EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURE. A Vessel Sunk by a Whale.

Te Aroha News, Volume III, Issue 130, 28 November 1885, Page 5

EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURE. A Vessel Sunk by a Whale.

Bt the steamship Hampshire, which ha° arrived at Sydney from Bongkong.news w ns received that a Malay proa was capsized and sank by a whale in the Flores Sea, and that the crew of 10 men were picked up by the Hampshire after beingabout four hours float ing on a raf t.balf in and half out of the water From the details of the affair, supplied by one ot the passengers of the Hampshire, it appears that atnom on October 24, when ab>ut ten miles from Sangeang Inland, Captain Child eijihtel a whale, and phorfcly afterward a number of men were observe ab»»ut four miles off, flmting on what appeared to be si raft The Bampphire at Once bore down on the m^n. ten in num ber, who were found clinging to part of the Fp^rsof a vessel. A boat ua* lowered, and the men who were in a very exhausted con dition, were taken on biar«i the steamer, ■where they were treated with every kind nei-8. The wrecked men said that their vessel had left Labor Hadji, Atlap Straits three days previously for Maca=pa% with a cargo of between 300 and 400 bags of rice and other goods, and th-tt the voyage wa* uneventful until ab ut 8 o'clock that morning, when, without th<* sli^htes-t warning, th-jy were thrown into the water, in eon->equeoce of a whale having Ftruck their vessel (which was under full Pail at the time), and gmtphed it into splinters. The men succeeded in re*f>h ing the ppars which were floa'inp about, and clung to them for about four home, until they were rescued bv the boat from the Hampshire. Some 50 minute*" afterwards a vessel was peen ahead, which proved to he a native craft, and singular to s*y. was commanded by a son of the mister of the vessel which wa* punk. Into thip they were transferred. Captain Child de porves gre*t praise for the promptitude he showed in the matter and his kindaesa to the rescued men.