THE OCEAN VOYAGE 109 



evening. It was a simple, plain, but very solemn affair, 

 which affected us deeply. The remains were enveloped 

 in a woollen blanket, laid upon his mattress and then, true 

 to old custom, sewed up in sail-cloth, after padding the 

 sides with pillows and covering the top with the clothing 

 of the dead man. "When this was accomplished the whole 

 was tied upon a thick board, to the foot-end of which 

 there were attached four pieces of anchor-chain, for the 

 purpose of giving it the required weight. When all prep- 

 arations had been made, the main-top-sails were lowered 

 in order to prevent speed, after which the flags were 

 hoisted half mast, as a sign of mourning. Everybody un- 

 covered his head to say a silent prayer— so it seemed, 

 at least— while the body was lifted upon the quarter- 

 deck-rail. It was a sad solemn moment, when the re- 

 mains were slowly lowered into the bottomless ocean, 

 whose blue billows continued to ripple quite a while after. 

 The whole ceremony had left a gloomy, depressing atmos- 

 phere, when Heaven itself opened its grey, threatening 

 clouds to send a fine, drizzling rain upon the watery 

 grave. The waves rose high, and as far as the keenest eye 

 could note, nothing was discovered which bore life but 

 our lone vessel, tossed about by the roaring waves, while 

 the mourning flags told the sad, sorrowful tale of the 

 day. AVe rested another quarter of an hour as a mark of 

 respect; we then went forward under full sail, parting the 

 foam-crowned waves at great speed and leaving behind 

 us the locality which serves poor Nabholz as a resting- 

 place. No sign by which it may be recognized, as no hu- 

 man foot will ever approach his watery grave. Nabholz 

 had not yet completed his twentieth year when he passed 

 away. 



On July the 31st we had reached 31° 33' West Longitude 

 and 10° 42' South Latitude. The Brazilian coast between 

 Pernambuco and Sergipe del Rey was the nearest land, 

 and that was about eighty (German) miles away. A 

 wondrously beautiful sunrise— followed by splendid, clear 

 v i ather — made this one of the brightest days we had dur- 

 ing the whole of our voyage. The tropical sun shone in 



