Fate Of Other Boats.

Another account of the disaster tells how one of the life-boats was swamped, and the third life-boat (in charge of Mr. Webber, third mate) was picked up by a vessel and the men taken to the Falkland Islands. They were adrift for twenty-one days, and suffered terribly. To save themselves from starvation the men in Mr. Webber's boat killed the ship's dog, a retriever, and they drank its blood. Eventually only three men survived. On board the boat was also several boxes of gold that had formed part of the Bluejacket's valuable cargo. Whether this was taken into the lifeboat for ballast is not known, but the men broke open one of the boxes and sucked the ingots to allay their thirst, just as men suck pebbles.

When the boat was picked up the rescuers, seeing the bloodstains, and also the gold, came to the conclusion that there had been foul play, and that there had been mutiny and murder. They disbelieved the story told by the castaways, and clapped the men in irons. Eventually news came through of the saving of the passengers and others in the Bluejacket's cutter, and Mr. Webber and his men were released.

This Mr. Webber, afterwards Captain Webber, later came out to Sydney, where he commanded several vessels, and then became secretary of the Royal Shipwreck Relief and Humane Society, and he died there in October of 1921.

About two years after the disaster the figurehead of the Blue Jacket was washed ashore on an island off Fremantle, West Australia. On each side of the figurehead was a scroll saying, "Keep a sharp look-out."