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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/18541-8.txt b/18541-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2687d62 --- /dev/null +++ b/18541-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4051 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Voyage of the Liberdade, by Captain Joshua Slocum + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Voyage of the Liberdade + +Author: Captain Joshua Slocum + +Release Date: June 9, 2006 [EBook #18541] +[Last updated: February 6, 2021] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VOYAGE OF THE LIBERDADE *** + + + + +Produced by David Garcia, Martin Pettit and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + +VOYAGE OF THE LIBERDADE + + +Captain Joshua Slocum + + + + +Robinson & Stephenson Boston 1890 + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER I: PAGE 1 + +The ship--The crew--A hurricane--Cape Verde Islands--Frio--A _pampeiro_. + + +CHAPTER II: PAGE 8 + +Montevideo--Beggars--Antonina for maté--Antonina to Buenos Aires--The +_bombelia_. + + +CHAPTER III: PAGE 11 + +Salvage of a cargo of wine--Sailors happy--Cholera in the +Argentine--Death in the land--Dutch Harry--Pete the Greek--Noted +crimps--Boat lost--Sail for Ilha Grande--Expelled from the port--Serious +hardships. + + +CHAPTER IV: PAGE 20 + +Ilha Grande decree--Return to Rosario--Waiting opening of the Brazilian +ports--Scarcity of sailors--Buccaneers turned pilots--Sail down the +river--Arrive at Ilha Grande the second time--Quarantined and +fumigated--Admitted to _pratique_--Sail for Rio--Again challenged--Rio +at last. + + +CHAPTER V: PAGE 27 + +At Rio--Sail for Antonina with mixed cargo--A _pampeiro_--Ship on +beam-ends--Cargo still more mixed--Topgallant-masts carried away--Arrive +safely at Antonina. + + +CHAPTER VI: PAGE 30 + +Mutiny--Attempt at robbery and murder--Four against one--Two go down +before a rifle--Order restored. + + +CHAPTER VII: PAGE 37 + +Join the bark at Montevideo--A good crew--Small-pox breaks out--Bear up +for Maldonado and Floras--No aid--Death of sailors--To Montevideo in +distress--Quarantine. + + +CHAPTER VIII: PAGE 46 + +A new crew--Sail for Antonina--Load timber--Native canoes--Loss of the +_Aquidneck_. + + +CHAPTER IX: PAGE 51 + +The building of the _Liberdade_. + + +CHAPTER X: PAGE 63 + +Across the bar--The run to Santos--Tow to Rio by the steamship--At Rio. + + +CHAPTER XI: PAGE 70 + +Sail from Rio--Anchor at Cape Frio--Encounter with a whale--Sunken +treasure--The schoolmaster--The merchant--The good people at the +village--A pleasant visit. + + +CHAPTER XII: PAGE 76 + +Sail from Frio--Round Cape St. Thorne--High seas and swift currents--In +the "trades"--Dangerous reefs--Run into harbour unawares, on a dark and +stormy night--At Garavellas--Fine weather--A gale--Port St. +Paulo--Treacherous natives--Sail for Bahia. + + +CHAPTER XIII: PAGE 81 + +At Bahia--Meditations on the discoverers--The Caribbees. + + +CHAPTER XIV: PAGE 84 + +Bahia to Pernambuco--The meeting of the _Finance_ at sea--At +Pernambuco--Round Cape St. Roque--A gale--Breakers--The stretch to +Barbadoes--Flying-fish alighting on deck--Dismasted--Arrive at Carlysle +Bay. + + +CHAPTER XV: PAGE 95 + +At Barbadoes--Mayaguez--Crossing the Bahama Banks--The Gulf +Stream--Arrival on the coast of South Carolina. + + +CHAPTER XVI: PAGE 107 + +Ocean Currents--Visit to South Santee--At the Typee +River--Quarantined--South Port and Wilmington, N.C.--Inland sailing to +Beaufort, Norfolk and Washington, D.C.--Voyage ended. + + +DISPOSAL OF THE LIBERDADE: PAGE 117 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + +Diagram of the _Liberdade_ 52 + +The _Liberdade_ 62 + + +MAP + +Course of the _Liberdade_ from Paranagua to Barbadoes 69 + + + + +GREETING + + +This literary craft of mine, in its native model and rig, goes out laden +with the facts of the strange happenings on a home afloat. Her +constructor, a sailor for many years, could have put a whole cargo of +salt, so to speak, in the little packet; but would not so wantonly +intrude on this domain of longshore navigators. Could the author and +constructor but box-haul, club-haul, tops'l-haul, and catharpin like the +briny sailors of the strand, ah me!--and hope to be forgiven! + +Be the current against us, what matters it? Be it in our favour, we are +carried hence, to what place or for what purpose? Our plan of the whole +voyage is so insignificant that it matters little, maybe, whither we go, +for the "grace of a day" is the same! Is it not a recognition of this +which makes the old sailor happy, though in the storm; and hopeful even +on a plank in mid-ocean? Surely it is this! for the spiritual beauty of +the sea, absorbing man's soul, permits of no infidels on its boundless +expanse. + + THE AUTHOR + + + + +CHAPTER I + + The ship--The crew--A hurricane--Cape Verde Islands--Frio--A + _pampeiro_. + + +To get underweigh: It was on the 28th of February 1886, that the bark +_Aquidneck_, laden with case-oil, sailed from New York for Montevideo, +the capital of Uruguay, the strip of land bounding the River Plate on +the east, and called by the natives "Banda Oriental." The _Aquidneck_ +was a trim and tidy craft of 326 tons' register, hailing from Baltimore, +the port noted for clippers, and being herself high famed above them all +for swift sailing, she had won admiration on many seas. + +Her crew mustered ten, all told; twelve had been the complement, when +freights were good. There were, beside the crew with regular stations, a +little lad, aged about six years, and his mamma (age immaterial), +privileged above the rest, having "all nights in"--that is, not having +to stand watch. The mate, Victor, who is to see many adventures before +reaching New York again, was born and bred on shipboard. He was in +perfect health, and as strong as a windlass. When he first saw the light +and began to give orders, he was at San Francisco on the packet +_Constitution_, the vessel lost in the tempest at Samoa, just before the +great naval disaster at the same place in the year of 1889. Garfield, +the little lad above mentioned, Victor's brother, in this family ship, +was born in Hong Kong harbour, in the old bark _Amethyst_, a bona-fide +American citizen, though first seeing the light in a foreign port, the +Stars and Stripes standing sponsors for his nationality. This bark had +braved the wind and waves for fifty-eight years, but had not, up to that +date, so far as I know, experienced so lively a breeze as the one which +sprung up about her old timbers on that eventful 3rd of March, 1880. + +Our foremast hands on the _Aquidneck_, six in number, were from as many +nations, strangers to me and strangers to each other; but the cook, a +negro, was a native American--to the manner born. To have even so many +Americans in one ship was considered exceptional. + +Much or little as matters this family history and description of the +crew: the day of our sailing was bitter-cold and stormy, boding no good +for the coming voyage, which was to be, indeed, the most eventful of my +life of more than five-and-thirty years at sea. Studying the morning +weather report, before sailing, we saw predicted a gale from the +nor'west, and one also approaching from the sou'west at the same time. +"The prospect," said the New York papers, "is not encouraging." We were +anxious, however, to commence the voyage, having a crew on board, and, +being all ready, we boldly sailed, somewhat against our better judgment. +The nor'wester blowing, at the time, at the rate of forty miles an hour, +increased to eighty or ninety miles by March 2nd. This hurricane +continued through March 3rd, and gave us serious concern for the ship +and all on board. + +At New York, on those days, the wind howled from the north, with the +"storm centre somewhere on the Atlantic," so said the wise seamen of the +weather bureau, to whom, by the way, the real old salt is indebted, at +the present day, for information of approaching storms, sometimes days +ahead. The prognostication was correct, as we can testify, for out on +the Atlantic our bark could carry only a mere rag of a foresail, +somewhat larger than a table-cloth, and with this storm-sail she went +flying before the tempest, all those dark days, with a large "bone in +her mouth,"[1] making great headway, even under the small sail. +Mountains of seas swept clean over the bark in their mad race, filling +her decks full to the top of the bulwarks, and shaking things generally. + +Our men were lashed, each one to his station; and all spare spars not +doubly lashed were washed away, along with other movables that were +broken and torn from their fastenings by the wild storm. + +The cook's galley came in for its share of the damage, the cook himself +barely escaping serious injury from a sea that went thundering across +the decks, taking with it doors, windows, galley stove, pots, kettles +and all, together with the culinary artist; landing the whole wreck in +the lee scuppers, but, most fortunately, with the professor on top. A +misfortune like this is always--felt. It dampens one's feelings, so to +speak. It means cold food for a time to come, if not even worse fare. + +The day following our misfortune, however, was not so bad. In fact, the +tremendous seas boarding the bark latterly were indications of the good +change coming, for it meant that her speed had slackened through a lull +of the gale, allowing the seas to reach her too full and heavy. + +More sail was at once crowded on, and still more was set at every stage +of the abatement of the gale, for the craft should not be lazy when big +seas race after her. And so on we flew, like a scud, sheeting home sail +after sail as required, till the 5th of March, when all of her white +wings were spread, and she fairly "walked the waters like a thing of +life." There was now wind enough for several days, but not too much, +and our swift-sailing craft laughed at the seas trying to catch her. + +Cheerily on we sailed for days and days, pressed by the favouring gale, +meeting the sun each day a long span earlier, making daily four degrees +of longitude. It was the time, on these bright days, to forearm with dry +clothing against future stormy weather. Boxes and bags were brought on +deck, and drying and patching went on by wholesale in the watch below, +while the watch on deck bestirred themselves putting the ship in order. +"Chips," the carpenter, mended the galley; the cook's broken shins were +plastered up; and in a few days all was well again. And the sailors, +moving cheerfully about once more in their patched garments of varied +hues, reminded me of the spotted cape pigeons pecking for a living, the +pigeons, I imagined, having a better life of the two. A panican of hot +coffee or tea by sailors called "water bewitched," a sea-biscuit, and +"bit of salt-horse," had regaled the crew and restored their voices. +Then "Reuben Ranzo" was heard on the breeze, and the main tack was +boarded to the tune of "Johnny Boker." Other wondrous songs through the +night-watch could be heard in keeping with the happy time. Then what +they would do and what they wouldn't do in the next port was talked of, +when song and yarn ran out. + +Hold fast, shipmate, hold fast and belay! or the crimps of Montevideo +will wear the new jacket you promise yourself, while you will be off +Cape Horn, singing "Haul out to leeward," with a wet stocking on your +neck, and with the same old "lamby" on, that long since was "lamby" only +in name, the woolly part having given way to a cloth worn much in "Far +Cathay"; in short, you will dress in dungaree, the same as now, while +the crimps and landsharks divide your scanty earnings, unless you "take +in the slack" of your feelings, and "make all fast and steady all." + +Ten days out, and we were in the northeast "trades"--porpoises were +playing under the bows as only porpoises can play; dolphins were racing +alongside, and flying-fish were all about. This was, indeed, a happy +change, and like being transported to another world. Our hardships were +now all forgotten, for "the sea washes off all the woes of men." + +One week more of pleasant sailing, all going orderly on board, and Cape +Verde Islands came in sight. A grand and glorious sight they were! All +hail, _terra firma_! It is good to look at you once again! By noon the +islands were abeam, and the fresh trade-wind in the evening bore us out +of sight of them before dark. + +Most delightful sailing is this large, swinging motion of our bark +bounding over the waves, with the gale abaft the beam, driving her +forward till she fairly leaps from billow to billow, as if trying to +rival her companions, the very flying-fish. Thwarted now by a sea, she +strikes it with her handsome bows, sending into the light countless +thousand sprays, that shine like a nimbus of glory. The tread on her +deck-plank is lighter now, and the little world afloat is gladsome fore +and aft. + +Cape Frio (cold cape) was the next landfall. Upon reaching that point, +we had crossed the Atlantic twice. The course toward Cape Verde Islands +had been taken to avail ourselves of a leading wind through the +south-east trades, the course from the islands to Frio being +southwesterly. This latter stretch was spanned on an easy bow-line; with +nothing eventful to record. Thence our course was through variable winds +to the River Plate, where a _pampeiro_ was experienced that blew "great +guns," and whistled a hornpipe through the rigging. + +These _pampeiros_ (winds from the _pampas_) usually blow with great +fury, but give ample warning of their approach: the first sign being a +spell of unsurpassed fine weather, with small, fleecy clouds floating so +gently in the sky that one scarcely perceives their movements, yet they +do move, like an immense herd of sheep grazing undisturbed on the great +azure field. All this we witnessed, and took into account. Then +gradually, and without any apparent cause, the clouds began to huddle +together in large groups; a sign had been given which the elements +recognized. Next came a flash of fire from behind the accumulating +masses, then a distant rumbling noise. It was a note of warning, and one +that no vessel should let pass unheeded. "Clew up, and furl!" was the +order. To hand all sail when these fierce visitors are out on a frolic +over the seas, and entertain them under bare poles, is the safest plan, +unless, indeed, the best storm sails are bent; even then it is safest to +goose-wing the tops'ls before the gale comes on. Not till the fury of +the blast is spent does the ship require sail, for it is not till then +that the sea begins to rise, necessitating sail to steady her. + +The first onslaught of the storm, levelling all before it, and sending +the would-be waves flying across in sheets--sailor sheets, so to +speak--lends a wild and fearful aspect; but there is no dread of a +lee-shore in the sailor's heart at these times, for the gale is from off +the land, as indicated by the name it bears. + +After the gale was a calm; following which came desirable winds, that +carried us at last to the port we sought--Montevideo; where we cast +anchor on the 5th of May, and made preparations, after the customs' +visit, for discharging the cargo, which was finally taken into lighters +from alongside to the piers, and thence to the warehouses, where ends +the ship's responsibility to the owner of the goods. But not till then +ceases the ship's liability, or the captain's care of the merchandise +placed in his trust. Clearly the captain has cares on sea and on land. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[1] The white foam at the bows produced by fast sailing is, by +sailors, called "a bone in her mouth." + + + + +CHAPTER II + + Montevideo--Beggars--Antonina for maté--Antonina to Buenos + Aires--The _bombelia_. + + +Montevideo, sister city to Buenos Aires, is the fairer of the two to +look upon from the sea, having a loftier situation, and, like Buenos +Aires, boasts of many fine mansions, comely women, liberal schools, and +a cemetery of great splendour. + +It is at Montevideo that the "beggar a-horse-back" becomes a verity +(horses are cheap); galloping up to you the whining beggar will implore +you, saying: "For the love of Christ, friend, give me a coin to buy +bread with." + +From "the Mont" we went to Antonina, in Brazil, for a cargo of maté, a +sort of tea, which, prepared as a drink, is wholesome and refreshing. It +is partaken of by the natives in a highly sociable manner, through a +tube which is thrust into the steaming beverage in a silver urn or a +calabash, whichever may happen to be at hand when "drouthy neebors +neebors meet"; then all sip and sip in bliss from the same tube, which +is passed from mouth to mouth. No matter how many mouths there may be, +the _bombelia_, as it is called, must reach them all. It may have to be +replenished to make the drink go around, and several times, too, when +the company is large. This is done with but little loss of time. By +thrusting into the urn or gourd a spoonful of the herb, and two +spoonfuls of sugar to a pint of water, which is poured, boiling, over +it, the drink is made. But to give it some fancied extra flavour, a live +coal (_carbo vegetable_) is plunged into the potion to the bottom. Then +it is again passed around, beginning where it left off. Happy is he, if +a stranger, who gets the first sip at the tube, but the initiated have +no prejudices. While in that country I frequently joined in the social +rounds at maté, and finally rejoiced in a _bombelia_ of my own. + +The people at Antonina (in fact all the people we saw in Brazil) were +kind, extremely hospitable, and polite; living in thrift generally, +their wants were but few beyond their resources. The mountain scenery, +viewed from the harbour of Antonina, is something to gloat over; I have +seen no place in the world more truly grand and pleasing. The climate, +too, is perfect and healthy. The only doctor of the place, when we were +there, wore a coat out at the elbows, for lack of patronage. A desirable +port is Antonina. + +We had musical entertainments on board, at this place. To see the +display of beautiful white teeth by these Brazilian sweet singers was +good to the soul of a sea-tossed mariner. One nymph sang for the +writer's benefit a song at which they all laughed very much. Being in +native dialect, I did not understand it, but of course laughed with the +rest, at which they were convulsed; from this, I supposed it to be at my +expense. I enjoyed that, too, as much, or more, than I would have +relished _areytos_ in my favour. + +With maté we came to Buenos Aires, where the process of discharging the +cargo was the same as at Montevideo--into lighters. But at Buenos Aires, +we lay four times the distance from the shore, about four miles. + +The herb, or _herva maté_, is packed into barrels, boxes, and into +bullock-hide sacks, which are sewed up with stout hide thongs. The +contents, pressed in tightly when the hide is green and elastic, becomes +as hard as a cannon-ball by the contraction which follows when it dries. +The first load of the _soroes_, so-called, that came off to the bark at +the port of loading, was espied on the way by little Garfield. Piled in +the boat, high above the gunwales, the hairy side out, they did look +odd. "Oh, papa," said he, "here comes a load of cows! Stand by, all +hands, and take them in." + + + + +CHAPTER III + + Salvage of a cargo of wine--Sailors happy--Cholera in the + Argentine--Death in the land--Dutch Harry--Pete the Greek--Noted + crimps--Boat lost--Sail for Ilha Grande--Expelled from the + port--Serious hardships. + + +From Buenos Aires, we proceeded up the River Plate, near the confluence +of the Parana and Paraguay, to salve a cargo of wine from the stranded +brig _Neovo San Pascual_, from Marseilles. + +The current of the great river at that point runs constantly seaward, +becoming almost a sea of itself, and a dangerous one to navigate; hence +the loss of the _San Pascual,_ and many others before her. + +If, like the "Ancient Mariner," we had, any of us, cried, "water, water +all around, and not a drop to drink," we forgot it now, in this +bountiful stream. Wine, too, we had without stint. The insurance agent, +to leave no excuse for tampering with the cargo, rolled out a cask of +the best, and, like a true Hans Breitmann, "knocked out der bung." Then, +too, cases were broken in the handling, the contents of which drenched +their clothes from top to toe, as the sailors carried them away on their +heads. + +The diversity of a sailor's life--ah me! The experience of Dana and his +shipmates, for instance, on a sun-burnt coast, carrying dry hides on +their heads, if not a worse one, may be in store for us, we cried, now +fairly swimming in luxuries--water and wine alike free. Although our +present good luck may be followed by times less cheerful, we preferred +to count this, we said, as compensation for past misfortunes, marking +well that "it never rains but it pours." + +The cargo of wine in due course was landed at Rosario with but small +loss, the crew, except in one case, remaining sober enough to help +navigate even the difficult Parana. But one old sinner, the case I speak +of, an old Labrador fisherman, became a useless, drunken swab, in spite +of all we could do. I say "we" for most of the crew were on my side, in +favour of a fair deal and "regular supplies." + +The hold was barred and locked, and every place we could think of, for a +time, was searched; still Dan kept terribly drunk. At last his mattress +was turned out, and from it rolled a dozen or more bottles of the best +liquor. Then there was a row, but all on the part of Dan, who swore blue +vengeance on the man, if he could but find him out, who had stowed that +grog in his bunk, "trying to get" him "into trouble"; some of those +"young fellows would rue it yet!" + +The cargo of wine being discharged, I chartered to load alfalfa, packed +in bales, for Rio. Many deaths had occurred about this time, with +appalling suddenness; we soon learned that cholera was staring us all in +the face, and that it was fast spreading through the country, filling +towns and cities with sickness and death. + +Approaching more frightfully near, it carried our pilot over the bar; +his wife was a widow the day after he brought our bark to the loading +berth. And the young man who commenced to deliver us the cargo was +himself measured the day after. His ship had come in! + +Many stout men, and many, many women and children succumbed to the +scourge; yet it was our high privilege to come through the dark cloud +without losing a loved one, while thousands were cast down with +bereavements and grief. At one time it appeared that we were in the +centre of the cloud which zig-zagged its ugly body, serpent-like, +through districts, poisoning all that it touched, and leaving death in +its wake. This was indeed cholera in its most terrible form! + +One poor fellow sat at the Widow Lacinas' hotel, bewildered. +"Forty-eight hours ago," said he, "I sat at my own hearth, with wife and +three children by my side. Now I am alone in the world! Even my poor +house, such as it was, is pulled down." This man, I say, had troubles; +surely was his "house pulled down!" + +There was no escaping the poison or keeping it off, except by +disinfectants, and by keeping the system regular, for it soon spread +over all the land and the air was full of it. Remedies sold so high that +many must have perished without the test of medicinal aid to cure their +disease. A cry went up against unprincipled druggists who were +over-charging for their drugs, but nothing more was done to check their +greed. Camphor sold as high as four dollars a pound, and the druggist +with a few hundred drops of laudanum and as much chlorodyne could travel +through Europe afterward on the profits of his sales. + +It was at Rosario, and at this time, that we buried our young friend, +Captain Speck, well loved of young and old. His friends did not ask +whether it was cholera or not that he died of, but performed the last +act of friendship as became men of heart and feeling. The minister could +not come that day, but Captain Speck's little friend, Garfield, said: +"The flags were set for the angels to come and take the Captain to +Heaven!" Need more be said? + +And the flags blew out all day. + +Then it became us to erect a memorial slab, and, hardest of all, to +write to the widow and orphans. This was done in a homely way, but with +sympathetic, aching hearts away off there in Santa Fè. + +Our time at Rosario, after this, was spent in gloomy days that dragged +into weeks and months, and our thoughts often wandered from there to a +happy past. We preferred to dwell away from there and in other climes, +if only in thought. There was, however, one happy soul among us--the +child whose face was a sunbeam in all kinds of weather and at all times, +happy in his ignorance of the evils that fall to the lot of man. + +Our sailing-day from Rosario finally came; and, with a feeling as of +casting off fetters, the lines were let go, and the bark hauled out into +the stream, with a full cargo on board; but, instead of sailing for Rio, +as per charter, she was ordered by the Brazilian consul to Ilha Grande +(Great Island), the quarantine station of Brazil, some sixty-two miles +west of Rio, there to be disinfected and to discharge her cargo in +quarantine. + +A new crew was shipped and put