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__ NARRATIVE I‘ I I
nd czrticulamo t e 089 0 I18
0f}g{,fi,f:’g-2{,I,z]{1.«‘l‘/’z7¢:]‘it.]ICa‘1zze,if2z the river 1;]; P-‘I330’: (S0341
,;1,,,,,_,-ca‘, ) by George Fraclrer, lg/'B0gr.~'0?1a,1l’-ra-5'8-*
"1‘f~l.'fll'e"r‘t1ontli of May. 1357: I 5‘-m€"“{d 3*‘BU"
e,,Q§_Ayres as second Officer,‘ on board the lung.-
lishfship Jane, Capt. VVm. Seaboth, bound on a
eoyage from that place to the.,Braz1ls.. Our de-
parture was somewhat retarded (an ill-ogmened
evem).0W;,,g to the carelessness of _the pilot, by
Striking on the bar in going out, which material-_
1y_a5,m,ged our rudder, and caused our detention
nearly‘ sixweeks. I Towards the middle of June,
however, we again set sail, and ‘after a moderate
passage of twenty days, anchored in the hatbor
of Rio Janciro. Waiting here two months for
f,-eight, we at last succeeded in..,gett1ng.1,t, and on
the fhird of September, in sognpanv With. a large
ilcet, for different ports, sailed on our‘ return:
bound to the ports of Monte Video, and Buenos
,i_.J.:.cs, wit}, a cargo consisting of rum, sugar,.to-
:~..,tcc.o, flour. butter, rice, and dry g°°dSa llfwmg
-card five passengers: ‘W9 9f thfm SP3.l31a"d5>
,. ._-,,ms of Bucnos Ayres, a G.6|'Inans an ER-
.3,,,,f,',‘, and an American ; the three. last,
,,.;_-jg-ijtei€§i_‘éof the vessel, and owners of the [)l‘lfl-
-' " ~ ;,;_he cargo : four blacks. their slaves,
the ship’s company, comprising
! '‘’‘;§:‘}h1-ee persons. Our passage was a-
~- ::-.=.ble‘,"and very favorable, and in fifteen days
4,, covered" Cape St. Mary, the Northern en-
.;~;»:e. of the river La Plata; continuing our
along the banks of theriver, with a fine
;,,,,.;...;§,ll_tr,-wards sun_-set, on that (13):: When_th€
~,:c52tl*lér becoming foggy. the mud Increasing,
marl the night approaching, we deemed it expedi-
setit to haul oh‘ shore, and gain an oiling for an-
chorage. We accordingly came to anchor about
fifteen miles from Monte Video, our first destin-
ed port, near the island of F lores, that being to
windward, andthe wind about 8. E. The gale
increasing vet-.y fast, at’eig‘-l;,t,o’clock, more cable
4“:a'g.pa_pgq\,'6(ik, and at nine, hard, 1
angmep manor was le.t,g’o; at half past nine, we
took suppér, elated with‘ the idea of our being so
near‘ me end of our passage, and happy in lhe
fair prospect of breakfasttng next morning on
shore. Little did they imagine this supper to be
their last, and of. being_so near the end_of the
voyage of life. From this ‘time the gale st1llcon-
. 1,: and wetting from fore to aft by the sprays of
7 ml; sea. ' At twelve, midnight, after passing an
lyinued to increase, the ship pitching very heavi-
I anxious watch below, owing to the strange rolling
and pitching» of the ship, caused by a strong
weather current, I came upon deck to relieve the
watch. I went forward to examine the state of
the cables inthe hawsc holes,—_and then returned
to the quarter deck, to the lead ‘line, which we
_,had kept over the side, aud.by lf’.S feeling, was
_ fearful that the ship had been, and was still drift-
ing.——The ‘motionflof the-ship,'and strong_cur-
rem, p,,e,en.,ed my knowing this to a certainty ;
both our anchors, which were of over-propor--
‘ fioned sizes, being down, and our cables nearly
ew, out, with their whole scope of a hundred
famoms. W'hile atthelead I observed some-
hingat .a distance, to leeward, like a white foam ;
,‘,d.,-emarked it to the boatswain, who was stand-
ngnear. He. replied, he thought it no more
hon the curl of the waves. - Not Sallsflt:(l.Wlll‘l
his, I went aft into the yiawl astern, andwas soon
eiatislied that they were breakers, and’ not far off.
