The Story of a Strange Career Part 5

The tide from the sea rises from twenty to twenty-eight feet in twenty-four hours. At high tide the gates, like a lock in a ca.n.a.l, are opened. The s.h.i.+ps are then allowed to enter or go out. Within a half hour the tide commences to lower, then the gates are closed until the next high water. Everything was made ready on the s.h.i.+p for going into dock. A tugboat had us near the gate waiting for our chance. Once inside, we had no trouble securing the s.h.i.+p alongside the dock. Our big anchors had to be taken on deck, that being one of the dock regulations.

By evening everything was in first-cla.s.s shape and very little work left to be done by us in port. After supper we all started to see the city sights by night. I was the only stranger, the others having been there before. The three Americans and myself had a very pleasant time and returned on board the vessel about twelve o'clock. Before we had undressed for bed we heard a heavy splash in the water from the forward part of the vessel, then some one from another vessel sung out, "Man overboard!" We ran to the top-gallant forecastle and could plainly see the bubbles rising in the water, but the man never came to the surface.

Grappling-hooks were sent for and the body was soon recovered. One of the crew, a Norwegian, had gone to sleep on a coil of rope on the forecastle and rolled overboard. The next morning, through superst.i.tion, the crew all left the s.h.i.+p. We four Americans, of all the crew, alone remained. The stevedore and his gang came on board to discharge the cargo. I was anxious to see the first bale of cotton taken out. I had seen how tightly it had been jammed in at Mobile. With tackle and hooks and plenty of hard work, it was slowly pulled out. It took over a week to discharge the entire cargo. I had bought a straw mattress in Mobile, and, as it was not very comfortable, I emptied the tick and filled it with cotton. That same day a young fellow came on board and asked me if I had a cotton mattress that I would sell him. I told him I had one, but needed it to sleep on. Finally a bargain was made--he wanted the cotton only to sell. I was to receive a half-crown--sixty cents--and get the tick back. I went to the dock gate with him and told the custom-house officer that I was sending my bed to a boarding-house. The next day the bed was sold again, and I continued the operation as long as there was any loose cotton lying about the vessel. A half-crown in England was considered quite a big pile of money. For two crowns a coat, pantaloons, and vest could be purchased in those days. Our s.h.i.+p was chartered by the French Government to take a cargo of coal from Cardiff, Wales, and deliver it at Algiers, Africa. A few English navvies were hired to a.s.sist working the s.h.i.+p. Then a powerful tug-boat took us out of the dock and towed us around to Cardiff. After getting in the dock, the navvies were sent back on the tug. There was only one dock, very wide and long, without any walls around it. It was the private property of the Marquis of Bute, a kid about five years old then. He owned nearly the whole city--it was "Bute" road, "Bute" dock, "Bute" Castle, and "Bute" everything else. We had to wait a number of days for our turn to go under the chutes. At last we commenced loading. The lower hold was about two thirds filled, the balance of the load going on "between decks," so as to leave part of the weight above the water-line. A full complement of men was s.h.i.+pped and we were off for the Mediterranean Sea.

CHAPTER XI

A GLIMPSE OF THE MEDITERRANEAN

Sailing south, we arrived at the Straits of Gibraltar. The wind was dead ahead. A strong current was running in from the Atlantic Ocean and we managed to beat in past the Rock after tacking s.h.i.+p many times. All hands were well tired out from bracing around the yards so often. On one tack we would be headed for Spain, on the other it would be for Morocco.

During the night the wind died away. At daylight we found our s.h.i.+p was rapidly drifting on to the rocky coast of Morocco. There was not a bit of air stirring and the sea was as smooth as gla.s.s. Captain Otis was very much discouraged, as the loss of so fine a vessel meant ruined prospects for the future. He was quite a young man for such a responsible position. The Moors on the sh.o.r.e had seen our danger and spread the news to one another. Soon quite a number of small boats were seen at the place where the s.h.i.+p would probably strike. It made all hands feel a little nervous to see the reception which was awaiting us.