aboard, but while I was getting my +papers, about noon, they stole one of the ship's boats and scurried off +down the river as fast, no doubt, as they could go. I have not seen them +or my boat since. They all deserted,--every mother's son of them! +taking, beside the boat, a month's advance pay from a Mr. Dutch Harry, a +sailor boarding-master, who had stolen my inward crew that he might, as +he boasted afterward, "ship new hands in their places." In view of the +fact that this vilest of crimps was the loser of the money, I could +almost forgive the "galoots" for the theft of my boat. (The ship is +usually responsible for advance wages twenty-four hours after she has +sailed, providing, too, that the sailors proceed to sea in her.) Seeing, +moreover, that they were of that stripe, unworthy the name of sailor, my +vessel was the better without them, by at least what it cost to be rid +of them, namely, the price of my boat. + +However, I will take back what I said about Dutch Harry being the +"vilest crimp." There came one to Rosario worse than he, one "Pete the +Greek," who cut off the ears of a rival boarding-master at the Boca, +threw them into the river, then, making his escape to Rosario, some 180 +miles away, established himself in the business in opposition to the +Dutchman, whom he "shanghaied" soon after, then "reigned peacefully in +his stead." + +A captain who, like myself, had suffered from the depredations of this +noted gentry, told me, in great glee, that he saw Harry on a bone-laden +Italian bark outward bound,--"even then nearly out of the river." The +last seen of him by my friend, the captain, was "among the branches," +with a rope around his neck--they hanged him, maybe--I don't know what +else the rope was for, or who deserved more to be hanged. The captain +screamed with delight:--"he'll get bone soup, at least, for a while, +instead of Santa Fè good mutton-chops at our expense." + +My second crew was furnished by Mr. Pete, before referred to, and on the +seventeenth of December we set sail from that country of revolutions. +Things soon dropped into working order, and I found reason to be pleased +with the change of crew. We glided smoothly along down the river, thence +wishing never again to see Rosario under the distressing circumstances +through which she had just passed. + +On the following day, while slipping along before a light, rippling +breeze, a dog was espied out in the current, struggling in the +whirlpools, which were rather strong, apparently unable to extricate +himself, and was greatly exhausted. Coming up with him our main-tops'l +was laid to the mast, and as we ranged by the poor thing, a sailor, +plunging over the side in a bow-line, bent a rope on to doggy, another +one hauled him carefully on board, and the rescue was made. He proved +to be a fine young retriever, and his intelligent signs of thankfulness +for his escape from drowning were scarcely less eloquent of gratitude +than human spoken language. + +This pleasant incident happening on a Friday, suggested, of course, the +name we should give him. His new master, to be sure, was Garfield, who +at once said, "I guess they won't know me when I get home, with my new +suit--and a dog!" The two romped the decks thenceforth, early and late. +It was good to see them romp, while "Friday" "barkit wi' joy." + +Our pets were becoming numerous now, and all seemed happy till a +stowaway cat one day killed poor little "Pete," our canary. For ten +years or more we had listened to the notes of this wee bird, in many +countries and climes. Sweetest of sweet singers, it was buried in the +great Atlantic at last. A strange cat, a careless steward, and its tiny +life was ended--and the tragedy told. This was indeed a great loss to us +all, and was mourned over,--almost as the loss of a child. + +A book that has been read at sea has a near claim on our friendship, and +is a thing one is loth to part with, or change, even for a better book. +But the well-tried friend of many voyages is oh! so hard to part with at +sea. A resting-place in the solemn sea of sameness--in the trackless +ocean, marked only by imaginary lines and circles--is a cheerless spot +to look to; yet how many have treasures there! + +Returning to the voyage and journal: Our pilot proved incompetent, and +we narrowly escaped shipwreck in consequence at Martin Garcia Bar, a bad +spot in the River Plate. A small schooner captain, observing that we +needlessly followed in his track, and being anything but a sailor in +principle, wantonly meditated mischief to us. While I was confidently +trusting to my pilot, and he (the pilot) trusting to the schooner, one +that could go over banks where we would strike, what did the scamp do +but shave close to a dangerous spot, my pilot following faithfully in +his wake. Then, jumping upon the taffrail of his craft, as we came +abreast the shoal, he yelled, like a Comanche, to my pilot to: "Port the +helm!" and what does my mutton-headed jackass do but port hard over! The +bark, of course, brought up immediately on the ground, as the other had +planned, seeing which his whole pirate crew--they could have been little +less than pirates--joined in roars of laughter, but sailed on, doing us +no other harm. + +By our utmost exertions the bark was gotten off, not a moment too soon, +however, for by the time we kedged her into deep water a _pampeiro_ was +upon us. She rode out the gale safe at anchor, thanks to an active crew. +Our water tanks and casks were then refilled, having been emptied to +lighten the bark from her perilous position. + +Next evening the storm went down, and by mutual consent our mud-pilot +left, taking passage in a passing river-craft, with his pay and our best +advice, which was to ship in a dredging-machine, where his capabilities +would be appreciated. + +Then, "paddling our own canoe," without further accident we reached the +light-ship, passing it on Christmas Day. Clearing thence, before night, +English Bank and all other dangers of the land, we set our course for +Ilha Grande, the wind being fair. Then a sigh of relief was breathed by +all on board. If ever "old briny" was welcomed, it was on that Christmas +Day. + +Nothing further of interest occurred on the voyage to Brazil, except the +death of the little bird already spoken of, which loss deeply affected +us all. + +We arrived at Ilha Grande, our destination, on the 7th day of January, +1887, and came to anchor in nine fathoms of water, at about noon, +within musket-range of the guard-ship, and within speaking distance of +several vessels riding quarantine, with more or less communication going +on among them all, through flags. Several ships, chafing under the +restraint of quarantine, were "firing signals" at the guard-ship. One +Scandinavian, I remember, asked if he might be permitted to communicate +by _cable_ with his owners in Christiana. The guard gave him, as the +Irishman said, "an evasive answer," so the cablegram, I suppose, laid +over. Another wanted police assistance; a third wished to know if he +could get fresh provisions--ten milreis' ($5) worth (he was a +German)--naming a dozen or more articles that he wished for, "and _the +balance in onions_!" Altogether, the young fellows on the guard-ship +were having, one might say, a signal practice. + +On the next day, January 8th, the officers of the port came alongside in +a steam-launch, and ordered us to leave, saying the port had been closed +that morning. "But we have made the voyage," I said. "No matter," said +the guard, "leave at once you must, or the guard-ship will fire into +you." This, I submit, was harsh and arbitrary treatment. A thunderbolt +from a clear sky could not have surprised us more or worked us much +greater harm--to be ruined in business or struck by lightning, being +equally bad! + +Then pointing something like a gun, Dom Pedro said, said he, "_Vaya +Homem_" (hence, begone), "Or you'll give us cholera." So back we had to +go, all the way to Rosario, with that load of hay--and trouble. But on +our arrival there we found things better than they were when we sailed. +The cholera had ceased--it was on the wane when we sailed from Rosario, +and there was hardly a case of the dread disease in the whole country +east of Cordova when we returned. That was, indeed, a comfort, but it +left our hardship the same, and led, consequently, to the total loss of +the vessel after dragging us through harrowing trials and losses, as +will be seen by subsequent events. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + Ilha Grande decree--Return to Rosario--Waiting opening of the + Brazilian ports--Scarcity of sailors--Buccaneers turned + pilots--Sail down the river--Arrive at Ilha Grande the second + time--Quarantined and fumigated--Admitted to _pratique_--Sail for + Rio--Again challenged--Rio at last. + + +This Ilha Grande decree, really a political movement, brought great +hardships on us, notwithstanding that it was merely intended by the +Brazilians as retaliation for past offences by their Argentine +neighbours; not only for quarantines against Rio fevers, but for a +discriminating duty as well on sugar from the empire; a combination of +hardships on commerce--more than the sensitive Brazilians could +stand--so chafing them that a retaliation fever sprung up reaching more +than the heat of _febre marello_, and they decided to teach their +republican cousins a wholesome lesson. However, their wish was to +retaliate without causing war, and it was done. In fact, closing ports +as they did at the beginning of Argentine's most valuable season of +exports to Brazil, and with the plausible excuse, namely fear of pain in +the stomach, so filled the Argentines with admiration of their equals in +strategy that they on the earliest opportunity proclaimed two public +holidays in honour of bright Brazil. So the matter of difference ended, +to the delight of all--in fire-crackers and champagne! + +To the delight of all except the owner and crew of the _Aquidneck_. For +our bark there was no way but to return where the cargo came from, at a +ruinous loss, too, of time and money. We called at the first open port +and wired to the owner of the cargo, but got no answer. Thence we sailed +to Buenos Aires, where I telegraphed again for instructions. The +officers of the guard-ship, upon receiving my report from Brazil, were +convulsed with laughter, while I----I confess it--could not see the +joke. After waiting two days, this diplomatic reply came from the owner +of the cargo: "Act as the case may require." Upon this matter I had +several opinions. One person suggested that the case required me to +pitch the whole cargo into the sea! This friend, I may mention, was from +Boston. + +I have ever since regretted, however, that I did not take his advice. +There seemed to be no protection for the vessel; the law that a ship +must be allowed to live was unheeded; in fact this law was reversed and +there were sharpers and beach-combers at every turn ready to take +advantage of one's misfortunes or even drive one to despair. I +concluded, finally, to shake the lot of them, and proceeding up the +Parana, moored again at the berth where, a few weeks before, we had +taken in the cargo. Spans and tackle were rigged, and all was made ready +to discharge. It was now, "Come on, McCarthy, or McCarthy, come on!" I +didn't care which, I had one _right_ on my side, and I kept that always +in view; namely, the right to discharge the cargo where I had first +received it; but where the money to buy ballast and pay other charges +was to come from I could not discover. + +My merchant met me in great concern at my "misfortunes," but "carramba!" +(zounds) said he, "my own losses are great." It required very little +reasoning to show me that the least expensive course was the safest one +for me to adopt, and my merchant offering enough to pay the marketing, I +found it wisest not to disturb the cargo, but to lay up instead with it +in the vessel and await the reopening of the Brazilian ports. This I +did. + +My merchant, Don Manuel, is said to be worth millions of _pesos_. The +foundation of his wealth was laid by peddling charcoal, carrying it at +first, to his credit be it said, on his back, and he was then a good +fellow. Many a hard bargain has he waged since, and is now a "Don," +living in a $90,000 house. The Don doesn't peddle charcoal any more. + +Moored at Rosario, waiting, waiting; but all of us well in body, and +myself finally less agitated in mind. My old friend, Don Manuel, seems +better also; he "may yet purge and live clean like a gentleman." + +I found upon our return to Rosario that some of the old hands were +missing; laid low by the scourge, to make room for others, and some were +spared who would have been less lamented. Among all the ship-brokers +that I knew at Rosario, and I knew a great many, not one was taken away. +They all escaped, being, it was thought, epidemic-proof. There was my +broker, Don Christo Christiano--called by Don Manuel "El Sweaga" (the +Swede)--whom nothing could strike with penetrative force, except a +commission. + +At last, April 9th, 1887, news came that the Brazilian ports were open. +Cholera had long since disappeared in Santa Fè and Buenos Aires. The +Brazilians had established their own beef-drying factories, and could +now afford to open their ports to competition. This made a great stir +among the ships. Crews were picked up here and there, out of the few +brothels that had not been pulled down during the cholera, and out of +the streets or from the fields. Some, too, came in from the bush. Mixed +among them were many that had been let out of the prisons all over the +country, so that the scourge should not be increased by over-crowded +jails. Of six who shipped with me, four had been so released from +prison, where they had been serving for murder or highway robbery; all +this I learned when it was too late. I shall have occasion before long +to speak of these again! + +Well, we unmoored and dropped down the river a few miles the first day; +with this crew, the hardest looking set that ever put foot on a ship of +mine, and with a swarthy Greek pilot that would be taken for a pirate in +any part of the world. The second mate, who shipped also at Rosario, was +not less ill-visaged, and had, in addition to his natural ugly features, +a deep scar across his face, suggestive of a heavy sabre stroke; a mark +which, I thought upon further acquaintance, he had probably merited. I +could not make myself easy upon the first acquaintance of my new and +decidedly ill-featured crew. So, early the first evening I brought the +bark to anchor, and made all snug before dark for prudent reasons. Next +morning, the Greek, instead of getting the bark underweigh, as I +expected him to do, came to me demanding more pay for his services and +thinking, maybe, that I could not do without him, demanded, unless I +chose to pay considerably in excess of his regular dues, to be put on +shore. I took the fellow at his first bounce. He and his grip-sack were +landed on the bank there and then, with but little "palaver" over it. It +was then said, so I learned after, that "old S----" would drop into the +wake of some ship, and save his pilotage; in fact, they didn't know +"what else he could do," as the pilots were then all engaged for other +vessels. + +The money was taken care of all right, and so was the _Aquidneck_! By +daylight of the following morning she was underweigh, and under full +sail at the head of a fleet of piloted vessels, and, being the swiftest +sailer, easily kept the lead, and was one of the vessels that did _not +"rompe el banco_," as was predicted by all the pilots, while they +hunched their shoulders above their ears, exclaiming, "No _practico_, no +_possebla_!" This was my second trip down the Parana, it is true, and I +had been on other rivers as wonderful as this one, and had, moreover, +read Mark Twain's "Life on the Mississippi," which gives no end of +information on river currents, wind-reefs, sand-reefs, alligator-water, +and all that is useful to know about rivers, so that I was confident of +my ability; all that had been required was the stirring-up that I got +from the impertinent pilot, or buccaneer, whichever is proper to call +him--one thing certain, he was no true sailor! + +A strong, fair wind on the river, together with the current, in our +favour, carried us flying down the channel, while we kept the lead, with +the Stars and Stripes waving where they ought always to be seen; namely, +on the ship in the van! So the duffers followed us, instead of our +following them, and on we came, all clear, with the good wishes of the +officers and the crews. But the pilots, drawing their shoulders up and +repeating the refrain, "No _practico_, no _possebla_!" cursed us +bitterly, and were in a vile mood, I was told, cursing more than usual, +and that is saying a great deal, for all will agree who have heard them +that the average "Dago" pilot is the most foul-mouthed thing afloat. + +Down the river and past the light-ship we came once more, this time with +no halt to make, no backing sails to let a pilot off, nothing at all to +stop us; we spread all sail to a favourable breeze, and reached Ilha +Grande eight days afterward, beating the whole fleet by two days. +Garfield kept strict account of this. He was on deck when we made the +land, a dark and foggy night it was! nothing could be seen but the +dimmest outline of a headland through the haze. I knew the place, I +thought, and Garfield said he could smell land, fog or coal-tar. This, +it will be admitted, was reassuring. A school of merry porpoises that +gambolled under the bows while we stood confidently in for the land, +diving and crossing the bark's course in every direction, also guarded +her from danger. I knew that so long as deep-sea porpoises kept with us +we had nothing to fear of the ground. When the lookout cried, "Porpoises +gone," we turned the bark's head off-shore, backed the main-tops'l, and +sent out the "pigeon" (lead). A few grains of sand and one soft, +delicate white shell were brought up out of fourteen fathoms of water. +We had but to heed these warnings and guides, and our course would be +tolerably clear, dense and all as the fog and darkness was. + +The lead was kept constantly going as we sailed along in the intense +darkness, till the headland of our port was visible through the haze of +grey morning. What Garfield had smelled, I may mention, turned out to be +coal-tar, a pot of which had been capsized on deck by the leadsman, in +the night. + +By daylight in the morning, April 29, we had found the inner entrance to +Ilha Grande, and sailed into the harbour for the second time with this +cargo of hay. It was still very foggy, and all day heavy gusts of wind +came down through the gulches in the mountains, laden with fog and rain. + +Two days later, the weather cleared up, and our friends began to come +in. They found us there all right, anchored close under the highest +mountain. + +Eight days of sullen gloom and rain at this place; then brimstone, +smoke, and fire turned on to us, and we were counted healthy enough to +be admitted to _pratique_ in Rio, where we arrived May 11th, putting one +more day between ourselves and our friendly competitors, who finally +arrived safe, all except one, the British bark _Dublin_. She was +destroyed by fire between the two ports. The crew was rescued by +Captain Lunt, and brought safe into Rio next day. + +At the fort entrance to the harbour of Rio we were again challenged and +brought to, all standing, on the bar; the tide running like a mill race +at the time brought the bark aback on her cables with a force, nearly +cutting her down. + +The _Aquidneck_ it would seem had outsailed the telegram which should +have preceded her; it was, nevertheless, my imperative duty to obey the +orders of the port authorities which, however, should have been tempered +with reason. It was easy for them in the fort to say, "Come to, or we'll +sink you," but we in the bark, between two evils, came near being sunk +by obeying the order. + +Formerly, when a vessel was challenged at this fort, one, two or three +shots, if necessary to bring her to, were fired, at a cost to the ship, +if she were not American, of fifteen shillings for the first shot, +thirty for the second, and sixty for the third; but, for American ships, +the sixty shilling shot was fired first--Americans would always have the +best! + +After all the difficulties were cleared away, the tardy telegram +received, and being again identified by the officers, we weighed anchor +for the last time on this voyage, and went into our destined port, the +spacious and charming harbour of Rio. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + At Rio--Sail for Antonina with mixed cargo--A _pampeiro_--Ship on + beam-ends--Cargo still more mixed--Topgallant-masts carried + away--Arrive safely at Antonina. + + +The cargo was at last delivered, and no one made ill over it. A change +of rats also was made; at Rio those we brought in gave place to others +from the Dom Pedro Docks where we moored. Fleas, too, skipped about in +the hay as happy as larks, and nearly as big; and all the other live +stock that we brought from Rosario, goodness knows of what kind and +kith, arrived well and sound from over the water, notwithstanding the +fumigations and fuss made at the quarantine. + +Had the little microbes been with us indeed, the Brazilians would not +have turned us away as they did, from the doors of an hospital! for they +are neither a cruel nor cowardly people. To turn sickness away would be +cruel and stupid, to say the least! What we were expelled for I have +already explained. + +After being so long in gloomy circumstances we felt like making the most +of pleasant Rio! Therefore on the first fine day after being docked, we +sallied out in quest of city adventure, and brought up first in +Ouvidor--the Broadway of Rio, where my wife bought a tall hat, which I +saw nights looming up like a dreadful stack of hay, the innocent cause +of much trouble to me, and I declared, by all the great islands--in my +dreams--that go back with it I would not, but would pitch it, first, +into the sea. + +I get nervous on the question of quarantines. I visit the famous +Botanical Gardens with my family, and I tremble with fear lest we are +fumigated at some station on the way. However, our time at Rio is +pleasantly spent in the main, and on the first day of June, we set sail +once more for Paranagua and Antonina of pleasant recollections; partly +laden with flour, kerosene, pitch, tar, rosin and wine, three pianos, I +remember, and one steam engine and boiler, all as ballast; "freight +free," so the bill of lading read, and further, that the ship should +"not be responsible for leakage, breakage, or rust." This clause was +well for the ship, as one of those wild _pampeiros_ overtook her, on the +voyage, throwing her violently on her beam-ends, and shaking the motley +cargo into a confused and mixed-up mess. The vessel remaining tight, +however, no very serious damage was done, and she righted herself after +a while, but without her lofty topgallant-masts, which went with a crash +at the first blast of the tempest. + +This incident made a profound impression on Garfield. He happened to be +on deck when the masts were carried away, but managed to scamper off +without getting hurt. Whenever a vessel hove in sight after that having +a broken spar or a torn sail, it was "a _pampeiroed_ ship." + +The storm, though short, was excessively severe, and swept over +Paranagua and Antonina with unusual violence. The owner of the pianos, I +was told, prayed for us, and regretted that his goods were not insured. +But when they were landed, not much the worse for their tossing about, +old Strichine, the owner (that was his name or near that, strychnine the +boys called him, because his singing was worse than "rough on rats," +they said, a bit of juvenile wit that the artist very sensibly let pass +unheeded), declared that the ship was a good one, and that her captain +was a good pilot; and as neither freight nor insurance had been paid, he +and his wife would feast us on music; having learned that I especially +was fond of it. They had screeched operas for a lifetime in Italy, but I +didn't care for that. As arranged, therefore, I was on deck at the +appointed time and place, to stay at all hazards. + +The pianos, as I had fully expected, were fearfully out of +tune--suffering, I should say, from the effects of seasickness! + +So much so that I shall always believe this opportunity was seized upon +by the artist to avenge the damage to his instruments, which, indeed, I +could not avert, in the storm that we passed through. The good Strichine +and his charming wife were astonished at the number of opera airs I +could name. And they tried to persuade me to sing Il Trovatore; but +concluding that damage enough had already been done, I refrained, that +is, I refracted my song. