El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1899-10-14

mldSL ipman came Oh IOr US, ana Ineu
we babe farewell to Jose Estremera,
to his mate, Manuel Gautier, to Fra
Anselmo, and the old governor of Sura-
baya.
Come, Dick, We have no time to
lose," said Hislop; let us be off to the
ship while daylight lasts"
I shall never forget my emotions of
joy when the boat with Hislop and the
rest of us came steering alongside the
Active.
She was SO clean, SO trig, so square
aloft; with the bright copper cleaning
in the water below; her black bulwarks
and red portfolios, through which her
sixty-eights and thirty-twos peered
above the brine; the snow-white ham
mock cloths, with the gold epaulets Of
the lieutenant of the watch glittering
above them; the relocated marines
on the poop and forecastle; the great
scarlet ensign of "Old England" float
ing at the gaff-peak, and that no part
of the illusion might be wanting, a
little marine fifer. playing shrilly but
sweetly ''Home, Sweet Home" in one
of the boats that lay alongside, by the
guess-warp boom.
She was so thoroughly British in her
aspect, so unlike anything we had seen
in the seas We had traversed, that we
felt at home the moment our feet
were on the deck of good old English
oak-aye, as much at home as If we
stood upon the chalky South Foreland,
and saw the great hop fields of fertile
Kent at our feet, with the gray towers
of Dover and the white spires of Deal
in the distance. Old Lambourne ut
tered a shout, and pointed to the Union
Jack
One must be abroad and far away to
feel to the full the emotions that are
excited, and the confidence which is
inspired on seeing the old flag, that has
swept every sea and shore, waving in
its pride from the gaff-peak of a Brit
ish man-of-war.
1t is then that we feel what a sway
one little island has exercised over
the mighty earth
Hislop and dined with Capt. B,
who was anxious to hear orr story In
detail.
Our shipmates were told of to their
several divisions, and we were placed
in the ward room mess for the re-
mainder Of the voyage.
We sailed that night, and under
steam and canvas, as we bore away to
the north, we soon saw the Peak of
Adam sinking into the dark blue sea-
"Adieu to the Canaries," said His1op,
waving his hat; "the next shore we
see will be Europe-the white cliffs of
Old England, perhaps"
But next day we sighted the great
of uninhabited rocks which are claim
ed by the Portuguese (perhaps no one
else cares about them), and which are
surrounded by dangerous shoals. One
of these isles closely resembles the
fantastic rocks of the Needles, at the
west end Of the Isle Of Wight.
On the Salvages the canary birds are
SO numerous that an old voyager says
cit is impossible to walk without
crushing their eggs.''
We touched at Madeira, and after a
delightful voyage of about sixteen days
ran up the Channel, and came to an
Choir in the Downs on the 10Th of Oc-
tober.
I had been absent from home more
than a year, when I found myself in
London-in mighty London, with its
dark forests of masts and it's dark ca
thedral dome, that meets the eye from
every point Of view-a wondrous and
bewildering change, after traversing
SO long the wide and lonely sea!
With a heart swollen by anxiety to
learn tidings Of my father, my mother
and sisters, 1 reached the counting
room of my uncle's firm. Rodney &
Co., in the city, but there was some
thing SO peculiar in my aspect, which
pertained neither to sea nor shore, and
was Enthusiastically outlandish, that old
John Thomas, the porter, seemed in
rlined to shut the door in my face.
A short explanation, however, soon
overcame his scruples, and 1 was then
admitted.
My uncle was at Erlesmere, but his
head clerk assured me that my family
were all well. though they had long
since given me up for dead, as
white marble tablet erected
to my memory in the Rectory church
remained to testify.
reached home.
AS 1 had no desire to shock my par
ents by sudden surprise, a telegram
preceded me, and in less than an hour
1 was off by the express train for
Erlesmere. But with all its speed the
seemed too slow for me. Mark
Hislop accompanied me until he could
get ship, but before looking for that
he meant to visit his old mother, who
lived somewhere in Scotland.
After all that we had undergone,
all that had to show my family were
the sword and old book found in the
brig, the creese of a mu-
tinous Lascar, and the ring given me