It was well known by sailors what a set of cutthroats the people were in that locality. The officers and crew held a consultation as to what should be done. My suggestion was acted upon, and that was, to take all our boats and tow the s.h.i.+p, if possible, or at least to check her from drifting, in hopes that a breeze might spring up. Strangely enough, I was the only man on the s.h.i.+p who had ever seen the experiment tried. The occasion took place when I was in the bushes at San Carlos watching my old s.h.i.+p, the Courier, leaving the harbour. The wind having died away, they lowered the boats and towed the s.h.i.+p a considerable distance. But then the Courier was only half our size and had more and better boats than we had. Our boats were quickly lowered and fastened in a row to a rope from the s.h.i.+p's bows. By hard pulling we slowly turned the vessel head to the current. The drifting was checked, and that was about all we could do. Within half an hour a breeze sprang up and away started the s.h.i.+p, swinging the boats around and towing them stern first. We had a lively time in preventing them from capsizing when the towing business was reversed.

In a few days we sighted what appeared to be an immense hill of chalk, perfectly white from the water's edge to the summit. That was Algiers.

Before night we were inside the breakwater and at anchor. That was the most interesting port I ever saw. A large number of French troops were stationed in the city. The Italian war was then in progress. Such a contrast in people and dress was probably never seen before. Only the Algerian and Moorish women seemed to be without gaiety. They were all dressed alike, a light gauzy dress and a long veil of the same material covering the head and face, leaving only the eyes uncovered. The rich wore shoes; the poor went barefooted. The young had smooth skins on their wrists; the old were wrinkled. That was the only way we could tell the difference between them. As to their beauty, we had no means of judging. Other women were dressed in silk tights and gaily coloured velvet jackets, the front being completely covered with jewels. In fact, every conceivable sort of costume was to be seen. The streets were always crowded; n.o.body seemed to be at home. The French soldiers were in their element, all wearing their side-arms. One regiment of Turcos looked fierce enough to annihilate a whole army. At nine in the evening, an entire drum corps would double through the town beating tattoo. Then the soldiers would disappear for the night. Wine was only eight cents a quart bottle, so their dissipation did not cost them much, especially as they did not get drunk. But how they could talk and get excited! An Englishman with such an opportunity would drink more and talk less. Most of our crew had a fondness for eau de vie--"water of life"--a cheap brandy that cost us only fifteen cents a quart. Cafe royale was also a favourite beverage with them--a cup of strong black coffee with brandy, the latter being bought separate in a bottle. The coffee could be doctored to any degree of strength. At first, my s.h.i.+pmates would take one portion of brandy, a swallow of cafe royale, and in would go another, and so it continued until each bottle was emptied. When ready to pay the waiter, he would count the marks on the bottle at so much a mark. There was no chance to dispute the bill, and no opportunity for the waiter to defraud the boss. I was continually eating grapes--great large bunches weighing two or three pounds each; they were white and seedless, and only two cents a bunch. Algiers was once the great stronghold of the Algerian pirates. They and the Moors laid a heavy tribute on vessels of all nations that came within their clutches. The United States sent a fleet of men-o'-war into their ports, destroyed their vessels, and liberated a number of American seamen they held in captivity. The city is built on the side of a very high and steep hill; the streets running parallel with the harbour are level, but cross streets leading up are one continuous flight of steps. You can go into a house on one street and descend from one bas.e.m.e.nt to another and find yourself on the top floor of a house on another street. That cannot be done in any other city. Some of the old streets are only six feet wide, the doors in the houses being very heavy and studded thickly with large iron bolts. The windows are high from the ground and only twenty inches square, with heavy iron bars, the whole place resembling a strong prison. The new part of the city is quite modern in construction. The French introduced new ideas when they captured the country.

The French Government took the coal from our vessel as they needed it.

