The Wreck of the Barque Stefano off the North West Cape of Australia in 1875

by Gustave Rathe

"It was the sheer adventure of going to sea that had made me so eager to leave home." But when the barque Stefano runs aground, sixteen-year-old Miho Baccich's thrilling adventure is over. Although ten of the seventeen-man crew struggle to shore, it is soon clear that their greatest challenge was not surviving the sea. The North West Cape of Australia is barren--plagued by heat and cyclones--and after three desperate months, all but two of the sailors have starved to death. Finally, Miho and another teenager, Ivan Jurich--themselves driven to cannibalism--are rescued by aborigines. They join the tribe in its relentless trek for food and water, until a pearling ship turns toward shore in a storm and discovers the castaways. A year after the wreck, the two returned to Dubrovnik, where they told their story to a Jesuit scholar. Gustave Rathe, Miho Baccich's grandson, first read the account as a boy in 1930. He has sought out other descendants of the principal characters and pinpointed the sites of much of the story. His deft adaptation of the document unlocks an account which rivals Robinson Crusoe and Treasure Island in drama and detail, and may surpass them in emotion and insight.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Survival, Australia, Travel

Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

Reviews

[Philipp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Back in 1875, the Stefano, a Croatian ship on its way to Hong Kong, sank during a storm off the coast of Western Australia. Perhaps a good 15 hour drive from where I'm sitting here: even now there's not much there, the shire of Exmouth has a population density of 0.5 people per square kilometer.

This short book is the story as told by one of the two survivors to a priest, and translated by the survivor's grandson (Gustave Rathe). The wrecking is just a short part, the main part is the struggle for survival and subsequent death of most of the shipwreck survivors, followed by the last two survivors (Michael Bacchich and Ivan Jurich) living with the Yamatji for six months, and finally, rescue to Fremantle, return to Croatia, and Bacchich's settlement in New Orleans.

What struck me most was the kindness shown by everybody: the Yamatji looked after the survivors, cared for them, fed them, shared what little they had (at one point there's even a massage), and moved the entire group towards white ships so Baccich and Jurich could return. There's a very unusual description of a ritual eating of a recently deceased child (pub quiz fact: that's called 'funerary endocannibalism'). Not only the Yamatji, Captain Charles Tuckey rescued the two and was at their complete service, leading to a lifelong friendship in letters: and the Croatian community in Fremantle, as well as Fremantle's local politicians all got together, collected money, put up a concert so that Baccich and Jurich could pay for their fare home. I read Truganini last year: this here feels the complete opposite in tone.

[Hannah Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a truly loving and dedicated book. The book amazed me with adventure and what the past seemed to be nothing but cruelty out in the open when their lives were hung by a thread and saved by the ones they believed to be nothing but ruthless outsiders.

[Stephen Bauer · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1875, a Croatian barque, the Stefano, hit a reef and sank off the coast of North West Australia. From a crew of seventeen, only two people, Miho Baccich and Ivan Jurich, ultimately survived. They lived among the aborigines for almost a year before they were able to get back to civilization. The aborigines were hunter-gathers, and the description of their life is fascinating.

A few months after their return to Croatia, Miho and Ivan relayed their experiences to a priest, Fr. Stjepan Skurla, S.J. who wrote the original narrative, which is told from the perspective and in the voice of Miho. This book is a modern translation of that original narrative, enhanced by the author, Gustave Rathe, with additional historical research on the incident and the fate of the survivors.

At the time, it was normal for Westerners to refer to Australia's aborigines as savages or black savages, and that was how Miho and Ivan initially spoke and thought of them. Soon, however, they dropped the term savages. They refer to them as blacks, and the aborigines refer to them and other Westerners, as whites. The blacks were very empathetic to their situation. They fed and cared for the survivors as well as they fed and cared for themselves. After a period of attentive nurturing, Miho writes:

As physically recuperative as this treatment was, it had a greater emotional effect. Hardly a day went by without some gesture of this kind, their reaching out to us from a greatness of their gentle souls. My admiration of these simple people continued to grow. As the recollection of our "civilized" behavior of just a few weeks ago came back to disturb me, I found myself wondering, who were the savages?

