The daily sentinel., 1912-09-28


pennant fluttering from her
topmast, seeming to urge us on. that
she might seize bone in her teeth
and plow the emerald waves on her
course toward the south, to round
the Horn, and finally fold her great
white wings from the Pacific breeze
in the harbor of valparaiso, The
Vale of Paradise"
Her commander, Captain Norton
OF Boston, having invited me to Join
him and his family as ships surgeon,
and, although | was an under grad
uate at the time, | accepted his in
vitation, fully appreciating the OPP
portunity 1t would give me to con-
tinue my studies uninterrupted, as
well as an outing of the most desira-
bic nature, as had over-studied and
was very much in need of a rest and
recreation.
Our final arrangements having
been completed we find ourselves at
the wharf, and, bidding goodbye to
the friends who have come to see US
off, are soon pulling out to our ship,
chamber up her side and watch her
as she swings about, pointing her
nose east by southeast as she beats
nearly to windward down the bay.
Although we have not arranged
our dunnaSe, we are loath to leave
the deck, as the sights which now
drift before our eyes will not be seen
again for many months. as we must
cross the equator, leave the north
star to sink below the horizon aft.
watch the southern cross arise in the
heavens, and finally round the Horn,
the most boisterous waters ever nav
igated.
So we stand and lovingly gaze at
the old familiar land marks. many OF
them made sacred by the pilgrim fa
theirs, until the point of Cape Cod is
passed, with all of its historic inter
est, and the lights of hospitable Pro-
yincetown have dropped into the sea,
astern.
Finally recovering from our reverie
with a shiyer. as the night air is
cold and wet with settling fog, we
go below to find our friends assem-
bled in the captains quarters, where
supper is soon served. when we re-
tire to our berths to dream of loved
ones at home and adventures in
strange lands.
The days come and 20 with hardly
an hour passing but there are ships
In sight, us we are crossing the
tracks of all the great transatlantic
mes, many of them recognizable.
eeming like old friends, as we have
crossed on them, either going or cont
ing from the old world, and again re-
call the pleasant hours spent upon
their leviathan decks,
Finally We find ourselves alone
on the broad Atlantic; there Is not
a spar in sight as we have left the
great commercial highway of the
upen sea behind, and are approaching
the Bermuda islands, which arise
from the sea Immediately in front of
us. A wonderful archipelago of more
than four hundred very small islets,
indeed, so small that but eighteen or
twenty are inhabited, fringed with
palms and dotted with punches of
banana plants, just as the great yell
low sun jumps from the crest OF a
wave. to port, and illumines the
scene, which to our northern eyes is
a revelation of the fact that we have
left the north temperate zone and are
the tropics.
Dropping anchor, lighters come
and We go ashore to spend
the day sightseeing and u night on
terra firma for we are not to sight
land again until we cross the equator.
One morning, while becalmed in
latitude 230 IL n. longitude 500 ~
W., | sighted an object bobbing in
the water to starboard. and called
the attention of the captain to 1t.
who Immediately ordered the grap-
nels overheard, when 1t was towed
alongside aud hoisted on deck, prov
ing to be much heavier than antici-
pated and looking much like u great
chunk OF barnacles, but proved, after
considerable work, TO be cask OF
French brandy, and, from the brands
burned in the head. giving the date
1917, together with the annual de-
posits of barnacles, the captain fig
ured that 1t had been in the water
for more than so years, probably the
flotsam from some merchantmen
sunk by buccaneers.
Having exposed the head suffi-
GENTLY, tap was introduced, and we
proceeded to sample it's contents. In
fact, the taste was 80 inviting that
We sampled it several times, the last
samples being rather liberal for tenn
perance people; and IL was we'll for
us that Mr.. Brown. the second Off
Ger, refused to participate, otherwise
our course over the seas for the next
two days must have been very crratic,
as is the smooth, oily stun which
slipped down our throats SO easily
was not nearly so bland as it ap-
peared, for we were soon under it's
influence TO such an extent that it
did not matter to us whether we We're
bound for Barbados or Dublin. But
by his assistance, we finally rounded
Cape ST. Rogue, and arrive off Rio
de Janeiro, the capital of Brazil, the
largest country in South Amerira and
tire greatest exporter OF coffee in the
world.