ACROSS PACIFIC OCEAN AND BEHRING SEA 21 



the delay tried our temper sadly. Night and day we were obliged 

 to " stand by," and were often called up in the middle of 

 the night, only to find a puff of wind which disappeared before 

 we could use it. 



On May 22, at n A.M., a ripple in the water of the bay 

 announced the fact that the wind was rising, and as it was more 

 lasting than anything we had had till then, we weighed anchor, 

 hoisted the headsails, and the Duchess of Bedford slid through 

 the water with the light breeze, outward and northward bound. 

 But getting out from Esquimalt did not amount to a definite 

 start, and we had to spend several days fighting with light 

 head-winds and currents setting the opposite way. 



Mr. Leffingwell and Dr. Howe offered to stand watch with 

 us and help us with the navigation. Of course I was very 

 pleased to get extra assistance in manoeuvring the ship, as we 

 were rather short-handed. Throughout the voyage they hauled 

 in ropes, steered, stood watches, in short did everything a 

 sailor was supposed to do, and even later on, when the waves 

 were tossing the boat about in a highly disagreeable way, they 

 stood their turn with the rest, although much disgusted with 

 the behaviour of the ship. Mr. Ditlevsen had charge of the 

 provisions, but though he was thus fully occupied, he helped us 

 whenever an " all-hands-pull " was needed. 



At noon on May 23 we left Cape Flattery behind, and the 

 long dreary passage to Kodiak Island commenced. Day after 

 day we lay there, either in a dead calm or in a howling gale 

 which tore and shook the rigging and sails, while the waves 

 were beating the sides of the vessel or pouring over the deck. 

 Our hands got sore, blistered, and cracked with so much 

 unwonted hauling and the constant handling of wet and stiff 

 canvas, and even the sailors were having a hard time of it. 



But the calm against which we had to fight at the beginning 

 of the voyage changed into a howler out of the S.E. during 

 the night of May 25. The wind was fair, but it blew harder 

 and harder, and at 3 A.M. we had to call all hands to shorten 

 sail. The rain was pouring down and the wind made an 

 appalling noise. It howled in the rigging, varying from the 

 highest treble to the deepest bass ; the rain was beating on 

 the taut canvas, the waves broke under our stern and along 

 our sides, and poured volumes of water upon the main deck 



