The Portland daily press., 1871-01-28
AT SEA TIT A CYCLONE.
A CHRISTMAS OF PERIL.

Tn recent number OF Good Words for
the Young there is quite vivid description,
written by lady contributor, of scene Of
peril 10 the Indian Ocean, We make the |
following extracts:
The ship was always very quiet between
the services on Sundays. In the afternoon |
there was class Tor the children, and IN the |
evening a third service was held in the fore |
castle Tor the sailors. Thus the time glided /
Oh into weeks, and weeks into months, before
tie early days of December found us steam
ing out of the open roadstead of Madras. we
had only arrived few hours before OUT lue
s,ri was running SO high that no one atteihpC,,
Ell to land except those whose journey enaeu
there. Our captain was anxious 10 oe on anu
away to sea again for the barometer was iail- |
Ing every moment and these shores are most |
dangerous in bad weather. Never have |
seen such a wonde.f full sunset as made the
heavens glorious that evening. No picture
that ever was painted, no words which exist,
can show it to you. 1t was impossible to
look at it without a feeling OF awe as well as
of admiration. Great banks of clouds lay
piled in crimson and purple masses along the
horizon, everywhere and there was wide
rift in their glowing depths, beyond which
lay calm, lovely glimpse of what one felt
q
cling blue, melting away into wonderful pale
green tint impossible to describe The shape
OF these cloud-Alps CHANGED, as we gazed,
fIom lofty mountain range into battle
mented ciIy, with spires and minarets and
dones rising behind the eral walls. linen
spectre forms of knights and men alarms
loomed like phantom giants out OF the lurld,
haecv mass. and we held our breath at what
looked like the reflections of fierce battle in
the sky, changing ia is turn into strange
shapes, of monsters, compared with which the
gigantic animals which inhabited the world
before the flood must have been harmless
petsl
remember feeling half-provoked with the
captain, and, indeed, with all the officers of
the ship, for not sharing in my enthusiasm;
they looked, it is true, at the splendid chang
ing tin!s which were reflected over half the
sky, but their glances showed no admiration,
nothing but anxiety, and heard one sailor
say, 'Its the illest sight that ever did see;
there's blow brewing there, or Pm lubber."
But it seemed as if they were wrong in their
toreboding, for we had dull cloudy day on
The morrow. Yet there was heavy, oppres-
sive feeling in the atmosphere, and the waves
heaved restlessy; the barometer fell lower
and lower, ard more anxious grew the looks
which were cast up aloft, and all round the
wide horizon. Sunset brought yet more glow
ing orange and scarlet to mingle with the pur
pie aud crimson tints repeated over the stead
lily increasing bank of clouds to the north
west. Our eyes were so dazzled by the color
ing, we could hardly look at it for more than
moment at time. heard the grim old
quartermaster mutter, "Oh yes, it's all very
well TO say, How pratty it isv ye mayn't ever
see another, pratty or ugly, Pm thinking"
This was in answer to the openly expressed
admiration of one of the passengers. About
midnight both the wind and the sea rose, but
when came on deck after breakfast, was
quite surprised to see the preparations for bad
weather which were going on in every direc-
ton To use nautical expression, things
were being made snug" and the carpenter
was busy fastening down hatchways by mailing
sails and tarpaulins securely over them. Up
aloft every sail was furled, aud the upper yards
were lowered; the ship was scudding along
under steam, and there was an indescribably
angry look in both sea and sky. As for the
waves, they looked as if they were made of
mud instead Of water, and the sky matched
them exactly. Another thing which struck
me uppleasanty was that, instead of the beau
tiul boundless vault of blue heavens, with a
light cloud fiecking it here and there, to which
We had so long been accustomed, there weigh
ed down and embodied us dense thick mist,
which was neither mist nor cloud; it seemed
as if the sky was sinking down and crushing
us. Through this vapOr we could hardly dis
heard minute guns firing on our starboard
qufrter, telling of some ship n dire distress,
but we had enough to do to take care OF our
selves, for although we seemed to have been
working hard at our preparations for many
hOuis, the storm was upon us, or rather we
had steamed into it, before! we were half
ready. OF course among so many passengers
were several fond of finding fault with every
thing and giving advice to the p.ain, and
the chief engineer, and the sailing-master, and
even to the men at the helm; but people were
too busy to listen to them, so they grumbled
and argued away at great rate among them
selves, and were quite happy. rather think
that the ship herself was not one to inspire
confidence in her officers, and therefore, in
stead OF having any time to spare in making
preparations for bad weather, which might
have come within the reach of our observa-
tiou, they were occupied in more serious re-
pairs. For instance, all our boats were still
hanging low ON the davts as is customary in
fine weathee, and long before we had really
got into the centre of the cyclone, every boat
was crushed as fiat as if it had been an egg
shell. The wiseacres made great fuss about
this, and said, "What should we do, if the
worst came to the worst, without any boats ?"
But, dear rae, all the boats in existence would
not have been OF any use 10 US! No boat
could have live moment in such sea; and
perhaps it may give you some idea of the
noise when tell you that 1 was clingng
tightly on to the rigging, and looking over the
side of the ship, when one boat was "stove
in" and assure you hardly heard the sound
of the crashing timber; there was only lit
tie cracking sound, and L saw quantities of
small bits of painted wood floating about for
second or two; that was the last of the
boat, and the others went in the same way.
But all this was very faint foreshadowing
OF what was before us. However as l never
was allowed to come on deck after the first
day of danger, 1 may as well tell you what l
saw and heard before went below. First
we will begin at the helm; iour stout, sturdy
sailors stood there-two of them experienced
quarlermasters-securely lashed to the wheel,
for even by this time the sea was breaking
over the deck every few minutes and SO dense
was the atmosphere that you could not see
when wave was coming. l have been in
gales when the ship has seemed to be racing
with the pillows flying gaily over them, and
just as you thought she must be caught by
great green mountain of water which was
curling itself up high above her, she would
swiftly glide up the steep incline of another
wave, and hurry out of her pmsuer's reach,
so that only the spray from its snow-white
crest reached us in sparkling shower bath.
A STRANGE EXCITEMENT.
There is something very exhilarating in
such scene, and the excitement is intense;
but in this cyclone it was very different, just
like the contrast between blows in play and
in earnest. Here the waves hit the ship hard
vicious thumps, as it they hated her and
longed to crush her to pieces she, poor thing
eroaned and labored heavily, going down,
down into gloomy, dun coiored abyss of wa
ter, where she shivered and shuddered, stran. |
ing every timber, and creaking at every plank |
as if she really could not manage to oct up |
again, and intended to give in and settle quiet |
ly at the bottom of the sea: then, when she |
had YEARLY dragged herself up to the top ofa
huge wave, it was only to plunge INTO another
water valley, and so on. Every now and then |
u great body OF water would iall heavily on |
the deck, and so thick and murky was the at
mosphere that we could not see it coming. A |
wal. of some dun colored vapory substance |
IOomed over us, but whether ii was air or wa |
Ter no one could tell until it flooded us. Up |
to this point however, don't believe there |
was any reason for thinking hopelessly of our |
condition; but by. the third day things began
to look very bad, and the captain and sailors |
wore gloomy and anxious faces. My last few
hours on deck before went below were so dis
astrous that had no wish to dsobey orders,
and venture out of the saloon again. The
first miSadventure which befel me will prob
ably only make you laugh, though l did not
think it the least amusing at the time.
SCENTS ON sHIPBoARD
To begin at the beginning, however: When
breakfast time came on this dreamy third |
day, there was no breakfast! All night the |
sea had been breaking heavily ove~ that part |
Of tho shin yUhara poOk's y