Yachting Volume I Part 3

The lesson to be drawn from my voyage in the 'Eothen' is obvious. It is a great mistake to attempt to cross the stormiest ocean in the world in a steam yacht of such small size. For ocean steaming much more tonnage and power are necessary.

The heaviest gale ever experienced by the 'Sunbeam' was off Flamborough Head, in 1881. I embarked at Middlesbrough on the evening of October 13, intending to sail for Portsmouth at daybreak on the following morning; but, finding the wind from the south and the barometer depressed, our departure was deferred. At 9 A.M. the barometer had fallen to 28.87, but as the wind had changed to W.N.W., and was off sh.o.r.e from a favourable quarter, I determined to proceed to sea. We were towed down the Tees, and as we descended the river I conferred with the pilot as to what we might antic.i.p.ate from the remarkable depression in the barometer. He was of opinion that a severe gale was at hand, that it would blow from the north-west, and that there was no reason for remaining in port. The tug was accordingly cast off at the mouth of the Tees, and we made sail.

Foreseeing a storm, topmasts were housed, boats were secured on deck, and we kept under close-reefed canvas, setting the main and mizen jib-headed trysails, double-reefed foresail and forestay-sail, and reefed standing jib. As the day advanced no change took place in the weather. The wind blew strongly, but not with the force of a gale, and the sea was comparatively smooth. Meanwhile the barometer continued to descend rapidly, and at 2 P.M. had fallen to 28.45. As nothing had yet occurred to account for this depression, my sailing-master remarked that it must have been caused by the heavy showers of rain which had fallen in the course of the morning. I knew from former experiences that it was not the rain, but the coming storm, that was indicated by the barometer. It had needed some resolution to quit the mouth of the Tees in the morning, and at mid-day, when we were off Whitby, a still greater effort was required to resist the temptation to make for a harbour. No further incidents occurred until 3 P.M., when we were nearing Flamborough Head. Here we were at last overtaken by the long impending storm. Looking back to the north-west, over the starboard quarter, we saw that the sea had suddenly been lashed into a ma.s.s of white foam. The hurricane was rus.h.i.+ng forward with a velocity and a force which must have seemed terrible to the fleet of coasting vessels around us. Before the gale struck the 'Sunbeam' our canvas had been reduced to main and mizen trysails and reefed standing-jib; but even with the small spread of sail, and luffed up close to the wind, our powerful little vessel careened over to the fury of the blast until the lee-rail completely disappeared under water--an incident which had never previously occurred during all the extensive voyages we had undertaken. Such was the force of the wind that a sailing vessel near us lost all her sails, and our large gig was stove in from the tremendous pressure of the gunwale against the davits. We took in the jib and the mizen-trysail, and, with our canvas reduced to a jib-headed main-trysail, were soon relieved of water on deck. For an hour and a half we lay-to on the starboard tack, standing in for the land below Burlington Bay. We were battened down, and felt ourselves secure from all risks except collision. The fury of the wind so filled the air with spoon-drift that we could not see a s.h.i.+p's length ahead, and in such crowded waters a collision was a far from impossible contingency. At 6 P.M. we thought it prudent to wear, so as to gain an offing during the night, and gradually drew out of the line of traffic along the coast. At 9 P.M. the extreme violence of the hurricane had abated, and we could see, through occasional openings in the mist, the masthead lights of several steamers standing, like ourselves, off the land for the night. At midnight the barometer was rising rapidly, and the wind gradually settled down into a clear hard gale, accompanied by a heavy sea, running down the coast from the north.

At 6 A.M. we carefully examined the dead reckoning, and, having fixed on an approximate position, we determined to bear away, steering to pa.s.s in mid-channel between the Outer Dowsing and the Dudgeon, through a pa.s.sage about ten miles in width. We were under easy sail; but, under the main-trysail, double-reefed foresail, staysail, fore-topsail, and reefed jib, we scudded at the rate of eleven knots.

