SUPPOSED ESCAPED MUTINEERS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1996, 14 November 1888, Page 3

SUPPOSED ESCAPED MUTINEERS

P«;icu!ara of an extraordinary tale of tbe s=a havo been furnished by Captain tfvans, of tt. o Brltlth barque M ni, whioh arrived 1 ff Q leenstown Hitbor from Rangoon on hoptember 18th. Soon after leaving Rangoon on Sundiy, April 27*h, m lat. 6 42, leng. 9,30, a boat was sighted flyiag signals of dlatreas. The ftlona boro down upon tho craft, whloh was found to contain aix men — four Italians, one Malay, and one Englishman, named Alfred J. Hamilton, of Brietol. *11 wore lo a most emachtod and exhauetod condition, having been thiny five days at ac& m t.n optn boat. They had to be hoisted on board the Mcna by means of ropea. With proper treatment they soon recovered, but their conduct soon aroused eußpldbns, as they would not mix with the Mona'a crew, but conversed with eaoh other In mysterious whispers. Finally they seemed to agree upon a tale, and Informed Captain Evans that they belonged to the Italian barque Fratollli Z), •f Genoa, from Sourabaya for Queens'own, for orders. They statad that they nbandonod their vessel In a sinking condition at the end of March m two boats, 1 hit soon after the oblef mate stabbed a Malay seaman and threw him overboard before life was extinct. The other boat, containing the captain, mate, and seven men, deliberately deserted them during -the night, While questioning one of the man. Captain Evans noticed a single band of an iron 5 andcuff on bis wrist, and sw that one of the links had been filed eff not very long before. This and other suspicious olrcnmstances indnoed Oapttiln Evans 'o beileva that a mu 1 jy had ocoarred on board tbe Italian veasel. But he did cot feal himself competent to keapalx men m irons on the long voyage to Qae nsevn, enl he also doubted whether his provisions would I»8t He, therefore, determined to put the aospeotcd mutineers ashore somewhere. Tho Mona'n course was altered, and when near Anj >r, one of the Nicobar Islands, provisions and water and a compass were pnt Into a boat, and the saspeO'S orderpd to kive. They made uras show of resistance, but Captain Evana t-rmad h mself with a revolver, whioh he thre&'eaed to nse. The men thm entered the buat, mutteriog curses end thrcnta, end vthm last seen the boat waa heading straight for the Inland mentioned, whloh Is uninhabited. Captain Evans is ooifiient that the men were oiDtioeerr.'