TRAGEDIES OF THE SEA.

NZ Truth, Issue 265, 23 July 1910, Page 8

TRAGEDIES OF THE SEA.

TIMBER SH)P TYENDENAGA.

Storm-Swept "and Shattered.

Crashes on Caribou Island.

The river of their hope At length is drawing nigh ; ' Their snow-blind way they grope, And reach its bamKs— to die.

The wreck of the new ship Tyenden&ga, whilst on her maiden voyage; which occurred late m the year 1852, was of the most appalling character, and many toomes were left desolate thereby. This ill-fated vessel, a pitohprnetfynilt ship of ffßo tons register, laden with a cargo of deals, and under the command of Captain Lewis <&. Rudolph, left Quebec, the great Canadian timber port on November 12, : 1852,' bound to London. She was manned) by a crew of 24 all told. In consequence of trotrbfe arising among the crew, the Tyendenaga was detained m the stream for five days, when, a fresh lot of sailors being engaged, she set sail with a light, favorable wind from the westward, which continued with her down the magnificent St. Lawrence till the Gulf of tie same name was reached. .

On the evening of November 21, Paint de Mont was observed bearing N.«Jt;. about ten miles off, and m the morning Cape Chat was sighted, about 12 miles distant to the S.S.B. No vessels had been sighted on the way down, the Tyendenaga being the last deep-water vessel to leave Quebec before navigation was closed for < the frozen winter, and she was all too late .to escape t<he furious blasts that raged during the winder months m the St. Lawrence. In addition the running gear and everything being new, the vessel cooM not be qnite so easily bandied as one that bad made a voyage or so.

Early m the morning of the 2 and, the wind sprang up, and gradually increasing m force throughout the day, when darkness set m a violent gale was raging, The sea was running very high, and, to add to the dafficurties of "toe crew, the weather became bitterly cold, with a heavy fall of , snow, which wrapped the vessel m a mantle of white nearly a foot thick, covering everything and freezing the ropes until they felt more like raw steel than manila and coir. A HOWLING SNOWSTOKM. But sail had to be got off ' somehow, and the watch below was .called ,on deck to assist. All hands save the stopper and the man "at the wheel were' sent aloft to get the foxe-topsail, but the gale bavin,* : increased to a perfect storm, and the fail of snow, hail and sleet . becoming thicker ■, first wetting the canvas and then.fxeeziiig it as stiff as a board, the sail couM not be furled, and though the- crew^ not liking to "be 'bSeaten, toiled thdr hardest for a couple of hours without getting "a foot of it on the yard, titey were compelled to abandod their task m disgust. As the night; advanced their sufferings,. became more severe. The wind blew m furious gusts, deluging the skip with spray from stem to stern, and a* last a tremendous sea threw; 'her on her broadside, where she lay- for several hours, with Vhe sea constantly breaking over her. .About two o'clock m the morning the captain, being afraid the Tycndenaga was drifting too near the shore, an attempt was made to wear her. ' In doing so. however, the rudder became unmanageable, and before things could be straightened out, another, heavy sea' struck the vessel and burled her on her beam ends.

Orders were then given to cut away the topmasts, so as . to give, her a chance to right, herself, hut it was found that the tools had all gone overboard m the first oversetting. Captain Rudolph and five of the seamen, who 1 had clambered into the weather main rigging for- security, were at last washed away by a sea which dashed over the ship. The captain was thrown on the lee side of the poop, where he fortunately succeeded m reaching the mizzen rigging, hut nothing, was afterwards seen of the five men, who had been carried over the side m the darkness. . ■ '„ „; . THE FATAL CRASH. Just at this time the Tycndenaga ..crashed heavily on a submerged reef, the crew being unable to do . anything except clamber into the rigging out of the way of the rolling breakers which dashed continually over her. A few ."' of the half-dead seamen lashed themselves to the mizzenrnast, waiting for the dawn that seemed never coming. * . . . . Some ten minutes or so after the vessel struck, the mainmast was carried away close to the deck, forcing with it m its fall the mizzen-topmast, fore-topmast, and jibhoom, when all \ the luofcless seamen who had taken refuge m the main rigging were hurled overboard to perish quickly without a hand .being stretched to aid them. Ihc survivors could not make even an attempt to save them. When daylight, came i at' last a sorry sight was revealed. The decks had been swept clean, all the bulwarks, stanchions, spars, and deckhouses being • gone. The captain, who was keeping company, with a frozen corpse m the mizzen rigging, could not see any of the crew, and imagined at first .that he was -Hie sole survivor ; hot as the sun rose higher and the sea moderated a little, he crept down from the ratlines and scrambled along ■ the pooP- Here he observed a ntan lashed to the mizzenmast, and near him were the first, and second mates. The four then secured themselves on ifhe i\ee side of the mizzenmast, and, waiting tiill the water was, lower, they got to the -topgallant - forecastle, where they discovered two sailors and a lad talcing . shelter. Here the. seven remained for some hours, until at Che turn of the tide, the sea be-? i gan to wash all over the -wreck. Then,, .as | the groaning and creaking of the timbers told of the near breaking up of the ship, they left the forecastle and clambered along outside the rail. ,

INDIANS TO THE RESCUE. Soon toe ship's botton was knocked out, the whcJe port sWe was carried away, and "bit by bit the poop following it, leaving the preservation of the remainder somewhat doubtful. The place where the Tyendenaga had driven ashore was tha Caribou Island, at that time inhabited by only a few American Intlaans. Some of these had observed the wreck, and doticed the seven figures outlined against the horizon and dinging to the ship's rail, as they made a couple of bonfires and beckoned the sailors to swim ashore. Accordingly they resolved upon making a desperate effort to reach iixe beach, and although they were half dead with cold and hunger, simultaneously they plunged | into lire sea, and struggled as well as they were able to make the shore. The surf bore them inwards, and the Indians, entering the water up to their middles to meet them, one by one they were caught and dragged on terra firraa. As it was, however, one of ifoo men awl tine boy were almost gone with exhaustion, but the ln'dians worked with a win, and rutted their bodies until circulation was again restored. '■

SEVENTEEN SEAMEN SUCUUftIB. The seven survivors were treated magnanimously by the red men, and furnished witto dry clothes, hot tea, and such food as they had. The Indian braves allowed their squaws to shelter the seamen m their wigwams, and large fires were kept near throughout the day and night. By fche next morning all hands hart completely recovered, and were malting a frugal breakfast of fish when another party ot Indians, who had noticed the big tonfires, arrived with the intelligence that the bodies of twelve of the unfortunate seamen had been washed ashore some three or four miles from the spot where the wreck took place. ' The captain then, the other survivors going with him, went .to the place, and digging a large grave with their hands and sticks, giving the "bodies a deceit burial. ■ Nothing, though, w-as seen of the other five ram who were missing. Tte Indians described the storm as the hoariest that bad raged m the vicinity for a

l o ng -time, and it seems that the sea had run so high as to break over tbe Kgtfthovise tower at Gape de Moirt. In a few days a small lishing schooner" hove m sif^it, and an extra large bonfire being made, she bore m towards tlic shore and sent a boat out. m consequence the survivors were taken oK, and eventually they reached Quebec aga;in, owing their lives' solely t o the sagacity and friendliness displayed towards them by the Caribou Indians.