116 OUR HERITAGE THE SEA 



In the case of a steamer such a thing would ,never be 

 tried. If it were found that she could not keep ahead 

 of the sea because not able to go fast enough, she 

 would be turned round (watching a favourable moment 

 when the sea was running less high than usual), and 

 then, keeping the engines going slowly, she would be 

 steered head on to the sea and ride in comparative 

 safety, if not comfort. A sailing vessel, on the other 

 hand, can never be held as closely head to wind except 

 by a cumbrous contrivance known as a sea-anchor, 

 and never resorted to but in cases of direst necessity, 

 because of the immense difficulty of handling it with 

 the scanty number of men carried. 



Now it will, I think, be seen by the foregoing that 

 if the sea does not run true, these seamanlike prepara- 

 tions will be of little avail, because the seaman can 

 never tell where his vessel is going to be assailed next. 

 The use of oil, however, has been and is of wonderful 

 service in smoothing an angry sea, and much damage 

 has often been avoided by having canvas bags of oil 

 trailing over the side, thus keeping a smooth area, a 

 sort of charmed circle around the ship, outside of 

 which the waves may rage like angry demons, but 

 they cannot pass it to do their destructive work. Un- 

 fortunately, the ships that need this safeguard most 

 are those which, from motives of economy, are less 

 likely to be thus provided. 



There is another form of irregular sea which is not 

 produced by the wind blowing across or in opposition 

 to the current. And this may arise anywhere. It 

 happens that when a gale has been blowing sufficiently 

 long in any given direction to raise a heavy sea, and 

 then suddenly dies away, leaving the waves still 



