East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1918-12-12
non ROBINSON SAILING.
Continued from page ~

dinner it is twelve o'clock again. In
\ the evening Roy and usually climb
around over the ship for exercise,
Yesterday we saw several whales
spouting near the ship aand have
passed through schools of porpolses
so thick that they seemed to be leap-
Ing over each other. 1t is n pretty
sight and we have taken several pic
lures of them with the first matessk ko-
dak.
We have seen thousands of flying
fish and it certainly is interesting to
watch them. They are about six
inches long and seem to be able to
fly indefinite distances. Just like a
FLOCK of sparrows. At night they often
fly aboard attracted by the lights,
and we had a chance to examine them
at close range.
Shortly after we crossed the equa-
tor we struck storm and 1 never
have seen such rain in my life. We
got drenched to the skin every time
we stepped outside and the lower
decks were washed over by high
waves all the time. We are loaded
heavily but nevertheless rolled around
/
the affects noticeably but I enjoyed
it all and haven't been a bit sick yet,
| We certainly had a fine time dur
ing our short lay over at san Pedro.
We went ashore about two O'Clock
/ sunday afternoon and some people
/ took us to Los Angeles in car. 1t
was beautiful trip. We went out to
| Venice and had the time of our young
lives riding tn scenic railway and the
chute the chutes. Spent lots of mon
ey but it was our last chance for
some time. We got back to Pedro
about one O'Clock and Jap fish
boat brought us to the ship.
Had my first. experience at getting
seasick on shore. After being at sea
awhile your equilibrium becomes ac-
cnsomed to the roll and when we
stepped on solid ground even after
five days it was rather hard to navi-
gate and l felt pretty rocky for a
couple of hours. We left there Mon
day the 14th nearly three weeks ago
and have only sighted land twice since
then. This was while passing the Son
Bonita and Zellepagos Island. The
latter are a beautiful group and 1
would certainly like to come back
some day and visit them. Originally
they were inhabited by the French
but when Ecuador became u republic
they were forced to leave all their
livestock and abandon their orchards.
At present no one lives there and the
islands team with wild cattle, goats
horses and dogs that are the descend
ants of the old French stock. They
are covered with orange. banana, CO.
coanut and fig trees so it must be a
regular paradise and lying as they do
10 degrees south, insures a great cli-
mate. Doesn't that appeal to your
Imagination?
1t was frightfully warm the other
side of the equator but since we
crossed the line the weather hahs been
fine. So cool that 1 sleep until noon
with heavy blanket over me. Our
Quarters are just aft of the smoke !
stack and the cinders fall so thick that
1t keeps us cleaning house and bath
ing most of the time. That's the
only thing we have to kick about as
the food is unusually good and cer-
tainly eat just as much as If were
working.
The static is so bad in the tropics
that it is almost impossible to receive
at night and there never is much do !
ing in the day time. We received
snatches of news up till a few days
ago but are now pretty well out of
range from either San Francisco or
Honolulu. 1 have been interrupted in
writing about six times by stations
along the coast. They come in so
strong that it nearly bursts my ear
drums sometimes ana then the static |
doesn't bother. 1t is very interesting
to copy but their sending Is rotten. |
The messages are most all in Spanish |
but some times / catch word or two
of English or French. / wish 1 had !
a Spanish dictionary aboard as it Is
rather monotonous copying their
stuff when we can't read it. I know
just enough Spanish to pick out |
word here and there.
I'm very anxious to get to port and |
see some of the country. Our orders
await us at Rrika and then our desti- |
nation will be definitely known. I'm
quite sure we discharge our cargo at
Piagua and in all probability we load
at Iauique. all Within radius of 40
miles.
We have nothing at all to do In
port and believe me. I'm going to see
some of the country. The captain SAID
he would advance our pay and as one
dollar in our money Is worth 5000
Of thhe "Chilano dinero.'' ! should
have enough to travel around bit.
Pisakua has a population Of 37O0 and
il hasn't rained there for 10 years. so
7 don't imagine it is q very beautiful
spot. Iquique pronounced EYekikee)
is city of $4,000 with good dock.
street cars and all the modern I'M
provements. including game roosters
and bull fights. Guess I'll have to go