A constant look-out had been kept from aloft, and at 10 A.M., having nearly run the distance down from our a.s.sumed position when we bore away to the north end of the Outer Dowsing, I established myself in the crosstrees until we should succeed in making something. After a short interval we saw broken water nearly ahead on the port bow. We at once hauled to the wind, steering to the south-west, and set the mizen-trysail. The lead showed a depth of three fathoms, and we were therefore a.s.sured that we had been standing too near to the Outer Dowsing. The indications afforded by the lead were confirmed by sights, somewhat roughly taken, and by the circ.u.mstance of our having shortly before pa.s.sed through a fleet of trawlers evidently making for the Spurn. In less than an hour after we had hauled to the wind we found ourselves in the track of several steamers. At 3 P.M. we made the land near Cromer, and at 5.30 we brought up in the Yarmouth Roads, thankful to have gained a secure shelter from the gale.

In connection with this experience, it may be remarked that, as a general rule, our pleasure fleet is over-masted. We are advised in these matters by sailmakers, who look to the Solent and its sheltered water as the normal condition with which yachtsmen have to deal. When we venture forth from that smooth and too-much frequented arm of the sea into open waters, our vessels have to pa.s.s a far more severe ordeal, and they do not always come out of it to our satisfaction.

Many are compelled to stay in harbour when a pa.s.sage might have been made in a snugly rigged yacht.

One of the longest gales experienced in the 'Sunbeam' was on the pa.s.sage from Na.s.sau to Bermuda, in November 1883. The gale struck us south of Cape Hatteras, on November 25, in lat.i.tude 31.54 N. The north-east wind gradually subsided, and we pushed on, under steam, for Bermuda at 7 knots. The head sea increased, but no change took place in the force or direction of the wind from 8 P.M. on the 25th till 4 A.M. on the 27th. Meanwhile, the barometer had gradually fallen to 29.82, giving warning for a heavy gale, which commenced at north-by-east, and ended on November 30, at 4 P.M., with the wind at north-west. We lay-to on the 27th, under treble-reefed foresail and double-reefed mainsail, s.h.i.+pping no water, but driving to the south-east at the rate of at least one knot an hour. On the 28th we decided to try the 'Sunbeam' under treble-reefed foresail and mainsail, double-reefed fore-staysail and reefed mizen-trysail. With this increased spread of canvas we were able to make two knots an hour on the direct course to Bermuda, and to keep sufficient steerage way to luff up to an ugly sea. The behaviour of the vessel elicited the unqualified approval of our most experienced hands. Bad weather quickly brings out the qualities of seamen. Our four best men relieved each other at the wheel, and it was due in no small degree to their skill that, in a gale lasting three days, no heavy sea broke on board.

I need not say that all deck openings were secured, especially at night, by means of planks and canvas. Our situation might perhaps excite sympathy, but we had no cause to complain. Meals could not be served in the usual manner, but by placing every movable thing on the floor of the cabins and on the lee side, and by fixing ourselves against supports, or in a rec.u.mbent position, we were secured against any further effects of the force of gravity, and did our best to enjoy the novelty of the situation. On the 30th the wind veered to the north-west, and the weather rapidly improved. The sea turned gradually with the wind, but for many hours we met a heavy swell from the north-east.

An acquaintance with the law of storms had proved invaluable on this occasion. There is no situation in which knowledge is more truly power, none in which, under a due sense of the providential care of Heaven, it gives a n.o.bler confidence to man, than at sea, amid the raging of a hurricane. Mr. Emerson has truly said, 'They can conquer who believe they can. The sailor loses fear as fast as he acquires command of sails, and spars, and steam. To the sailor's experience, every new circ.u.mstance suggests what he must do. The terrific chances which make the hours and minutes long to the mere pa.s.senger, he whiles away by incessant application of expedients and repairs. To him a leak, a hurricane, a waterspout, is so much work, and no more. Courage is equality to the problem, in affairs, in science, in trade, in council, or in action. Courage consists in the conviction that the agents with which you contend are not superior in strength, or resources, or spirit, to you.'

