The Wind Continued Westerly, And The Weather And Sea Less Rough
Since The Day On Which We Shipped The Heavy
Sea, and we were
making great progress under studding-sails, with our light sails
all set, keeping a little to
The eastward of south; for the captain,
depending upon westerly winds off the Cape, had kept so far to the
westward, that though we were within about five hundred miles of
the latitude of Cape Horn, we were nearly seventeen hundred miles
to the westward of it. Through the rest of the week, we continued
on with a fair wind, gradually, as we got more to the southward,
keeping a more easterly course, and bringing the wind on our
larboard quarter, until -
Sunday, June 26th, when, having a fine, clear day, the captain
got a lunar observation, as well as his meridian altitude, which
made us in lat. 47° 50' S., long. 113° 49' W.; Cape Horn bearing,
according to my calculation, E. S. E. 1/2 E., and distant eighteen
hundred miles.
Monday, June 27th. During the first part of this day, the wind
continued fair, and, as we were going before it, it did not feel
very cold, so that we kept at work on deck, in our common clothes
and round jackets. Our watch had an afternoon watch below, for the
first time since leaving San Diego, and having inquired of the third
mate what the latitude was at noon, and made our usual guesses as
to the time she would need, to be up with the Horn, we turned-
in, for a nap. We were sleeping away "at the rates of knots,"
when three knocks on the scuttle, and "All hands ahoy!" started
us from our berths. What could be the matter? It did not appear
to be blowing hard, and looking up through the scuttle, we could
see that it was a clear day, overhead; yet the watch were taking
in sail.
We thought there must be a sail in sight, and that we were about
to heave-to and speak her; and were just congratulating ourselves
upon it - for we had seen neither sail nor land since we had
left port - when we heard the mate's voice on deck, (he turned-in
"all standing," and was always on deck the moment he was called,)
singing out to the men who were taking in the studding-sails, and
asking where his watch were. We did not wait for a second call,
but tumbled up the ladder; and there, on the starboard bow, was a
bank of mist, covering sea and sky, and driving directly for us.
I had seen the same before, in my passage round in the Pilgrim,
and knew what it meant, and that there was no time to be lost.
We had nothing on but thin clothes, yet there was not a moment
to spare, and at it we went.
The boys of the other watch were in the tops, taking in the top-
gallant studding-sails, and the lower and topmast studding-sails
were coming down by the run. It was nothing but "haul down and
clew up," until we got all the studding-sails in, and the royals,
flying-jib, and mizen top-gallant sail furled, and the ship kept
off a little, to take the squall. The fore and main top-gallant
sails were still on her, for the "old man" did not mean to be
frightened in broad daylight, and was determined to carry sail
till the last minute.
We all stood waiting for its coming, when the first blast showed
us that it was not be trifled with. Rain, sleet, snow, and wind,
enough to take our breath from us, and make the toughest turn his
back to windward! The ship lay nearly over on her beam-ends; the
spars and rigging snapped and cracked; and her top-gallant masts
bent like whip-sticks. "Clew up the fore and main top-gallant
sails!" shouted the captain, and all hands sprang to the clewlines.
The decks were standing nearly at an angle of forty-five degrees,
and the ship going like a mad steed through the water, the whole
forward part of her in a smother of foam. The halyards were let
go and the yard clewed down, and the sheets started, and in a few
minutes the sails smothered and kept in by clewlines and buntlines.
- "Furl 'em, sir?" asked the mate. - "Let go the topsail halyards,
fore and aft!" shouted the captain, in answer, at the top of his voice.
Down came the topsail yards, the reef-tackles were manned and
hauled out, and we climbed up to windward, and sprang into the
weather rigging. The violence of the wind, and the hail and sleet,
driving nearly horizontally across the ocean, seemed actually
to pin us down to the rigging. It was hard work making head
against them. One after another, we got out upon the yards.
And here we had work to do; for our new sails, which had hardly
been bent long enough to get the starch out of them, were as stiff
as boards, and the new earings and reef-points, stiffened with the
sleet, knotted like pieces of iron wire. Having only our round
jackets and straw hats on, we were soon wet through, and it was
every moment growing colder. Our hands were soon stiffened and
numbed, which, added to the stiffness of everything else, kept us
a good while on the yard. After we had got the sail hauled upon
the yard, we had to wait a long time for the weather earing to
be passed; but there was no fault to be found, for French John
was at the earing, and a better sailor never laid out on a yard;
so we leaned over the yard, and beat our hands upon the sail to
keep them from freezing. At length the word came - "Haul out
to leeward," - and we seized the reef-points and hauled the band
taught for the lee earing.
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