TERRIBLE SUFFERINGS.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2767, 4 February 1882, Page 2

TERRIBLE SUFFERINGS.

It now transpires that Mrs Watson was not killed by the jNatives, but that she escaped with her child, and the wounded Chinaman, Ah Sam, in. a marvellous manner, to a sand island in the Howick Group, forty miles distant from Lizard Island, but only to perish from thirst after enduring several days of terrible suffering. The main facts of one of the most remarkable feats ever accomplished by a woman are briefly stated in the telegram from Brisbane which we published the other day. With some help, it may be supposed, from Ah Sam, who, wounded as he was, coule not have been of very much assistance, Mrs Watson appears to have launched into the water an old ship’s tank, which had been cut down and used as a boiler. In this unmanageable and clumsy craft she put to sea with her infant and the Chinaman, and after battling with the wind and waves for a distance of forty miles found at last a refuge on a small spot of land known as Number Five Island. What were the dangers and difficulties of the passage will never be known. The brave .woman, who has left a brief record of the last few days in the shape of a diary, makes no allusion to them, nor does she say what time was occupied in getting from Lizard Island to the Howick Group. The period, however, must have been considerable, for there is an interval of eight days between the last entry in the diary found at Lizard Island and the first entry in that discovered at Number Five Islaud.

The following extracts are taken from Mrs Watson’s diary : October 9.—Brought the tank ashore as far as possible witli this morning’s tide. Made camp all day under the trees. Blowing hard; no water. Gave baby a dip in the sea. He is showing symptoms of thirst, and took a dip myself. Ah Sam and self very parched with thirst: baby showing bad symptoms. Sunday, 10th, —Baby very bad with inflammation and no more milk but condensed. Self very weak. Really thought I should have died last night. Monday, 11th.—Still all alive. Baby much better this morning. Self feeling very week, I think it will rain to-day. Clouds very heavy, Wind not quite so high .... No rain. Every ap pearance of fine weather. Ah Sam has gone away to die. Have not seen him since the 9th. Baby more cheerful Self not feeling at all well. Have not seen any boats of any description, or water. Dead with thirst.” The diary here ends abruptly, but death must have soon ensued, as the fugitives had been five days without water. The agonies which the unfortunate fugitives suffered during the five or six days which elapsed between their arrival on the desert island and their death must have been terrible indeed, and yet not a complaint or murmur is to be found in the diary of the noble woman, whose indomitable courage, resource, and presence of mind must command the admiration of all who read the simple and pathetic tale. All her care and concexm appear to have been for her baby, and she is rejoiced to find, on the day when the entries ceased —which is believed to have been that of her death —that her child who had been kept alive with condensed milk, is “much better” and “more cheerful.” Her sufferings are alluded to in three short words, “ Dead with thirst,” and there the melancholy record ends. The courage and endurance shown by Mrs Watson throughout the frightful ordeal could scarcely be surpassed. The departure from Lizard Islaud was well planned, and but for the unfortunate circumstance that Number Five Island contains no water, the fugitives would no doubt have been saved ; for notwithstanding the terrible danger which menaced them, there was no panic or

flurry about their departure, and the tank was well stored with provisions, while Mrs Watson even took with her a box containing her spare clothing aud account books. If the lives of the party could have been prolonged for a few days they would certainly have been rescued, for the island upon which they had taken refuge lies right in the track of steamers and small vessels frequently cruising about the group. Mrs Watson says in her diary that on October she saw one steamer pass, and that signals were made, but they failed to attract attention. This might very easily be the case, for as the island is unhabited no special attention would bo mid to it in passing, and, as the land ies very low, signals unless hoisted on a flag-pole or in some such way, would bo very likely to escape the notice of the unobservant. That this particular vessel did not keep a sharper look out is much to be deplored. Life and death were in the balance, and death turned the scale. The melancholy fate of so brave and devoted a woman will be widely lamented, and throughout Australia the memory of Mrs Watson will long be preserved as that of a true and noble heroine.—“ Dunedin Star.”