Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-11-17
OFF FOR THE SHORE.


The innocent young men who come out here
for the first time with ideas Of European
comfort and civilization. thinking they have
nothing 10 do hut go ashore at once" are
naturally somewhat startled to find that the
first question is whether they can go ashore
at all Old stagers talk 50 cooIly of heavy
beach" that it is rather a shock TO learn that
this simple phrase implies the breaking upon
the beach of 50 violent surf rs to involve
the certainty of being capsized and the very
strong probability of being drowned. In the
offiug lies a steamer which has already waited
here two days with passengers whom she can
not land even in a native surf boat, the only
craft which has any chance Of living in such
a sea. However, the breakers are a little less
formidable now, and native boatmau's YER
dict Of "naaT tmiidling) sufIices To encourage
us 10 venture The acting governor OF
Lagos, the Hon. Frederick Evans, for whom
a special surf boat has been sent out by the
the treasurer, kindly offers me SCAT in it.
So We jump, or rather tumble, into the
dancing boat. which bumps against our knees
one minute and is yards away beneath our
feet the next, and away we go To find out
whether we are to lie drowned or not
Up and down, up and down. with the spray
IaSilAllI blI ldtNAS uilI tllC water ElrEllNE
round our feet, now rising far into the air on
hilltop of seethIng foam, now plunging with
a dizzy swing into the depths of a shadOwy
green valley between two towering walls Of
dark water Every moment ii seems as if
we must certainly lie overwhelmed by some
huge ROLLER" which comes rushing on curl
ing its vast, snowy crestS far above our heads
like falling avalanche. But the monster
always misses us 10y u hairs breadth, for the
gaunt, black scarecrows who sit perched
along our rocking gunwale, each with one
foot in a sort Of stirrup OF rope fixed in the
boats side, have no match along the whole
Guinea coast for such work as this
sCoLDING THE FURIOUS WAVES.
Every stroke Of the short, strong paddles
which, instead of being spear pointed like
those of the Grain coast, or spoon shaped like
those of the Niger, resemble clumsy three
pronged fork, with very broad and thick
pOints-is accompanied by sharp yell, such
Us Mr.. Lowell humorously called IA dogs
ology,' and sometimes even by few words
Of untranslatable abuse. hurled with angry
gestures at the furious waves Meanwhile
scores of eager ewes watch our progress both
from the ship and from the shore, but, except
when suddenly flung up on the crest of huge
bIlOw, both We and our boat are completely
invisible from either point. And now the
yelling grows louder and wilder as the strokes
of the paddles suddenly quicken and the boat
rocks to and fro till it appears as if one inch
more must turn her right over, while, as we
swoOp upward on the whirl of a mighty wave
the shore and the great pillows that thunder
upon it, hitherto dim and distant, start all at
once into perilouS nearness.
We are now running parallel with the line
Of gnashing breakers along the beach our
only chance being TO skirt its terrible outer
edge till We can seize favorable moment for
our final rush As the next wave lifts us upon
its crest we see a swarm Of black figures hur-
rying down to the shore, ready to drag us to
land when our boat capsizes Then comes an
ear-piercing howl from our crew, the boat is
whirled onward like a stone from a sling,
there comes a tremendous shock, deafening
crash, an indiStinct vision of black faces and
outStretched arms amid swirl of boiling
foam, and then feel myself clutched by half
a dozen hands at once and borne landward in
kind of complicated free fight" among six
or seven brawny natives.-David Ker's West
Africa Letter in New York Times.