rdly attempt to destroy a
valuable ship and cargo and a company of souls numbering two hundred
and ten, though there seems little reason to doubt that the man was
mad. It is certain that but for the fortunate circumstance of young
Peploe lying hidden in the lazarette the ship's stern or side would
have been blown out, and she must have gone down like a stone, carrying
all hands with her. On the passengers in due course being apprised of
their narrow escape, a purse of a hundred guineas was subscribed and
presented by his Excellency to young Peploe. The captain granted him a
free passage and provided him with a comfortable outfit from the ship's
slop-chest. It is also understood that some situation under the
Government has been promised to Mr. William Peploe in consideration of
the extraordinary service rendered on this memorable occasion."

My next quotation is from the pages of the Nautical Magazine, dated two
years subsequent to the publication of the above in the Australian
paper:--

"A bottle was picked up in March last upon the beach of Terceira, one
of the Azores, containing a paper bearing a narrative which, unless it
be a hoax, seems to throw some light on the mysterious affair of the
Huntress, for the particulars of which we refer our readers to our
volume of last year. The paper, as transmitted by the British Consul,
is as follows:--

"Ship _Huntress_. At sea, such and such a data, 1853.

"I, who am known on board this vessel as John Howland, am the writer of
this document. Twenty years ago I was unjustly sentenced to a term of
transportation across seas, and my treatment at Norfolk Island was such
that I vowed by the God who made me to be revenged on the man who,
acting on the representation of his creatures, had caused me to be sent
from Hobart Town to that hellish penal settlement. That man, with his
wife and children, attended by a suite, is a passenger in this ship,
and I have concerted my plan to dispatch him and those who may be dear
to him to that Devil to whom the wretch consigned my soul when he
ordered me to be sent as a further punishment to Norfolk Island. The
destruction of this ship is ensured. Nothing can avert it. A barrel
of gunpowder was stowed by well-bribed hands in the East India Docks in
the lazarette, to which part of the hold access is easy by means of a
small trap door. I am writing this three-quarters of an hour before I
proceed to the execution of my scheme, and th