Rensselaer Union, Volume 5, Number 19, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 January 1873 — The Horrors of a Shipwreck—--Subsisting on Human Flesh. [ARTICLE]

The Horrors of a Shipwreck—--Sub-sisting on Human Flesh.

The Sew Orleans Times of January 9 contains the statement of Mr. John Bavilla, first officer of the American ship Golden Hind, which was wrecked in the Pacific Ocean, on the Patagonia coast, in July last. We extract a portion of the narrative as giving an account,., of one of the most extraordinary instances of human privation on record: The Golden Hind struck between two rocks, one forward and one aft, on the western coast of Patagonia. Three boats were hurriedly prepared, the men, put on extra suits of clothes, laid in a small quantity of provisions, and at seven o’clock that evening lowered away. In the hurry of departure nearly all our nautical instruments were left on board, and in fact many articles absolutely necessary. There were three beats lo wered^ the first under the command of Capt. Robbins, the second commanded by myself, and the third in charge of Mr. Webb, the second mate. Eacli contained seven men. Mr. Webb, asserting that he knew the situation better than we did, parted company almost immediately, and, it being then quite dark, we lay under the lee of the land until morning. The sea at the time we left the ship was breaking over her fore yard, and during the night she beat to pieces on the rocks. The next morning the last vestige of the Golden Hind had disappeared, and a search, which continued two days, was made for the other boat, but no trace of her could be seen. We have long ere this '•on eluded that she was swamped, and that her entire crew were drowned. Upon examination it was found that we had a small box and a bag of hard bread, the latter soaked with seawater, about twenty cans of beef, a little tea and coffee. An allowance of one cracker of each man, and one can of beef to fourteen was at first, issued, but this speedily decreased to half a cracker, and finally we did not taste beef more than once a week. A few days after we left the wreck the captain’s boat was swamped, and we lost our compass, the only instilment we had, and a quantity of the provisions. An attempt was made to reach Sandy Point, a Chilian convict settlement, and the coaling station of the Pacific mail steamers, about two-thirds the way through the straits of Magellan, hut our course could only be determined by the sun and stars. It was then mid-winter, the mountains along the coast were covered with snow and ice, and the mercury must have been several-degrees below zero. We pulled close tothe land, working all night iniair weather, and during a heavy blow landing and going into camp. There were plenty of scrub trees along the coast, and as we were provided with two hatchets and a good supply of matches, a fire was always to be procured. During these visits we secured quite a good supply of shell-fish resem bling the muscle, but we found that this diet brought on constipation, and the entire party became unwell. For about twenty days the men held out admirably, but in the bitter cold a number were frost-bitten, and our legs and feet were terribly swollen. On going into camp we constructed a tent of the boat’s sail and mizzen royal sail with the oars. A fire was built in the center, and the fourteen men sat around it the night through. We suffered terribly from less of sleep, as no one dared to remain away from the fire for fear of freezing to death, and the tent was too small to hold all in a reclining position. At the end of the twentieth day the general debility from insufficient food, and the extreme pain in our limbs, rendered the progress slow, and very often we camped for several days at a time. The allowance of bread had been reduced to a quarter of a cracker a day, and very often we camped for several days at a time. The allowance of bread had been reduced to a quarter of a cracker a day, and very often the men did without for a day or two together, to help out the supply. Their conduct throughout the dreadful ordeal was most courageous. Every man rendered implicit obedience, and although the ravages of hunger rendered each almost an animal, the general welfare was never lost sight of. Almost the entire month of July was spent in pulling in what we believed to be the direction to Bandy Point. The only human beings we met were an Indian and two squaws in a canoe. They treated us cordially, and willingly exchanged a duck for a small quantity of tobacco, but they had no other provisions. We had secured from the ship two rifles, and one of the crew shot a duck, but the powder became wet and our weapons were useless. A dead duck found among the rocks was also secured and eaten, but with the exception of the shell-fish, this was the only food we secured. Jn the latter part of July the weather became fearfully tempestuous, and, after several days of fruitless buffeting, we went into our last encampment. It was a terribly bleak and desolate spot, shut out from the sea by high cliffs, and filled with low, stunted trees. We found, however, a few roots, some berries, and, strange to say, a little celery, and, not knowing whether the vegetables were poisonous or not, each man partook ravenously of whatever he could find. The high tides prevented our securing any shell-fis_oy.and the few seals we saw were too timid to capture, but we secured water in abundance from the streams running down the mountain. Here the men became seriously ill. Their legs were swollen to frightful proportions, but few could wear their boots, and a majority wandered about with their feet tied up in old cloth and pieces of canvas. Some, unable to walk at all, crawled about on their hands and knees At length a man named White, a seaman, became delirious, and shortly afterward died. The ground was so hardly frozen that it was impossible to dig a grave, so we carried the body a short distance from the tent and laid it in the bushes. The next one attacked was a young fellow we called Dan—sailors, you know, never give their full names, except on the articles—add he died within three hours after he became delirious. The carpenter, a man from Liverpool, was the next victim; then we lost Charley, a German seaman, and finally another sailor called Frank. All of them died within ten days of each other, and all were laid side by side out in the bushes. As each one left us, we took his Clothes to keep the living ones warm, but during all these days not one of us had .a mouthful of food. At length the steward,Taking one of the men out with bim into the brush, returned with slices of meat, which were roasted over the fire, and eagerly devoured. We all of us knew we were sustain-

ing life on the bodies of our dead companions, but no man asked a question. Sometimes we had It boiled and sometimes roasted. It tasted something like beef; but it makes me shudder now to think of it. When we had eaten almost all of the last body, the schooner Eagle, of Port Stanley, Fanlkland Islands, out seal-fish-ing, hove in sight. One of our men crawled up to the head of the rocks, and, waving the American flag, with the union down, attracted their attention. They<, picked us up and received ns all with as great kindness as if we had been their own kindred. We found that we had pulled about two-thirds of the way through the Straits of Magellan, and were then within sixty miles of Sandy Point.