Matthew Curtis - a general history

On 14 September 1881 Matthew Curtis left Calcutta bound for Dundee with a cargo of 2,000 tons of jute & a crew of 27. On 30 November, finding himself well off course, the master decided to head for East Africa to land 32 miles south of Cape Guardafui. At about 1am on 3 October in dense fog the vessel struck south of Ras Jerred Haffun. They jettisoned some of the cargo but were stuck fast. When the fog cleared they found they were only 30 feet from the beach where there were a number of natives assembled. On them attempting to swim out the vessel the master fired his revolver to scare them. They disappeared for a while but then returned armed in various ways & making threatening gestures. Two of them swam out to the ship & were taken on board. A Greek seaman who had a smattering of the Arabic language spoke to them & it appeared they were quite friendly & not averse to the English. The other natives stayed on the beach picking up the cargo. The master was concerned that when it became dark the natives would attack so he decided to abandon ship. The whole crew left the ship in four boats to make for Aden. At 1am on 4 October they were picked up by a French mail steamer Godavery which landed them at the Seychelle Islands from where they sailed back to England. The master’ certificate was suspended for 6 months for improper navigation.  Apparently, in 1873, the John Dryden was wrecked & abandoned on the same coast & the master, Forster, had later stated that the natives were friendly & hospitable & had posed no threat to his crew. No lives lost.

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