A THRILLING ADVENTURE AT SEA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVIII, Issue 6261, 10 December 1881, Page 7

A THRILLING ADVENTURE AT SEA.

♦ rf The Liverpool ship Borrowdale, Captain '" M'Alister, arrived in the Mersey on n September 21, and landed Captain Thomas f> Peabody and nine men, being a portion of the '' crew of the large American ship B. Fuller, '* which was totally destroyed by fire at sea, ir and by which disaster the crew of 20 hands " had a very narrow escape with their lives. '' According to the statement of Captain Pea- ! - body, the RB. Fuller leftCardiffon August 1, for Valparaiso with a cargo of coal. About [ * a quarter-past 10 on the night of August 24 r the captain, who was asleep in his cabin, e was aroused by a choking sensation in his ■■ throat, and on rising found his room full of f smoke. He instantly went on deck, and e ascertained that the chief officer, whose ' watch it was on deck, had just discovered ? that the vessel was on fire, which seemed to 1 have originated in the vicinity of the cabin, 2 in the lower hold. All the hatches were 1 immediatly put on and caulked down, 2 whilst all the ventilators were closed and r the cabin shut up for the purpose of smother--3 ing the flames, which bad not so far been 1 visible. Finding that the smoke still gained - egress, the captain gave orders for holes to t be bored in the decks, when large quantities ' of water were pumped on the burning cargo. ; This also seemed to have very little effect, ■ and orders were then given for the boats to 1 be lowered and put in readiness for the crew ■ to leave their vessel, as her condition was • evidently becoming hourly more dangerous, ' and she threatened to disappear at any ■ moment beneath the surface of the water. Al>ont this time the captain, mate, carpenter, 1 and four sailors entered the from ; which they suddenly reappeared, all vomiting : blood, and their heads seeming to swell to ' unusual dimensions. This extraordinary circumstance was ho doubt owing to the - exhalation of the combined gas and smoke. • Fortunately, all of them recovered shortly ' afterwards. During the provisioning of the boats another incident occurred, which ; almost deprived one of the crew of his life. ; He had volunteered to go below in the i forward part of the vessel to obtain two casks of water, but on reaching the spot he 1 was overpowered by the smoke and was i hauled up insensible. The chief officer and ! some of the crew, however, managed to secure the water. For safety the whole of i the crew got into the boats and remained all night about half a mile from the burning ship, i On going aboard the vessel in the morning it was found that the houses and deck planks ; were unbearably hot, and nothing further could be done to save the ship. As the boats lay off they could see large volumes of smoke issuing from different parts of the vessel, mingled with sparks of fire. On the morning of the 26th the mizenmast of the . versel fell with a tremendous crash, followed afterwards by the foremast, and at twenty minutes past ten on the same night the vessel foundered, going down with a loud report. The three boats of the R. B. Fuller then pulled away from the spot, and for two days were beating about in the hope of being picked up by a passing vessel. For the most part the sea was rough, and the frail crafts tossed alarmingly about. Finally a sail was sighted to the westward, and this the boats chased until they came up to her. She proved to be the London barque Paracca, going from Reunion to St. Nazaire with siiL'ar. The men were all received on hoard, and two days afterwards 10 of them, includiug tlie captain, were transferred to the Borrowdale, which brought them to Liverpool, the rest remaining on board the Paracca. The shipwrecked men were in the open boats for four days and four nights, during which time but little sleep could be obtained. They lost almost all they had, but expressed themselves in high terms at the exceptionally humane treatment they received at the hands of the captain of the two British vessels, Paracca and Borrowdale. On arrival at Liverpool they were received by the American Consul. The R. B. Fuller was a ship of 13(iO tons register, and was owned in Boston jby Mr. Baker M'Near. She was built at Bedford, Maine, in 1574. The cause of the fire is unknown, but it is supposed to have arisen from spontaneous combustion.