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + Mutiny--Attempt at robbery and murder--Four against one--Two go + down before a rifle--Order restored. + + +July 23rd, 1887, brings me to a sudden and shocking point in the history +of the voyage that I fain would forget, but that will not be possible. +Between the hours of 11 and 12 p.m. of this day I was called instantly +to defend my life and all that is dear to a man. + +The bark, anchored alone in the harbour of Antonina, was hid from the +town in the darkness of a night that might well have covered the +blackest of tragedies. My pirates thought their opportunity had surely +come to capture the _Aquidneck_, and this they undertook to do. The +ringleader of the gang was a burly scoundrel, whose boast was that he +had "licked" both the mate and second mate of the last vessel he had +sailed in, and had "busted the captain in the jaw" when they landed in +Rio, where the vessel was bound, and where, of course, the captain had +discharged him. It was there the villain shipped with me, in lieu of one +of the Rosario gang who had been kindly taken in charge by the guard at +Ilha Grande and brought to Rio to be tried before the American Consul +for insubordination. Said he, one day when I urged him to make haste and +help save the topsails in a squall, "Oh, I'm no soft-horn to be +hurried!" It was the time the bark lost her topgallant-mast and was cast +on her beam-ends on the voyage to Antonina, already told; it was, in +fact, no time for loafing, and this braggart at a decisive word hurried +aloft with the rest to do his duty. What I said to him was meant for +earnest, and it cowed him. It is only natural to think that he held a +grudge against me forever after, and waited only for his opportunity; +knowing, too, that I was the owner of the bark, and supposed to have +money. He was heard to say in a rum-mill a day or two before the attack +that he would find the ---- money and his life, too. His chum and bosom +friend had come pretty straight from Palermo penitentiary at Buenos +Aires when he shipped with me at Rosario. + +It was no secret on board the bark that he had served two years for +robbing, and cutting a ranchman's throat from ear to ear. These records, +which each seemed to glory in, were verified in both cases. + +I met the captain afterwards who had been "busted in the jaw"--Captain +Roberts, of Baltimore, a quiet gentleman, with no evil in his heart for +any one, and a man, like myself, well along in years. + +Two of the gang, old Rosario hands, had served for the lesser offence of +robbery alone--they brought up in the rear! The other two of my foremast +hands--one a very respectable Hollander, the other a little Japanese +sailor, a bright, young chap--had been robbed and beaten by the four +ruffians, and then threatened so that they deserted to the forest +instead of bringing a complaint of the matter to me, for fear, as the +Jap expressed it afterwards, when there was no longer any danger,--for +fear the "la-la-long mans (thieves) would makee killo mi!" + +The ringleader bully had made unusual efforts to create a row when I +came on board early in the evening; however, as he had evidently been +drinking, I passed it off as best I could for the natural consequence of +rum, and ordered him forward; instead of doing as he was bid, when I +turned to hand my wife to the cabin he followed me threateningly to the +break of the poop. What struck me most, however, was the conduct of his +chum, who was sober, but in a very unusual, high, gleeful mood. It was +knock-off time when I came along to where he was seizing off the mizzen +topgallant backstay, the last of the work of refitting the late +_pampeiro_ damage; and the mate being elsewhere engaged, I gave the +usual order to quit work. "Knock off," I said to the man, "and put away +your tools. The bark's rigging looks well," I added, "and if to-morrow +turns out fine, all will be finished"; whereupon the fellow laughed +impertinently in my face, repeating my words, "All will be finished!" +under his breath, adding, "before to-morrow!" This was the first insult +offered by the "Bloodthirsty Tommy," who had committed murder only a +short time before; but I had been watched by the fellow, with a cat-like +eye at every turn. + +The full significance of his words on this occasion came up to me only +next morning, when I saw him lying on the deck with a murderous weapon +in his hand! I was not expecting a cowardly, night attack, nevertheless +I kept my gun loaded. I went to sleep this night as usual, forgetting +the unpleasant episode as soon as my head touched the pillow; but my +wife, with finer instincts, kept awake. It was well for us all that she +did so. Near midnight, my wife, who had heard the first footstep on the +poop-deck, quietly wakened me, saying, "We must get up, and look out for +ourselves! Something is going wrong on deck; the boat tackle has been +let go with a great deal of noise, and--O! don't go that way on deck. I +heard some one on the cabin steps, and heard whispering in the forward +entry." + +"You must have been dreaming," I said. + +"No, indeed!" said she; "I have not been asleep yet; don't go on deck by +the forward companionway; they are waiting there, I am sure, for I heard +the creaking of the loose step in the entry." + +If my wife has not been dreaming, thought I, there can be no possible +doubt of a plot. + +Nothing justifies a visit on the poop-deck after working-hours, except a +call to relieve sickness, or for some other emergency, and then secrecy +or stealth is non-permissible. + +It may be here explained to persons not familiar with ships, that the +sailors' quarters are in the forward part of the ship where they (the +sailors) are supposed to be found after working-hours, in port, coming +never abaft the mainmast; hence the term "before the mast." + +My first impulse was to step on deck in the usual way, but the earnest +entreaties of my wife awoke me to a danger that should be investigated +with caution. Arming myself, therefore, with a stout carbine repeater, +with eight ball cartridges in the magazine, I stepped on deck abaft +instead of forward, where evidently I had been expected. I stood rubbing +my eyes for a moment, inuring them to the intense darkness, when a +coarse voice roared down the forward companionway to me to come on deck. +"Why don't ye come on deck like a man, and order yer men forid?" was the +salute that I got, and was the first that I heard with my own ears, and +it was enough. To tell the whole story in a word, I knew that I had to +face a mutiny. + +I could do no less than say: "Go forward there!" + +"Yer there, are ye?" said the spokesman, as with an oath, he bounded +toward me, cursing as he came. + +Again I ordered him forward, saying, "I am armed,--if you come here I +will shoot!" But I forbore to do so instantly, thinking to club him to +the deck instead, for my carbine was a heavy one. I dealt him a blow as +he came near, sufficient I thought, to fell an ox; but it had, +apparently, no effect, and instantly he was inside of my guard. Then +grasping me by the throat, he tried to force me over the taffrail, and +cried, exultingly, as he felt me give way under his brute strength, +"Now, you damn fool, shoot!" at the same time drawing his knife to +strike. + +I could not speak, or even breathe, but my carbine spoke for me, and the +ruffian fell with the knife in his hand which had been raised against +me! Resolution had proved more than a match for brute force, for I then +knew that not only my own life but also the lives of others depended on +me at this moment. Nothing daunted, the rest came on, like hungry +wolves. Again I cried, "Go forward!" But thinking, maybe, that my rifle +was a single shooter, or that I could not load it so quickly, the order +was disregarded. + +"What if I don't go forward?" was "Bloody Tommy's" threatening question, +adding, as he sprang toward me, "I've got this for you!" but fell +instantly as he raised his hand; and there on the deck was ended his +misadventure! and like the other he fell with the deadly knife in his +hand. I was now all right. The dread of cold steel had left me when I +freed myself from the first would-be assassin, and I only wondered how +many more would persist in trying to take my life. But recollecting +there were only two mutineers left, and that I had still six shots in +the magazine of my rifle, and one already in the chamber, I stood ready +with the hammer raised, and my finger on the trigger, confident that I +would not be put down. + +There was no further need of extreme measures, however, for order was +now restored, though two of the assailants had skulked away in the dark. + +How it was that I regained my advantage, after once losing it, I hardly +know; but this I am certain of, that being down I was not to be spared. +Then desperation took the place of fear, and I felt more than a match +for all that could come against me. I had no other than serene +feelings, however, and had no wish to pursue the two pirates that fled. + +Immediately after the second shot was fired, and I found myself once +more master of my bark, the remaining two came aft again, at my bidding +this time, and in an orderly manner, it may be believed. + +It is idle to say what I would or would not have given to have the +calamity averted, or, in other words, to have had a crew of sailors, +instead of a gang of cut-throats. + +However, when the climax came, I had but one course to pursue; this I +resolutely followed. A man will defend himself and his family to the +last, for life is sweet, after all. + +It was significant, the court thought afterwards, that while my son had +not had time to dress, they all had on their boots except the one who +fell last, and he was in his socks, with no boots on. It was he who had +waited for me as I have already said, on the cabin steps that I usually +passed up and down on, but this time avoided. Circumstantial evidence +came up in abundance to make the case perfectly clear to the +authorities. There are few who will care to hear more about a subject so +abhorrent to all, and I care less to write about it. I would not have +said this much, but for the enterprise of a rising department clerk, +who, seeing the importance of telling to the world what he knew, and +seeing also some small emolument in the matter, was I believe prompted +to augment the consular dispatches, thus obliging me to fight the battle +over. However, not to be severe on the poor clerk, I will only add that, +no indignities were offered me by the authorities through all the strict +investigation that followed the tragedy. + +The trial being for justice and not for my money the case was soon +finished. + +I sincerely hope that I may never again encounter such as those who came +from the jails to bring harm and sorrow in their wake. + +The work of loading was finished soon after the calamity to my bark, and +a Spanish sailing-master was engaged to take her to Montevideo; my son +Victor going as flag captain. + +I piloted the _Aquidneck_ out of the harbour, and left her clear of the +buoy, looking as neat and trim as sailor could wish to see. All the +damage done by the late _pampeiro_ had been repaired, new +topgallant-masts rigged, and all made ataunto. I saw my handsome bark +well clear of the dangers of the harbour limits, then in sorrow I left +her and paddled back to the town, for I was on parole to appear, as I +have said, for trial! That was the word; I can find no other name for +it--let it stand! + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + Join the bark at Montevideo--A good crew--Small-pox breaks + out--Bear up for Maldonado and Flores--No aid--Death of sailors--To + Montevideo in distress--Quarantine. + + +As soon as the case was over I posted on for Montevideo by steamer, +where the bark had arrived only a few days ahead of me. I found her +already stripped to a gantline though, preparatory to a long stay in +port. I had given Victor strict orders to interfere in no way with the +Spaniard, but to let him have full charge in nearly everything. I could +have trusted the lad with full command, young as he was; but there was a +strange crew of foreigners which might, as often happens, require +maturer judgment to manage than to sail the vessel. As it proved, +however, even the _cook_ was in many ways a better man than the +sailing-master. + +Victor met me with a long face, and the sailors wore a quizzical look as +I came over the vessel's side. One of them, in particular, whom I shall +always remember, gave me a good-humoured greeting, along with his shake +of the head, that told volumes; and next day was aloft, crossing yards, +cheerfully enough. I found my Brazilian crew to be excellent sailors, +and things on board the _Aquidneck_ immediately began to assume a +brighter appearance, aloft and alow. + +Cargo was soon discharged, other cargo taken in, and the bark made ready +for sea. My crew, I say, was a good one; but, poor fellows, they were +doomed to trials--the worst within human experience, many of them giving +up to grim death before the voyage was ended. Too often one bit of bad +luck follows another. This rule brought us in contact with one of these +small officials at Montevideo, better adapted to home life; one of those +knowing, perhaps, more than need a cowboy, but not enough for consul. +This official, managing to get word to my crew that a change of master +dissolved their contract, induced them to come on shore and claim pay +for the whole voyage and passage home on a steamer besides, the same as +though the bark had been sold. + +What overwhelming troubles may come of having incompetent officials in +places of trust, the sequel will show. This unwise, even stupid +interference, was the indirect cause of the sufferings and deaths among +the crew which followed. + +I was able to show the consul and his clerk that sailors are always +engaged for the ship, and never for the master, and that a change of +master did not in any way affect their contract. However, I paid the +crew off, and then left it to their option to re-ship or not, for they +were all right, they had been led to do what they did, and I knew that +they wanted to get home, and it was there that the bark was going, +direct. + +All signed the articles again, except one, a long-haired Andalusian, +whom I would not have longer at any price. The wages remained the same +as before, and all hands returned to their duty cheerful and +contented--but pending the consul's decision (which, by the way, I +decided for him), they had slept in a contagioned house, where, alas, +they contracted small-pox of the worst type. + +We were now homeward bound. All the "runaway rum" that could be held out +by the most subtle crimps of Montevideo could not induce these sober +Brazilian sailors to desert their ship. + +These "crimps" are land-sharks who get the sailors drunk when they can, +and then rob them of their advance money. The sailors are all paid in +advance; sometimes they receive in this way most of their wages for the +voyage, which they make after the money is spent, or wasted, or stolen. + +We all know what working for dead horse means--sailors know too well its +significance. + +As sailing day drew near, a half-day liberty to each watch was asked for +by the men, who wanted to make purchases for their friends and relatives +at Paranagua. Permission to go on shore was readily granted, and I was +rewarded by seeing every one return to his ship at the time promised, +and every one sober. On the morrow, which was sailing day, every man was +at his post and all sang "Cheerily, ho!" and were happy; all except one, +who complained of slight chills and a fever, but said that he had been +subject to this, and that with a dose of quinine he would soon be all +right again. + +It appeared a small matter. Two days later though, his chills turned to +something which I knew less about. The next day, three more men went +down with rigor in the spine, and at the base of the brain. I knew by +this that small-pox was among us! + +We bore up at once for Maldonado, which was the nearest port, the place +spoken of in "Gulliver's Travels," though Gulliver, I think, is mistaken +as to its identity and location, arriving there before a gathering storm +that blew wet and cold from the east. Our signals of distress, asking +for immediate medical aid were set and flew thirty-six hours before any +one came to us; then a scared Yahoo (the country was still inhabited by +Yahoos) in a boat rowed by two other animals, came aboard, and said, +"Yes, your men have got small-pox." "_Vechega_" he called it, but I +understand the lingo of the Yahoo very well, I could even speak a few +words of it and comprehend the meanings. "_Vechega_!" he bellowed to +his mates alongside, and, turning to me, he said, in Yahoo: "You must +leave the port at once," then jumping into his boat he hurried away, +along with his scared companions.[2] + +To leave a port in our condition was hard lines, but my perishing crew +could get no succour at Maldonado, so we could do nothing but leave, if +at all able to do so. We were indeed short-handed, but desperation +lending a hand, the anchor was weighed and sufficient sail set on the +bark to clear the inhospitable port. The wind blowing fair out of the +harbour carried us away from the port toward Flores Island, for which we +now headed in sore distress. A gale, long to be remembered, sprang +suddenly up, stripping off our sails like autumn leaves, before the bark +was three leagues from the place. We hadn't strength to clew up, so her +sails were blown away, and she went flying before the mad tempest under +bare poles. A snow-white sea-bird came for shelter from the storm, and +poised on the deck to rest. The incident filled my sailors with awe; to +them it was a portentous omen, and in distress they dragged themselves +together and, prostrate before the bird, prayed the Holy Virgin to ask +God to keep them from harm. The rain beat on us in torrents, as the bark +tossed and reeled ahead, and day turned black as night. The gale was +from E.S.E., and our course lay W.N.W. nearly, or nearly before it. I +stood at the wheel with my shore clothes on, I remember, for I hadn't +yet had time to change them for waterproofs; this of itself was small +matter, but it reminds me now that I was busy with other concerns. I was +always a good helmsman, and I took in hand now the steering of the bark +in the storm--and I gave directions to Victor and the carpenter how to +mix disinfectants for themselves, and medicines for the sick men. The +medicine chest was fairly supplied. + +Flores, when seen, was but a few ship's lengths away. Flashes of +lightning revealed the low cliffs, amazingly near to us, and as the bark +swept by with great speed, the roar of the breakers on the shore, heard +above the din of the storm, told us of a danger to beware. The helm was +then put down, and she came to under the lee of the island like a true, +obedient thing. + +Both anchors were let go, and all the chain paid out to both, to the +bitter end, for the gale was now a hurricane. She walked away with her +anchors for all that we could do, till, hooking a marine cable, one was +carried away, and the other brought her head to the wind, and held her +there trembling in the storm. + +Anxious fear lest the second cable should break was on our minds through +the night; but a greater danger was within the ship, that filled us all +with alarm. + +Two barks not far from us that night, with pilots on board, were lost, +in trying to come through where the _Aquidneck_, without a pilot and +with but three hands on deck to work her, came in. Their crews, with +great difficulty, were rescued and then carried to Montevideo. When all +had been done that we three could do, a light was put in the rigging, +that flickered in the gale and went out. Then wet, and lame, and weary, +we fell down in our drenched clothes, to rest as we might--to sleep, or +to listen to groans of our dying shipmates. + +When daylight came (after this, the most dismal of all my nights at +sea), our signals went up telling of the sad condition of the crew, and +begging for medical assistance. Toward night the gale went down; but, as +no boat came off, a gloom darker than midnight settled over the crew of +the pest-ridden bark, and in dismay they again prayed to be spared to +meet the loved ones awaiting them at home. + +Our repeated signals, next day, brought the reply, "Stand in." +_Carramba!_ Why, we could hardly stand at all; much less could we get +the bark underway, and beat in against wind and current. No one knew +this better than they on the island, for my signals had told the whole +story, and as we were only a mile and a half from the shore, the flags +were distinctly made out. There was no doubt in our minds about that! + +Late in the day, however, a barge came out to us, ill-manned and +ill-managed by as scared a set of "galoots" as ever capsized a boat, or +trembled at a shadow! The coxswain had more to say than the doctor, and +the Yahoo--I forgot to mention that we were still in Yahoodom, but one +would see that without this explanation--the Yahoo in the bow said more +than both; and they all took a stiff pull from a bottle of +_cachazza_,[3] the doctor having had the start, I should say, of at +least one or two pulls before leaving the shore, insomuch as he appeared +braver than the rest of the crew. + +The doctor, having taken an extra horn or two, with Dutch courage came +on board, and brought with him a pound of sulphur, a pint of carbolic +acid, and some barley--enough to feed a robin a few times, for all of +which we were thankful indeed, our disinfectants being by this time +nearly exhausted; then, glancing at the prostrate men, he hurried away, +as the other had done at Maldonado. I asked what I should do with the +dead through the night--bury them where we lay? "Oh, no, no!" cried the +Yahoo in the bow; but the doctor pointed significantly to the water +alongside! I knew what he meant! + +That night we buried José, the sailor whose honest smile had welcomed me +to my bark at Montevideo. I had ordered stones brought on deck, before +dark, ostensibly to ballast the boat. I knew they would soon be wanted! +About midnight, the cook called me in sore distress, saying that José +was dying without confession! + +So poor José was buried that night in the great River Plate! I listened +to the solemn splash that told of one life ended, and its work done; but +gloomy, and sad, and melancholy as the case was, I had to smile when the +cook, not having well-secured the ballast, threw it over after his +friend, exclaiming, "Good-bye, José, good-bye!" I added, "Good-bye, good +shipmate, good-bye! I doubt not that you rest well!" + +Next day, the signal from the shore was the same as the day before, +"Stand in," in answer to my repeated call for help. By this time my men +were demoralized and panic-stricken, and the poor fellows begged me, if +the doctor would not try to cure them, to get a priest to confess them +all. I saw a padre pacing the beach, and set flags asking him to come on +board. No notice was taken of the signal, and we were now left entirely +to ourselves. + +After burying one more of the crew, we decided to remain no longer at +this terrible place. An English telegraph tender passing, outward-bound, +caught up our signals at that point, and kindly reported to her consul +at Maldonado, who wired it to Montevideo. + +The wind blowing away from the shore, as may it always blow when friend +of mine nears that coast, we determined to weigh anchor or slip cable +without further loss of time, feeling assured that by the telegraph +reports some one would be on the look-out for us, and that the +_Aquidneck_ would be towed into port if the worst should happen--if the +rest of her crew went down. Three of us weighed one anchor, with its +ninety fathoms of chain, the other had parted on the windlass in the +gale. The bark's prow was now turned toward Montevideo, the place we had +so recently sailed from, full of hope and pleasant anticipation; and +here we were, dejected and filled with misery, some of our number +already gone on that voyage which somehow seems so far away. + +At Montevideo, things were better. They _did_ take my remaining sick men +out of the vessel, after two days' delay; my agent procuring a tug, +which towed them in the ship's boat three hundred fathoms astern. In +this way they were taken to Flores Island, where, days and days before, +they had been refused admittance! They were accompanied this time by an +order from the governor of Montevideo, and at last were taken in. Two of +the cases were, by this time, in the favourable change. But the poor old +cook, who stood faithfully by me, and would not desert his old +shipmates, going with them to the Island to care for them to the last, +took the dread disease, died of it, and was there buried, not far from +where he himself had buried his friend José, a short time before. The +death of this faithful man occurred on the day that the bark finally +sailed seaward, by the Island. She was in sight from the hospital +window when his phantom ship, that put out, carried him over the bar! +His widow, at Paranagua, I was told, on learning the fate of her +husband, died of grief. + +The work of disinfecting the vessel, at Montevideo, after the sick were +removed, was a source of speculation that was most elaborately carried +on. Demijohns of carbolic acid were put on board, by the dozen, at $3.00 +per demijohn, all diluted ready for use; and a _guardo_ was put on board +to use it up, which he did religiously over his own precious self, in my +after-cabin, as far from the end of the ship where the danger was as he +could get. Some one else disinfected _el proa_, not he! Abundant as the +stuff was, I had to look sharp for enough to wash out forward while aft +it was knee-deep almost, at three dollars a jar! The