The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1860-08-09
THE PACIFIC
Commercial Advertiser.
SALT WATER
4 Man

Boston, was ..runninc down the tr-dss, with
.-Ildiug-7ails on both sides, allow and alJ.t- and
RIVAL snd -ky--aiIs set The breeze was steady
With a smooth sea. For more than a week not d
brace OF Z ~clueline had been started. This run
ming down the southeast trades is the poetry Of
navigation
The Iarb0ard watch was on deck aud clustered
tlgether on the forcasJle. the sailors, a social,
careless, happy st Of fellows. were bC-!ly en-
Gagged in conversation, 90 p-=s the time, and DIVE
&C.! care away. After discussing several lmpOr-
tzut subjects with q degree OfskiiI and pTofuaiity
which rejected credit on their good sense and IL
tei.igence, they entered upon the interesting sub
jscrs Of ths '.hair-b-eath escap5s' they had ezpe-
r!sncsd-
Several cases OF a thrilling character were
given, such as are not uHiregusnc IN the life Of a
s%4ilUr. when CJlia HIrtsaOrn, I bright-eyed,
good-looking, middle-agsi man. with iron mus
ciss and a hurculean frame, addressing one Of his
vatchmates rather abruptly, said, Jack ksndle,
did you ever fall overheard ~ Sc?
Never, ~shipnate," replied jack Randle Il
never met with such bad luck. | was jerked Oft
the foretopsail yard one dark night, while reeEng
t0psaiis, on board tie brig SHkey Thompson, in
the Bay Of Biscay, bound 10 B0rdeaux-and
while another Of my shipmates, poor f.llOw, who
was on the lee yard arm, was tJssld into the wa
ter, five fIthoms from the ships side, and was
never heard Of afterwards, ! WAS safely landed IN
the fore-tOp, with only a sprained wrist and q
bruised fgure-head.
" Den L = IN the snip IGLATLN- DJuL4 u
Liverpool, lying 70 under bare poles of the Isle
Of Sable said 4 tough old BritOn, eve shipped
q sea which swept the decks. and washed over
bard the second mate and tine whole watch, who
were all drowned ezcep; myself: and vas only
EIved BY being entangled In the frssheet which
nearly twisted of my Larboari fin before | gOto
board. And, ~shipmates, il was = sad and solemn
sight, 20 see them poor fellows in the ships
wake, broad of on the weather quarter, before
they went down. rising TO the top OF the waves,
and stretching out their arms towards the ship,
imploring for aid which could not Be given
- Ay, such things are sad 10 witness said
Jack handle. But | s'pOse they are all right.
\ man what goes 70 sea, must expect To meet
with rubbers now and hen-fOr, otherwise, dye
zee, everybody would want 10 be a sailor -
We should be thankful for our lot, such Is it
i. We have no right to grumble at s. hard
chance"
Il say, Colin inquired one Of the men, who
Vas carelessly leaning against the wIndlass bits,
Ibid you ever fall overboard?'
Once, and only once replied Colin Harris
horn, .'but I didn't tax: it 50 kindly as Jack
Randle is disposed 20 and while | was in the
water. with no expectation of ever getting out,
I'm afraid 1 ~grumbIed a little at my hard luck
That's bat natural, l suppose, -iii old
Jack, ..after all. But Colin, lad, cell Us all
about il, how IT happened. Give IL the ~Iarticu-
lars, old fellow, Is the sad looking man IN the
play said to the ghost on the castle wall
Thus grayely adjured, Colin Hartshorn acceded
10 the-wIshes Of his watchmates, and spun the
GLOWING yarn, illustrative Of the singular Incl
dents which chequer the life of = sailor.
About eight years ago. | was i sailor before
The mast on board the brig Crocodile, Captain
Eomney, bound ffon New York 70 Gibraltar and
= market. The Crocodile was = fine vessel. and
yge mad good usage on board. Everything went
IN pleasantly. There was a perfect understand
Jag between the cabin and the fOreclstle. The
L-.ur rharr DIT and yrar1 Vim II nor
form IL. and the captain told Us the first night
cut. while the light house on Sandy Hook was
still IN sight, that - long as We did our duty and
c0nformed to the well established rules of disci-
pine, we should b. treated like en-an he was
- good as his word.
We had been abJut a fortnight on the passage,
and were already more than half way across the
Atlantic. not having spoken n single vessel up to
that :ime, when, one evening at the close Of the
iOgswatch, 9 dark cloud was seen TO be coming
% rapidly on the weather quarter, and the Cap
who was on DICK, ordered the light sails 10
Re taken in. The fyingjib having been hauled
| passed out over the bowsprit to furl 1t.
reached the living jib-boom end, and had Just
the sail together ready for passing the
lsket, when the sqGtil struck che big. Il came
WITH 8 sudden gust. the sail, light as Il was, Hap
ed heavily, caught me around the head, and
listed lie over the boom, 50 that before | could
z.utch the Jib-stay or any other rope fell into
he water.
The snip, dashing onward, passed directly over
rubbing against my sides and giving me an
Of the unpleasant effect of the process of
But ] came To the surface when [
~ in the wake. and pulled and bowed like 4
1JrpOise TO recover my breath. / could swim
Ike a seal, and did not at fret realize the danger
f my situation | looked around for the snip,
nd although the heavens were covered with
IJuds, l could ses heT distinctly. and also hear
shouts on board. =. y man overheard Colin
a. fallen from the i~ib-JoOml :" was repeated fore
md aft.
The Captain, = uDbIe-hearted man. was all
live on this occasion. lie instantly gave the
riders, in a loud and decided tone. {. Hard
own the helm Hard down, Clear away the
Be handy, mem Throw over the
Square away the main yaTd?"
Then mounting the ~taffr.lil, he called out in =
ear and encouraging voice, and every syllable
K uttered heard with the utmost distinctness,
II At such times, shipmates, a man senses are
-nazingly acute Keep UP your spirits, Colin
DON'T Dc discouraged the boat viii be along
ide of YOU IN no tIuel'
The BOBBY hatch ard a hencoOp were thrown
the moment the alarm was given. and
while / was but q short distance from the ship.
those floating objects ! attempted 70 reach, know
ng that my only nope consisted not IN attempt
70 swim towards the ship. which was going
the water 1t the rate Of seven or eight
when | fell overheard, but in reServing all
~ strength % keep my head above the surface
.atil a boat could be lowered and manned and
to my relief. After L struggle IN which /
vas nearly exhausted, | found the BOBBY hatch,
. which | chung As TO an ark of safety.
As the ship was going rapidly through the
Tater. with the wind free when the squaii struck
she was At least 4 quarter Of 4 mile of be
ore she was stopped and the boat lowered, and
ven when ner way through the water was stop
ed. the skip continued 20 drift 20 leeward laser
nan s man could swim in smooth water.
Clinging to the BOBBY hatch, which WIS some
hing like = large open box SIX or Sven feet
9uare and two feet deep, constructed Of light
plank. | could keep my head out of the wa
most Of the time without much effort and [
nus had IN opportunity and abundance O. leisure
o reflect on nv situation. Darkness came on.
nj I knew I could not be seen from the ship. If
indeed I had been seen az all after | had fallen
'ver5Oari and in that dangerous hour. / earnest
Y prayed 20 God that the boat might be pulled
the spot where | was floating on the water.