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
Their first care was to drop the lead between two of the masses of
ice, and they found that the ship was floating in eleven fathoms. They
then fired several guns, to give warning of their situation. By turns
they worked at the pumps, and, in order to lighten the vessel, threw
all the remaining guns, except four, overboard--a labour of no small
magnitude for six men to perform.
Their next object was to get up the tackles for hoisting out the boat,
in case of their getting into clear water, or being obliged to quit
the wreck.
There was one advantage in all this hard labour, to which most of them
were unaccustomed: it prevented their suffering so much as they
otherwise must have done from the extreme cold; and in one respect
they were better off than their comrades at Newark, for they had
plenty of provisions on board. So passed the first day on the wreck.
The next morning, Tuesday, the 12th, at about eleven o'clock, land was
descried on their lee, on which they fired several guns, and hauled
the colours on the main-rigging, union downwards, as a signal of
distress. An hour afterwards the ship struck on a rock off the island
of Baltrum, about a mile and a-half distant from the shore.
Mr. Anthony and his companions then tried to launch the cutter, but
they were obliged to give up the attempt, as the sea was not
sufficiently clear of ice; they therefore remained on board another
night.
The next morning, however, they hoisted out the boat, and pulled
towards the shore; but they had not gone more than half way, when they
were surrounded by fields of ice, so that they were obliged to get
upon the ice, and drag the boat with them.
About noon they had reached to within a cable's length of the shore,
and here they were compelled to leave the boat: they were all
completely exhausted, and found it impossible to drag her any
further. They themselves had to leap from one piece of ice to another,
often falling into the water; and it was at the imminent risk of their
lives that they at last gained the beach.
They were tolerably well received by the inhabitants, who took them to
their houses, and allowed them to seek that repose which they so much
needed.
The next day the islanders, unable to resist the temptation of
plunder, took to their boats, and made off to the ship, which they
ransacked, and carried off all the arms, stores, and provisions of
every kind. In vain Mr. Anthony protested against this base conduct:
it was as much as he could do to persuade them to spare some part of
the provisions for himself and his friends.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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