The times., 1898-02-06

crew were WILING the weather. WIS
lovely, the ship no battered old hull
seas for another half century. Why die
We remain idle? Because our com
mander lay helplessly drunk in his
cabin, nor was the mate the man tc
dare usurpation of his authority JUS
tifiable as such an act would have un-
doubtedly been. So, sleeping. smoking
lounging, that beautiful day wasted
away.
Perfect calm reigned the night
through. At daylight all hands were
turned to" to commence operations
which ought to have been carried out
the previous day. A large ''kedge an
chor was carried astern as far as our
hawsers and mooring chains would al
low, but when they dropped it (the
skipper in the boat, mind) there was
less than two fathoms of water beneath
them. Being but child, / could not
f then rightly estimate the mountainous
folly OF what was going on, but l have
often wondered since how ever the men
stood 1t. Why, the ship drew eighteen
feet of water! Yet that imbecile was
proposing to heave her up hill into
twelve feet Only sailors can believe
thing of that sort, for they know
what incredible marvels of feolery are
performed at times on board, ship.
The boat returned, the windlass was
manned, and the hawsers hove tight.
| But right there operations came to a
full stop We couldn't burst the good
rope we couldn't move the ship. Per-
haps there wasn't much heaving done
l don't know. but / think that under
the circumstances il was highly prob
able Coming to a standstill the men
leaned on the windlass levers discuss
ing the situation. The mate had gone
| aft, but a silence as of the grave reign
cd in ha l,at-e hn,
sleeping off his liquor
What awakened him 1 don't know,
but before he got nearly sober he came
! on deck again and began ordering the
yards to be hauled about, sail made,
! etc, as if the ship, instead of being a
mass immovable by anything short of a
tempest or an earthquake, was to be
shifted by such means. The men stood
this foolng very well indeed for about
an hour; then, feeling that as an
| amusement it palled upon them, they
came aft in body. and forcibiy stated
| their intention to do no more until au-
! thority was delegated entirely to the
| mate. or the captain was quite sober
| To his maudlin remonstrances and CO.
piOus tears they turned contemptuous-
! ly deaf ears, retiring again to their own
end of the ship for a rest, as well as
reflection.
! The ship was doomed: there could be
no possible doubt Even had the
| smartest seaman afloat been now in
| charge, he could have done nothing:
| for, although the weather had been per-
/ feet since the disaster, the long swell
which crept across the great reef mog-
ed her hull sufficiently to damage the
| bottom greatly. as the pieces Of timber
floating up every now and then, showed
very plainly. The weather vas about
to change. A filmy veil seerSed TO dim
the bright blue of the sky, while the
air near the surface was so clear as TO
render the most distant objects start
lingly distinct and well-defined. Still,
nothing more was done that day except
the landing of a few stores, just suffi-
cient to support life for few days.
The night passed without incident of
any kind. Just before daylight breeze
sprang up from north northwest, ac-
companied by much greater increase in
the swell than was referable to the
weight of the wind. The effect upon the
ship was very serious She writhed and
bumped about upon the jagged surface
of the reef in an alarming fashion, ev-
cry timber complaining fiercely of the
severity of her treatment. The deck be-
gan TO open and shut at the seams, the
houses twisted and split, while the
great masts trembled increasingly.
The wind increased rapidly, till at
eight bells breakfast time) it was
blowing moderate gale. which covered
the face of the reef with foam. AS it
was evidently madness to wait any
longer, the pinnacle was hauled along
side and loaded with the wardrobes of
the crew. with such other necessaries as
seemed Indispensable. the sick boat
swain being mace as comfortable in the |
stern-sheets as was possible. | was |
looking over the rail very Wlstfuliy at |
the boat. when one OF the men called |
me down into her. l needed no second |
invitation. but descended like monkey, |
snugly ensconcins myself by the side of |
the boatswain. The mate called me |
back. | don't know why: but | cheer |
fully disobeyed him, knowing full well |
that his authority now was thing of |
doubt.
The painter was cast adrift. and |
away we went for the shore, but may |
| never make such journey in boat |
again. The swell had increased so |
rapidly that it was now appalling in |
it's height AS it travelled over the |
shallow. broken reef for about ten |
miles. before it reached us, it gathered |
momentum and size until it became |
range of snowy mountains, between
whose Seething SUBMITS the top of the |
reef almost appeared, so great was the |
displacement of water. Our men were
not very expert at boat-hauling, as
they admitted. but l think they must
have risen to the height of a. great
emergency that morning. Although,
when we descended ipto the green val
leys between those mighty breakers,
their froWning crestS shut out the sky,
We did not ship drop of water. or
even swerye an appreciable bit from
the only safe course bow on the roll
of the sea. When we neared the |
fringing barrier of rocks the sight was
Dreadful the roar of angry waves was
deafening. Nor. at first sight, was it
possible to pick out the position of the
entrance which had been SO carefully |
marked two days before. Indeed, con-
how narrow was the passage, |
it was marvellous that it was to be
distinguished at all among such a tu-
multi of breakers.
However. our helmsman was man
of great courage and decision; so. hay
ing decided that the channel was in a
certain position. he steered for it, the
six oarSmen pulling for their very |
lives. A moment or two of hubbub as
we shot through the tiny break in that
gigantic, laundering barrier, a few
drops of spray sprinkled over us, and
all was peace. In that quiet lagoon |
behind the rocks there was as yet /
hardly a ripple on the water, so we
ran the boat up on the smooth sand as
quietly as if we We're in dock
A few minutes Sufficed to tranSShip |
what we had brought to the little hill
where the stores We're piled: then, as
time was most precious, the boat was
and departed again, leaving
my small self and the crippled officer
behind. They had no sooner gone than