162 



BAHAMA BIRD-LIFE 



negro spongers who, scenting trouble, at once bore down on 

 us, now began to pass the ballast up from below with the 

 energy one would pass water-buckets at a fire, and our 

 decks were soon as littered with old iron as the backyard of 

 a junk shop. When they overflowed, boat-loads of old chains, 

 stones, etc., were sent ashore. 



The " Estrella " Aground 



As the tide fell the schooner canted more and more to 

 starboard until she lay at a sickening angle. The removal 

 of the ballast now exposed the false bottom and, fortun- 

 ately, the first plank ripped from it revealed the leak, — a 

 hole alongside the keel through which one could shove an 

 arm. Oakum and soap soon stopped it ; the plank was 

 replaced, the unwieldy ballast stowed, an anchor run astern 

 and, when the "Estrella" was pulled off the bar at the 

 return of the tide, we all agreed that we had never seen a 

 better day's work. 



The following year found me in attendance on the mem- 