As a specimen of a dirty night at sea, I give another extract from the log-book. During our voyage round the world in 1876-77, after leaving Honolulu for j.a.pan, as we approached Osima, on January 26, we were struck by a tremendous squall of wind and rain. We at once took in the flying square-sail, stowed the topgallant-sail and topsail, reefed the foresail and mizen, and set mainsail. At 6 P.M., the wind still blowing a moderate gale, the mizen was double-reefed. We pursued our way through a confused sea, but without s.h.i.+pping any water. All seemed to be going well, when, at 8 P.M., shortly after I had taken the wheel, a sudden squall heeled us over to the starboard side, where the gig was hung from the davits outboard. At the same time a long mountainous wave, rolling up from the leeward, struck the keel of the gig and lifted it up, uns.h.i.+pping the fore davit, and causing the boat to fall into the boiling sea, which threatened at every instant to dash it to pieces. We at once brought to. A brave fellow jumped into the boat and secured a tackle to the bows, and the gig was hoisted on board and secured on deck intact. It was a very seaman-like achievement. A heavy gale continued during the night, and at 2 A.M., on the 27th, we met with another accident. The boatswain, a man of great skill and experience, was at the wheel, when a steep wave suddenly engulfed the jibboom, and the 'Sunbeam,' gallantly springing up, as if to leap over instead of cleaving through the wave, carried away the spar at the cap. This brought down the topgallant-mast. The jibboom was a splendid Oregon spar, 54 feet long, projecting 28 feet beyond the bowsprit. It was rigged with wire rope, and the martingale was sawn through with the greatest difficulty.

The record of personal experiences must not be further prolonged. To the writer yachting has been to some extent part of a public life, mainly devoted to the maritime interests of the country. To conduct the navigation and pilotage of his vessel seemed fitting and even necessary, if the voyages undertaken were to be regarded in any sense as professional. There is something pleasant in any work which affords the opportunity for encountering and overcoming difficulties. It is satisfactory to make a headland or a light with precision after a long run across the ocean, diversified perhaps by a heavy gale. To be able to thread the channels of the West Coast of Scotland, the Straits of Magellan, the Eastern Archipelago, the labyrinths of the Malawalle Channel of North-East Borneo, or the Great Barrier Reef of Australia, without a pilot is an accomplishment in which an amateur may perhaps take legitimate pleasure.

To the yachtsman who truly loves the sea, it will never be satisfactory to remain ignorant of navigation. Practice of the art is not a relaxation. It demands constant attention, and is an interruption to regular reading. It may imply a considerable amount of night-work. On the other hand, the owner who is a navigator can take his proper place as the commander of his own s.h.i.+p. All that goes on around him when at sea becomes more interesting. He is better able to appreciate the professional skill of others. The confidence which grows with experience cannot be expected in the beginning. The writer first took charge of navigation in 1866, on a voyage up the Baltic. It was a chequered experiment. In the Great Belt we ran ash.o.r.e twice in one day. In making Stockholm we had to appeal to a Swedish frigate, which most kindly clewed up her sails, and answered our anxious enquiries by writing the course on a black-board. On the return voyage to England we struck the coast some sixty miles north of our reckoning. Such a history does not repeat itself now.

It is not in books or at the library table that the art of the seaman can be acquired. Quickness of eye, nerve, prompt.i.tude of judgment, are the indispensable gifts, which must be gained by long and varied experience at sea. The seamans.h.i.+p required in a gale of wind on the open ocean, the seamans.h.i.+p displayed in sailing matches in over-sparred yachts, sailed mainly in smooth waters, and the seamans.h.i.+p called for in pilotage waters not previously visited, and especially at night, are different branches of a wide profession.

There is a skill of a very high order in docking an Atlantic liner at Liverpool. There is a skill of a different but equally high order in knocking huge ironclads about in fleet-exercising at sea. There is a skill in bringing the Channel steamers alongside the pier at Dover.

The skill of every description of nautical specialist will never be combined in one individual. There is some risk that the more careful the navigator, the less das.h.i.+ng the same man may be as a seaman.

