The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1900-05-19

llObr WHICH ran lHlO our eyes anu
trickled down our breasts, and when
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, l thought, was sleeping.
do you see that bird, Tom?" he
exclaimed. half starting up from the
stern-sheets; lit is a man-of-war
bird!"
What then, sir?"
I'VE must be near land" replied the
mate.
Land" reiterated every one il the
boat, their voices expressing joy, sur
prise or i~ncredulity.
rs it Brazil?" asked Tattooed Tom,
with amazement in his singular face.
Il do not think So" said Hislop,
passing a hand YEARLY and refectively
over his pale forehead. "Brazil-it is
impossible, by the last reckoning |
made before that Spaniard wounded
me. But Heaven only knows where
we may have drifted to since then!"
'The wind and currents may have
taken us many hundred miles from
where the last observation was made"
added Carlton.
but / am convinced that we are
near handbook at the sea-wrack that
passes us now; and we must be out
of the track of the Gulf-weed," CON
tin1ed tha nnta with ~pCDRdanoa
And may | never see the More
again if 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 i~ntently westward.
AS the reader may imagine, we all
| gazed anxiously enough in the direc-
ton indicated by the old seaman. and
a swell of rapture rose in the breasts
of all when something in the form of
a 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.
Explanations 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 gem
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, be 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 a ~treacherous coral reef,
as such might prove dangerous to a
al 80 duu llCdNLly idut.l VI ait llhG OuI6.
With every stroke Of the bending
oars the land seemed to rise higher and
more high.
Ere long we could make out its
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 its summit, were
clearly defined, as they stood between
US and the blue sky beyond.
We soon made out distinctly that II
, was a large 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 its dusky and copper-col
ored rocks started sheer out of the
sea, whose waters formed a zone O.
. snow-white surf around their base.
We headed the boat to the north.
east, where the shore seemed more APP.
proachable, and as we pulled along it
but keeping fully three miles off, W.
saw nlBn CTdSS, uetp TdVlUeS, SHdul
woods and dells in the interior, though
no appearance of houses, of wigwams
or of inhabitants.
Many speculations were now ven
tured as to what island this might be
4 May it not be land that has neve,
before been discovered" I suggested
o with a glow of pleasure, In the anti /
+ patton Of being among the first Il
4 tread an unexplored and hitherto I'm
v known shore. Hislop smiled an
shook his head.
Henry Warren. who had been an oil
8 South Sea whaler, suggested that i
was the island Grando, but Hislop as
n sured US that this was impossible. Il
q the first place, by the position of tn
h sun, he could see that we were not s.
far south as the parallel of Port Sal
Giorgio on the Brazilian shore, and il
the second, the existence Of such a
n island was doubted.
a Can it be Trinidad Island-Trista,
d da Cunha, or the Rocks of Marti
r Vaz?" asked Tom Lambourne.
"If the latter" replied Hislop, wv
r should now be in south latitude 20 dee
h q min, but this land in no way an
# swers to the aspect of the Martin Va
e Rocks"
did you ever see them, sir?" aske