426 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Dec. 2S, 1886. 



are not so dangerous as half the wind will in half the time 

 pile up from two or three directions at once in say our 

 little picnic ground off Hatteras, in the Gulf Stream, with 

 a southeaster transforming itself into a northeaster, which 

 transformation scene will, I guarantee, excite more 

 emotion, physical and mental, than can Good Hope at its 

 worst. I speak feelingly and I trust with due respect of 

 Hatteras, The strains and bruises which came to me in a 

 five days' circus in that charming spot this spring are stiU 

 fresh in my memory. Lying to with a northeast wind 

 blowing against the current and at the same time engaged 

 in a fracas across our hull with the high seas got up by 

 its predecessor, sending its own seas across us, over us and 

 through us, and apparently watcliing a chance when the 

 old sea has given us a good hit on our lee quarter, forcing 

 the stern up and head off, to send an extra-sized and ugly 

 messenger to send us off wallowing into the trough, then 

 both hammering together and rocking us in the cradle of 

 the deep, imtil it remains an open question which side, the 

 lee or weather, scoops up the most water as we roll; and 

 which set of boats or bulwarks goes first becomes a 

 problem— a few days of this, with constant cold drench- 

 ing, and a diet of sardines, hard tack, and other food 

 needing no cooking, for with sea water instead of hot coal 

 fiUing the gallej' furnace, cooking becomes one of the lost 

 arts— are quite enough to dispel aU romantic notions in 

 regai'd to "a life on the ocean wave," and to fully im- 

 press one with the good sense in the Lines — 



"If Bermuda let you pass. 

 Then look out for Hatteras." 



But off Good Hope the chances of having the wind 

 with and not against the current are fair. 



The AguUas current runs from the eastward and it is 

 bordered by reflex cun-ents. Thus with a little luck in 

 adjusting the latitude we can ride out quite a heavy blow 

 with tolerable comfort and with but little risks of sudden 

 shifts, of collisions with unlighted coasters or of driving 

 onto a lee shore. 



For tliree days we had been bucking against the head 

 wind, each day om* noon's position indicating less and 

 less success; and as we gained in distance the wind gained 

 in strength. 



We were forty odd days out from Rio and mess stores 

 were getting uncomfortably low, the coops had been 

 empty a fortnight and the few remaining eggs did not re- 

 semble Caesar's wife and but one ambition animated, one 

 thought possessed us— to get around the Cape— for at that 

 time, before the breakwater was completed, Table Bay, 

 fully open to the southeasters, was not to be thought of 

 and Simons Ba.y was our objective point and from it Cape 

 Town was easily accessible. 



Aside from the rest and comfort that any port would, 

 after so long a ti-ip afford, Cape Town had for us attrac- 

 tions peculiarly its own; glorious four-in-hand drives at a 

 gallop over the smoothest of roads, and through the grand- 

 est of scenery to Wynberg, Stellensbosch and the far- 

 famed vineyards of Constantia; hunting trips among the 

 mountains, where with lions a possibility, and ostriches, 

 jackals and monkeys a probability, there was a certainty 

 of at least something out of the common, for to all but my- 

 self and one other. South Africa was terra incognita, and 

 the proverbial English sportsman's views as to the chances 

 of procuring a few buffalo in Broadway were but typical 

 of the Aroostook's mess in re South Africa; and even I, 

 who had been there, after having incautiously admitted 

 that I had not been hunting, was unable to cool off the 

 heat I had started, by account of a large freshly-kiUed 

 lion, which one morning I saw stretched on a low cart 

 and drawn by at least a dozen span of oxen into the city. 

 If within two days of the market place the Hottentots 

 could kiU such game, why not we as well? 



And thei'e were many other potent reasons, good din- 

 ners at Widdon's Hotel,where Cape mutton, furnished by 

 the broadest of broad-tailed sheep, should be but one of 

 the many good tilings; dinner parties at the club and mess, 

 balls and picnics, all in the immediate futui-e. 



