Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1855-09-07
Thc "Dcvil in the Main-top."


deck, who had stationed himself on the top,
to be ready for whatever might he required
there, and had rolled himself up in one OF
the top-gallant studding sails, called out with
n lusty voice, ION deck there the devils in
the man-top Send up some hands to siesc
him ' As was still on deck myself, ut
first thought the man was drunk but he
had never been addicted to drinking, and
thought it must he hoax 50 called out
Main top there none Of your jokes, If you
please, but mind your duty The man re-
cognizing my voice, replied 1T is no joke
Captain, assure you but the real devil.
as sure as this ships the Surrey : 50 send
the hands up, or ! shall bc carried off by
him At the same time we heard in the top
Tapping Of wings. u hoarse screaming or
scrccching, and could see through She dim
light OF mooncss atmosphere the sail in
which the man was cnvcloped rising and fall
ing, and he stouty combating what we
thought must be IA phantom, but which
turned out to be "A solid reality. In the
meantime the boatswain's mate. without or
ders, had gone to the fore-hatchway, and
shouted out. after piping with his call, 'All
hands to catch the devil, ahoy tumble up
there tumble uP, my ho"rtico = III 1ew
minutes all hands were on deck and on the
main-shrouds on both sides, about dozen
men FASTENED to the rescue of their shpmate
from the claws of Satan. and the capture of
the Prince of Darkness himself, if possible.
On their reaching the main-top, one man was
struck 80 forciby by one of the wings of
the unknown assaiant, that hc fell on deck,
and was much hurt by the fall ; another
was almost blinded by a similar stroke ON his
face and all shat could be made out for
some minutes was, that there n great
fcathercd monster, with claws, beak, and
wings, combating with all his might the
] srtv inp1, upt pF lao tnn
blccdin. at several points. stool li' grouui
man.uitt. y lcngth, hy tat aid al ttr
sta idiag .aii, in wLIc!i thcy cnN-iol.i the
monster, and the studIng-s.l sheets. with
which they ln>h"d his legs together, they So
cured him for the remainder of the highland
all again retired to rest. At daylight in
tense curiosity WAS manifested to he present
at the unco'ering of the mysterious creature,
50 that all hands were again on deck, when
he was lowered down from tine top, cnvel-
oped in the canvass which had secured him,
and turned out to he magnificent osprey or
seu-cagl1. 1t stood at least five feet high.
and its extreme breadth from its expanded
wings was at least eight feet. 1t had II no.
bic head, beautiful eyes. with several rings
OF different bright colurs rncrcling the pupil,
a strong crooked hrak, thick and strong legs,
largo tllons or claws, a rich spcckled brown
back OF feathers and white breast and belly
b''i"'hS u" liIH~ WI ~ VI ~. '"ti ''h"
presentation to some ornithological collection,
wished TO secure it for tn, remainder Of the
voyage, and while the carpenter was prcpar
ing "a cage or house for it, il was fastened by
the le, with "A strong rattling-ine t. the
ring bolt Of the spanker- boom, Just ahalt the
tiller, with range of about three iathoms
Of line for the freedom of his movements
His first exploit was to pOunce upon stray
duck who Ind wandered from her coon, into
which he lrar,cx,i his tslyus. and devcurcd
1t alive, with Apparent satisfaction. We
subscuueutiy fed II with t.r utill of uoultry
used for the table. and such supplies of fish
and animal God AZ we coull com1nnnd of
which il ate yoraciouslv. On the third
. dav of its CAPTURE. and when we were near to
New Providence, we were caught in a sudden
!, souall, and it became necessary to take in
the sraukcr. when one of the sailors an
. proachipr the bird too CLOSELY. as he was en-
paced in hauIina, in the boom sheet, the
etle plunged his strong Leak into the naked
calf Of the mans leg. his trousers being
. turned up. as the deck was full of water from
= the heavy souall of rain, and drew out OF it u
solid mass Of flesh of several ounces. SO as to
disable the man probably for life and the
sailor, naturally enraged at this attack, took
, out his knife. cut the LANYARD hy which the
bird was secured. and it flew aloit in the air
l with exultiu., screams of triumph AUTO
biogroBhv ot J. s. Buckinghaa
----------
iHE LATE Abbott LAWhENCE.- Inc 'ollpw-
< ing incident was mentioned by the Kew Dr.
lnthror, in a funeral discourse delivered on
e Sunday
vt the Close oi the funeral services on
{ Wednesday, while crowds were passing ul
this aisle, 10 look upon the lace OF the dead
Il as was standing here Just beneath this pull
i pit, u gentleman VINO saw at once was q
! a. ~ N. and llIrpH nv name