“THIRST ON AN ISLAND – Water, Water All Around, But Not A Drop To Drink – Terrible Experience of Five Portuguese Fishermen on TODOS SANTOS Island Near Ensenada – Their Two Companions Probably Drowned Last Sunday – A story of death and disaster was telegraphed to this city from Ensenada yesterday. Mr. MANUEL JOSEPH, a Portuguese, and Mr. Ignacio Comacho, a Mexican, are believed to have been drowned near the entrance to Ensenada Bay by the capsizing of the sloop ‘NAUTILUS’ of this city, and five Portuguese on Todos Santos Island, who were dependent upon the return of the sloop from Ensenada with provisions and fresh water, were nearly dead from thirst when rescued Wednesday night by a boat’s crew sent out from Ensenada by the collector of the port, the Signal Officer on the hill near Ensenada having by means of a glass (i.e. telescope – ed.) made a flag on a flat little island ten miles to the westward.
When the boat arrived at the island the five men were nearly dead from thirst, and could scarcely speak. They were on the alert, however, and although it was dark, when the boat pulled up in a little cove of the island, the Portuguese were at the beach and begged for water. Their voices were weak and unsteady, and in their anxiety to procure some of the precious fluid, some of the men wept like children.
The Mexicans in the boat did not know positively until this greeting of the Portuguese that there were any shipwrecked men on the island, and were greatly startled to suddenly come upon five men so plainly near death’s door. A demijohn (a wide, often glass and narrow-necked, container holding 3 or more gallons – ed.) of water was quickly passed out to them, and the inherent law of self-preservation was pitifully apparent in the eager desire of each of the five men to be first to drink. The water choked them at first, but within a few minutes all had been satisfied. The men so narrowly saved from death were: A. GALLEGOS, T. CAMACHO, A. SOSA (aka. Sousa? – ed.), JOSE CAMACHO and another whose name was not learned. All but one or two are residents of LA PLAYA, the Portuguese fishing hamlet on San Diego Bay.
To their rescuers, who took the men to Ensenada within an hour or two after their rescue, the Portuguese told the story of their experiences. They had gone down to Ensenada from San Diego to gather abalone shells and meat, landing on Todos Santos Island, a few miles out from Ensenada. Their sloop, the ‘Nautilus’, continued to Ensenada, and after taking on supplies and water, left there on October 1st for the island. The following day, having left the supplies with the five men named, the ‘Nautilus’ left again for Ensenada in charge of Manuel Joseph and Ignacio Camacho. A heavy gale was blowing at the time, which was between 2:00 and 3:00 o’clock in the afternoon. When about four miles from the island the men on shore saw the sloop suddenly disappear, but as the weather was somewhat hazy they attached no importance to the incident. They went into camp on the northernmost island, fully expecting the ‘Nautilus’ to return the next day.
The sloop did not return, however, and becoming desperate those of the five men who could swim crossed the channel to the other island, guiding an improvised raft upon which their companions safely made the trip across. The men were already suffering for water, and they raised a large red blanket in the hope that it would bring assistance. Their third day without water had passed when the steamer ‘St. Denis’, on her way from San Quintin to Ensenada, passed a short distance from the island; but to their utter dismay no one on the steamer appeared to have seen their signal, and the vessel continue on to Ensenada. Upon arriving at that place, however, the Chief Officer of the ‘St. Denis’, upon being questioned by the Signal Officer of the port, admitted that he had indeed seen a red flag on the island, but believed that it had been put up by abalone gatherers to mark their camp, and consequently gave it no further thought. The Mexican Collector of Customs feared that the crew of the ‘Nautilus’ were in distress, however, and his prompt action in sending a boat’s crew to the island resulted in saving the lives of all the five men. The Chief Officer of the ‘St. Denis’ also stated that he saw what appeared to be a small sloop near the island, but the rescued Portuguese firmly believe that the ‘Nautilus’ went down with their two companions. The beach near Ensenada is being patrolled by government officers in the expectation that the bodies of Camacho and Joseph will be washed ashore.”
(*Source: San Diego Union & DAILY BEE newspaper – Friday, October 7, 1898 – Pg. 8)