They were paying one hundred dollars a day for the time the s.h.i.+p was detained in the harbour. One day I was sitting on the edge of the fore-hatch, cleaning a brace-block, when suddenly my work ceased, and I was laid up for a week. A man was aloft, tightening the truss bolts on the foretop-sail yard. He had a small iron bar which he was using at the work. Contrary to all rules, he neglected to fasten it with a lanyard. He had difficulty in turning the bolt with his hands, so he reversed the operation by holding to the rigging with both hands and pus.h.i.+ng the iron bar with his feet. It was a success, so far as he was concerned. The bolt went around, the bar slipped out, and, whirling through the air, fetched me a whack on the side of the head. The mate gave him a good cursing for his carelessness. I was picked up, my head dressed, and was nicely tucked away in my little bed. In about ten weeks' time the coal was all discharged, the s.h.i.+p cleaned up, and one hundred tons of stone ballast taken on board. We left Algiers, and commenced our voyage for New Orleans. We had pleasant weather while in the Mediterranean Sea. A couple of days after leaving port, a large Swedish sailor and myself were taken sick--headache and fever--then pustules commenced to appear on our faces and hands. We all knew what that meant. It was smallpox. At first the captain intended to put us in the lower hold, but, as our vaccination marks showed very plainly, he waited for further developments. The fresh sea air and plain style of living were in our favour; varioloid was all the disease amounted to.

The rest of the crew were a badly scared lot of men for a few days.

We sighted the Rock of Gibraltar, and were soon in the Straits, with a fair wind driving us strong against the current. About three miles more and we should be on the Atlantic Ocean. Suddenly the wind s.h.i.+fted dead ahead. All we could do then was to go back and lie behind the Rock. All sails were furled except the top-sails, and the s.h.i.+p hove to by backing the main yards. We made several more unsuccessful attempts. The current and wind were too much for us. We had a fine view of the Rock of Gibraltar. The western side sloped very steeply to the bay. The eastern part was perpendicular and inaccessible. A narrow, sandy strip of land connected it with Spain. England, having possession of that fortification, was there, like a big bulldog taking charge of the entrance to a house against the occupant's will. For over a hundred years the Spanish have been humiliated by their British guests. The Rock commands the entrance to the Mediterranean, and is considered impregnable. Improvements are being continually made. The galleries are tunnelled through solid rock. The magazines, bomb-proofs, and casemates cannot be penetrated by an enemy's shot. The upper guns can fire a plunging shot on a s.h.i.+p's deck, but a s.h.i.+p cannot elevate its guns enough to return the fire. The English can fire rifle bullets into Spain. With the heavy guns they can drop shot and sh.e.l.l into Morocco and into the Spanish forts, and, at the same time, throw tons of shot the whole length of the Straits. As there are at present, in 1897, just that number of guns in position, an enemy's fleet would receive a very warm reception. An extra gun is mounted every year. By looking on the front cover of an almanac, anybody can find out just how many cannon are mounted on the Rock of Gibraltar. About the tenth day we got a fair wind that took us through the Straits and into the Atlantic Ocean. The s.h.i.+p was then headed southwest for the Gulf of Mexico. In six weeks' time we sighted the lighthouse, and then the low sandy beach at the mouths of the Mississippi River. A tugboat took us over the bar, and we let go the anchor. When a tow of six vessels was obtained, a large tug towed us up the river, each s.h.i.+p being fastened to the other with large hawsers, stem and stern. It was a powerful boat to tow so many s.h.i.+ps against the strong current of the Mississippi. One man was at the wheel to keep the s.h.i.+p straight after the tug, and all the rest of the crew were hard at work unbending the sails and lowering them on deck. The third night, about ten o'clock, we arrived at New Orleans. The s.h.i.+p was secured to the levee, and the voyage on the C. C. Duncan was ended.

A number of boarding-house runners came on board. Each one, of course, was working for the "best house." It was two o'clock in the morning when our work was finished. Then all the crew went ash.o.r.e to enjoy a sleep on dry land. Captain Otis tried to induce us four Americans to remain on the s.h.i.+p for another voyage. I gave him my reasons for leaving, as it was my intention to return to my home from which I had been absent so long. I received eighty-five dollars pay that was due me, and went by steamboat to Mobile, Ala.

