SUPPOSED TRAGEDY AT SEA.
Our extra, published on Saturday evening (says the Natal Colonist of June 20), stated that the R.M.a. Captain Diver, bad fallen in with the abandoned North-German schooner Thomas Nickerson, which she haci towed in to Algoa Hay. We have since gathered the following particulars v e . specting the derelict vessel: She was seen at anchor on Thursday, the Bth June, off Gouritz Point, some thirty miles on the Cape side of Mossel Bay, with three flags flying from different, parts of the vessel. This was suthcient to excite curiosity, and, on steaming nearer, it was soon apparent that either the ship had been abandoned or that something was amiss. Captain Diverthen directed the third officer to take a boat and go on board. This was done, and an examination of the vessel showed that the starboard bulwarks had been staved in by the seaj that pistols and cutlasses \\ere lying about the deck; that what was supposed to be the mark ot a pool of blood was seen near the foremast; and that the captain's cabin, as well as the ship's stores, seemed to have been hurriedly ransacked. These signs, as well as an entry in German in the log book, dated 7th June, to the effect that the men had refused to go further, and insisted that the captain should make for the nearest port, seem to favor the idea that the crew had mutinied, and that violence, if not bloodshed, had followed, The vessel could not have been long abandoned, as some still warm coffee was found in a kettle on the galley hreplace. The vessel is reported as in. sound condition and well provisioned, and full of cargo to the hatches. There was nothing to make the desertion necessary. It; was found that both cables had been payed out, and to their full extent, and tied together with a rope round the foremast The windlass, too, was discovered Lo have been broken, and, as it was therefore impossible to weigh anchor, her cables were slipped, and, taking her in tow, the Natal steamed away to Mossel Bay. An ex? animation of her papers showed she was from Cronstadr, and bound to Yokohama with stores for the Russian navy. Her cargo is supposed to he a valuable one, and the amount of salvage due to the Natal will be somethingconsiderable. The Port Elizabeth Telegraph adds : " The deck, ve are told, was in a slate of great disorder, and there had evidently been a very severe scrimmage, if not a fearful tragedy, on board. Upon the deck were several clots of blood, and some death-dealing apparatus was lying about. A large piece of canvas was cut out of the mainsail, which it has been suggested may have been used to sew up some corpses prior to casting them overboard. The cabins, had the appearance of having been ransacked, and, the chronometers and ship's papers are missing. By a telegram published in another part of to-day's issue, it will be seen that some of the crew of the Thomas Nickerson have turned up at Mossel Bay. They stale that the captain and six of die crew were drowned, and that six were saved. But what possible business they could have for landing where they did, or what excuse they can make for abandoning the vessel, are mysteries which no one here can penetrate. The general imprewon is. that a fearful tragedy had been committed on board the vessel. We trust the authorities will institute a strict inquiry into this mvsterious affair."
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Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 18, Issue 1113, 6 September 1871, Page 2
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595SUPPOSED TRAGEDY AT SEA. Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 18, Issue 1113, 6 September 1871, Page 2
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