Parker, John, «The Phantom
Ship», Revue d'histoire de la Gaspésie, vol.
8, no. 4, 1970, pp. 224-225
The Phantom Ship
by John Parker
In June 1965, my friend, Jim
Henderson and I were going south-west on Route 6, from New
Carlisle to New Richmond.
At this time, when we approached
point A, there was what seemed to be a burning mass on the
bay. Jim suggested that it was the phantom ship.
Heading westward, the phantom
ship seemed to be moving at the same speed as we were, 20
to 30 miles per hour.
Upon reaching point B, we could
see the phantom ship heading in a southeasterly direction
and slowly sinking.
There seemed to be much movement
on deck as the boat was going down keel first.
According to the local legend,
it is believed that the ship was headed for Port Daniel. Because
of bad weather, it was impossible to reach her destination
and so she was going to port in Escuminac.
Shortly after passing the New
Carlisle area, she was struck by lightning and started burning.
There was a woman, an epileptic,
tied to the mast because of the trouble she caused among the
crew and people on board. During the fire, everyone was too
busy to set her free, so she had to share the fate of the
unfortunate ship.
The local legend also mentions
another ship, a burning phantom ship, around Percé
Rock. People on the shore could hear the words, "Help!
Help!" coming from the sinking vessel.
The author of this article,
John Parker, and the illustrator, Errol Kennedy, are both
students at the Gaspé Peninsula College.
![Haut de la page](../images/top.gif)
|