The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1846-04-17

up for lost. The last that had beer
heard Of her was a shadowy repor
of her having touched at some o
those unstable islands in the far Pa
ciiic, whose eccentric wandering
are carefully noted in each new edi
ton of the South Sea charts. Ate
a long interval, however, 'The Per
severance'-for that was her nam,
was spoken somewhere in the vi
cinity of the ends of the earth, cruz
ing along as leisurely as ever, he
sails all beparched and bequilte,
with rope-yarns, her spars fisheC
with old pipe stores, and her rigging
Iinotted and spliced in every posi-
BILE direction. Her crew was com.
posed Of some twenty vcnerabl,
Greenwich pensioner- looking ole
salts, who just managed to hobbl,
about on deck. The ends of all the
running ropes, with exception of tht
signal halyards and poop down haul
were rove through snatch blocks
and led to the capstan or windlass
so that not yard was braced or q
sail set without the assistance of ma
chinery.
Her hull was incrusted with bar
nacles, which completely encased
her. Three pet sharks followed in
her wake, and every day came along
side to regale themselves from the
contents of the cooks bucket, which
were pitched over to them. A vast
Shoal Of bonetas and albicores al
ways kept her company.
Such was the account | heard OF
this vessel, and the remembrance OF
1t always haunted me; what even
tually became other never learned;
at any rate she never reached home,
and suppose she is regularly tack
ing twice in the twenty-four hours
somewhere off Buggery Island, or
the devifs-Tail peak.
Passing over luxurious descrip-
ton of Il light trade wind and its eff
iects on ship and crew in the Pacif-
ic, we are greeted on approaching
the islands by
Il FlottHa If Narqucsan Merniails.
We had approached within a mile
and half, perhaps, of the foot of the
bay, when some Of the islanders,
who by this time had managed to
scramble aboard of US at the risk of
swapping their canoes, direct our
attention to singular commotion in
the water ahead Of the vessel. At
first | imagined it to be produced
by a shoal of fish sporting on the
surface, but our savage friends as
sured us that it was caused by a
shQal Of 'whinhenies,' (young girls, J
who in this manner were coming off
from the shore to welcome us.-As
they drew nearer, and | watched the
rising and sinking Of their forms, and
beheld the uplilted right arm bear
ing above the water the girdle of
tappa, and their long dark hair trail
ing beside them as they swan all
most fancied they could be nothing
else than so many mermaids; and
very like mermaids they behaved
too.
We were.still some distance from
the beach, and under slow Roadway,
when we sailed right into the midst
of these swimming nymphs, and they
boarded us at every quarter; many
Selling hold of the chain plates and
springing into the chains others, at
the peril of being run over by the
vessel in her course, catching at the
bob-stays, and wreathing their slcn-
der forms about the ropes, hung sus-
pended in the air. All of them at
length succeeded in getting up the
ships side, where they chung drip
ping with the brine and glowing from
the bath, their jet-black tresses
streaming over their shoulders, and
half enveloping their otherwise ma
ked forms. There they hung, spark
ling with savage vivacity, laughing
gally at one another, and chattering
away with infinite gIee. Nor were
they idle the while, for each one
performed the simple office of the
toilet for the other, Their luxuri-
ant locks, wound up and twisted in
to the smallest possible compass,
were freed from the briny element (;
the whole person carefully dried,
and from little round shell that
passed from hand to hand, anointed
with fragrant oil their adornmcnts
were completed by passing few
loose folds of white tappa, in mod
est cincture, around the waist. Thus
arrayed they no longer hesitated, but
lung themselves lightly over the
bulwarks, and were quickly frolck-
ing about the decks. Many Of them
went forward, perching upon the
head-rails or running out upon the
bowsprit, while others seated them
selves upon the taf'raiI, or reclined
at full length upon the boats.
Their appearance perfectly ANA