3pp, 7 7/8 x 12 3/4 in., folio, docketed on page 4 (some wear near folds, some toning). Signature of the notary, official embossed seal, and marked with an "X" by the sailor, Thomas Kent. The manuscript document, identified as a "Duplicate," contains the testimony of Thomas Kent, who was aboard the brigantine Britannia when the ship wrecked off the coast of New Brunswick.

[With:] Contemporary newspaper account of the wreck. City of Saint John, New Brunswick, 16 March 1835. 2 3/4 x 6 in. clipping (some creasing).

The newspaper account identifies the four survivors of the shipwreck by name, including "Thomas Kent a colored man." Together, the four men survived on a barrel of potatoes and by drinking the blood of a shark they caught the second day after the accident. Reports indicate that they were stranded at sea for seven or eight days before being rescued.

Purportedly, the captain and other crew members drowned in the cabin section of the ship. A "colored man" was also killed with the master, T.W. Walker.