A Woman's Journey Round The World, From Vienna To Brazil, Chili, Tahiti, China, Hindostan, Persia, And Asia Minor By Ida Pfeiffer
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Besides This, We Lost Our Top-Mast, Which Was Broken
Off, And Which, In Spite Of The Heavy Sea, Had
To be replaced; the
vessel, meanwhile, being so tossed about, that we were often unable
to take our meals at
The table, but were obliged to squat down upon
the ground, and hold our plates in our hands. On one of these fine
days the steward stumbled with the coffee-pot, and deluged me with
its burning contents. Luckily, only a small portion fell upon my
hands, so that the accident was not a very serious one.
After battling for fourteen days with winds and waves, with rain and
cold, {62} we at last arrived off the western entrance to the
Straits of Magellan, having accomplished the most dangerous portion
of our voyage. During these fourteen days we saw very few whales or
albatrosses, and not one iceberg.
We thought that we should now quietly pursue our way upon the placid
sea, trusting confidently in its peaceful name. For three whole
days we had nothing to complain of; but in the night of the 19th to
the 20th of February, we were overtaken by a storm worthy of the
Atlantic itself, which lasted for nearly twenty-four hours, and cost
us four sails. We suffered most damage from the tremendous waves,
which broke with such fury over the ship, that they tore up one of
the planks of the deck, and let the water into the cargo of sugar.
The deck itself was like a lake, and the portholes had to be opened
in order to get rid of the water more quickly.
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