268 THE LAST CRUISE OF THE CARNEGIE 



have been lost in the typhoon. Others, that they wished to know 

 if we were fishing or if we had seen any whales. Three weeks 

 later, as were were "swinging ship" for compass-deviation off the 

 east coast of Japan on our way to San Francisco, this same vessel, 

 the Ichio Maru again came alongside, the crew this time wreathed 

 in smiles. Then we had to order them to stand clear for fear 

 that her iron and steel would interfere with the magnetic obser- 

 vations we were making. 



None of us will forget the heart-breaking night of June 5. For 

 days we had worked prodigiously to whip our records into shape 

 for mailing so that we would not have to spend the first days in 

 port doing clerical work. We had hailed the sighting of Miyake 

 Island at sunset as a sign that we were only a few hours from an- 

 chorage in Tokyo Bay. Most of the party stayed up until the 

 reflected rays from Nojima Zaki Light were seen; for this Light 

 was on the southeast point of the mainland. But the barometer 

 had a story to tell. For several hours it had been steeply gliding 

 downward — but were we not within fifteen miles of the bay.'' 



At one-thirty in the morning conditions became so threatening 

 that there was nothing to do but heave to awaiting developments. 

 By three-thirty we were forced to turn tail and beat our way back 

 to the open sea in the face of a rising gale; for we were far too close 

 to shore to weather another typhoon. For five hours the game 

 little engine fought the increasing wind and waves, in our dash 

 for deep water. But it soon became too rough and the vessel 

 was compelled to heave to only twenty miles off shore. We had 

 nothing to do now but to ride it out, hoping that the Japan Stream 

 would help us clear the coast which threatened to the north. All 

 this time the barometer continued to drop, the wind became more 

 violent and the vessel did her best to dip her yards in the seething 

 sea. The first sail to go was the fore topmast-staysail. Then 

 with a loud report went the main-staysail. The next damage was 

 the loss of a scupper-door which was ripped off when we shipped 

 an unusually big sea. Luckily no masts or stays were broken. 

 On a previous cruise the gallant mast snapped and caused con- 

 siderable trouble. 



But by noon the barometer steadied, the wind shifted to west- 