harpy that alighted +on deck at Maldonado sent in his bill for one hundred dollars--I paid +eighty. + +The cost to me of all this trouble in money paid out, irrelevantly to +mention, was over a thousand dollars. What it cost me in health and +mental anxiety cannot be estimated by such value. Still, I was not the +greatest sufferer. My hardest task was to come, you will believe, at the +gathering up of the trinkets and other purchases which the crew had +made, thoughtful of wife and child at home. All had to be burned, or +spoiled with carbolic acid! A hat for the little boy here, a pair of +boots for his mamma there, and many things for the _familia_ all +around--all had to be destroyed! + +FOOTNOTES: + +[2] In our discourse, Yahoo was spoken, but I write it in +English because many of my readers would not understand the original. +The signals that we used were made by universal code symbols. For +example, two flags hoisted representing "P" "D" signified "want (or +wants) immediate medical assistance." And so on, by hoists of two, three +or four flags representing the consonants, our wants and wishes could be +made known, each possessing the key to the code. + +Our commercial code of signals is so invented and arranged that no +matter what tongues may meet, perhaps those utterly incomprehensible by +word of mouth, yet by these signs communications may be carried on with +great facility. The whole system is so beautifully simple that a child +of ordinary intelligence can understand it. Even the Yahoos were made to +comprehend--when not colour-blind. And, lest they should forget their +lesson, a gunboat is sent out every year or two, to fire it into them +with cannon. + +[3] This _cachazza_ is said to be death to microbes, or even to +larger worms; it will kill anything, in fact, except a Yahoo! + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + A new crew--Sail for Antonina--Load timber--Native canoes--Loss of + the _Aquidneck_. + + +After all this sad trouble was over, a new crew was shipped, and the +_Aquidneck's_ prow again turned seaward. Passing out by Flores, soon +after, we observed the coast-guard searching, I learned, for a supposed +sunken bark, which had appeared between squalls in the late gale with +signals of distress set. I was satisfied from the account that it was +our bark which they had seen in the gale, and the supposed flags were +our tattered sails, what there was left of them, streaming in the storm. +But we did not discourage the search, as it could do no harm, and I +thought that they might perhaps find something else worth knowing about. +This was the day, as I have said, on which my faithful cook died, while +the bark was in sight from the window of his sick ward. It was a bright, +fine day to us. We cannot say that it was otherwise than bright to him. + +Breathing once more the fresh air of the sea, we set all sail for +Paranagua, passing the lights on the coast to leave them flickering on +the horizon, then soon out of sight. Fine weather prevailed, but with +much head wind; still we progressed, and rarely a day passed but +something of the distance toward our port was gained. One day, however, +coming to an island, one that was inhabited only by birds, we came to a +stand, as if it were impossible to go farther on the voyage; a spell +seemed to hang over us. I recognized the place as one that I knew well; +a very dear friend had stood by me on deck, looking at this island, +some years before. It was the last land that my friend ever saw. I would +fain have sailed around it now, but a puff of fair wind coming sent us +on our course for the time some leagues beyond. At sunset, though, this +wind went down, and with the current we drifted back so much that by the +next day we were farther off on the other side. However, fair wind +coming again, we passed up inside, making thus the circuit of the island +at last. + +More or less favourable winds thenceforth filled our sails, till at last +our destined port was gained. + +The little town of Antonina, where my wife and Garfield had remained +over during this voyage, twelve miles up the bay from Paranagua, soon +after our arrival, was made alive with the noise of children marching to +children's own music, my "Yawcob" heading the band with a brand-new +ninety-cent organ, the most envied fellow of the whole crowd. Sorrows of +the past took flight, or were locked in the closet at home, the fittest +place for past misfortunes. + +A truly hard voyage for us all was that to Montevideo! The survivors +reached home after a while. Their features were terribly marked and +disfigured; so much so that I did not know them till they accosted me +when we met. + +I look back with pleasure to the good character of my Brazilian sailors, +regretting the more their hard luck and sad fate! We may meet again! +_Quien sabe!_ + +Getting over all this sad business as best we could, we entered on the +next venture, which was to purchase and load a cargo of the famous +Brazilian wood. The _Aquidneck_ was shifted to an arm of the bay, where +she was moored under the lee of a virgin forest, twenty minutes' canoe +ride from the village of Guarakasava, where she soon began to load. + +The timber of this country, generally very heavy, is nevertheless hauled +by hand to the water, where, lashed to canoes, it is floated to the +ship. + +These canoes, formed sometimes from mammoth trees, skilfully shaped and +dug out with care, are at once the carriage and _cariole_ of the family +to the _citio_, or the rice to mill. Roads are hardly known where the +canoe is available; men, women, and children are consequently alike, +skilled in the art of canoeing to perfection, almost. There are no +carriages to speak of in such places, even a saddle horse about the +waterfront is a _rara avis_. There was, indeed, one horse at +Guarakasava--the owner of it was very conspicuous. + +The family canoe just spoken of, has the capacity, often, of several +tons, is handsomely decorated with carvings along the topsides, and is +painted, as the "Geordie" would say, "in none o' your gaudy colours, but +in good plain red or blue"--sometimes, however, they are painted green. + +The cost of these handsome canoes are, say, from $250 down in price and +size, from the grand turnout to the one-man craft which may be purchased +for five milreis ($2.50). + +From the greatest to the smallest they are cared for with almost an +affectionate care, and are made to last many years. + +One thing else which even the poorest Brazilian thinks much of is his +affectionate wife who literally and figuratively is often in the same +boat with her husband, pulling against the stream. Family ties are +strong in Brazil and the sweet flower of friendship thrives in its sunny +clime. The system of land and sea breezes prevail on the coast from Cape +Frio to Saint Catherine with great regularity most of the year; the sail +is therefore used to good advantage by the almost amphibious +inhabitants along the coast who love the water and take to it like ducks +and natural born sailors. + +The wind falling light they propel their canoes by paddle or long pole +with equal facility. The occupants standing, in the smaller ones, force +them along at a great speed. The larger ones, when the wind does not +serve, are pulled by banks of oars which are fastened to stout pegs in +the gunwail with grummits, that fit loosely over the oars so as to allow +them free play in the hand of the waterman. + +Curling the water with fine, shapely prows as they dart over the smooth +waters of the bays and rivers, these canoes present a picture of +unrivalled skill and grace. + +I find the following entry in my diary made near the close of +transactions at Guarakasava which in the truthful word of an historian I +am bound to record, if only to show my prevailing high opinion of the +natives while I was among them:-- + + + GUARAKASAVA, Dec. 20th. + + Heretofore I have doted on native Brazilian honesty as well as + national seamanship and skill in canoes but my dream of a perfect + paradise is now unsettled forever. I find, alas! that even here the + fall of Adam is felt: Taking in some long poles to-day the negro + tallyman persisted in counting twice the same pole. When the first + end entered the port it was "_umo_" (one); when the last end + disappeared into the ship he would sing out "_does_" (two). + + +I had no serious difficulty over the matter, but left Guarakasava with +that hurt feeling which comes of being over persuaded that one and one +make four. + +We spent Christmas of 1887 at Guarakasava. The bark was loaded soon +after, and when proceeding across the bay, where currents and wind +caught her foul near a dangerous sand bar, she misstayed and went on the +strand. The anchor was let go to club her. It wouldn't hold in the +treacherous sands; so she dragged and stranded broadside on, where, open +to the sea, a strong swell came in that raked her fore and aft for three +days, the waves dashing over her groaning hull the while till at last +her back was broke and--why not add heart as well! for she lay now +undone. After twenty-five years of good service the _Aquidneck_ here +ended her days! + +I had myself carried load on load, but alas! I could not carry a +mountain; and was now at the end where my best skill and energy could +not avail. What was to be done? What could be done? We had indeed the +appearance of shipwrecked people, away, too, from home. + +This was no time to weep, for the lives of all the crew were saved; +neither was it a time to laugh, for our loss was great. + +But the sea calmed down, and I sold the wreck, which floated off at the +end of the storm. And after paying the crew their wages out of the +proceeds had a moiety left for myself and family--a small sum. + +Then I began to look about for the future, and for means of escape from +exile. The crew (foreign) found shipping for Montevideo, where they had +joined the _Aquidneck_, in lieu of the stricken Brazilian sailors. But +for myself and family this outlet was hardly available, even if we had +cared to go farther from home,--which was the least of our thoughts; and +there were no vessels coming our way. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + The building of the _Liberdade_. + + + Away, away, no cloud is lowering o'er us + Freely now we stem the wave; + Hoist, hoist all sail, before us + Hope's beacon shines to cheer the brave. + --_Masaniello_. + + +When all had been saved from the wreck that was worth saving, or that +could be saved, we found ourselves still in the possession of some goods +soon to become of great value to us, especially my compass and charts +which, though much damaged, were yet serviceable and suggested practical +usefulness; and the chronometer being found intact, my course was no +longer undecided, my wife and sons agreeing with what I thought best. + +The plan, in a word, was this: We could not beg our way, neither would +we sit idle among the natives. We found that it would require more +courage to remain in the far-off country than to return home in a boat, +which then we concluded to build and for that purpose.[4] + +My son Victor, with much pride and sympathy, entered heartily into the +plan, which promised a speedy return home. He bent his energies in a +practical direction, working on the boat like an old builder. + +Before entering on the project, however, all responsibilities were +considered. Swift ocean currents around capes and coral reefs were taken +into account; and above all else to be called dangerous we knew would +be the fierce tropical storms which surely we would encounter. + +[Illustration: Diagram of the _Liberdade_ + +(Length 35 ft. beam 7½ ft., draught 2½ ft. weight 6 tons.)] + +But a boat should be built stout and strong, we all said, one in which +we should not be afraid to trust our lives even in the storm. + +And with the advantage of experience in ships and boats of various sizes +and in many seas, I turned to the work of constructing, according to my +judgment and means, a craft which would be best adapted to all weathers +and all circumstances. My family with sympathetic strength pulling hard +in the same direction. + +Seaworthiness was to be the first and most prominent feature in our +microscopic ship; next to this good quality she should sail well; at +least before free winds. We counted on favourable winds; and so they +were experienced the greater part of the voyage that soon followed. + +Long exposures and many and severe disappointments by this time, I +found, had told on health and nerve, through long quarantines, expensive +fumigations, and ruinous doctors' visits, which had swept my dollars +into hands other than mine. However, with still a "shot in the locker," +and with some feelings of our own in the matter of how we should get +home, I say, we set to work with tools saved from the wreck--a meagre +kit--and soon found ourselves in command of another ship, which I will +describe the building of, also the dimensions and the model and rig, +first naming the tools with which it was made. + +To begin with, we had an axe, an adze, and two saws, one ½inch auger, +one 6/8 and one 3/8 auger-bit; two large sail-needles, which we +converted into nailing bits; one roper, that answered for a punch; and, +most precious of all, a file that we found in an old sail-bag washed up +on the beach. A square we readily made. Two splints of bamboo wood +served as compasses. Charcoal, pounded as fine as flour and mixed in +water, took the place of chalk for the line; the latter we had on hand. +In cases where holes larger than the 6/8 bit were required, a piece of +small jack-stay iron was heated, and with this we could burn a hole to +any size required. So we had, after all, quite a kit to go on with. +Clamps, such as are used by boat builders, we had not, but made +substitutes from the crooked guava tree and from _massaranduba_ wood. + +Trees from the neighbouring forest were felled when the timber from the +wrecked cargo would not answer. Some of these woods that we sought for +special purposes had queer sounding names, such as _arregebah, +guanandee, batetenandinglastampai_, etc. This latter we did not use the +saw upon at all, it being very hard, but hewed it with the axe, bearing +in mind that we had but one file, whereas for the edged tools we had but +to go down to a brook hard by to find stones in abundance suitable to +sharpen them on. + +The many hindrances encountered in the building of the boat will not be +recounted here. Among the least was a jungle fever, from which we +suffered considerably. But all that and all other obstacles vanished at +last, or became less, before a new energy which grew apace with the +boat, and the building of the craft went rapidly forward. There was no +short day system, but we rested on the Sabbath, or surveyed what we had +done through the week, and made calculations of what and how to strike +on the coming week. + +The unskilled part of the labour, such as sawing the cedar planks, of +which she was mostly made, was done by the natives, who saw in a rough +fashion, always leaving much planing and straightening to be done, in +order to adjust the timber to a suitable shape. The planks for the +bottom were of ironwood, 1¼ X 10 inches. For the sides and top red cedar +was used, each plank, with the exception of two, reaching the whole +length of the boat. This arrangement of exceedingly heavy wood in the +bottom, and the light on top, contributed much to the stability of the +craft. + +The ironwood was heavy as stone, while the cedar, being light and +elastic, lent buoyancy and suppleness, all that we could wish for. + +The fastenings we gathered up in various places, some from the bulwarks +of the wreck, some from the hinges of doors and skylights, and some were +made from the ship's metal sheathing, which the natives melted and cast +into nails. Pure copper nails, also, were procured from the natives, +some ten _kilos_, for which I paid in copper coins, at the rate of two +_kilos_ of coin for one _kilo_ of nails. The same kind of coins, called +_dumps_, cut into diamond-shaped pieces, with holes punched through +them, entered into the fastenings as burrs for the nails. A number of +small eyebolts from the spanker-boom of the wreck were turned to account +for lashing bolts in the deck of the new vessel. The nails, when too +long, were cut to the required length, taking care that the ends which +were cut off should not be wasted, but remelted, along with the metal +sheathing, into other nails. + +Some carriage bolts, with nuts, which I found in the country, came in +very handy; these I adjusted to the required length, when too long, by +slipping on blocks of wood of the required thickness to take up the +surplus length, putting the block, of course, on the inside, and +counter-sinking the nut flush with the planks on the outside; then +screwing from the inside outward, they were drawn together, and there +held as in a vice, the planks being put together "lap-streak" fashion, +which without doubt is the strongest way to build a boat. + +These screw-bolts, seventy in number, as well as the copper nails, cost +us dearly, but wooden pegs, with which also she was fastened, cost only +the labour of being made. The lashings, too, that we used here and there +about the frame of the cabin, cost next to nothing, being made from the +fibrous bark of trees, which could be had in abundance by the stripping +of it off. So, taking it by and large, our materials were not expensive, +the principal item being the timber, which cost about three cents per +superficial foot, sawed or hewed. Rosewood, ironwood, cedar or mahogany, +were all about the same price and very little in advance of common wood; +so of course we selected always the best, the labour of shaping being +least, sometimes, where the best materials were used. + +These various timbers and fastenings, put together as best we could +shape and join them, made a craft sufficiently strong and seaworthy to +withstand all the bufferings on the main upon which, in due course, she +was launched. + +The hull being completed, by various other contrivances and makeshifts +in which, sometimes, the "wooden blacksmith" was called in to assist, +and the mother of invention also lending a hand, fixtures were made +which served as well on the voyage as though made in a dockyard and at +great cost. + +My builders baulked at nothing, and on the 13th day of May, the day on +which the slaves of Brazil were set free, our craft was launched, and +was named _Liberdade_ (Liberty). + +Her dimensions being--35 feet in length over all, 7½ feet breadth of +beam, and 3 feet depth of hold. Who shall say that she was not large +enough? + +Her model I got from my recollections of Cape Ann dories and from a +photo of a very elegant Japanese _sampan_ which I had before me on the +spot, so, as it might be expected, when finished she resembled both +types of vessel in some degree. + +Her rig was the Chinese _sampan_ style, which is, I consider, the most +convenient boat rig in the whole world. + +This was the boat, or canoe I prefer to call it, in which we purposed to +sail for North America and home. Each one had been busy during the +construction and past misfortunes had all been forgotten. Madam had made +the sails--and very good sails they were, too! + +Victor, the carpenter, ropemaker, and general roustabout had performed +his part. Our little man, Garfield, too, had found employment in holding +the hammer to clinch the nails and giving much advice on the coming +voyage. All were busy, I say, and no one had given a thought of what we +were about to encounter from the port officials farther up the coast; it +was pretended by them that a passport could not be granted to so small a +craft to go on so long a voyage as the contemplated one to North +America. + +Then fever returned to the writer and the constructor of the little +craft, and I was forced to go to bed, remaining there three days. +Finally, it came to my mind that in part of a medicine chest, which had +been saved from the wreck, was stored some _arsenicum_, I think it is +called. Of this I took several doses (small ones at first, you may be +sure), and the good effect of the deadly poison on the malaria in my +system was soon felt trickling through my veins. Increasing the doses +somewhat, I could perceive the beneficial effect hour by hour, and in a +few days I had quite recovered from the malady. Absurd as it was to have +the judgment of sailors set on by pollywog navigators, we had still to +submit, the pollywogs being numerous. + +About this time--as the astrologers say--a messenger came down from the +_Alfandega_ (Custom House), asking me to repair thither at midday on the +morrow. This filled me with alarm. True, the messenger has delivered his +message in the politest possible manner, but that signified nothing, +since Brazilians are always polite. This thing, small as it seems now, +came near sending me back to the fever. + +What had I done? + +I went up next day, after having nightmare badly all night, prepared to +say that I wouldn't do it again! The kind administrator I found, upon +presenting myself at his office, had no fault to charge me with; but had +a good word, instead. "The little _Liberdade_," he observed, had +attracted the notice of his people and his own curiosity, as being "a +handsome and well-built craft." This and many other flattering +expressions were vented, at which I affected surprise, but secretly +said, "I think you are right, sir, and you have good taste, too, if you +are a customs officer." + +The drift of this flattery, to make a long story short, was to have me +build a boat for the _Alfandega_, or, his government not allowing money +to build new--pointing to one which certainly would require new keel, +planks, ribs, stem, and stern-post--"could I not repair one?" + +To this proposition I begged time to consider. Flattering as the +officer's words were, and backed by the offer of liberal pay, so long as +the boat could be "repaired," I still had no mind to remain in the hot +country, and risk getting the fever again. But there was the old hitch +to be gotten over; namely, the passport, on which, we thought, depended +our sailing. + +However, to expedite matters, a fishing licence was hit upon, and I +wondered why I had not thought of that before, having been, once upon a +time, a fisherman myself. Heading thence on a new diplomatic course, I +commenced to fit ostensibly for a fishing voyage. To this end, a fishing +net was made, which would be a good thing to have, anyway. Then hooks +and lines were rigged and a cable made. This cable, or rope, was formed +from vines that grow very long on the sand-banks just above tide water, +several of which twisted together make a very serviceable rope, then +being light and elastic, it is especially adapted for a boat anchor +rope, or for the storm drag. Ninety fathoms of this rope was made for us +by the natives, for the sum of ten milreis ($5.00). + +The anchor came of itself almost. I had made a wooden one from heavy +sinking timber, but a stalwart ranchman coming along, one day, brought a +boat anchor with him which, he said, had been used by his slaves as a +pot-hook. "But now that they are free and away," said he, "I have no +further use for the crooked thing." A sewing-machine, which had served +to stitch the sails together, was coveted by him, and was of no further +use to us; in exchange for this the prized anchor was readily secured, +the owner of it leaving us some boot into the bargain. Things working +thus in our favour, the wooden anchor was stowed away to be kept as a +spare bower. + +These arrangements completed, our craft took on the appearance of a +fishing smack, and I began to feel somewhat in my old element, with no +fear of the lack of ways and means when we should arrive on our own +coast, where I knew of fishing banks. And a document which translated +read: "A licence to catch fish inside and outside of the bar" was +readily granted by the port authorities. + +"How far outside the bar may this carry us?" I asked. + +"_Quien sabe!