15 



" rowly escaped drowning. It is believed that two of the crew 

 " perished ! When the gale ceased the vessel was high and 

 " dry on the beach. The cargo was landed and piled on shore, 

 " then a new danger threatened, a number of Newfoundland 

 " fishermen arrived and were going to take possession of the 

 " goods, as they considered all wrecks as fair game for plunder. 

 " Mr. Bell and the crew barricaded themselves behind the 

 " goods, and held them off with their guns until assistance 

 "arrived from Rigolette, which is about sixty miles from Tug 

 " Harbor." 



After his retirement Mr. Bell resided for several years m 

 Kingston, Ontario, and latterly at Vancouver, B. C. A well 

 known Winnipeg passenger on the " Islander " who narrowly 

 escaped death by drowning, states that t he held a long cheery 

 conversation with Mr. Bell in the saloon cabin, some three or 

 four hours before she struck on a sunken iceberg. This was 

 the last he ever saw of him ; but as the body has never 

 been recovered, in all probability, from what we know 

 of his fertility of resource, and the experience acquired in 

 previous shipwreck disasters, Mr. Bell on finding that the 

 steamer was doomed, lost his life in attempting to fetch from 

 his cabin a large number of letters that had been entrusted to 

 him at Dawson for posting in Vancouver, as well as certain 

 papers, etc., of value belonging to Dr. Duncan and himself. 

 On this supposition he might have failed to reach the deck 

 ere she took the fatal plunge, and consequently went to the 

 bottom in her, along with a number of other similarly en- 

 trapped unfortunates, including the sad case of Mr. Keating, 

 of Victoria, and his two sons. It is difficult for anyone who 

 knew him, to imagine that he would not otherwise have suc- 

 ceeded in saving his own life. Mr. Bell was one of the best 

 known and most popular of the Company's officers. He was, 

 also, like many of his inland colleagues in the service, a keen 

 sportsman and an excellent shot, and he had no superior, and 

 but few equals, as a traveller on snowshoes. The news of his 

 untimely death was a terrible shock to his family, and it is still 



