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December 3, 1853.] THE LEADER. 1155
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
This Wreck Op Tiik Meridian. Tmo Morning...
instantaneously extinguished , but another was kept burning-, as we had procured a supply of candles from one of the cabins , while a passenger held another lamp in his hand , to relight the swing lamp if it should be put out , as was the case two or three times in the course of the evening . : "We could get , for a long time , little or no information as to what was passing outside , and we had therefore resolved to make no attempt to leave the ship , but to remain by the wreck as long as she would hold together , and when she broke up to endeavour to reach the shore , as we best might , on floating pieces of the wreck . Our situation , however , appeared so desperate that I believe very few cherished the hope of escape , and for my own part I exhorted all about me to think no more of ' this lite , but to implore God's mercy and . forgiveness while there was yet time vouchsafed for repentance .
"Hitherto the mizen , which passed through the centre of the cuddy _ table , had remained firm , but soon after eleven o ' clock it began to surge up and down , breaking up the rafters which formed the roof of the cuddy , and admitting still more freely than before the seas which washed through the skylights . We had already ascertained that there was some outlet which carried off the water almost as fast as it poured in , because otherwise we must all have been drowned two or three times over as we stood ; but the immediate danger which was apprehended was , that the mizen would go by the board , and , carrying the tables with it in its fall , hurl us all to destruction .
" In the meantime an important event had occurred , of which we were not apprised till some time afterwards . The mainmast fell about half-past one o ' clock in the morning , and the vessel parted in two , close to the after hatchway on the main deck . The mainmast descended gradually , -with all the rigging standing , athwart the breakers to the boulders above , thus forming a kind of bridge between the ship and the shore , of which such of the sailors as had not already landed , were not slow to avail themselves . Some of the younger men among the passengers followed their example ; but no efforts were made by the seamen generally , who alone could be of any service under such circumstances , to save the women and children . Mr . Worthington , however , the third mate , declared that he would not leave the vessel till every woman and child had
quitted it , and he and Snow repeatedly passed over from the shore to the ship , and back again , though knocked down several times by heavy seas , in order to conduct those who would venture over it . Mr . Tulloch , also , though he did not cross to the ship after he had got on shore , was yet very active in assisting the passengers to land . I left the cuddy myself as the dawn was just breaking , and though overwhelmed for an instant by a heavy sea in my transit , I reached the shore without much difficulty . It was then about 4- a . m ., and the sight that presented itself to my eyes was indeed appalling . Before me lay huge boulders , piled up irregularly , till they reached an altitude of 40 feet or 50 feet , where they were hemmed in by a perpendicular wall of black ferruginous rock , about 100 feet high , rendering a further advance from the sea in that
direction impossible . A small portion of the forecastle of the Meridian was still visible above water , but the rest of the forepart of the vessel was completely broken up , and pieces of the wreck were dashed by every sea on the rocks . I-he sailors—though , with the exceptions already mentioned , they had done liUle or nothing to assist in the escape of the passengers—had not been idle since they got on shore . They had lighted a fire , and had opened several bales of clothing , which was distributed freely among all , as soon as they set their foot on the rocky , Hundreds of yards of excellent new flannel , perfectly dry , and some hundreds of r « d j md i , luc H (; rf , 0 H ] , i ,. ^ wcro M ] mm i out amon g mon , women , and children , as they arrived ; and it is noli going too fur to say ( hut , but , for this providential supply , half of the women and children must have mooii perished from wet , and cold . Before ; num-i . se , by God ' s
