[1][2][3] The 97 tonne vessel was built in Nova Scotia, in 1821, for Janvrin & Tupper, a channel island company.
The collision occurred during a dense fog, on the Grand Banks, while the ship was heading from St. Helier, Jersey to Janvrin & Tupper's outposts in Gaspé.
The captain of the Francis tried to sail close enough to the General Brock to take off the rest of the crew, but lost her, in the dense fog.
The three men who jumped aboard the Francis weren't heard from for over four months, through a letter written home on August 6, from Pernambuco, Brazil.
[1] He speculated that Jersey readers recognized that cannibalism was a necessary expedient, when the alternative was death, for everyone.