People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1894-10-11
CHAPTER VI

CHAPTER VI
We sailed from Sydney on the ID
OF April, 1S49, and nothing what
ever occurred of the least moment
until we were in about 100 degrees
oil longitude west heading a slantirg
course for the Horn. Down to this
time we had encountered very agree
able weather, fresh, sparkling, ia
vorable breezes, shining days and
nights of lowering silver, With the
lazy wash of the Pacific under our
counter and glimpses in the brilliant
brine over the sides of the feet
shapes OF the bonito and the abb
core. But now on a sudden the sky
hardened in the south. From the
horizon to close upon the zenith the
heavens grew of a dirty greenish
brown ridged like a ploughed field
and tufted as though with the pres
ence of thunder The chill of the
Antarctic regions seemed to be in
the short, moaning gusts which swept
Detwlxt our masts. A sulky swell, but
with something Of ferocity in its
weight and in the steadfastness of
It's hurl came rolling up from out of
the dlnginess abeam, and the blue
OF the sky to the leeward died out as
though to a storm OF desert sand
sweeping over it
The gale burst upon US in the first
dOg-watch. 1t was then pitch dark.
Some lightning flashed in the first
sweep as though the tempest kin
died itself in a flame with a fury of
its own speeding. However, Captain
Christian had been cycling the south
all day and knew what he was about.
The first of the storm of wind found
the Lady Charlotte under close
reefed fore and maintopsails and
ioretopmast staysail. She lay down
to the hellish discharge till the line
OF her lee bulwark rail was flush
with the sea, then rose buovant with
long, floating lift up the side of
the great Pacific surge aud was pres
emily making a noble fight of it,
though smothered in flying foam, so
that little more showed of her than
the waving bands of her topsails and
the spars and the rigging above
madly shrilling to the shifting of the
wind splitting with hurricane force
upon rope and mast
The weather threatened never to
end. Day after day it continued to
blow with astounding violence. The
heavens were dark, STOPPING, ap-
parently motiOnless surface of a sort
OF sooty slate, along which there
lied with incredible velocity a
wild yellow scud, of the color of sui
phur, in curls and feathers and veil
like lengths. The hills of foam un.
der this gloomy background broke
with a preternatural glare upon the
eye III the day, whilst at night they
filled the darkness with a dim. sepul-
chral, terrifying light of their own
by which, when the ship with naked
Spars rose fOaming from the mid
night pillows, you could clearly dis
tinguish her shape, and observe the
poise OF her clipper bows ere diving
headlOng down into the seething
smother again. Hour by hour we
drove nOrthward, sweeping to lee
ward, without an inch of headwav.
on the thunderOus side of every gi-
gantic surge that seized and hurled
us beamwise towards the sun. For
days and days my wife kept under
matches and | visited the deck but
rarely. The discomfort of the time
was beyond expression. The galley
fire was incurably extinguished and
there was nothing warm to be had.
We subsisted upon vile timed meats
and vile they were in those days
and had it not been for my having
laid in a private stock of provisions
we should have had nothing to eat
but this preserved meat and moldy
biscuit, large proportion of which
was richly favored with weevils.
cannot recall the latitude, but |
know that We had trended very far
north when the fierce gale broke. A
CLEAN of blue sky showed to west
ward, and the wind shifting in a sud-
den squall, blew moderate
breeze off the starboard bow, with
a short, ugly cross swell, in which
the tumbling and wallowing of the
ship was most abominable. The
change happened in the forenoon
watch. BY noon there was a great
lagoon of soft Pacific heaven up in
the north. with the sun glowing
brightly in the midst of it, and
masses of huge white clouds, pris-
matte as the insides of oyster shells,
settling IN solemn procession away
into the northwest The skipper
got "sights," but his face was as
"long as wet hammock" to use
the sailors phrase, when his calcu-
latiOns showed him that he had been
blown leagues and leagues and
leagues out of his course. How
ever, the barometer was rising, the
sea falling, the breeze blew sweet
and warm. though it put US. on a
taut bow-line, there was hot food to
be had, and dry, sand-white planks
to walk on. 10 be sure it was
pity that the wind had not come off
on the other bow. but dead calm
or battling head airs lasting a month
would be welcome as the light of
the sun himself after the fury and