the wreck
Communty News & Events
Well, it has been another interesting day. The revenue and navy ships have returned from Castellemare and taken up patrolling once again. More of our Guardia have come back and can be put to work clearing up the beach. We have been putting items of cargo and personal items from crew or passengers that we find into the old Fortezza for safekeeping.
We did have a few men who had been on the island the day after the storm, and they had been looking for survivors or bodies. No casualties were found but on Sunday, they did find a girl, a sardinian, who claimed to have been on the ship. Once they got her fed and warmed up by the fire at the taverna, however, she ran off, and has not been seen since. And this afternoon, Capitano Helendale, myself, and a Guardia man named Humbridge found another passenger from the ship sheltering (or hiding?) in the caverns under the big villa. It was an oriental gentleman who claimed to be a Chinese diplomat on his way to Napoli. He is very well spoken and may indeed be a diplomat, but I suspect it is more likely he is merchant, probably in the silk trade judging by the number of chests of silken fabric that have floated ashore from the wreck. Nonetheless, one must err on the side of caution, and he will be treated with the courtesy due to a gentleman in diplomatic service. I will see if Capitano Helendale can take him to Napoli, as one way or the other, the authorities will wish to speak with him.
The Chinese man did confirm for us that the ship was French-owned and officered, apparently named the "Galante."
The men of the Guardia also reported that among those who seem to have spending a great deal of time around the beach and observing the wreck and the debris floating ashore, have been Signora Piozzi, Donna Lorsange, and Don Mercurio. Their comments about Signor Gandt were that he seemed to be acting in a very suspicious manner and appeared to be armed.
There is a good chance that the "Galante"was in fact a smuggler's ship. She is a two-masted hermaphrodite brig, a fast sailing style of vessel, with a cargo that appears to have included primarily brandy, tobacco and silk -- three of the items that are most heavily taxed upon import into the Kingdom of Napoli. That does not mean that it was definitely an illegal cargo -- the goods would not have acquired that status until an attempt was made to land them ashore without paying the necessary duties and getting proper documentation. Nonetheless, the likelihood is increased because of what the cargo was, and the absence of officers and crew -- other than the now vanished Sardinian girl and the unfortunate Chinese fellow. There is also the fact that they may have been trying to slip through under cover of the storm that had driven the patrol vessels to safe havens.
When dawn comes we will have to see about finishing the collection of debris and floating cargo containers. I should see if the Capitanos Zeffirelli or Helendale will provide a stout boat and skilled oarsmen to make a run out to the wreck and perhaps set fire to what is left: I am worried that less skilled boat handlers may try to get out and loot the hulk further, and I am sure that any who are so greedy and foolish as to do so will survive the difficult currents and eddies around those rocks only through the intervention of Providence.
