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. When we belayed the halyards,
there was nothing left but the bolt-rope.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 326 of 618
Words from 89162 to 89416
of 170236
