St. Landry democrat., 1891-12-05
try to talk; drink some Of this soup and
then take rest; you will soon be man

then take rest; you will soon be mai
again"
The poor fellow tried to mutter wore
or two of gratitude. He gulped down {
few swallows Of soup, and after telling
the captain that his name was Bernard
Gilboy, and that he sailed 1862 days be
fore from San Francisco, Cal, he wa:
taken below and put into bunk, where
he soon fell asleep.
His boat was hoisted inboard in shor
order, the islanders failing on to the
tackle falls and singing a joyous song
She was a strengthening craft. The
carpenter pulled his rule out of his pocket
and measured her. He dimensions were
10 feet over all; beam, 6 feet; depth,
#. 6 in. She was decked over, and hel
hull was divided into two compartments
by water-tight bulkhead about 6 feet
from the stern. She had been rugged as
schooner, but only the foremost was
standing.
The after compartment was 6 feet
long, with hatch in the centre and with
a locker on each side. She appeared tc
have been fitted out with view to q
deep-water voyage, but looked much the
worse for wear Her bottom was covered
with thick clusters Of barnacles. Hel
rigging was rather rotten, and her deck
was covered with slime.
The islanders focked round the boat,
whose name was the Pacific-painted in
small letters on her stern. They ex-
pressed a good deal Of curiosity concern,
ing her, as was evident from their excited
talk and gestures. The Pacific was
firmly dashed to ringbolts in the deck
everything on board of her being taken
out. There wasn't scrap Of food
aboard; a ten gallon keg contained four
and one-half inches Of fresh water, and
there was about half gill of alcohol in
a druggists bottle. That evening fine
breeze arose and the schooner headed for
her destination, dancing over the waves
gallantly and clipper-like.
Next morning the steward woke up the
poor fellow so providentially rescued
from the rapacious jaws Of death, whose
fangs were about closing on him when
the schooner cited him. He was much
refreshed, and after taking cup Of cot
fee and a slice of toast went on deck,
where the cook, who was bit Of q bar,
Der, cut his hair and trimmed his beard
Then he had good wash and was ready
for breakfast.
While he was partaking of plentiful
meal, which he said tasted better than
any he had eaten since leaving San
Francisco, he told his story, often hesita.
ting for word, and speaking in a strange
tone that reminded one of ghosts.
His name, as before mentioned, was
Bernard Gilboy. His home was in Buff
falo, N. Y. From boyhood his hobby
was the sailing of small boats, and he
had gone to sea at an early age. 1t ap-
pears that reading the account of Capt.
johnson crossing the Atlantic alone in a
boat Is feet keel, feet inches beam
and % inches depth, induced him to I'M
dertake voyage to Australia from San
Francisco. Accordingly he contracted
with Burns & Kneass Of that port to build
him the boat picked up the day previous
Of the dimensions given above. She was
launched on Friday, Aug. 3, 1882, and
she sailed on Friday, Aug IS. Is there
any wonder that she came to grief? The
only cause for establishment is that her
owner didn't fetch up for full due in
Davy Jones's locker, for as every sailor
knows, Friday is most unlucky day.
On August he got his clearance from the
Custom House. The craft had very little
free board. She was laden with IA ten
gallon casks of water, 165 pounds of hard
tack packed in ffteen-pound watertight
tin cans, two dozen cans Of roast beef in
two-and- a-half-pound cans, two dozen
roast chickens in one pound cans, two doz.
one-pound cans of salmon, two dozen cans
of homeless pigs feet, two dozen cans of
peaches, two dozen cans of condensed
milk, twenty-five pounds of loaf sugar,
one gross of matches in six bottles, half a
gallon of alcohol in druggists glass jar,
ten gallons ofnu oil, five gallons of ker-
osene oil, three pounds of coffee, two
pounds of tea, one bar of CASTLE soap, two
pounds Of lard, three pounds of nails, one
wooden pump, twelve feet of half-inch
hose, which he used as syphon to get
fresh water out Of the kegs with, grains,
hammer and Ratchet, a few copper tacks,
kerosene oil stove, pocket alcohol stove,
two lamps, one pound Of candles, two
compasses, barometer, and sextant, pat
ent taffrail log, double-barrel shotgun,
powder and shot, revolver and cartridges,
clock and watch, nine knives, anchor and
sea drag, with about forty fathoms of one
and half inch line, ball of spun-yarn
and marlinspike navigation books, sheet
chart of the South Pacific, an American
flag, clothing, one pair of twelve-foot
oars, and an umbrella, which he found
handy when the wind was light and the
sun strong.
Thus equipped Gi]roy put to sea in the
frail boat Pacific. His usual course was
to sail at night and heave to and rest
during the day. This he accomplished
as follows: First he threw his sea anchor
overheard on the weather side, hauled
down the jib, lowered the foresail,
trimmed the main sheet fiat down and
dashed the helm admidships. Thus, as
the boat drifted to leeward, the sea
anchor kept her head to sea and the main
sail steadied her. Trimmed in this way
the boat made quite good weather Of it,
even in heavy sea.
The Pacific made fair progress, with
little eventful happening until October
6, when Gilboy caught turtle, which he
cut up and cooked. His previous prey
had been bonitos and flying fish, which
he caught at rather rare intervals.
On the Goth day out he spoke the
barkentine Tropicvance, Capt. Burns,
from Tahiti to San Francisco, in latitude
IA deg. so min. south and longitude 149
deg. 2 min. west. The captain supplied
Gilboy with as many oranges, bananas
and lines as he would take, and promised
to report him on his arrival in San Fran
cisco.
The monotonous voyage went on until
December 10. The adven-
turous Gilboy had reached % deg. %
,o,,4b 10 ,,,d 17S dor AZ y,;,,