Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-08-22
THE LAST OF
THE SLAVERS.
IOriginaI.1

ed. We were on the banks OF New
fOundland, the home of the fog king,
and the mist had come down on US
thicker than ! had ever seen it. 1t
lasted so long without lifting that the
captain lost all traces of reckoning.
We were off Halifax, Cape Race or
Cape Breton, we didn't know which.
Finally he concluded to drop an anchor
and wait.
There was a 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 it 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 ill sails, and we could
hear no sound of steam. At last the
bell tolled dismally within a 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. Size 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 a terrible
crash.
Our signal excited no reply, except
the tolling of the bell, which continued
constantly. Fearing those on the APP
preaching vessel had not heard us, we
tired a 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
few minutes, then disappear. Once it
came near enough for US. to distinguish
The side of a 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 a
barkentine without sails, her foremost
gone, rolling with the waves. A wind
Sprang up, and, raising sail, we made
toward her. When we came near her
the captain sent a boats crew to inves-
tigate.
Ne found a derelict that had evident
~ been boating long while. The only
thing aboard that had ever had life In
~ was the body Of a woman, and we
hGG to stave in the door of the cap
taiI's cabin to find that 1t was lying
In a berth, and, Notwithstanding the
many tOS5ings the vessel had received,
. 1t had not rolled out. We looked on
the log book for the last entry. 1t was
dated eighteen months agone, Nov. 10,
1854.
We read the 'entry and went back
further bor.an explanation. Ne part Of
the'AQg made mention of anything un-
1. -sdaI transporting aboard Nevertheless
we traced what must have been some |
thing OF the story. A bundle of love
the last dated not long before the log
6Began, told us that he and his wife
must have made the voyage a wedding
trip. The last observation showed lati-
Eude % degrees 30 minutes north, longl-
tude 1920 east, or about 800 miles
south of the Canary islands and off the
coast of Africa. The ships boats were
Sssne. which led us to believe that ev-
cry one On board except the woman
mad left the vessel and made for the
band
THE period, 1854, was when the
slavers were running the last cargoes
OF negroes from the African coast TO
she United States. In the forecastle
we found a scrap of paper on which
was written, 1.-The old man won't con-
sent: do, the Job" We interpreted this
80 mean that the men wished to force
the captain to take the crew ashore 10
secure cargo Of slaves. He Declined
and they we're to kill him. All this
accounts for the captains wife being
Rocked i'm his cabin. The port anchor
was gone This indicated that the
ship was at anchor when the crew lett
her. We found no evidence to show
whether the captain was killed or
went with them. The cable had evil
IDENTIFY parted and was blown oHshore.
Probably while the men were ashore
after negroes a 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
nave lain on the berth, faint from
fright, and died there.
And so it was that this woman's bier
-z5oatad no one knew where. Likely 1t
sr1rifted sOuthwestward, eventually
sEurning northward, possibly TO the
northern end of the Atlantic ocean,
then caught winds or currents which