New-York tribune., 1908-07-12
Basso Bursar."

gave me the dream
But it wasn't the trOpC that gave the taste
| had, the tonsils that had and the parChed palate
of me | figured, sitting there, that some eXtraneous
and foreign substance must have got into the mes
cal 1t must have been that Whatever it was L
have Vearned for amphOra OF mescal since
| sat up and rubbed my burning wicks on that first
morning on the Acapulco beach. Mescal IS too
punitive. Once with mescal is more than a-plenty
CITTING there then. with that memorable left
~ over. and gazing out blankly over the heavlng
sea. | saw something that interested me 1t was the
Mexican navy, lying at anchor. he Me:lCan navy
consisted of the little white yachtlike hooker
called the Zaragossa. There she was, the Mexican
navy. entire and complete My man-o war 5 man
had pointed her out L. me as the Mexican navy on
the previous evening. He had told me additionally
that the Zaragossa was commanded by former
British naval officer, who, besides being high
brOwed. heavy weather son OF a galley cook, was
very religious person. religious that he insisted
that there should be religious services board the
Zaragossa every morning before the Greaser SAILOR
80 sat and gazed at the Mexican navy. She
was anchored only about eight ships lengths from
where | sat. 1t was very soon after sun-up- saw
the sleepy little Greaser bueJacket hands assembling
on the Zaragossas main deck Then the toy blasts
of a teenchy ships trumpet sounded over the dane
ing waveets, and l saw the Zaragossas blueJackets
lining up position the man deck and stan 7'ng
at attention. Then the commander OF the Mexican
navy, red bearded person obviously British,
stalked out of his cabin with a prayer book, or
1nissa1 breViarv something, III his hand lie
began to read from it He hadn't read more than
half minute before | heard din of awful squeaks
and gatherings and chlpper1ngs that seemed to
come from the Zaragossa. The commander OF the
Mexican navy stopped reading from his book and
looked annoyed The squeaklng, which sounded
like jungle debate between seven million parrots,
continued The commander of the Mexican navy
looked still more annoyed He shut his book with
bang, and exploded. | couldn't hear what he
saving; but it sounded like lot.
DRESENTLY the Zaragossa's little steam cutter
L was lowered away from the davits No sooner
had the steam cutter reached the water than a
dozen bueJaCkets began TO pile whole stack of
hoXlike looking things into her stern sheets.
heap Of noise from those boxlike looking
things as they were being stacked up in the stern
sheets of tie steam cutter The steam cutters load
was complete after about fifteen minutes, and then
the cockson of the steam cutter climbed in, took
the wheel and headed her for little wooden landing
i-;lilt into the water close where | sitting
rubbing my mescal lid
"As the little steam cutter came dancing the
water the squeaking and shrilling grew louder
When she drew alongside the little landing, under
stood Each of the little boXlike contTaptions-
and there were nearly two hundred of them-waS
a wood and wicker cage containing busy and
Irofane parrakeet OF emerald hue.
The cockson of the ZaragOssa 5 steam cutter
himself a former British man-o war 5 man. caught
him mumbling things III his beard about green bleed
trs and the like When the steam cutter tied up at
the landing and the Greaser blueJaCkets began to
stack the piles of cages the dock buged over
to the cussing cockson and asked him about ii.
The howlin', squalin, bloody sons o swabsl