Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1899-01-24
"what do you make of her. All

dyceg' asked.
Ny second mate was standing besid
me upon the poop with his short, tbicl
legs a-streich, for the gale had lef
q considerable swell behind il. and on
two quarter boats nearly touched tn
wafer with every roll. He s,eadied hi
glass against the mizzen shrouds and h
looked long and hard at this discon
solate stranger every time she came
reeling up on To the crest Of role
and hung balanced for few second
before swooping down upon the othe
side. She lay so low In the water tina
! could catch only an occasional glimps'
Of pea green line Of bulwark She was
q brig, but her mainmast had been
snapped short off some ten feet above
the deck, and no effort seemed to have
been made 10 cut away the wreckage,
which fioated, sails and yards. like the
broken wing Of wounded gull, upon
the water beside her. The foremast was
still standing, but the fore topsail was
/ IN ltiG inbet, anu tuS htaarssfS W'At
streaming en-, in long white pcnnOns In
front Of her Never have / seen vessel
which appeared to have gone through
rougher handling
But we could not be surprised ai
that. for there had been times during
the last three days when it was Ques-
tiou whether our own bark would ever
see land again. For 80 hours we had
kept her nose 20 IL, and IL the Mary
Sinclair had not been as good sen boat
ms ever left the Clyde we could not have
come through, and yet here we were at
the end of il. with the loss only Of our
gig and Of part Of the starboard bul.
wark. II did not astonish Us, however.
when the smother had cleared away to
find that others had been less lucky and
that this mutilated brig. staggering
about upon blue sea and under a
cloudless sky. had been left, like
blinded man after lightning fash. to
tell of the terror which is past.
Allardyce. who was slow and me-
thodical Sootcbman. stared long and
hard a, the little craft while our seamen
lined the bulwark or clustered upon the
fore shrouds TO have . view OF the
stranger. In latitude 90 degrees and
longitude 10 degrees. which was about
our bearings, ono becomes little curl.
ols as TO whom one meets. for one has
left the main lines Of Atlantic com.
merce 10 the north. For ten days ws
had been sailing over solitary sea-
she's derelict. I'm thinking" " said
the second mate.
had come TO the same conclusion,
for could see no sign Of life upon her
deck. and there was no answer to the
friendly wavings from our seamen. Her
crew had probably deserted her under
the impression that she was about 10
founder
"She can't last long" continued Al
lardyce, in his measured way. "She
may put her nose down and her tail up
any minute. The waters Tipping up to
the edge Of her rail-"
whats her fiag!" asked.
"I'm trying TO make out. It's got all
twisted and tangled with the balyards.
Yes, I've got il now, clear enough-it's
the Brazilian flag. but it's wrong side
up"
She had hoisted signal Of distress.
then, before her people had abandoned
her. Perhaps they had only just gone.
took the mates glass and looked round
over the tumultuous face Of the deep
blue Atlantic. still veined and starred
with white lines and spoutings OF foam.
But nowhere could I see anything hu'
man beyond ourselves
There may be living men aboard, "
said /.
"There may be salvage" muttered
the second mate.
Then we will run down upon her
lee side, and lie to-"
We were not more than 100 yards
from her when We swung our foreyard
aback, and there we were, the bark and
the brig, ducking and bowling like two
clowns in q dance.
"Drop one Of the quarter boats, "
said /. Take four men, Mr.. Allardyca.
and see what you can learn Of her. "
But just at that moment my first offi-
Ger, Mr.. Armstrong, came ON deck, for
seven bells had struck, and it was but z
few minutes of his watch. II would in
terest me TO go myself to this abandoned
vessel and to see what there might be
aboard of her. So with . word to Arm
strong ! swung myself over the side,
slipped down the falls and took my
place in the sheets Of the boat.
1t was but little distance, but IL
took some time 10 traverse, and 80 heavy
was the roll that often when we were
In the trough Of the seas re could not
see either the bark which we had left
or the brig which We were approaching.
The sinking sun did not penetrate down
there, and it was cold and dark in the
hollows of the waves, but each passing
billow heaved Us up into the warmth
and the sunshine once more. At each OF
these moments as we hung upon white
capped ridge between the two dark val
leys I caught glimpse Of the long pea
green line anu the nodding foremast OF
the brig, and I stsered SO a. TO come
round by her stern. so that we might
determine which was the best way OF
boarding her. As we passed her We saw
the name Nossa Sebnora da Victoria
printed across her dripping counter.
"The weather side, sir, said the Sec
end mate. "Stand by with the boat
hook. carpenterr' An instant later we
had jumped over the bulwarks, which
were hardly higher than our boat and
found ourselves upon the deck OF tn
abandoned vessel.
Our first thought was to provide TO
our own safety in case, as seemed YER.
probable, the vessel should settle dowI
beneath our feet. With this object tw'
of our men held on to the painter Of tn
boat aud tended her of from the yesse
side, so that she might be ready In cas-
we had to make hurried retreat. Th
carpenter was sent 10 find ont hov
much water there was and whether ]
was still gaining, while the other sea
man. Allardyce and myself made
rapid inspection Of the vessel and he
cargo.
The deck was Uttered with wreckag
and with bencoops. in which the deat
birds were washing about. The boat
were gone, with the exception OF one
the bottom Of which had been stove
and il was certain that the crew hat
abandoned the vessel. The cabin was II