Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1899-01-19

courteously offered him cigar. When
we were settled comfortably, the
padre said:
"Senor Captain, this my first voyage
is to the Ladrones; but much of the
interes l have for them, and the in
tencion have to un gran description
write while among las Islas / do re-
main You the knowledge have that
I go to Saipan, believe. Yes? And
Saipan is how far from Agana?"
"M'-well, let me see. 1 presume
you'll stop at Garapaag, that's Tana-
pag harbor. About a hundred and
twenty-five miles, padre"
"And the transportation, capitanP
| am told that nothing they have but
the-the proas, the native boats; and
that very wet they sometimes are
muy descomodo."
well, they are rather cramped for
room, and. 1 guess, when there's much
of q wind, rather sloppy. Still, they
are very fast; If you have a good wind
you can make the run in nine or ten
hours, 1 should say"
"'Niue or ten of the hoursl San
tlsima! In the one posicion! What
does one not do por Ia servicio pio!
He is not the voyage dangerous, is he,
capitano?"
Dangerous? Oh. l don't think SO,
at this time of year. You might strike
a hurricane in July or August, but you
could put in at one of the islands II
the weather looked threatening;
they're mono OF them very far apart.
You're familiar with the general po-
sition of the archipelago, are you not,
padre?"
"Si, senor; l have seen them upon
the atlas. Like the STRING of little
pin-points."
"Shucks! You can't tell anything
about them from an atlas; the scales
too small, and they're miles out of
the true position. Haven't you ever
seen q chart of the Ladroncsf Would
you like to look at one"'
"No-si-he mucho interes por las
islas. I fear 1t will you incomodar."
Not at all, padre; not at all. III
YOU and Mr.. Stevens will come below,
I'd be pleased to low it to you. I'm
obliged to refer 30 the charts con
stantly, you know"
The Imray chart of the western Pa
cific was still upon the table In our
quarters, and Halstead took from the
locker another, on a larger scale, of
the archipelago itself showing the ex-
act shape and bearing of each island.
Il IL 4. 4 .I.1
padre bent over them and listened to
the captains remarks, it was easy
to see that his education had been a
broad one, comprehending readily, as
he did, marks and measurements that
would have puzzled most landsmen.
Halstead had carefully erased our PEN
cilings from the larger chart, leaving
only the course as actually sailed up
to noon of that day; and at Sebasti-
amos request he drew a line to indi-
cate the direction in which we were
then sailing-east, half north-in or
der to make Point Orote, on Guajan.
When he removed the ruler, Sebastiano
said:
II was told, captain, that ell Guajan
the most southerly island was; but
here I do one more see--la Isla Santa
Rosa, with five little crosses marked
in its circle. All entiendo; he is una
isla DE coral-una laguna. Is it not
SOP"
"Wel., It may have been good
while ago, padre, but it's all under
water now, and has been for several
hundred years. We vaii il n reef in
English - una roca euncrgida.'
guess you'd sny. There's no doubt but
that it was there once-several of the
old navigators mention it-but, you
see, these islands are volcanic, and il
has probably sunk, because no captain
has found it since 1740.'
"Ahl entiendo. Each of the cap
itanos who do sail near 1t do make
the sounding, and when find they do
not, behold, it no )nger must there be.
l suppose many the examination must
have made, that los geografos so sure
are that it is now gomez
"Well, not very many. The Chal-
lenger didn't get as far east as the
Ladrones, and the American cruiser
Alert is the only one that really made
much of n search. You see, the supply
boat only comes out here four times
n year, and the place is not in the
track of any other ships"
"And the capitanos de los vapores de
Ia Compania-yourself also - have
been unsuccessfulp'
"Why, personally, I've never looked !
for it. You see, there's plenty of
sea room to keep clear of the place, .
and | don't see the use of risking my
ship by fooling around where a shoal .