141 / learn of flamingos and hurricanes 



with moisture, went racing by overhead. Against the wild pattern 

 of equally leaden seas, mixed flocks of Audubon's shearwaters and 

 noddy and sooty terns chattered amiably as they flew by or hovered 

 close to the surface. By this time our little company was less 

 cheerful. 



As darkness closed around us, McPhee, less certain now of what 

 lay ahead, suggested to Herby that he try his hand at boiling some 

 tea. With a troubled glance at the sky to windward and another 

 at the reefed mainsail, Herby lurched aft, where McPhee and I 

 crouched uncomfortably on the open deck, and crawled, mum- 

 bling to himself, into the tiny cabin. "Ah'll make you tea aw 

 right," he called, "but it's strong coffee for Herby, strong an' 

 bittah." With the easy skill of long practice he primed and lit 

 the battered Primus, somehow keeping the pan of water in its 

 place and the whole thing in operation, although the tiny sloop 

 was rolling and pitching in a distressing manner. I suspect that the 

 use of a Primus stove was an innovation introduced aboard the 

 Alert by the well-known Andros commissioner, Elgin Forsyth, 

 since retired. Forsyth, long an advocate of this particular cooking 

 device, often chartered McPhee and Herby's craft for official 

 voyages to the scattered settlements of his dark-skinned charges 

 along the southeast Andros coast. The usual Bahamian cookstove, 

 of the maritime variety, consists of a rough box of sand in which 

 the native buttonwood is burned to a glowing bed of coals. So 

 the use of a Primus brought the Alert up a notch or two; she was 

 hardly in the yacht class, but unquestionably she was superior 

 to the ordinary Mangrove Cay vessel. 



As night and foul weather settled around us, I soon learned 

 that the modernizing process had not extended to the navigation 

 department. The native Bahamians, especially some of the blacks, 

 are expert boatmen and amazingly good rule-of-thumb navigators. 

 However, their skill and knowledge is like that of old river 

 pilots I have met elsewhere: all in their heads. As the storm grew 

 more intense, and our position more alarming in the darkness, I 

 observed McPhee consulting his compass rather frequently. This 

 compass was, in itself, a discouraging piece of equipment, and 

 Lord Kelvin himself would have scornfully disowned it. The wood 



