No wonder that the coastguard was shocked and astonished. No-one sees something like that very often. The dead man's hands were tied, one over the other, to the wheel used to steer the ship. Between one hand and the wheel was a cross. Beads attached to the cross were tied around both wrists and and the wheel. Everything was tied into place.

The poor man may have been sitting down at one time. However, as the ship sailed along, the wheel had moved and pulled him backward and forwards. Now the ropes around his wrists had cut the flesh to the bone.

Everything was carefully recorded. Doctor J. M. Caffyn had come aboard the ship right after me. He examined the body and declared that the man had been dead for two days. In the dead man's pocket was a bottle. This bottle was empty except for a little roll of paper. It turned out that this was an addition to the regular reports of the ship. The coastguard said the man had tied up his own hands. He had done the knots with his teeth.