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The Last Voyage of His Majesty's Transport Phyllis, 1795
       
by Henry K. Gibbons

2006





The Phyllis goes Ashore

    The wind was now blowing from the southeast and had developed into a strong gale. With close reefed fore and main top sails the vessel was making more than ten knots, sailing westward.

    On Monday October 12, with the wind varying between south and southeast the Captain continued to sail close to a lee shore which left little room to maneuver if a breaker which indicated a shoal  was  sighted by the lookout, or the wind would change direction or the ship would become becalmed and drift on shore. The Captain was attempting to sail through the bottleneck between Cape North in Nova Scotia and Cape Ray in Newfoundland and reach the Gulf of  St. Lawrence before dark. This would give him clear sailing to his destination at Quebec.

    The Mate suggested to Capt. Passmore the necessity of changing course a point or two to the southwest to avoid any danger from the rocky coast but the Captain refused. At 4: 00 p m the wind became light variable and calm at times and by 7 p m the ship began to drift towards the shore with the noise of the sea breaking against the rocks clearly heard on board the vessel.
   
     Fear gripped the crew and passengers alike. The people who were able to overcome fear of the unknown and were strong would survive, the others would perish. The children and the weak would also die.

    At 8: 30 p m the noise of the waves breaking on the rocks became louder to the people on the Phyllis and the foam from the breakers could  be seen through the  darkness. The crew were now in the process of dropping the anchor in an attempt to prevent the ship from going ashore. It was soon found that the anchor was unable to hold because the bottom was bedrock. It was  now 10:00 p. m.

The Attempt to Reach Shore