We Were
Reduced Literally To Bare Poles, And Lay-To Under A Piece Of Tarpaulin,
Six Times Doubled, And About Two Yards Square, Fastened Up In The Mizzen
Rigging.
All day and night we lay thus, drifting to leeward at three
knots an hour.
In the twenty-four hours we had drifted sixty miles.
Next day the wind moderated; but at 12 we found that we were eighty
miles north of the peninsula and some 3 degrees east of it. So we set a
little sail, and commenced forereaching slowly on our course. Little
and little the wind died, and it soon fell dead calm. That evening
(Wednesday), some twenty albatrosses being congregated like a flock of
geese round the ship's stern, we succeeded in catching some of them, the
first we had caught on the voyage. We would have let them go again, but
the sailors think them good eating, and begged them of us, at the same
time prophesying two days' foul wind for every albatross taken. It was
then dead calm, but a light wind sprang up in the night, and on Thursday
we sighted Banks Peninsula. Again the wind fell tantalisingly light,
but we kept drawing slowly toward land. In the beautiful sunset sky,
crimson and gold, blue, silver, and purple, exquisite and
tranquillising, lay ridge behind ridge, outline behind outline, sunlight
behind shadow, shadow behind sunlight, gully and serrated ravine. Hot
puffs of wind kept coming from the land, and there were several fires
burning. I got my arm-chair on deck, and smoked a quiet pipe with the
intensest satisfaction. Little by little the night drew down, and then
we rounded the headlands. Strangely did the waves sound breaking
against the rocks of the harbour; strangely, too, looked the outlines of
the mountains through the night. Presently we saw a light ahead from a
ship: we drew slowly near, and as we passed you might have heard a pin
drop. "What ship's that?" said a strange voice. - The Roman Emperor,
said the captain. "Are you all well?" - "All well." Then the captain
asked, "Has the Robert Small arrived?" - "No," was the answer, "nor yet
the Burmah." {2} You may imagine what I felt. Then a rocket was sent
up, and the pilot came on board. He gave us a roaring republican speech
on the subject of India, China, etc. I rather admired him, especially
as he faithfully promised to send us some fresh beefsteaks and potatoes
for breakfast. A north-wester sprung up as soon as we had dropped
anchor: had it commenced a little sooner we should have had to put out
again to sea. That night I packed a knapsack to go on shore, but the
wind blew so hard that no boat could put off till one o'clock in the
day, at which hour I and one or two others landed, and, proceeding to
the post office, were told there were no letters for us. I afterwards
found mine had gone hundreds of miles away to a namesake - a cruel
disappointment.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 15 of 87
Words from 7339 to 7848
of 45285