I must not conclude without some reference to the most attractive cruising grounds. To begin near home, the Seine, the Meuse, the coast of Holland, the Baltic, the coast of Norway, the grand West Coast of Scotland, the East Coast of England (a cruising ground too much neglected by yachtsmen), and the Channel are all favourite haunts of mine. Going further afield, in my own case nothing was more satisfactory than a voyage along the East Coast of North America, in which every river was ascended to the head of the navigation for sea-going vessels. Certain parts of the Mediterranean offer a perfect cruising ground for the winter months. Most suitable waters for yachting are those bounded by the Straits of Gibraltar on the west and the Balearic Islands on the north-east. Here the mistral of the Gulf of Lyons is not felt. The Spanish coast offers many places of shelter and many points of interest. In westerly winds keep to the eastward of Cape de Gata; in north-easterly winds to the westward. There is another charming cruising ground between Corsica and the Italian coast, as far north as Spezia, and south down to Civita Vecchia.

Sicily is admirable for yachting. A weather sh.o.r.e can be always made upon its beautiful coasts. In the spring or autumn the Archipelago and eastern side of the Adriatic can be confidently recommended. In the winter months the West Indies are a most perfect cruising ground. It will be well to make Barbados the landfall, then run to Trinidad, proceeding thence to Grenada, and following on from island to island down to Jamaica. The return voyage should be by Havana, and thence to a port in the United States, and by an ocean liner home, or by the Bahamas, Bermuda and the Azores to England. The Pacific, j.a.pan and Eastern Archipelago will well repay those who can give the time required for such distant voyages.

Lastly, let no yachtsman speak contemptuously of the Solent. It is no exaggeration to say that if the splendid natural breakwater of the Isle of Wight were removed, half the tonnage of yachts under the British flag would disappear. The Solent offers a sufficient s.p.a.ce of sheltered water for all but the very largest yachts to manoeuvre in conveniently. Breezes are seldom wanting, and the sh.o.r.es of the Wight are most pleasing. In this miniature ocean many have formed tastes for the sea which have led to more ambitious voyages. The estuary of the Clyde merits equally high praise, but the puffs off Bute are less gentle than those off the Wight, and the racing partakes of a hard-weather character, with streaks of calm.

In the preceding observations it has been a.s.sumed that I have been addressing readers who love the sea in all those varying phases which have given inspiration to some of the finest creations of poetic genius. The Greeks were lovers of the sea. We have been reminded of their admirable descriptions by Mr. Froude, in a brilliant pa.s.sage:--

The days pa.s.s, and our s.h.i.+p flies past upon her way.

[Greek: glaukon hyper oidma kyanochroa te kymaton rhothia polia thala.s.sas.]

How perfect the description! How exactly in those eight words Euripides draws the picture of the ocean; the long grey heaving swell, the darker steel-grey on the shadowed slope of the waves, and the foam on their breaking crests. Our thoughts flow back as we gaze to the times long ago, when the earth belonged to other races, as it now belongs to us. The ocean is the same as it was. Their eyes saw it as we see it.

Time writes no wrinkle on that azure brow.

Nor is the ocean alone the same. Human nature is still vexed with the same problems, mocked with the same hopes, wandering after the same illusions. The sea affected the Greeks as it affects us, and was equally dear to them. It was a Greek who said: 'The sea washes off all the ills of men,' the 'stainless one,' as aeschylus called it, the eternally pure.

The Romans had in Virgil a poet of the sea, who could attune his lyre to perfect harmony, alike with freshening or subsiding breeze:--

Vela dabant laeti et spumas salis aere ruebant.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... . .

ferunt ipsa aequora cla.s.sem, aequatae spirant aurae, datur hora quieti.

The sea has been the favoured theme of our English poets. There has been none in any language who has excelled our own Byron:--

Oft had he ridden on that winged wave, And loved its roughness for the speed it gave.

For me, the sea was a dream in my earliest years. I have spent upon its waters some of the brightest, and, alas! some of the saddest of my days; and now, in the autumn of my life, the unforgotten past, and the aims and work of the present, are more than ever bound up with the sea.

Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee; Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears, Our faith, triumphant o'er our fears, Are all with thee--are all with thee.

CHAPTER III

CORINTHIAN DEEP-SEA CRUISING

BY C. E. SETH-SMITH, C.B.[1]

(Late commanding London Brigade Royal Naval Volunteers)

[Footnote 1: I am deeply indebted to Mr. D. W. Marsden, late honorary secretary of the London Corps Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers, for his a.s.sistance in the compilation of these notes.]

