In One Ear: Life at sea

Published 12:15 am Thursday, June 20, 2024

From The Daily Morning Astorian, June 21, 1885:

“The British bark Western Belle … was abandoned by her crew … (who) were picked up by Captain Howard of the Bolivian barque Remijio, who landed them at Levnka, in the Fiji islands.

“(He) also rescued the captain and 12 of the crew of the brig Nightingale of Auckland, after they had been in an open boat for six days, living on biscuit and water, having left their vessel in a water-logged condition.”

From The Daily Alta California, Dec. 21, 1887:

Aboard the Remijio, just before arriving in port a young sailor was seized with a “homicidal mania” and tried to kill a seaman (who escaped) with a hammer. Then he headed for the kitchen, and tried to butcher the cook with a cleaver.

The officers and crew responded to the cook’s screams and, infuriated, the sailor turned on them slashing “in a most horrible manner,” leaving several badly injured, and the cook in critical condition, before he jumped overboard and drowned.

Note: The Remijio, a “maritime curiosity” made of oak, was probably built before 1750, and changed names and owners several times before the 1880s. Its fate is unknown. (Lithograph: Thomas G. Dutton)