HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1898-8-12, Page 2r$E BRU S SBL S POST,
AUGUST 12, 1908,
TH F FATAL REPAST.
(Cozzi in nad,)
1 Was comparatively but little affect
ed, and therefore employed myself in
assisting others until they seem-
ed to be past ail relief, and filen
sat down, anticipating the horrid con-
sequences which would result from the
death of the whole si111Ys company.
While thus weaved, 1 heard
the steersman call out, "Taken ell a-
back here.' A voice, which f knew to
be the mate's, immediately answered
"Weil, and what's' that to us? Put her
before the wind, and let her go where
she ploaees." I soon perceived, by the
rushing of the water, that there was a
great increase in the velocity of the
ship's progress, and went upon deck to
ascertain the pause.
1 Pound the mete stretched upon the
top 0t the companion, and addressed
him, but he made no reply. The man
at the helm was tying a rope round
the tiller, and told me he had become
so blind and dizzy, that ha could neither
eteer nor see the compass, and would
therefore fix the rudder 1n such a man-
ger, as would keep the ship's head as
near the wind as possible. On going
forward to the bows, I found the crew
lying motionless in every direction.
4'hey were either insensible of
the dangerous situation in which our
vessel was, or totally indifferent to it;
and all my representations on this head
failed to draw forth an intelligible re-
mark from any of them. Our ship car-
ried a great. deal of canvass, the lower
studding -.,ails being up, for we had en-
joyed a breeze directly as-
tern, before the wind headed us AO the
way already mentioned.
had no means of affording it any ass'st-
- once. .1 watolied it for soalle time, and
observed its convulsive motions grade
nally grow more feeble; but its form
soon became undlstinguiShable amidst
the foam of the bursting waves. The
darkness prevented nae from discover-
ing who had thus committed himself
to the deep, in a moment of madness,
and I felt a str'oug repugnance at at-
tempting to ascertain it, un11 rather
wished that it might have been some
spectre, or the offspring of my per-
turbed Imagination, 1.111111 a human be-
ing.
As the sea continued to break over
the vessel I went down In the cabin,
after having closely shut the eeng'-vay i
doors and companion. Total dnrknees
prevailed below. I addressed the cap-
tain had all my fellow passengers by
name, but received no reply from any t
About an howl' atter sunset almost
every person on board seemed to have
become worse. I alone retained my
senses unimpaired. The wind now
blew very fresh, and we went through
the wetter at the rate of ten miles an
hour. The night looked dreary and tur-
bulent. The sky was covered with
large fleeces of broken clouds, and the
stars flashed angrily through them, as
they were wildly„ hurried along by the
blast. The sea began to run high, and
the masts showed, by their incessant
oraeking, that they carried more sail
than they could well sustain.
I stood alone near the stern of the
ship. Nothing could be heard shove
or below deck, but the dashing of the
surges and the meanings of the wind.
.All the people on board were to me the
same as dead ; and I was tossed about,
in the vast expanse of waters, without
a companion or fellow -sufferer. I knew
not what might be my fate
or where I should be carried.
The vessel as it careered along
the raging deep, uncontrolled by
human hands, seemed under the guid-
ance of a relentless demon, to whose
caprices its ill-fated crew had been my-
steriously consigned by some superior
power.
I was filled with dread lest we s11ould
strike upon rocks, or run ashore, and
often imagined that the clouds which
bordered the horizon were the black
cliffs of some desolate coast. At last
I distinotly saw a light at some dis-
tance -I anticipated instant destruc-
tion -I grew irresolute whether to re-
main upon deck, and face death, or to
wait for it below. I soon discovered
a sbip a little way ahead -I instinctive-
ly ran to the helm, and loosed the rope
that tied the tiller, which at once
bounded baok, and knocked me over. A
horrible crashing, and Ioud cries, now
broke upon my ear, and I save that we
had got entangled with another vessel.
But the velocity with which we swept
along rendered our extrication instan-
taneous; and, on looking back, I saw
a ship, without a bowsprit, pitching ir-
regularly among the waves, and heard
the rattling ot oordage audit tumult of
voices, But after a little time, no-
thing was dietinguisbable by the eye
or by the ear. My situation appeared
doubly horrible, when I refleoted that
I had just been within call of human
creatures, ,w -ho might have saved and
assisted ail on board, had not an evil
destiny hurried us along, and made us
the Olt W1 of injuring those who alone
were capable of affording us relief.
