The Wahpeton times. [volume] (Wahpeton, Richland County, Dakota [N.D.]) 1879-1919, 1908-08-06
THE LAST OF
THE SLAVERS.

= 4I1C SkAVENSs 4
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
toriginall >s's'sssf
I was first mate Of the Mary Good
win Of Philadelphia when the sttangest
thing ihsall my beafaring life happen
ed. We were on the banks Of New
foundland, the home IT the fog king.
and the mist had collie down on us
thicker than I had" ever seen 1t. It
lasted 80 long without lifting that the
captain lost all traces Of reckoning.
We were of Halifax, CapA. Race or
Cape Breton, we didn't know which.
Finally he concluded to drop an anchor
and wait.
There was considerable swell roll.
ing beneath us, but of course no wind.
That would have blown away the fog.
One night the watch heard the sound
Of a distant bell. For an hour 1t tolled
family, then very slowly became more
distinct. 1t was evidently coming to.
ward US. 1t must be drifting. for there
was no wind to fill sails, and we could
hear no sound Of steam. At last the
bell tolled dismally within q cables
length Of us.
We began to be anxious and rang our
own bell to let the stranger know that
we were In her course. There was lit
tie chance Of her crew being able to
turn her, for there was no wind, but
they might anchor. She was coming
so slowly as not to hurt us much from
fouling except for the waves. If we
should be rolled together In the trough
Of the sea or one should be let down on
the other, there might be terrible
crash.
Our signal excited no reply, except
the tolling Of the bell, which continued
constantly. Fearing those on the up
preaching vessel had not heard us, we
fired gun. But this elected nothing.
Presently we could hear the bell toll.
ing right beside US, and now and then
something black would appear not
twenty feet from us. hover there for Il
few minutes. then disappear. Once it
came near enough for us to distinguish
the side Of ship.
We were on a terrible strain for
awhile, fearing that we would clash
with the stranger; then we caught
glimpse Of her stern under our bow.
spirit. She had evidently passed us.
After waiting some time longer With
no view of her we concluded we were
out Of danger.
At eight bells the next morning the
fog lifted. There was no sign Of land,
but on our starboard quarter was
barkentine without sails. her foremost
gone, rolling with the waves. A wind
sprang up. aud, rnising sail, we made
toward her. When We came near her
the captain sent boats crew to inves-
tigate.
We found derelict that had evident
~ been floating long while. The only
thing aboard that had ever had life in
It was the body of a woman, and we
had to stave in the door of the cap
tain's cabin to fital that. 1t was lying
in berth. and. Notwithstanding the
many tossiags the vessel had received,
it had not rolled out. We looked ION
the los book for the last entry. 1t was
dated eighteen months agOne, Nov. 10,
1854.
We read the entry and went back
further for an explanation. No part of
the log made mention Of anything I'M
usual transpiring aboard. Nevertheless
we traced what must have been some
thing of the story. A bundle of love
letters from woman to the captain,
the last dated not long before the log
began, told us that he and his wife
must have made the voyage wedding
trip. The last observation showed lati-
tude % degrees IS minutes north, longi-
tude 1920 east. or about 300 miles
south Of the Canary islands and off the
coast Of Africa. The ships boats were
gone, which led us to believe that ev-
cry one OH board except the woman
had left the vessel and made for the
land.
The period, 1854, was when the
slavers were running the last cargoes
Of negroes from the African coast to
the United States. In the forecastle
we found scrap of paper on which
was written, "The old man won't con.
sent; do the job" We interpreted this
to mean that the men wished to force
the captain to take the crew ashore to
secure cargo Of slaves. He declined,
and they were to kill him. All this
accounts for the captains wife being
locked in his cabin. The port anchor
was gone. This indicated that the
ship was ut anchor when the crew left
her. We found no evidence to show
whether the captain was killed or
went with them. The cable had evil
IDENTITY parted and was blown offshore.
Probably while the men were ashore
after negroes storm came up and
broke the cable. Likely the captain
was killed on the ship, and during the
melee his wife went to the cabin and
locked herself in. Possibly she may
have lain on the berth, faint from
fright, and died there.
And so it was that this woman's bier
foated no one knew where. Likely it
drifted southwestward, eventually
turning northward, possibly to the
northern end Of the atlantic ocean,