Prior to the voyage, the sailors were told that the blacks were cannibals. Miho and Ivan did witness one incident of cannibalism. A child from the tribe died, and among great mourning and grief, they cooked and ate the child. However, it appears that the tribe's intention was always to return the two survivors back to civilization. When Miho and Ivan finally arrived at a white settlement, after telling someone how well the blacks fed them, they told them that the aborigines were simply fattening them up before they ate them. In the context of the story, I find that impossible to believe.

The tribe intended to return them to an Englishman named Charles Tuckey, who captained a ship that sailed the Australian coast hunting for pearls. Miho stated that the mistreatment of blacks by whites who hired them as pearl divers was legendary. However, Charles had an excellent relationship with the black tribes. The blacks who helped the survivors spoke very fondly of Charlie. When Charles and his ship arrived, it was for the purpose of giving the blacks flour, sugar, and other things. Miho says that this was the first time these blacks had ever seen such things. Their gleeful appreciation was over the top. The story does not relate whether or not these goods were exchanged for goods the native had. The natives would not have had anything worth trading unless of course, they had harvested pearls on their own, but there was no mention of that. I sense that the tribe's relationship with Charles probably outweighed any thoughts of eating Milo and Ivan. The tribe's treatment of Milo and Ivan was so caring, sincere, and authentic, that I even feel a little guilty thinking such cynical thoughts about them.

For his part, for the rest of his life, Miho was very thankful for what these blacks did for him. A few years later, Miho settled in New Orleans. This was less than 20 years since Abe Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. Naturally, because of his positive experience with black aborigines in Australia, Miho had a very friendly and endearing attitude towards the black people he encountered in New Orleans. Plus, being from Europe, he did not have any of the negative racial attitudes that most white Americans had. However, as this was the American South, and most of the black population were ex-slaves, they were too shy and hesitant to respond in kind.

After reading this tale, I feel like picking up some of Herman Melville's short stories, though fictional, such as Billy Budd or Typee.

[Kathleen (itpdx) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting account of a young Dalmatian mariner who was shipwrecked on the west coast of Australia in 1875. Of the 12 crew who made it to shore, only two survived longer than three months. They only barely survived because a group of Aborigines took the remaining two young men in and eventually linked them up with European settlers.
There is a tremendous amount of history to unpack from this short book. How the Aborigines of this area lived and what they ate. It even includes a glossary of Aborigine terms that they young survivors learned. The book shows some of the changes that were introduced to the Aborigines by European settlement as it was happening. The book also talks about what the transition from sailing ships to powered ships meant to trade and economies around the world. There is a glimpse of New Orleans in the early 1880s.
The author, the grandson of one of the survivors, researches the other survivor and a couple of the Australian European settlers, but he seems to have made no effort to learn more about the Aborigines that saved the young men and became their friends.

[Lulie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a lost classic, a must read! I came across the story watching a survival video on YouTube and it piqued my interest in reading the complete story and luckily found a copy of the book on eBay!

An incredible tale of survival, despair and then joy, and early contact with indigenous Australians. Definitely recommend giving this account of the survival of two men in a harsh and foreign land the attention it deserves.

[Gita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing book, mainly because of the light it sheds on how the aboriginal people of the area lived in that time, how kind and gentle they treated the survivors and how ingenious they survived the harsh landscape. There was nothing violent or uncivilised about them, if anyone still believes that myth.

[Tiffanie Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Such amazing storytelling.
I just came back from Western Australia where I learned about this shipwreck and the survivors. I was at many of the locations described in the book. Even if you haven’t been there, this story is worth a read.

[Sarah Roenfeldt · Rating 4 out of 5]

An easy to read, absolutely fascinating (at least for a West Australian!) account of survival, and early European interaction with the indigenous groups of the North West.

[Pip · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing retelling of the survivors of a Croatian shipwreck -especially the interactions with locals.

[Helen O'Sh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these first hand accounts of early Australia.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Less about the wreck of the vessel and more about the survival of two young sailors on the desolate and remote north west coast of Australia in 1876. A thoroughly interesting story well researched and written.

[Trevor Chapman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent, superb book. True account not for the faint of heart.

[Jules]

910.4 rath