A Tragedy of the Sea.

Hastings Standard, Issue 179, 24 November 1896, Page 4

A Tragedy of the Sea.

Captain Hamilton, of the ketch Jessie Rili y, which nrrived at Townsvilie reeeutiy from Saniari, brings news of the fate of five white men— Charles M'Donald, William Penny, William Gibson, Devlin and James M'Namara—v.-ho left Tiputa in a boat, 20th July, with five natives. The day after the boat left it stood across to Collingwood Day, and, in jibing, capsized suddenly about sundown. M'Donald and M'Namara could not swim and went down at once, but the rest got on the boat. One of them gave a native a knife and told him to dive under and cut away the rigging, so that they could right the boat. The natives, however, failed to accomplish this, and then the white man told them to swim ashore, a distance of about 10 miles and get canoes. A heavy sea was running, and the white men were constantly washed oft' the boat. One of them, supposed to be Devlin, late second steward of the Merry Kngland, took a piece of wood and struck out for shore. The natives, taking oars and a boom with them for support made for shore. " Wagga Wagga Louis," an old police " boy," who had his revolver, tied to the boom, reached the shore next evening, but the other four natives were drowned. When Louis get ashore, the blacks I old him that a white man had landed two or three hours before, and from the description given there is no doubt it was Devlin. The natives said he was vomiting, and that when they offered him sweet potatoes he could not eat. Louis looked after this white man for three days, when he died with his head on the boy's breast, and Louis then buried the body. The bodie.. of the four natives drowned were washed n-liore a little further north. Jt is supposed that the other two white men were drowned and their bodies washed ashore and buried by the natives, who appear to have done all they could wilh their limited means to succour the survivors. M'Namara is said to have a brother at Townsville, and M'Donald leaves a wife and two small children at Cooktown. The fact that Louis was subsequently found in pos-es-ion of a revolver at first led to the assumption that the white men had been murdered.