OCR Text |
Show At the first mora of officers or emigrants tho sailors would have thrown off all disguise, seized tho ship, and probably sent the people away in the boats. After turning the matter over and over in my mind I decided that my wisest policy was to remain silent, and seem to be band and glove with the conspirators. After a tedious voyago wo finally mado tho Amazon. At any time after leaving Havre a storm would have doubtless destroyed us, but we encountered no peril of that sort. No voyago could have been attended by more favorable winds or better weather. During the last week of tho voyage the emigrants became more reconciled to each other, and tbo captain and his coterie also perfected their plans. It was resolved to steal the ship and her stores from the syndicate, settle out-sido out-sido the company's tract, and found a young republic. The idea that the government of Brazil, or the government of any other South American state, would have a voice in such a project never entered their heads. The colony or republic was to be increased in numbers by emigrants from America, who would come by the thousands, the captain said, the lawB and ordinances were to be of tho most liberal character. Slaves wore to be brought from Africa, and every white man should have two or three to work for him. All property was to be held in common, com-mon, and all colonists should pay homage to tho captain as president. "There were, therefore, two bands of conspirators con-spirators at work, each unknown to the other. I had a week to think it over, and I made up my mind to go with the mutineers. To be left on a wild coast, exposed to sickness and want, and to be mixed up with such a state of affairs as would soon prevail in the colony, was as bad as helping to runoff with the vessel. As to piracy, that was a matter which might never come up at alX We ran to the south of tho Amazon, about 150 miles, and brought up in a bay which was well sheltered on all sides. A stream of fresh water here descended to the sea, and the land was rich and tho locality evidently free from malaria. The captain and several people went off to survey the locality, and before the day was over it was decided that the colony should be located here. The people were wild to geton shore, seeming to believe that they bad found a paradise. The ship had brought out lumber lum-ber to construct houses, but the emigrants would not wait for a plonk to be unloaded. On tho second day every soul of them went ashore, and before night most of them had erected some sort of temporary cover. A night ashore among the insects and wild animals ani-mals took away much of the enthusiasm, and tho noxt day many returned to the shelter of tho ship. While the lumber, seeds, tools, and household goods were being unloaded a survey sur-vey of the land was made, and in about five days each individual was in possession of bis ground, and the first of the rude shanties were erected and inhabited. "The captain paid little or no attention to the ship. Everything favored tbo plans of the mutineers, and it was determined by them to carry off the second mate and force him to join them. The ship could have been seized ; any hour after her arrival, bat La Fount 1 wanted her clear of her useless cargo, and perhaps felt some compassion for the colonists. colo-nists. It was on the morning of the tenth day, and everything had been landed, the captain and mate wero ashore, when La Fount took command. The second ruate, when informed of what wrs on foot, made no objections to joining, and under bis directions the anchor was weighed and the Albatross stood out of the harbor. When at sea La Fount took command, the mate was mode first, and I was installed second officer. The plot hod been canvassed so often that there was little excitement ex-citement or enthusiasm. La Fount gave all to understand that he should exact discipline and obedience, and he was as good as his word. Never was there a speedier or more radical chunge in the conduct of a crew. "I do not know what La Fount's plans were, but we had held due east two days when two six pound cannon in the hold wero ordered hoisted on deck, and he went down into the after hold with a lantern to make an inspection. He had not been absent ten minutes min-utes when the ship suddenly lifted out of the water, split into a thousand fragments, and then followed a burst of flame and a terrific explosion. She had blown np. I remembered remem-bered of being lifted high in air and then lost my senses. When I came to I was clinging cling-ing to a portion of tbo mainmast, and had probably drifted for on hour or more, as no other person or wreckage was in sight. I was burned in two places and had received several wounds from missiles, and