Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1899-07-14


visions of ice-water and bitter beer
came tantalizingly to memory-for sea
and sky were equally hot, as the for
mer seemed to weller and become oily
under the blaze OF the latter-a sharp
winged bird that skinned past US sud-
denly caught the hollow eye Of Hislop,
who, / thought, was sleeping.
DO you see that bird, Tom?" he
exclaimed, half starting up from the
stern-sheets; ut is a man-of-war
bird!"
What then, sir?"
we must be near land" replied the
mate
'Land!" reiterated every one in the
boat, their voices expressing JOY, sur
prise or incredulity.
rs it Brazil?" asked Tattooed Tom,
with amazement in his singular face.
II do not think so," said Hislop,
passing hand YEARLY and refectively
over his pale forehead. "Brazil-it is
impossible, by the last reckoning I
made before that Spaniard wounded
me. But Heaven only knows where
we may have drifted to since them"
1.-The wind and currents may have
taken us many hundred miles from
where the last observation was made"
added Carlton.
But I am convinced that we are
near handbook at the seawrack that
passes us now; and we must be out
of the track Of the Gulf-weed," con-
tinued the mate with confidence.
And may I never see the More
again il that amt land now, looming
right ahead through the fog-bank!"
exclaimed Tom, starting up and shad-
ing his eyes from the sun with both
hands. as he peered intently westward.
AS the reader may imagine, we all
gazed anxiously enough in the direc-
ton indicated by the old seaman, and
swell OF rapture rose in the breasts
Of all when something in the form of
headland or bluff could be distinctly
seen right ahead, bearing due west,
about seven miles distant, standing
out from the bank Of vapor, or loom
ing like a darker shadow within it.
This appearance never changed in
outline, but remained stationary, and
every moment became more defined
and confirmed.
Exclamations of Joy now broke from
us, and we congratulated each other
ON making the land SO soon and so
Unexpectedly, without enduring the
miseries which so frequently fall to
the lot Of those who are cast away,
as we were, in an open boat, at sea.
But what land is it," was the gen.
eral inquiry.
Another allowance IF grog was serv-
ed round; the oars were again shipped,
| we bent our backs and breasts sturdily
to the task, and at every stroke al
most lifted the boat clean out of the
shining water in our eagerness to reach
this suddenly discovered shore.
This had such an effect upon Marc
Hislop that, though weak and sinking
as he had been, he begged that he
might be allowed to steer the boat a
little way, while Tom Lambourne kept
a bright lookout ahead, to watch for
any ripple or surf that might indicate
the locality OF treacherous coral reef,
as such might prove dangerous to a
large and heavily laden craft like ours.
With every stroke of the bending
oars the land seemed to rise higher and
more high.
Ere long we could make out it's
form clearly. 1t was bold, rocky and
mountainous, and as the mist dispers
ed or rose upward into mid air, we
could see the dark brown of the bluff,
and some trees of strange aspect, with
dropping foliage on it's summit. were
clearly defined, as they stood between
us and the blue sky beyond.
We soon made out distinctly that it
was le"ge island. The shore was
somewhat level to the northeast, and
in the center lowered an almost per-
pendicular mountain Of vast height,
the sides of which seemed covered with
furze, gorse and brushwood
Elsewhere it's dusky and copper-col-
ored rocks started sheer out of the
sea. whose waters formed a zone CT
snow-white surf around their base.
We headed the boat to the north
east, where the shore seemed more ap-
proachab1e, and as We pulled along it,
but keeping fully three miles of. we
saw high crags, deep ravines, shady
woods and dells in the interior, though
no appearance Of houses, Of wigwams,
or of inha bitants.
Many speculations were now VEN
tured as to what island this might be.
May it not be land that has never
before been discovered" I suggested,
with a glow Of pleasure, in the anti il
patton Of being among the first to
tread an unexplored and hitherto un-
known Shore Hislcp smiled and
shook his head.
Henry Warren, who had been an old
South Sea whaler, suggested that it
was the island Grando, but Hislop as
sured us that this was impossible. In
the first place, by the position Of the
sun, he could see that we were not SO
far south as the parallel Of Port San
Giorgio on the Brazilian shore, and in
the second, the existence of such an
island was doubted.
Can it be Trinidad Island-Tristan
da Cunha, or the Rocks OF Martin
Vaz?" asked Tom Lambourne.
IF the latter" replied Hislop, I'VE
should now be in south latitude 20 deg.
q min., but this land in no way an
swers to the aspect Of the Martin Vaz
Rocks"
Did you ever see them, sir?" asked
several.
"No; but they are described by La
Perrouse as appearing like i've dis