The record of Corinthian sailing would not be complete without some account of deep-sea voyages in yachts manned by amateur seamen. The cruises of Corinthian yachtsmen are naturally chiefly confined to the estuaries of rivers and the seas immediately adjacent, and, as a rule, are within sight of the coast. Considerations of time and expense are generally sufficient to impose these limits. That the dangers of the sea and the difficulty of navigation are no impediments is amply proved by the records of more extended voyages in craft of all sizes, made public from time to time. There are, however, certain other difficulties which, as a rule, stand in the way of Corinthian seamen extending their experience of the sea still further. For an ocean voyage of any extent a craft of some size is necessary, and it must be manned by a crew of considerable number. Amateur yachtsmen are scattered, and find it difficult to take their cruises together in any large numbers. The yacht-owner, who wished to man his yacht for an ocean voyage solely or mainly with Corinthian seamen, would not find it easy to obtain a sufficient number to make up his complement. A movement was made some twenty years ago to develop and utilise for the national defence the seafaring instincts and tastes latent in many of our young countrymen, and until it was abandoned in 1892[2] provided a body of men, Corinthian yachtsmen and others possessing seafaring capacities, and formed an exceptional reservoir on which yacht-owners could draw who desired to give opportunities of more extended seafaring to the amateur seaman. The more extended voyages of the schooner 'Hornet' were undertaken to give a pleasurable holiday to the members of the corps and to increase their efficiency as Naval Volunteers. The 'Hornet' was a powerful yacht of 101 tons register and about 140 tons Thames measurement, she was 85 feet on the water-line and nearly 20 feet beam, and drew about 10 feet of water in sea-going trim. She was built at Cowes, and was rigged as a topsail-yard schooner, carrying in addition to her ordinary fore and aft sails a square foresail, a fore-topsail and topgallant-sail, and fore-topmast and lower studding-sails.

[Footnote 2: The late corps of Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers of London, Liverpool, Bristol and Glasgow.]

All her gear was fitted as far as possible in man-of-war fas.h.i.+on, and both on deck and below she was arranged as one of the small old-fas.h.i.+oned vessels of Her Majesty's service. A wardroom and four separate sleeping cabins for her officers were arranged aft, and a very large forecastle gave ample lower deck accommodation for some thirty-five or forty petty officers and men.

The majority of the 'Hornet's' voyages were restricted by the limited holidays of her amateur crew, but she was occasionally manned by crews not tied in such a degree by business engagements, and during the summers of 1879, 1880 and 1881 sailed round the coast of Ireland, visited the Cattegat Sound and Danish Islands, Christiania and some other Norwegian ports, the coasts of Spain and Portugal, and Gibraltar, and made a short trip down the coast of Morocco. The latter terminated in an exciting pa.s.sage home from Lisbon in stormy weather, during which the Corinthians were for upwards of three weeks out of sight of land on a strictly limited scale of provisions, hove to in a gale of wind for some days, and driven into the vicinity of the Azores. Since the present chapter is concerned solely with Corinthian yachting on the ocean, nothing need be said about the many short cruises round and about the English and French coasts and up and down the Channel, during which the 'Hornet's' ever-varying crew were gaining some practical knowledge of seamans.h.i.+p and testing their individual fitness for their voluntary duties.

About the end of June 1879 the 'Hornet' sailed from the Thames, manned by thirty-five amateurs, Mr. Edward Dodd, who was rated as boatswain, and the galley staff being the only professional seamen on board. Mr.

Samuel Brooks (recently thrice mayor of Redhill) acted as chief petty officer, chief quartermaster and occasional watch-keeper, and Mr. R.

T. Pritchett was borne on the books and drew rations as the 'staff officer,' the guide, philosopher and friend of the whole s.h.i.+p's company. The weather of the summer of 1879 is notorious, and the 'Hornet's' first ocean cruise was a trying one for her Corinthian crew, who experienced to the full the miseries of a month at sea in bad weather. From the day she left Dartmouth in June to her arrival in the Solent in July her log-book records no single fine day. The afternoon of Friday, July 17 (the s.h.i.+p having left Queenstown July 16) is the only day on which 'light airs and suns.h.i.+ne' are entered even for a few hours.

