The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-07-12
SUPERSTITIONS OF THE SEA.
Quaint Beliefs of Sailors Concerning Stormy
PetreIs and OoIphins and the
Value OF Cats.

steward, the ship viii never get to Lon
DOM
He was in an awful state, and went
III and told the old man, who rated me
soundly for not backing the yards and
picking up the cat A few days before
the ships carpenter had fallen overheard
and the old man had not stopped TO pick
him up. | reminded him of that incident
and he growled out: That was only
man; and this was catv
There is also grave superstition
anent the killing of dolphins. Beyond
Good Hope and the Mauritius, speared
dolphin one night, and we cooked and
ate it for supper, though not without
some misglvings, | can assure you. The
very next day we were hove to our beam
ends in a hurricane, and had to cut away
the main and mizzen topmaSts to righten
the ship. These masts in falling fouled
the lee braces of the yards on the fore
mast and carried them all away. They
also carried away the foreyard in the
sings and altogether we were in pref
ty bad mess"
$50 the spirit of the murdered dolphin
was avenged ?" | inquired
The old sailor fixed me with his stony
eye as he went on: But the pressure
of the wind being taken away from the
after part of the ship through the cutting
away of the main and mizzen topmasts,
the ship paid off before the wind, and
and very soon came up on an even keel
and shook the water off her decks. We
got fixed up from this mishap, and
rounded the Cape, and were running up
the Southeast trades, when another
school of dolphin got under the bows.
| went ait for the grains. thinking
would have another fine fish for supper,
when the old man spied me and growl
ed: What are you going to do with
those grains?' | told him Better put
the grains away he said. You know
what happened to us last time you killed
dolphin"
Did you ever meet with ghost at
sea?" asked the old sailor.
Not | but | sailed with a skipper
who had was the answer. "A1any's the
time | have heard him tell it, and he
always shook and went gray when telling
it. He was becalrned in the Indian
Ocean, and as he went into his cabin
one drowsy, hot afternoon, he distinctly
saw man sitting at the table, busy with
his chart. He was about to roar out
at him, when the figure vanished. In
amazement, he took up the chart and on
II was WTillGu. NolCSI Soblii-lidIl l. NS2A-
He piped all hands on deck, and de-
manded to know who had been [oollng
with his charts. No one had been IN the
cabin. Mystihed, he lay down for !
sleep.
That evening, when he went to his
bunk, he saw figure in the moonlight
sitting at his table, busy with his charts.
He observed the apparition closely. and
saw bv his dress that he was a skipper.
Going nearer, with great dread upon
him he spoke Instantly the figure dlsap-
peared: but there was a freshly written
command on the map Steer south-halt-
west.
In the gray of the morning, he saw
the man again at his table. This time
the apparition looked steadily at him
with appealing eyes. ere he vanished. he
skipper ordered his men to steer south |
half-west.
Before noon they came upon raft
to which chung seven despairlng men,
three women and one child. all OF whom
they took off. The skipper found the
child and one of the women to be the
wife and son of the Captain. who had
gone down with his ship. And the de-
scription OF the brave officer tailed with
that of the man he had seen busy with
his charts. and who had issued the
ghostly order: Steer south-half-west.