A Story of a shipwreck.

Manawatu Standard, Volume X, Issue 60, 10 August 1885, Page 4

A Story of a shipwreck.

The istory of the poor woman who, with hoi* three children, was impiisoned for 17 hqurci ;* . under, a c p« sized boat has recalled to one of our correspondents a similar, case of 'suffering, which he thus describee :— *rhe, b.ig. Nerina, of Runkerpue, Mailed , fromtlva'f placo oh Saturday, the 3 lit .af October,; under the command of Pierre E yeract, with a cargo of oil 'A%lf'fiirivas for Mavseiles.; Her'bur-v then wßß;aboub 114 tons. The crew consisted of "seven persons including the captain and his nephew— a boy 14 years old. . ; 1 At 8 /-o'clock ia r .tta^aftorjioon of .Mwn\i*y ? thel6tliJoT^r|mber, they were foiled to ii'da^e-to m. a gale of wind, at about 'ten, og^welyei'l^agues S.W. ofthe Scijly tsl^ I'^A^t o'olojjk of the same evening*" 1 a" Tieiiy-K^sea struck the vessel, and shp capsized, turning- 'ijo^ffMf Upward.' The only man onjchedddfc^t^he time w^s tl\rp>v^^foi'th« sfea and disowned. Iv the lorediistie wer«j threeseaman---"Vincent, Vantaure, and Jean- Marie. r (jhe two former '.succeeded m 'geUing up close : --to the kelson, and iso kept their heads above prater; ; J.cain Mai ie w v as not N so fortunate; Jhe must have l>benjnsp.ine. measure entangled, for after convulsively grasping the-keel of Vnntaure-*ftsr a lew seconds he. let go his'hold and wastli-ownecL ' i 3?he other tvvo finding that the shock ofthe : upset hiid started the. bulkbea>l betweeen ?the forecastle and the hold, and that the cargo ...taelf-. had .fallen i dowp'on the deck, contrived to > draw themselvi'S alongside the > kelson towards the Bterm'bf the' whence they thought they heard some voices. At tine time v of the accident, the captain, the mate, Jean Gal 16, arid the l»oy, Nicholas* iNi'sson, ; wereanihe'cabifi; The captain caught the boy m his arms, nnden the (impression?! hat their ; Inst'inoments had arrived. The mate succeeded intrenching- open; Hie trap hatch Jji." ; the ' :oabiu-deck, and m dealing .out. some casks that were, jammed m ' the , lazUrette, a sort of small triangular space between the cabin .floor and .the kelson^ where are generally slowed away. Having done this he ? scrambled up into the vacant arid /took the boy fron the hands off he 'captain. In about an hour they werej.iimul by Vincent arid . Yan'tau re from the forecastle* There were then five persona ; -closely cooped together. Asp 1 h^y sat, they were obliged to bend their bodies, for want "of height aboveTtheih, wbiliTt .the water reached as high ?s their \yaists, from .wliu?h irksome position 6ne at a time obtained some relief by stretching at fuil.length'bn the barrels m the hold. r They were atilo. t'oMi*«lihguish between day and higlft l»y the liifch't- Btrikia}r from above into thos sea and being reflected up through the ca bin skylight., and then into the lazurette through the trap hatch iri'the cabin door. . . ' . :> .. ,The day and night o*f Tuesday, the 1 7th of Noveml»er,an«ljthe day following passed without food, without relief, almost without hope but each still encouraged the others, endeavoviug'to assuage the ' pangs of -hunger bytchewiug.the bark stripped from hoops of the cask 9. • Want of -fresh air threatening them wilh death by suffocation the mate worked,, almost incessantly for ' i wo" days''." arid; on'A night jn 1 .; endeavaring; with his knife iot citt ■ a I hol^ t hrough the l hull! ; I ILipply, the knife. broke befpre; he had succeeded m accptn polishing his object, the result of which must have pro wyl . fatal, as the confined air alone preset ved* t*lfe' vessel ma. srfflßciontly" ■ buoyant state, y » k ;. • ■_;■ . .In the dead of the ni s ht of Wednesday,- tue 18th;;; the .vessel sudden ly ; struck, heavily; on the third blow thtf , stern dropped so much that all hands" jtyere forced to malic- the best of th(Mr way TdriyaVcT towards the bow>; m attempting which pooi; * Vincei.t was drowned: /After \ lie' lapse of an hour; or two, finding the water eddirijr,' Gallo got down m fhe" cabin, .and, whilst seeking forvthe. hatchet "iwhiclv ■"Va»/iisually/k'e]jW.-.theiv^-''was' t f6rned''to' rush upagain for shelter, to ayoid' being drowned, the sea rising on liiui* rapiclly. Another hour or two of suffering succeeded, and then they' were rejoiced to see by the dawning of the day of Thursday, "the 1 9th, .lliatJ •the vessel wms iast^ on ' tho^ .rockjs;? one Jof which proirutled up throughtho: skylight. The captain' then went down into tl)e.cabin,. i !»nd^fourjwi that the qrfat t.er pf;the? ship wa9|t<|YA in,V khtlf looking thrbugn the opening 1 , lie* called out to Jus companions, "Thank' God^ weAre'sSvedj 1 1 r s6e ra nianon" the beach/'^ Immediately after this the man approached, .and pnt ia his haudj which the captain seized, nlmosti v a's rnuQh to th« tejroftof the poor man l^ as'tni the>deHgKj;^£thV*c'aptaint^ '{I?h« people of the neigh boi hood were soV'ri 1 , assembled; thejside/ 6f . the >jiip was cut open, and/the foiir poor follows were- liberatid, aftej; : aii*entoniUinont. ;^|^>ee k 4A.i'W^d^M|ep^-nighis; The upot-Vhere the vessel struck is Porthellick, m tlfetsiar^ of S^ "Mry's Soil Iy . Shei must ; haye been ■'..• dii yen < ■on the >6dkM''ao6n; .after midnight^ at aliout the period, of high^water,,and;was i discovered adoi.it 7 o,'clook on •' Thursday" mo'rriihg - Uy a man dejQtally passing along the cliffs.. In* another halMiour lhe r returning tiilo •.koiild have sealod thVir fate. The body , of Vi,ncehi: was thrown on the rock's a-s-liorfc distarce front the wreck, and was interred ip. the biiiitl ground of St.'Mary's. ' .. V . •■ •! Not the iVas'V remarkable of the story j is,th»6 oil the • afternoon of Weilnes-* d,ay, the 18th. tho ? wreck, "floating tiottom iipward«j : was fal len in"with about ii.l.etiguu "and a-linlf distant from,, the islands by two pilot boats,, winch took -.her m tow for a.i>out an ho>ir; l»l?tj their : to\v-ropes breaking, and .uiirjii approaching, wit|j a heavy sea running and every appearance of bad weatlier, tlieV abandoned Iht; having, no suspicion, of coutse, that there, were hunmn l>t-{ns|s alivo m the hold of the vessel, whiih .w»s.ftpating witlj; li'itli* "nii.u'tv than lier keel, out of*w-ate«;.i IJad tho vessel not been so taken m. ti>w, the Set 'of the current ' wouliT hiive drifted her clear of jhc jsles.into t'h o vast Atlanlic. — Engljah paper,.