I quickly went below, to" the cabin, awoke the
captain, and aroused tlfe passenger-s.—He soon
> ran upon deck, and had just gained it, when, at
fifteen '.minutes ‘past —t_welve, the ship sftruck.-—
Those below -wei'e.dii‘ect-lyalartmed by the shock,
for the previous motion,-with the noise of the
wind, and the roa_rofth_e”sea,’ must have prevent-
ed their sleeping, and-hurt'fietl*_» affrigbtetl, tothe
neck. A _ ‘
my part of the shi’p',_and allwerc struck with
-..zho-ror on looking "around-a"t_"_ -the awful prosp"ect,
and the inevitable‘ destructionthat awaited them.
‘Seine we're,‘ in "their--s_hirts,’ others hal__f-dressed,
Sud many with their clothesin their hands. E01‘
the firsttime, I saw seameti completely terror-
struck‘-and dismayed. 1 The; captain ordered the
steward’ to go" dowuéand-secure some articles in
the cabin ; he descended, but soon cameaup with
the dismal titlingsthat the.-cabin, was full of wa-
»ter.; M.any,i- from the’ violence of her striking,
I
g;.:we're" .obliged»to hold on “by. the railing, and the
captain a_m_io.ng,them gave orders to cut, away the
I ,;;inas't. -,SI‘he Carpenter was sick in his hammock
1,; .".beld.tv.'., .. .I._asked several forthe place wlierethe
"axevlay. " We don't--know of any axe, Sir,’ was
_ t“he~":answer, 6 Lord have mercy on us.’-. The
Tseastnow. made complete breaches over every
part of the.sl_iip-, and perceiving _I ‘should have to
commit myself to the waves, I threw off my pea-
’.. jacket andhat. Most_ of the.cre,wy and.passen_ge‘rs
w’e'rc.l1’oltl-’ing on to the difi'eic’nt parts of the»
K-j{“‘iTl1z‘,9 'Jl/'a'1jratz've_ was /2_1\~z'ncz]1a_l@/ writtenduring
-zaméems 'o'cca;9ionéd_by the disasters Q,’ the au-
rfjr, who is a young "man of /irabiry and 11esjzec!c-
_ aitzzy. ’ * .12». Am.
N
The sea begani_nsta_nt_l~y tobrcak overev-_
quarter deck, as the. highestpart of the ship;
three or four, I was pained to see, alfhough near-
ly naked in freezing weather, had got up in-:0
the main shrouds.‘ From the time she first
struck, the seas had broken so completely over
its, that it rendered every effort ohm-tive towards
the first, and most laudable intention of cutting
- the cables, making some sail, and driving as far
as possible on shore ; or at worst to cutfawaythe
‘xnasts. But ‘such was its sudden violence, that;
nothing was soon thought of but the attempt to
hold on as long as possible, and-efforts of any
thing else were impracticable and. abandoned_.--
I/Vhife holding on to thequartcr rail, we were
at every sea overwhelmed and washed out at
,arm’s length off our legs, and many were 'fot'ccd_,
from their holds, and drowned,‘ or broken and
bruised to death by pieces of the wreck. Find-
ing it impossible to stand longer this freezing
and suffocating drenching, I watched my chance
. and sprang over the heads of some thatwere in
the mizen top, advising the rest to follow‘, as I
was certain no one could stand such horrid seas
five minutes longer. Here, in the mizcn-top,
in the intervals of the ship's striking, In full to
thrashing myself, preparing for the waves. 1‘
took off my shoes, and beat the soles of my feet.
