THE WRECK OF THE BITTERN. - ADVENTURES OF THE CREW. [BY SPECIAL WIRE.] (FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT.) SYDNEY, THURSDAY. - The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) - 15 May 1885 (original) (raw)

Tho ASN Co 's steamship % îctoriti vv Inch

arrived in port late last night brought the

captain and crew of the three masted schooner

Bittern, which was wrecked on Browse

Island on tho 10th March, and was totally

lost The Bittern was a wooden vessel of

317 tons ¡she hailed from St John s New

Brunswick, and was commanded by Captain

A Bergman, who had with him his wife, a

crew of eight, and one passenger-John

Mann. His vessel was chartered in Ade

laido to take a cargo of jarrah piles from

Hamlyn Western Australia to Port Darwin,

where they were to be used for the construe

Tino weather prevailed until the 19th

March, when thick hazy weather set in

'J he ship suddenly struck on a corni reef, and

began bumping <-o heavilj that fears were

entertained thnt bhe would break up before

morning As boon ns possible the anchors

were got out, and even means was used to

kedge tho vessel oil, but without avail At

da)light it was found that the vessel lind

gone ashore on the north west sitie

of Browso Island, on which no fewer

than six vessels nro known to have

been lost during the past few jears,

the locality being a ver) dangerous one,

badly charted and the island being so

low ns to be nlmost undistingmshnblo even

from a short distance. lho Bittern was

found to be m such a state, her keel being

carried atvnj, and the vv nter increasing in the

hold so rapidly, that it was decided to

abandon her 'lho boats were got out and

provisioned, and the captain, his wife, and

the crew, vv ith a portion of their effects, left

the ill fated vessel for tho island, which was

about J, mile distant The passage was a

dangerous one, but vv as accomplished safely

The island is almost destituto of \ egetation,

and there is no water vvhntever on it, but birds

eggs are plentiful A\ ith regard to vvnter the

outlook was not cheering A strict search

over the island disclosed the painful fact that

there was not a drop to bo found und as the

<iuantit) brought ashore wns limited, it wns

fenred thnt unless rain fell the sufferings ot

the pnrty might become serious One of the

men, how over, more ingenious than hu fel-

lows, succeeded in making n condenser,

which vv orked adrmrnb!), and produced more

?water than the party could uso Tents were

erected, and ever) one settled down to make

the best of his position After being 10 dnvs

on the island, and no nssistnnco being forth

coming, Captain Bergman, determined to

take one of the bonts nnd go to Icing Sound,

the nearest civilised place about 1G0 miles

Next day he and his wifo nnd four of the

crew took one of the bonts which wnssupphed

with provisions and water, and started on

their perilous vo)age lortunatel) the wea

tiver proved fine and the) succeeded in

reaching their destination at the end of six

da)s, but not without n great deal of dis

comfort and even suffering As soon as

possible, Captain Bergman chartered a cutter

nnd started back for Browse Island, to relieve

the mate and the rest of the crow In the

meantime however, these had been picked

up b) the steamship Victoria, nnd brought

on to S)dne) On Brow bo Island there

is a grnveynrd, containing the remains of

six men all jouug fellows and nil Lnghsh

men Tour of them were drowned, nnd two

died from other causes The hulls of no

fewer than six -vessels arc also scnttered

nbout, some of them having been Bailing

?vessels and some steamers.