A HORRIBLE STORY.

Tuapeka Times, Volume VII, Issue 378, 1 August 1874, Page 4

A HORRIBLE STORY.

Theship Arrao.in was burnt at sea in lah 3 deg. 26 mm. north, acid long. 03 de^ 1 . 30 mm. easb, about the middle o£ February last, when, the captain aud crew had (o take to their bo:il3. One of the boats, with the chief officer and four men, airived ac Cochin on the 17th March, and subsequently the captain and eight men managed to make their way in tne long boat to Aden. The third boat, the pinnace, with the second officer and four men, has now arrived at Calcutta, having been picked up at sea by the City of Manchesier. A p.issenger by the laller vessel furnishes ihe "Friend of India" with the following particulars, which were obtained from the second officer :—: — "The three boats kept together until Friday night, the 20"- h February, when they lost the cap! ain's boat. Ai'ler this they lost sight of tho male's hoat. They mended the boat's side as well as they could, but she leaked so badly that they had to keep one man constantly baling. Had it not been for this necessity for constant work, Mr. Webster thinks he could never have kept the men from killing each other. One of the men accidentally broke the compass. They had no chart, only a sextant. Mr. Websler kept the boat by the wind', and hoped to : ma&e the Maldive Islands ; 9th March he wrote, 'Divided the last morsel of I bread and water between us. ' Two days after one of the old sailors, Davis, proposed casting lots. The mate refused to have anything to do with it, and told them, as always afterwards,* that there should be no man-eating in the boat while he lived. The same day, iv the afternoon while Mr- Webster was asleep, the four cast lots, and the short lot fell to the younger boy, Billy Homer. He went apart to say his prayers, but as Davis was preparing his knife to kill him the mate awoke and prevented him. After that he threw overboard all the knives but two, one for himself and one for the older boy, and made Billy stay beside him in the stern of the boat all the time. The two elder sailors, Davis and Layford, plotted to kill the mate, and tried to do so more than once, but the older boy, Francis Stobie, warned him. After that*he mate and the boys kept, alternate watches, so that the men coulddo nothing unobserved. Mr. Webster read to them from the Bible and i Spurgeon's Morning by Morning, and prayed with them every day. This seemed to quiet the men for a time, but they would grow discontented and mutinous again, with spells of delirium. One day Davis swore he would kill the boy or sink the boat in twelve hours. He had already tried to do both, besides refusing to work repeatedly. The mate felt that he ought to shoot him. He raised his gun and snapped it atliim, but it did not explode. Two minutes after, just after, he had put a fresh cap on, a bird flew over the boat, and he shot it dead. The men rushed for it. Ifc was quickly picked up, divided, and devoured, inwards, bones, and all bufc the feathers. Davis then returned to his duty. The day before they were rescued wa3 the worst. Ltiyford knocked off work, and told Davis that he wished he would kill him when he waa asleep. 'Very well,' said Davis. A few minutes after Davis struck him on the head with a marlinspike. The blood ■gushed out, and Davis drank it eagerly, giving a little to Stobie. A struggle ensued for the ruarlingspike. Layford got it at last, and threw it overboard. Then they tried to kill each other, bruising and biting each other like wild beasts Both were too weak to succeed. When exhausted they would ask forgiveness, shake hands and kiss each other, Soon the delirium would return, and they would begin again. The next day would have decided the fate of one or two probably had they not been picked up."