THE OCEAN VOYAGE 121 



By mid-night il was said to have been possible to rec- 

 ognize the Barnavelt Island, which is some six miles 

 from Cape Horn, wheD suddenly a heavy storm broke out 

 of the West. About five o'clock iu the morning of Fri- 

 day, the fifth of September, the gale blew so dreadfully 

 that our jib was lifted out of its encasings and the top- 

 mast-sail tore loose soon after, on which occasion the 

 ship's carpenter, sail-maker and the Chilian apprentice, 

 Lastico, came within an ace of being" thrown overboard. 

 Not until about nine o'clock were we able to loosen the 

 sail of the foremast from its yard and to set it securely. 

 During all the time required for the most necessary re- 

 pairing we were floating at the mercy of the hourly-rising 

 sea. 



This kind of weather continued all day long, so that it 

 was barely possible to steer South-Southwest. As night 

 approached the storm increased and became so violent 

 about midnight that it fell little short of a hurricane, the 

 waters constantly washing over our deck. The force of 

 the billows grew so powerful toward day-break that it 

 knocked the heavy iron ridges asunder, under which the 

 quarter-boat hung, which, in consequence, rolled upon 

 the deck between the deck-cabin and the mizzen-mast and 

 it took several hours before it was possible to secure it 

 properly again. At another time the storm struck us and 

 tore off the mouldings of the star-board, carrying them 

 away; then again, it went tearing between the fore and 

 main masts. The keen, cutting cold had frozen the rig- 

 ging and glazed the deck and the water-barrels were 

 heavily iced. AVas it a wonder that we made absolutely 

 no headway under the circumstances? For fully twenty- 

 four hours we were compelled to remain with main-top- 

 Bail, mizzen-sail and storm-jib tightly hove to, drifting 

 all the while. Such was our reception at the Cape. 



Sunday, the seventh, about noon, we were glad that, 

 after the storm had raged for fully fifty-five hours, its 

 force was abated sufficiently to allow us to set the lower 

 sails again, though the wind remained unsteady between 

 Southwest and West. Instead of the sails, we had already 