. .M y limbs had been for some time much benumb-
ed, and my feet without feeling; I succeeded,
however, at last, by great exertions, in circula-
ting the blood, and rendered myself once more
warm. VVhile aloft, the _work.of chaotic des-
truction was busily carried on by the dread min-
isters of death... It appeared as if orders had
been given from above on this night for total and
indiscriminate destruction, in the shortest time
possible. There [could almost see those spirits
of vengeance who ‘ ride in the whirlwind and di-
rect the storm.’——-From thence was a -view of .a
shipwreck in all its terror, and in all its-sublimb
ty. VVhile here, most of those below were
washed from their grasps, and soon met death.
The mainmast likewise fell over the side, unfor-
tunately the wrong side, to windward, off shore,
the ship lying blond side to the sea, and having a
weather heel. '
The ship continued to beat very hard upon a
ledge of rocks till she was in pieces. The long
boat, by repeated seas was forced from her grips-
and fastenings, and the small boat astern instant-
ly struck, and was carried away upon the top of
a sea, with all its appendage of sails, tackles, and
lashings. I soon found myself going over with
the mizen-mast, which fell and carried me along
with it. I was plunged into the sea, and receiv-
ed a few scratches and bruises, but happi~ly.._extri-
eated myself, andaby making my wa_ down the
rissing,wi_t_h~difi'cu.1ty regained ll),tf‘S&>T.r,I-was-
mow be’s‘et»on”all sides‘w‘it‘h confhcti timber,
‘but was well avvhrc of the tlangerlévliich threat-
ened me. It was indeed passing the 'wat.t‘:ry or-
deal to cross the ship at this time ‘to gain the
shore, and, springing at the interval of a sea to
gain the other side, I found evc:’y' plank -of the
main deck washed off‘ and in pieces ; the fore-
mast had now likewise fallen, and numerous.
pipes of wine floating around added to the gen-
eral wreck. I had fallen in springing upon this
ruin, ‘and had so far received but one or two seri-
ous bruises ; but -a tremenduous wave now swept
before it some large spars, and carrying me a-
long with it, myiright leg was struck by ‘one of
them, just at the joint of the knee, which was
instantly crushed, and jambed in between that
and a deck beam, a few of which still remained
fast, (as near as I could distinguish, for it was
now as dark as Erebus.) Now for a few mo-
ments jambed in, as it were in a vice, my situa-
tion was most critical, and frightfully dismaying.
The blow I felt had almost severed my leg, and
kept it still confined ; another sea was roaring to-
wards me, which would infallibly have washed
some large surrounding timber higher up against
my head and body, and of which I was in instant
expectation ; but, by a fortunate rise of the wa-
te_r,I caught hold ofthe lee-rail and threw my-
self over the'sllip’s side intotlie sea, not with the
hope of reachingthef shore, which I did not
know how to steer for,‘ as I had not seen it,»but re-
solving to hastenmy end,preferring todie» with
sea room, and to avoid "a death whichseentetl e-
qual to being broken on thewheel. I hadyheard
the voices of two or three others, and "among
broken, and butjust alive.
were all that still ‘survived.
After I had plunged into the sea, and rose, I
held on for a moment to the upper works, which
was all that was now left of the ship. I then
quittcdand began to strip, no easy manoeuvie
for a person in -my then situation,'as I had on a
thick jacket, two pair of trowsers, and neckhandf
kerchief. 'VV hiledoing this, some ‘one, and
only one whom ‘I discovered clinging to t_ ‘
ship’s timbers,“ was suddenly washed from ht,
hold, and extending his arms grasped my ne’c_ll-
handkerchief behind, antl we sunk‘ togethef;
pushed for breath myself, it was no ‘time for c ’-
emony, the next: hold, I perhaps could not dis -
These, I believed,
' gage, ‘and I was not so beside myself as by -
tempting-.to assist another to ensure certainde h
to both. I therefore quicltly untied my‘ ne -.
handkerchief, he sunk with it in his hand, fa
I saw him no more. ‘ I presumedAhe' wasa p -:
senger, from his white shirt ; andfrom his gr t
size, Senior Monasteria, a Spanish engineer.