Nevertheless the crew expressed themselves as thoroughly delighted with the experiences of their month's cruise. Some account of this trip appeared in the 'Graphic' of October 18, 1879, with ill.u.s.trations by the Staff Officer, of which the princ.i.p.al represented 'stowing the foresail off the Longs.h.i.+ps at midnight in a gale, June 30, 1879.' On this occasion the 'Hornet' was compelled by a heavy gale from the south-west to force a pa.s.sage round the Land's End, and make for the Bristol Channel, running up to the Mumbles. As the author remarks, such weather on a dark night was a severe trial for the practical seamans.h.i.+p of gentlemen sailors, but they proved themselves equal to it, and were afterwards complimented on their efficiency by the Admiral, Sir William Dowell, on arrival at Queenstown.

The following year--1880--a much longer and most enjoyable cruise of six weeks was undertaken on which the Captain, Mr. C. E. Seth-Smith, was a.s.sisted by Messrs. A. B. Woodd and E. Graham as lieutenants. The crew numbered twenty-five all told; Mr. Dodd again acted as boatswain, and Mr. Brooks as chief petty officer. The 'Hornet' reached Copenhagen on July 10, and after cruising among the lovely Danish islands for some days, her officers and crew were hospitably entertained by the Royal Danish Yacht Club, then holding their annual regatta at Svendborg. From Denmark she pa.s.sed to Christiania, and on July 25 the s.h.i.+p's company landed in Norway and enjoyed a cariole trip of two days across the country to the Falls of Honefos. After cruising for two or three days along the southern coasts and up the Fjords the 'Hornet'

left Norway and returned to England, arriving at Greenhithe on August 4 after a well-managed and most successful expedition. She was the largest vessel, manned entirely by amateur sailors, that had appeared in those seas.

The account from which the above particulars are taken appeared in the 'Ill.u.s.trated London News' for February 12, 1881, and was accompanied by ill.u.s.trations from photographs by Mr. Henry Denison Pender, son of Mr. (now Sir John) Pender, M.P., who was a member of the crew and an enthusiastic Royal Naval Artillery Volunteer, and whose lamented death soon after was the occasion of much grief to his many friends.

The following year--1881--a cruise of even more extended scope was undertaken. The 'Hornet' left Dover on May 20, and proceeded down Channel to Dartmouth under the command of Mr. C. E. Seth-Smith, a.s.sisted by Mr. A. B. Woodd, Mr. Dodd again acting as boatswain and Mr. Brooks at his old post. At Dartmouth all hands signed articles. On Tuesday, May 24, the steam launch and boiler having been got on board, the 'Hornet' left England for the South at 9 A.M. and lost sight of the English coast at 11.15 A.M., Prawl Point being her point of departure. The weather on her pa.s.sage out was on the whole favourable, and on Tuesday, May 31, the Burlings, fifty miles west of Lisbon, was sighted, the s.h.i.+p's run from noon of the 30th to noon of the 31st having been 218 knots. On June 3, after a period of light winds and calm, the s.h.i.+p being about 120 miles west of Gibraltar, it came on to blow from the eastward, and the square fore-topsail was got in for the first time since leaving Dartmouth. On June 4, the wind increasing to a whole gale from the east with heavy sea, they stood in sh.o.r.e to south of Cape Spartel and lay to 'up and down' in Spartel Bay all night. Next day, the weather moderating, the 'Hornet' stood over to the Spanish coast and sighted Gibraltar Rock at 6.15 P.M., for which she stood steadily in; but at midnight, being becalmed, she was towed in by the gig, and at 2.30 A.M. the anchor was dropped in six fathoms off the Ragged Staff in Gibraltar Bay, after a pa.s.sage from Dartmouth of thirteen days. The interval between June 6 and 11 was spent at Gibraltar in necessary cleaning and repairs, in exploring the Rock and its neighbourhood, and in giving and receiving hospitalities; and at noon on June 11 a start was made for Tangier, where the 'Hornet' arrived at 5 A.M. There she remained until the afternoon of June 12, when, the sights of the old Moorish town having been seen and various Oriental purchases made, the anchor was weighed for Cadiz. At 4 A.M. next day Cadiz was sighted, a pilot taken on board, and at 9.30 A.M. the anchor was let go in Cadiz Bay. At Cadiz a halt was made until June 17, employed by the s.h.i.+p's company in excursions to Seville and Jerez, and in seeing at Cadiz the procession of Corpus Christi and a bull-fight, distinguished on this occasion by the bull-ring taking fire. At 11.30 on the 17th a start was made for Lisbon. From Cadiz to Cape St. Vincent was a beat to windward, until on the 20th they were becalmed off the Cape. A breeze springing up in the afternoon, Cape Epischol was sighted, and at 9 A.M. on the 22nd a pilot was taken on board for Lisbon, and the 'Hornet' sailed in with a light breeze by the south channel, and let go her anchor between Belem and Lisbon at 2 P.M.

