During The Whole Time Of The Hurricane
The Little Vessel Behaved Admirably, And Never Shipped A Single Green
Sea.
When the "Ariel" pitched forwards we could see a large part of
her bottom, and when her stern went down we could see all her deck.
A boat, hung at her stern davits, was stove in by the waves.
The
officers on board the "Ariel" thought that it was all over with us:
we imagined that they were suffering more than we were. Nautical men
may suppose that this was a serious storm only to landsmen; but the
"Orestes," which was once in sight, and at another time forty miles
off during the same gale, split eighteen sails; and the "Pioneer" had
to be lightened of parts of a sugar-mill she was carrying; her round-
house was washed away, and the cabin was frequently knee-deep in
water. When the "Orestes" came into Mosambique harbour nine days
after our arrival there, our vessel, not being anchored close to the
"Ariel," for we had run in under the lee of the fort, led to the
surmise on board the "Orestes" that we had gone to the bottom.
Captain Chapman and his officers pronounced the "Lady Nyassa" to be
the finest little sea-boat they had ever seen. She certainly was a
contrast to the "Ma-Robert," and did great credit to her builders,
Ted and Macgregor of Glasgow. We can but regret that she was not
employed on the Lake after which she was named, and for which she was
intended and was so well adapted.
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