About midnight our fore-topmest
gave away, and fell upon deck with a
tremendous note e. The ship immediate-
ly awung round. and began to labour in
a terrible manner, while several waves
broke over her successively.
I had just resolvers to aescend the
gangway for shelter, when a white
figure rushed past me with a wild
shriek and sprang overboard. I saw it
struggling among the billows, and toss-
ing about its arms distractedly, but
e pent en as that above us, 1'11118
wee an awful solemnity, alike in the
scene tend he our situutiuu. tread the
funeral service, and then we dropped
eh 1 corpses 0verbu61'(1 one atter anoth-
er elm sea sparkled around each, 135 tta
sullen Plunge alln0l111eed that flee wit-
tens were eloslag 8e81 11, and they all
slowly and SLICM,SOLVOly dr:10a11101? 13
Lhe ltchtotu, ea, elrl,o;l in :t ghastly
g'lirum ring luit:htnc:s, whish erlahled
us to truce their progress through the
1notiuul1ss dee!.,. When these las: of-
fices of respect. were perlur,nod, lie re-
tired in sile,115 to different, letrta of
th', ship,
lheui 1u1d114111, the mate 81'411114
111' Men 101,21. down our anther, vvhieh,
till :h n, they had not beim ltd e to
eccolnpli-,h. They likewise managed to
furl nws1. of the sails, and we wont. to
Heid, under the consoling idea t.hat,
thteig'h a breeze did spring up, our
moorings would 0nttble us to weather
t without alas risk.
1
11118 remeal early next morning by
e. e0nfesed imine upon deck. When L
gut tbere, 1 (',ane. 1111 men geeing in-
eut ly over the side of the ship, and
of them, though I eometilues fancied I
heard moans and snick breathing
when the tumult ot waters without
happened to subside a little. But I
thought tbat it was perhaps imagin-
ation, and that they were probably all
dead. I began to catrb for breath,
and felt as if T had been immured in a
large coffin along with a number of
corpses, and was doomed to linger nut
life beside them, The sea featagainst
the vessel with a noise Like that cif
artillery, the crashing of my bulwarks
driven in by its violence, gave start-
ling proof of the danger that threat-
ened us. Having several tunes been
dashed against the cabin walls by the
violent pitching of the ship, I groped
for my bed, and lay down in it:, and,
notwi1hstanddng Lha horrors that; sur-
rounded me, gradually dropped esteep,
When I awaked I perceived, by the
sunbeams that shone through the sky-
light that the morning wa3 far ad-
vanced. The ship rolled violently at
intervals, but the noise of winds and
waves had altogether ceased. I got up
hastily, and almost dreaded to look
round, lest I should find my worst an-
ticipations concerning my companions
too fatally realised,
I immediately discovered the ce:r^
lying on one side of the cabin quite
dead. Opposite him was Major L-,
stretched along the floor, and grasp-
ing firmly the handle of the door of
his wife's apartment, He had, I sup-
pose, in a moment of agony, wished to
take farewell of the partner of his
heart, but had been unable to get be-
yond the spot where he now lay. 13e
looked like a dying man, and Mrs. L-,
who sat beside him, seemed to be ex-
hausted with grief and terror. She
tried to speak several times, and at
last succeeded in informing me that
her sister was better. I could not dis-
cover 1\rr, 1)-. anywhere, and there-
fore concluded that he was the per-
son who had leaped overboard the pre-
ceding night.
On going upon deck, 1 found that
everything wore a new aspect. The sky
was dazzling and cloudless, and net.
the faintest breath or' wind could be
felt. The sea had a beautiful bright
green colour, and was calm as a small
lake, except when an occasional swell
rolled from that quarter in which the
wind had been the preceding night;
and the water was so clear that Isaw
to the bottom, and even distinguished
little fishes sporting around the keel
of our vessel.
Four of the seamen were dead, but
the mate and the remaining three had
so far recovered as to be able to walk
across the deck. The ship was almost in
a disabled state. Part of the wreck
of the fore -topmast lay upon her bows,
and the rigging and sails of the main-
mast had suffered much injury, The
mate told me that the soundings, and
almost everything else, proved we were
on the Bahama banks, though be
had not pet ascertained on what part
of them we lay, and consequently could
not say whether we had much chance
of soon falling in with any vessel.
The day passed gloomily. We regard-
ed every cloud that rose upon the hor-
izon as the forerunner of a breeze,
which we above all things feared to en-
counter. Much of our time was em-
ployed in preparing for the painful but
necessary duty of interring the dead.
