The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1906-04-05
deck and saw the ship las he thought)

so near the land, and in the Rebel coun-
try, his hair would have stood on end
were it not for the fact that he was
bald-headed. 1t may be interesting to
some to know that at this very spot,
Corpus Christi, the shores are washed
by the waters of the extreme western
portion of the Atlantic ocean, From
here to Galveston the course is north
east, and to the mouth of the Rio
Grande it is southeast.
The ship was heading in toward the
land and we knew that when the wind
came it would come from that quarter
and it must necessarily strike us aback,
and we at once began to prepare for
that emergency by snugly slowing
every sail with the exception OF the
fore and main topsails, and these were
closely reefed. The spanker was brazil
ed but ready to use at moments warn
ing, to help to bring her head up to the
wind if necessary. The only fore-and-
aft sail remaining set was the fore stay
sail. The after yards were laid square,
and the fore yards were braced sharp
to starboard. The fore staysall was
trimmed to starboard, also so that
when the wind did come her bow would
swing to port and the helm was put
hard a port. to assist that movement
when the ship got stern way, as she
necessarily would when the wind first
struck. Men were stationed at the
braces to brace the yards as required
III this situation, like Micawber, we
waited for something to turn up
We did not have to wait long. for in
less than an hour cold wave from the
north struck us with such tremendous
fury that it caused the ship to careen
even under the light sail we had on her,
, and to cause everything to snap at a
fearful rate But everything was good
and strong and Withstood the strain.
AS she careened her head began to pay
off to port and we soon had her running
before the gale to the southeast, and we
kept her going until we recovered from
, the shock and got some of the dust
from our eyes and Threats. Then we
hauled her on the wind by bracing the
main wards and ran down the coast to
the northeast to get under the land as
well as We could in order to keep i'll
smooth water. The thermometer went
down from 70o to % in two hours
j time and we went from thin clothing
to REFERS. mittens and blue noses in
= less time than that time. Indeed it
was dii6cult to get clothing enough
OIL to keep comfortable while on deck.
- Tie next morning what a sight there
; was. Tie wind had not abated, nor did
it abate for three days, but the sun
arose clear and was shining dlmly
through clouds of dust and dust was
everywhere The deck was covered to
the depth of one inch or more of dust
and even gravel. There were gravel
stones half as large as a robins egg that
J had been blown off to US from the land,
! which was at least six miles away.
There were all kinds of dead insects,
n and the air was full of grasses and
=, leaves and even tWigs and small branch
= es of trees. But saddest of all was to
see the birds They flew on board tue
] ship in large numbers and of all kinds
, from big to little. They were land
birds that could not make Roadway
against the heavy wind and were forced
, to put to sea. They would fly on board
and alight on spars and in the rigging by
the hundreds and were continually fall
Ing to the deck, being chilled and ex-
hausted. think that | am speaking
within bounds when | say that think
a hundred different varieties OF BIRDS
fell dead on. our decks. They were
continually coming to us and falling
dead at our feet. | do not think that L
exaggerate when | state that during
that three days gale there were at least
two bushels of birds picked up and
thrown overheard. They were from
+ the size of the prairie hen to
that of the little humming bird, and OF
, all shapes and colors. | remember one
that had the form of a crane, though
, not half as large, and green in color.
, These birds having been blown off and
seeing us, would make for us as a haven
and would strike against the topsalls
and the rigging and fall dead to the
! deck. But they did not all die. The
F spars and rigging and even the sails OF
the vessel were covered with them, and
many flew away to land when the gale
abated.
We had managed to work up under
, the land so that when the gale abated
, we were nearer the land than when the
norther struck us, and we either tackled
+ or wore ship every four hours to enable
US to keep as near our station as we
could. But we got down off st. Louis
Pass. which is within 40 miles of Gal
weston. After it had blown itself out
and become nearly calm for time, and
we had got the grit off from ourselves
and the ship, the gentle south winds
, again prevailed and for two months we