CHAPTER XII

IN AMERICAN WATERS

On my arrival in Mobile, I went to work on a barge and received forty-five dollars a month. We would be towed down the bay with a load of cotton and back to the city with general freight. s.h.i.+ps drawing over twelve feet of water could not go up the river, consequently they had to receive and discharge in the lower bay, thirty-five miles from the city.

I was on the barge for two months and then s.h.i.+pped on the schooner Pennsylvania, at thirty-five dollars a month. For a few weeks we brought salt to the city from the s.h.i.+ps in the bay. Then my wages were reduced to eighteen dollars a month, as we were to take a cargo of pine lumber to Havana, Cuba. The schooner was towed up the Alabama River to a new sawmill.

During the daytime we would load timber and at night all hands would go 'possum-hunting. A few pine-knots for torches and a couple of dogs were all that was required for the sport. As soon as a 'possum was caught he would be as dead as a door-nail, to all appearances. They were put in a bag as fast as captured. On returning to the schooner, we dumped them all into an empty barrel. In the morning they would be as lively as crickets. When the barrel was. .h.i.t hard with a stick, the whole lot would pretend to die a most tragic death.

When the schooner was loaded, we sailed for Havana. On our arrival in that port, the lumber was discharged. The captain, as a speculation, bought a car of oranges and bananas. The fruit was perfectly green when brought on board. We immediately set sail for Mobile. Much to the captain's disgust, the trip was a long one of calms and head winds and great trouble. The weather was intensely warm. The oranges ripened very quickly and then rapidly decayed. The fruit venture proved very unprofitable. On our arrival in Mobile, only the bananas were fit for sale. We had a nice job to clean the rotten oranges from the hold. I never see a mouldy orange but that my memory goes back to that remarkable trip.

We were towed up to the sawmill for another load of lumber.

'Possum-hunting occurred at nights as before. One of the sailors and myself wanted a pet to take to sea with us. So we went on sh.o.r.e on an expedition by ourselves. We at last found a big "razor-back" sow with a litter of pigs. Each of us decided that two little pigs were just the thing needed on the schooner. Then the fun commenced. "Scotty" and myself learned the fact that the pigs could do some good sprinting when there was occasion for it, and just then was one of the occasions. For a half hour we tried all sorts of tactics. It was of no use. What the little pigs didn't know the old sow did. At last we came to a big saw-log close to a fence. I was to stand at the end of the log while "Scotty" was to drive the pig family between. Everything worked nicely.

I did not interfere with the sow. Making a grab, I got one pig and was laying for another. Just then there was a sudden change in the program.

The old sow was doing the chasing act. "Scotty" and I did not want any more pigs! One was enough. It was "nip and tuck" as to who would win.

Scotty got a stick and was pounding the sow as a diversion. I made tracks for the schooner. When I got on board I was nearly played out.

The captain took a look at the pig and myself. Then he wanted to know why I didn't get a larger one while I was about it. When loaded, we sailed again for Havana. We had a pleasant trip. The schooner was small and very easy to handle. Captain Turner was a stout and short middle-aged man, very good-natured, and inclined to be tricky in regard to making money. We could draw our wages at any time we wished to do so.

We arrived in Havana in the month of June. The weather was very hot.

Every day at two o'clock we stopped discharging lumber, as the custom-house officers would then go home. Every board and stick of timber had to be measured on the dock. The crew would go ash.o.r.e and visit the different places in the city. We all invested money in the Royal Lottery, but drew no prizes. The tickets were sold on the streets by venders, who received a commission on their sales. A person who could not understand Spanish would suppose that they were selling newspapers.

The tickets were in large sheets, sixteen dollars for a whole and proportionately, down to a sixteenth.

