Wheeling Register

HARDSHIP AT SEA.

TERRIBLE TALE OF STARVATION AND SUFFERING.

A Crew of Twelve Men Out of Food for Nine Days—A Dog Saves Their Lives—The Remarkable Influx of Foreigners Into Our Country.

MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE.

ROUGH TIME AT SEA.

Sailors Living on Dogs and Leather.

New York, April 11.—The steamer Nebo from Rio Janeiro arrived to-day, and reports to have fell in with the bark Tiger, from Liverpool for Baltimore, seventy-seven days out, which was short of provisions and they supplied her. Her crew were in a most deplorable condition, having sustained life for several days on stubs of leather soaked in lamp oil till the oil gave out, and then on the captain's dog, after which there was nothing but cannibalism and death staring them in the face. To add to their sufferings, two vessels passed several days before within a short distance, but paid no attention to their signals of distress.

As the steamer Nebo came up with the Tiger they saw the latter lowering a boat. After some moments of hard struggling she came alongside, the occupants dressed in skins and evidently very weak. "What do you want?" sang out Captain Gordon.

"We are starving to death, we are starving to death," exclaimed the man in the stern, excitedly. "Did you say you were starving?" demanded the captain again in surprise. "Yes, we are starving; see, this is all we have had to eat for nine days." He held aloft the skin of a dog and one of the men held up a piece of boat leather. "God help us," exclaimed Captain Gordon, "come on board right away and we will do what we can for you."

A ladder was lowered and the men helped aboard the Nebo and given food. The commander of the Tiger, a young German, told the captain of the Nebo that he had been 124 days out from Liverpool with a cargo of common salt, and he had been in a most dreadful condition. He was bound for Baltimore and made Cape Henry early in January and was blown off from shore into the Gulf stream; from there he had been tossed hither and thither by the winds and currents. He had twelve men before the mast, all of whom had displayed the utmost fortitude under the most trying circumstances. Provisions gave out a month ago—beef gave out first and then the bread; nine days ago, that is, nine days before spoken of by Capt. Nebo, the last drop of water was drank, and then three days later everything, even to boots and shoes, had been devoured; they were literally without bite or sip.

The Captain's Dog Had Been Killed, Skinned and Eaten, then lots were cast for the cat. The poor beast was saved by the captain himself, who besought the men not to destroy it. The starving men spared the cat, cut up their boots, soaked the strips in lamp oil and ate them. This horrible food gave out, and then the poor wretches eyed each other suspiciously and hungrily, and would have killed the cat could they have found it, but the captain hid it, and their pangs of hunger were unappeased for five days.

Some of the men meditated suicide. God knows how many of them thought of murder and cannibalism. Had the steamer not come to the rescue, the captain of the Tiger said he thought something more terrible than starvation would have been enacted on board.

The Nebo sent a month's provisions on board. When the first boat load arrived the mate leaped on the Tiger eating a biscuit. He was pounced upon by his shipmates, who literally fought like dogs for the cracker.

Then they rushed on the other provisions and tore them the same as famished wolves might have done. The officer of the Nebo adds: We got provisions on board and set them at large once more. They shook the reefs out of their top-sails, set their top-gallant sails and steered in our wake. The wind was right aft, but the vessel's bottom was so full of barnacles she could not make much headway. She was able to get along, however, and when last we saw her she was signaling adieu and thanks.