mercy , every nouI on board had escaped from I lib wreck , with the exception of the unforf . iinafo captain of the Mcrulian . , the old cook , Thomas ( Jeorge , nnd a Swiss k eerage passenger , named Ffuu , all of whom were washed «> li the deck noon after the vessel struck . Hut their rescue left , them in Amsterdam , Hint rude rock in an unfrequented sea . Some of the sailors got "vuiik and few provisions wens saved . By the evening we Imd got two baos of hiseuil ., one , of them a good drill "amazed by mi If , water , several tins of will , herrings , lw « or three pieces of sail ; beef , and a few bottles of port , r ' lT" I ., < Mlit for < ''" If ii biscuit for each i Mie children , were served out , us rations for flu * dny , and Jior mip ( o thoso who chose to hike ; lliem , but as no fresh , V , j ' "'" id yet , heen found , there wen ; but low applicants 1 rlu '" > - Half u jrluss of portwine also served out
, was . nioii . r ( , | , ( , women and children , but , none could he spared "' Wio men some of whom wanted it badly enough--o ) f <) [ W '"• • "i . y had drunk quite enough spirits j M ( , JI ( , course nil IT ii ' '" mi < l ( ''' Mllt < l 1 a NtiinuliiH su )) erlluous . Thai , M'l , ill ,, f us , except , a . few of Iho women and children , ' wiioin it sorl , « , f I ,,.,, / , | 1 M , i i ,,. 1 ) n ,, .,., | , ui || , | , l , ( , i ,,. ! ,, coi ,. | )• "" "" ''* ail ( l " Hllil ' ( low " < he rock a hard Hi ,. ' ' l . )( '" | ll (! wno l "" 1 probably never passed a , nighl , in (• onV " " . " ' " <> ' ' lims ' ^ <>( ' / )" '' <»>• ( he to |> of a si !!< - ¦(! - lovvirVT "'''"I'l"' ' l » '" « hu \ vln or over-rouln . The lol-< 'oll ' r ^ ( 1 'Vnln . y ) much more activity was shown in ( t | lli | , " tf provisions , and M r . Ncoll . ock , a London whilo-1 > 1 ii ' l ""' ° ' ""' " " OII < I cabin pntwiifiTS , discovered a ' vh ... " "'' "' ' llinI o (' " lil () '" ( ll (! < 'n . sl . \ vunl of the wreck , j , | "" ;"'" t lo the („ ,, of ( he cliff was praclicablo . A I . the , / : / " !• ' ( lM 0 . l '| 1 < l 1 ' fro "' 'he top a perpendicular ( ' < nvii | ' " ' " f-r over the jmtli , lull , the sailors passed Hi , || . ° tf " 1 ( l < l ropes for ( he men , mid a third for hauling Nemri , " . '" . ' " - "xl children . The minority of Iho pasnn l ,,, r ,,.: WlUi ^ ' ' - '"«« » Imrd , u . d myself , ' i > iin ' h «« I Iho night , * " » ctok ' i ' "¦ " 1 ° r ( u ' ' ' >"'¦ <"' Hie ' next day , . Saturday , il , unnuHl thtilu f ^ enorid romovid to tlio new
encampment on the cliff should take place without delay , lest the women and children , cramped and chilled as they were by cold , exposure , and want of exercise , should lose the use of their limbs , for the sharp and-jagged edges of the rocks made '" walking both difficult and dangerous . * * * We had now only enough biscuit to last a week , a canister half full of preserved potatoes , a few cases of preserved meat , a large canister of very good tea , five or six pieces of salt beef , two hams , about twenty-five cases of herrings , the brandy and wine already mentioned and a few bottles of port , claret , and champagne , with a box of raisins , two dozen or so of candles , five boxes of lucifer matches , two double-barrelled guns , a six shot revolver , two ship ' s pistols , five flasks of gunpowder , and a small quantity of shot and some bullets . These were all the means and
appliances we possessed for the sustenance of 105 persons , a large portion of whom were women and young children , incapable of doing anything for themselves . The people on the cliff , however , picked up about six or seven dozen of whalo birds , which had been half roasted in their nests in an insane attempt to nre the jungle on the top of the cliff on the Friday night . The passengers were generally employed in erecting tents or huts , and making themselves as comfortable on the top of the cliff as circumstances would permit , while some amused themselves by going out shooting , and others attempted to acquaint themselves with the bearings of their new position by ascending the mountain , an effort which ; he thick jungle , formed by a sort of cane , standing from 6 to 8 feet high , rendered futile .