how I reached the spar and clung to it is a mystery to me. That night at J o'clock the ship Will-lam Will-lam Rogers, bound from Rio Janeiro to New York with coffee, picked me up, and for more than two weeks I was unable to leave my berth. The ship had run through the wreckage wreck-age of tho Albatross without discovering any of her crew, and, without doubt, I was tho only one who escaped. As to the colonists left behind us, tho savage natives killed off many, a war upon each other further reduced thou number, and finally, when the survivors set out to reach Para, accident, sickness, starvation and wounds put an end to tho last ones. When a government vessel was sent to bring the colonists home none could be found, aud the natives gave the details of their extinction. I am, therefore, as I have every reason to believe, the sole survivor of a colony and a ship's crow." New York Sun. A 31UT1NY. On two occasions the story of the mutiny on tbo French merchant ship Albatross bos been related in my presence by the so!o survivor, sur-vivor, and tbo particulars are to full of Interest In-terest that I am going to give the affair in full. The Albatross was a stanch, new ship of 400 tons burden, built and fitted out by a French syndicate, which had purchased, pre-einptied or stolen no ono ever knew which a large tract of land on the coast of Brazil, near the mouth of the Amazon. The idea was to send out a colony, and tbo rryudi-cato rryudi-cato published maps and pictures and various vari-ous advertisements of an alluring nature, and about &)0 poreons finally made ready to sail for this new found paradise. Each one had been promised fifty acres of land, seed for two years' crops, free native labor to build their houses aud fence tbeir farms, and the syndicate even dared claim that the government sanctioned the enterprise. The ship carried a crew of twenty-four, and was oflicored after a curious fashion. Her captain was a Spaniard, her first mate a Frenchman aud her second an Englishman, Iler crew was made up of Portuguese, Dutch, French, English, Americans and Swedes, Each officer and man was to receive re-ceive so much per month for the voyago, with from GO to 200 acres of land in the colouy as a sort of prize chromo. "It was," said William Carew, tho survivor, sur-vivor, "the worst crew I ever saw on a ship's deck. I was a youug fellow of 23, and I shipped from a spirit of adventure, having no care which way we headed nor what port wo made, I suppose the same sentiment actuated actu-ated most of the others. We were not shipped in the regular way, but picked up one by one by the syndicate or its agents. This fact, together with the promise of land in the new colony, mode each sailor a sort of partner in the enterprise, and that feeling was prejudicial prejudi-cial to good discipline. We all saw before the Albatross was ready to sail that none of our officers were competent men, and as I watched the crow go about their work I was satisfied that wo had not more than seven or eight ablo seamen aboard. Each sailor was permitted to bring on board whatever articles arti-cles ho desired, and a great many bottles of ! whisky, therefore, found their way into the forecastle. "But if tho crow was open to criticism, what can I say of the mob of colonists between be-tween decks? Thcro might have beenadozen respectable, honest men and women people who had been basely deceived by the flowery circulars of the syndicate. All the others wero the riff-raff and rabble, and not a few belonged to tho criminal classes, I think the exact uutnber of the colonists was 202. Of this number about sixty were women and twenty were children. I for one should have been better satisfied with a passenger list of 201) lunatics. Wo sailed from Havre at 8 ; o'clock in tba morning, April 21,1847, and wero roundly jeered and loudly cheered as wo moved off. The captain was in his cabin, drunk and asleep, tho first mate bad imbibed enough to render blin silly, and tbo second mmo hardly know enough to gee sail on the ship after tbo tug left us in the ofiiug. Three of the foremast bunds actually had more to do with getting tho ship ou her courso than any officer in the ship. "It was late in the afternoon before the captain and mate sobered up nnd the ship was put in order. Meanwhile the few real Bailors aboard had opportunity to size up the crew and realize what a slouch y set wo had. The passengers were an impudent, wicked lot, as wo soon bad reason to know. They knew the condition of tho captain and his mate, and would therefore pay no attention to the orders of tho third officer. Wo wero not two hours off the land when tbey began quarreling and lighting, and in an hour mora two of tbo people complained that tbey had been robbed. On the third