In 1893, Dingle joined a salvage. The schooner Black Pearl sailed from Mahe, the Seychelle Islands to the Crozets, seeking gold that had gone down with the immigrant ship Strathmore. They found the sunken wreck, and its strongbox, but were unable to remove it. Eventually, they were driven off by gales. On the return voyage, the Black Pearl was wrecked near St. Paul Island. Both crew survived, though the Black Pearl was completely lost. They survived twelve weeks on the island, eating rabbit, goat and fish. Exploring, they found gold from a buried 1870s wreck. On the first morning of the twelfth week, they were rescued by a French bark.