Journal of a Cruise of the United States Schooner Dolphin
9781465683137
213 pages
Library of Alexandria
Overview
In the year 1824, the crew of a whale ship, called the Globe, belonging to the island of Nantucket, mutinied while in the Pacific Ocean, murdered the officers in latitude about eight degrees south, longitude one hundred and sixty degrees west, and carried the ship to the Mulgrave Islands, where it was proposed by the chief mutineers to burn her, and form a settlement. Here they landed a great part of the stores, sails, rigging, &c.; but some of the crew, who had no part in the mutiny, taking advantage of the others' being on shore, cut the cables, just at the dusk of evening, and, making sail, stood out to sea with a fine breeze. The mutineers pursued the ship, as soon as they discovered she was underway, but, finding that she outsailed them, they soon gave up the chase, and returned to the shore. The nautical instruments of every description had been taken on shore by order of the mutineers, so that the people on board of the Globe were left to traverse a vast ocean, studded with islands, and rocks, and reefs, where currents are frequent, strong, and variable, without any other guide by which to direct their course than the stars and prevailing winds. The Mulgrave Islands are situated in north latitude six degrees, east longitude one hundred and seventy. three degrees; and although the passage of the Globe was very long, she arrived safely at Valparaiso, where the crew informed the American Consul of the events that had transpired. It was unfortunately at a period when our commerce, on the coast of the Pacific, required for its protection all the naval force we had at the time on that station, and no measures were taken to bring the offenders to answer for their crimes, until some months after the Globe had returned to the United States. Information of the occurrence having been communicated to the secretary of the navy, he, in 1825, directed Commodore Hull, then commanding our squadron in the Pacific Ocean, to despatch the United States schooner Dolphin, in search of such of the mutineers as had been left at the Mulgraves. Besides the importance of bringing the guilty to punishment, for the sake of example,—humanity for the suffering condition of the innocent, that had been left by those who escaped, dictated that something should be done for their relief. Accordingly on the 18th of August, 1825, the Dolphin sailed from Chorillos, on the coast of Peru, under the command of Lieutenant Percival, who was directed, preparatory to his departure from the coast, to stop at some convenient place for such refreshments as might be necessary for the cruise. On the day following, we stood into the harbour of Casma, and anchored, when we fired several guns, as signals, to acquaint the people in the interior of the arrival of a stranger that wanted their aid. It was not long before we had the satisfaction of seeing a number of people, who had made their appearance in obedience to the signal. A few moments' conversation with them, satisfied us that our wants could not be supplied here. Wood might have been obtained, but the water was neither good, nor convenient to be got at, and all other things that we were in want of, could only be procured at the most extravagant prices.
