SUFFERINGS OF A SHIPWRECKED CREW.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 2629, 18 May 1889, Page 2 (Supplement)

SUFFERINGS OF A SHIPWRECKED CREW.

Oi.' the '27th January there sailed from Keinandina, Florida, a little schooner of 23') tons, the Georgia B. McFarland. She was timber laden, and bound for the island of Trinidad, a short and not particularly perilous voyage. But the schooner never reachedhcrdcstination, and her crew at the pre-ent moment aro surprised to find themselves at Bristol. And I this was the way of it, as condensed from the captain's graphic story:—

Six men bo-ides the master were on board, not including a parrot and a cat. These also were ou board, and, moreover, arc in Bristol to-day, enjoying with their fellow voyagers a well-earned rest. The schooner was apparently hated of the gods from the moment hhe drew up her anchor. Perhaps this was because sho left port on a Sunday. However this may bo, before the sun had set on thia first day a storm was npon her. All that uight the men were engaged with the sails. The struggle was to keep sufficient sail upon her to give her steerage way. But the wind rent the canvas as fast as it was raised, and split the white duck into a thousand streamers, that cracked like gunshots in the storin. To bo struck by one of these great canvas whips meant death. All this night and all the next day the men fought the tempest. At midnight on Monday the storm seemed to lessen. But 'twas only a deceptive lull. A great wave came, coming over and over, high above the little schooner's bulwarks. The men prepared for it. They sprang into the rigging:. They saw below them, as the schooner careened and struggled under the great shock, five feet of green water between them and the deck. 'Twas only for a moment. The gallant little vessel, buoyant with her timber cargo, came to the surface. But her deck had been levelled, her steering gear was gone, most of her deckload, her deckhouse, and all her top work. The main boom, the spanker boom, and the spanker gaff were twisted and broken like lead pencils. She was 110 longer a home for men. Slowly filling with water, gradually falling inch by inch lower into the ocean, the only question now was how to keep her afloat till a rescuer was at hand. Somo plucky volunteers got into the storo room. Their spoils were a few tins of preserved fruit. They had also some tinß of salt beef, but this they dared not eat, because it meant thirst, aud thirst meant water, and of water they had but one keg, enough for a teacupful each day to each man for a week. Their boat had gone in the midnight wave. Their deck was now on a level with the water. There was, however, one resting place for them. The top of the after cabin was still three feet above the sea. Here thay perched, seven in all, and the cat aud the parrot. While tho storm lasted they lashed themselves to the Stump of tho mizzen mast. One poor fellow who was hurt was fastened into a chair, and the chair tied to the mast. From its top, five feet above the deck, swung the bag containing the tinned fruits and the water. 'Twas tho only storehouse left them. Two empty tar barrels they had. These they cherished as they did their food. They might want night signals ; for tho day signal they had their flng—the stars and stripes. This they ultimately brought oft with them—the only lifeless thing saved except what they stood up in. So that if they were worsted in their battle with the waves the}' retreated honourably, for they brought their colours off tho field with them. On tho Wednesday they sighted two ships. One was hopelessly far away. The other was near They spread out their flag. One climbed to the top of their puor little eminence—tho broken stump of the mizzen—and waved the signal. They thought they were seen. She changed her course ! She was heading towards them ! A glad cry broke from their lips, and then—they saw her go off again ! " That minute," says one of the sailors, '' was tho hardest of all." It is generally supposed that those on this vessel saw theso men—seven men starving. " What are their lives to me ? But the food they would eat, the clothes they would need, these are much to mo. Head her away ! " I (1 rom Tuesday morning until the succeeding Sunday night these men waited patiently for death. Tho vessel had sunk as low as it could with its timber cargo. The hatches had long been broken open, and tho water sucked in and out as the vessel rose aud fell on the waves. She was beginning to break up. The house, on whose top they sat, had begun to rock a little. Tbey could feel its deck fastenings slowly loosening under the terrible repetition of the now quiet wave power. The effect of the scanty food was beginning to be seen. The awful nerve strain was beginning to tell. It is a test for anyone to sit for six relentless days, anticipating each moment that the next will see his end. One gets to

pray that it may come that the awful suspense may end. On the Sunday tho water was nearly gone. "No one proposed," said the captain, "to dock the parrot or the cat of their little share, and one fellow, who laughed as he gave the parrot a piece of tinned peach and said, " We must keep you fat, Polly, anyhow, for we may want to eat you,' was cussed properly." Nobody in words on Sunday night expressed the feeling that possessed all. None expected to see the Monday morning's dawn. The vessel was fast breaking to pieces. But all clung around the mast in the dogged silence peculiar to stern men in face of the inevitable. Towards midnight Henrik Henriksen, a sailor rose from the deck and, supported by the mast stump, looked out over the quiet ocean. "Alight! A light!" he cried. And now the tar barrel came into use. In a minute a great flame rose. It lasted only a minute, however. Was it seen ? They had discerned only the port light of the approaching vessel. Now they saw also tho green lantern. They knew she had changed her head—was coming towards them. They wore saved ! The captain of the rescuing vessel, after inspecting the castaways through his night glasses, calmly asked, " Do you want to be taken off ?" "I thought," remarked Captain Strong, "there was a lot of humour in this question. I quietly answered, ' I reckoned it would be more comfortable if we were.'" "And we were, indeed," he continued, "and myself and my crew and my cat and my parrot for 33 days wero aboard tho Canute, and Captain Williams during all this time was more than kind to us." " But don't you think," he wound up with, " that it's a roundabout way—via Bristol—from Florida to the "West Indies ?"