Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-01-27
AN OCEAN WAIF

Mr.. Humphrey Roland, who related u
me the following story, ''and our vessel
was a barque named the Eagle. We were
bound from Newport, in MOnmOuthshire,
10 Cape Town, with a cargo Of IRON, and
then We were to 80 on to Melbourne, and
thence to CallaO. Besides me, there was
Captain BlacketL the master, and Mr..
Josiah Biting, the chief mate, along with
fifteen or sixteen hands forward includ-
ing the idlers; and, taking US all round, |
don't think that ever a better ships COM
pany sailed out Of az English port. There
wasn't foreigner among us; there was
no growing, no lOahug; everything was
done quickly and with a viii, and il was
not only pleasure 10 give an order, but a
happiness to watch the execution of it.
Well, we left Newport er a Monday after
noon and went away down the Bristol
Channel, into the Atlantic ocean, under
all plain eail, in the finest of wedtherS.
For near upon a fortnight there was moth
Ing but brightness overhead and blue
waters under Us, made feathery by the
whipping Of the breeZes which blew,
sometimes EOr'west, coming now and
again Il triile fresh, but never so strong as
70 cause us to surl the main royal day or
night. We saw nothing of the trade wind
till we were about latitude 20 degrees
north, and then. after blowing us along
for spell, 1t tailed Us one morning, with
a slOwly-falling glass, and a long, ugly
gray swell coming out OF the sou west,
and sort of dirty blue sky, filmed over
with haze that might have passed fer the
DRAWINGS from smelters' chimneys. Amid
this, the sun hung like huge jelly-fsk. a
shapeless oOzing of brightness, with scarce
enough of power in him % put a streak Of
light into the brow of the sGell that swung,
heaving up tall out Of the near horizon,
with SUBMITS that seemed ID be trying to
wash the yellow stain he had made out OF
the vault of the sky.
"There was queer smell OF decayed
marine vegetable matter about. which
came up in whitis, when the rolling of the
baTque made white water alongside, and,
spite OF the sky being thin enough TO let
the ghost OF the sun through, there was a
look overhead that made you think that,
If IL was night, you'd see green lightning
playing over the mastheads like the dart
inss of the phosphorus from the ships
side in black water when you're in the
tropics and the night lies dead upon the
GREATNESS bosom OF the ocean.
"Well, what these plain signs betOkened
came to pass right enough. The glass
went on dropping aud the swell came along
in wilder and angrier roll, until at
O'Clock that attention there was scarce
more daylight visible than you'll ind IN
the last lingerlngS OF twilight ashore. We
were snugSed down to lower tOpsailS, the
yards square, for there was no call to
brace them one way or another when for
hours there hadn't been a breath OF wind;
no, sir, not SO much as to give a tlutter to
the Vane at the royal masthead, saving
what the barque gave herself by the sweep
of her spars. All hands were on deck,
ding by, knowing that something was
, va happen, but incapable of know
" Dout l " quarter it meant to come.
lng ,1'il With we could do to SEE one
1t was a. res TIE strain on the spars
la q something fearful, with
anu rigging va -He giGoin overhead you
the roillhS' anu IN a. and complaining,
the squealing of sheaVes, tn ar there
parrals ana tfusseS- A. o cIocA y ma
abouts. the wind swept down upon US
body, right in the wake of the swell. IL
was wind at first, but IL became a moving
wall in a short time, and before the cleW-
lines could be manned the loretopSaII blew
up and burst into smitheTeens, just like
one of those elastic air-balls when filled
too full.
at was terrible tempest. |, who have
seen some fearful weather in my time, viii
take my affidavit that worse storm OF
wind never ragged than that. It picked
the sea up and made wheels OF the waves,
that looked don't say they Were-but
that looked to be forty or fifty feet high.
The Eagle was full of iron, very deep and
labOred heavily, taking in tons of water
forward, so that the undertook fOrecastle
was scarcely to be come at by men through
the scuttle. In the trOughs, during the
water rolls, the barque would lay so far
over to the windward that 1t was enough
to make the oldest seaman hold his breath
eot 1908 at the curl OF lne
speculate whether it was possible
that she could hoist herself out clear OF
that terrific, white, roaring, flashing arch,
before il rolled its enormous volume clear
over her. But the Eagle was a good sea-
boat, having a flaring bow that forced the
head surges to threw her up, and a swell
of the sides that nede her cOrk-like on the
lean Of twenty-fs0t hill of water. Had
she been of the ordinary landscape, 1t
must have been all frOth to ten feet above
the mast-cOats, with the watch on deck IN
the weather-rigging, and the master and
mates keeping lookout IN the CABIN and
coming her by the tell-tale.
For three days we had terrible weather;
then it broke, the wind veered to due east
and, after blowing a dOuble-reefed tOps2il
breeze for twenty -four hours, settled away
into the northeast and blew along steady
and bright again into the trade wind. 1t
was Il Wednesday, the morning watch,
and | had charge Of the deck. Daybreak
found US under a foretQnmast stun sail,
the sky clear and the east as green as
moonlight with the dawn. The sea was
calm, the trade clouds rolling in puffs OF
vapOr athwart the stars overhead and in
the west, and the horizon line as black
as YOU could produce by the sweep OF
pair OF cOmpasses dipped in India ink.
u stepped over to leeward to have
look at the sea under the foot of the main
sail, and Just then the arch of the sun
iutted up and sent long beam of silver
light flashing across the ocean, the eX-
tremity Of which sparkled upon an object
that appeared white and glistening in the
radiance. 1t bore about four points on the
lee bow. l fetched the glass and took a
look. She was a vessel, Of what rig
could not distinguish, but apparently I'M
der sail. put down the glass and waited
a bit, and then had another look. / now
fancied l could detect signs Of confusion
aloft. but of this | could not yet be sure,
though the small canvas she showed made
her appearance singular considering the
fine weather. just then Capt. Blackett
came on deck and l reported the sail to
him. He pointed the telescope at her and
said:
1T seems a case of distress. Your
sights be tier than mine; have you made
out ANYTHING resembling a color?
Ono, SIR | replied.
sssWelI, we will bear down and see
what's the matter. Keep her awayv he
called out to the man at the wheel; and
at the same time l sung out to the watch
to lay aft and brace the yards in trifie.
This was done and the vessel brought
about point on our lee bow. 1t was not
long before we were able to make her out
very plainly with the glass. 1t was now
seen that she was small, tull-rigged ship,
of about eight hundred tons; her three
lower tOpsails and topmast staysail had
been blown away, and her wheel and all
boats were gone. She had bulwarks and
lay very deep, as though full Of water. In
the lower miZzen rigging the English en-
sign had been seized, union down, and
there it blew, Pickering like flame, max
ing as strong an appeal for assistance as
ever man could by waving his hands
Well, we shortened sail and approached
her. keeping a sharp lookout for anything
that should resemble a human being
there was nothing in that way to be seen
There was lOngish deck-hOuse aft an(
the remains of another one forward. Their
was not much swell on and she lay prett!
quiet. giving herself a slow slant, nov
and again, that hove a space of her we
side into the sun and made her flash on
like beacon.
"'She looks to be abandoned, sir say
A1N Ir,f Nnv fnar