The voyage home was destined to prove a much less agreeable experience. Anchor was weighed at 4 P.M. on June 24, wind blowing strong from the north-east, which continued next day with a heavy sea.

Standing out to sea some fifty miles, the 'Hornet' was put on the port tack and sighted the Burlings Light at 8.30 P.M., when she was again put about for sea room. On the 26th the s.h.i.+p was under three-reefed mainsail, reefed foresail, staysail, and jib, and on the 27th she was hove to under three-reefed mainsail and reefed foresail to a strong north-east gale. The 28th, still hove to, the gale blowing furiously, with tremendous seas, the mainsail and fore-staysail were taken in, and the s.h.i.+p put under fore-trysail alone. On the 29th the gale appeared to be moderating, but at 8 A.M. it was found that the rudder-head had started, the steering-wheel and gear had to be uns.h.i.+pped, and the tiller s.h.i.+pped, tended constantly by two helmsmen.

A jib-headed trysail was set on the mainsail to ease the steering gear. On the 30th the mainsail was again set, and, the stores having been overhauled, everyone was put on rations, which were further reduced next day. The weakness of the rudder-head rendered the most careful steering necessary, which, during the rest of the voyage, threw more work on the experienced hands. On July 3 she was again close hauled to a strong breeze from the north-east, which continued all day, the s.h.i.+p being under three-reefed mainsail and reefed foresail, and so continued through the whole of the 4th; but on the 5th the wind s.h.i.+fted to the north-west and moderated. All available sail was gradually made, and by noon of that day, the position having been verified by observation, under square foresail, topsail, and topmast stun'sails, topgallant-sail, and main topmast skysail, the course was set for home. Next day the wind again s.h.i.+fted, and all hands were called in the morning watch to reduce sail. Their misfortunes had not ended, for on July 8 it was discovered that the fore-masthead was sprung, and the cap and crosstrees damaged. A las.h.i.+ng was, however, put round the heel of the fore-topmast, and the fore-masthead, and all the rigging and gear carefully overhauled and made good where possible. The rations, also, were still further reduced. However, on the 9th, having again got sights, the commander decided to bear up for the Channel, and at 10.30 sighted Ushant. A fair wind then sprang up, and the s.h.i.+p ran along gaily at an average of eight knots. On the 10th, and at 5.45 A.M., the English coast near Plymouth was sighted, the Start at 6.30, Portland at 2 P.M., and the Wight at 7. At 6 A.M. next day the anchor was dropped in Shanklin Bay, but permission to land being refused by the Customs authorities, sail was again set for Ryde, where the 'Hornet' arrived at 7.30 P.M., thus terminating an eventful cruise. Although its unexpected prolongation had been rather trying for some of the s.h.i.+p's company, and their experience had been of a nature to try severely the physique and capacity of amateur sailors, they seem to have gone through it well.

Several other yachts, among which may be mentioned the 't.i.tania,'

belonging to the Marquis of Ailsa, the 'Dawn,' to Mr. Klein, and 'Diligent,' to Mr. C. E. Chadwick Healey and Mr. Sydney h.o.a.re, have been manned by Naval Volunteers.