The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1873-10-22

the lee main rigging. The chain-plates
had drawn clear from the upper channels,
and bent clear out their whole length to
leeward Of the ship, and to get at the lee
lanyards we had to 90 overheard. There
was no help for it, and the second mate
and one of the men slung themselves in
bowlines and went over the side, and
arter good deal of trouble managed 10
cut the lanyards and let the wreck go
adrift. As soon as ever the wreck was
clear the carpenter sounded the pumps
and reported the ship tight, aud then the
old man gave the order to splice the
main brace While we was agettin our
grog the old man made US q bit of q
speech. He says: My lads, any fool
can carry masts out of ship if the Lord
gives him wind enough; but it takes sail
or-men to rig her up again, and that's
what 1 calculate you'll show yourselves
to be. The watch below viii go and get
their suppers, and then we'll turn to with
will, for expects to have fore and
main yard aloit by daylight. / shall go
on to the westward, and have no doubt
we'll get canvas enough on her to make
fair passage yet
"All this was very well, except the
last part What he ought to have done.
and what he would have done if he'd
had more years over his head, would
been to have gone back and got her into
the first port he came to; but he was a
young chap, as told you afore, and he
thought it would be grand thing if he
got her over without any masts, ana SO
he was bound to try it on and do it if pos
sible. We had provisions for seventy
days when we left London, and these
could easily be made to spin out hun
bred if need be. We had plenty of spare
sails and as many spare spars as we need
ed for jury rig, and so our strait wasn't
SO bad arter all Twas our watch below,
and we'd just been agoin' to get our sup
pers when the accident occurred, and so
when we went below we talked the mat
ter over and come to the conclusion that
we'd do the best we could TO help the old
man out Of his scrape. So arter we'd had
supper and a smoke we went on deck and
turned to to make night of it. 1t was
no fool Of job to get tackle up to the
head of stump of the mainmast the way
she was rollin', for with nothing into her
but that clalk she did roll worse than any
thing l ever see afore or since. We tried
various plans with snorters round the mast
and what not to shin up, but twas no
use, it couldn't be did: the big smooth
stick was there, and the job was to get up
to the head of it. AT last the mate see it
was no use, and then he gifts couple of
spare topmast studdingsail booms and
rugged pair of shears, and then we man.
aged it, and got double block seized
solid up to the mainmast head and rove
off tackle. By the time this was done
some of the rest of us had got spare
t'gal'sail up from below aud bent it to
spare yard, and got it across all ready for
hosting; and at exactly ten o'clock we
swayed away on the tackle and had our
new main-yard aloft aud the sail set, and
the ship began to go through the water
agin.
We'll, the old man was pleased enough
when she come up to her course again and
begun to go ahead, and he gave orders to
splice the main-brace' again, and then
SAYS he to the mate: Let the watch 60
below and get some sleep; we can do as
much in an hour Of daylight as in two of
l.. -. - -, - Ill ba,J, c-a.k -
morrow
carter that we had watch and watch
Just as usual, and in fact, arter we had
got everything rugged up that we had to
rig we had mighty easy times of it.
There wasn't no goin' aloft, cause there
wasn't no aloft to go to, and blow high or
blow low we never had to shorten sail,
cause the sail was short enough already.
suppose altogether we got the bulk of
double reefed topsails on to her, and she
did go along remarkably we'll In the
hard gales We had afterwards from the
westward, / heard the mate say that be
never made so much westin before in such
weather as we did in that ship, There
wasn't anything to hold her back, you
see, and as for canvas, if we'd had our
HnaSIS All IN anu every IninS a-Iaulllo We
couldn't have spread any more than we
had spread, and all our top hamper would
a been holdin' us back The weather
was the most frightfullest 1 ever see, and
I've been across that pond many times.
We carried the southerly wind about a
couple of days arter our masts went, and
then it went in to the westward, and
from that time for about three weeks it
was Just a succession of westerly gales
Still we had something every day, and
everybody was as jolly as lark, cause
we agreed that if we could get on with |
the wind ahead we'd surely get on when
it shifted, and no one had a doubt about
gittin' to New York, and in pretty good
time, too. In twenty-six days we was up /
with the eastern edge of the Banks, aud /
here we met with a mistortin that was
worse than lnsin' the masts and that was
our rudder gave out. The way it hap
pened was this; we got a tremendous
gale from SOU west, and towards the last
of it it blowed away every blessed rag We
had set. Well the old man knowed that
when it shifted 'twould be in hard furry