" The Sunday night I passed again with Mr . Lamburd on the rocks by the stores , in no very buoyant frame of mind , but still not without an humble hope that the allpowerful Being who had so mercifully preserved us from death by drowning and cold , might " still point out some means for our deliverance . I need not attempt to describe , therefore , what my feelings were when I received , on the following morning , the unlooked-for intelligence that a ship was rounding the point , and that she had twice answered our si gnal flags on the cliff , consisting of two red shirts and some yards of white flannel , by lowering her ensign . Very soon afterwards I saw the vessel myself . She was a whaler , apparently of about 300 tons , and still kept her ensign flying . After a time she tacked , and tried to stand in , but the wind blew so hard from the land that she was compelled again to stand out to sea . " - Here is an account of a night on that bleak shore : —
' The sole addition to our stores on Sunday was two baskets of dried apples ; and Monday night closed in , without any greater augmentation of our supplies than four tins of smoked herrings . I had been asleep about half an hour when Mr . Lamburd , who took the first ' watch , roused me with the news that the wind was blowing strong towards the land , and that the sea was rising fast ; and he intimated that it would be advisable to look out for some place of greater security , where we might pass the night . His views on the expediency of a removal seemed justified by a heavy fall of spray , which soon afterwards dashed up the rocks , and nearly extinguished our watch-fire . However , we resolved not to desert the post unless it should become absolutely necessary , and after making up the fire
again , wo lighted a lantern , and searched for the highest bit of rock we could find . About 20 feet above the place where the stores were kept there was a small projecting ledge of rock , upon which there was room for two persons to sit , with their legs hanging over , and having removed thither the biscuit and some other perishable stores , we again descended to the fire , which was now blazing away merrily , and we began to hope that , after all , our apprehensions might prove unfounded . But a second shower of 8 P rft . y > followed soon afterwards hy a third , and then by a heavy Hen-top , which completely extinguished the whole innssof burning timber at once , drove us nway to our place ; of refuge , and wilh mi anxious heart I watched I he onward progress of the waves , which threatened to deprive us in
one night of our only means of subsistence . The rollers swept on towards ( he shore in one innneiiye continuous wall , fur as ( , 1 k ; eye could roach on either side , till they touched ( he reef , which wub about half a mile distant , and then broke in incessant thunder , the boiling surf rushingfuriously onward towards the wreck , scattering right and left , the huge pile of wood which had been driven between the hull of the vessel and t , ho shore , and wilh il , nil our hopes of further supplies from that , source ! . The gale increased , mid the sea repeatedly washed up to the holes in the rock in which the herring-tins and other heavy stores had been deposited , and for about nn hour then ; wnsevei-y reason to apprehend that wo should ourselves be washed off from our narrow resting-plneo . Kive times did a sea
break over a huge mass of rock which lay a litlle below us , and which , from its immense size and position , we thought , would have proved an impassable barrier . Once ; a sea washed Air . Ijumhurd ' s feet , hut ,, by (< od ' s mercy , the gale abated a lil . tlo towards morning , nnd when day broke , we had the happiness ( o fiaid thai , none of tin ? Klores were injured , though the spmy Jmd broken over all of ( hem . Hul , nothing remained of the accumulated mass of driff , wood which had been forced up by ( he waves between ' the vessel and the shore ; nor of Iho stores which for five days bud no doubl , boon preserved under i ( , . The inizen had tf iven wny . nnd nil thai , renuiiiiod of the once proud 31 cvidiun \ viih the mere outer plunking , or skin , as il , is culled
of the poop , which had been driven nearly ond on towards ( ho rock , and lifted al , Iciih ! , ( en ( oet , higher thtin it , wan on the Monday evening . If ( he neu had been as hi / 'h on ( he night of the wreck , not ten persons could have escaped with their lives . On the top of the dill' the km In wen ; nearly idl Mown down , and ^ reat anxiety wan felt aboul , our fate ; Iml . we did not wait , for inquiries , for | ) , ( l ( j n , _ nolved now , as our last ehnneo of otieupo from immediate Hfurvulion , lo assume an authority which certainly did not belong ( o mo , und Mr . Lnmbiml had consented to proceed nt . once to the cliff , and summon all hands to roseuo tho provisions , with ii message from me that not , u Mingle nil ion should be iHstiod for the day , until tin ; stores were depoponited in siifoty at the encampment , . Accordingly Mr .
I / amburd departed , taking with him the double-barrelled gun , which he was afterwards ill-advised enough to level at two or three boys and young men , ' threatening to shoot them if they did not go down to assist in the removal . The object in view , however , -was accomplished ; nearly all the men came down in double-quick time , every one was provided with a burden , and in two hours the whole of the stores were safe on the top of the cliff , with the exception of the brandy , and a box of silver coin and other treasure which had been rescued from the wreck , and which I left in Mr . Lamburd ' s charge , in order to resume at once my own duty of distributing rations . * # * While engaged ( the next day ) in apportioning the work that was to be done by those who wished to have rations to eat , I was startled
by a shout of'A boat , a boat ! ' and running to the point where the flagstaff was erected , we distinctly saw a whale boat rowing near the shore , at a safe distance from the surf ; The steersman waved a flag in his hand , and pointed it two or three times towards the quarter from which the boat had come ; a loud shout from the top of the cliff , and a pointing- of liands in the same direction , showed them below that the signal was understood , and then the boat , turning its head round , pursued its way back again . All was now bustle , hope , and joy . Many audibly expressed their humble thanks to Almighty God for their deliverance , which they expected to be immediate , and preparations were made for instant departure . Alas ! neither we who were on the cliff , nor those who were in the boat below , were at all aware of the dangers and difficulties of the road which we had to traverse nor of the sufferings which we
were destined to undergo before our final rescue . The captain of the vessel , who was himself steering the boat , fully calculated upon our arrival that evening at the point where his ship was in waiting to receive us , for the distance by the coast was only about twelve miles , and we ourselves , though we did not know what the distance was , entertained the same impression . But a heavy gale of wind sprang up soon after the boat left us , and it was with great difficulty that the captain and his boat ' s crew were enabled to regain their ship . The vessel was obliged to stand out to sea immediately , and when the gale ceased , which was not till 48 hours afterwards , the brave fellows were 80 miles from the island of Amsterdam . Happily for us , we were spared the knowledge of this misfortune * for I doubt that many "would otherwise have laid down on the rocks to die , before they had half gone through that terrible journey of twelve miles .
