Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1904-11-26
FINDING The HOPE

The British merchantmen Hone. had
been lost on or near the Kerguelen Is
lands, and was one OF the crew Of
the bark Rambler, sent out from Sgd
ney, Australia. to pick up information
as to her end.
Upon our arrival at the island, after
tedious voyage, the bark was an
chored In q sheltered spot and two ex-
| petitions sent ashore to search the
coast east and west. While they were
st work the longboat was to run
down the other side Of the island and
search some Of the smaller ones. 1t
was my luck to be detailed with one
Of the land parties, and, as it was sum-
merA time, we had only a couple Of
muskets and our provisions to carry.
On the third day Of the~ expedition,
and when we had made about thirty
| miles, we came to what looked like
large river. The distance across was
about a quarter of a mile and the
water very deep. We headed inland
for about mile and then found that
our river was but a finger of the sea.
stopping short at the base Of a range
Of cliffs. On the rocks and single on
the east side lay mass Of wreckage.
There were pieces Of bulwark, an
anchor, a broken rudder, lot Of chains
and ropes and no end Of planks and
beams. Eighty rods away was a rude
shelter constructed Of boards taken
| from this heap, and in the hut we
found several cooking utensils, sail
or's sou'wester, broken compass and
seaman's chest. One Of the boards
used in the flooring had belonged to
a ships longboat, and the first thing
to greet our eyes as we looked in was
the name Hope ~ "a
/ The doomed vessel had driven into
the bay with the gale and the tide and
gone to pieces on the rocks before she
could anchor. The turn OF the tide
had carried most Of the wreckage out
to sea, but there was more left than
we could have turned over tn a day.
Just here the ground fell away to the
south and was covered with stunted
bushes. In searching among them we
found two bales Of cloth. black and rot;
ten; two cabin stools; sailors mess
kit and the skeleton Of a man, with
fragments Of cloth still clinging to the
bones. It was strange enough that
the Hope should have been driven in
to that narrow bay from the sea with q
furious gale raging, but 1t was stranger
yet that any Of her crew had lived out
the disaster. She was probably dis
masted outside, and lin being wave
swept she lost most OF her people, but
two Of the sailors certainly reached
shore and lived ON for weeks or months.
]. AS we figured It out they had built
the hut in company, and after dwelling
together for awhile there was a guar
rel and they separated There were q.
few empty boxes and barrels to. show
that provisions had come ashore and
been consumed. and there was plenty
Of fresh water at hand. TIE wreck
had been lifted up to; cOme down with
q smash on the Jagged rocks and had
not held together ten minutes after the
first crash. We had found one Of the
men dead In the bushes where the
other had driven him, but II the other
was alive he had left the vicinity many
weeks before our arrival. It was pos
sible that he had been taken of by
some passing vessel, but under the idea
that he was. still on the island the two
parties searched almost every foot Of
1t before giving up. In this long hunt
not a trace Of the man was found.
1t took several days to prove up
that the wreckage was the last re-
mains OF the Hope, and then we had
another look at the skeleton discov-
cred days before. Nobody had wanted
to handle the grewsome object, and it
had consequently been left lying in the.
bushes where first seen. Now the
bones were Strengthened out and the
clothing searched, and In a tin tobacco
box we found paper Of Importance.
. The man had been fairly educated.
In note written in pencil he stated
that the loss Of the Hope was owing
to mutiny on board and that he and
the leader were the only ones who es-
capped from the4wreck. They had lived
together for three months, and then
bitter quarrel arose, and the leader
stabbed the other and drove him from
the hut. The writer Of the note felt
that he had been fatally wounded, and
he left the writing in hopes that it
would some day avenge him. He gave
the names Of the most prominent mu-
tineers and included his own among
them, explaining that all had come
through the cruelty Of the captain and
the mates. He stated that they had
some talk Of putting to sea on raft
and that now and then a sail had been
seen on the horizon, but he had given
up hope Of getting clear when the quar-
rel came and made his death certain.
The document was, of course, taken
along with us when we set out upon
our return voyage, though not a man
Of us ever expected to set eyes on the
surviving mutineer, who was now also
murderer Strange things happen at
sea as well as on land, however. We
4 r., II IL Jsc4o