In addition to all of these jolly prospects, there was 

 another strong incentive to impatience during enforced 

 idleness. We were racing. 



Starting at about the same time with ourselves, two 

 other "90-day gunboats," the Unadilla and the Penobscot, 

 were also on their route to China, and the first one of us 

 to double the Cape would become the pioneer of all future 

 gunboats, so there was, we thought, fame to be won. Well, 

 we won it, for we were first around and first to reach 

 China, and somehow it did not seem to impress any one 

 but ourselves and the defeated. 



That night our chances looked gloomy. I could imagine 

 the other boats tearing along seven or eight knots perhaps 

 (full speed in those days) and we just marking time, if 

 indeed we were not losing ground, for if a little further 

 south than we thought, the current was carrying us to 

 the westward, and we had been three days running on 

 dead reckoning, except for an altitude near noon that 

 day, not very valuable at the best, and ours was not of 

 yie best with rolling country instead of a plain to furnish 

 horizon, the navigator clinging with one arm around a 

 backstay while he took snap shots at a brightish spot 

 supposed to be the sun, stopping at times to swear a little 

 as he wiped the spray drops from the mirrors; there were 

 ^me chances that it would hardly rate as good. Such as 



it was, the result indicated that we were somewhat south 

 of the charted position, hence probably to the westward 

 also. 



A westerly set was not what we wanted and to push on 

 was. But as the figures representing "coal expended" 

 were looming up, while those of "coal on hand'' were 

 dwindling most seriously, I concluded that we might as 

 well hold on, and if we gained no distance we could save 

 coal. So bringing her by the wind, we snugged her as 

 described, and amused ourselves contemplating the pros- 

 pect. She lay nicely, not a bucketful of green water 

 came aboard, although often a baffled comber would spit 

 at us spitefully and drench all in its wake -wath spray. 

 But that didn't bother us, the water was not cold, oil 

 skins enveloped us, and we were all more or less wet any- 

 way and cared little for an extra ducking. 



Nothing occurring on lx)ard shij) excites half so much 

 hilarity as the good di-enching of a few, generally cooks 

 or coal heavers, coming on deck for a bit of fresh air, 

 and stowing themselves in some tempting unoccupied 

 spot forward. And a bit of danger mixed in does not 

 destroy the flavor, 



I have seen both watches hard at work in a heavy gale 

 rigging a sea anchor, one of the last resorts, to be used 

 only if engineer steering gear breaks down; to be launched 

 when all else fails to keep us head to and out of the 

 trough. The launching, a perilous task, and the entire 

 situation so grave and serious that its equivalent on shore 

 would blanch faces and cow brave men, I have seen 

 them scream with laughter when dashed in all directions 

 from their work by a comber, and come up skylarking to 

 complete their task, every mother's son of them endeavoi'- 

 ing to outvie his shipmates with real or af)parent indiffer- 

 ence to danger. Sailors are curious animals. 



With everything snug and comfortable, we had spent 

 that afternoon trolling for albatrosses, great numbers of 

 which had for several days been following us, and we 

 had enjoyed rare sport. 



"And a good south wind sprang up behind, 



The albatross did follow; 

 And every day, for food or play, 

 Came to the mariner's hallo." 