.VV.-hile ..under'watcr‘, I in a moment ‘stripped,
self, and again rose to the surface, divested of l
covering but myjsliirt ;*my'l’eg hungdown it ~
less in the water; besides whiichl ‘had sev I
cuts in‘ my-ifeet, several’ bruises on ‘my ribs, an a
large cut over my left eye, ‘through e“
chilling water struck? 'tojtt~le heart. ,' Although -
them the ‘captain, their bones probably mostly»
'should-cer_tainly not survive till the morning.
-water, I \vas=ii6tv puzzled ;:for swimming even
with health at_)d=w'nole bones, was unavailing in a
sea" ikc this. -‘Hit-he-rto I had seen no land, but
was swept and carried along byevery sea which
came over me, and I resolved to get hold of the
fi_l‘St'l‘.llIl'lg '_I fell in with, and gain breath, of
which I ' was very short. I soon seized hold of
‘of no use, tforxevery sea rolled over me, and I
idfuitted it nearly exhausted. I saw numberless
pieces of the wreck, and was in constant danger
of being struck by some, which I often avoided
by diving and-'_scr'ambling from, but which the
prodigious seas would wholly overwhelm. to
; Istood this hard buffeting for about a dozen
seas, and, nature was fast retreating from the con-
dict ; being desperately pushed for breath, as I
could draw but little in the short interval of the
seas. I had now been nearly half; an hour in the
,y.rate-r, and half the time underneath it’ ; disabled
rest was, I had withstood beyond my ‘hopes this
i*.va‘r of elements, but my breath now deserted me
like the flash of a taper, and another sea struck
out every particle of the remainder. Suffocated
and strangled,I grasped twice with a convulsive
leap... It was itrvain, another sea swept over me,
I saw. death inevitable, terrible, and face to face.
I had but time with a. last breath to say involun-
tarily, the ejaculation, ‘ Loan Jesus, receive my
spirit,’ and quickly sunk many feet under water,
without the least, or most distant hope of again
seeing the light, but with the fullest assurance I
had taken a last view of transient objects, and till
the last trump summoned all hands-I should rise
no more.’ My senses with my breath also for-
stock me, and-for a moment my mind was filled
with the most singular and delightful sensations,
seemingly in an cnraptured dream. This how-
ever was as momentary as it was wonderful.-
Whcther from the xlolencg of the waves which
then broke over me, or by the pain of the wounds
and chill of the water, I am not certain by what
means, I was ‘soon broughte’-to my senses, and
rose again to the surface, seemingly refreshed ;
on looking around, I distinctly discovered as few
fathoms from me, as if supernaturally thrown in
.n:y'.'r.'ay, something large and light, for it kept
constantly above the waves; I exerted my re-
maining power and reached it. It was a large
crate containing nothing but straw ; clinging to
this I soon recovered breath, and its buoyancy
kept it high above the’ seas. ~
‘ After holding to this some length of time, and
constantlyturning it round as my weight pulled
it over towards me, Istill kept courage, and drop-
_fped myself frequently down without quitting my
the earnest‘, hope of touching the bot-
tom, but without success. a I wasmncli fiatigued
,and conld scarcely keep hold of the crate, for ev-
cry Sea would sweep ut at least ten feet before it.
I had almost despsiretl of the land being near,
and was fearful that at llast it might prove only
a shoal. "Still, however, holding on with hopeless
indifference, I soon afterlobscrved a sudden lull,
and that the waves were hot a third so violent. I
shook myselfand rougcd drowsy spirits, look-
ed around and found lll)'st‘,lfln!~iclcAtl1e’brt-akers 1
I quickly again dropped iiyselfdown and with
my foot touched the gounil. I found it was of
sand,andina few moments got up to about breast
high in the water, and thcf, by shoving myself
forward by my legs and arxbs, soon crawled out.
upon the beach. ‘,
Thus, after being more tl\:1n half an hour in
-the water, and making my iv y for nearly gh,-cc.
