TRAGEDIES OF THE SEA.

NZ Truth, Issue 143, 14 March 1908, Page 8

TRAGEDIES OF THE SEA.

DUKE OF CUMBERLAND IN A HURRICANE.

Ship Briton Fetches Up m a Bush.

THE WST CLEOPATRA.

BieaK, b'realc, break', On thy cold, grey stones, 0 Sea! 'And . I would that my tongue could utter iThe thoughts that . arj.se m me^. . . ■•■'■.._■ -rTennyson.- '

In these days , of mammoth steam- ' ships, travelling by sea has ; lost . nearly all its terrors. Given plenty , Of . sea room, with a well-built • steel _ jvesselj a sober and careful captain, tie. oargo properly stowed, one Is ai.Sfcosst as safe m a storm- at sea as on sho*e. '; But m the old . days things .were different.. The ships were m all cases wooden tubs that leaked trem the moment they were launched, and. requiring to be pumped, put each day, . whether lying ; alongside a '•iwharf pr out m the open sea . ■'■ Any • old,- sailor can tell of the creaking, limbers and groaning ribs? below decks when hisr vessel, was In a. gale, of wind. And. while big ships .were ■built ■■.of- wood it - could not be otherjwise-, the incessantly altering -j contracting and expansion of ■■ the timjfcers composing the hull preventing absence from leakage. 1; JiIiEOUKE OF CUMBERLAND. • ih the dreadful hurricane which .took place at . Antigua, m . the West ,4ndies, on September. 4, 1304, several vessels were lost, , and, .Samong. others, ; the -packet, .Duke.;, of . Cumberland, ©very precaution had been taken by striking the, yards "and masts to ser .scure the vessel ; and the cable.' had •held so long that some faint hope began to be entertained, of. riding out ,the gale. ' Several of the -crew quitted, tjie deck for. some. Mefreshment, Init no sooner, had tliey sat down .than'; .a loud groan from. J he rest of the" crew summoned - them on deck. The captain ran forward, : and/exclaimed, "All's over. now. r God . have mercy 'on us." Tlie cable, had parted ; •.•the ship hung about two minutes by the- steani ajid kedge . anchors and they began to drive broadside on. : At . this : -moment - the seamen, torn \by despair, seemed for a ;m,omei\t,. to : forget themselves ; lamentations for their their ' wives; and their children resounded.throughout 1 the. ship.' Every man v. CLUNG TO A ROPE, ~ and determined "to stick to it as long as the ship remained entire. For an hour they, drifted on, without knowing whither; the .men continued to, hold fast -by the • rigging, while their bodies were. beaten by the heaviest tain and lashed by every wave. The ' most dreadful silence prevailed. Everyone .was too intent on his own approaching end to be able to communicate hi«J feeling to another, and nothjhg was heard save the howling iof the tempest. < "* The vessel .drove towards the harfor'of St. John's, anjll two alarm guns were fired, m <order that the garrison might be spectators of their late, for it was m vain to think of assistance. The -Duke of • Cumberland spon .drove against a large ship, and went, close under her stern. A faint hope now glimmered of being stranded on -a ,sandy. beach, and the aaptain,' therefore, ordered; the earj»enter to, get the hatchets all= ready to cut-away the masts,./ in order to ttiake ai raft for tjiose who chose to Venture' upon, it, The ., vessel, however, 4rqve with . extreme, violence on Some rocka^ and the cracking of her . .timbers below : wis distinctly .heard. &VERY HOPE NOW VANISHED, : and the crew began: already to consider themselves as beings i of anoth-r •'er?- world,. .In order to ease^ the. vessel, and, ■; if possible, to prevent her from parting, the mdzzen-past was ailowedv to\ remain standing, to steady, the ship.- The vessel had struck about., two o'clock, and m half an hour -afterwards the water was up to the lower deck. • ' ; Neyer. - -was daylight • more anxiously wished for than by ••■ the crew- of tjtte packet. After haying htihgAso long m ..-the .shrouds, they were forc-^ ed to cling three hours longer before /the dawn appeared. . The sea was, making. 4 clean.. breach over the -.ship, jwhich was lying, on her bear^' ends ; and the.. crew, stiff and benumbed. 1 could with difficulty hold against the force of the . waves, every qne -of .which struck, and nearly drbwaed. .them.. .: r< . :' ■■' \ < The break of day discovered to the .wretched mariners all the horrors of .their .. situation. -The ©uke of Cumberland was lying. upon large rocks, at the foot of a pr^ggy, overhanging precipice, twice as fyigh as the ship's mainmast; . the. wind and rain beat upon the crew with unr. abated violence, and the ship lay a .miserable wreck.. The first thoughts of the crew m the morning were naturally directed to. the li.ossibility of saving their lives, aad ijiiey all agreed that, . -.- -.;..-■ ...--. y, y.-.- ~'\ THEIR, OKLY /CHANCE of doing so \vas Otty means of the nlizv-t-n-mast. The top-mast and top. Kallant-mast "were launched out, and ieached. within, a few feet of the rock. An attempt was made, by one _6f the crew to throw a bowline to Uhf top of the rock, but instead of .'l'Oldinr by the bushes it . brought ithem away. . . • I Another seaman, who seemed from j despair to hk\e Ambffbed an extraordinary degree of courage, followed the first man out on the mast, with if he intention _of throwing himself f from the .end, upon the mercy of the rock. He had p/coceeded to the extremity of the topgallant-mast, and was on the .point of leaping, among 1 the bushes, when the ._ pole of .tjie; mast, unable to sustain his weight, gave*' way, and precipitated him into the waves, 40ft. beloyr . ..Fortunately,, he carried down with him the .piece of broken mast, and., instead of being dashed to pieces, as was pxpecteed, he kept liirriseTE afcovo,: water until_hc f WAS BOOSTED UP. All hopes of being saved by the - m'irz&h-ri'in'kfi *vcre nrw ;\t an "end, & : . ,,v ■•.s'-ji-ii;- the crew were meditating

