Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1893-12-30
A FLOATING CONTINENT.
FENNiNoToN's VOYAGE ON
THE SARCASSo SEA.
An Unknown Ocean out Of the Usual
Track OF Vessels Which II Great Mass
Of saaweed, FIotsam and Jetsam--A
Meeting with IA Wreck

the captain began II made straight
/ for the mid-Atlantic, under a fair
wind, for ten days Then we had a
spell of three or four days exceed
ingly bad weather squalls, gusts of
rain and, what was quite unusual for
that part Of the ocean. dense fog
banks As a result. the crew (Which
was not unduly large) was much
oyerworked My two officers and
myself were completely worn out.
When the weather finally cleared
and ] was able to take an obserya-
tion, ] found that we were at least
200 miles out OF our course, and
gave directions to have it changed at
once.
What happened that night have
to relate with great circumspection
and care, because IL is just as incredi-
bile 20 me as it will be to you. /
turned in about o'clock. having
left orders TO the officer on watch
that | was not 90 be called as long
as | slept
II awOke in the morning at g. and,
casting my eyes toward the compass
that swung from the ceiling Of my
cabin, discovered Immediately that
the course which the vessel was tax
4 ing was not the one selected by me
the night before. could not i'm
agine why any officer OF my ship had
taken IL upon himself TO counter
mand orders had given. Jumping
into my clothes. went up on deck
in no very gentle frame of mind.
Approaching the officer of the deck.
] demanded to know why the course
Of the ship had been altered. He
saluted respectfully and replied that
the change had been made by my
explicit direction. In amazement.
stood and listened 10 him make the
following statement:
You came on deck in the mid
watch, when ] was In charge OF the
ship. and. approaching as close TO
me as you are now, you gave direc.
tions that our course be changed
from 5. +. by s. TO due Z ] was in
doubt as TO the accuracy OF your or
ders. and. after you had returned TO
your cabin. appealed 10 the man at
the wheel. who was clearly within
hearing. 20 reassure myself that
had heard you Alright He confirmed
your orders absolutely as / had un-
derstood them and at once saw that
the ship was put on an easterly
course. have kept her so ever
since. Orders are orders. sir
81 was utterly dumhfounded. and
had the man who had been at the
wheel called from his bunk 10 con-
firm the statement OF the first mate
Contrary 70 the usual custom OF ship
captains. did not lly into a tower.
ing passion or order the mate in
irons. was simply overcome by his
statements, and their incredibility
was so great that / was thrown into
n brown study.
81 retired TO my cabin for a few
minutes. looked over the charts, saw
that was heading towards the mid
die OF the Sargasso sea, directly on a
line with the Canary islands. AL
though this was literally going out
of my direct course, ! decided that
under the strange circumstances /
would permit the ship to continue on
her course until we encountered the
trade winds off the coast OF Africa.
Each night as ] turned in the
FIRST or second mate, who happened
to be in charge Of the ship, would in
quire il desired TO continue on the
eastward course. reiterated my
determination in each instance and
we sailed eastward into the unknown
ocean without incident for four days
and nights. We passed great guam
titles of floating weeds, masses OF the
notsam and jetsaia of the sea. con
sisting OF spars and masts, portions
OF wrecked vessels, one or two very
large trees. the tops of which were
still green. A careful and constant
outlook was necessary, because the
danger Of running upon spar or
heavy piece OF driftwood was con-
stantly imminent and a snag in the
ocean is much more serious obsta-
Gle than one ON the muddy Mlssis-
sippi.
Son the morning OF the fifth day,
as soon as dawn had broken, the man
at the top masthead, who had been
kept there by my direction day and
night, under the superstitious inn
preston that my sleep walking order
had been portentious, announced to
the officer on deck that a large OBJ
iect apparently dismasted ship,
lay dead ahead. We could not see
her from below. because she was hull
down, but to the man aloft she was
soon clearly visible, In two hours
she was observable from the deck,
aud TO our amazement we saw tina {
signals Of distress had been displayed
from the tops OF her broken masts.
These had not been visible when the
sailor first sighted the derilict OF
course that was an assurance to us
that living people we're on board the
lost craft
Before long, with the aid of a
good glass, we could MAKE out NOV
ing objects on the deck OF the vessel
We finally came near enough TO