The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1907-03-14
The Island Of Rats

is a group of small islands. In 1880
we touched at one Of them, and the
natives reported a white woman
among them. We induced them to
bring her to us. While dressed as a
native, her face was scarcely more
than sunburned, and she was what
any one would call handsome. She
WAS only about thirty years old and
in the best of health. Her story was
b queer one. She was resident OF
Saigon, capital of French Cochin China.
Four years previous she had married
Frenchman named Du Cliff and al
most at once had set out with him in a
sailing vessel for Singapore. Two
days after sailing they had encounter
ed a typhoon. She was not very clear
as to what followed being very i'll at
the time. She thought the ship strug-
gled with the storm for two days. She
then sprung a leak and fOundered.
The woman had been brought on deck
and dashed to the bulwarks along with
her husband while the crew were try
ing to construct some sort OF craft.
A great wave suddenly overwhelmed
them. and the next that Mrs. Du Cliff
remembered was waking up on the
shore of an island. She was still
dashed to the wreckage, but she was
alone. When she was able to move
about she found fresh water and plen-
Nv of wild fruits, and in the forest she
constructed a hut out OF limbs and
bushes. Every day for long months
she expected rescue. She could see
ships sailing up and down, but none
came within miles of her. on to the
east she could family make out other
| islands or the main shore, but no help
came from that direction. If she had
had the means to build fire and
raise a smoke signal, some one would
have come, but she was helpless IN
that direction. It was three months
before she thoroughly explored her is
land. Then she found it to be about
two miles in circumference. 1t was
we'll wooded. and in the center was
high hill of almost solid rock. There
were birds in plenty, but not wlld
animal or reptile of any sort.
One day, after six months had gone
by and while inspecting the hill to see
! if she could not set up signal there,
the woman made great discovery
She found a cave which had certainly
once been a depository for the plumber
of the SuIee pirates. What she told us
believe to be the truth, because she YER
flied it in many ways. She visited the
cave twenty different times-in fact.
lived in it for the last month of her
stay-and so she had plenty Of time to
overhaul the plumber. She found ID
! that cave gold, silver and paper money
to the amount Of 100000. There was
/ gold dust which she estimated at SlO,-
| 600 more There was jewelry worth
! thousands of dollars. She said there
were diamonds, rubies and other pre-
,io11s stones. There were innumerable
| bales and boxes that she had not med
| died with and did not know their con-
! tents. So far as she could judge, no
/ one had visited the cave for years.
When we pinned her down to particu-
| lars she remembered that ships chro-
nometer she had found among the stuff
bore the name of "Antasia," and she
gave us the markings Of several bales.
| 1t was story to stir the magma
| ton and would have found ready be-
levers anywhere in the world. We
were convinced within an hour that the
woman had seen what she declared she
had and that the island was the one
| known now as "Outer island" 1t
| stands today the westernmost of all
| the group and is still without inhablt-
! ants. After full year on the island
| Mrs. Du Cliff became desperate. She
gave up all hope of being taken off and
| determined to rescue herself. She built
a raft and one day trusted herself to
| the treacherous sea. A west wind was
| blowing, and she hoped to be carried
| across to other land before it changed.
| For five days she drove up and down
| the China sea and was then cast ashore
on the island where we found her. That
| the natives had been kind and respect
| full to her was owing to the fact that
they thought she was out of her mind.
Half day after the story had been
told we We're on our way to the is
land. We reached it without incident,
b1.t TO meat with a surprise and bit
ter disappointment. We had no sooner
al 5.4Achod the shore in the yawl than
we discovered that the whole place
swarmed with rats. The creatures
were there by the hundreds of thou
sands They were water rats of the
largest size, and their demeanor was
so ferocious that we dared not land.
We pulled all around the island doz-
en- times over, but met the rodents
everywhere They were gnawing down
the trees and eating the grass out by
the roots. Where they came from l
cannot say. There was not one on the
island when the woman left. We tried
powder and shot and fire to brighten
them, but it was not to be done. After
a week we bore away for Saigon.
Here the woman's story was fully cor
roborated as to her residence, mar
-ro oy5 +ho locc Of tho shin hI1t tho