CANNIBALISM ON THE HIGH SEAS.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XV, Issue 4363, 9 March 1893, Page 3

CANNIBALISM ON THE HIGH SEAS.

For sixteon days, says a Hamburg Idespmoh of January 31st, the threo sailors resouad from the Norwegian ship Thekla, subsisted on human fiesb. The throe strangled a fourth, their companion, and lived on raw strips of moat cut from his corpse. From tlio time of their rescue until the Slat January the three unfortunates have been insane from their sufferings in the rigging of the foundered ship. Two of them recovered sufficiently on the 31st to tell the story of tho Thekla's yoyago. The ship was in heavy weather from December 2nd, when she left Philadelphia. Hor decks were flooded almost constantly, tho deck houses and rails were swept away, and the steering apparatus broken. When it was found there was no hope of bringing the ship into port, the master, mate, and eight seamen got away in a boat. The other boats were smashed by the waves before they could be lowered, and nine seamen wero obliged to remain in the rigging, Tlioy wero unable to get food from below, and five of them mado insane by exposure and starvation, jumped overboard. The other four remained oil board from December 22 until January 7, the day of their rescue, On tlio thirteenth day lots wero drawn to determine which one should be killed and eaten, The lot fell twice j ill succession to a Dutch sailor. He was strangled and devoured raw by the others, The only drinking water tlio seamen got was the dew they licked from tho ropes.