Lexington advertiser. [volume] (Lexington, Miss.) 1838-187?, 1870-07-22
VOLUME XIII.

strong hopes that we may be saved.
= think the worst of the gale is over, and
we only don't happen TO ship an unfOrtl
nate sea like that which"
- "My dear father! He was all that had
she moaned; and once more her mirac,
lous fortitude gave way, and she brok
down again.
The gale abated at midnight, and thoug
# the ship labored terribly in the tumblin
= swell, for want of canvas to steady he
|, we shipped no more heavy seas. | stage
, near my young charge all through tn
night; for, Of course, neither of us coul
; sleep. / promised her that would eve
be as father to her, and that, come whs
would, she should share my fortunes an
be to me as sacred legacy.
OF course, no such idea as marriag
with her had anything to do with what
said or felt at that time. was twenty
Ave years old, and Jessie child. Besides
| was under promise of marriage to
young lady Of suitable age. She jilte'
me for another, during my absence-bu
that has nothing to do with my story.
With the morning light came the necea
sity for effort, and sense of responslblit,
new and strange to me. l sounded tn
well and found only two feet of water il
the ship, this having worked down from
above. did not attempt, alone, to puml
, her out; but rejoiced in the assuranc
that | still had tight vessel under me
for, had she sunk, should have had nj
dependence beyond such raft as | coult
have extemporized. Every boat had beel
swept away.
l loosed and let fall the foresail, and sue
ceeded in setting it, with the child assist
ance and the power of the windlass. Tn,
spanker could easily manage with th
brais; and these, with the lower staysails
were all the canvas | intended to make
use Of | could do nothing with the loftiel
sails without more help.
The sun had come up brightly after tht
storm, and the aspect of the skies indicated
a continuance of fine weather. | took OBJ
servations and shaped my course towarC
the Hervey Islands, hoping to makt
Mangea or Raratonga. | had gooC
general knowledge of navigation, thOugl
| had little practice, and was unused tC
anything like responsible control of thai
department.
Of course, was obliged to be at thu
helm most of the time. But soon taught
Jessie, so that she could steer well enough
in fair weather, which gave me time tC
attend to many other matters But as we
could not steer all day and all night, the
ship was necessarily left to her own
guidance some part of the time.
| soon discovered that my knowledge OF
navigation, though it might tell me where
| was, would not enable me to 60 where
wished. The winds and currents headed
me on, so that we were making drift to
the westward and it was impossible to
remedy this, unless the ship were manned
so as to be well steered and enabled to
carry all sail Spite of all that the child
and | could do, she must go nearly where
the elements might carry her. We should
be more likely to make land somewhere
among the Tongas or Fejees than in the
direction had hoped at first.
There was no fear of our running short
of provisions or water, as We had more
on board than we could consume for
years. The weather continued fine, and
we were daily drifting into milder lati-
tudes bat no sail could be seen. A dozen
times every day climbed to the mast
head, in the vain hope of deserving a
ship, and as often descended to cheer up
my little shipmate with the hope of see
ing one tomorrow. Thus week after
week wore away monotonously, while
Jessie and were all the world to each
other, and every hour served to fasten
the tendrils more firmly about my heart,
as she leaned in her childish dependence
upon me. l thought how miserable
might have been if entirely alone in such
situation, and in return clung to her,
and gave thanks as for blessing, heav-
en-sent, to become part OF my whole
future life and being. do not think l
could have entertained the thought of
ever parting with her.
My observations satisfied me that we
had passed beyond the latitude of the
Tonga and Feeee groups without having
seen them. This knowledge was rather a
relief to me, for we should most likely
have fallen into the power of savage can
nibals, who would have shown US no
mercy. We could hardly fare worse by
drifting on toward the equator, while
there was still the possibility of meeting
ship with civilized men on board.
At length, on going aloft, as usual, one
beautiful morning, the horizon line along
under our lee presented the irregular,
broken appearance which | had often seen
before, and knew SO we'll. The punches
of tufts of cocoanut trees growing upon
very low land were the first objects that
came into view, so that, as we neared
them, the slender stems seemed to be
rooted into the ocean, and to shoot direct
ly up from its watery bed.
We were setting, by the force of cur
won't tnu,n ri bo iolo nd and 10
was no possibility of propelling the ship
away from it. But there was a chance
that it might be uninhabited. II so, we
could not land upon it, for we had no
boat. and it was out of the question to
think of managing raft in the intricate
channels of coral reef.
But we had been seen, as it appeared,
even before we had discovered the land
For within an hour the triangular sails of
half dozen large canoes rose into view,
coming rapidly up toward us. To escape
with the ship was simply impossible. But
it occurred to me that the savages could
know nothing of our detenseless condi.
tion, though the appearance of the ship,
under so little canvas in fine weather,
must be strange and suspicious to them
They would not attempt any foul play
with us, if they believed the vessel to be
fully manned and armed They had come
off to drive barter trade with the white
men, as was their usual custom.
at once set to work, with the help of
the child, who showed ready compre-
hension of the situation, to manufacture q
crew for the vessel. Seamen's clothes
were abundant and in short time every
handspike was rigged up in motley suit
These were all stuffed out into shape, and
topped with hats or caps. l disposed
them in the most natural positions about
the decks in the various parts of the ship,
so as to give the whole the most lifelike
appearance,
l loaded all the firearms we had on
board, which amounted to only three
muskets; and then went aloft to loose the
mainsail, which had never been set since
the gale in which the crew were swept
overheard. had felt unable, alone, to
control such an immense sheet of canvas.
But must have it ready for use now, in
case | should want to give the vessel more
headway.
While on the mainyard engaged in loos.
ening it, a sail appeared in sight over the
point of the island. Not a canoe-one
could not be seen at that distance in range
of the trees, but ship! My heart leaped
at the thought that help and deliverance
were within few miles of me.
Bring up the ensign from the cabin,
Jessie!" | shouted as | let fall the bunt of