IN AND AROUND THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXI, Issue 29, 3 February 1900, Page 5 (Supplement)

IN AND AROUND THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.

STRANGE STORY OF ADVENTURE

The "Manila Times" says :—Mr C. Pears, the Englishman who was one of the survivors of the wreck of the Waterwiteh oft' the west coast ol Luzon on September 5 last, and was wftei'wards a prisoner of the Tagalo insurgents, from whom he was rescued by Captain M'Crae's party oC (he 3rd Infantry when they landed at M«i"i-> veles on December 18, has just reached Manila, and he related the following story of his adventures and hardships to a"Times" reporter yesterday:—

" The Waterwiteh was the private enterprise of Mr Crocker and myself. She was only a small sailing vessel, and we built her ourselves at Canton in China. We sailed from Hongkong on August 11, 1899, bound for Manila with a cargo consisting of a small quantity of kerosene oil and a supply of bovril, which we expected to dispose of to the troops at Manila. No, we were not on a filibustering- expedition, and our ship having- an American register, the American Consul came aboard while we were taking water and inspected the craft. Our crew was American and English, and comprised eight men beside ourselves and two Chinese cooks.

" After we had been cut for some time we ran short of provisions and encountered bad weather, as this was the typhoon season. We looked on the chart,- and finding our location, determined to put into San Fernando, as- the Consul had told- us we could enter any of the island ports. We tried to make San Fernando, but saw no light, and got as far in shore as possible. In the night the wind dropped, and a strong current carried us down the coast. At 10 a.m. the following day, August 22, we were met by the Concord, which told us that San Fernando had been blockaded with the other ports, and that we could not go in ; but they sold us provisions, and gave us fresh water, as ours had gone bad. We then left the coast, and after meeting" the Concord again on August 24, we struck the Scarboro shoal at 3 a.m. on September 5, nine days later. Captain Crocker and I were in the cabin at the time, but we rushed on deck, and let go all sails and halyards, as we found the ship to be well up on a coral reef, and spent the rest of the day in trying to back off with the sails and haul off with the anchors ; but it Avas no go, as the cable chains all snapped on the corals, the ship being too firmly wedged. We had-cleared the boats when the vessel first struck, and as the tide in its rise and fall was breaking the back of the vessel, we decided to abandon her. Nobody slept that night, and all set to on the second day cutting iip* spars, booms, and gaffs into lengths, with the topmast, and lashing these together we nailed the planks from the cabin top across, thus forming a raft, in which we placed a case of bovril, water, one half-tin of biscuits, and some flour.

" Finding- the ship wasn't breaking as rapidly as we thought, we then proceeded to build a boat, not trusting the raft for safety. We did this by sawing the jibboom in half for a. keel, lashing the hatch bars to this for a stem and stern, and making the whole solid with frames of wood. We took the foresail and covered the rough frame, sewing it fore and aft, and knotting the reef-points to prevent leaking, we covered the structure with three coats of paint. We had already jettisoned the greater part of the cargo and launched the ship's boats. Two men were in her trying to place provisions when the storm upset her, staving in her side on the reef. The men were in the water and a number of sharks were swimming in plain sight, Causing the men to cry out in fear, so the captain and I used our rifles to keep them off. They finally managed to'right the boat, and after signalling with their hands,'during which they drifted further out, we cut the raft loose, and they managed to catch hold of it." We now had nothing left but the canvas boat, which was anchored astern, away from the breakers, so a sailor swan out to it while we kept the sharks off with our rifles, and a line was passed.We then passed in a small keg and drum Of water, some bovril, biscuits* aiid a little flour, the navigation books, instruments, &c. The raft signalled not to mind them, and with paddles of our own manufacture we struck" out. There were eight of us in this slinky"' canvas boat, and we had to stand on the frames for fear of going through the canvas. The last we saw of tlie raft was before dark,- arid we saw nothing of them afterwards. "For eight days we paddled fhls way, dividing the''watches arid doling the rations, and it was fortunate the weather was fine and tlie sea calm or our shell would not have lasted. During the journey we could not prevent the Chinamen from drinking- sea water, but contrary to all traditions they didn't go raving mad. On the sixth day we sighted a distant mountain peak, and as we drew nearer we sighted land. It was then we did our hardest paddling, though progress seemed terribly slow. Then a slightsquall blew off the land, filling our boat with water and driving us further out; but With a favourable wind the following day we reached land by G p.m. " On shore we came across a native village named .Slagalawa, where we were" met by people armed with bows and arrows'and bblos.' We surrendered oiu- rifles—the captain and I had one apiece—and the first, thing they did was to fill them with sand to spoil them for use. After taking us to the village and feeding us they paddled us in canoes to a. town named Palawig, handing us' over to the local president, who sent us the following day to Iba, where the Governor received us kindly ami clothed and fed us. Luckily we had destroyed the ship's papers, except the articles, so there was nothing to show we were from ah American ship. We sent a declaration to Aguinaldo uf how we had come ashore, and the people promised to inform the British Consul for' us.

" After being marched back and forth between the two towns an order came suddenly from Aguilialdo stating that we we,re suspected of being American spies, and we were separated and taken to different towns. Captain Crocker, two Americans, and one Chinaman were taken north, and I and two Englishmen and a Chinaman were taken south. I was taken to San.Marcelino and kept a close prison-

" One day an 6i;der came from sorhewhere to execute me. and after some l'ed-tape proceedings they told me how they were going- to kill me, and cut oft" my ears, and a few other tasty details* That night I attempted to escape, but was discovered, and the alarm being soiinded on a big drum, I was recaptured. It was after this

that the two-soldiers- broke 8 riflj stock across my shins, and broke mj; ribs. Then they put me in the stocky, and as they were built fprFilJpino^. they were too. small to. enclose ii&y ankles, so they sat on them in order' to close them. liwas- kept this way for five days with very little, water, during which they did several juice. little things, and my-ankles; are /only just healing from the terrible uloerated sores which were caused :bj/ this treatment. , ~'< / /

" When the natives- Have aii execution they cut up the victim.anil the different parts on a'bamboo,'pole through the different towns, and on one occasion I saw a Chinaman'-^ head pass through Yba. After the, stocks some of the better natives intervened with the chiefs, and I wav .better treated, the idea of execution being given up. On December 1)5 Captain. M'Crae passed through tlie town twice, and on his return, having learned of my whereabouts, he demanded that I be given up, and this way reluctantly done. Efforts were made to find the other prisoners, but they proved futile, though afterwards I went to Subig and managed to locate the mate of Waterwiteh at Castille/jos, and lie was turned over after throats.*'

Mr Pears is a young man, but 5s much bronzed and looks older than lie is after his experiences. He was once an officer in the Finglish militia, and has been nearly all over the world. He has a wife in Colombo, Ceylon, whom he will endeavour to rejoin when h'4 can.