Our albatrosses came for the food, but the play part of 

 the busiriess was ours. Accompanied by hosts of other 

 sea fowl, gulls, terns, cape hens, cape pigeons, boobys, 

 bosus, mollymanks and stormy petrel; they had cruised 

 constantly in our wake, swooping, now and then, in 

 screaming bunches at some food fragments drifting 

 astem. It seems a curious instinct that causes these fowl 

 always to betray themselves by screaming whenever they 

 discover a prize, thus attracting the entire flock, which 

 rush in for a share, and ten to one the finder loses his 

 dinner, unless it is of size suitable for instantaneous swal- 

 lowing; and while the gonies chase the prize bearer and 

 try to tear away the prize, the smaller birds hover beneath 

 and in fragments get the most of it. It is also curious to 

 note how soon they learn om* meal hours. The corporal's 

 guard at six bells was by eight bells swollen to a regi- 

 ment, and thence till two bells (1 P. M.), when the mess 

 cooks had finished cleaning their gear, and tlie bonanza 

 in the head, of pork scraps, slush, beans, hard tack and 

 scouse had ceased to yield dividends, there was a motley 

 and noisy gathering astern, a pretty sight, to be long re- 

 membered. At times two or three cooks would simul- 

 taneously empty their pails, then for a time we would be 

 deserted and for several miles unescorted; then one by 

 one they would overtake us, and rendered bold by impun- 

 ity, eager for more, would approach even to touching dis- 

 tance (I have seen one hit with a boathook by a man in 

 the stern boat), and frequently fly over our deck, and 

 while just above us peer down with their heads sidewise 

 like a crow peeking into a jar. After we had hove to, 

 we were never left alone, and then the fim began. 



Trolling for albatross is not so simple a matter as it 

 would seem from description, and saving the bird alive 

 when hooked is a very difficult feat. Our gear was 

 simple; a long strong line, a big strong hook, a slice of 

 pork rind, the stronger the better, and a float of cork (a 

 slab from an old-fashioned life preserver is just the thing). 

 The baited hook is floated two or three inches under the 

 surface. As a pot of refuse came drifting under the 

 counter, we "skillfully cast our fly into the pool" of 

 grease, and as it cleaved the birds would come rushing, 

 driving away the lesser fry, and settle; always making a 

 ciu-ve to leeward, rounding to head to wind, and heaving 

 aback their immense wings, backing hard with then- 

 paddles as they touched water, they would make a beau- 

 tiful flying move and strike the right spot every time. I 

 never saw one attempt to feed flying; they moored, furled 

 sail and piped to dinner. , 



Among the tid bits our combination had its chance, and 

 when dipped for then came anxious times, for if, through 

 any cause, om- line should tauten whUe the bird s head 

 was under water, he would, if he could, let go; if he could 

 not, that head would never come up again, and we had 

 but to haul in by main strength a drowned bird. And 

 with the falling off and coming to of the ship, the weight 

 of the line and inexperience, there were lots of chances 

 I for it to tauten. The game was to keep all slack until, 

 with head stretched up, the bird, bothered by the float 

 and perhaps feeling a prick from the hook, would attempt 

 first to disgorge it, and failing in this, would try to get 



away by flight. Tliis was not an easy matter, though, 

 for they cannot rise without a preliminary paddling, flap- 

 ping rush to windward, and during that rush there was 

 new danger to us or him of escape or death. We meta- 

 phorically "lowered our tips." 



Once in the air — well, just imagine yourself playing a 

 fish 12ft. long at an angle upward of perhaps 30 or 4.0" 

 to the accompaniment of a medlej' of screams and rushes 

 from his mates, who would not cease their apparent at- 

 tacks upon the hampered prisoner until he was well down 

 and in over the taffrail. Landing him was another little 

 ch-cus, the nearer he came the wilder he got and the 

 stronger he pulled. Then when he did come down, it 

 was, "Stand clear!" for with wing strokes that would 

 easily break a leg and most savage bites from a mandible 

 lOin. long, he for a time had us almost as much as we had 

 him. Very soon though, ancient mariner as he was, he 

 would have to pay the usual penalty of a first trip on a 

 vessel, i. e., become thoroiighly sea sick. The bird would 

 vomit the entire contents of his stomach, a greasy mess, 

 then settle dovra with half closed eyes and sprawling legs 

 into a sidky, stupid, apparently inert mass — not so stupid 

 though as to fail to quickly notice and strike sharply at the 

 legs of any adventurous tar coming within distance: and 

 if he once got hold he would hang on like a bulldog. As 

 the biting apparatus is from 8 to lOin. long, with corres- 

 ponding gape, sharp-edged and with powerful muscles, a 

 bite was to be avoided; and to get the hook out was in 

 consequence an adventure. Our method was to fii-st poke 

 at him with a broom or squillgee handle. This he would 

 instantly seize and crush and cut through half its thick- 

 ness. Then we put a running bowline aroxmd his neck, 

 hauled taut and hove the ends around and over the handle 

 and we had him gagged, with jaws nearly out of action; 

 a paint swab soon supplemented the gag; then a lot of 

 men grabbed any and everywhere to hold down the jjin- 

 ions; then out hook, clear away everything and stand 

 clear. This second struggle always produced a second 

 fit of seasickness. 