to anyone, went' out on the bowsprit, and, reaching the end of the jibboom, jumped into the water. Scarcely had he fallen when a tremendous waye threw Win upon the rock and left him dry. There he remained benumbed'until a second wave washed him ; still further up. Then, clinging; to some . roughness m the cliff, D'oiieaster began to scramble up the -rock, and m a/bout half an hour he^ with difficulty, reached the summit, The crew anxiously watched every step he took, conscious that their own preservation depended upon Ms safety. ■ ' • , Dbncaster immediately went round •td; that" '-part'' of the precipice nearest the 'vefe'seVahtt catching > rope from the crosstrees of the mizzeri, he made it fast to a tree. By means of ' thds line, * the whole of the crew were, m the space of three hours, hoisted to the' TOP OF THE CLIFF. j The wliole •-, of the ship's company ! haying mustered on _the rock, they decided .to walk towards town. The plain before them had, m conse- i quence. of the. heavy rains become almost' impassable; but, after • wading about three miles through fields of su'gar-^carie, and often plunged up to the neck m water, they reached St. John's;' safely, Here they would haye 1 died for wa.ht of food and necessaries had it not been for a mulatto tailor, •who supplied the whole crew with beds and provisions.

In November, 1844, the transport ships Briton and Runnymede were on their way to Calcutta with troops. The former was hound from Sydney and the Runnymede from London. Both reached 'the eastern sido of the Bay of Bengal at the same time, encountering together . a rotary storm, moving from the direction, of the Gulf of Siam to the Andaman Islands. , .After enduring severe weather for s^-^o days, the gale .strengthened to a severe hurricane on the iOth, v-hen the Runnymede lost nart of -her canvas and small"" masts about' 2: p.m., ■ but she lay to. under bare poles, perfectly tight. The rain .Was pouring down m torrents, and ,the' •■ ;/;'._ WIND WAS TERRIFIC. By. nine o'clock the main and inizzen- \ masts alone were standing, and an hour later" no one could hold on the poop for wind and rain. . The next day, the 11th, the hjirricahe was! equally severe. With the barometer j at -28.0, the gusts were so terrific,) mixed with drift and rain, that no one 'could stand' on deck. At noon, | th«p ship was perfectly unmanageable from her; crippled state, but rode like l a seabird over a' confused ,-sea run-! ning, apparently, from every point of the. compass, A large barque, with loss of topmast and mainyard, drifted ahead, and a brig was seen to leeward totally dismasted. At 4 p.m., the barometer fell to 27.70, and the storm .BLEW PIERCER THAN EVER. , The front of the poop to leeward, the. cabin door, and skylights were torn away, and they were expecting .every moment the poop to be torn off her. The severity of the wind was beyond, description. There is nothing to compare to it, for, unless present, -no one could conceive the destructive power and weight of wind, -crushing everything before it as if it were a metallic body. At midnight the. gusts were most awful, and the- rudder was carried away. At 1.30 a.m. the ship struck, when it was considered that the destruction of the lives aboard, as ' well as of the ship, were sealed. But, although the ship filled up to the lower beams with water, she was thrown so high pn a reef that the water became smooth, and, the bilge pieces keeping her. upright, she lay comparatively quiet. Not knowing Where she was, the crew, fearful other beating over the reef into deep water, let. go the port anchor, and found the water leavirtp- her. T^bis done, all hands fell' asleep,

UTTERLY WORN .OUT

with their exertions. At daybreak the hurricane broke, with the barometer rising, until it stood at 29.45, but it was raining heavily. The loom of the shore was seen to leeward, the ship being nearly dry aft. On the mist clearing away, the crew saw. inside of them, up amongst the trees a 'large barque with troops on hoard. An officer and A 12 men were sent over the stern to communicate with her. At 7 a.m., the tide then 'rising, orders were given for the men to land at next low water, ■and if possible, to get something cooked, as. no fires could be kept m Wurin» the storm— the crew and

troops merely having biscuits and a glass of grog during the whole time it lasted. At 3.30 p.m., the tide having fallen sufficiently to wade on shore. Ensign Dabernt returned oa board and stated that the vessel up amon* the trees was the transport ship Briton, from Sydne^ with 311 men, 34 women, and 51 children, of H.M. 80th Regiment, under the command of Major Btmbury, with a crew ..of 36 men, bound for Calcutta, and short of everything.

1 CLEOPATRA'S LAST PLUNGE.

f Then there was the Madras storm of April, 1847, m which the steamship Cleopatra was lost. This illfated vessel was bound for Singapore With convicts. She sailed from Bombay on the afternoon of the 14th, heayilv laiden with coals and provisions, and on that account less able to resist the fury of the wind and waves. Her course was . southward, and against that of a hurricane which raged a. few days after she left port. The .sea current the Cleopatra probably met on the 16th, when near Mangalorte, when the adverse winds must have been increasing. With land to the port quarter, and the axis of the gale to the starboard, with . furious winds augmenting m forte, and with a temptestous sea, the situation was perilous and the dangers were increasing. On the 17th at 8 p.m., the Cleopatra is sunposed to have been m lat. 12.5 north, . forty miles from land, fifty from the nearest of the Lacadives, and 428 from Bombay. And there, it is believed, she made her final plunge, with the whole of her wretched convicts and buoyant crew, above 30.0 souls.