SPECTRE SHIPS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2274, 30 September 1897, Page 49

SPECTRE SHIPS.

The crew of a stately treasure galleon mutinied and murdered the captain, Don Sandovatte. .He was dying with loss of blood and thirst, but when be feebly moaned for water they mocked him by holding it just beyond his reach. So they were doomed to roam the seas for ever ; and those' who have seen the phantom galleon pay that it is manned by a black captain and a crew of skeletons, who cry out for water incessantly. The rugged coast of Kerry has itß legend of a huge maslless ship that was seen on the dawn of a winter's morning, broadside to, against a cliff, with every appearance of havng been deserted by its crew. A number of the inhabitants soon boarded the strange craft, and were amazed by the value of the cargo, which was largely composed o£ the precious metals. The precious booty was quickly transferred to the shallops, when the sea, which had been smooth and calm as a lake, suddenly arose, and a storm of great violence swept down upon the doomed wreckers. The heavy-laden boats "were capsized, the crew swallowed up in the thundering billowp, and the mastless ship, moving from its resting place, forged ahead, disappearing in the gathering gloom, the men on board waving a last farewell to the horrified spectators lining the cliff. Neither the ship nor the, unfortunate wreckers were ever heard of more. It is firmly believed to this day along the Irish coast that the mysterious craft, without mast or crew, was a phantom of Tir-ra-Noag, the land of youth and eternal happiness.

The coast of New England has numerous legends concerning spectre ship 3, firmly believed by the ragged fishermen, who assert' stoutly that on various occasions glimpses of the shadowy crafts have been seen/ followed, inya.ria.blj bj fatal disaster, Xbe

spectre of the Palatine is occasionally sees on the Sound, and is the forerunner of a gals of wind. She was a Dutch trading vessel, and was wrecked on Block Island in 1752. The wreckers, it is said, made short work of her, stripping her fore and aft and setting fire to the hull. As she drifted blazing off the coast a human form was vi&ible amid the flames — the form ofv,a female passenger, left to perish on the doomed craft. Since, and generally upon the anniversary of the wreck, a phantom ship with blazing bull, charred spars, and scorched sails and rigging baa been seen cruising off Block Island, when, Behold ! again with shimmer and shine, Over the rocks and tho seething briue,

The flaming wreck of the Palatine.

Whittier recorded the legend in graceful vers?, as weU as that of a ghostly cruiser that sailed from a New England port on her last voyage, which tie termed the Daad Ship of Salem. In the seventeenth century a ship was about to sail from Salem for England. Her cargo was on board, sails bent, and passengers on deck, when two passengers came hurriedly off and engaged 'passage. The couple were a young man and woman who, so tradition records, were remarkable for their beariDg and beauty. Who they were or whence they came no one in Salem town could tell. The ship being detained by adverse wind*, the mysterious couple excited the suspicions of the townspeople, who viewed them as uncanny, and prophesied disaster to the vessel if allowed to sail in her. But the master, a bluff and etern sailor, refused to listen, and finally departed on a Friday. The vessel never reached her destination, and waa never spoken. But later in the year incoming vessels rtporced sighting a craft with luminous rigging and sails, and shining hull and spars. She was Bailing with all canvas set against the wind, with a crew of dead men standing in the shrouds and leaning over the rail, while upon the quarter-deck stood a young and beautifuL couple. Occasionally, on the eve of a storm, looming up through the sea fog, is seen The spectre ship of Salem, ■ With the dead men in her shrouds, Sailing sheer above the water in The loom of morning clouds. Whittier tells of two other New England phantom ships, and Bret Harte has madefamiliar in verae the Grayport legend.

Cotton Mather tells how a new ship sailed from New Haven in January 1647, and was never heard from. In June of the same year, about an hour before sunset, a ship, the very twin of the ship that had sailed in January, was seen to sail up the" river against the wind and current. As she came' nearer the outlines slowly faded from view, until all was merged in the gathering gloom of approaching night.

Tbe fishermen of Gasper, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, believe firmly in a spectre often seen off Cape d'Espair. She is of strange and ancient build, with high poop and forecastle, and quaintly rigged aloft. Her deck is covered with soldier?, and from her ports and cabin windows bright 1 rays of light stream forth into the darknecs. At the head of the bowsprit stands an , officer 'in scarlet coat richly laced, with feathered bat, and sword buckled by his side, who points to shore as though showing tbe place of landing to a lady who is leaning on bis arm. Then the lights suddenly go out, a scream is heard, and the ship, with a heavy lurch, sink 1 * beneath the surf. This is said to be the spectre of the fUgsbip of a fleet sent by command of Queen Anne to reduce the French forts. The fleet was wrecked off thia cape and all hands lost. There is a legend connected with the Dismal Swamp that carries with it a horrible vision, of a pirate Ebip, sailing amid the solitudes and weird vistas of that grim locality. Daring the period when the southern coast and adjacent ports were the favourite haunts, of buccaneers, a piratical craft fell in* with a British merchant vessel laden with a valuable cargo. She was captured during the prevalence of a storm, the crew murdered, and rich bootjr secured. The pirate vessel, almost dismantled, drove shoreward befota the gale, which momentarily increased, culminating in a tremendous tidal wave that swept the vessel through the reaches of tho swamp, ove.r the tree tops, leaving her in the midst of tbe vast morass when the waters receded. Since that period, during the raging of great storms, the ghostly craft is seen, a rotten crumbling wreck, flitting about the swamp, amid the sluggish waters of the bayous, with scant room for her masts to pass clear of the overhanging trees.