_" said the officer. (Literally translated, "Who knows?" +but in Spanish or Portuguese used for, "Nobody knows, or, I don't +care.") + +"Adieu, señor," said the polite official; "we will meet in heaven!" + +This meant you can go since you insist upon it, but I must not +officially know of it; and you will probably go to the bottom. In this +he and many others were mistaken. + +Having the necessary document now in our possession, we commenced to +take in stores for the voyage, as follows: Sea-biscuits, 120 lbs.; +flour, 25 lbs.; sugar, 30 lbs.; coffee, 9 lbs., which, roasted black and +pounded fine as wheaten flour, was equal to double the amount as +prepared in North America, and afforded us a much more delicious cup. + +Of tea we had 3 lbs.; pork, 20 lbs.; dried beef, 100 lbs.; _baccalao +secca_ (dried codfish), 20 lbs.; 2 bottles of honey, 200 oranges, 6 +bunches of bananas, 120 gallons of water; also a small basket of yams, +and a dozen sticks of sugar-cane, by way of vegetables. + +Our medicine chest contained Brazil nuts, pepper, and cinnamon; no other +medicines or condiments were required on the voyage, except table salt, +which we also had. + +One musket and a carbine--which had already stood us in good +stead--together with ammunition and three cutlasses were stowed away for +last use, to be used, nevertheless, in case of necessity. + +The light goods I stowed in the ends of the canoe, the heavier in the +middle and along the bottom, thus economizing space and lending to the +stability of the canoe. Over the top of the midship stores a floor was +made, which, housed over by a tarpaulin roof reaching three feet above +the deck of the canoe, supported by a frame of bamboo, gave us sitting +space of four feet from the floor to the roof, and twelve feet long +amidships. This arrangement of cabin in the centre gave my passengers a +berth where the least motion would be felt; even this is saying but +little, for best we could do to avoid it we had still to accept much +tossing from the waves. + +Precautionary measures were taken in everything, so far as our resources +and skill could reach. The springy and buoyant bamboo was used wherever +stick of any kind was required, such as the frame and braces for the +cabin, yards for the sails, and, finally, for guard on her top sides, +making the canoe altogether a self-righting one, in case of a capsize. +Each joint in the bamboo was an air-chamber of several pounds buoyant +capacity, and we had a thousand joints. + +The most important of our stores, particularly the flour, bread, and +coffee, were hermetically sealed, so that if actually turned over at +sea, our craft would not only right herself, but would bring her stores +right side up, in good order, and it then would be only a question of +baling her out, and of setting her again on her course, when we would +come on as right as ever. As it turned out, however, no such trial or +mishap awaited us. + +While the possibility of many and strange occurrences was felt by all of +us, the danger which loomed most in little Garfield's mind was that of +the sharks. + +A fine specimen was captured on the voyage, showing five rows of pearly +teeth, as sharp as lances. + +Some of these monsters, it is said, have nine rows of teeth; that they +are always hungry is admitted by sailors of great experience. + +How it is that sailors can go in bathing, as they often do, in the face +of a danger so terrible, is past my comprehension. Their business is to +face danger, to be sure, but this is a needless exposure, for which the +penalty is sometimes a life. The second mate of a bark on the coast of +Cuba, not long ago, was bitten in twain, and the portions swallowed +whole by a monster shark that he had tempted in this way. The shark was +captured soon after, and the poor fellow's remains taken out of the +revolting maw. + +Leaving the sharks where they are, I gladly return to the voyage of the +_Liberdade_. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[4] This alternative I was obliged to accept, or bring my +family home as paupers, for my wealth was gone--need I explain more? +This explanation has been forced from me. + +[Illustration: The _Liberdade_] + + + + +CHAPTER X + + Across the bar--The run to Santos--Tow to Rio by the steamship--At + Rio. + + +The efficiency of our canoe was soon discovered: On the 24th of June, +after having sailed about the bay some few days to temper our feelings +to the new craft, and shake things into place, we crossed the bar and +stood out to sea, while six vessels lay inside "bar-bound," that is to +say by their pilots it was thought too rough to venture out, and they, +the pilots, stood on the point as we put out to sea, crossing themselves +in our behalf, and shouting that the bar was _crudo_. But the +_Liberdade_ stood on her course, the crew never regretting it. + +The wind from the sou'west at the time was the moderating side of a +_pampeiro_ which had brought in a heavy swell from the ocean, that broke +and thundered on the bar with deafening roar and grand display of +majestic effort. + +But our little ship bounded through the breakers like a fish--as natural +to the elements, and as free! + +Of all the seas that broke furiously about her that day, often standing +her on end, not one swept over or even boarded her, and she finally came +through the storm of breakers in triumph. Then squaring away before the +wind she spread her willing sails, and flew onward like a bird. + +It required confidence and some courage to face the first storm in so +small a bark, after having been years in large ships; but it would have +required more courage than was possessed by any of us to turn back, +since thoughts of home had taken hold on our minds. + +Then, too, the old boating trick came back fresh to me, the love of the +thing itself gaining on me as the little ship stood out: and my crew +with one voice said: "Go on." The heavy South Atlantic swell rolling in +upon the coast, as we sped along, toppled over when it reached the ten +fathom line, and broke into roaring combers, which forbade our nearer +approach to the land. + +Evidently, our safest course was away from the shore, and out where the +swelling seas, though grand, were regular, and raced under our little +craft that danced like a mite on the ocean as she drove forward. In +twenty-four hours from the time Paranagua bar was crossed we were up +with Santos Heads, a run of 150 miles. + +A squall of wind burst on us through a gulch, as we swept round the +Heads, tearing our sails into shreds, and sending us into Santos under +bare poles. + +Chancing then upon an old friend, the mail steamship _Finance_, Capt. +Baker, about to sail for Rio, the end of a friendly line was extended to +us, and we were towed by the stout steamer toward Rio, the next day, as +fast as we could wish to go. My wife and youngest sailor took passage on +the steamer, while Victor remained in the canoe with me, and stood by +with axe in hand, to cut the tow-line, if the case should require +it--and I steered. + +"Look out," said Baker, as the steamer began to move ahead, "look out +that I don't snake that canoe out from under you." + +"Go on with your mails, Baker," was all I could say, "don't blow up your +ship with my wife and son on board, and I will look out for the packet +on the other end of the rope." + +Baker opened her up to thirteen knots, but the _Liberdade_ held on! + +The line that we towed with was 1-1/3 inches in diameter, by ninety +fathoms long. This, at times when the steamer surged over seas, leaving +the canoe on the opposite side of a wave astern, would become as taut as +a harp-string. At other times it would slacken and sink limp in a bight, +under the forefoot, but only for a moment, however, when the steamer's +next great plunge ahead would snap it taut again, pulling us along with +a heavy, trembling jerk. Under the circumstances, straight steering was +imperative, for a sheer to port or starboard would have finished the +career of the _Liberdade_, by sending her under the sea. Therefore, the +trick of twenty hours fell to me--the oldest and most experienced +helmsman. But I was all right and not over-fatigued until Baker cast oil +upon the "troubled waters." I soon got tired of that. + +Victor was under the canvas covering, with the axe still in hand, ready +to cut the line which was so arranged that he could reach it from +within, and cut instantly, if by mischance the canoe should take a +sheer. + +I was afraid that the lad would become sleepy, and putting his head +"under his wing" for a nap, would forget his post, but my frequent cry, +"Stand by there, Victor," found him always on hand, though complaining +somewhat of the dizzy motion. + +Heavy sprays dashed over me at the helm, which, however, seeming to wash +away the sulphur and brimstone smoke of many a quarantine, brought +enjoyment to my mind. + +Confused waves rose about us, high and dangerous--often high above the +gunwale of the canoe--but her shapely curves balanced her well, and she +rode over them all in safety. + +This canoe ride was thrilling and satisfactory to us all. It proved +beyond a doubt that we had in this little craft a most extraordinary +sea-boat, for the tow was a thorough test of her seaworthiness. + +The captain of the steamer ordered oil cast over from time to time, +relieving us of much spray and sloppy motion, but adding to discomforts +of taste to me at the helm, for much of the oil blew over me and in my +face. Said the captain to one of his mates (an old whaler by the way, +and whalers for some unaccountable reason have never too much regard for +a poor merchantman), "Mr. Smith." + +"Aye, aye, sir," answered old Smith. + +"Mr. Smith, hoist out that oil." + +"Aye, aye, sir," said the old "blubberhunter," in high glee, as he went +about it with alacrity, and in less than five minutes from the time the +order was given, I was smothering in grease and our boat was oiled from +keel to truck. + +"She's all right now," said Smith. + +"That's all right," said Baker, but I thought it all wrong. The wind, +meanwhile, was in our teeth and before we crossed Rio bar I had +swallowed enough oil to cure any amount of consumption. + +Baker, I have heard, said he wouldn't care much if he should "drown +Slocum." But I was all right so long as the canoe didn't sheer, and we +arrived at Rio safe and sound after the most exciting boat-ride of my +life. I was bound not to cut the line that towed us so well; and I knew +that Baker wouldn't let it go, for it was his rope. + +I found at Rio that my fishing licence could be exchanged for a pass of +greater import. This document had to be procured through the office of +the Minister of Marine. + +Many a smart linguist was ready to use his influence on my behalf with +the above-named high official; but I found at the end of a month that I +was making headway about as fast as a Dutch galliot in a head sea after +the wind had subsided. Our worthy Consul, General H. Clay Armstrong, +gave me a hint of what the difficulty was and how to obviate it. I then +went about the business myself as I should have done at first, and I +found those at the various departments who were willing to help me +without the intervention of outside "influence." + +Commander Marquis of the Brazilian navy recommended me to His +Excellency, the Minister of Marine, "out of regard," he said, "for +American seamen," and when the new document came it was "_Passe +Especial_," and had on it _a seal as big as a soup plate_. A port naval +officer then presented me to the good _Administradore,_ who also gave me +a _passe especial_, with the seal of the _Alfandega_. + +I had now only to procure a bill of health, when I should have papers +enough for a man-o'-war. Rio being considered a healthy place, this was +readily granted, making our equipment complete. + +I met here our minister whose office, with other duties, is to keep a +weather-eye lifting in the interest of that orphan, the American +ship--alas, my poor relation! Said he, "Captain, if your _Liberdade_ be +as good as your papers" (documents given me by the Brazilian officials), +"you may get there all right"; adding, "well, if the boat ever reaches +home she will be a great curiosity," the meaning of which, I could +readily infer, was, "and your chances for a snap in a dime museum will +be good." This, after many years of experience as an American +shipmaster, and also shipowner, in a moderate way, was interesting +encouragement. By our Brazilian friends, however, the voyage was looked +upon as a success already achieved. + + + The utmost confidence [said the "Journal Opiz," of Rio], is placed + in the cool-headed, audacious American mariner, and we expect in a + short time to hear proclaimed in all of the journals of the Old and + New World the safe arrival of this wonderful little craft at her + destination, ourselves taking part in the glory. (Temos confianca + na pericia e sangue frio do audaciauso marinhero Americano por isso + esperamos que dentro em pouco tempo veremos o seu nome proclamado + por todos os jornaes do velho e novo mundo. A nos tambem cabera + parte da gloria.) + + +With these and like kind expressions from all of our _friends_, we took +leave of Rio, sailing on the morning of July 23rd, 1888. + +[Illustration: Course of the _Liberdade_ from Paranagua to Barbadoes] + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + Sail from Rio--Anchor at Cape Frio--Encounter with a whale--Sunken + treasure--The schoolmaster--The merchant--The good people at the + village--A pleasant visit. + + +July 23rd, 1888, was the day, as I have said, on which we sailed from +Rio de Janeiro. + +Meeting with head winds and light withal, through the day we made but +little progress; and finally, when night came on, we anchored twenty +miles east of Rio Heads, near the shore. Long, rolling seas rocked us as +they raced by, then, dashing their great bodies against defying rocks, +made music by which we slept that night. But a trouble unthought of +before came up in Garfield's mind before going to his bunk; "Mamma," +cried he, as our little bark rose and fell on the heavy waves, tumbling +the young sailor about from side to side in the small quarters while he +knelt seriously at his evening devotion, "mamma, this boat isn't big +enough to pray in!" But this difficulty was gotten over in time, and +Garfield learned to watch as well as to pray on the voyage, and full of +faith that all would be well, laid him down nights and slept as +restfully as any Christian on sea or land. + +By daylight of the second day we were again underweigh, beating to the +eastward against the old head wind and head sea. On the following night +we kept her at it, and the next day made Cape Frio where we anchored +near the entrance to a good harbour. + +Time from Rio, two days; distance, 70 miles. + +The wind and tide being adverse, compelled us to wait outside for a +favourable change. While comfortably anchored at this place, a huge +whale, nosing about, came up under the canoe, giving us a toss and a +great scare. We were at dinner when it happened. The meal, it is +needless to say, was finished without dessert. The great sea +animal--fifty to sixty feet long--circling around our small craft, +looked terribly big. He was so close to me twice, as he swam round and +round the canoe, that I could have touched him either time with a +paddle. His flukes stirring the water like a steamer propeller appeared +alarmingly close and powerful!--and what an ugly mouth the monster had! +Well, we expected instant annihilation. The fate of the stout whale-ship +_Essex_ came vividly before me. The voyage of the _Liberdade_, I +thought, was about ended, and I looked about for pieces of bamboo on +which to land my wife and family. Just then, however, to the infinite +relief of all of us, the leviathan moved off, without doing us much +harm, having felt satisfied, perhaps, that we had no Jonah on board. + +We lost an anchor through the incident, and received some small damage +to the keel, but no other injury was done--even this, I believe, upon +second thought, was unintentional--done in playfulness only! "A shark +can take a joke," it is said, and crack one too, but for broad, rippling +humour the whale has no equal. + +"If this be a sample of our adventures in the beginning," thought I, "we +shall have enough and to spare by the end of the voyage." A visit from +this quarter had not been counted on; but Sancho Panza says, "When least +aware starts the hare," which in our case, by the by, was a great whale! + +When our breath came back and the hair on our heads settled to a normal +level, we set sail, and dodged about under the lee of the cape till a +cove, with a very enticing sand beach at the head of it, opened before +us, some three miles northwest of where we lost the anchor in the +remarkable adventure with the whale. The "spare bower" was soon bent to +the cable. Then we stood in and anchored near a cliff, over which was a +goat-path leading in the direction of a small fishing village, about a +mile away. Sheering the boat in to the rocky side of the cove which was +steep to, we leaped out, warp in hand, and made fast to a boulder above +the tidal flow, then, scrambling over the cliff, we repaired to the +village, first improvising a spare anchor from three sticks and a stone +which answered the purpose quite well. + +Judging at once that we were strangers the villagers came out to meet +us, and made a stir at home to entertain us in the most hospitable +manner, after the custom of the country, and with the villagers was a +gentleman from Canada, a Mr. Newkirk, who, as we learned, was engaged, +when the sea was smooth, in recovering treasure that was lost near the +cape in the British warship _Thetis_, which was wrecked there in 1830. +The treasure, some millions in silver coins and gold in bars, from Peru +for England, was dumped in the cove, which has since taken the name of +the ship that bore it there and, as I have said, came to grief in that +place which is on the west shore near the end of the cape. + +Some of the coins were given to us to be treasured as souvenirs of the +pleasant visit. We found in Mr. Newkirk a versatile, roving genius; he +had been a schoolmaster at home, captain of a lake schooner once, had +practised medicine, and preached some, I think; and what else I do not +know. He had tried many things for a living, but, like the proverbial +moving stone had failed to accumulate. "Matters," said the Canadian, +"were getting worse and worse even, till finally to keep my head above +water I was forced to go under the sea," and he had struck it rich, it +would seem, if gold being brought in by the boat-load was any sign. This +man of many adventures still spoke like a youngster; no one had told him +that he was growing old. He talked of going home, as soon as the balance +of the treasure was secured, "just to see his dear old mother," who, by +the way, was seventy-four years old when he left home, some twenty years +before. Since his last news from home, nearly two decades had gone by. +He was "the youngest of a family of eighteen children, all living," he +said, "though," added he, "our family came near being made one less +yesterday, by a whale which I thought would eat my boat, diving-bell, +crew, money and all, as he came toward us, with open mouth. By a back +stroke of the oars, however, we managed to cheat him out of his dinner, +if that was what he was after, and I think it was, but here I am!" he +cried, "all right!" and might have added, "wealthy after all." + +After hearing the diver's story, I related in Portuguese our own +adventure of the same day, and probably with the same whale, the monster +having gone in the direction of the diver's boat. The astonishment of +the listeners was great; but when they learned of our intended voyage to +_America do Norte_, they crossed themselves and asked God to lend us +grace! + +"Is North America near New York?" asked the village merchant, who owned +all the boats and nets of the place. + +"Why, America is _in_ New York," answered the ex-schoolmaster. + +"I thought so," said the self-satisfied merchant. And no doubt he +thought some of us very stupid, or rude, or both, but in spite of +manners I had to smile at the assuring air of the Canadian. + +"Why did you not answer him correctly?" I asked of the ex-schoolmaster. + +"I answered him," said Newkirk, "according to his folly. Had I corrected +his rusty geography before these simple, impoverished fishermen, he +would not soon forgive me; and as for the rest of the poor souls here, +the knowledge would do them but little good." + +I may mention that in this out-of-the-way place there were no schools, +and except the little knowledge gained in their church, from the +catechism, and from the fumbling of beads, they were the most innocent +of this world's scheme, of any people I ever met. But they seemed to +know all about heaven, and were, no doubt, happy. + +After the brief, friendly chat that we had, coffee was passed around, +the probabilities of the _Liberdade's_ voyage discussed, and the crew +cautioned against the dangers of the _balaena_ (whale), which were +numerous along the coast, and vicious at that season of the year, having +their young to protect. + +I realized very often the startling sensation alone of a night at the +helm, of having a painful stillness broken by these leviathans bursting +the surface of the water with a noise like the roar of a great sea, +uncomfortably near, reminding me of the Cape Frio adventure; and my +crew, I am sure, were not less sensitive to the same feeling of an awful +danger, however imaginary. One night in particular, dark and foggy I +remember, Victor called me excitedly, saying that something dreadful +ahead and drawing rapidly near had frightened him. + +It proved to be a whale, for some reason that I could only guess at, +threshing the sea with its huge body, and surging about in all +directions, so that it puzzled me to know which way to steer to go +clear. I thought at first, from the rumpus made, that a fight was going +on, such as we had once witnessed from the deck of the _Aquidneck_, not +far from this place. Our course was changed as soon as we could decide +which way to avoid, if possible, all marine disturbers of the peace. We +wished especially to keep away from infuriated swordfish, which I feared +might be darting about, and be apt to give us a blind thrust. Knowing +that they sometimes pierce stout ships through with their formidable +weapons, I began to feel ticklish about the ribs myself, I confess, and +the little watch below, too, got uneasy and sleepless; for one of these +swords, they knew well, would reach through and through our little boat, +from keel to deck. Large ships have occasionally been sent into port +leaky from the stab of a sword, but what I most dreaded was the +possibility of one of us being ourselves pinned in the boat. + +A swordfish once pierced a whale-ship through the planking, and through +the solid frame timber and the thick ceiling, with his sword, leaving it +there, a valuable plug indeed, with the point, it was found upon +unshipping her cargo at New Bedford, even piercing through a cask in the +hold. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + Sail from Frio--Round Cape St. Thome--High seas and swift + currents--In the "trades"--Dangerous reefs--Run into harbour + unawares, on a dark and stormy night--At Caravellas--Fine + weather--A gale--Port St. Paulo--Treacherous natives--Sail for + Bahia. + + +July 30th, early in the day, and after a pleasant visit at the cape, we +sailed for the north, securing first a few sea shells to be cherished, +with the _Thetis_ relics, in remembrance of a most enjoyable visit to +the hospitable shores of Cape Frio. + +Having now doubled Cape Frio, a prominent point in our voyage, and +having had the seaworthiness of our little ship thoroughly tested, as +already told; and seeing, moreover, that we had nothing to fear from +common small fry of the sea (one of its greatest monsters having failed +to capsize us), we stood on with greater confidence than ever, but +watchful, nevertheless, for any strange event that might happen. + +A fresh polar wind hurried us on, under shortened sail, toward the +softer "trades" of the tropics, but, veering to the eastward by +midnight, it brought us well in with the land. Then, "Larboard watch, +ahoy! all hands on deck and turn out reefs," was the cry. To weather +Cape St. Thome we must lug on all sail. And we go over the shoals with a +boiling sea and current in our favour. In twenty-four hours from Cape +Frio, we had lowered the Southern Cross three degrees--180 miles. + +Sweeping by the cape, the canoe sometimes standing on end, and sometimes +buried in the deep hollow of the sea, we sunk the light on St. Thome +soon out of sight and stood on with flowing sheet. The wind on the +following day settled into regular south-east "trades," and our cedar +canoe skipped briskly along, over friendly seas that were leaping toward +home, doffing their crests onward and forward, but never back, and the +splashing waves against her sides, then rippling along the thin cedar +planks between the crew and eternity, vibrated enchanting music to the +ear, while confidence grew in the bark that was HOMEWARD BOUND. + +But coming upon coral reefs, of a dark night, while we listened to the +dismal tune of the seas breaking over them with an eternal roar, how +intensely lonesome they were! no sign of any living thing in sight, +except, perhaps, the phosphorescent streaks of a hungry shark, which +told of bad company in our wake, and made the gloom of the place more +dismal still. + +One night we made shelter under the lee of the extensive reefs called +the Paredes (walls), without seeing the breakers at all in the dark, +although they were not far in the distance. At another time, dragging on +sail to clear a lee shore, of a dark and stormy night, we came suddenly +into smooth water, where we cast anchor and furled our sails, lying in a +magic harbour till daylight the next morning, when we found ourselves +among a maze of ugly reefs, with high seas breaking over them, as far as +the eye could reach, on all sides, except at the small entrance to the +place that we had stumbled into in the night. The position of this +future harbour is South Lat. 16° 48', and West Long, from Greenwich 39° +30'. We named the place "PORT LIBERDADE." + +The next places sighted were the treacherous Abrohles, and the village +of Caravellas back of the reef where, upon refitting, I found that a +chicken cost a thousand reis, a bunch of bananas four hundred reis; but +where a dozen limes cost only twenty reis--one cent. Much whaling gear +lay strewn about the place, and on the beach was the carcass of a whale +about nine days slain. Also leaning against a smart-looking boat was a +grey-haired fisherman, boat and man relics of New Bedford, employed at +this station in their familiar industry. The old man was bare-footed and +thinly clad, after the custom in this climate. Still, I recognized the +fisherman and sailor in the set and rig of the few duds he had on, and +the ample straw hat (donkey's breakfast) that he wore, and doffed in a +seaman-like manner, upon our first salute. "_Filio do Mar do Nord +Americano_," said an affable native close by, pointing at the same time +to that "son of the sea of North America," by way of introduction, as +soon as it was learned that we, too, were of that country. I tried to +learn from this ancient mariner the cause of his being stranded in this +strange land. He may have been cast up there by the whale for aught I +could learn to the contrary. + +Choosing a berth well to windward of the dead whale--the one that landed +"the old man of the sea" there, maybe!