TALE OF THE SEA. ESCAPE'D FROM NEW CALEDONIA. TWO FRENCH CONVICTS IN AUCKLAND. UNKNOWN.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 255, 14 April 1888, Page 3

TALE OF THE SEA. ESCAPED FROM NEW CALEDONIA. TWO FRENCH CONVICTS IN AUCKLAND. UNKNOWN.

It will be wi thin the recollection of on v lenders that alxmt a fortnight ago we pub lished the fol lowing telegram ttoni cur correspondent . it Helen*, ville . "The barque Howard ai rived at the Head* >es>teiday from Queensland. On the pas-t-age actot-s tv 'o {jailor* adrift in a boat were picked up." This menage was supplemented . iday 01 two .iftei \wuds b\ the following additional information .—. — " With lefeienoe tv the rescue oi the two men in a boa t. by tl\e barque I low aid I could not obtain the name" of the boat.--occupant-, but the> belong lo Noumea. They stated tl lat the\ weio pta-l 0,-tor lishing and wt re dihen oft the laud u\ a gale. ThejMM n« .seventeen da>? out when they were picked up b> the liowaid, and wete 500 miles from Noumea and 400 milefrom Au-tralia. One of the men i? *.aid to be the owuei r>f the boat, andha^awife and cliildren af. Noumea. "

CONVICTS, .VXD NOT FI^HKHMIIX This story \va? not a i^ei;\ piobaM 1 ' one, and there were many who \\er L< loth to believe it. Su^pu'io!' \\a s aroused by the tact that theie wasnotislnnjr u - ear in the boat, and the men them^ehes lendeied the cneum-tanee-even moie mi>j nciou^ by ellccting a upid (Usappe.it ance Horn the barque -oon attei her anhal at) Helena ille The police authoiitie^wci with. and the men were ea 'il\ tiaced to toun ulj-mo, they have bijen for .-ome da\-. The | inquines by the jiolu-e hiwc \ disclofed the it ict that the men aie Fieneh coinicts ftom New Caledonia, and not. n'shermen, and that they stole the boat in which they e-caped tlaspaul t-nd Cniy j are the names of the two indiwdual- m I question, and tl ie fonnei was. .-et \ mo tl sentence of twenty ycnn? and the latter of ? e\en years at the time of their escape.

AN INTERESTING NARRATIVE. The men appe ar to ha\e undei crone \eiy consideiabie hf.rd-hip and exposine to danger in maki ng their escape from the island prison in which the\ weie con tined, and their lescue appeals to have been almost i> pioMdential one We ha\e succeeded in obtaining u biief naua j tive of their ex} teiience^. which we gi\e a«- | nearly as possible in the wend- ot C'ui\, j from Whom it is obtained, and w Inch should ! be read with consideiabie inteiest, aanother remarkable tale ot Hie -ea. Cuiy is in the tii^b place ver\ severe on the 'disciplinary system in foice in New Caledonia, and asserts that ciime- of the most atrocious and infamiou> kind aie committed then?. He attributes them solely to the officials, ) : roni the low esb yrade to the highest, and says this is the cau-=e that j driven many poor wi etches to make their escape. Theie was not, however, the same excuse in his case, as he &ays lie practised self-denial in even tiling, and as time pro£ie~ed enduied all the suffering, both physical and moral, that was heaped upon him, and he adds laconically, "I'll "wear theie was plenty of it."

PREPARATIONS FOR ESCAPE. "But what matter was ib to me," pio' ceeded Cury '! " I knew that if I wanted f o regain my freedom I must hold m> tongue and put up with everything, and that i^ just what I did. This wa-> not the first time that the possibilities of escape had occuired to my mind. Twice before had I succeeded in escaping from the inland of New Caledonia, and twice was I betiajed by some scoundrels as dastardly as vipers. This had the etiect of preventing me from being ao;ain too sanguine in making this wretched attempt to e=cape. And yet what matters it I have succeeded, and now finding myself free in a strange country, I am under the necessity of giving myself up if I don't want to plunge myself into deepei misery. Is it not enough to break one\ heart '! Once I was the happiest of mortals, and wa3 wealthy and respected, but now

