THRILLING NARRATIVES
OF
MUTINY, MURDER AND PIRACY,

A WEIRD SERIES OF

Tales of Shipwreck and Disaster,

FROM THE EARLIEST PART OF THE CENTURY TO THE PRESENT TIME,

WITH ACCOUNTS OF

Providential Escapes

AND

HEART-RENDING FATALITIES.

NEW YORK:
HURST & CO., Publishers,
122 NASSAU ST.

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PREFACE.

Shipwreck may be ranked among the greatestevils which man can experience. It is never voidof danger, frequently of fatal issue, and invariablyproductive of regret. It is one against which thereis the least resource, where patience, fortitude andingenuity are in most cases, unavailing, except toprotract a struggle with destiny, which, at length,proves irresistible.

But amidst the myriads unceasingly swallowedup by the deep, it is not by the numbers that weare to judge of the miseries endured. Hundredsmay at once meet an instantaneous fate, hardlyconscious of its approach, while a few individualsmay linger out existence, daily in hope of succor,and at length be compelled to the horrible alternativeof preying on each other for the support of life.Neither is it by the Narratives about to be giventhat we are to calculate on the frequency of shipwreck.It is an event that has been of constantoccurrence since a period long anterior to what theearliest records can reach. In England it is calculatedthat about 5000 natives of the British Islesyearly perish at sea.

This perpetual exposure to peril, however, materiallycontributes to the formation of character, andhence are sailors preeminently distinguished bycourage, endurance, and ready invention. Habituatedto the instability of the ocean, they make littleaccount of danger, and are invariably the first in[Pg vi]matters of the most daring enterprise. Incessantlysubjected to toil, they labor long and patiently withoutmurmur, and the prompt and vigorous measureswhich are indispensable to their security, teachthem the immediate application of whatever meansare within their power.

A natural desire to know the fate of their fellowcreatures seems implanted in the breast of mankind,and the most powerful sympathies are excited bylistening to the misfortunes of the innocent. Torecord some impressive examples of calamity, orunlooked for deliverance, is the object of thesepages; and it will be seen of what astonishingadvantage are the virtues of decision, temperance,perseverance and unwavering hope in moments ofextreme peril and despair.

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CONTENTS.