A large American s.h.i.+p arrived in harbour from China with a load of coolies for the Cuban plantations. The captain was sick, so he made arrangements with Captain Turner to take his vessel, the Messenger, to New York. Our mate was to take the schooner to Boston, with a cargo of sugar and mola.s.ses. We took our cargo on board, boxes of sugar in the hold and hogsheads of mola.s.ses for a deck load. I was now going home in earnest. I purchased a lot of guava jelly and tropical preserves, besides a number of presents for my relatives. I wrote to my mother, in New York, telling her of my intentions, giving her the name of the schooner and its port of destination. The fourth day of July, 1860, early in the morning, we sailed out past Morro Castle. Our voyage to Boston had begun. I felt happy with the prospect of soon being back home. We had a very easy time on the schooner, there being nothing to do except to take our turns at steering. On a full-rigged s.h.i.+p it would have been different, as it is invariably the practice to keep the crew continually at work most of the time, most usually aloft, repairing the rigging. We had pa.s.sed the most dangerous part of our trip, through the Florida Keys; the wind was "wing and wing"--that is, the foresail was out on one side and the main-sail on the other. A good strong breeze was driving us north at a rapid rate. That night it was my turn at the wheel from ten to twelve o'clock. It being cloudy, no stars were visible. For that reason it was more difficult to steer straight. By selecting a bright star ahead when the vessel is on the right course, it is easier to see which way the wheel is to be turned. Steering by compa.s.s alone, the vessel either "goes off" or "comes up" considerably before the compa.s.s shows it. The main boom was out to starboard the full length of the sheet. A pennant--heavy rope--from the end of the boom was hooked to a tackle and fastened forward in order to prevent the boom from swinging back. I had been at the wheel about an hour, and was watching the compa.s.s carefully. Suddenly the light in the binnacle went out. Then I had neither stars nor compa.s.s to steer by. As we were going dead before the wind, I tried to keep the old schooner straight, but it was useless.

In a few minutes she yawed to starboard, and the main-sail was taken aback. All the strain of that big sail was then on the boom pennant and tackle leading forward. Before anything could be done to relieve us from our dilemma there was a sharp snap forward. The belaying-pin which held the tackle had broken, the boom flew over to the other side, and the sheet tautened out like a bow-string. It took hardly a second for the sail to jibe over.

I was lying on deck badly stunned, the wheel-post broken short off, and the wheel broken into small pieces. The old Pennsylvania was sailing in all directions. The "sheet" may be better understood by calling it a large double tackle. As the boom swung in, the sheet, of course, slackened up, and the bights, going over the quarter-deck, had caught everything in the way. If I had been caught under the arm or chin I should have been hurled quite a distance from the schooner without any possible chance of being rescued. Small tackles were fastened to the tiller, and the schooner brought head to wind. The main-sail was then lowered and furled. With only the forward sails set and all hands at the tiller tackles, we managed to run before the wind on our right course until daylight. The fragments of the wheel were picked up and, by using a stout barrel-head as a foundation, it was reconstructed. While not being a first-cla.s.s affair, it answered all purposes. On the right side of my body, from ankle to top of my head, I was sore for several days.

That was my second accident with main-booms, and both were narrow escapes.

Within a short distance of Boston, our stock of provisions ran short, so we had to kill our pet pig. He had grown to quite a respectable size.

It was much to our regret to slaughter our companion, but it had to be done. As it was, we had nothing left to eat on our arrival in Boston.

The first thing after the anchor dropped was to row the cook ash.o.r.e and get some grub for supper. Captain Turner was on hand to meet us, having arrived several days previously. His first inquiries were about the pig.

He intended to take it to his home. His wife had made a nice place for it in the back yard as a domicile. We went to a dock the next day for unloading cargo. A custom-house officer came on board to see that everything was according to the manifest. He was very sociable to all hands. About dinner-time he called me to one side, quietly informing me that he was going to dinner and would not return for an hour or so, and that, if the boys had anything to take ash.o.r.e, they had better do it while he was absent. I told the crew what he had said. As we all had a quant.i.ty of cigars, we each chipped in a handful as a present. The balance and my supply of guava jelly was taken to a boarding-house.

When the officer returned from his dinner, I told him to look on my bed.

