ENGLISH MAIL NEWS.

Grey River Argus, Volume VIII, Issue 569, 9 September 1869, Page 4

ENGLISH MAIL NEWS.

T;HE CREW QF THE BLUE 1 JACKET. (Frqin the European Mqil.) The following was receivod at Lloyd's, .fitly 2:— "Stanley, Falkland Islands, 'May 1\ The Antonio Vincent (M'Auliile, master) arrived here oil April 3, bound from Swansea for Valparaiso, having on board a boat's crew of eight men (three Laving died) of tlio ship Bluo Jacket, from Lyttelton, New Zealand, to London, •which vessel \s as "burnt at sea on March 9. About H.Q',O()O in gold was in. the_ boat, and will" be forwarded by her Majesty's ship Megoera." Another account, 'under date May 25, from Buenos Ayres, states that a newspaper publishes a report brought per Foaiii from Stanley, Falkland Isles, to the effect that the Antonio Vinpent brought to the latter place nine men and fourteen bars of gold, valued at LI 5,000, ex Blue Jacket. The men were }n the boat from the 9th to the 29th of March ; four died in the boat, and three pn board the Antonio Vincent. The following letter from one. of the survivors of this \essel appeared in the Standard of July 8 :— " Port Stanley, Falkland Islands, " Aprils, 1869. f My dear Mother,— With many, many thanks to the Almighty God, I write the welcome news that I am still spai'ed to live a few days longer in this world. You will, no doubt, before you receive this letter, have heard of the sad'fute of the ?oor old Blue Jacket. . . . I will tell oty what lias transpired on board the Blue Jacket since she left Lyttelton up to the time she was burnt. Wo left that port on Feb. 13. We had seven saloon passengers grown up, twelve second cabin, and seven children, all young, and a stewardess 01-'lne' saloon. Of the passengers six were women ; two of the children were at the breast. Ship's company, all told, 42. Total number of people on board, '62 and T children. There was a little sea sickness at starting ; that soon passed away. We made a very good passage to the Horn in 20 days. On March 7 we passed these islands in sight, little at that time that this place •would be our refuge before l<>n^. But on the Tuesday morning there was a scene that I never wish to view again. About half-past one in the afternoon smoke was seen issuing out of the. fore hatchway. "We well knew what was the matter, and in about te*n minutes' there was a good supply of water being played upon it. There were no flames, but very dongu smoke arising. As soon as the captain saw that it was likely to prove seriqii3, he told Mr Williams to Kpt the, yacht slung and provisioned, and ready ft»r going over the side ; then the two life boats were got ready for lowering, and provisioned. In the meantime I had a few hands shortening sail. While all this was proceeding, the pump 3 were still being going, every one working for his life. It happened to be a very line afternoon, everything was being done to extinguish the hre, and about six o'clock we thought we would get the upper hand of it. Half an hour afterwards it broke out ten times worse than ever. We still kept tiard at it until a little after nine that flight, at which time the coals that, wore in the forepart had caught tiro, and in teu minutes after the whole of the forecastle was in a blaze. Then our fate appeared sealed. The order was given to get the yacht over the side, which was done with great risk of limbs, as there ■was a nasty sea running, but she was got pver all safe. Before lowering her into the water we got the women and children into her all safe, then lowered her ; after which tli© remaining passengers gut in, |he fire in the moantlhie working aft very rapidly. In the port lifeboat there ■wece Mr Williams and his watch ; in the ' starboard boat, Mr Bell and his watch. I wits in the yacht. The other boats left thi skip a little before us, fp,Lwe could not prevail upon the captain for some timo to leave the ship, and I do not think liq, would have left hc-r if he ha I not tfromisttd the ladies that he would take cnaFge of them. He said he did not like to leave the old ahip. So we cut away and drifted cle,ar. of the ship. About an hour after we left the foremast fell over the aide ; half an hour afterwards the main an.d mizen followed its example with a heavy crash. The vessel was then in one mass of flames • it was a splendid and fearful sight to witness. We kept as near the ship as possible, thinking a vessel might see the fire and boar down to her; but there was no such luck. Next day there, was a dead calm, and Mr Williams game oh board the yacht ; so we 3tra : g!i tened rip the boaf a little, and made things more comfortablp. Jn the evening the captain told mo to go to the m t j's boat and Mr Williams to stay in the yaohr. Soon after dusk a breozo sprung up. und was increasing all night. We kept together all night by means of lanterns, which we held pp now and then. "Next morning, the other two boats were well ahead ; the brcezo was still increasing, and in two Hours' time 'we picked them up. We passed the usual compliments. All was going on well. Mr Williams did not make any sign to come into his boat again, so when the captain gave us the course to the Falkland Islands we went onto see if we could pick the other boat up. Before we could see her, the yacht was put of sight. When we came up to the second mate's boat we lowered our sails and hove to for the yacht to get. up to vis again. While we were : waiting we had dinner, which consisted of about a Quarter of a pound of preserved meat, a very few bits of biscuits (which had got spoilt with salt" water coming into the boat), and not quite two gills of water; Wo had a pretty good supply of provisions and water, but we kuow not how loniif we would have to be in the boat before we were picked up or reached' land. We waitod there some time, but no yacht was to be seen, aud wo were losing tho fair wind, so wo asked Mr Bell if he was going to tvait any longer ? He said 'No.', With that answer we hoisted our sail and started, but up to the time we had lost sight of him he had not moved. We still went on, but during the night the wind shifted round right dead against us, so we steered for the miiiilan I as it w.aj impossible for na-ro reach the islands. We never s,aw either of the boats after that. There was fifteen of us in one boat, there were twenty-seven adults and seven children in Ihe yacht, and the rest with Mr Hell, second mate. I have no doubt father would recollect the brown dog tliat'Mr— — -had. It was in our boat. Six days after we left the ship we killed i', drank t!ie blood, and ate the flesh. Six .days after that was the com-

