Evening star., 1906-06-16

Of glorious deep green, from base to sum-
mits of the mountainous shores, the West
India islands seem not to stand In the sea,
but to swim on 1t like things Of dreams.
When you coast along such a shore as that
Of Haiti going west from Gonaive, you
steam mile after mile past immense green
precipioes that ascend almost to the clouds
from sheer depth of ocean many thou
sand feet deep. Headland after headland
seems to step forth into the blue sea as you
advance. And over all the long. slow roll
ers leap flying fish and dolphin and barra-
conta.
Ignorance Of Port Dwellers.
It's strange how little the Inhabitants
of port towns know about the shipping
that brings them the greater part Of their
wealth. 1 have seen them stand on the
wharves in London and New York when
a West India fruiter began to unload and
marvel at the giant colored men who
worked at breaking out the cargo of ba-
nanas Must be from Africa" was the
guess most usually made. Yet any sailor
could spot the big men as Fortune Is
landers. Almost all the fruit ships stop
at Fortune Island on their way into the
Bahama Channel to pick up boatload of
those nen-the handsomest colored men
in the world in many ways and with good
reason, for they have more Carib Indian
DlOOQ tnan African D1OOQ IN tHelT Neiusy
with a good admixture of blood of the old
English and Portugal buccaneers.
I've heard the same wild guess made
by the New York water-side loungers
about the lascars who make up a great
part of the crew of tea ship. AS these
1.-the brown men with their long knives
in their belts scurried around the decks
they were identified" as everything from
Arabs to Cinnamon. And as to the ship
itself, not one in a score of New Workers
seems to recognize tea ship when he
sees 1t, though there is something 20 typi-
cal about these long, sleek, powerful ves-
sells. that are built and engined to shove
their way more than half way around the
world, meeting Chinese and Indian ty-
phoon and Bay of Biscay weather and
north Atlantic gale in turn.
Wonderful Clipper.
wonder how many of the idle spec
tators ever dream of the strange seas and
strange adventures through which tea
ship passes. One Christmas afternoon I
was In port in New York and visited an old
friend who was captain and part owner
Of big tea clipper-a fine, full r1gged
wooden ship. 1t had always seemed to
me that he lived the ideal sort of life.
His wife was New England girl who had
been school teacher down east They
had two children, and as the mother was
competent to educate them. they all lived
aboard ship and travelled around the world
ing quarters that would have made many
a dweller in rich apartments open his eyes.
Where the mizzen mast went down
through the saloon 1t had been elaborate
ly inlaid with all sorts of precious oriental
woods by Japanese artists. The walls and
ceiling were of mahogany, ornamented
with teak wood and ebony. The floors
were inlaid woods. The table was grand
affair from a palace In Siam. There was
a library Of more than a thousand vol
umes. A fine piano was part of the out
fit and magnificent rugs and hangings
were everywhere. The little family had
been living that way for seven years or
80, happy as kings.
End of the Idyl.
We spent a most delightful Christmas
together, and when we parted 1t was with
the promise that we should try to meet In
Shanghai, to which port I was to take
steamship some months after the clipper
sailed.
1t was the last that 1 ever saw of the
beautiful ship and her inmates. At shang-
hal learned that the vessel had been taken
by Chinese pirates off the Pescadores In
FOrmosa straits. They had killed all ex-
cept three of the crew. who escaped in
small boat. and after lootlng the vessel
they had burned her
have been by the Pescadores three times
since then, and every time / need only to
shut my eyes to see the graceful spars of
the clipper tracing themselves under the
lighted arch of the cobweb Brooklyn
bridge against the clear, tender Christmas
sky.
Yes, a tramp captain sees things-the
world and all the worlds seas-that a
liners captain never hears of. But our
stories don't get into the newspapers so
often. We don't make port until long after
the events have occurred. and nobody hunts
US for our reports, anyway.
Saw att" Itself.
know the captain of a Mediterranean
ore carrier who saw the sea serpent itself.
or at least a mighty ocean monster, In the
Atlantic ocean just outside the Straits Of
Gibraltar, one day. But you may be sure
that he never told anybody about 1t. I was
looking over his log book one day in his
chart room when / boarded him of Crete,
and saw this entry in his book: Sighted
large creature about 100 yards of port bow
and headed it off for about fifteen minutes,
when 1t dived."
Yes" he said, "I did see the biggest
but never mind. You don't think that I'm
going to Join the army that have seen 1t
and told of It, only to be laughed at forever
after, do your And never another word
has he said about it
One fine October night I was taking
banana ship from Port Limon out through
the Mona passage between Santo Domingo
and Porto Rico. The was calm as
glass, with slow, regular heave and the
wind was steady and light. Just before
midnight / made out the lights of ship
about mile away steaming abreast of US.
Her brightly lighted row of portfolios
showed that she was big one, and evil
IDENTIFY carrying passengers. Her red side
light was burning clear, and everything
was regular and shipshape as far as l
could see After about ten minutes. during
which time / wondered what q passenger
steamer could be doing there, ordered the
Coston signals and burned our colors,
One Signal, Then
Within minute or two an answering
signal flashed from her bridge. But before
another fiared out all the lights disappeared
as suddenly as candle light Is blown out.
We stood there for second. staring into
the blackness where Just before brightly
lighted ship had swung. Then jumped to
the. bridge telegraph and we tore for the
spot where we had seen her. But though
we cruised up and down all night, burning
blue lights and whistling, we never found
even q stick. and when dawn came it
showed us a clear. lonely sea, with not
splinter afioat
The queerest thing about 1t is there was
never report of lost ship afterward.
No vessel we could trace was due in that
part of the sea at that time. Yet there
kf.of 81,