--we anchored for the night, put a +light in the rigging and turned in. Next morning, the village was astir +betimes; canoes were being put afloat, and the rattle of poles, paddles, +bait boxes, and many more things for the daily trip that were being +hastily put into each canoe, echoed back from the tall palm groves notes +of busy life, telling us that it was time to weigh anchor and be +sailing. To this cheerful tune we lent ear and, hastening to be +underweigh, were soon clear of the port. Then, skimming along near the +beach in the early morning, our sails spread to a land breeze, laden +with fragrance from the tropic forest and the music of many songsters, +we sailed in great felicity, dreading no dangers from the sea, for +there were none now to dread or fear. + +Proceeding forward through this belt of moderate winds, fanned by +alternating land and sea breezes, we drew on toward a region of high +trade-winds that reach sometimes the dignity of a gale. It was no +surprise, therefore, after days of fine-weather sailing, to be met by a +storm, which so happened as to drive us into the indifferent anchorage +of St. Paulo, thirty miles from Bahia, where we remained two days for +shelter. + +Time, three days from Caravellas; distance sailed, 270 miles. + +A few fishermen lounged about the place, living, apparently, in wretched +poverty, spending their time between waiting for the tide to go out, +when it was in, and waiting for it to come in, when it was out, to float +a canoe or bring fish to their shiftless nets. This, indeed, seemed +their only concern in life; while their ill-thatched houses, forsaken of +the adobe that once clung to the wicker walls, stood grinning in rows, +like emblems of our mortality. + +We found at this St. Paulo anything but saints. The wretched place +should be avoided by strangers, unless driven there for shelter, as we +ourselves were, by stress of weather. We left the place on the first +lull of the wind, having been threatened by an attack from a gang of +rough, half-drunken fellows, who rudely came on board, jostling about, +and jabbering in a dialect which, however, I happened to understand. I +got rid of them by the use of my broken Portuguese, and once away I was +resolved that they should stay away. I was not mistaken in my suspicions +that they would return and try to come aboard, which shortly afterward +they did, but my resolution to keep them off was not shaken. I let them +know, in their own jargon this time, that I was well armed. They +finally paddled back to the shore, and all visiting was then ended. We +stood a good watch that night, and by daylight next morning, Aug. 12th, +put to sea, standing out in a heavy swell, the character of which I knew +better, and could trust to more confidently than a harbour among +treacherous natives. + +Early in the same day, we arrived at _Bahia do todos Santos_ (All +Saints' Bay), a charming port, with a rich surrounding country. It was +from this port, by the way, that Robinson Crusoe sailed for Africa to +procure slaves for his plantation and that of his friend, so fiction +relates. + +At Bahia we met many friends and gentle folk. Not the least interesting +at this port are the negro lasses of fine physique seen at the markets +and in the streets, with burdens on their heads of baskets of fruit, or +jars of water, which they balance with ease and grace, as they go +sweeping by with that stately mien which the dusky maiden can call her +own. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + At Bahia--Meditations on the discoverers--The Caribbees. + + +At Bahia we refitted, with many necessary provisions, and repaired the +keel, which we found, upon hauling out, had been damaged by the +encounter with the whale at Frio. An iron shoe was now added for the +benefit of all marine monsters wishing to scratch their backs on our +canoe. + +Among the many friends whom we met at Bahia were Capt. Boyd and his +family of the bark _H. W. Palmer_. We shall meet the _Palmer_ and the +Boyds again on the voyage. They were old traders to South America and +had many friends at this port who combined to make our visit a pleasant +one. And their little son Rupert was greatly taken with the +"_Rib_erdade," as he called her, coming often to see us. And the +officials of the port taking great interest in our voyage, came often on +board. No one could have treated us more kindly than they. + +The venerable _Administradore_ himself gave us special welcome to the +port and a kind word upon our departure, accompanied by a present for my +wife in the shape of a rare white flower, which we cherished greatly as +coming from a true gentleman. + +Some strong abolitionists at the port would have us dine in an epicurean +way in commemoration of the name given our canoe, which was adopted +because of her having been put afloat on the thirteenth day of May, the +day on which every human being in Brazil could say, "I have no master +but one." I declined the banquet tendered us, having work on hand, +fortifying the canoe against the ravaging worms of the seas we were yet +to sail through, bearing in mind the straits of my great predecessor +from this as well as other causes on his voyage over the Caribbean Seas. +I was bound to be strengthened against the enemy. + +The gout, it will be remembered, seized upon the good Columbus while his +ship had worms, when both ship and admiral lay stranded among menacing +savages; surrounded, too, by a lawless, threatening band of his own +countrymen not less treacherous than the worst of cannibals. His state +was critical indeed! One calamity was from over-high living--this I was +bound to guard against--the other was from neglect on the part of his +people to care for the ship in a seaman-like manner. Of the latter +difficulty I had no risk to run. + +Lazy and lawless, but through the pretext of religion, the infected crew +wrought on the pious feelings of the good admiral, inducing him at every +landing to hold mass instead of cleaning the foul ship. Thus through +petty intrigue and grave neglects, they brought disaster and sorrow on +their leader and confusion on their own heads. Their religion, never +deep, could not be expected to keep _Terredo_ from the ship's bottom, so +her timbers were ravished, and ruin came to them all! Poor Columbus! had +he but sailed with his son Diego and his noble brother Bartholomew, for +his only crew and companions, not forgetting the help of a good woman, +America would have been discovered without those harrowing tales of woe +and indeed heartrending calamities which followed in the wake of his +designing people. Nor would his ship have been less well manned than was +the _Liberdade_, sailing, centuries after, over the same sea and among +many of the islands visited by the great discoverer--sailing, too, +without serious accident of any kind, and without sickness or +discontent. Our advantage over Columbus, I say, was very great, not +more from the possession of data of the centuries which had passed than +from having a willing crew sailing without dissent or murmur--sailing in +the same boat, as it were. + +A pensive mood comes over one voyaging among the scenes of the New +World's early play-ground. To us while on this canoe voyage of pleasant +recollection the fancied experience of navigators gone before was +intensely thrilling. + +Sailing among islands clothed in eternal green, the same that Columbus +beheld with marvellous anticipations, and the venerable Las Casas had +looked upon with pious wonder, brought us, in the mind's eye, near the +old discoverers; and a feeling that we should come suddenly upon their +ships around some near headland took deep hold upon our thoughts as we +drew in with the shores. All was there to please the imagination and +dream over in the same balmy, sleepy atmosphere, where Juan Ponce de +Leon would fain have tarried young, but found death rapid, working side +by side with ever springing life. To live long in this clime one must +obey great Nature's laws. So stout Juan and millions since have found, +and so always it will be. + +All was there to testify as of yore, all except the first owners of the +land; they alas! the poor Caribbees, together with their camp fires, had +been extinguished long years before. And no one of human sympathy can +read of the cruel tortures and final extermination of these islanders, +savages though they were, without a pang of regret at the unpleasant +page in a history of glory and civilization. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + Bahia to Pernambuco--The meeting of the _Finance_ at sea--At + Pernambuco--Round Cape St. Roque--A gale--Breakers--The stretch to + Barbadoes--Flying-fish alighting on deck--Dismasted--Arrive at + Carlysle Bay. + + +From Bahia to Pernambuco our course lay along that part of the Brazilian +coast fanned by constant trade-winds. Nothing unusual occurred to +disturb our peace or daily course, and we pressed forward night and day, +as was our wont from the first. + +Victor and I stood watch and watch at sea, usually four hours each. + +The most difficult of our experiences in fine weather was the intense +drowsiness brought on by constantly watching the oscillating compass at +night: even in the daytime this motion would make one sleepy. + +We soon found it necessary to arrange a code of signals which would +communicate between the tiller and the "man forward." This was +accomplished by means of a line or messenger extending from one to the +other, which was understood by the number of pulls given by it; three +pulls, for instance, meant "Turn out," one in response, "Aye, aye, I am +awake, and what is it that is wanted?" one pull in return signified that +it was "Eight bells," and so on. But three quick jerks meant "Tumble out +and shorten sail." + +Victor, it was understood, would tie the line to his arm or leg when he +turned in, so that by pulling I would be sure to arouse him, or bring +him somewhat unceremoniously out of his bunk. Once, however, the +messenger failed to accomplish its purpose. A boot came out on the line +in answer to my call, so easily, too, that I suspected a trick. It was +evidently a preconceived plan by which to gain a moment more of sleep. +It was a clear imposition on the man at the wheel! + +We had also a sign in this system of telegraphing that told of +flying-fish on board--manna of the sea--to be gathered up for the +_cuisine_ whenever they happened to alight or fall on deck, which was +often, and as often they found a warm welcome. + +The watch was never called to make sail. As for myself, I had never to +be called, having thoughts of the voyage and its safe completion on my +mind to keep me always on the alert. I can truly say that I never, on +the voyage, slept so sound as to forget where I was, but whenever I fell +into a doze at all it would be to dream of the boat and the voyage. + +Press on! press on! was the watchword while at sea, but in port we +enjoyed ourselves and gave up care for rest and pleasure, carrying a +supply, as it were, to sea with us, where sail was again carried on. + +Though a mast should break, it would be no matter of serious concern, +for we would be at no loss to mend and rig up spars for this craft at +short notice, most anywhere. + +The third day out from Bahia was set fine weather. A few flying-fish +made fruitless attempts to rise from the surface of the sea, attracting +but little attention from the sea-gulls which sat looking wistfully +across the unbroken deep with folded wings. + +And the _Liberdade_, doing her utmost to get along through the common +quiet, made but little progress on her way. A dainty fish played in her +light wake, till tempted by an evil appetite for flies, it landed in the +cockpit upon a hook, thence into the pan, where many a one had brought +up before. Breakfast was cleared away at an early hour; then day of +good things happened--"the meeting of the ships." + + + When o'er the silent sea alone + For days and nights we've cheerless gone, + Oh they who've felt it know how sweet, + Some sunny morn a sail to meet. + + Sparkling at once is every eye, + "Ship ahoy! ship ahoy!" our joyful cry + While answering back the sound we hear, + "Ship ahoy! ship ahoy! what cheer, what cheer." + + Then sails are backed, we nearer come, + Kind words are said of friends and home, + And soon, too soon, we part with pain, + To sail o'er silent seas again. + + +On the clear horizon could be seen a ship, which proved to be our +staunch old friend, the _Finance_, on her way out to Brazil, heading +nearly for us. Our course was at once changed, so as to cross her bows. +She rose rapidly, hull up, showing her lines of unmistakable beauty, the +Stars and Stripes waving over all. They on board the great ship soon +descried our little boat, and gave sign by a deep whistle that came +rumbling over the sea, telling us that we were recognized. A few moments +later and the engines stopped. Then came the hearty hail, "Do you want +assistance?" Our answer "No" brought cheer on cheer from the steamer's +deck, while the _Liberdade_ bowed and courtesied to her old +acquaintance, the superior ship. Captain Baker, meanwhile, not +forgetting a sailor's most highly prized luxury, had ordered in the +slings a barrel of potatoes--new from home! Then dump they came, in a +jiffy, into the canoe, giving her a settle in the water of some inches. +Other fresh provisions were handed us, also some books and late papers. +J. Aspinwill Hodge, D.D., on a tour of inspection in the interest of the +Presbyterian Mission in Brazil--on deck here with his camera--got an +excellent photograph of the canoe.[5] + +One gentleman passed us a bottle of wine, on the label of which was +written the name of an old acquaintance, a merchant of Rio. We pledged +Mr. Gudgeon and all his fellow passengers in that wine, and had some +left long after, to the health of the captain of the ship, and his crew. +There was but little time for words, so the compliments passed were +brief. The ample plates in the sides of the _Finance_, inspiring +confidence in American thoroughness and build, we had hardly time to +scan, when her shrill whistle said "good-bye," and moving proudly on, +the great ship was soon out of sight, while the little boat, filling +away on the starboard tack, sailed on toward home, perfumed with the +interchange of a friendly greeting, tinged though with a palpable +lonesomeness. Two days after this pleasant meeting, the Port of +Pernambuco was reached. + +Tumbling in before a fresh "trade" wind that in the evening had sprung +up, accompanied with long, rolling seas, our canoe came nicely round the +point between lighted reef and painted buoy. + +Spray from the breakers on the reef opportunely wetting her sails gave +them a flat surface to the wind as we came close haul. + +The channel leading up the harbour was not strange to us, so we sailed +confidently along the lee of the wonderful wall made by worms, to which +alone Pernambuco is indebted for its excellent harbour; which, +extending also along a great stretch of the coast, protects Brazil from +the encroachment of the sea. + +At 8 p.m. we came to in a snug berth near the _Alfandega_, and early +next morning received the official visit from the polite port officers. + +Time from Bahia, five days; distance sailed, 390 miles. + +Pernambuco, the principal town of a large and wealthy province of the +same name, is a thriving place, sending out valuable cargoes, +principally of sugar and cotton. I had loaded costly cargoes here, times +gone by. I met my old merchant again this time, but could not carry his +goods on the _Liberdade_. However, fruits from his orchards and a run +among the trees refreshed my crew, and prepared them for the coming +voyage to Barbadoes, which was made with expedition. + +From Pernambuco we experienced a strong current in our favour, with, +sometimes, a confused cross sea that washed over us considerably. But +the swift current sweeping along through it all made compensation for +discomforts of motion, though our "ups and downs" were many. Along this +part of the coast (from Pernambuco to the Amazon), if one day should be +fine, three stormy ones would follow, but the gale was always fair, +carrying us forward at a goodly rate. + +Along about half way from Cape St. Roque to the Amazon, the wind which +had been blowing hard for two days, from E.S.E., and raising lively +waves all about, increased to a gale that knocked up seas, washing over +the little craft more than ever. The thing was becoming monotonous and +tiresome; for a change, therefore, I ran in toward the land, so as to +avoid the ugly cross sea farther out in the current. This course was a +mistaken one; we had not sailed far on it when a sudden rise of the +canoe, followed by an unusually long run down on the slope of a roller, +told us of a danger that we hardly dared to think of, then a mighty +comber broke, but, as Providence willed, broke short of the canoe, which +under shortened sail was then scudding very fast. + +We were on a shoal, and the sea was breaking from the bottom! The second +great roller came on, towering up, up, up, until nothing longer could +support the mountain of water, and it seemed only to pause before its +fall to take aim and surely gather us up in its sweeping fury. + +I put the helm a-lee; there was nothing else to do but this, and say +prayers. The helm hard down, brought the canoe round, bows to the +danger, while in breathless anxiety we prepared to meet the result as +best we could. Before we could say "Save us, or we perish," the sea +broke over with terrific force and passed on, leaving us trembling in +His hand, more palpably helpless than ever before. Other great waves +came madly on, leaping toward destruction; how they bellowed over the +shoal! I could smell the slimy bottom of the sea, when they broke! I +could taste the salty sand! + +In this perilous situation, buried sometimes in the foaming breakers, +and at times tossed like a reed on the crest of the waves, we struggled +with might and main at the helm and the sheets, easing her up or forcing +her ahead with care, gaining little by little toward deep water, till at +last she came out of the danger, shook her feathers like a sea-bird, and +rode on waves less perilous. Then we had time and courage to look back, +but not till then. + +And what a sight we beheld! The horizon was illumined with +phosphorescent light from the breakers just passed through. The +rainstorm which had obscured the coast was so cleared away now that we +could see the whole field of danger behind us. One spot in particular, +the place where the breakers dashed over a rock which appeared awash, in +the glare flashed up a shaft of light that reached to the heavens. + +This was the greatest danger we had yet encountered. The elasticity of +our canoe, not its bulk, saved it from destruction. Her light, springy +timbers and buoyant bamboo guards brought her upright again and again +through the fierce breakers. We were astonished at the feats of wonder +of our brave little craft. + +Fatigued and worn with anxiety, when clear of the shoal we hauled to +under close reefs, heading off shore, and all hands lay down to rest +till daylight. Then, squaring away again, we set what sail the canoe +could carry, scudding before it, for the wind was still in our favour, +though blowing very hard. Nevertheless the weather seemed fine and +pleasant at this stage of our own pleased feelings. Any weather that +one's craft can live in, after escaping a lee shore, is pleasant +weather--though some may be pleasanter than other. + +What we most wished for, after this thrilling experience, was sea room, +fair wind, and plenty of it. That these without stint would suit us +best, was agreed on all hands. Accordingly then I shaped the course +seaward, clearing well all the dangers of the land. + +The fierce tropical storm of the last few days turned gradually into +mild trade-winds, and our cedar canoe skipped nimbly once more over +tranquil seas. Our own agitation, too, had gone down and we sailed on +unruffled by care. Gentle winds carried us on over kindly waves, and we +were fain to count fair days ahead, leaving all thoughts of stormy ones +behind. In this hopeful mood we sailed for many days, our spirits never +lowering, but often rising higher out of the miserable condition which +we had fallen into through misfortunes on the foreign shore. When a star +came out, it came as a friend, and one that had been seen by friends of +old. When all the stars shone out, the hour at sea was cheerful, bright, +and joyous. Welby saw, or had in the mind's-eye, a day like many that we +experienced in the soft, clear "trades" on this voyage, when writing the +pretty lines:-- + + + The twilight hours like birds flew by, + As lightly and as free, + Ten thousand stars were in the sky, + Ten thousand on the sea. + + For every rippling, dancing wave, + That leaped upon the air, + Had caught a star in its embrace, + And held it trembling there. + + +"The days pass, and our ship flies fast upon her way." + +For several days while sailing near the line we saw the constellations +of both hemispheres, but heading north, we left those of the south at +last, with the Southern Cross--most beautiful in all the heavens--to +watch over a friend. + +Leaving these familiar southern stars and sailing toward constellations +in the north, we hoist all sail to the cheery breeze which carries us +on. + +In this pleasant state of sailing with our friends all about us, we +stood on and on, never doubting once our pilot or our ship. + +A phantom of the stately _Aquidneck_ appeared one night, sweeping by +with crowning skysails set, that fairly brushed the stars. No apparition +could have affected us more than the sight of this floating beauty, so +like the _Aquidneck_, gliding swiftly and quietly by, from her mission +to some foreign land--she, too, was homeward bound! + +This incident of the _Aquidneck's_ ghost, as it appeared to us, passing +at midnight on the sea, left a pang of lonesomeness for a while. + +But a carrier dove came next day, and perched upon the mast, as if to +tell that we had yet a friend! Welcome harbinger of good! you bring us +thoughts of angels. + +The lovely visitor remained with us two days, off and on, but left for +good on the third, when we reached away from Avis Island, to which, +maybe, it was bound. Coming as it did from the east, and flying west +toward the island when it left, bore out the idea of the lay of sweet +singer Kingsley's "Last Buccaneer." + + + If I might but be a sea dove, I'd fly across the main + To the pleasant Isle of Avis, to look at it once again. + + +The old Buccaneer, it may have been, but we regarded it as the little +bird, which most likely it was, that sits up aloft to look out for poor +"Jack."