By John Conroy Hutcheson
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A well-written nautical novel by J.C. Hutcheson. The "Nancy
Bell" appears to be a well-found ship, on its way out from
the United Kingdom to New Zealand, but she is beset early
on by a severe storm which leaves her rudderless and
mastless. One of the passengers was an ex Royal Navy
Commander who, for some reason, was travelling incognito.
He had offered the Captain advice which was rejected as the
Captain thought it came from a landsman. Very possibly,
had he heeded that advice, the whole train of disasters
might not have occurred.
Hutcheson has a habit of introducing characters who speak
in their own form of English. In this case he has a
Jamaican, an Irishman, and a Yankee, all speaking with
their own native versions of the language. For good
measure there is also a Norwegian, who has to make himself
understood in a mixture of German and English. All this
makes for a rather difficult book to transcribe, but I hope
we have got it right.
Eventually the vessel is wrecked just off Kerguelen Island,
where the crew and passengers land and build themselves a
shelter to take them through the winter. There had been a
mutiny just before the wreck, and some of the crew had
landed elsewhere, but eventually one or two men who had not
been the actual mutineers, but who had got caught up in
events, make their way back to the main party.
When spring arrives they make their way to the other side
of Kerguelen Island, by a route which includes an overland
traverse by boat, portaging where necessary. Eventually a
vessel comes in, and they are saved.
Hutcheson is very good at getting his characters to appear
quite real, and for this reason he is a good author to
follow.
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THE WRECK OF THE NANCY BELL;
OR, CAST AWAY ON KERGUELEN LAND
by JOHN CONROY HUTCHESON