Cyrus_1838
British Southern Voyage
| WRI | BV022095 |
| Vessel | Cyrus |
| Master | Sprally / Richard Spratly / Spratley |
| Departure | 1838-05-28 |
| Return (days) | 1841-07-03 (1133) |
| Port (dock) | London |
| Destination | Timor (Timor; Moluccas) |
| East/ West | East |
| Owner (Agent) | W. Ive (Wadell) |
| Cargo | Full ship - 121 whales [450 casks?] |
| Sources | SST1; SST2; SST3; LOG SHERMAN 1324; BT98 64/12372 |
| Reports | At Timor late November 1838; at Kema late February 1839; reported 28 October 1839 in the Straits of Macassar 20 June 1839 with 600 barrels and seven fish alongside to Medea for supplies; at Kema 25 September to 18 October 1839; at Hummock [Balut] Island in February 1840; at Celebes 22 June to July 1840; at Kema 11 to 29 September 1840; at Geby [Gebe] 4 to 27 October 1840;at Bouton [Buton] January 1841 where whale teeth were valuable; reported 1 December 1840 out 25 months with 1550 barrels; reported 22 June 1841 from Java in Lat 34 S Long 36 E; at Cape Town 14 April 1841 |
| Notes | In 1840 the Cyrus was sailing through Manado, on Sulawesi when they became the witness to an attack by a local sultan on the Erskine Murray's yacht Young Queen captained by Captain Hait and the brig Anne captained by Captain Lewis. An account of the incident was published in the Sydney Shipping Gazette. According to accounts by the crew, on 24 February 1841, the Cyrus anchored at Kema Roads, Celebes with a valuable cargo of whale oil. The next day the crew went ashore, but returned a few men short. Two of them, Heron and Robson, were spotted and told to return but fled from shore after they were confronted only to return later on the 28th. Crew members Howland and Heron went missing on 2 March. Finally on 3 March, after much searching and drunken antics on the Dutch occupied island, the Cyrus sailed back to England without the missing crew members. Upon returning to Great Britain following another cruise in 1844, the crew was summoned to a hearing by William Heron's mother. The incident had not been well documented and there was not enough evidence to suggest one way or the other if Captain Spratly was guilty of abandoning the two crew members from the previous voyage so no trial followed. ** In 1842 the Morning Post, Saturday 26 November 1842, published the following information provided by Captain Spratley, The Sooloo Islands, Captain Spratley says, are very imperfectly laid down in the charts ... and his ship was aground Lat 1:54 N? Long 119:8 E on a reef ... but could not see Maratua. |
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