[6] + +A moth, blown to our boat on the ocean, found shelter and a welcome +there. The dove we secretly worshipped. + +With utmost confidence in our little craft, inspired by many thrilling +events, we now carried sail, blow high, blow low, till at times she +reeled along with a bone in her mouth quite to the mind of her mariners. +Thinking one day that she might carry more sail on the mast already +bending hopefully forward, and acting upon the liberal thought of sail, +we made a wide mistake, for the mainmast went by the board, under the +extra press and the foremast tripped over the bows. Then spars, booms, +and sails swung alongside like the broken wings of a bird, but were +grappled, however, and brought aboard without much loss of time. The +broken mast was then secured and strengthened by "fishes" or splints +after the manner in which doctors fish a broken limb. + +Both of the masts were very soon refitted and again made to carry sail, +all they could stand; and we were again bowling along as before. We made +that day a hundred and seventy-five miles, one of our best days' work. + +I protest here that my wife should not have cried "More sail! more +sail!" when as it has been seen the canoe had on all the sail that she +could carry. Nothing further happened to change the usual daily events +until we reached Barbadoes. Flying-fish on the wing striking our sails, +at night, often fell on deck, affording us many a toothsome fry. This +happened daily, while sailing throughout the trade-wind regions. To be +hit by one of these fish on the wing, which sometimes occurs, is no +light matter, especially if the blow be on the face, as it may cause a +bad bruise or even a black eye. The head of the flying-fish being rather +hard makes it in fact a night slugger to be dreaded. They never come +aboard in the daylight. The swift darting bill-fish, too, is a danger to +be avoided in the tropics at night. They are met with mostly in the +Pacific Ocean; therefore South Sea Islanders are loath to voyage during +the "bill-fish season." + +As to the flight of these fishes, I would estimate that of the +flying-fish as not exceeding fifteen feet in height, or five hundred +yards of distance, often not half so much. + +Bill-fish, darting like an arrow from a bow, have, fortunately for +sailors, not the power or do not rise much above the level of the waves, +and cannot dart further, say, than two hundred and fifty feet, +according to the day for jumping. Of the many swift fish in the sea, the +dolphin, perhaps, is the most marvellous. Its oft-told beauty, too, is +indeed remarkable. A few of these fleet racers were captured, on the +voyage, but were found tough and rank; notwithstanding some eulogy on +them by other epicures, we threw the mess away. Those hooked by my crew +were perhaps the tyrrhena pirates "turned into dolphins" in the days of +yore. + +On the 19th day from Pernambuco, early in the morning, we made Barbadoes +away in the West. First, the blue, fertile hills, then green fields came +into view, studded with many white buildings between sentries of giant +wind-mills as old nearly as the hills. Barbadoes is the most pleasant +island in the Antilles; to sail round its green fringe of coral sea is +simply charming. We stood in to the coast, well to windward, sailing +close in with the breakers so as to take in a view of the whole +delightful panorama as we sailed along. By noon we rounded the south +point of the island and shot into Carlysle Bay, completing the run from +Pernambuco exactly in nineteen days. This was considerably more than an +hundred miles a day. The true distance being augmented by the circuitous +route we adopted made it 2,150 miles. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[5] We had the pleasure of meeting this gentleman again on the +voyage at Barbadoes, again at New London, and finally with delight we +heard him lecture on his travels, at Newport, and saw there produced on +the wall the very picture of the _Liberdade_ taken by the doctor on the +great ocean. + +[6] + + There's a sweet little cherub that sits up aloft, + To look out for a berth for poor Jack.--_Dibdin's Poems._ + + + + +CHAPTER XV + + At Barbadoes--Mayaguez--Crossing the Bahama Banks--The Gulf + Stream--Arrival on the coast of South Carolina. + + +Many old friends and acquaintances came down to see us upon our arrival +at Barbadoes, all curious to inspect the strange craft. While there our +old friend, the _Palmer_, that we left at Bahia, came in to refit, +having broken a mast "trying to beat us," so Garfield would have it. For +all that we had beaten her by four days. Who then shall say that we +anchored nights or spent much time hugging the shore? The _Condor_ was +also at Barbadoes in charge of an old friend, accompanied by a pleasant +helpmeet and companion who had shared the perils of shipwreck with her +husband the year before in a hurricane among the islands. + +Meeting so many of this class of old friends of vast and varied +experiences gave contentment to our visit, and we concluded to remain +over at this port till the hurricane season should pass. Our old friend, +the _Finance_, too, came in, remaining but a few hours. However, she +hurried away with her mails, homeward bound. + +The pleasant days at Barbadoes with its enchantment flew lightly by; and +on the 7th of October we sailed, giving the hurricane season the benefit +of eight days. The season is considered over on the 15th of that month. + +Passing thence through the Antilles into the Caribbean Sea, a new period +of our voyage was begun. Fair breezes filled the sails of the +_Liberdade_ as we glided along over tranquil seas, scanning eagerly the +islands as they came into view, dwelling on each, in our thoughts, as +hallowed ground of the illustrious discoverers--the same now as seen by +them! The birds, too, of "rare plumage," were there, flying from island +to island, the same as seen by the discoverers; and the sea with fishes +teemed, of every gorgeous hue, lending enchantment to the picture, not +less beautiful than the splendour on the land and in the air to thrill +the voyager now, the same as then; we ourselves had only to look to see +them. + +Whether it was birds with fins, or fishes with wings, or neither of +these that the old voyagers saw, they discovered yet enough to make them +wonder and rejoice. + +"Mountains of sugar, and rivers of rum and flying-fish, was what I saw, +mother," said the son on his return from a voyage to these islands. +"John," said the enraptured mother, "you must be mistaken about the +fish; now don't lie to me, John. Mountains of sugar, no doubt you saw, +and even rivers of rum, my boy, but _flying-fish_ could never be." + +And yet the _fish_ were there. + +Among the islands of great interest which came in view, stretching along +the Caribbean Sea, was that of Santa Cruz, the island famous for its +brave, resolute women of days gone by, who, while their husbands were +away, successfully defended home and happiness against Christian +invaders, and for that reason were called fierce savages. I would fain +have brought away some of the earth of the island in memory of those +brave women. Small as our ship was, we could have afforded room in it +for a memento thus consecrated; but the trades hauling somewhat to the +northward so headed us off that we had to forgo the pleasure of landing +on its shores. + +Pushing forward thence, we reached Porto Rico, the nearest land in our +course from the Island of Brave Women, standing well in with the +southeast capes. Sailing thence along the whole extent of the south +coast, in waters as smooth as any mill pond, and past island scenery +worth the perils of ten voyages to see, we landed, on the 12th of +October, at Mayaguez in the west of the island, and there shook the +kinks out of our bones by pleasant walks in tropic shades. + +Time, five days from Barbadoes; distance 570 miles. + +This was to be our last run among the trees in the West Indies, and we +made the most of it. "Such a port for mariners I'll never see again!" +The port officials, kind and polite, extended all becoming courtesies to +the quaint "_barco piquina_." + +The American Consul, Mr. Christie, Danish Consul, Mr. Falby, and the +good French Consul, vied in making our visit a pleasant one. + +Photographers at Mayaguez desiring a picture of the canoe with the crew +on deck at a time when we felt inclined to rest in the shade on shore, +put a negro on board to take the place of captain. The photographs taken +then found their way to Paris and Madrid journals where, along with some +flattering accounts, they were published, upon which it was remarked +that the captain was a fine-looking fellow, but "awfully tanned!" The +moke was rigged all ataunto for the occasion, and made a picture +indicative of great physical strength, one not to be ashamed of, but he +would have looked more like me, I must say, if they had turned him back +to. + +We enjoyed long carriage drives over rich estates at Mayaguez. We saw +with pain, however, that the atmosphere of the soldier hung over all, +pervading the whole air like a pestilence. + +Musketed and sabred and uniformed in their bed-ticking suits; hated by +the residents and despised by themselves, they doggedly marched, +counter-marched and wheeled, knowing that they are loathsome in the +island, and that their days in the New World are numbered. The sons of +the colonies are too civil and Christianlike to be ruled always by sword +and gun. + +On the 15th of October, after three days' rest, we took in, as usual +before sailing from ports, sufficient fresh supplies to carry us to the +port steered for next, then set sail from pleasant Mayaguez, and bore +away for the old Bahama Channel, passing east of Hayti, thence along the +north coast to the west extremity of the island, from which we took +departure for the head-lands of Cuba, and followed that coast as far as +Cardinas, where we took a final departure from the islands, regretting +that we could not sail around them all. + +The region on the north side of Cuba is often visited by gales of great +violence, making this the lee shore; a weather eye was therefore kept +lifting, especially in the direction of their source, which is from +north to nor'west. However, storms prevailed from other quarters, mostly +from the east, bringing heavy squalls of wind, rain and thunder every +afternoon, such as once heard will never be forgotten. Peal on peal of +nature's artillery for a few hours, accompanied by vivid lightning, was +on the cards for each day, then all would be serene again. + +The nights following these severe storms were always bright and +pleasant, and the heavens would be studded with constellations of +familiar, guiding stars. + +My crew had now no wish to bear up for port short of one on our own +coast, but, impatient to see the North Star appear higher in the +heavens, strung every nerve and trimmed every sail to hasten on. + +Nassau, the place to which letters had been directed to us, we forbore +to visit. This departure from a programme which was made at the +beginning was the only change that we made in the "charter party" +throughout the voyage. There was no haphazard sailing on this voyage. +Daily observations for determining latitude and longitude were +invariably made unless the sun was obscured. The result of these +astronomical observations were more reliable than one might suppose, +from their being taken on a tittlish canoe. After a few days' +practising, a very fair off-hand contact could be made, when the canoe +rose on the crest of a wave, where manifestly would be found the best +result. The observer's station was simply on the top of the cabin, where +astride, like riding horseback, Victor and I took the "sights," and +indeed became expert "snap observers" before the voyage ended. + +One night in the Bahama Channel, while booming along toward the Banks to +the nor'west of us before stiff trades, I was called in the first watch +by Victor, to come up quickly, for signs of the dread "norther" were in +the sky. Our trusty barometer had been low, but was now on the cheerful +side of change. This phenomenon disturbed me somewhat, till the +discovery was made, as we came nearer, that it was but the reflection of +the white banks on the sky that we saw, and no cause at all for alarm. + +Soon after this phenomenon the faint glimmer of Lobos Light was descried +flickering on the horizon, two points on the weather bow. I changed the +course three points to windward, having determined to touch at the small +Cay where the lighthouse stands; one point being allowed for leeway, +which I found was not too much. + +Three hours later we fetched in under the lee of the reef, or Cay, as it +is commonly called, and came to in one and a half fathoms of water in +good shelter. + +We beheld then overhead in wonderful beauty what had awed us from the +distance in the early night--a chart of the illuminating banks marked +visibly on the heavens. + +We furled sails and, setting a light in the rigging, turned in; for it +lacked three hours yet of daylight. And what an interesting experience +ours had been in the one short night! By the break of day my crew were +again astir, preparing to land and fill water at a good landing which we +now perceived farther around the point to leeward, where the surf was +moderate. + +On the Cay is stored some hundred thousand gallons of rain water in +cisterns at the base of the iron tower which carries the light; one that +we saw from the canoe at a distance of fourteen miles. + +The keeper of the light, a hardy native of Nassau, when he discovered +the new arrival at his "island," hoisted the British Board of Trade flag +on a pole in the centre of this, his little world, then he came forward +to speak us, thinking at first, he said, that we were shipwrecked +sailors, which indeed we were, but not in distress, as he had supposed +when hoisting the flag, which signified assistance for distressed +seamen. On learning our story, however, he regarded us with grave +suspicions, and refused water to Victor, who had already landed with +buckets, telling him that the captain would have to bring his papers +ashore and report. The mate's report would not be taken. Thus in a +moment was transformed the friend in need to _governor of an island_. +This amused me greatly, and I sent back word to my veritable Sancho +Panza that in my many voyages to islands my mate had attended to the +customs reports; at which his Excellency chafed considerably, giving the +gunnels of his trousers a fitful tug up now and then as he paced the +beach, waiting my compliance with the rules of the island. The governor, +I perceived, was suspicious of smugglers and wreckers, apparently +understanding their ways, if, indeed, even he were not a reformed +pirate himself. + +However, to humour the punctiliousness of his Excellency, now that he +was governor of an island, I placed my papers in my hat, and, leaping +into the surf, waded ashore, where I was received as by a monarch. + +The document I presented was the original _Passe Especial_, the one with +the big seal on it, written in Portuguese; had it been in Choctàw the +governor would have read it with the same facility that he did this, +which he stared at knowingly and said, "all right, take all the water +you want; it is free." + +I lodged a careful report of the voyage with the governor and explained +to his Excellency the whereabouts of the "Island of Rio," as his grace +persistently called Rio de Janeiro, whence dated my papers. + +Conversing on the subject of islands, which was all the world to him, +the governor viewed with suspicion the absence of a word in my +documents, referring even to an islet; this, in his mind, was a +reprehensible omission; for surely New York, to which the papers +referred, was built on an island. Upon this I offered to swear to the +truth of my clearance, "as far as known to me," after the manner of +cheap custom-house swearing with which shipmasters, in some parts of the +world, are made familiar. "Not on the island!" quickly exclaimed the +governor, "'for thou shalt not disglorify God's name,' is written in the +Bible." + +I assured the governor of my appreciation of his pious sentiment of not +over-swearing,--a laudable plan that even the Chinese adopt as a policy, +and one that I would speak of on my return home, to the end that we all +emulate the laws of the island; whereupon the governor, greatly pleased, +urged me to take some more water, minding me again that it was free. + +In a very few minutes I got all the water I wished for; also some aurora +shells from the governor's lady, who had arisen with the sun to grace +the day and of all things most appropriate held in her generous lap +beautiful aurora shells for which--to spoil the poem--I bartered +cocoa-nuts and rusty gnarly yams. + +The lady was on a visit only to her lord and master, the monarch of all +he surveyed. Beside this was their three children also on a visit, from +Nassau, and two assistant keepers of the light which made up the total +of this little world in the ocean. + +It was the smallest kingdom I had ever visited, peopled by happy human +beings and the most isolated by far. + +The few blades of grass which had struggled into existence, not enough +to support a goat, was all there was to look at on the island except the +lighthouse, and the sand and themselves. + +Some small buildings and a flagstaff had once adorned the place, but +together with a coop of chickens, the only stock of the +islanders--except a dog--had been swept away by a hurricane which had +passed over the island a short time before. The water for which we had +called being now in the canoe, and my people on board waiting for me, I +bade the worthy governor good-bye, and, saluting his charming island +queen in a seaman-like manner, hastened back to my own little world; and +bore away once more for the north. Sailing thence over the Great Bahama +Banks, in a crystal sea, we observed on the white marl bottom many +curious living things, among them the conch in its house of exquisite +tints and polished surface, the star-fish with radiated dome of curious +construction, and many more denizens of the place, the names of which I +could not tell, resting on the soft white bed under the sea. + +"They who go down to the sea in ships, they see the wonders of the +Lord," I am reminded by a friend who writes me, on receipt of some of +these curious things which I secured on the voyage, adding: "For all +these curious and beautiful things are His handiwork. Who can look at +such things without the heart being lifted up in adoration?" + +For words like these what sailor is there who would not search the caves +of the ocean? Words too, from a lady. + +Two days of brisk sailing over the white Bahama Banks brought us to +Bimini. Thence a mere push would send us to the coast of our own native +America. The wind in the meantime hauling from regular nor'east trade to +the sou'west, as we came up to Bimini, promising a smooth passage +across, we launched out at once on the great Gulf Stream, and were swept +along by its restless motion, making on the first day, before the wind +and current, two hundred and twenty miles. This was great getting along +for a small canoe. Going at the same high rate of speed on the second +night in the stream, the canoe struck a spar and went over it with a +bound. Her keel was shattered by the shock, but finally shaking the +crippled timber clear of herself she came on quite well without it. No +other damage was done to our craft, although at times her very ribs were +threatened before clearing this lively ocean river. In the middle of the +current, where the seas were yet mountainous but regular, we went along +with a wide, swinging motion and fared well enough; but on nearing the +edge of the stream a confused sea was met with, standing all on end, in +every which way, beyond a sailor's comprehension. The motion of the +_Liberdade_ was then far from poetical or pleasant. The wind, in the +meantime, had chopped round to the nor'east, dead ahead; being thus +against the current, a higher and more confused sea than ever was heaped +up, giving us some uneasiness. We had, indeed, several unwelcome +visitors come tumbling aboard of our craft, one of which furiously +crashing down on her made all of her timbers bend and creak. However, I +could partially remedy this danger by changing the course. + +"Seas like that can't break this boat," said our young boatswain; "she's +built strong." It was well to find among the crew this feeling of +assurance in the gallant little vessel. I, too, was confident in her +seaworthiness. Nevertheless, I shortened sail and brought her to the +wind, watching the lulls and easing her over the combers, as well as I +could. But wrathful Neptune was not to let us so easily off, for the +next moment a sea swept clean over the helmsman, wetting him through to +the skin and, most unkind cut of all, it put out our fire, and capsized +the hash and stove into the bottom of the canoe. This left us with but a +_damper_ for breakfast! Matters mended, however, as the day advanced, +and for supper we had a grand and glorious feast. Early in the afternoon +we made the land and got into smooth water. This of itself was a feast, +to our minds. + +The land we now saw lying before us was hills of America, which we had +sailed many thousands of miles to see. Drawing in with the coast, we +made out, first the broad, rich forests, then open fields and villages, +with many signs of comfort on every hand. We found it was the land about +Bull's Bay on the coast of South Carolina, and night coming on, we could +plainly see Cape Roman Light to the north of us. The wind falling light +as we drew in with the coast, and finding a current against us, we +anchored, about two miles from the shore, in four fathoms of water. It +was now 8 p.m., October 28, 1888, thirteen days from Mayaguez, +twenty-one days from Barbadoes, etc. + +The following was the actual time at sea and distances in nautical miles +from point to point on the courses steered, approximately: + + + _Days._ _ Distance._ + + +From Paranagua to Santos 1 150 + " Santos to Rio de Janeiro + (towed by _Finance_) ¾ 200 + " Rio to Cape Frio 2 70 + " Cape Frio to Carvellas 4 370 + " Carvellas to Saint Paulo 3 270 + " Saint Paulo to Bahia ½ 40 + " Bahia to Pernambuco 5 390 + " Pernambuco to Barbadoes 19 2,150 + " Barbadoes to Mayaguez 5 570 + " Mayaguez to Cape Roman 13 1,300 + --- ----- + 53¼ 5,510 + + +Computing all the distances of the ins and outs that we made would +considerably augment the sum. To say, therefore, that the _Liberdade_ +averaged a hundred and three miles a day for fifty-three days would be +considerably inside the truth. + +This was the voyage made in the boat which cost less than a hundred +dollars outside of our own labour of building. Journals the world over +have spoken not unkindly of the feat; encomiums in seven languages +reached us through the newspapers while we lay moored in Washington. +Should the same good fortune that followed the _Liberdade_ attend this +little literary craft, when finished, it would go safe into many lands. +Without looking, however, to this mark of good fortune, the journal of +the voyage has been as carefully constructed as was the _Liberdade_, and +I trust, as conscientiously, by a hand, alas! that has grasped the +sextant more often than the plane or pen, and for the love of doing. +This apology might have been more appropriately made in the beginning of +the journal, maybe, but it comes to me now, and like many other things +done, right or wrong, but done on the impulse of the moment, I put it +down. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + Ocean Currents--Visit to South Santee--At the Typee + River--Quarantined--South Port and Wilmington, N.C.--Inland sailing + to Beaufort, Norfolk and Washington, D.C.