Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1878-07-18
NO. 80.

cook during all the latter portion of the voy-
age, and performed the duties very satisfacto-
rily. On Thursday the log scored 159 miles:
Total 2,76S in eighteen days. Still ahead of
the average necessary to make Monrovia in
the time promised. On Friday, nineteenth
day, we made IA miles, the exact average.
On this day
THE FIFTH DEATH
occurred, being that of Whitfield Smallwood,
aged %, the son of Jackson Smallwood, Of
Edge6eld, S. C. His death was attributed to
measles, that disease having become quite
prevalent between decks He also was buried
with the usual ceremonies.
Saturday, May 18th, was the twentieth day
out, and the log showed 1872 miles, the wind
having been light and variable. 1t was the
habit every day when the solar observation
was taken at noon, to gather around and get
the exact time of eight bells, or II o'clock.
All who had watches had carefully set them
by St. Michael's clock before leaving Chafles-
ton, and kept them at that time, the object
being to note the difference between the time
of Charleston and Monrovia. As we pro-
gressed eastward, we, of course, gained, and
the change was watched with much interest.
Indeed, these watches did seem a sort of con-
Meeting link with the shore left behind. The
owners would look at them when the ships
clock, for instance, indicated 10 o'clock A.
NJ, and say "it's Z o'clock in Charleston, and
so and SOS doing so and so." Then when the
sun set, the time in Charleston would be no.
ted with much curiosity. This was sweet
comfort. l could sit on the Azors quarter
deck and think at certain hours of friends
and familiars far away. When the bell tolled
midnight, on Saturday night, could think,
"Now it's o'clock in Charleston, and tHo
policemen are Juggling Rachel Mazyck out of
Elliott street to the Guardhouse, to recover
from her regular weekly drunk; the Orderly
Sergeant has Just given orders to put all the
tramps together in cell 8, so as to make room
for pickpocket, two inebriates and an anna
teur pugiist with club slash across his
head and there'll be gorgeous "Clubs and
Stars" report for the Neos and Courier on
Monday" Such are the sweet "reminiscences
and delightful reveries of a newspaper man.
The event of Sunday, May 18th, was the
FORMATION OF A sUNDAY-scHooL,
a young man named Moultrie taking charge
as superintendent. Quite number of the
children attended, and were divided of into
classes A considerable number of tracts, pa
pers, &C., were distributed among them. Ser
vices were also held by the two different de.
nominations at different times during the day,
the Baptists appearing rather to outnumber
their Methodist brethren. With strange
persistency they one and all refused to heed
suggestions that the services be had on deck,
but seemed to prefer crowding down into the
narrow, close and dark space below. Indeed,
there were some who, l verify believe, did not
come on deck during the entire voyage, but
lolled in their hunks all the time. The log
this day showed only 72 miles, the Asor being
on the verge of the trade winds, and encoun-
tering the light winds generally prevailing
there.
On Monday the log showed sixty.one miles.
Total in twenty-five days SLIT miles, being
Just fraction ahead of the required average.
IN n.nus nau uyy -rny Time begun 70 TOOK 'or:
ward to the speedy termination of the jour
ney, and calculations were made that Mon.
rovia would be reached by Thursday. These
bright hopes were dashed, however, by the
captain, who, in answer to eager inquiries,
informed the passengers that the vessel had
been driven so far, and kept so long, north.
ward of her course by the almost continual
headwinds, that she was still full thousand
miles from "the haven where she would be-"
and could not be reasonably expected to
reach that point before Saturday. From this
point I believe the passengers were
COUNTING THE MINUTES.
The longing for the sight of some green
thing; for some break in the weary monotony
of "sea and sky, sky and sea the dreary sea
and sky again !" for something solid on which
to rest the foot, seemed to be most intense.
Some gratifed this feeling in a simple way by
posting themselves up in the bow, sitting
there all day long, and straining their eyes
before them to catch the first glimpse of the
shore. On Tuesday the log showed 125
miles. About noon, however, the wind came
in briskly, almost abeam, and the bark re-
sponded we'll, skimming smoothly along with
all her sails well filled. The Asor, by the
way, is a remarkably easy runner, pitching
very little, and going through the waves with
a motion that can only be described by the
word sliding" The weather was now be-
coming decidedly warm again, and the steer
age was unpleasantly close. While the pas
sengers had "waked up" on some subjects,
their indifference on others was discouraging
in the extreme. Some of them, as said be.
fore, would persist in lying around below,
and keeping their children there, thus making
the atmosphere continually close and disa-
greeable, instead of going on deck and al
lowing the air to be purified against the in
evitable pollution of the night. The captain
had disinfectants and various substances of "a
nature distributed about in the
steerage quarters several times during each
day and night, thus keeping the atmosphere
what seemed to me to be barely endurable,
but which many of the passengers seemed to
find very comfortable. Not even the glorious
tropical moon, which made us seem to be
floating down an endless track of mellow,
sparkling, liquid light, could tempt these peo-
pie from the dark sitting quarters below. The
very demon of perversity seemed to have ta-
ken possession of them. Then again, none of
them seemed to have the slightest desire for
or appreciation of exercise. They seemed to
regard my walks on deck as caused either by
3 terrlDle restless anu uneasy CONSCIENCE, or
mild form of lunacy. They couldn't under
stand it, never saw, of all that 300, sim
gle one higher in the rigging than the foot of
the ratlines, and only one or two there, ex-
cept one young man whose leg became en-
tangled in rope, causing bis elevation about
twenty feet up the foremast. Some lusty yell
ing proclaimed the situation of this unlucky
emigrant, and he was released, while his fel-
low passengers fairly fell down and rolled
over and over in their spasms Of laughter at
the mishap. 1 interviewed the emigrants
quite generally on
n,,11, ON 11,cxr,u o1, 1.,r1nn ATTAIN