THE FIJIS.

Auckland Star, Volume II, Issue 326, 25 January 1871, Page 2

THE FIJIS.

ARRIVAL OF THE MEBUjj' £ttOM THK FIJI}.

LOSS OF THE BARQUE DASItIN(J WAVE Ai\ TD ESCAPE OF THE (JB8» By the Schooner Merlin we have receive papers to the 7th instant The Times of th (■ date says' i —

We have to record one of the most nai^ lous escapes from death at sea in many f o » that have ever been made public. %* barque Dashing Wave, a successful China t clipper, is down as missing in the Sydney}^ ning lie raid. Captain Yandervovd. was th' mate of the vessel, and from him we learn th' following particulars :—He left Foocbow 0 ! July 29, bound for Sydney, and on the nUt of August 31, the weather being thick and squall coming down at intervals, Captain Vandervord took in the niaintop.gall an t. Ba j> at 10 p.m., and went below to lie on the sofe in the cabin ; at half- past 10 he went on (feck again and was just in time to see a small island right ahead, he shouted to the man at the wheel to put the helm down, and the vessel had nearly come round when her heel touched on the reef which surrounds the island ; half an hour after taking the bottom the copper came over the weather sides in I sheets, and the foremast sunk 18inches; the I mainmast was cut away, butt he ship began ft break up fast. The island proved to be Wake island, small and uninhabited, surrounded h a repf, rendering it impossible to land if there is any wind blowing at^ all. Captain Vandervord says it is ten miles out of the position given in the chart, \ 19130' 167- E. The crew took to tho long-boat, and Captaiu Vandervord secured & chart and - nautical instruments, but strange to say m • compass was saved, a case of colonial wine; a bag and a-half of bread, two buckets, werepnt in the boat, but no water, and for 3.1 days the thirteen man were in the open boat without seeing land, or a ship, or receive any assistance whatever. They left the wreck at 10 the raoi-ning after, and wiih a sail made o( , blankets sewn together and fixed to an oar, ; began their weary journey in search of some inhabited island. Their sufferings may he imagined—for the first five days they had not a drop of water and the captain served out one bottle of Cawarra daily, between thethit-: teen j that saved their lives j after that time they had rain and caught water, but except at ' the time it was actually raining a half-pint of water eacli only a clay was served out and s handful of bread ; to the credit of the mej and their commander there was no insubor' dination, no attempt to obtain more than theit share of th -i scanty provisions and precioiu water; silently but resigned they passeddaj after day, the hot sun nearly each day posriiif down on their unsheltered heads. Everjdaj' Captain Underwood got the boat's positionbj means of his instruments, but when .at * weather was dull of course they wentinal directions for want of a compass, and especially. on cloudy nights; it was the master's intention to mako for the Kingsmill group, but tin ' current was against them, and then a coma was steered for Ascension Island, andhadsnj of the party been able to row, they might haw reached it, but weak as they were, all % could do was to keep their boat before tin wind with the blanket sail. After 30 dayarf 1 suffering, their mouths parched, tongue swollen, wet with grateful showers, scorchet by a tropical sun, fully undergoing Colt ridge's " Ancient Mariner's" sufferings— I Water, water everywhere, And all the boards djd shrink ; Water, water everywhere Nor any drop to drink. And every tongue through utter drought Was withered at the root.

We could not speak no more than if We had been choked with soot. ' Sa V They sighted Strong's (Ualan) Islßnfdjii easternmost of the Caroline group ; hereto castaways saw a canoe outside taking.produce : from one part of the island to another,^' . had they been able to get: oome provisimSi Captain Underwood would have kept on, ani tried to make one of the islands of the Mauls! or Gilbert groups adjacent; the boatjrefrf to trade with them, and they went inside ami ; were received by the King with theufctosS hospitality; he took the captain and mate Is live with him, and assigned quarters to & nieu in the town. After some days Captaffl - Underwood and part of the crew took tlu boat and tried to reach Kingsniill, andwW fitted out by the King with sails, mast, a^ • i provisions of every kind, but met with »{F and had to return to Strong's Lland. $> ! gether 38 days were spent on the island,^;, V the Oriti put in short of provisions, and tie? . came on in that vessel and arrived on Tflf' day at midnight. Captain Underwopd desi* to acknowledge the kindness of Captain Bf»' son to himself and his unfortunate crew.