j they had a terrible journey through the thick strong reeds , and along- the edge of the cliff to the place of embarkation . " The greater portion of the whole route ran through a thick jungle of tall , green Cane , generally much higher than a man ' s head , and occasionally interspersed with patches of sharp-pointed rushes . In making this path the seamen , who had been our pioneers , had kept so close to the edge of the cliff that the utmost vigilance was necessary to avoid a false step , which would have been followed by certain destruction . In some instances , indeed , the path was actually over the edge of the cliff , and the foot had nothing to . rest upon but the canes which had been crushed aside by the first comers . Wherever this was tho
case , the path always took a sudden bend to the left , as it the seaman who for the time being 1 was the leader of the advance party , had been suddenly awakened to a sense of the danger which he had incurred . To make another path was impossible under the circumstances . It required the whole weight of the body to force a single step through the dense jungle , which was so hi ^ h and strong , and closed ¦ up again so rapidly , Ihutnotliingbula number of men trampling close upon one another ' s heels uould ever have made a track . JJesides , it was necessary to keep the eye constantly on the ground , in order to avoid the chasms and sliurppointed pieces of rock which ever imd amm lay in wail , for the unwary , and which were the occasion , even to the most cautious , of many a fall . * * *
" It may here , be . mentioned that on the second evening of tho journey , just as the large party with which 1 was travelling had taken up their ground ' for the night , a ( all , powerful man , in a sailor ' s garb , appeared on the brow of n hill which we had just descended , and ( old us that he wan the mate of the boat , which we had seen ( he day before , and that he had been landed by Ciiptain Ludlow for the express purpose of looking a Her us . . He had already made his way across the mouulaiii to the encampment on ( ho cliff , and having slept then ; on the Wednesday night , he was now on his return ( o tin ; cahhage-g-arden , where we Avere lobe embarked , lie I old us that the col . lagegarden was only u mile furl her , and ( hat , if we could only contrive lo walk that , distance , we should find plenty of bread
and plenty of meat . Tlic whole party sprung up at this annoiUMvrnenf ; , as if ( hey had simultaneously received an electric ; shock ; hunger nnd exhaustion were alike forgotten for the moment , and every one struggled on as far as he could , ( ill darliiicHs fell upon the now widely-separated party , and made n further advance for the nigh I , imjioHNilile . And hero i ( , is but an net , of justice lo mention the obligations which ( he passengers in general incurred to the seaman in < jucM ( ion , Sniilh hy name , and an krifrlishmun by . Inrlh . (> u ( heir arrival al , the encampment ground on ( he following evening , he did everything in hin power to assist , and encourage I he puled travellers ; ho poinled out , the locality of the cabbatn ' -i'iirden , assisted in
the fiem-eh for water , which was very Konrce , and assured ( hem that Captain l-ndlow would liiako every exertion in his power to dike every ina . n , woman , mid child from the island . We had never doubled , from the first moment that the whaler answered our signals , that sin ; would ussis ! , us in somo way or oilier , and the circuiiisi . iinco of ( , ' uptain Luillow ' s having landed one of his own men inspired all with additional confidence ; but , our hopes of escape from famine wore greatly dashed by Smil . h ' H declaration that neither biscuit nor beef could he found in the cnhhu / r <> _ warden , where Captain Ludlow hud promised to doposi ! , ' il ,. The supplies which wo had brought , with us were ex " - haustod , und all hands , especially ( lie women and younger children , were now reduced lo ' tjuch a tstnto of wenkiioHM
December 3, 1853.] The Leader. 1155
December 3 , 1853 . ] THE LEADER . 1155
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 3, 1853, page 3, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_03121853/page/3/
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