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 day was bitterly cold, and with much difficulty the unfortunate
men contrived to kindle a fire, by means of a knife and flint that
were happily in the pocket of one of the sailors, and a small barrel
of damp powder that had been washed on to the rock. They next
constructed a tent with pieces of canvas, boards, and parts of the
wreck, and so they were enabled to dry the few clothes they had upon
them. And now they had to pass a long and dreary night, exposed to
hunger, cold, and wet; but they kept the fire burning, hoping that it
might be visible in the darkness, and be taken for a signal of
distress. And so it proved; for the coxswain and crew of the whale
boat, who were on the Island of Pauri, observed the fire in the middle
of the night, and the next morning the coxswain and pilot, with four
of the men, pulled to the rocks, in hopes that some of their comrades
might be still living.
They were beyond measure astonished to find so many survivors from the
wreck, when they had scarcely dared to hope that any could have been
saved except themselves. They had no food or water in their boat; for
they had found nothing on the Island of Pauri (which was only a mile
in circumference) but a few sheep and goats, kept there by the
inhabitants of Cerigo, and a little rain-water that was preserved in
a hole of the rock. The coxswain attempted to persuade Captain Palmer
to come into the boat, but the intrepid officer refused. 'Never mind
me,' was his noble reply; 'save your unfortunate shipmates.'
After some consultation, the Captain ordered the coxswain to take ten
of the people from the rock and make the best of his way to Cerigotto,
and return as soon as possible with assistance.
Soon after the departure of the boat, the wind increased to a gale,
the waves dashed over the rock and extinguished the fire, and some of
the men were compelled to cling to the highest part of the rock, and
others to hold on by a rope fastened round a projecting point, in
order to save themselves from being washed away by the surf; and thus
a second night was passed, even more wretched than the first. Many of
the people became delirious from the fatigue, hunger, thirst, and
cold, which they had suffered, and several died during the night;
some, apparently, from the effect of the intense cold upon their
exhausted frames. Terrible was the scene which daylight presented:
indiscriminately crowded together on a small spot, were the living,
the dying, and the dead; and the wretched survivors unable to give any
help to those whose sufferings might shortly be their own.
There was nothing to be done, but to wait in hope for the return of
the whale-boat, when, to the indescribable joy of all, a ship, with
all sail set, hove in sight: she was coming down before the wind, and
steering directly for the rock.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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