The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1899-05-04
should have done so not two hours be-

S1Ould nave done so nOl TWO Hours be-
fore.
Well, we went TO Hamburg, and on
entering the river Elbe we passed
ship, out of hailing distance, which, as
seen through spy-glass, had the name
of Sans vessel on her headboards and
stern.
Why,'exclaimed our captain, that's
the Ophelia! l wish she had waited a
day or two longer! l shonld have liked
to shake hands with Capt Grover. The
old ship has a kind of home look, hasn't
| she?" he added.
And so it went on. i was never at
home when Sam was. and Sam never
was at home when / was. We both
tried to arrange it better, but some
thing would always interfere to prevent
our meeting. Still we never abandoned
the hope of getting together some day.
The same thing occurred when went
TO Glasgow, in Scotland, in ship called
the Robert Burns. The vessel to which
sam belonged had left the place only
the day before, and gone down to Car
diff, in Wales, to load with iron for
home.
| AT Glasgow our homeward cargo was
soon taken in, and after dropping down
to Greenock we made sail on our return
voyage; and how romantic the Scottish
coast appeared as we passed, under all
sail, down the Firth of Clyde. There,
close at hand, were the isles of Butte and
Arran, and there, too, was old Allsa
Craig, 500 feet high. How | enjoyed
such scene.
| We doubled the Null of Cantyre, at
the mouth of the wide firth, and with
every sail drawing, from courses to
royals, passed rapidly out through the
| North channel, between Scotland and
Ireland-the stout ship pitching and
rolling merrily as she took the broad
swells that met her from the Atlantic.
! Some of our Scottish passengers wept
outright as the beloved shores of their
country faded away; and heard one
of them repeating a verse of poetry,
something like this:
Butte, arran Isle is passed,
! Scotland farewell, for Ailsa Craig
Is out of sight at last"
! On we went, leaving astern the great
Irish promontory of Malin Head, until
| Ireland. as we'll as Scotland, sank final
/ " below the horizon. And now, with
only the wide ocean about her, the Rob-
ert Burns kept steadily on her way.
| Then commenced the usual routine
of sea life. We had our wheels" and
! our 'lookouts," each man in his turn
! standing two hours at the wheel and an
equal time on the top-gallant forecastle,
to guard against any possible collision
with another vessel.
1t being the month of June, there eX-
listed some danger from floating ice,
which had begun to come down from
the north, loosened by the summer sun.
We, however, kept ON our way without
seeing a single fragment, until close off
Cape Race. in Newfoundland.
One very dark night, when we were
! nearly up with the cape, ! took my po-
sition as USUAL on the top-gallan. fore
castle, which was about four feet high
er than the deck, and one foot below
the head-rail. 1t was impossible to see
anything through the darkness, but the
lookout must be kept all the same.
The ship was moving only about three
knots an hour. and l was seated on the
head-rail with my legs hanging over it,
when suddenly there was o heavy shock,
which threw me headlong over the bow.
l remember the shock and the plunge,
but nothing further. My head must
have struck with force enough to stop
all thought. rendering me entirely un-
conscious.
When recollection returned it was
near morning, though it was still dark.
At last the sun came up, and then was
able to realize what had happened.
Twas on an ice field, and the ship was
out of sight. As soon as my head be-
came sufficiently clear to admit of CO.
herent thought | saw how the accident
had occurred, and why | had been left
behind. The ship, | reasoned, must
have struck a glancing blow on a cor
ner of the drift ice, and then, her head
way being stopped, and her topsails,
perhaps, being caught aback, she had
cleared the obstruction and finally slid
past it. All this, admitting that she
had not gone to the bottom, which |
thought not improbable, though she
was moving SO slowly at the time. OF
course, in the darkness, would not be
missed, or, if SO, | should be supposed
to have been drowned.
Ny head ached badly from the blow it
he'd received, but otherwise | felt in
sound condition.
AS the sun mounted higher saw that
the field of ice was of no great length
comprising, | should think, five or six
acres, with the surface about four feet
above the water. What was ! to do?
Nothing at all, but remain there till |
should starve to death. There was no
land in sight, no sail visible and when
ever, since then, | have heard person
complain of loneliness, | have thought
of that hopeless morning.
Towards evening there came up
heavy gale from the northwest, raising
a tremendous sea, which broke con-
tinuallv against the windward side of