quarters of a mile throughl tremenduous sea
at mid-night, I at last found myself upon adesert
‘beach, certain that no one coull have reached ten
fathom from the ship, which in an hour and a
half aftershe first struck was stiittcred in pieces
on the strand. Some idea maylbe bad ofthe vi-
olence of the elements, when Int a single mast
came on shore entire, and out bf twenty-tln'ee
persons, among whom were foil; stout African
slaves, whose constant praclic of swimming
renders them almost amphibious but one body
cameon shore that night. The r mainder buri-
ed by the first wave, came not on. horc till nine
days afterwards. '
Amazed and nearly stunned, Ilattempted to
stand, but my leg rcfusedits office, a d I fell back-
ward to the ground, hurt by the 11, and the
-‘blood V streaming from ‘several wo mls, Half
tfrantic with pain, and the severcwin y weather,
a groan for.the first time escaped m Here as,,,
I lay extended on the earth, I rcpeatc ly wished
%for -‘death, for his stroke would have een wel-
come. Thenl could have met his f‘ e, not as
the grim visage of the dread king oft rors, but
as the hope-inspiring countenance of m ek-eyed
.mercy. I considered the fate of my con nanions
"far more happy than my own, for their so erings,
though severe, were but momentary, wh e mine
were perhaps to be‘ protracted till strugg g na-
ture, slowlygiving way, sunk uuder ’mi ry at
its -utmost stretch. Suffering so" acute I eter-
miued not.‘ to endure. The dread alter rive,
therefore, was soon chosen, and I resolved put
an end t__o my existence, by the first means cl ncc
shouldthrow in my power. ’
-‘ Ihad a firm opinion that the shore was :1 ar-
ren-and desolatecountry, without inhabitant or
a great distance, with no chance of being disfav-
ered, impenetrable from swamps and shrubbet -
9
and not being‘ able to move without torture I
Groping my way at the edge of the water, I fe '
something large, and found to my surprize a pip
-of wine; here was the. lowest part of the carg
keep’ above water. ,. Fearless bcforeof wind and‘
shale of good:s,'but.it being‘ wet and heavy was‘
I
t *[voL.1..-—No.4s.
plete shelter from the horrible cold.
wood, dunnage to the pipes, and taking up one, I
got round’ to the, upper head, and by repeated
through the crevices; I drank some and then
continued my strokes with renewed force. The
ed over me, the touch of which to my frozen
carcase was electric, and most agreeable. I
then placed two pieces of the head staves intothe
and level, and crowded in. It seemed and felt
like an oven. I had all thisitime been partly in
the water, at the edge of the surf, which now
came. in at every wave, which kept me constantly
throwing it out with my left "hand, as I lay upon
my-_b,ack as the least painful position. This In-
bor.I was obliged to continue during the remain-
der of the night till towards morning, when the
windsomewhat abated, the tide ebbcd, and the
surf retreating, no longer kept me bailing; I
was, however, too fatigued to remove. At day
break, I looked out of the cask, and beheld a
"large sandy beach, covered to a great extent on
each side of me with the wreck, but not a ves-
tige of the ship as long as the pump, or any thing
moving except the gulls. In fact, I was assured
on first reaching the shore, that no mortal alone.
could make his way through such seas, in such a
night, to land. My own preservation I conside_r,.
ed as falling but little short of a miracle. A
shipwreclgwsp,.sudden, an escape so singular, the
uproar I had witnessed, and the sight now be-
fore me, my. scattered senses could scarcely con-
ceive real ; I for sometime actually doubted my-
self’ awake, for it seemed like a horrible dream.
