THRILLING STORY OF THE SEA.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 12, 14 January 1905, Page 13

THRILLING STORY OF THE SEA.

J SHIPWRECKED CREW'S FIGHT WITH SHARKS. ! A thrilling account of how th* prew of a ! ship-wrecked barque fought with a number of sharks in a tempestuous sea, was told by a Norwegian sailor on Sunday night, ; November '2.1, at Liverpool, when the steamer lowa lauded the crew of the Norwegian barque Hanringja, which was found in a sinking eonditioa in lat. 38.25 north and long. 59.25 west. The crew consisted '■ of ten men—eight Norwegians and two | Britishers named William Booty, A.8., of | London, and Charles Sttinger. of Dublin. I On reaching Liverpool the eaptaiu of the I lowa, S. Waltera, communicated with the i Swedish and Norwegian Consul, with the | result, that the shipwrecked men were; ! brought ashore aud placed in the Scandina- j viau Sailors' Temperance Home, j Ole Olsen, the mate of the Hamingja. said that they had sailed from Brunswick, Georgia, and were bound for Sharpness, England, with a cargo of turpentine, when, ; about the 15tb ult.. they encountered a 1 terrific hnrricane, which carried awuy the 1 bulwarks on one side, and other parts of j the barque began to give way. The sea increased iv fury, and the little barque of j 457 tons register got completely ; BEYOND THK CONTROL OF THE I CREW. The heavy seas rolled over her. and she was tossed about as if she were a mere plank iv the great ocean. Eventually thr rudder wae carried away, and her stern was split in twain. The two small boats ; which she carried were lowered; a quantity of provisions were put into them; and most of the crew, after trying in vain to keep i 1 the hold of the barque clear of water, aban- j i doned her. Cp to that time the crew had ! j fought for a day and night in endeavouring !to keep the boats from capsizing. Wet, cold, and exhausted, the men began to ! despair of thetr lives. Whilst tb-o.y tossed : ' about at the mercy of the gale, they were : ' attacked by a number of sharks, and it j ; was with the utmost difficulty that they i were able to keep the terrible creatnres at : ' a safe distance. The monsters passed from i 1 one boat to another for nearly 24 hours, I . and as the boats were beginning to break ) jup against the force of the waves, some j !of the men almost became frantic at the ! i thought that unless Providence intervened | ' they might end in becoming food for the j ! hungry sharks. They were also pursued by j i other fishes, including a shoal of "dolphins, j I Hope was revived, however, on the even- i I ing of the 16th. when, at some distance j j away, they perceived smoke issuing from j a vessel, which lurned out to be the lowa. They hoisted a flag and made huge lights of turpentine. As the British ship came ; nearer she threw up blue lights in answer : :to the signals from the stranded Norwe- j ; gdans. When picked up by the lowa the boats in which they had lived for two days , were bady leaking,' and it was conjectured ■ Unit: they would not have lasted many more hours in the beaxy sea and the gale, which subsequently increased. The Hamingja was left to her own fat*, /##*n aw* **•*s?»