Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1876-05-20


girl, Rachel, had become great tav-
orite with all, and Isaac had made HIM
self SO useful to us, that through his
agency we wanted for nothing. The
widow, who was very amlable |
woman, excited the sympathy of all,
from the fact of her having two
children laboring under such severe |
misfortunes; for although their Gala
mites had been greatly ameliora,ed
by the enchanters under whose care |
they had been placed, they were still
to be much pitied. AS for myself, l
believe from the fact of my being Il
foreigner, Kind feeling was created
in the breast of the sailors towards |
me.
"Most travellers, when they leave
England OH q long journey, deter
mine to keep record Of the
events of the voyage. l had also,
resolved to do the same; but i'll
tsavellng by sea, the adventures of
one day, as a rule, resemble 80 much
the following, that most people cease
to do so after they have been
on their way for two or three
weeks; and it was so in my own
case. l threw aside my pencil and
paper as soon rs l began to feel
sea-sick, and never resumed them
again during the voyage; 80 you must
understand that the few adventures
1 met with at sea- record from MEM
ory. One subject, trifiing in itself,
| may mention, as it tends to my own
discredit; and wish to be candid in
every thing L state, neither hiding my
faults nor exaggefating the few good
qualities have.
"There was among the passengers
on board the ship man with u W OGDEN
leg. Now a Wooden leg is never
graceful, or to be admired, but it
| should always excite sympathy in the
minds of beholders. 1t excited, how
ever, no feeling of sympathy in my
breast, and the fact now weighs heav-
lily upon my conscience. am occa-
sionally apt to think the misfortune
am laboring under just punish
menu for my inhumanity.a AT the
same time have some little excuse.
The passenger am alluding to, was
a fat, sulky, disag reeable fellow, and
made himself disliked by all. This
man, when the sea was little rough,
and the ship rolled, used to tumble
about in very ridiculous manner.
Oie day he fell down, and In doing
SO broke his wooden leg off close to
the knee. A boy whom he had Offend
ed seeing him PROSTATE OH the deck de-
ternlined to be revenged for thrash
ing he had received the day before,
and took up the lower part of the
leg, and threw it into the sea. Wha,
was now to be done? 1t was moi
possible for the. man to walk with
only half q wooden leg and there was
no one Oh board skilful enough to
make new one. True, we had q
ships carpenter with US, but he was
only used to the coarser kind of work
and was unable to undertake 80 neal
job. However, something must be
done, aud at last y new leg was made
though in clumsy manner, which
rendered the old fat mans movements
so ridiculous that he became q greater
butt among the passengers than ever
aud, am sorry to say, myself among
the number. p-
II "Another circumstance also shoulC
be mentioned very singular cere
mony which takes place on boarC
English ships when they have arrived
halfway between one end of th'
world and the other, which they cal
crossing the line,' though don't un
derstand the Significance of the ex
preston, rs l saw no line whatever
"One fine morning. shortly afte
: daybreak, q gruff voice, evidentl!
some one using q speaking-trunpet
was heard under one of the bows, In
quiring what ship it was. The cap
tain, who evidently was aware Of ev
erything about to take place, answer
l ed that it was the ship Bagdad, from
t London to Sydney, aud then said,-
"'Who asks the question?
"l am Neptune, the god Of tn
sea- was the reply.
: "'Pray walk on board, Mr.. Nep
tune,' said the captain; and few
4 moments after the bOatsWain,a sailO
who had the care of the ropes, dress
I ed out in most ridiculous manner
5 and accompanied by another sailor
' who was equally ridiculously dresse'
as woman, came on board. and ad
! vanced toward the captain.
CATER some few compliments ha,
passed between the captain and Nep
: iune, the former asked his visitor
t he could serve hlin in any way.
"sl want to know said Neptune
8 if you have any people on board you
ship who have never passed by her
o before if so, call them up
t "tWhat for?' said the captain.
That may shave them, replied
3 Neptune. ,, ,, 80,
all the passengers to come aft, and O
l course the widows family and myssI
e among the rest. .
"The ceremony of shaving was
0 very simple one. The razor was
i coarse thing, made out of All irO
+ hoop, and instead of soap, tar an
u grease were rubbed on the face.
: noticed that many of the passenger
: were not submitted to this operation
and on inquiring the reason, l wa
y told that by tritling present i
money to Neptune,it might be avoid
: ed. AS his lordship had SO liberall
e supplied us with money, tor GU
l. voyage. took the hint, land the Who'll
G OF our party passed without molesta
. ton. The whole affair seemed alto
}, gether to be very silly and childis
: one. On stating my impression I
the captain he perfectly agreed wit
+ me but said it had been in practic
q 80 many years, no captain liked to b
d the first to stop it t,although all woul
8 willingly see it abolished.
e 1--WE continued our voyage, an
/ for nearly three weeks every thin
went OH comfortably and smoothly
i when we had another taste OF the ca
e PRECIOUS temper of the sea. We ha
. almost reached the southern eXtreH
8 ity of Africa, when furious storr
: came on, which lasted for more tina
i ten days, and the captain himself at
u United VIC were III great danger
), The sails were torn from the mast
L one after the other, till at last W
u had hardly one left and then on
/ mast fell over the side, then another
:. leaving the foremast only erect. $
terrible, in fact, was the sea from tn
: storm, that we all took leave of eac
other, expecting every moment W
). should be engulfed. Fortunately tn
u storm at last gradually subsidized, til
o nothing but slight breeze remained
8 which was favorable for US to reac
that part of Africa called Cape Town
y which at last we succeeded in doing
: though in very shattered condition
e 1.-The day after our arrival, W
were requested to leave the ship ant
!. take up our abode Oh shore, till sh
: could be put Into repair. To say tn
truth, L was not altogether sorry 70
y the circumstances, for it gave me al
! opportunity of seeing something o
= | the manners and cuStOms of the IL,