The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1893-11-10
! FLOATING CONTINENT.
PENNTN0TOn,s VOYAGE oBs
TH9 SARCAsso SEA.
An Unknown Ocs0a Out of the Usual
Track of Vessels which Is u Great Mass
OF seaweed. FlOtsam and Jetsam-A
Meeting with q Wreck,

w NdJ OA GtlG S6DS VI OOO0 AAOPOe
the captain began. Il made straight |
or the mid-Atlantic, under 3 fair
=ind. for ten days Then we had
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 result. the crew (Which |
was not undulyr large) was much
overworked. My two officers and
myself were completely worn out.
When the weather finally cleared
and l was able to take an observa-
tion, | found that we were at least
200 miles out of our course, and l
gave directions to have it changed at
once
What happened that night have
to relate with great circumspection
and care, because it is just as incredi-e
1e to me as it will be to you
turned in about o'clock, having
left orders to the officer on watch
hat was not to be called as long
as | slept.
Il awoke in the morning at 8, 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
ing was not the one selected by me
! the night before. l could not i'm
| agine why any officer of my ship had
taken it 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. l
stood and listened to 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 S. +. by 5. to due Z. l was in
doubt rs to the accuracy of your or
doris, and after you had returned t9
your caoin. appealed to the man a. a.
the wheel, who was clearly within
hearing, to reassIre myself that
had heard you Alright. He confirmed
your orders absolutely as l had un-
derstood them and at once saw that
the ship was put on an easterly
course. | have kept her so ever
ince. Orders are orders, sir.
81 was utterly dumhfounded, and
had the man who bad been at the
kheel called from his bunk to con-
irrn the statement Of the first mate
Contrary to the usual custom of shi p
captains, / did not fly into a tower
ing passion or order the mate in
irons. l was simply overcome by his
statements, and their incredibility
was so great that | was thrown into
q Brown study
Il retired to my cabin for a few
minutes, looked over the charts, saw
that was heading towards the mid
lie of tie SargassO sea, directly on 4
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 sh; p to continue on
. her course until we encountered the
trade winds off the 5ast of Africa.
Zach night as / turned in the
: first or second mate. who happened
to be in charge of ths ship, would in
7 uuire if | desired to continue on the
eastward course ! reiterated my
determination in each instance and
we sailed eastward into the unknown
ocean without incid<2t for four days
and nights We az I'd great guam
: titles of floating weo,><, masses of the
: fotsam and jetsam G: the sea, con
: sisting of spars and Nasts. portions
of wrecked vessels, o;e or two very
large trees, the tops &c which were
still green. A careful and constant
outlook was necessarT, because the
r danger of running upth a spar OF
, heavy piece of driftv"od was con
: stantly imminent. anc snag in the
l ocean is a much more serious obsta
Gle than one on the .,;.ddy Mlssis
sippi-
..On the morning of The fifth day
as soon a. dawn had bEoken, the mar
at the top mast head, 7-hO had been
kept there by my direC:; on day and
t night. under the sup '-titiCus i'm
: preston that my sleep salk ng order
$ had been DOrtentious, SInounced to
I the officer on deck that a large OBJ
ect. apparently disn'asted ship
Law dead ahead. We C%,uld not see
: her from below. becaus. she was hull
, down. but to the man alo.t she was
r soon clearly visible. In two hour:
: she was observable from the deck
and to our amaIcment we saw tina
signals of distress had been displayet
from the tops OF her broken masts
These had not been visible when the
sailor first sighted the deriliet. O.
. course that was an assurance to IL.
: that living people were en beard th'
4 :O5t craft.
before long. with tie aid of /;
| good glass. we could make out NOV
| inc, objects on the deck Df the vessel