Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1915-02-26

10 and making fairly good weather OF
it when a Spanish ship, also lying to.
hove into sight. She was lighter and
drove faster 10 leeward. She was
about a mile to windward of us when
first sighted. and no. great attention
was given her until it was seen that
she was drifting squarely down upon
us. As she came nearer we saw that
her crew were dancing about on her
decks like a lot of drunken men and
paying no attention to the storm. Her
f~oretopmost had gone overheard. and
much Of her canvas had blown-away.
and she was being held in the winds
eye by a tarpaulin set in the rigging.
A sheer of the wheel would have sent
the Spanish ship clear of US by half a
cables length. but the fellows drifted
down without paying us the slightest
attention, aud she did not move by
ten feet. As she rode past we could
look right into the eyes of her crew.
They were about thirty In number.
and they yelled and screamed at us
like so many lunatics. Brief as was
the tlllt. We un uOllCCQ OiC DCN q
ty about them.
Beyond cursing the Spanish crew for
a gang of idiots we had little to say.
The idea of fear of the storm had
made them take to drink. as is often
the case. and they were going to Davy
Jones' with a Jag on. Six hours later
the storm broke. and we headed our
course. but within six hours we were
pitching about on the troubled sea
without way enough to ruf1e a feather.
/ turned in at 8 o'clock that night and
turned out again at midnight for the
morning watch. After midnight the
sea began to go down very fast, and at
2 o'clock there was only what you
might call a tumble on. 1t was then
that we family caught the sound of
voices in whooping and singing to the
south of us. 1t was thick night. and
nothing could be made out. but at 4
O'Clock we got a light breeze and had
not been waited along a knot when
we had the Spanish ship again under
our eyes. All her topmasts were gone
now. while a portion of her bulwarks
was smashed in. and she looked a bad
wreck.
We headed for the wreck at once. and
when we came within hailing distance
we asked If help was wanted. The
reply was a chorus of shrieks and
screams. while many of the men shook
their lists ut us in defiance. 1t looked
like a case of mntiny. and our captain
was at a loss to know what step to
take. Before be could make up his
mind the Spaniards had lowered a boat
and pulled for us. Every one of the
crew piled into the boat, and we saw
them grab up Delaying pins. capstan
bars and whatever else could be used
as weapons. The boat came dashing
at us with every man yelling and
whooping. and they tried boarding us
at once. We had no better weapons
with which to beat them off. and we
were three less in number, but when
we looked into their fierce eyes and
saw murder there we struck to kill.
They foualt like tigers and seemed
insensible to blows. but we beat them
off at last.
-Four of their number went to the
bottom Of the sea with broken skulls.
and of those pulled away all were
more or less hurt. We knew now that
they were lunatics instead of drunken
men. and we stood by till noon in the
hope that they would calm down.
They appeared to after awhile. but
just as Dol as we lowered a boat they
woke up again and ragged like wild
beasts. We could understand nothing
of their shouts except that they we're
oaths. and in the face of their deter
mined opposition we could not board
their craft. 1t was 2 O'Clock in the
afternoon before we squared away and
left them, and then a fierce fight was
going on. and at least one man had
been thrown overheard to drown.
YoA may well guess that we aboard
the Bristol were astonished and mysti-
fed by the singular incident. but the
explanation hen it came was very
simple in a sense. The Spanish ship
had a Filipino for a cook. He had
trouble with both officers and men and
was determined to have revenge. Be
fore sailing from Luzon be had provid-
ed himself with a quantity of seed
from the plant known as aripe. 1t is
a wild keIp. and a decoction makes a
mailman of the drinker. How he man
aged TO serve it out to the whole crew
at once will never be known, but that
was what he did and perhaps drank n
shares himself. The ship was manned
by a lunatic crew when she drove
down on us before the gale. and they
were lunatics when we left them fight
ing and drifting. Ten days later the
ship, which had become a wreck below
and aloft, was picked up by a steamer
and towed into port. Not a man liv-
ing or dead was found Oh board. They
had fought each other to the last and
then the sole survivor had sought
death beneath the waves. The cook
= -