He took the hint--and the cigars too. I had to wait some time in Boston before I could get my pay which was due me, and I had not written home about my arrival, not knowing how soon I might start for New York. About the third day, while standing on the schooner deck, I noticed a neatly dressed lady coming down the dock. As it was an unusual place for a woman, my curiosity was aroused. She seemed to be looking for some vessel, so I stepped ash.o.r.e and walked towards her, thinking I might be of some service to her. She was looking for her son. I was the son. It was a great surprise to me to see my mother so unexpectedly.

"Now, George, you won't get away this time; you are going straight home with me!" I was greeted.

The way she knew the Pennsylvania had arrived was by reading the New York Herald. That paper gave the daily arrival of s.h.i.+ps in all the large ports of the United States. I told her my reasons for not writing and why I was detained in Boston; then she was satisfied. I inquired about my relations at home. They were all well and very anxious to see me. I then asked about my father in San Francisco. She at once began to cry.

Then, for the first time, I noticed that she was dressed in mourning.

Father had been dead just three months. I went to a hotel with mother and remained with her until evening; then she returned to New York. In a short time I received my money. The next train was taking me to New York and back to my friends from whom I had been separated for such a long time. How glad they were to see me, and what a happy time we all had!

They never got tired of listening to the stories of my sailor life. I remained at home for about six weeks. As I did not wish to remain idle any longer, I concluded to return to Mobile, where I was well acquainted, and there work at discharging cargoes from vessels. I was satisfied that I could easily earn from two dollars and a half to three dollars a day at that work during the winter.

CHAPTER XIII

MY THIRD VOYAGE

About October 1, 1860, I intended to take pa.s.sage on the s.h.i.+p Robert Ely, for Mobile, but changed my mind, for the reason that the s.h.i.+p had a crew of negroes instead of white men. The P. T. Bartram was almost ready to sail; the crew were all s.h.i.+pped, so I paid ten dollars for steerage pa.s.sage, and was to furnish my own food. So many sailors wanted to go South that it was difficult for me to s.h.i.+p as a sailor, the boarding-house keepers having the preference with the s.h.i.+pping offices for their boarders. The P. T. Bartram was a bark of about six hundred tons burthen. The cargo was general merchandise--a little of everything.

The North at that time furnished the Southern States with everything excepting raw cotton.

We had a fine pa.s.sage to the Gulf of Mexico, with fair prospects of a speedy voyage. Slowly the fine breeze died away, the atmosphere became unusually sultry, the barometer falling rapidly. Then we knew that trouble was in store for us. It was not long in coming, either. A severe hurricane from the West Indies struck us. All sail was taken in except close-reefed main top-sail and fore-storm stay-sail. Then the bark was hove to, head to wind. The wind roared and whistled through the rigging, the waves commenced to rise rapidly and roll on deck, rain was pouring down in torrents, and lightning seemed to be striking all around us. The bark had a half deck extending to the main-mast. The after part was the cabin, the rest was for storing freight. In there were several tons of gunpowder. We did not know how soon the lightning might send us all skyward. Partly for exercise and self-preservation, I was working with the crew as one of them. The cook was with us also, since he had been washed out of the galley by a heavy sea, and would take no more chances among his pots and kettles. All hands kept aft on the vessel's quarter-deck, no other place being safe from the heavy seas. The storm kept increasing in violence, until finally the strain from the top-sails bent the main-yard up and it snapped in two. All hands started aloft to save the sails. I happened to be first, and went out to the weather side, as is customary. When about half-way out the foot of the sail, it flopped over the top-yard, struck me in the breast, and knocked me off the yard. What a queer sensation I had while falling! So many thoughts rushed through my brain in an instant, especially whether I would strike on deck or go overboard! The vessel was heavily careened over to leeward from the force of the wind, and luckily I struck in the lower rigging, my arms going between the ratlins, where I hung on for life, the pressure of the wind helping me considerably. My mishap was enough for the other men--not one would venture on the yard. They just clung to the rigging, and let the top-sail blow away in small pieces.

With the top-sail gone, the bark fell off into the trough of the sea.

