks galley was
held open by its hook, and we looked In
to find pots and pans hanging up and
the stove in good condition. The Mag
net left Rio with sixty adventures and
4 crew of seventeen men. In the deck
house, where the crew was quartered
we found bedding and clothing and sea
chests, but nothing to show what hac
been the fate of the sailors. The be
tween decks had been fitted up for tho
passengers. l at least expected to fine
dead men down there, but no sucl
spectacle met our eyes. There wert
bedding, clothing, firearms, knives, to
bacco boxes, bottles and jugs and othe
stuff which the passengers wanted TO
use on the long voyage or after the!
had landed. In some of the hunks tn
bedding was nicely arranged, but il
= others it was rolled in a heap. TIL
lamps had been taken down and tn
oil poured out of them, and we foun'
on a nah some wicks which had beel
taken from candles. Neither here no
in the deckhouse above could we fin
so much as the heel of boot or shoe.
From between decks we proceeded
) to the cabin. The first sight to gree
our eyes was that of a human bod.
hanging by a rope around its necl
, from hook in the ceiling. There wa
no odor emanating from it. The bod.
had simply shriveled up until it wa
no more than a skeleton. On tabl
&. just beyond where the man was hang
= ing was the ships log, and near it al
( ink bottle and a pen. The captain tool
the log on deck and very soon announC
, ed that it contained some particular
of what had happened aboard, w
then made a closer search and foun
the ships papers, about $500 in gol
pieces and a bag containing 1925 in si
yer, together with several watches an
J other things of value. Neither tn
ships flag nor any charts were to
4 found, and not a compass, quadrant o
o sextant could be turned up. The Ell
:, tries in the log book for the first tw
weeks were in the captains handwrit
u | in,
hand, reading:
We found out that they had deceived U
: and sent them adrift in one of the boats
!. Ten days later another entry in st
!. another hand referred to some of tn
O people sailing away in the longboa
=. After that many weeks elapsed befor
there was another entry. The ma
+, now hanging by the neck and swing
ing to and fro like pendulum ha
t written in a trembling hand:
e I have been all alone for the last te
@ days, and for the last four 1 have tasted
!, neither food nor drink
, On the next day, or the next, he ha
arranged the rope and put an end
5 his sufferings After the gold hunter
!, left the Rio they must have found OF
: that they had been deceived by th
5 originator of the adventure, and pc
p haps blamed the captain and mate q
well and sent the three adrift. Aftt
that followed a storm and the wrecl
OF the people who left in the boats NJ
one was ever heard of, and the onl
/ one who refused to leave the hui
e remained but to commit suicide. W
S left the wreck to drift whittier 81
# would, bearing the grewsome burde
g in her cabin, and during the next thrt
months she was twice boarded by me
chant craft. They found the san