162 



BAHAMA BIRD-LIFE 



negro spongers who, scenting trouble, at once bore down on 

 us, now began to pass the ballast up from below with the 

 energy one would pass water-buckets at a fire, and our 

 decks were soon as littered with old iron as the backyard of 

 a junk shop. AVhen they overflowed, Imat-loads of old chains, 

 stones, etc., were sent ashore. 



The L. 



*u..d 



As the tide fell the schooner canted more and more to 

 starboard until she lay at a sickening angle. The removal 

 of the ballast now exposed the false bottom and, fortun- 

 ately, the first plank ri])])ed from it revealed the leak — a 

 hole alongside the keel through which one could shove an 

 arm. Oakum and soap soon stopped it ; the plank was 

 replaced, the unwieldy ballast stowed, an anchor run astern 

 and, when the "Estrella" was }>ulled off the bar at the 

 return of the tide, we all agreed that we had never seen a 

 better day's work. 



The following year found me in attendance on the mem- 



