The
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was a 103-foot, 282-ton brigantine. Originally built as the Amazon in Spencer's Island, Nova Scotia, in 1861, the ship seemingly had bad luck and, due to numerous misadventures, had changed hands several times. She became the
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in 1869.
On November 7, 1872, under the command of Captain Benjamin Briggs, the ship picked up a cargo of industrial alcohol shipped by Meissner Ackermann & Coin and set sail from Staten Island, New York to Genoa, Italy. In addition to the crew of seven, she carried the captain and two passengers: the Captain's wife, Sarah E. Briggs (née Cobb), and two-year-old daughter, Sophia Matilda, making 10 people in all.
On December 4, 1872 (some reports give December 5, due to a lack of standard time zones in the 19th century), the
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was sighted by the Dei Gratia, commanded by Captain David Reed Morehouse, who knew Captain Briggs. The Dei Gratia had left New York harbor only seven days after the
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Dei Gratia's crew observed her for two hours and concluded that she was drifting, though she was flying no distress signals. Oliver Deveau, the Chief Mate of the Dei Gratia, led a party in a small boat to board the
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He reported finding only one operable pump, with a lot of water between decks and three and a half feet of water in the hold. He reported that "the whole ship was a thoroughly wet mess". The ship seemed otherwise to be in good condition, but no one was aboard.