Some possible explanations of why the crew abandoned the ship.

Amazingly, all of these have been suggested at some time.

1. There was water in the hold. The crew panicked and abandoned the ship because they thought it was going to sink. (Why? The captain was very experienced, and the ship was in good condition. The water-pumps were working.)

2. The child fell into the sea. The mother jumped in to save her. They launched a lifeboat to rescue her. (All of them? Why?)

3. One of the barrels of alcohol was damaged. Perhaps there was a small explosion. The hatch cover was off, either because of the explosion or to let the gas escape. They thought all the cargo might explode. (But not much evidence of an explosion.)

4. The last log entry was 1000 km west, near Santa Maria Island. Maybe the ship was in danger of running aground on the island. The crew left the ship in a storm. (How did the ship continue in a straight line for eleven days?)

5. There was no wind, so they got into the lifeboat to tow the ship. The rope broke. (Why were the woman and child in the lifeboat? Surely the ship was too heavy?)

6. They saw an island which was not on the map, and went to investigate. (All of them?)

7. One of the crew had a terrible, infectious disease. The others left to escape from it. The one with the disease killed himself.

What about the lifeboat?

If the crew left the ship by lifeboat what happened to them?

1. It could have sunk in a storm.

2. The ship itself could have run down the lifeboat.

3. It could have drifted away, and al of them could have died of hunger and thirst.

4. They might have reached land. They were robbed and killed there.

1. A whale or sharks might even have overturned the boat!

Дата добавления: 2015-10-02