The carpenter soon got ready a suffi-
cient number of boards, to each of
which vete bound one of the 00111888,
and also weights enough to make it
sink to the bottom.
About ten at night we began to com-
mit the bodies to the deep. A dead
calm had prevailed the whole day, and
not a cloud obscured the sky. The sea
reflected the stars so distinctly, that
it seemed as it we were consigning
our departed companions t.o a heaven
inquired if our anchor held fasl?-
"AY. 83'," rammed one of them, "ra-
ther faster than we vrant Lt." On tip -
pivoting the bulwaelul, rind looking
,101111, t pereuived to my horror and en-
tnn'Sbmrne, uli the corpses lying at
eh.: bottom of the erre, as if they had
just leen dropped into it. We could
even dlet hive eh their 101L1res glim-
mering ten 0'fused ly through the super-,
nu:nud , ne nu,:15 of ocean. A large 1
Moet barrened to fall overboard, and
the agitation which it occasioned ;a
the 6011 produced an apparent rtug-
ment:ta oa of their number, and a hor-
ribly ei ,tr,rtirm of their limbs and
countenances. e1. hundred 1811'838 seem-
ed to start a(1 and struggle wildly to-
g:ell>r, and then gradually to vanish
al.lnng the eddyirg waters, as, I hey sub -
1Z(13 a 51(1(15 of calmness,
We were now 8xe11tptetl front the
ravages 81111 actual p151ene6 of death,
but his form haunted us without Bi-
terlui:.eon. We herl.ly eared to look
over the ship's side, lest our eyor.
::hoeld encounter the ghastly features
of some one who had formerly been a
comvan:on, end at whose funeral rites
ea iota recently assisted. 771e seamen
beg,:n to murmur uniong tllemselees,
saying that we would never be able
to perm the 1pot where WO then aer).
end that our vessel would rot away
ns fast as the dead bodies that lay
beneath it.
In the caroling a Stroug breeze
sprung up, rind filled us with ]lopes
chi: some vessel would soon come in
'tight, and afford us relief. At sun -
ice, :when the mate was giving direr,
tions abort the watch, ono of the sea-
men cried out, " Thanked be God, there
they are.." And the otnor ran up to
him, saying, " Where where?" He point-
ed to a Hook of Mother Carey's chick -
P113 that heal just appeared astern, and
organ to count how many there were
r: them. I inquired what was the
matter, and the mate replied, "Why,
only that we've seen the worst, that's
all. master. I've a notion we'll fall in
with e. sail before twenty hours are
east. Have you any particular rea-
son for thinking so?' said T. To be
sure I hale," returned he; "aren't
them there birds the spirits of those
brave fellows we threw overboard last
night? I knew we never would be
able to quit this glace till they made
their appearance above water. However,
I'm not quite euro how it may go with
us yet," continued he, looking anxi-
ously astern; " they stay rather long
about our ship." "I have always un-
derstood," said I, "that these birds in-
dicate bad weather, or some unfortun-
ate event, and this appears t0 me, to
be true," "Ay, ay,' replied be, "they
say experience teaches fools, and I have
found it so; there was a time when I
did not believs• that these e'eatures
were anything but common birds, now
r know another story. Oh, I've witnessed
such strange things I -Isn't, it 130us0n-
(1b1e to suppose that these Lillie crea-
tureg, having once been sn011 as tae
are, should feel a sort of friendli-
ness towards a ship's anew, and wish
to; give warning when bad weather or
bads fortune is ahead, that every man
may be prepared for the worst?" -"Do
you conceive," said 1, "that any people
but' seamen are ever change into the
birds we have been talking of?" -"No.
for certain not," answered the mate;
"and none but the sailors that are
drowned or thrown overboard atter
death. While in the i'orm of Carey's
chickens they undergo a sore of purga-
tory, and are punished for their sins,
They fly about the wide oeean,far out
of sight of lend, and never find a place
whereon they can rest. the soles of
their' feet, till it pleases the Lord Al-
i srllty to release them from their
bondage and take them to himself."
Next morning T was awakened by the
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SAN JUAN BARRACKS, Wel Leah', 'I'IIR I.J. S. TROOPS MAY SOON 1311 (UAKTEkisi),
The view shows that interior or yard of the Spanish barracks in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The quarters
have lately been remodelled and brought up to date in a Spanish way, and are probably comfortable. When
the 1.). S. expedition lances in Sart junta and if the Spanish troops do not burn their barracks in evaenating, it
is probable that the UJnited States soldiers will have quarters Within these Walls.