We killed none of those thus capttired alive; after we 

 had had our fun out of him we would release the prisoner. 

 To set him free was not so simple a matter either; for un- 

 able to rise from the water without difficulty, from our 

 deck it was an impossibility; and it was necessary to 

 carry our prize to the rail and pitch him overboard. 



To blanket, hold, carry and let go (without losing the 

 blanket) a fifty-pormd, struggling, biting bird, over wet, 

 slippery and jumping deck, was no child's play; but it 

 was just nice enough sport, with spice of danger, to be 

 thoroughly enjoyed by Jack, and the unlucky ones who 

 did get nipped or who tumbled were laughed at for 

 sympathy. 



One day, while contemplating one of oiu: prisoners, I 

 overheard a funny soliloquy. Among our crew was an 

 unconscious droll, one of those odd creatures who, with- 

 out knowing it, was always funny. Tliompson, a son of 

 Erin, was the cook of No, 1 mess, in which capacity he 

 kept Jimmy Legs (the master-at-arms) in a constant state 

 of eruption, "Bi-icktop," that was his sobriquet, was a 

 long, lean, red-headed, putty -faced, freckled, pimpled 

 and raw-lipped specimen, always in a scrape, but im- 

 mensely popular, for without meaning to be so, or even 

 knowing that he was so gifted, he was a very cb-oU man. 

 On this occasion, regardless of the call back of the master- 

 at-arms, he had dropped his scrubbing brush, and ac- 

 coutred as he was in a torn and dirty sleeveless red 

 unclershh-t, and an abbreviated pair of duck trousers, 

 rushed from the berth to the quarterdeck to see what the 

 excitement was about; and bare-headed, bare-armed and 

 bare-legged, stood well to the front, arms folded, and 

 taking in the prize — a shining, glowing studj^ in pink, 

 red and yellow — and thus in excited tones: "Howly 

 Moses, d'ye mind the say goose! D'ye mind his legs, 

 they're contagious to his body! an' his bill, 'tis worse nor 

 an attorney's, an' phwat a fut he has, all hell wotddn't 

 thrip him up. Blessed mither, sure he's the devil's own 

 chicken." 



By this time the em-aged master-at-arms had collared 

 him, and while ignominiously marching him Ijelow, was 

 cheered by the roars of laughter that "Brick's" soliloquy 

 had produced. 



All sorts of curios were furnished by the drowned ones; 

 some of the quills were over two feet long. The men 

 skinned the feet and legs for pouches, made pillows of 

 the feathers, sea pie of the flesh, and scrimshawed the biUs 

 and heads as souvenirs for their sweethearts. We caught, 

 I think, eight. 



That evening I had made all preparations for a com- 

 fortable night out, enveloped in oil skins and rubber, 

 with back braced against the weather bulwarks, and well 

 protected by them and our lying-to hammock, I had fitted 

 myself into the coil of the throat halliards, and dozing at 

 intervals watched at others, the wind, sea, weather, helm, 

 spars, etc. I was disturbed from a nap by a thump on 

 the deck by my side and a fluttering. Calling the Quar- 

 termaster he responded with a deck lantern, and we 

 searched for the cause, which we found in the lee water- 

 ways—a woimded, gasping, stormy petrel. 



Evidently the bird had been disturbed by us, and per- 

 haps, dazzled by our lights, had come in collision with 

 some part of our rigging, for its wing was broken and it 



