Daily Kennebec journal., 1896-08-04
A Day on Shore. No. 3.

| ing this evening without fail" That
was the order that was received on
board ship, as We lay becalmed. five or
six miles off the Island of Pico one Of
| the Azores or Western Islands The
captain was native of these islands
and was visiting his people, after an
absence of twenty years, during which
( time he had passed through all tbo va
rious positions of green hand har-
| pooner, fourth. second and chief mate
of Il Yankee whaler, sailing this vow
| age as captain for the first time and
consequently in position to make unite
a stir among the simple dwellers of
this crater-capped isle of volcanic ma
| rentage. The him above mentioned
was me and sheeting was selling for
| seventy cents IA yard and even moro
| Then again 1t was broad daylight and
to smuggle fifty yards of cloth ashore
was quite a trick on dark night even
orders, however. must be obeyed. SO off
we went. | had the sail set. altbouph
there was not breath of air When
a mile from the ship took down the
sail as if having discovered it's use
lessness-folded the cloth back and
forth along the length of the mast and
rolled it snugly in with the sail, sccur-
ing the whole thing by passing the
backstay and sheet round and round
cloth, sail, mast and all 1t looked to
the initiated as if we carried consider
| able canvass for 50 small boat, but
| trusted to the ignorance of the peo-
PIE in such matters and we pulled for
shore.
The captain and all his relation were
there to meet uS-the priest the Gus
tom house officer and his sharp eyed
aids We're ranged along the beach
ready to go through us. taking from
us any extra pieces of tobacco or
spare pocket knives, either of which.
owing 10 an unmerciful duty, brought
fabulous prices. and it was considered
Wv flofti tulHC 10 sneak tncn
ashore if possible. at any and all times. |
When the searching was completed. |
the captain Informed us that the boats |
crew would stop on shore until the |
next day and we could put the boats !
sail in shed near by The officer |
that had searched US so thoroughly |
begged to be allowed to assist us-or-
dered his aids to carry the sail to the |
building indicated. The sheeting was
by whom | do not know, hut would |
wager something that the captain 3
mother sisters cousins and aunts had
reason to thank "Senor Capitano Ig-
nacio" for under clothing worth nearly
its weight in gold.
The shades Of night having fallen. Il
'fandango" in honor of "Senor cl
Capitano" was announced, the casa"
reached by winding path around the
mountain sometimes inconvenlently
near the precipice--a clear five hun
dred feet perpendicular to the uneasy.
sWirlng sea, while on thu opposite
side the gray, barren bluffs blended
with the gathering darkness
My experience has been that the
number of people that take part in a
fandanso is euaged wholly by the
room In this case FIVE men and as
many women formed on the floor in
4 circle. balanced. then went through
u sort of circular right and left" the
combined gyrations not entirely de-
void of a certain ease and grace. that
made the performance exceedingly in
tcresting and novel
'El Musico" Ohe musician) played
his guitar and danced at the same
time, the women waved their "lencos"
thandkerchiefs). the men snapped
their fingers with a report like a
Fourth of July celebration and we
that done the looking on drank 'vinho
da Pico" Ooico wine). imagined our
selves in Vinegar factory and went
home in the wee small hours" our
bed was the soft side Of a stone floor
\ sheet sufficiently large enough to
cover six of us. starched to an unrea-
sonablc stiffness, made a play ground
for innumerable "pulgas" (neas) and
the way they ran bases and growlcd
at the umpire was caution. A series
of home runs was too much for tired
nature and | retreated to the outside
world, preferring foSs to fleas as the
lesser of two great evils
The sun mingling with the mists of
early morning found US prowlng
around an old convent, it's doors and
windows iron baIred-a smokey. din
Sy-broMn, repulsive pile whose his
tory none could or would tell The
mountain sides had been tcrraced in
q manner showing years of labor and
on these fats. from six to ten feet in
Il II