The record-union., 1892-11-09
FOUGHT OFF THE BIRDS.
A Sailors Battle With AIbatrosses
Near Cape Horn.

Sailors Battle With AIbatrosses
Near Cape Horn.
Captain Hart of the steamship Mari
posa, sailing between San Francisco and
Australia, was formerly a wealthy young
man who went to sea because he loved
life on the water. He was asked bv a
passenger on one of the MariDOsa's trips
70 tell how ne came to adopt a seafaring
lie, and to relate mis- most thrilling ad-
venture. Here is his story:
| was "A years old when | left Harvard.
! mad come into possession OF the property
lett 10 me by my father in that wear. and
as my mother had also died and nv sis
ters had married, / determined to spend
a few years in travel. | went to Europe
ana 10 south Africa, returning to London
the same year.
tried to engage cabin passage in the
Josephine, then one Of the largest sail
ing ships afOat, but old Captain Hardy.
whom everybody called "the bear.D be-
cause he was 50 rough and brusque, re-
iuseo wltL many an oath, saying he didn't
keep any hotel, and no man could sail on
lis snip without signing articles and do
ing MS proper amount OF work. OF
course l knew ship as well rs l knew a
house, and decided TO go OH the Josephine
before the mast just for the fun Of il.
saw twinkle in the Old Captains eve as
! signed the usual articles for voyage 10
N'AtAiACg ~ t1 " ne SIMPLY remarked.
however, ~ Iou're big enough to do your
share Of the work"
procured 2 regular outfit, sent my kit
on board and took my place among the
crew. l found friends in the forecastle at
once, for l assumed no airs, acted lust as
every body else did and studiously minded
my own business. In spite Of nv dis
cretlon, though, l made some enemies.
One Of them was in the same watch with
me. His name was Norris, and he claimed
TO be an Englishman, but he spoke with
slight foreign accent and was dark
enough to be taken for Portuguese or a
Spanlard. l disliked him from the first.
and he evidently had as little regard for
me as had for him. He insulted me one
day in the torecastle during our watch
below, and l struck him a blow under
the ear that put him to sleep very effect
ually.
We had a fairly good voyage until we
struck some extremely rough weather off
Cape Horn. For two days we ran under
close reefs with the wind abeam, and
then the gale became 50 violent that we
had to heave to to weather it. ON the
fourth day OF the storm the wind moder-
ated, and Captain Hardy ordered us aIoft
to shake out the lower reefs. Norris and
were on the main royal yard when
heavy puff of wind struck the shin and
Threw her almost upon her beam ends
y
over the yaru The heavy piece Of timber
WAS almost porpendlcular, and ] had TO
cling hard with hands and feet to keep
from going over. Another lurch came
when ! was resting my whole weight on
the foot rope. The rope suddenly parted,
ana | felt myself falling. Instinctively
uung out my arms TO grasp something,
but my head struck the to'gallant yard,
and over | went into the sea.
must have been III the water an hour,
and il was then about noon, when ] es-
peid a piece of a vessels hatch about
twenty yards away in the same trough Of
the waves III WhlcA was swimming, and
managed to reach it. | hoated about all
that night. Soon after sunrise 1 saw
number OF great aIbatrOSSeS. Nearer and
nearer they came, and l could see their
cold, staring eyes regarding me with
something in their expression that made
me Shlver. Even then l did not appre-
ciate my danger. One OF them whirled
past me so close that 1 was famed by the
air he had disturbed. 1t was not until
another had made a vicious lab at ME
with his beak as he swooped by that
began to understand the horror OF nv po-
sitiOn. | had no weapon but a iacknife.
which / opened and with which l pre-
pared to defend myself. | mad been lying
down all this time, but | now sat up and
made ready for the attack that / felt sure
would come. 1t was not long delayed.
First one albatrOss and then another
flew at me, picking at my eyes and face.
l slashed right and LETT with my knife,
screaming the while in the hope of scar
ing the vicious things away. l must have
wounded several, but they came at me
again and again, each time more savagelv.
Occasionally, in spite of all tina. | could
do, one would fasLen his beak into my
flesh and tear piece away. Ny face be-
came trightfully lacerated and l was soon
covered with the blood that flowed from
my wounds.
l was on the verge Of faiuting when L
heard a shout near at hand. Turning. I
saw a boat closely approaching. manned
by crew Of rough-lOoking natives. [
had been so absorbed in my fight with
the birds that Il had not observed how
closely TO the land | had drited and that
boat was coming to my rescue. I was
taken on board and was glad to see that
the birds had given up the fight. They
made few wide circles around the boat
and then sailed away to the westward.
The natives spoke a Spanish dialect,
which l could only slightly understand,
but from it L gathered that they were
Euegaus and that l was being taken
ashore. After my recovery / went to
Sydney, where | ran across Norris. He
acted as if he had seen a ghost. He shiv-
cred and shook with fear, and | taxed
him with cutting the rope. He admitted
it and begged for mercy. 1 hadn't the
heart to Kill him. A few nights after
ward he ran amuck while drunk. aud I
found him in the act OF stabbIng an
American sailor in a saloon. l expert
enced a thrill of pleasure in seeing him
soundly thrashed.