'11) willt'h, in tropical climates, pervades
e1' I all nature at. mesh a time, 1489 emits -
re turbsd by tbs 11111hleet murmur of tiny
nd Wed. Two young ladles sat down to it
eco harp and a piano, and a gentleman ace
nf etenpanied-them upon the flute, Tho
lin harmony was perfected by the rich
lid I gushing voles of one of the females
i l' of, our party, and Lhs flushed cheeks
anti trembling eyelids of the charming
g- t Ashninians, showed that the mh510 are
joyful 111te111genee that a schooner I1
in, sight, twee that. etre bee hoisted 11
flag m answer to our signals. Site I'n
down upua tut with te good wind, a
in about an hour hove 10, end spo
us. \\•hon ws 1484 iltforntad 411502
ournhap
upy Ail11a.Iion, the cape,
81111,•111 the boat, to be lowered, ar
tante on board of ou184.111, with th
or ifis 000w. TIo WAS a t•11)11k, (4110
dark O.,llOriall131 plan, and his tan
stage and eccente disouvered flim le
a native of the Southern Slates of A
11(11. 7'110 mate Immediately prorec
eti to detail mllut.5ly all that ]111415
,td to 1V•, but. our visitor paid 1'5
little Miention to the narrative, a
soon inierr•upled it, by asking of w71
our cargo eoue:sied, Having been t
defied on this point, he said "85811
as. bow things stand, 1. conclude you
be keen for getting into some port."
-"Yes, that of coucs8 ie our earnest
wish," replied this mate "and we hope
to be tilde, by your oesist.110ce, to ao-
ocmplish it..' ' Ay, IVO must. all as-
sist one another," returilod the captain,
"Well, I was just calculating that
your plan would be to run into 115w
P rovidence -I m bound for Si. 'fbr+mas',
and you ¢811'4 expect that I should
turn abort, and go right, back with
you -neither that I should let sett have
any of my. seamen, for I'll not be able
to mt,k8 a good trade unless 1 get slick
into port. I ba.ve three nigger slaves
nn 1,card of roe, -curse them, Ilia"
don't L -now mu0h; about. Sala matter
end are es lazy as; ;mit, but keep fro
ging them, mister -keep flogging them
I, 3103, -by whin
110 1 forted; their hearts, as 02111311 as it de-
m- lighted their oars,
When the night was advanced, 134'1
n-1 retired to steam lulled by the pleasing
1'3' colt cionnnena or being seeuz'5 from
those misfortunes anddangers, to the
let Invasion of width; we had of late been
'1" so cruelly exposed.
11 THE END.
WEALTH FROM l TIE EARTH
SOME OF THE RICHEST NINES IN
THE WORLD.
And tlrr H'rollin 'I'aey Pay Their H+artnnnte
Owners -Singh' Mines Thal mitt many.
Princely lneenten-talcs of Ilia '111111,,1•
nae Riches of 35(11,11. 1,11(3 1iolc0idn 1>ts•
cunn1e11 by Hater b1Rt'bv1llee.
Since that time in the dim past when
s, the first epigrammatic philosopher set
ea forth the fact that money ams the root
of all evil the desire of mankind hes
as been to gat riches quickly, 0f the many
es means employed to achieve this end,
e mining, if not the surest, has certainly
lbeen the speediest, and tales of rich
a thins possess as Vaal, a fascination for
to those of the present generation as did
t stories of like strain t.014 at King Solo -
• neon's court by returned adventurers
from the gold fields of Ophir. There
- are probably a score of gold mines ac-
e Lively working to -day which are die -
1 counting anything ever accomplished
at the mines of Ophir in the days of
e, the wise fling, and the modern diamond
115 mines of Kimberley in South Atrium,
d are infinitely richer than those of Gol-
conda ever were. The colossal treasure
- ofLhe Peruvian Incas, which aroused
t the
CRUEL CUPIDITY OF THE SPANISH
!f invaders, would seem paltry in con-
t p61180n with the golden treasures now
n held in the vaults of any great com-
a mercial center of the old or new worlds
, and was smaller by far than the annual
e output of the gold mines of either
Australia, South Africa or the United
d States.
The most important product of min -
of ing is coal, a mineral but not a metal.
°d Next in importance to coal. stands iron,
but neither of these products of the
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