The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1886-12-15
AT PORTO CRANDE.
ALeaf from Midshipman's Log.
u. S. S. JUNIATA,
LAT. l6o O4': LONG 26o rs

u. D. JDNlATA,
LAT. 16o o.: LONG. 26o So
September 20, 1885,
Before we left port that day l had one or
two very amusing experiences. B. remem-
bers very handsome little Brazilian to
whom introduced her on the day of my
graduation as passed the house with them
She probably remembers him on account of
the interesting conversation they had, since
he could speak nothing but Portuguese and
French, and she could speak Only English
| Well, as went ashore in charge of boat,
| whom should see on the deck but my friend,
| Signor two or three names which l have
| forgctten) de Paira Meira. l greeted him
and spoke to him by name, not by his full
name, for life is short. He was staggered at
| first by my beard, which has assumed vast
| proportions, but he rallied at the tone of my
voice and greeted me very cordially; then we
both metaphorically fell on our guard and
tried to remember our French, but at last /
gave 1t up as bad job and was constrained
to leave. SO l shook hands with him. He
took my hand shyly as if were not affec-
tionate enough for an old acquaintance A
tear started into his dark eye and he edged
up to me and finally put his arm around my
Ndiobs was AbllC ldkCH dDdCh ny ILLS
sort of thing, but resolved to see the fun
through, so l returned his embrace and with
out appearing to try, Iexerted all my strength
| to squeeze the breath out of him. He prob
| ably thought that was of very affection
| ate disposition. but he got tired of that en-
brace in very short order. The natives of
the place did not see anything unusual in
/ the proceeding, but | cannot tell what the
| boats crew thought about it, Yet / noticed
| jolly CLEAN in the starboard eye of my bow
| oarsman when / went back 10 the ship. In
| agine how it would look to see two men in
uniform embracing each other on Custom
House wharf, especially if one were logged
| out in sword and all the paraphernalia of
war. Twas afraid that he was going to kiss
me, and then would have carried away a
much deeper blush than / did-one that
might have shone through my whiskers.
| had to return to the ship and go ashore
| again in hurry, and while l was perform
| ing the duty that had been sent on gave
| the coxswain of the boat half dollar, equal
| to 500 reis, to get drink for the crew. He
must have expended it with view to guam
| tty rather than quality, because when / re-
turned they were comparatively happy.
| When reached the ship was sent at once
| to convey the compliments of the captain to
the commanders of all the war vessels in the
| harbOr, and to inform them that we were
| about to leave the port for the Brazilian
coast. was piped over the gangway and
found myself face to face with young Off
Ger on the first vessel that visited. l start
ed to parlez Francois to him, but he put on
L q wild To- o,,d A.
the captain, who had come on deck to re-
| ceive me. tried him in English because he
looked as if he understood the language He
was able to understand it, but could not
i speak 1t, so he ratified off in French an ac-
count of how he had run in toward the Is
land of San Antoine with the intention of
landing there, but was forced by stress of
weather to run for Porto Grande. While |
was on board the little gunboat my crew
| who were little tipsy by this tin e, had sue
ceeded in getting the boat under her quarter
boats and breaking our flag staff. So / made
the rest of my visits without the protection
| of our flag. Next boarded a little barken-
| tine rugged gunboat whose commander did
not understand English and could not speak
| French, but lie seemed to absorb all the
| French that l poured into him. but as for an
| answer, that could not get out of him-he
could not think of that. So l withdrew as
| gracefully as possible and went alongside
| the Brazilian corvette. There, as was leav-
ing, my boat had been hauled ahead and in
dropping down again to the gangway they
made miserable mess of it, but finally got
| her down, and as i showed off felt like eat
| ing them ALL But quickly reduced them to
| order and discipline as soon as | entered the
boat; and from there to the ship sailed into
| them and gave them a blowing up that al
most sobered them. But when | had got
aboard ship one man, the bow oarsman, was
left as boat keeper, and succeeded in staving
in the gunwale of the boat under the counter
of the ship, and he soon found himself en-
sconced in the brig, the ships dungeon CELL
We did not succeed in getting away until
the next day, but at six o'clock that night
the Brazilian passed us heading out and
playing Hail Columbia and Yankee Doodle
with her band. All our officers stood on the
Juniatas poop with uncovered heads while
they played Hail Columbia, but we exhibited
much more genuine enthusiasm when they
struck up Yankee Doodle, which they
played until they were out Of hearing. and
gave the effect so enchanting in the Turkish
Patrol. Their band plays our national airs
very well and they seem to be exceedingly
well disposed to us, for they were gloriOusly
entertained while in America and think it is
a fairy land They say at Porto Grande that
| one Of the Brazilian midshipmen tells such
wonderful stories about America that the
people there think he mustbe crazy.
AT 8 o'clock, September %, we got up both
anchors and stood out of Porte Grande
Westward Ho. The trade winds failed us
almost completely, and we have been in the
doldrums nearly all the time since. Now,
October 5.we are steaming due South through
a broad belt of Gains and light variable airs.
The sun is only eleven degrees to the South
ward of us. but before he went South he
heated this region like an oven. / console
myself with the thought that it must be
broiling hot iu Monroyia just abreast of US,
and thank my stars that we have a rain
shower every few hours to cool our decks
little. All awnings are spread but we are
far from cool and comfortable We have
stopped drilling and only wish we could
| safely stop breathing, for that even is a great
| exertion. Always we can see rain showers
in abundance in all parts of the horizon, but
we never have rainy day nor does it rain
for more than half an hour at any one time.
The night before last during my watch on
deck from midnight to a. IN. the stars Siri-
us, Procyon and Campus all made bright,
distinct glades over the slightly rutfled wa
ter. The horizon is very clear at night and
we can see the brighter stars the moment
they rise above the horizon. But the Great
Dipper has sunk below the Northern horizon
and the North Star is scarcely the apprecia-