Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1899-09-15
ALONE IN MfD-OCEAN
CAPTAIN sLOcUM'S SINGLE HANDED
TRIP AROUND THE WORLD.


His Attempts to Overcome the Lon
illness That Crept Over Him on the
Way from Boston to Gibralter-
When the Gale Was High.
In bis first instalment of his nara
tive of his solitary voyage around the
world in the sloop Spray, Captain
Joshua Slocum describes in the Sep
tember Century his attempts to over
come the sense of loneliness that beset
him on the way from Boston to Gibral-
tar.
On the evening of July the Spray,
after having steered all day over
lumpy sea- took it into her head to go
without the helmsman's aid. l had
been steering southeast by south, but
the wind hauling forward a bit she
dropped into smooth lane, heading
southeast. and making about eight
knots, her very best work. / crowded
on sail to cross the tracks Of the liners
without loss of time. and to reach as
soon as possible the friendly Gulf
Stream The fog lifting before night.
l was afforded n look ut the sun Just
as it was touching the sea- l watched
turned my face eastward. and there.
apparently at the very end of the bow
spirit, was the smiling full moon rising
out of the sea Neptune himself COM
ing over the bows could not have star
tied me more Good evening. sir"
cried; II am glad TO see you" Many
q long talk since then | have had with
the man in the moon, who had my con
fidence on the voyage.
About midnight The fog shut down
again denser than before. One could
almost stand on it, 1t continued so
for q number of DAYS. the wind increas-
ing to gale. Tie waves rose high.
but had a good ship. Still. in the dis
nal fog, l felt myself drifting into
| loneliness, an insect on straw in the
midst of the elements. | dashed the
helm and my vessel held her course,
and while she sailed | slept
During these days n feeling of awe
crept over me. My memory worked
with startling power The omnous
the insignificant. the great, the small
the wonderful. the commonplace-all
appeared before my mental vision in
magical succession. Pages of my his
tory were recalled which had been so
long forgotten that they seemed to be-
long to a previous existence. | heard
all the voices of the past laughing, cry
ing. telling what I heard them tell in
many corners of the earth.
The loneliness of my state wore off
when the gale was high and | found
much work to do. When the fine
weather returned, then came the sense
of solitude. which | could not shake
| off used my voice often AT hrSt. CIV
ing some orders about the affairs of the
ship. for I had been told that otherwise
l would lose my speech. At the me-
ridian altitude of the sun | called aloud
Eight bells" after the custom on a
ship at sea. Again from my cabin l
called to an imaginary man at the
helm, How does she head, there" and
again. SIS she on her courseV But,
getting no reply, | was reminded the
more palpably of my condition. My
voice sounded hollow on the empty air
and I dropped the practice.
However, it was not long before the
thought came to me that when | was
a lad | used to sing; why not try that
now. where it would disturb no one!
NV musical talent had never bred envy
in others. hut ont on the Atlantic. to
realize what it meant. you should have
heard me sing. You should have seen
the porpoises leap when | pitched my
voice for the waves and the sea and
all that was in it. Old turtles. with
large eyes, polled their heads up out
of the sea as | sang johnny Boxer
and well Pay Darby noyl for His
Boots and the like. But the por-
poises were. on the whole. vastly more
appreciative than the turtles; they
Jumped deal higher. one day when
| was humming n favorite chant.
think it was "Bahylon's a-Fallin," q
porpoise jumped higher than the bow
spirit. Had the Spray been going Il lit
tie faster she would have scooped him
in. The sea-birls sailed around rather
shy.