A Fearful Experience.

Wairarapa Standard, Volume XIX, Issue 1819, 12 April 1886, Page 2

A Fearful Experience.

There has been an extrno uii.iiv occurrence lit the North id bculiu' I. A e.m.i smack, the Columbine, was pmcecdmg iiom Gauutucss Harbor i- Berwick. . i.of an hj ,ur after the smack nl.ul. u, a ~e.n; sea sttnek the vessel and broKo tne n.ata niicet. Wuii-j one of the crew, named Smith, and the skipper were hauling in the sueet audiicr sea washed them both oveiboatd, but Smith, being nearer to the smack, wis aide to pud tnniM if nbSaid ; thee.upu. r, u,.t o tm> ito, v. lost Ins holt of tne street and fell into the sea. Smith and Ins lemaiinog Co. league opened the gangway and lowered the hnat, leaving the smack’s sails as they were—that is to say, the licut satis standing all right, nut lle> mainsail bearing unoitl. Ail this ime lire cuiy passenger, a woman, was below in ihecdun. Sue was no he i way I- Lerwick 1.0 seek medical advice. Hi .' men saw the skipper swimming before tney entered the iw.it ; but i.e must have sunk while they were launching the boat, for they s.w nothing more of him. The men founu they could not regain the smack, and a sea, which struck their b at, compelled them to st >p and bale her. They turned towards the shore, two or three miles off, which they reached with great difficulty. It was found impossible to pursue the smack till the captain of a steamer, that happened to be in tbe neighbourhood at tbe time, had been oommuni. cated with ; but by this time the smack bad disappeared from view. She was weeks afterwards found, with her single passenger, oft tbe coast of Norway. Elizabeth Mouat will have a remarkable tale to tell when ■hg recovers from her sufferings. 8b« lashed herself to the deck, and was nearly a week without food, though, (here was food in the cabin of the craft. Throughout tboee tearful days the frail vessel was driven aeroes tbe German Ocean. In its passage the mast west by tbs board, and it was nearly capsized a score of times. What a womau left alone in such terrible circumstances must have suffered no mind can conceive, and the miracle is that she survived so awful an •zperienot-"