HORRIBLE SCENE AT SEA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 10419, 17 April 1897, Page 2 (Supplement)

HORRIBLE SCENE AT SEA.

SHIPLOAD OF COOLIES BURNED. This is the Btory of the curious adventures of a sailor. The ship Tanjore, after knocking about the coast for a time, sailed away to Melbourne and loaded wool for London.

Among the members of the crew picked up in Melbourne was one MikeC'regan, who declared he was in the ship Bald Eagle when she was burned by Chinese coolies, 500 miles east of Manila, on their way to Cdllao, Peru. It wae blowing a pood, stiff breeze, but the sea hadn't got up much yet, and she was reeling off her ten knots easy enough. About fire bells in the afternoon watch the Chinamen, who had been as etill Sβ mice, suddenly broke out in a simultaneous shout, rose up as one man, and pulled down their bunkboards and made a rush for the hatchwuy ladders. Fortunately, the yell they gave warned the crew, and they slapped the hatch gratings on and fastened them down. Evidently, now, the proper thing to do was to starve the Chinamen into submission, or death, if they wouldn't submit; for, no matter what their grievance might be, the time for considering that had passed, and forcible subjugation was the only remedy for them. But the captain was a Portuguese, and he brought out his revolvers and began shooting them down through the gratings, and the mates got theirs out, too, and took a hand, The" Chinamen were so frenzied that they would stand out in the open hatchway, apparently cursing and defying the officers to do their worst, until there was a pilo of dead bodies under tho hatch four or five deep, and somehow, during the fuailado, a spark from a revolver ignited tho clothing of one of the dead coolies. The rest saw it and fell over ono another, and suffered thomselves to be shot in their mad desire to get hold of the burning cloth. Onfi fellow grubbed the smouldering part and tore it from tho garment, and was about to blow it to keep it alive when ho was shot dead from above ; but almost before he foil another had grabbed tho burning rag from his hand, only to be shob down in his turn. But thore wore plenty more, and shoot as fast and accurately as they might), the bit of burning cloth at last disappeared from the hatchway altogether. It had [;one forward to tho Chinamen's quarters, and in the courso of hall an hour smoke was re ported as coming out of the fore and main hatches. They didn't dare to lift) a hatch, nor would anyone have dared to go down there if they had, so they got the carpenter to chop small holes in the deck, and they put tho wash-deck hose through them, connected it to tho force pump, and pumped for dear life. Now, chopping holes in tho deck is a desperate remedy when thero is nothing but fire to fight; but when in addition thero are hundreds of maddened Chinamen down thero determined to burn the ship it was merely wasting time and strengih pumping water in among thorn, By this time the Cinnamon thomsolres wore suffocating with the smoke and heat. Ib would s-oem they had expected that tho crew would open the hatches to get down and put out the fire, and that would be thoir chanco to got on deck and take charge of the ship. No doubt that was their idea in setting her on tire; and when it first) dawned on them that thoir plan had miscarried and they wero to be left to roast in their own fire, thon thero was pandemonium, Tho spuqes undor tho hutches wero packed solid with writhing, shrieking humanity ; for the others, who were directly oxposed to the smoke and flames, pressed in upon them from all sides, until thoy could hardly have been rammed in tighter with cotton screws, and the fnens of the miserable wrotches who were vieiblo in the hatchway wero a nightmare. Thoir dirty yollow complexions turned a sickly greon j thoir eyeballs almost burst from thoir sockets as they glared up at the faat waning daylight which was to be the last they were ever to see j and their big ugly mouths wero stretched in a continuous yell, or rather screech, as they squirmed like a nest of eels. Even the Portuguese captain hadn't the heart to shoot any more of them, but loft tlioin to stow in thoir own juice, while he and his officers gave their attention to saving their own lives. After a great deal of trouble thoy (jot the ship hove to, for it was now getting quite dark, and tho dense smoke which was pouring out of tho hatches and tho holes cut by the carpenter made it impossible to seo a thing and hardly possible to breathe. To mako matters worse, it now began to rain in torrents, and tho cries of the imprisoned Chinamen made it impossible to hear un ordor five feet from the person giving it. Howovor, about eight bells in the evening they gob their boats over—the long boab and three quarter boats, ono of which was stove in in the launching. That loft them rather short for boat room. Tho ship was now a roaring furnaco, and tho last wail of tho last dying Chinamen had gone up in euioko. The stench was horrible, and they naturally got aw»y from the wreck as fast as possible A little water and some hardtack were stowed in each boat, about enough for ono square meal for tho crowd thero was to go—twonty two able seamen, six apprentices, the captain and four mates, cook and etoward, boatswain, carpenter, and sailmakor—thirty-eight soule all told, to anil 500 miles through stormy seas in three email open boats. Tho quarter boats could take bub ten men apiece, consequently tho long boat must take eighteen, and when they wero all in her the gunwales wore almost awash; and the other boats wore not much bettor off. For throo nights nnd two days they held their course. The night wore away without serious mishap, but wolcomo as the dawn was it brought a new terror to tho seamen, for not twenty feed away from tho boab and directly abeam was the dorsal fin of a huge shark, and this escort never left them whilo they remained in tho boat. Uβ did not always keep the name relative position, for two or three times a day he woild drop slowly in alongside, and after casting up his ovil eye at them, apparently counting them to see if any had gob away, he would sink slowly until alniosb out of eight, gradually reappearing, on tho other tide. The Bald Bugle had been in tho coolie trade so long that the original crow hail all left her, and Portuguese sailors had taken all their places except that of Mike Cregan. They were all good Catholics, now that they were in danger, and whenever the shark passod under the boab the Portuguese would turn their fscoa from him, cross themselves piously, and call on San Antonio. But some of them called in vain. Bub for Mike the greatest; terror came when the men began to grow hungry after the hardtack had all been eaten. It seemed to Mike that the Portuguese regarded him with anything bub pleasant looks, and as they confined thoir conversation to their own language, of whioli he understood not a word, his imagination had lull play. And then us their hunger increased thero appeared a suggestiveness in their glances in his direction, whon they were talking in low tones among themselves, and the horrible thought entered his mind that they wore consulting over eating him. Quietly drawing his sheath knife, he kept ib in readiness, determined thab he would not furnish the first or the only contribution to the ship's stores. After that he never elepb a wink on board the boat. Jusb before dark of the second day the captain ordored Mike, who was in the bow, to keep a good lookout for land, but Mike was so busy watching the dagos that he didn't bother hie head much about ib. The time passed very slowly aud without incident, save at one time be thought he heard a faint cry astern, Aβ no one else noticed the ory Mike said nothing aboub ib, but kept his watch on his shipmates unbil near morning, when he happened to see that they were driving into a fog bank, Calling to the boatswain, who had the helm, he suggested rousing the captain, lest the boat be thrown ashore, but the boatswain said that he rathor hankered for such an accidenb as thab, and held on hit course unbil the sun rose, and then the fog suddenly disappeared and they found themselves in the harbour they had hoped to reach. Bub as they looked around to congratulate their shipmates they found that the second mate's boab, the last, had disappeared. An English gunboat, the Ratbleenako, wat in port, and her captain sailed oub in search of the missing boab. lie found it, with one side stove in and afloat, bub not a trace of any of her crew. What had wrecked her will never bo known, bub the Portuguese insisted that tho shark, realising that they'were hearing land, and fearing thab they would escape him altogether, breached the boat for a victim, wrecking her in the act.