Narratives of Shipwrecks of the Royal Navy; between 1793 and 1849Gilly, William O. S.
History
Narratives of Shipwrecks of the Royal Navy; between 1793 and 1849
Gilly, William O. S.
Great Britain. Royal Navy -- History -- 18th century; Great Britain. Royal Navy -- History -- 19th century; Shipwrecks
The men continued to walk together until Tuesday evening, subsisting
upon cocoa-nuts, which they gathered on their way, when Malcolm was
obliged to be left behind, as he was unable to walk any further. The
next morning he was found by some natives, and taken to Ambegris Cay,
where the men had arrived the previous evening.
We must now return to the fate of the cutter, which it will be
remembered left the wreck on the morning of the 28th of February,
taking the raft in tow. They endeavoured to return to the schooner,
but the current proving too strong, they were obliged to abandon the
attempt, and ran before the wind until they made a sand-bore, on the
south end of the reef, about an hour afterwards.
They then cut the raft adrift, and landed the men that were in the
cutter, sending the boat back with two men to carry the rest off the
raft, as it was impossible to bring the raft to the sand-bore. It was
about seven o'clock in the evening when they were all safely landed,
the cutter being at this time in such a condition, that she could not
have floated, even in smooth water, without baling.
They then dragged the boat up the beach, where they remained until
daylight next morning, the 1st of March. Mr. Nopps, master's-assistant,
who was the commanding officer of the party, determined to leave the
majority of the men on the sand-bore, and proceed to the wreck; he
accordingly started with five men in the cutter, in hopes of reaching
the schooner, but as it blew strongly from the northward, and the boat
had no jib or mizen, and the mainmast and sprit sprung, they found it
impossible to beat to windward. In this condition, as there was no
appearance of the wind abating, and nothing to eat except some salt
pork, and only two beakers of water, one of which had been drunk during
the night, Mr. Nopps considered it his duty to take the boat with these
five men, and run for the first place they could fetch, hoping to reach
Belize, which was nearly before the wind.
For two days they scudded before the wind, without being able to set
any sail, and had passed at least forty miles to the southward of
Belize, before the wind abated; during this time they suffered
severely from want of water, the last beaker having been finished,
and the salt pork increasing their thirst. It was not until twelve
o'clock on Tuesday, the 3rd of March, that they arrived in Belize
roads, and were taken on board the Fly.
Here they received every attention that was necessary, and Mr. Rogers,
the master of the Fly, accompanied by Mr. Nopps, was despatched in the
Governor's schooner to the assistance of the men who were left on the
sand-bore, and of the others who were still supposed to be upon the
wreck.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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