COFY

8, The Parade,

Plympton.

"On the 18th of October 1903 (at which time I was residing at Blackheath) I signed Articles in the Steam Ship Scotia of the Commercial Pacific Cable Company, at that time lying in the Victoria Docks, London, to serve as Carpenter.

The Ship had been purchased from the Construction and Maintenance Cable Company of Greenwich for the sum of £12,000.

The ship was chartered by the Dutch to lay a cable between Billaton and Banca near Borneo in the Dutch East Indies.

An attempt was made to insure the ship for £100,000, which risk the underwriters refused to take, but an insurance of £50,000 was effected.

The ship, after shipping the cargo of cable at Greenwich, proceeded to Singapore and from thence to Billaton and the operation was duly carried out in the presence of a number of Dutch officials who were on board. On the completion of the work, whilst presuming to return to Singapore, an attempt was made to cast the ship away by running her on to a coral reef in very deep water between Banca and Borneo, which attempt, although causing the loss of one of the propellers and other serious damage, failed; and the ship returned to Singapore for repairs which were duly carried out.

The ship was then chartered to survey the channel between Hanilla in the Philippine Islands and the northern...