Then the sea washed over the decks. For the first time on the ocean I saw the experiment tried of dragging a vessel head on to sea. The end of a large hawser was fastened to the vessel's head, the rest put overboard, in hopes that in dragging through the water the strain would swing us head on. It was not a success. The waves washed the hawser all around the bark's bow and sides. If we could have once got it straightened out, the plan might have worked. Many a s.h.i.+pwrecked sailor has been saved by a similar plan, when compelled to abandon a s.h.i.+p and take to a small boat, by fastening a rope to the middle of an oar and throwing it into the water. It has thus kept the boat's head to the seas, and prevented it from swamping. The lee-pump was kept going continually, and that was hard work. Two men at a time were at the handle. The bark was badly strained and leaking considerably. At one time we thought all the water was pumped out, but that was a mistake on our part. The pump had commenced sucking, and no water was coming up.

The fact of no air hissing as usual seemed rather strange. The upper box was taken out, and then an iron hook lowered down for the lower box.

When that was hauled up, the mystery was explained. About a pint of nicely water-soaked beans was holding the clapper down. By using the sounding rod, we found about fourteen inches of water below. The pump was rigged again and started, and in a few more minutes it was the same old trouble--more beans! The process of drawing the boxes was gone over again. The same result followed--more beans! A barrel of that edible fruit had broken open in the cargo, and every individual bean had found its way to the pump-well. The comments were loud and deep, and the man who invented beans was d.a.m.ned in all styles in several different languages.

Well, there was nothing else to do but pump the beans out on the instalment plan. Just as soon as a certain quant.i.ty got on top of the valve or clapper, it acted effectually as an automatic shut-off for the water. The hurricane had been blowing for three days and our worst danger--the terror of all sailors--was close at hand. We were drifting towards the Florida reefs. A few hours more and the s.h.i.+p, with all hands, would be a thing of the past. There was no possibility of escape unless the gale abated or the wind s.h.i.+fted to another direction. Birds by the hundreds were flying for our vessel. They were land birds of all kinds and sizes, probably blown to sea from Cuba. Striking the rigging or any part of the vessel, they would be instantly killed. Every nook and corner on the deck was filled with their dead bodies. The wind blew them around like so much dust. One was found in the compa.s.s-box, under the compa.s.s. Its presence was made known by the smell of a decaying body after the storm was over. The anchor-chain boxes had a fine a.s.sortment sandwiched in between the big iron links. Those we could not get out and, consequently, the odour was anything but pleasant in that locality.

The sea had changed in colour from green to a milky white. This showed that we were getting into shoal water. The agitation of the waves was bringing up fine white coral, which formed the bottom of the ocean in the locality of the reef.

Towards sundown the hurricane had pa.s.sed us, the wind gradually veering around to the north, which made a fair wind for us to Mobile. All sail was set, the damage repaired as much as possible, the cook made a lot of good strong coffee, and then all hands took turns in taking a much-needed sleep.

A remarkable sight on that trip I have forgotten to mention: one pleasant evening the sun was exactly even on the west horizon and a bright full moon on the eastern. It lasted only a few minutes, but it was a beautiful sight. All the time I have pa.s.sed on the ocean, I never saw the phenomenon but that once.

The next afternoon after the storm we sighted a vessel dead ahead. On getting closer we saw a signal of distress flying. The s.h.i.+p had lost all her masts close to deck, was almost on her beam ends, and rolling like a log in the water. What did our gallant captain do but sail past without giving any a.s.sistance! The signal indicated that the crew wanted to abandon the wreck. All hands talked rather plainly to the captain regarding his inhumanity. His excuse was that his own vessel was too badly disabled to a.s.sist others. In a few days we were off Mobile harbour and took the pilot on board. From him we got a description of the storm at Mobile. The Robert Ely, the s.h.i.+p in which I had intended taking pa.s.sage at first, had arrived at the beginning of the storm, and anch.o.r.ed outside of the harbour. The wind broke her from her anchorage and wrecked her on the low, sandy island at the entrance of the bay.

Three of the crew were washed over the island into the bay on the top-gallant forecastle and rescued. The remainder were drowned.