mencement of the horrors of a castaway crew. One of the boys out of two died through clrijiking salt water. We managed to keep it from him during the daytime, but at night he would get it. He was out of his mind about eleven hours before lie died. \Ve buried the poor lad as well as we cqu|d ijiider the 'circumstances. We read the burial service for the dead at sea, but we had nothing to sink him with. It was a painful task, but it was the will of God. We prayed to the Almighty in that boat with more earnestness than any of us had ever done before. We could see death stariugus in the face. Day after day no laud, no vessel. Five days after the boy died we lost the carpenter and a seaman. The latter poor fellow died from utter debility and old age. The carpenter, who was a line tall man, over six feet, died from drinking salt water. They were both Roman Catholics. The carpenter has left a wife, with four or five children, to mourn their loss. Two days after another man died raving mad, through salt water ; he was the healthiest looking man in the boat. " There were two others (the sailmaker and. one seaman) out of their mind, We expected they would be going off at any moment, Next day nothing in sight ; we thought the A!mig2ity had brought us there to breathe our last : we had breakfast, which was one sardine, some biscuit that we had to squeeze to get the salt water out, and about two tablespoonsfull of water. I forgot to tell you that, about ten days after leaving the ship, our feet became s.o painful with frostbite that we had to cut our boots off, the pain was so excruciating. For my part, 1 was inclined to drink saltwater to put an end to my life, for what with the hunger, the thirst, and the pain in my feet I nearly went mad ; in fact, one afternoon for a few hours I was out of my mind, tiny all said they thought I should go off, After we had had breakfast, all the provisions we had left was a small box of sardines, plenty of spoilt bread, and about one gallon of water. There was a light breeze, and a little after twelve o'clock oue of the men shouted ' Sail oh !' We all for the moment forgot our weakness and pain, and jumped up, and there was a barque beariug down upon us ; we were soon alongside of her, aud were hauled up the side, for we were as helpless as children. I forgot to tell you that we had saved three boxes of gold from the ship, value LIO,OOO. When he found we had gold he got into a frightful rage. He put the boatswain in irons and two seamen also, and chained them down — me:i that were not able to lift a pound weight ; and several times he threatened to take the boatswain's life. We just got sufficient food to keep us alive, and that was ail. Well, these islands were the nearest place. The Almighty blest us with a fair wind. Wo arrived here on the Sunday. The captain and a passenger he had with him went on shore and reported that he had picked up some wrecked sailors, and from what he could make out we had murdered every one on board and then set fire to the ship <\nd taken the gold and left her. When the doctor came on board he ordered the irons to be taken off and to give us plenty of wine. Next day (Monday) wo were all brought on shore and put into houses. Before I go further I must tell you that three more died on board the barque, leaving eight of us to tell the tale. Five of the men's feet had got nearly well ; but the engineer, the boy, and myself were the worst cases. We three are in a house by ourselves, the engineer chiefly from ba'l sores and weakness, the boy suffers with the frost in his feet, he has lost each of his little toes. I am suffering from one foot, but I am sorry to say that all my toes have rotted off. Had we nothad acleverd.>ctor I should havelo3t my" foot altogether. We have an old pensioned soldier to attend to us, and a more suitable person we could not have had. We have every attention and kindness paid us. Those that wero strong enough wero examined the next day. It took thrjo days to examine three men. Then they heard what the captain and his chief niate had to say. The next day our three men were cross-examined, and proved themselves to be innooent. The captain got into such a rage, bacauso he could not bring it in against us, tint he nearly committed himself. If he had not cleared out quickly with his vessel, the people iv the place would have killed him when they knew we were innocent. So far as is yet known the following is the fate of the crew : — ln iirst life-boat, picked up by Antonia Vineut. Landed at Falkland Islands, and coming home pefr Madiera. — Arthur W. Webbor, third mate ; James Cox, boatswain ; James Rosham, engineer ; Samuel Maddox, apprentice ; Benjamin Noilson, A.B. ; Thomas King, A.I?. ; George Small, A;R ; Wm. Jones, A.B. Dead. — Alexander Robertson, A.8. ; Wm. Henderson, A. B. ; Samuel Hansel, A.B ; James Mace, A.B. ; James Bnrch, sailmaker ; Michael Burgess, carpenter ; John Macdonald, O.S. In second boat. Missing. — Mr Bell, second mate ; John Williams, cook; Jesse Brown, A.8. ; Frisse, A.8. ; Wilkinson, A.8. ; Robertson, A.8. ; John Hollman, A.B. ; Henry Cobby, A. B. ; Walter Taylor, second cabin steward; Charles May, cook's mate; Joseph Odbome, O.S. (colored man) ; Charles Brack enfell, O.S. ; ship's butcher, name unknown, shipped in Lyttelton.