Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1857-05-08
OLD SERIES
MIS- c L. LII A n Y.
TIE HAZARD OF THE DIE.

youth, aud caused him to quit reading the
romance Of the sea and try its stern reality,
which soon conyinccs him Of the difference
between painted ship upon a painted
ocean," and the forc.castle Of Liverpool
packet or Pacific +" bubbcr hunter"
| was brought up in a country village,
where a ship was never seen, and sailor
was as much a curiosity as ITot,cnto,
but unfortunately, a specimen Of this class
Of men visited our place, and | Glanced %
be ono Of the select few who enjoyed the
privilege Of listening to hi, stories Of hair
br,a,yh escapes and wonderful disasters,
which, instead Of dampine my arior, only
increased the desire to try :ho realities Of
the wondrou- dccp. A schoolmatc, named
Tom -, was like myself, carried away
with The idea Of making hero 81 himself,
and proposed that we set OF at once COR New
York, aud take the fr.t opportunity that
offered, hy which our heart, doslrc could b,
crltiicl ono or two other. had proposed
to ioin ", but when the day Of dcpartur,
arrived al seemed T., have changed their
minds, with the exception Of Tom and my-
self, ami oT wc started, much against the
wishes Of our parents, though by continual
urging We had succeeded m ohtainin, an
unwilling consent that the experiment should
hc tried, in hopes it might cur, Us of our
fancy fr the smell Of pitch and the roaring
OF thc wind, and waters.
Arriving in New York, we found our
youthful and delicate appearance would pro-
vent Oh, possibility Of our shipping in the
merchant s"ryi,c, aud nothing was leh l1r
90. bu, % enlist for a whaliu. cruis,. So
entering dinsy looking shipping o1i,c ia
South street, oruamcntrI with colored post
crs, South Sea shells, aud war clubs. wc
were soon face % face with the agent, who
commenced long har,nguc on hrbriiinut
chances offered in the whaling busiuc., lur
"youn. men or energy and determination. ."
Ike ourselves. lIo expressed an opinion
tina; ", dill not weigh the required number
orVunl, but an doubts soon mni,hcdvirn
We stood On the Tairhlnks platform,
and made tho balance speak rorit, .lr AGsr
this We took our seats nt dcsk, On which
vassprral out the Articles Of srccmcnt. "
between the master and the owner Of the
ship y, or --, and the crow thereof.
wc flt li,tl, Ike reading through a docu.
mcnt equal in size TO ,hc Constitution or the
United States. and therefore so our names
beneath dozen Others, two-thirl, or which
wcrr orumcutri with a II. Anlraw's cross,
AMI the word, " hr, eros, " gi,in. Il. poor
promi., Of the intellectual qualit,r, Of our
rutur, fellow .hipmltss
The DAY following, wo were forwarded by
schooner % --,a sapor, on tho Sound.
which gave us slight tast, Of what w,
might expect to cni1y our first few days
out. Gr W. bad never .il.ionanyt'ihs hut
the Erie Canal and th- schooner hll most
decidedly very unpleasant motion. -
In due time, however, We rsaci-l che l,--
tined port, and after being well supplied
with u,cc,,ariy, f1r thc voyage. were soon
taken ou board the ,hip, whorc We wrr, %.
dcrrl &, do the b.,t wc could toward. ct.
ting ,hc cyc.scl IN sailing trim, receiving aui
slowing away provisions, aul such o,h.s
work q. could b. found f5r us o. DO. \
week was spent in ,hiswork, when the crow
bgius complete AMI everything aiy, tie
order was given to weigh anchor AMI proceed
on tho voyage, our Destination bcins tha In
dian Ocean.
For two months We went along pretty
much as an other whalcrs do, making it
useless 20 give a description Of our prosr.s',
but whcnnear the Southern tropic a sud.
den anil violent storm arose, accompanied
with thunder aud Lightning, hr exceeding
in LriIliancy aud power anything | had ever
previously witnessed. IL rasei with una.
bltcd fury for half the day, and the whol,
Of the following night. Daylight revealed
our situation to be even wors, than So au-
tiriratol; all the upper mast' hai been car
ricd away. the bulwarks stove, and every
boat bad been crushed or washed away ru-
trcly from the dayits. The ship va. max.
ins water fast, and IL was evident from the
strains she hal received, that there va, bat
little hope of leak, being entirely stopped
until We reached some place where tho
necessary repairs could be made.
Cape Town was the nearest port, AMI tho
strongest excrtions were made to reach IL,
by spreading on all canvass we could upon
our shattered spars, but from our water
logged condition, our Roadway was slow,
anl each successive day's reckoning showed
but little advance from the position we had
occupied the day previous. To make our
condition worse, 1t was discovered that the
ships stores were badly damaged by the salt
water, and we were at once put upon short
allowance until, as we yainly hoped, We
might b. discovered by some wcli.stock;d
Iniiaman. from which We might receive an
addition to cur rapidly decreasing supply.
| Bu, it was not to be 50. We sailed, or
rather loatcd, like an idle log, for many a
weary week, still appearing to be nearer
land, and without seeing sail, Of any kind;
and BY this time our provisions had been
entirely consumed, and the crew were upon
the point Of starvation, having been without
food for several days. Day by day thing"