ALL IS LOST. " Fortune, honour, famil> and e\ er> thing I loved. All that remain to me aie two children, two young gills, who ha\e been well brought up and -whom I love dearly. This is the reason why I -vas so anxious to regain my liberty. Death laughs at me when he appear, for I have bra\ed him twenty times in my life, and moie especially so in this last \oyage of mine 1o sea. But to return to the story of our escape. Whilsc working in a timber yard at Noumea, I succeeded in dipping away and lejoining the miscreants who betrayed me. That was pretty ditlicult in the fir&t place, but it was more difhcult fctiil to live for a month in Noumea without being arrested. Nevertheless, that i^ what I did, and with one hundred frano that I had sent to me, I In eel that month and managed to buy biscuits and various expensive necessaries for this trip. Time passed on gradually, and at length the day came when we wei c to look out for the seizure of the boat. It wa^ the 2nd of February, and by cieeping into the sea where she was at anchor, I managed to steal her. I took the precaution to get behind her so that i

I SHOULD NOT BE SHOT. " From the shore we hoisted the sail, and steered inside the reefe which surrounded the settlement, and nequently touched them, but without injuring our fiail craft. The boat was only about nineteen feet in length, andwasnotdecked. Two day.s passed without our being able to find a channel to get outside, and our feelings may po&sibiy be imagined. We would have landed again and have gone to look for the channel from the high land, but we were afraid of the kanakas. We were not altogether unarmed, for I had a carbine, but we were without either powder or shot But what mattered it V The carbine was an apparent protection for us. We eventually discovered a channel, and safely cleared it, and then our troubles increased. Next day, we encountered a gale of wind trom the south-east, which unshipped our rudder, carried away our jib and lines, melted our biscuits into porridge, and did other damage, which we had reason to deplore. Thegalekeptup inthis lively style for three days, during which time we were sick, animate corpses, lying on the bilge, without strength to bale out the water that was filling the boat,

WE AWAITED DEATH, But it did not come. The gale having abated, I rigged up what sail we had left, and waited tor a breeze. But after the tempest we had a seven days' calm, which gave us more anxiety than the storm. It was very significant, for it meant death from hunger

and thirst and drowning afterwards. It was licai trending, and 1 criod bitterly for my poor children. We wore ten clays at sea, and 1 had nob oaten two kilos (4^,lbs. ) of biscuits. We got on piotty well with a good breeze tor the ne\t eight days, but wo had no mote water, and did not know how tarwoweie from Australia. It was then that 1 saw the ship \\ Inch Providence hont in oui w t\, and begged the captain to save us, telling him at the same time that we had been shipwiecked, etc. He said :—: — " Yon are eoinieH from New Caledonia," ' We ate not," we replied. " Then he said, ' You can come on board, but 1 -li.il! be obliged to scuttle your boat, although with legiet." " Hooked -adly upon the operation, and at length, when the boat di.sappeaied beneath the sea. the tears ran from my eyes. The M\--el which icscued us was the barque How aid, of Mel!" ou i no, and the captain and new wen \ei\ kind to us. Eighteen days afterw aid*, we aimed at HeleiiM ille. Then \>e made our escape from the ship again, knowing well betoiehand that we would bo handed o\ ertotlie police. What 1 wanted to (\o was to engage as a sailoi oi to woik my pas-age : but not .succeeding in this, Jieie I am without food, without a home, and ready to de i,cnn\ -eh up to notice." Addiessing one o: hi- companion. Cm y proceeded as follows. '"Now , monsieur, ha\e compassion on one of } oui untoitunatu countiymen, and do not lOtidemn him too har-hly. If on the other hand you will come to his. assistance, and lmvi' him - unu letter papci ami .stamps to wide to l'aii-, and al-o a piece of tobacco. \ou will outer gp;at liappincss upon rhi- t.ooi rieutuie, and he thank- you in anticipation with all hi- heait." I ,