Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 2.djvu/58

42 government had incarcerated them in the prison cells, and going on board the Annie Warren, of Stonington, Connecticut, which was lying in the offing—for there was no harbor—had compelled the captain to carry them to the Chili Coast. He was then permitted to return to his anchorage at the island, where he ascertained that the wives of the convicts had released the officers, who, in turn, being alarmed at the demeanor of the women, had enticed them into the prison and locked them up.. Such was the state of affairs when the Sultana came to anchor, and having no authority to interfere, Captain Lambert took on some water and fruit and proceeded on his course to Bow Island, where he arrived in little over a month from San Juan Fernandez, intending to land for fresh water and provisions, but was deterred by the threatening appearance of the natives, who were armed and assembled in large numbers upon the beach. Continuing his voyage, at 2 o'clock on the morning of the twenty-ninth of February, the Sultana ran onto the then undiscovered reef which has since borne her name, and being on the weather side rapidly filled with water. Preparations were immediately made for landing and getting provisions ashore before the heavy swells of a few hours later should render it impossible. By noon, after a hard battle with the surf and the suction from the wreck, all were safely landed with such necessary articles as the men could carry ashore by sinking under the great rollers and coming up on the tail end of them. Tents were erected and the ship's company went into camp.

So here, after a long voyage, were the Sultana's crew and Captain Nathaniel Wyeth's Indian goods, with which he expected to enter into a competition with the Hudson's Bay Company and the American Fur Com-