day out twenty of the best people among the emigrants demanded of the captain that ho should put them aboard the first vessel spoken, no matter to what part of the world she was bound. Luckily for them on that very day wo ran bead on to a French ship bound to Havre, and tho emigrants mado , terms and were taken aboard. These twenty I wero probably tho only honest people in tho whole lot. After tbey had gone, tbo conduct . of tho others was simply outrageous. Had we bad tbo right sort of a captain, everything every-thing would havo gono smoothly, but he was constantly under tbo influence of drink, and when reasonably sober was in close communication communi-cation wltb three or four of tho emigiants the most villainous of the lot. As we finally camo to know, they wero conspiring against the syndicate and perfecting plans for tbeir own aggrandisement. Our captain was, it api'oarcd, not only an egotist, but a political demagogue. His dream was to found a colony or republic and become its ruler, uud this idia was fostered and encour- aged by a coterio who also had personal axes to grind. Never was a ship taken so completely com-pletely into tho bands of Providence. During tho (lrst two weeks out wo were twice on firo by the carelessness of tho emigrants, but t.ho flames wero subdued without serious damage. Day after day we had favoring winds, and made good progress, aud the ship seemed to take care of herself, independent of the ofilcers. Indue time we reached tbo Capo Verde Islands. Tbnt locality was comparatively compara-tively unknown then, and the captain and bis schemers bad a mind to take possession of one of tho islands. We were at anchor a week wbilo tbey wero looking around, but they had to abandon their idea. Some of tbo emigrants bvcumo suspicious, called a meeting of all, aud for a couple of Hays terror reigned aboard. Thoso who had started for tho Amazon in good faith wanted to continue thevoyugoat onco, and threats were made to take possession of the ship in case the anchor was not weighed. On tho day before wo left forty of the emigrant, being again tho most respectable portion, becaruo alarmed at the outlook, and took all their belongings and wont on shore. The captain attempted to prevent this move, but tho men wero armed and determined, and carried their point. They landed on one of the small outlying Islands, plentifully supplied sup-plied with fruits and water, and three mouths later every oue was overwhelmed by tbo tidal wavo, which roiled across tho Atluntio from tbo const of Africa. ' Wo bad no sooner left the Islands than our troubles aboard increased. A portion of tho emigrants were (or returning to Franco, white the remainder were determined to pro-coed pro-coed to the Amazon. These two factious were constantly quarreling and lighting, and in tbeir fracases three or tour wero severely wounded. Tho crow was also divided. The laxity of discipline hud made tbo men impudent impu-dent and lazy, and we had not left tbo Islands three days bohiud us when I was mado nwnro of a plot to capture tbo ship nnd turn her into a pi rate. Ibo conspiracy was headed bv ix Frenchman named La Fount, 1 who was not only tho oldest man In years i:noiiT the crew, but proKibly tho l-.ot sailor. lie could take an observation, work out dead I rtvkonin::, and was an ambitious, energetic man, although a thonni-jhly bad ono, A I mi! or becomes a plotter if his hands are idlo. In these days every foremast hand knows I that a pirate craft could not sail any sea for j a work without being overhauled, but In tho-so far back yeare we had uo ocean tclo- j t graph and few steamship hues. There were 1 plenty of uncharted islands, and tho chance for success as a rover seemed very good. I,a Fount made a plain statement to me, seeming to have no fear that I might betray him, or . fciat I would disagree with hiru. Tha ship was to bo allowed to roach the Amazon, tba people put ashore, nod tho Albatross was i then to bo seized and sailed away. Thcro was to bo no bloodshed if it could bo prevented, pre-vented, neither in the neizu.ro nor in the future fu-ture career of tho craft. My name- was I placed on tho list of mutineers as second I mate, and I was told that every man of the I crow, outside of tho officers, had agreed to j tho project. I soon found this to bo tho case, j "Under other circumstances I should have ; gono Ui the cabin and made a clean breast of . tho plot to tbo captain. Ind.vd, that was my first thought, but I quickly alviudoiicd it. In the first place, be would not have believed me, and in tbo next ho wns not tho man to copa with a mutiny. To have told the mates would not have bclied tho case, and to have tuken any of the emigrants into my coud-: coud-: dauoe would uav urcipiUite4 tU mutter. |