These
Rain Squalls Came Up In The Manner Usual Between The Tropics.
- A
clear sky; burning, vertical sun; work going lazily on, and men
about decks with nothing but duck trowsers,
Checked shirts, and
straw hats; the ship moving as lazily through the water; the man
at the helm resting against the wheel, with his hat drawn over
his eyes; the captain below, taking an afternoon nap; the passenger
leaning over the taffrail, watching a dolphin following slowly in
our wake; the sailmaker mending an old topsail on the lee side of
the quarter-deck; the carpenter working at his bench, in the waist;
the boys making sinnet; the spun-yarn winch whizzing round and round,
and the men walking slowly fore and aft with their yarns. - A
cloud rises to windward, looking a little black; the sky-sails are
brailed down; the captain puts his head out of the companion-way,
looks at the cloud, comes up, and begins to walk the deck. - The
cloud spreads and comes on; - the tub of yarns, the sail, and other
matters, are thrown below, and the sky-light and booby-hatch put
on, and the slide drawn over the forecastle. - "Stand by the royal
halyards;" - the man at the wheel keeps a good weather helm, so as
not to be taken aback. The squall strikes her. If it is light,
the royal yards are clewed down, and the ship keeps on her way;
but if the squall takes strong hold, the royals are clewed up,
fore and aft; light hands lay aloft and furl them; top-gallant
yards clewed down, flying-jib hauled down, and the ship kept off
before it, - the man at the helm laying out his strength to heave
the wheel up to windward. At the same time a drenching rain,
which soaks one through in an instant. Yet no one puts on a
jacket or cap; for if it is only warm, a sailor does not mind
a ducking; and the sun will soon be out again. As soon as the
force of the squall has passed, though to a common eye the ship
would seem to be in the midst of it, - "Keep her up to her course,
again!" - "Keep her up, sir," (answer); - "Hoist away the top-gallant
yards!" - "Run up the flying jib!" - "Lay aloft, you boys, and loose
the royals!" - and all sail is on her again before she is fairly
out of the squall; and she is going on in her course. The sun
comes out once more, hotter than ever, dries up the decks and
the sailors' clothes; the hatches are taken off; the sail got up
and spread on the quarter-deck; spun-yarn winch set a whirling
again; rigging coiled up; captain goes below; and every sign of
an interruption is removed.
These scenes, with occasional dead calms, lasting for hours, and
sometimes for days, are fair specimens of the Atlantic tropics.
The nights were fine; and as we had all hands all day, the watch
were allowed to sleep on deck at night, except the man at the
wheel, and one look-out on the forecastle.
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