THE LOSS OF THE AUSTRALIA: a narrative of the loss of the brig Australia, by fire, on her voyage from Leith to Sydney

THE LOSS OF THE AUSTRALIA: A narrative of the loss of the brig Australia, by fire, on her voyage from Leith to Sydney, with an account of the sufferings, religious exercises, and final rescue of the crew and passengers, was written by the Captain, Adam Yule and Edited by The Rev. James R. McGavin. Published in New York in 1853. (108 pages)

Contents:

Preface — List of the Crew and Passengers — Chapter I. The Voyage and Catastrophe — Chapter II. The Sufferings in the Boats — Chapter III. The Forlorn Landing — Chapter IV. The Melancholy March Through the Wilderness — Chapter V. The Rescue

Preface by the Editor

.....The short and simple narrative which is introduced to public notice in the following pages, is a plain statement of facts; and is submitted with unaffected diffidence, as an humble memorial of "the loving kindness of the Lord, and his great goodness," in a season of extremity. The only preface which can be necessary in a publication so inconsiderable, is to certify its authenticity, by avowing the name and affixing the responsibility of the author.
.....The following simple history of the narrative will, it is presumed, be sufficient to remove all scruples as to its truthfulness and reality. In the summer of 1844, Captain Adam Yule, of Dundee, committed into my hands a large manuscript, containing the substance of the following pages, with a request that I would use my utmost freedom with the materials, and give them to the world in any form that was most agreeable to myself. I learned that he had drawn up his account at the Cape of Good Hope, immediately after the occurrences detailed had happened, and that he had consigned it on his return to this country, into the hands of a venerable friend, who had retained it for two years, without finding the leisure necessary to correct and prepare it for publication. In the execution of the trust reposed in me, I considered it proper to reconstruct the narrative out of the materials with which I was furnished; retaining, at the same time, every important incident in its place, and in no case suppressing the utterance of the devout experience of the writer. For the fidelity with which I have adhered to the original facts, I hold myself responsible alike to Captain Yule and to the Christian public; and I am happy to acknowledge that I have received, both from himself and from several of his fellow-survivors in that disastrous voyage, the most pleasing assurances of the truthfulness of the statements. It is necessary that, in such circumstances, I should exonerate Captain Yule from all responsibility as to the manner in which these facts are now submitted to the public,—as I must be content, undividedly, to bear whatever censure criticism may condescend to offer on the literature of this publication.
.....The Editor dismisses his humble labors with satisfaction, that he has been permitted to aid in rearing this simple tribute on behalf of a class of men who must always hold a warm place in his interest and affections; and whose perilous sacrifices of personal comfort and of religious opportunities, in their calling, entitle them to the cordial sympathy of all Christians. He accompanies the brief narrative with his prayers, that it may be the instrument of spiritual benefit to many souls, and may fulfill the only design in its publication, in promoting piety among sailors, and confirming the promise of God, "that He is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth."
JAMES R. McGAVIN. Dundee, December. 1845.

Excerpts:

.....About five o'clock the skiff hailed us, and communicated the melancholy tidings that the lad John Chisholm was dead. This was the first breach made among us, and it fell among our wasting company like a forerunner of our own fate. We were all closely "round the grave's devouring mouth," and now that it had found its first victim, we felt assured that others would follow. George Peat, in our boat, was only in life, and several persons in both boats were visibly sinking fast into the same unconscious state. I felt this visitation bitterly, as I was in full hope of reaching land in a few hours, and was sustained—by the signal mercy hitherto enjoyed—in the pleasing expectation that "God would have given us the lives of all who sailed with us."
.....The boat, which seemed to our view like a messenger of mercy, approached within hail, when, with due precaution, it halted, and to our delightful surprise a voice in the English language demanded to know who we were, and what was our business. We immediately declared our doleful story, when the party landed without farther ceremony, and told us that we had come among a Christian people. The meeting was most affecting on either side; it was with difficulty that our people, in the ecstasy of rescue, could refrain from falling down at the....