The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1892-12-16
which into a whirling shrek.

nalely il struck us on the quarter.
The ship for a moment plunged
forward, burying her bows in the
sea. AT the same instant there
was a terrific bang as the topsails
were blown clean out of the bolt
ropes; there was not a stitch OF
canvass left on her, and We scndd.
ed under bare poles, the sea bub-
bling around Us, q mass Of seeth.
ing foam. II WAS impossible 10
stand up-right,and we had TO crawl
about rs best we could.
We were thankful when daylight
came, as the horrors of the storm
had been much intensified by the
pitchy darkness. When the sun
rose, sea and sky presented a wild
and grand sight. The scud was
flying above us. and the foam be.
low. EVERYTHING was rushing
madly before the hurricane A; there,
alone on this wild and de.Olaie
world Of waters, was our gallant
ship staggering before the mighty
blast, and fighting The waves like
a living thing.
For two whole days and nights
we drove along, accompanied only
by The incessant roar of the storm.
On the third night The ship seemed
10 lose her buoyancy, and by the
heavy, deadened way she rose and
fell we thought she had sprung a
leak, for her motion was now more
like that Of an old water-logged
Quebec car than of an East Indian
clipper. About midnight we
sounded The well, but she was dry
as bone. The sea also became
much smoother, and we seemed to
be simply rising and falling on
huge swell, instead Of gong
through a heavy sea. AS the night
wore on the force of the wind
greatly abated, IN 81 much that we
were able 10 get new tOpsails from
below and make them ready to
bend. 1t was intensely dark and
as The hurricane went down an
awful Stiffness prevailed. 1t seem
ed as if The continued shrleking of
The storm for the last thee days
had effected our sense Of hearing,
or else there was something
strange, as no one could hear the
swish of The sea, and no water
came aboard. We simply rolled
about in absolute silence.
The wind gradually died away
until ii was a dead calm. We lay
al0it and bent the new tOpsails,
and by the time we were ready TO
hoist the yards morning was be.
ginning to break.
AS daylight came on We were
astonished to find that, instead OF
being in clear open sea,we SEEM
ed TO he III a huge meadow land.
As far as the eye could reach there
was nothing 10 be seen but a heavy
mass of green. We had been
driven into he midst of the Sar-
gasso sea. This accounted for the
way she had lab0red and The death
like silence that prevailed. The
weeds were already clinging TO The
sides and bow OF the vessel. The
sun rose clear and bright, and as
the day advanced the heat was
excessive. There was not a breath
of wind anywhere, so hat we lay
utterly helpless amidst this tan
clement OF weeds. We could do
nothing now but wait Tor a breeze
to release US. During The day The
swell went down, and by night we
lay quiet and mo,ionless, and with
most appalling stiffness reigning
around.
The night was beautifully clear,
and the stars shone out brilliantly;
so we spent our first night among
this sea Of weeds aud grass rather
pleased than otherwise at the quiet
which was relief after the three
days incessant shrieking Of the
hurricane. AT sunrise the calm
still continued, and the men began
to get impatient for a breeze. The
day was occupied in scraping the
weeds from Tho sides of the vessel.
The heat was intense there was
not breath Of air, and the sky
was without q cloud. As far rs
the eye could see, e,even from a roy.
al yard, nothing was visible but
one unbroken plain OF floating
weed. The trightful stiffness Of
everything was The worst part OF
it. Hour by hour it became more
oppressive.
II was a silence so intense that
one seemed to hear it, and by sun.
down even The nerves Of the
toughest old seaman had become
so unstrung that the putting down
of a pannikin made every one
start. Day after day went on
without even u catspaw of wind,
and The captain soon saw that The
only thing to keep up the mems
spirits was to give them plenty Of
work. We painted the ship, tarr.
ell down, scraped, holystoned and
dill every other conceivable kind
Of work until it became hard 10
find anything else to do. Curious
kind OF creatures crawled about
on the Top Of The weeds, gazing al
our uni0rt innate craft with their
meaningless tishy eyes.
When we had been thus becalm
ed Tor three weeks the captain
thought il advisable to put us on
u short allowance III io0d and
water, rs there seemed 10 be no
l