A STRANGE STORY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 918, 10 September 1910, Page 12

A STRANGE STORY.

:■.;.,'. MYSTERY OF THE SEA. : '.- The British barque Inverness-shire,' ,with.a. good cargo, sailed away'fromHamburg on March- 2, : bound for Santa Rosali,. Cal. -With, every bit of canvas standing:she crept down around the Spanish coast to Africa, : where, taking advantage, of the north-east trades, she crossed the Atlantic, passing the .Cape Verde Islands and Cape! St. Roque,. on the east coast of South America. :

'- Captain Kinnon, a careful navigator, was,in command. .Ho - knew his course : and.his ship, and 'his/crew, had sailed' with- him and :knew /Kimyas he knew them, as able and .willing. The Inver-ness-shire was spoken' passing the Cape Verde Isles, and' again off•' Cape. St. Roquo. ■ Captain Kinnon reported' "All woll;".,'. This ,was -in May, and - it, was the- last seen .of, caiptain'or his /crew. His ship, • in : . perfect condition, ' - .was found at anchor'west of the ; Falkland Islands, in south latitude 52,; longitude'. 50 west, on: Juno 15;,,' by Captain, Man-, cho, of the Italian steame'r';Yornia, ; fr6m : Valparaiso do Chile..to Naples, but she proved ! dumb.;//:. -'/:/: "■/ .-;■' . .Captain. Maneho' was impressed with the quiet on board, arid getting no reply to his signals, sent-the first offi-cer-to see what was tho'matter/ When 1 th'c gig drew iip aiongsido the big wind-,-jammer urine was .waiting at'the-ganK-.'ivay, unless the ship's-family: v of' cats bo -excepted.,.They seeuied well'fed and happy, and to yearn for/companionship rather than .food. . A thorough .search was mado of ,tho ship/and from truck to keqlson/she .was in perfect order. -. On the mess-room'table pack of. carid«, where someone had been' ■playing Klondykc.'.. Hisgamo had been interrupted ere it/v.'as half finished.! Thp''fire', in .the galley.'stove, had burned : itself out, and : tho : stovo"was cold,, yet : on it was a- pot of'.' "slush,"/./'tho sailors'- beef stewi, And it; had■'-'np't.'"..yet-spoiled. ;' : -/' ;., ~■ .

Every sail was furled. : 'fhedcck was shipshape and tidy. In-; tho" captain's cabin,' on a.tabic, lay a copy of Coleridge's '-The- Ancient Mariner,"'opened, face'down, as if it had been placed ■.. there when the-, reader .was called .away, for a moment. ...In the, fo'c'slo wore an accordion and a banjo, on a.table, where some musically inclined seamen had left them, .and on the same table were the. glasses, some still half-filled with grog.. While were- these evidences of a hurried departure, there, was liol; a* thing to show reason, for it, or .the way 'in .which ■; the thirty- odd ''ineri .suddenly had departed; From the'davits swung the long boats "and the 'captain's giy„" each! stocked, with its customary .supply of water and hard biscuit.. -With both port and starboard'anchors holding fast in 10 fathoms, 12 miles to the west, ofthe southern point of West Falkland Island, the barque rode peacefully in the calm sea, technically a derelict, yet:in perfect condition. ' Proceeding to Port Stanley, in F/ast Falkland Island, tugs' were .dispatched to the Inverness-shire by Captain Man-, cho. : Tliither she was/taken; and there she now. lies safe and sound in hull and cargo,' awaiting the . pleasure-.*i of her owners, T.' Law,and Co.', .of: Glasgow,. who will have to meet, a" largo salvage bi11....:■' i.' ■- -' ;-':"■■-'.-. 1 But .what'' became of her crew and skipper, Captain Kinnou. none can explain. .Why he.'deserted her, there within sight of land, close to Capo Horn, mid-winter, though,it was, is also a mystery. It could 1 not have, been an epidemic of sickness. /At least one dead man would have .remained : to :tell the story,V unless ho hid dived 'overboard in. desperation. ' . ;_'..-' ' '-' ;- ' The epidemic theory is - quite; upset by the presence of the boats,, in which the shore might easily have'been gained. But tho attempt was-hot''made.-It may be that the crew became, frightened/because they fats' left-the ship. None were found'on board, though'the well-fed cats would explain their absence. The Inyerness-shire is a: four-masted steel barque, ,282 ft. long, 42 2-3 ft. beam,, and 27ift.: depth of hold., She. registers 2147-net tons and 2307 gross. She was built at Glasgow in 1894 by R. Duncan and Co., Ltd. Tho only j/arallel recalled is that of an Italian barque, which was found off the east coast of Africa several years ago. She was sailing beforo the wind with all sails sot,, yet without!a soul on boards On the galley stove in this case the water-pot was boiling over a hot fire, and a sewing machino, with-.tho work stopped in the middle, of'a seam, was in the cabin which had been occupied by the captain's wife. .What-had become of her crew' qr what had happened to cause their sudden departure only a few moments before, never has been learned, for neither captain nor crew was over hoard from again.