I then again composed myself in the cask, and
owing to pain, the fumes of the wine, and great
exertion, I remained during this day nearly in-
sensible, and in a trance-like stupor. Towards
sun-set, I was fearful of being carried away by
the return of the water, during the approaching
night, with the pipe. In this dangerous situa-
tion, I reluctantly crawled out of the cask, and
holding up my useless leg from trailing on the
ground, and hitching myself backward with my
right hand, I gained in this manner the foot-of
the sand hill further up the beach. I crawled up
this as high as my strength would permit, to be
free from the reach of’ the sea, and as night was
fast approaching, it was in vain to look farther
for a shelter.
ground, I resolved ,0 seek one below it, and dug
a large hole in the and with much difficulty, stud
got into it with my disabled leg undermost, pull
ing and raking the sand over me, laid d'own.—~
The sand and a shirt were my only covering.-...
'The weather was extremely cold, the sand wet,
and during the night it rained and blew tremen-
duously ; the wet sand drifting around in smoth-
ering showers covered every part ufme, andre,
peatedly filling my hair, ears, nose, eyes and
mouth, kept me constantly spitting it out to pre-
vent suffocation; while the weather compelled
me to sit up and thrash myself every ten min,-
utes to prevent freezing. Once I resolved to
some hollow upon the she.-ltering side, and I ac-
cordingly crawled to some distance, I knew not
in what direction, owing to extreme darkness,
and made another hole, then thrashing my arms
for some time,again laid down, covering mysclfas
before with sand to resist the cold. Such was my
bed and such the manner in which I passed this
night, alone, on a desert beach, in a foreign land,
while the wild beasts of the forests with their
consoling music added an enchanting serenade.
In the morning I ‘looked around, and observed
I had got to the other side of the sand hill, in
sight of a low and marshy country, but saw no
signs of habitation or cattle. I made shift to get
out of the sand. I now took a survey of-my-
self; I looked like nothing human, noihiugin
the likeness of any thing upon earth, or in the
waters beneath ; covered with soreswhich were
filled with. sand, as were also my hair, eyebrows,
beard and whiskers; my leg swelled almost to
the size of‘ a woolsack, my left wrist out of joint,
and hand swelled and useless; my feet swelled
like tripe, from rcniaining so long in the water,
,,and both painful from numerous . wounds ; my
body of all colors, as if a rainbow was wrapped
round me, and withal nearly naked. I was, in-
deed, a figure too. shocking to excite pit y, too ‘fee-
ble to excite fear, and too m=:mstrous for any
scnsation but astonishment. I descentledlftlte
_ slope of the _.hill, and slowly moved along’?-for
some time‘ among the bushes that grew around,
till I espied at some distance alow place among
the grass and shrubberyl. which I thought might
contain water. In halfan hour, resting at inter-
vals, I reached it, and found to my great joy I was
not deceived. The water was clear and excel-
lent. I at “first tried ‘several different plans to
getmy mouth to ‘the, brook, at last laying at
length on the ground, and rolling up to it, I’suc-
ceeded. It was the most delicious draught Iev-
er tasted... I ‘drank an immoderate quantity.
waited awhile, and drank again. Looking around
I saw nothing butwhat indicated a barren audio-
hospitable waste. I was therefore compelled to
make my way over the sand hills, and reach the
beach ; A difficult ‘task, ‘whichl however sur-
tnountcd, and reached the bsacil abput noon.
' The weat'hér*was still inauspicious 'and_cloudy,
on shore bef re me. I wasupon the point 0
knocking my. read, against it, and dashingout my
brains, but doubted my strength to give a blow
ways an expert swi_mme"r,.l I y
— /
sul‘fic_lcnt.- A second "thought most happily
the gale not much abated, and the sea contintted
to roar. When‘descending' the slope, I ‘had seen
mongthe great mass of articles on the beach, a
struck me ; the cask was big enough to contain
me, and by knocking in the head, if possible,
would, if placed in a favorable position, be a com-
Hope
once more brightened, and gave me triplevigor.
Groping farther round, I found several sticks of
strokes madca breach; the wine spirted out
head at last was entirely stove in, the wine wash-4 -
bilge or bottom of the cask, to make‘ it square
Fgnding no refuge above the
shift my position to get under the lee, or into,
rge wine cask which lay‘ at a short distance, __ '
Norwalk Chronicler