Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1889-02-14
have had bad weather. Wind now moder.

nave nau pad weather. lnu now mOdef-
ating. but still blowing half q gale
"20th.-The captain has opened his or
| ders. The 'Hecate' is to sail with all speed
across the Atlantic, cruise about the Gulf
| Of Mexico, in the track Of homeward-bound
| Spanish merchantmen. and keep q sharp
lookout for treasure-ships. Officers and
| ships company highly delighted with the
prospect thus opened out of prize-monev
| and hard fighting, these treasure-ships be
Ing always either heavily armed or under
convoy, or both. To do the 'Hecate' JUS
tlce, believe the prospect of hard knocks
affords them more pleasure than the hope
OF reward: and though we carry only forty
! guns, there is not sailot- on board who Is
not con fident that we are match for any
two Spanish frigates afoat. Our British
| tars are verita0le bulldogs, and albeit
| CaptaiI Barnaby does sometimes indulge
! in profane swearing, the Royal Navy pos
sesses not better man nor drawer OFF,
GER"
! Next followed series Of unimportant
| entries, such as:
"Church parade and divine service.
! 'In the sick-bay, reading the Bible to
| Bill Thompson, A. B., who fell yesterday
! from one of the yard-arms, and lies a-dy-
ing. poor fellow.
| "Dined with the captain, the second huff,
and two of the young gentlemen.
''This day 1ying-fish came through my
portfolio. One of the ships boys caught
u,
! of him for the gun-rOOm mess. 1t seemed
a shame to kill the creature who sought
! our hospitality and protection, for he was
! doubtless escaping from some enemy Of the
1 sea or the air."
| And so on-and so on. All this did not
occupy much space, yet, owing to the rev
erend gentleman's Grabbed fist, the faded
ink, and the thumb-marks of the two
| Bolsovers, it took long to read; and in Or
der not to miss anything, l had made up
my mind to read every word that it was
| possible to decipher.
| At length my patience and perseverance
received their reward. The diary became
! gradually less tedious and monotonous.
| There was a storm in which the "Hecate"
suffered some damage, and the diarist
! (who does not seem to have been particu-
larry courageous underwent considerable
! anxiety and discomfort; and a man fell
| overheard, and, after an exciting attempt
TO rescue him, was drowned. Then the
'Hecate'' chases vessel which Captain
Barnaby suspects to be French privateer;
but remembering how imperative are his
orders to make with all speed his cruising
| ground, he resumes his course after fol-
! lowing her few hours. For the same
reason he shows = clean pair of heels to
French frigate, greatly to the disgust OF
his crew, for though she is of superior size
! they are quite sure they could have bested
| her. The chaplain, on the other hand,
warmly commends the captains prudence
observing that discretion IN commander
is to the full as essential as valor."
The region of the gulf reached, every
| body is on the watch. There is always
| lookout at the masthead, the officers are
| continually sweeping the horizon with
! their glasses, and the men are exercised
| daily at quarters; for Captain Barnaby,
with all his prudence, appears to have been
! a strict disciplinarian. Being of opinion
| that he will the better attain his object by
remaining outside the Gulf of Mexico than
| by going inside, he cruises several weeks
in the neighborhood of the Bahamas.
| With little success, however,; he captures
only two or three vessels of light tonnage
and small value which he takes to Mas
sau, in New Providence.
'FIll-satisfied with this poor result, Barn
ably resolves to take turn in the gulf
and, if he does no good there, to make
dash south, in the hope that he may per-
chance encounter some homeward- bound
galeon from Chill or Peru. So passing
through the Straits of Florida, he runs
along the northern shores Of Cuba, doubles
Cape San Antonio revictuals at Kingston,
in Jamaica, and re-enters the South At
lant3c between Trinidad and Tobago.
fortunate move was this in one sense,
though, 50 far as the poor chaplain and a
considerable part Of the ships company
were concerned, il resulted in dire misfor-
tune.