The royal must
come in or be cut adrift, or the mast would be snapped short off.
All the light hands in the starboard watch were sent up, one after
another, but they could do nothing with it.
At length, John,
the tall Frenchman, the head of the starboard watch, (and a better
sailor never stepped upon a deck,) sprang aloft, and, by the help
of his long arms and legs, succeeded, after a hard struggle, - the
sail blowing over the yard-arm to leeward, and the skysail blowing
directly over his head - in smothering it, and frapping it with long
pieces of sinnet. He came very near being blown or shaken from
the yard, several times, but he was a true sailor, every finger
a fish-hook. Having made the sail snug, he prepared to send the
yard down, which was a long and difficult job; for, frequently,
he was obliged to stop and hold on with all his might, for several
minutes, the ship pitching so as to make it impossible to do
anything else at that height. The yard at length came down
safe, and after it, the fore and mizen royal-yards were sent
down. All hands were then sent aloft, and for an hour or two
we were hard at work, making the booms well fast; unreeving the
studding-sail and royal and skysail gear; getting rolling-ropes
on the yards; setting up the weather breast-backstays; and making
other preparations for a storm. It was a fine night for a gale;
just cool and bracing enough for quick work, without being cold,
and as bright as day. It was sport to have a gale in such weather
as this. Yet it blew like a hurricane. The wind seemed to come
with a spite, an edge to it, which threatened to scrape us off
the yards. The mere force of the wind was greater than I had
ever seen it before; but darkness, cold, and wet are the worst
parts of a storm to a sailor.
Having got on deck again, we looked round to see what time of
night it was, and whose watch. In a few minutes the man at the
wheel struck four bells, and we found that the other watch was out,
and our own half out. Accordingly, the starboard watch went below,
and left the ship to us for a couple of hours, yet with orders to
stand by for a call.
Hardly had they got below, before away went the fore-topmast staysail,
blown to ribbons. This was a small sail, which we could manage in
the watch, so that we were not obliged to call up the other watch.
We laid out upon the bowsprit, where we were under water half the
time, and took in the fragments of the sail, and as she must have
some head sail on her, prepared to bend another staysail. We got
the new one out, into the nettings; seized on the tack, sheets,
and halyards, and the hanks; manned the halyards, cut adrift the
frapping lines, and hoisted away; but before it was half way up
the stay, it was blown all to pieces.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 171 of 324
Words from 88865 to 89403
of 170236
