I found a monument for a cargo ship of Drumeltan's distress at Maenohama Beach Park. There apparently were lots of accidents on the southern sea of Tanegashima Island since long ago. In particular, in early spring and the typhoon season (summer to autumn), lots of ships had been washed ashore on the island. It was not guns only that had been brought by the sea accidents, though most people in Japan think the arrival of guns to Japan as a rare case.
According to the description, Drumeltan, which was a British trading sailboat, was involved in a heavy storm on the way from Shanghai to Hong Kong in April in 1894 and was washed ashore on Maenohama Beach. Its 29 crew members were rescued by local residents. The residents devotedly took care of them until they left the island. The British Navy vessels arrived at the island in May and repaired Drumeltan, which was towed to Nagasaki Port in August.
The crew finally resulted in spending 4 months on the island. On parting, the crew and the residents said a fond farewell to each other and the crew gave the residents something to show their gratitude. One of them was several chickens which were kept in the ship. Their original birthplace was not known, but they are now called Engee chicken and one of the specialties of the island.As you can imagine, "Engee" comes from "English".
Six of the British Navy vessels arrived at the port of the island as early as the next month of the accident. Considering the communication levels of those days, their arrival was extraordinarily early! I wondered about its rapidity and I recalled the Japanese-Sino War which broke out in July in the same year. The Drumeltan was taken to Nagasaki in the midst of the war and even in the battlefield. The navy vessels might have been on a reconnaissance mission to investigate the national power of Japan. The social condition on the mainland was getting worse those days and it was just before the Boxer Rebellion. Then the relationship between Japan and the U.K. ascended to the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. The wreck of the Drumeltan happened in these times. I'll eat Engee chicken tonight recalling those times.
(Vocabulary)
in distress 〈船・航空機などが〉 遭難した
distress signal 遭難信号
say a fond farewell 別れを惜しむ
reconnaissance 偵察
The Boxer Rebellion 義和団事件
the Anglo-Japanese Alliance 日英同盟
前之浜海浜公園 ドラムエルタン号遭難
前之浜海浜公園に立ち寄ったら、また遭難した船の記念碑があった。調べてみると種子島南方海上は昔から海難事故が多く特に春先や夏から秋の台風期には多くの難破船が種子島に漂着している。漂着したのは鉄砲だけでは無かったのだ。
碑文によると、ドラメルタン号は上海から香港に向う途中暴風に遭い明治二十七年四月、前の浜に漂着した乗組員二十九名のイギリス貿易帆船。地区の住民は乗組員を救助し、彼らが島を離れるまで家を提供するなど献身的に面倒をみたという。翌月東洋艦隊の軍艦がやってきて船の修復を行い、8月16日、ドラメルタン号は長崎へ廻航された。
乗組員たちからは離島の際には別れを惜しんでいろいろな記念品が贈られたという。その中に船で飼育していたニワトリがあった。原産地は不明ながら、イギリスのニワトリということで今ではインギー鶏と呼ばれる島の名産品だ。
東洋艦隊が翌月には到着したというが、当時の通信環境を考えると驚異的に早い。訝しく思っていたのだが、この年の７月に日清戦争が勃発している。その最中に長崎へ回航。東洋艦隊は本国から派遣されたのではなく、元々この辺りにいたのだろう。日本の国力確認のための情報収集かな。この後、支那大陸では義和団事件があり、日英同盟へと繋がっていく、、、、今夜はインギー鶏を食べながら、当時の社会情勢に思いを馳せよう。
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