At dawn on May 4, 1882, a sailor from a Brazilian patrol boat in service noticed a bottle swaying on the waves in the sea. At that time, bottles found in the sea were treated with much more respect than they are today. In the era of radio and Internet absence, “bottle mail” was the only way for seafarers in distress to send a plea for help to the world.
The bottle was caught. Through the dark glass one could indeed see the folded sheet of paper inside. The bottle was broken, and the sailors crowded over the find.
On a sheet of paper torn from the Bible, across the text in uneven handwriting was written a message that there was a riot on the schooner Sea Hero. The captain and the first mate were killed. The sailors and the second mate who did not join the rebellion also face death. The message indicated the coordinates, direction and speed of the vessel.
The terrible find was immediately carried to the captain. The first thing the captain did was to check the facts in the unusual letter. According to Lloyd's ship register, the 460-tonne Sea Hero was listed as an English ship launched in 1866 and assigned to the port of Hull. The captain gave the order to start pursuit.
After 2 hours of rapid speed, the masts of a rebellious ship appeared on the horizon. Having fired at the schooner, the patrol crew took the Sea Hero on board. The fight was short, the rioters were shackled and thrown into the hold. The liberated rejoiced at the unexpected salvation.
But strange circumstances began to emerge: the captain and the first mate were alive, and none of the freed acknowledged the authorship of the message for help.
The captain, who did not understand anything, ordered the released prisoners to be locked up until the circumstances of the case were clarified.
Everything was explained in England at the trial.
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16 years before the events described, a certain John Parmington published a novel called "Sea Hero". The publication of the novel was preceded by a noisy advertising campaign, during which 5 thousand bottles were thrown into the sea asking for help (part of the plot of the novel). Some of the bottles were fished out, and several hundreds continued to wander the seas. One of these bottles was caught by a Brazilian watchdog!
The cunning writer could not even imagine that he would become a prophet. It is difficult to say what it was, a sudden insight, foresight of the future, or a rare coincidence of circumstances. It remains only to attribute this event to the category of inexplicable, and repeat after the hero of Shakespeare: "There are many things in the world, friend Horatio, that our sages never dreamed of."
Klim Podkova