--Voyage ended. + + +No one will be more surprised at the complete success of the voyage and +the speedy progress made than were we ourselves who made it. + +A factor of the voyage, one that helped us forward greatly, and which is +worthy of special mention, was the ocean current spoken of as we came +along in its friendly sway. + +Many are the theories among fresh-water philosophists respecting these +currents, but in practical sailing, where the subject is met with in its +tangible form, one cause only is recognized; namely, the action of the +wind on the surface of the water, pushing the waves along. Out on the +broad ocean the effect at first is hardly perceptible, but the constant +trades, sending countless millions of waves in one direction, cause at +last a mighty moving power, which the mariner meets sometimes as an +enemy to retard and delay, sometimes as a friend, as in our case, to +help him on his way. These are views from a practical experience with no +theory to prove. + +By daylight on the twenty-ninth, we weighed anchor and set sail again +for the north. The wind and current were still adverse, but we kept near +the land, making short boards off and on through the day where the +current had least effect. And when night came on again we closed in once +more with Cape Roman light. Next day we worked up under the lee of the +Roman shoals and made harbour in South Santee, a small river to the +north of Cape Roman, within range of the light, there to rest until the +wind should change, it being still ahead. + +Next morning, since the wind had not changed, we weighed anchor and +stood farther into the river looking for inhabitants, that we might +listen to voices other than our own. Our search was soon rewarded, for, +coming around a point of woodland, a farmhouse stood before us on the +river side. We came alongside the bank and jumped ashore, but hardly had +we landed when, as out of the earth, a thousand dogs, so it seemed, +sprung up threatening to devour us all. However, a comely woman came out +of the house and it was explained to the satisfaction of all, especially +to a persistent cur, by a vigorous whack on the head with a cudgel, that +our visit was a friendly one; then all was again peaceful and quiet. The +good man was in the field close by, but soon came home accompanied by +his two stalwart sons each "toting" a sack of corn. We found the +Andersons--this was the family name--isolated in every sense of the +word, and as primitive as heart could wish. The charming simplicity of +these good people captivated my crew. We met others along the coast +innocent of greed, but of all unselfish men, Anderson the elder was +surely the prince. + +Purchasing some truck from this good man, we found that change could not +be made for the dollar which I tendered in payment. But I protested that +I was more than content to let the few odd cents go, having received +more garden stuff than I had ever seen offered for a dollar in any part +of the world. And indeed I was satisfied. The farmer, however, nothing +content, offered me a coon skin or two, but these I didn't want, and +there being no other small change about the farm, the matter was +dropped, I thought, for good, and I had quite forgotten it, when later +in the evening I was electrified by his offering to carry a letter for +us which we wished posted, some seven miles away, and call it "square," +against the twenty cents of the morning's transaction. The letter went, +and in due course of time we got an answer. + +I do not say that we stuck strictly to the twenty-cent transaction, but +I fear that not enough was paid to fair-dealing Anderson. However, all +were at last satisfied and warming into conversation, a log fire was +improvised and social chat went round. + +These good people could hardly understand how it was, as I explained, +that the Brazilians had freed the slaves and had no war, Mr. Anderson +often exclaiming, "Well, well, I d'clar. Freed the niggers, and had no +wah. Mister," said he, turning to me after a long pause, "mister, d'ye +know the South were foolish? They had a wah, and they had to free the +niggers, too." + +"Oh, yes, mister, I was thar! Over thar beyond them oaks was my house." + +"Yes, mister, I fought, too, and fought hard, but it warn't no use." + +Like many a hard fighter, Anderson, too, was a pious man, living in a +state of resignation to be envied. His years of experience on the new +island farm had been hard and trying in the extreme. My own misfortunes +passed into shade as the harder luck of the Andersons came before my +mind, and the resolution which I had made to buy a farm was now shaken +and finally dissolved into doubts of the wisdom of such a course. On +this farm they had first "started in to raise pork," but found that it +"didn't pay, for the pigs got wild and had to be gathered with the +dogs," and by the time they were "gathered and then toted, salt would +hardly cure them, and they most generally tainted." The enterprise was +therefore abandoned, for that of tilling the soil, and a crop was put +in, but "the few pigs which the dogs had not gathered came in at night +and rooted out all the taters." It then appeared that a fence should be +built. "Accordingly," said he, "the boys and I made one which kept out +the stock, but, sir, the rats could get in! They took every tater out of +the ground! From all that I put in, and my principal work was thar, I +didn't see a sprout." How it happened that the rats had left the crop +the year before for their relations--the pigs--was what seemed most to +bother the farmer's mind. Nevertheless, "there was corn in Egypt yet"; +and at the family circle about the board that night a smile of hope +played on the good farmer's face, as in deep sincerity he asked that for +what they had they might be made truly thankful. We learned a lesson of +patience from this family, and were glad that the wind had carried us to +their shore. + +Said the farmer, "And you came all the way from Brazil in that boat! +Wife, she won't go to Georgetown in the batto that I built because it +rares too much. And they freed the niggers and had no wah! Well, well, I +d'clar!" + +Better folks we may never see than the farmers of South Santee. Bidding +them good-bye next morning at early dawn we sailed before a light land +wind which, however, soon petered out. + +The S.S. _Planter_ then coming along took us in tow for Georgetown, +where she was bound. We had not the pleasure, however, of visiting the +beloved old city; for having some half dozen cocoa-nuts on board, the +remainder of small stores of the voyage, a vigilant officer stopped us +at the quarantine ground. Fruit not being admitted into South Carolina +until after the first of November, and although it was now late in the +afternoon of the first, we had to ride quarantine that night, with a +promise, however, of _pratique_ next morning. But there was no steamer +going up the river the next day. The _Planter_ coming down though +supplied us with some small provisions, such as were not procurable at +the Santee farm. Then putting to sea we beat along slowly against wind +and current. + +We began now to experience, as might be expected, autumn gales of +considerable violence, the heaviest of which overtaking us at Frying-pan +Shoal, drove us back to leeward of Cape Fear for shelter. South Port and +Wilmington being then so near we determined to visit both places. Two +weeks at these ports refreshed the crew and made all hands willing for +sea again. + +Sailing thence through Corn-cake Inlet we cut off Cape Fear and the +Frying-pan Shoals, being of mind to make for the inlets along the +Carolina coast and to get into the inland waters as soon as practicable. + +It was our good fortune to fall in with an old and able pilot at +Corn-cake Inlet, one Capt. Bloodgood, who led the way through the +channel in his schooner, the _Packet_, a Carolina pitch and cotton +droger of forty tons register, which was manned solely by the captain +and his two sons, one twelve and the other ten years old. It was in the +crew that I became most interested, and not the schooner. Bloodgood gave +the order when the tide served for us to put to sea. "Come, children," +said he, "let's try it." Then we all tried it together, the _Packet_ +leading the way. The shaky west wind, that filled our sails as we +skimmed along the beach with the breakers close aboard, carried us but a +few leagues when it flew suddenly round to nor'east and began to pipe. + +The gale increasing rapidly inclined me to bear up for New River Inlet, +then close under our lee, with a treacherous bar lying in front, which +to cross safely would require great care. + +But the gale was threatening, and the harbour inside, we could see, was +smooth; then, too, cried my people: "Any port in a storm." I decided +prompt; put the helm up and squared away. Flying thence, before it, the +tempest-tossed canoe came sweeping in from sea over the rollers in a +delightfully thrilling way. One breaker only coming over us, and even +that did no harm more than to give us all the climax soaking of the +voyage. This was the last sea that broke over the canoe on the memorable +voyage. + +The harbour inside the bar of New River was good. Adding much to our +comfort too was fish and game in abundance. + +The _Packet_, which had parted from us, made her destined port some +three leagues farther on. The last we saw of the children, they were at +the main sheets hauling aft, and their father was at the helm, and all +were flying through the mist like fearless sailors. + +After meeting Carolina seamen, to say nothing of the few still in +existence further north, I challenge the story of Greek supremacy. + +The little town of South Port was made up almost entirely of pilots +possessing, I am sure, every quality of the sailor and the gentleman. + +Moored snug in the inlet, it was pleasant to listen to the roar of the +breakers on the bar, but not so cheerful was the thought of facing the +high waves seaward. Therefore the plan suggested itself of sufficiently +deepening a ditch that led through the marshes from New River to Bogue +Sound, to let us through; thence we could sail inland the rest of the +voyage without obstruction or hindrance of any kind. To this end we set +about contrivances to heave the canoe over the shoals, and borrowed a +shovel from a friendly schooner captain to deepen the ditch which we +thought would be necessary to do in order to ford her along that way. +However, the prevailing nor'east gales had so raised the water in the +west end of the sound as to fill all the creeks and ditches to +overflowing. I hesitated then no longer, but heading for the ditch +through the marshes on a high tide, before a brave west wind took the +chances of getting through by hook or by crook or by shovel and spade if +required. + +The "Coast Pilot," in speaking of this place, says there is never more +than a foot of water there, and even that much is rarely found. The +_Liberdade_ essayed the ditch, drawing two feet and four inches, thus +showing the further good fortune or luck which followed perseverance, as +it usually does, though sometimes, maybe, it is bad luck! Perhaps I am +not lucid on this, which at best must remain a disputed point. + +I was getting lost in the maze of sloughs and creeks, which as soon as I +entered seemed to lead in every direction but the right one. Hailing a +hunter near by, however, I was soon put straight and reassured of +success. The most astonished man, though, in North Carolina, was this +same hunter when asked if he knew the ditch that led through where I +wished to go. + +"Why, stranger," said he, "my gran'ther digged that ditch." + +I jumped, I leaped! at thought of what a pilot this man would be. + +"Well, stranger," said he, in reply to my query, "stranger, if any man +kin take y' thro' that ditch, why, I kin"; adding doubtfully, however, +"I have not hearn tell befo' of a vessel from Brazil sailing through +these parts; but then you mout get through, and again ye moutent. Well, +it's jist here; you mout and you moutent." + +A bargain was quickly made, and my pilot came aboard, armed with a long +gun, which as we sailed along proved a terror to ducks. The entrance to +the ditch, then close by, was made with a flowing sheet, and I soon +found that my pilot knew his business. Rush-swamps and corn-fields we +left to port and to starboard, and were at times out of sight among +brakes that brushed crackling along the sides of the canoe, as she swept +briskly through the narrows, passing them all, with many a close hug, +though, on all sides. At a point well on in the crooked channel my pilot +threw up his hat, and shouted, with all his might: + +"Yer trouble is over! Swan to gosh if it ain't! And ye come all the way +from Brazil, and come through gran'ther's ditch! Well, I d'clar!" + +From this I concluded that we had cleared all the doubtful places, and +so it turned out. Before sundown my pilot was looking for the change of +a five-dollar-piece; and we of the _Liberdade_ sat before a pot-pie, at +twilight, the like of which on the whole voyage had not been tasted, +from sea fowl laid about by our pilot while sailing through the meadows +and marshes. And the pilot himself, returning while the pot-pie was yet +steaming hot, declared it "ahead of coon." + +A pleasant sail was this through the ditch that gran'ther dug. At the +camp fire that night, where we hauled up by a fishing station, thirty +stalwart men talked over the adventures of their lives. My pilot, the +best speaker, kept the camp in roars. As for myself, always fond of +mirth, I got up from the fire sore from laughing. Their curious +adventures with coons and 'gators recounted had been considerable. + +Many startling stories were told. But frequently reverting to the voyage +of the _Liberdade_, they declared with one voice that "it was the +greatest thing since the wah." I took this as a kind of complimentary +hospitality. "When she struck on a sand reef," said the pilot, "why, the +captain he jumped right overboard and the son he jumped right over, too, +to tote her over, and the captain's wife she holp." + +By daylight next morning we sailed from this camp pleasant, and on the +following day, November 28, at noon, arrived at Beaufort. + +Mayor Bell of that city and many of his townfolk met us at the wharf, +and gave me as well as my sea-tossed crew a welcome to their shores, +such as to make us feel that the country was partly ours. + +"Welcome, welcome home," said the good mayor; "we have read of your +adventures, and watched your progress as reported from time to time, +with deep interest and sympathy." + +So we began to learn now that prayers on shore had gone up for the +little canoe at sea. This was indeed America and home, for which we had +longed while thousands of miles across the ocean. + +From Beaufort to Norfolk and thence to Washington was pleasant inland +sailing, with prevailing fair winds and smooth sea. Christmas was spent +on the Chesapeake--a fine, enjoyable day it was! with not a white-cap +ripple on the bay. Ducks swimming ahead of the canoe as she moved +quietly along were loath to take wing in so light a breeze, but flapping +away, half paddling and half flying, as we came toward them, they +managed to keep a long gun-shot off; but having laid in at the last port +a turkey of no mean proportions, which we made shift to roast in the +"caboose" aboard, we could look at a duck without wishing its +destruction. With this turkey and a bountiful plum duff, we made out a +dinner even on the _Liberdade_. + +Of the many Christmas days that come crowding in my recollections now; +days spent on the sea and in foreign lands, as falls to the lot of +sailors--which was the merriest it would be hard to say. Of this, +however, I am certain, that the one on board the _Liberdade_ on the +Chesapeake was not the least happy of them all. + +The day following Christmas found us on the Potomac, enjoying the same +fine weather and abundant good cheer of the day before. Fair winds +carried us through all the reaches of the river, and the same prosperity +which attended our little bark in the beginning of the voyage through +tempestuous weather followed her to the end of the voyage, which +terminated in mild days and pleasant sunshine. + +On the 27th of December, 1888, a south wind bore us into harbour at +Washington, D.C., there we moored for the winter, furled our sails and +coiled up the ropes, after a voyage of joys and sorrows, crowned with +pleasures, however, which lessened the pain of past regrets. + +Having moored the _Liberdade_ and weather-bitted her cables, it remains +only to be said that after bringing us safely through the dangers of a +tropical voyage, clearing reefs, shoals, breakers, and all storms +without a serious accident of any kind, we learned to love the little +canoe as well as anything could be loved that is made by hands. + +To say that we had not a moment of ill-health on the voyage would not +tell the whole story. + +My wife, brave enough to face the worst storms, as women are sometimes +known to do on sea and on land, enjoyed not only the best of health, but +had gained a richer complexion. + +Victor, at the end of the voyage, found that he had grown an inch and +had not been frightened out of his boots. + +Little Garfield--well he had grown some, too, and continued to be a +pretty good boy and had managed to hold his grip through many ups and +downs. He it was who stood by the bow line to make fast as quick as the +_Liberdade_ came to the pier at the end of the voyage. + +And I, last, as it should be, lost a few pounds' weight, but like the +rest landed in perfect health; taking it altogether, therefore, only +pleasant recollections of the voyage remain with us who made it. + +With all its vicissitudes I still love a life on the broad, free ocean, +never regretting the choice of my profession. + +However, the time has come to debark from the _Liberdade_, now breasted +to the pier where I leave her for a time; for my people are landed safe +in port. + + + + +DISPOSAL OF THE LIBERDADE + +About the middle of April the _Liberdade_ cast loose her moorings from +the dock at Washington, and spreading sail before a brave west wind, +bent her course along down the Potomac with the same facility as +experienced in December coming up before a wind from the South; then +shaping her course for New York via Baltimore and Philadelphia through +inland passages, the voyage was turned into a pleasure excursion. +Animation of spring clothed the landscape on all sides in its greatest +beauty; and our northern forest the voyagers found upon their return was +not less charming than "tropic shade" of foreign climes. And the robin +sang even a sweeter trill than ever before heard by the crew, for they +listened to it now in the country that they loved. + +From New York, the _Liberdade_ sailed for Boston via New London, New +Bedford, Martha's Vineyard, Newport, and Taunton, at which latter place +she hauled out, and the crew, thence to the Bay State Capital, enjoyed +the novelty of a "sail over land." + +Then the _Liberdade_ moored snug in Boston and her crew spent the winter +again among friends. They met here during this time the man who advised +the captain at Buenos Aires to pitch the _Aquidneck's_ cargo of hay into +the sea; for not taking the advice--witness, alas! the captain's plight! + +Finally, upon return of spring, the _Liberdade_ was refitted on a voyage +retracing her course to Washington, where, following safe arrival, she +will end her days in the Smithsonian Institution; a haven of honour that +many will be glad to know she has won. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Voyage of the Liberdade, by Captain Joshua Slocum + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VOYAGE OF THE LIBERDADE *** + +***** This file should be named 18541-8.txt or 18541-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/8/5/4/18541/ + +Produced by David Garcia, Martin Pettit and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Voyage of the Liberdade + +Author: Captain Joshua Slocum + +Release Date: June 9, 2006 [EBook #18541] +[Last updated: February 6, 2021] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VOYAGE OF THE LIBERDADE *** + + + + +Produced by David Garcia, Martin Pettit and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<h1>VOYAGE OF THE LIBERDADE</h1> + +<h2>Captain Joshua Slocum</h2> + +<p class='tbrk'> </p> + +<h4>Robinson & Stephenson Boston 1890</h4> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span></p> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<h3><a href="#GREETING">GREETING</a></h3> + +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I</a></h3> + +<p>The ship—The crew—A hurricane—Cape Verde Islands—Frio—A <i>pampeiro</i>.</p> + +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II</a></h3> + +<p>Montevideo—Beggars—Antonina for maté—Antonina to Buenos Aires—The +<i>bombelia</i>.</p> + +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III</a></h3> + +<p>Salvage of a cargo of wine—Sailors happy—Cholera in the +Argentine—Death in the land—Dutch Harry—Pete the Greek—Noted +crimps—Boat lost—Sail for Ilha Grande—Expelled from the port—Serious +hardships.</p> + +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV</a></h3> + +<p>Ilha Grande decree—Return to Rosario—Waiting opening of the Brazilian +ports—Scarcity of sailors—Buccaneers turned pilots—Sail down the +river—Arrive at Ilha Grande the second time—Quarantined and +fumigated—Admitted to <i>pratique</i>—Sail for Rio—Again challenged—Rio +at last.</p> + +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V</a></h3> + +<p>At Rio—Sail for Antonina with mixed cargo—A <i>pampeiro</i>—Ship on +beam-ends—Cargo still more mixed—Topgallant-masts carried away—Arrive +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</a></span>safely at Antonina.</p> + +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI</a></h3> + +<p>Mutiny—Attempt at robbery and murder—Four against one—Two go down +before a rifle—Order restored.</p> + +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII</a></h3> + +<p>Join the bark at Montevideo—A good crew—Small-pox breaks out—Bear up +for Maldonado and Floras—No aid—Death of sailors—To Montevideo in +distress—Quarantine.</p> + +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII</a></h3> + +<p>A new crew—Sail for Antonina—Load timber—Native canoes—Loss of the +<i>Aquidneck</i>.</p> + +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX</a></h3> + +<p>The building of the <i>Liberdade</i>.</p> + +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X</a></h3> + +<p>Across the bar—The run to Santos—Tow to Rio by the steamship—At Rio.</p> + +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI</a></h3> + +<p>Sail from Rio—Anchor at Cape Frio—Encounter with a whale—Sunken +treasure—The schoolmaster—The merchant—The good people at the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</a></span>village—A pleasant visit.</p> + +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII</a></h3> + +<p>Sail from Frio—Round Cape St. Thorne—High seas and swift currents—In +the "trades"—Dangerous reefs—Run into harbour unawares, on a dark and +stormy night—At Garavellas—Fine weather—A gale—Port St. +Paulo—Treacherous natives—Sail for Bahia.</p> + +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII</a></h3> + +<p>At Bahia—Meditations on the discoverers—The Caribbees.</p> + +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV</a></h3> + +<p>Bahia to Pernambuco—The meeting of the <i>Finance</i> at sea—At +Pernambuco—Round Cape St. Roque—A gale—Breakers—The stretch to +Barbadoes—Flying-fish alighting on deck—Dismasted—Arrive at Carlysle +Bay.</p> + +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV</a></h3> + +<p>At Barbadoes—Mayaguez—Crossing the Bahama Banks—The Gulf +Stream—Arrival on the coast of South Carolina.</p> + +<h3><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI</a></h3> + +<p>Ocean Currents—Visit to South Santee—At the Typee +River—Quarantined—South Port and Wilmington, N.C.—Inland sailing to +Beaufort, Norfolk and Washington, D.C.—Voyage ended.</p> + +<h3><a href="#DISPOSAL_OF_THE_LIBERDADE">DISPOSAL OF THE LIBERDADE</a></h3> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[Pg viii]</a></span></p> +<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> + +<h3 class='left'><a href="#illust-052.png">Diagram of the <i>Liberdade</i></a></h3> + +<h3 class='left'><a href="#illust-062.png">The <i>Liberdade</i></a></h3> + +<h2>MAP</h2> + +<h3 class='left'><a href="#illust-069.png">Course of the <i>Liberdade</i> from Paranagua to Barbadoes</a></h3> + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="GREETING" id="GREETING"></a>GREETING</h2> + +<p>This literary craft of mine, in its native model and rig, goes out laden +with the facts of the strange happenings on a home afloat. Her +constructor, a sailor for many years, could have put a whole cargo of +salt, so to speak, in the little packet; but would not so wantonly +intrude on this domain of longshore navigators. Could the author and +constructor but box-haul, club-haul, tops'l-haul, and catharpin like the +briny sailors of the strand, ah me!—and hope to be forgiven!</p> + +<p>Be the current against us, what matters it? Be it in our favour, we are +carried hence, to what place or for what purpose? Our plan of the whole +voyage is so insignificant that it matters little, maybe, whither we go, +for the "grace of a day" is the same! Is it not a recognition of this +which makes the old sailor happy, though in the storm; and hopeful even +on a plank in mid-ocean? Surely it is this! for the spiritual beauty of +the sea, absorbing man's soul, permits of no infidels on its boundless +expanse.</p> + +<p class='right'><span class="smcap">The Author.</span></p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<blockquote><p>The ship—The crew—A hurricane—Cape Verde Islands—Frio—A +<i>pampeiro</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p>To get underweigh: It was on the 28th of February 1886, that the bark +<i>Aquidneck</i>, laden with case-oil, sailed from New York for Montevideo, +the capital of Uruguay, the strip of land bounding the River Plate on +the east, and called by the natives "Banda Oriental." The <i>Aquidneck</i> +was a trim and tidy craft of 326 tons' register, hailing from Baltimore, +the port noted for clippers, and being herself high famed above them all +for swift sailing, she had won admiration on many seas.</p> + +<p>Her crew mustered ten, all told; twelve had been the complement, when +freights were good. There were, beside the crew with regular stations, a +little lad, aged about six years, and his mamma (age immaterial), +privileged above the rest, having "all nights in"—that is, not having +to stand watch. The mate, Victor, who is to see many adventures before +reaching New York again, was born and bred on shipboard. He was in +perfect health, and as strong as a windlass. When he first saw the light +and began to give orders, he was at San Francisco on the packet +<i>Constitution</i>, the vessel lost in the tempest at Samoa, just before the +great naval disaster at the same place in the year of 1889. Garfield, +the little lad above mentioned, Victor's brother, in this family ship, +was born in Hong Kong harbour, in the old bark <i>Amethyst</i>, a bona-fide +American citizen, though first seeing the light in a foreign port, the +Stars and Stripes standing sponsors for his nationality. This bark had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> +braved the wind and waves for fifty-eight years, but had not, up to that +date, so far as I know, experienced so lively a breeze as the one which +sprung up about her old timbers on that eventful 3rd of March, 1880.</p> + +<p>Our foremast hands on the <i>Aquidneck</i>, six in number, were from as many +nations, strangers to me and strangers to each other; but the cook, a +negro, was a native American—to the manner born. To have even so many +Americans in one ship was considered exceptional.</p> + +<p>Much or little as matters this family history and description of the +crew: the day of our sailing was bitter-cold and stormy, boding no good +for the coming voyage, which was to be, indeed, the most eventful of my +life of more than five-and-thirty years at sea. Studying the morning +weather report, before sailing, we saw predicted a gale from the +nor'west, and one also approaching from the sou'west at the same time. +"The prospect," said the New York papers, "is not encouraging." We were +anxious, however, to commence the voyage, having a crew on board, and, +being all ready, we boldly sailed, somewhat against our better judgment. +The nor'wester blowing, at the time, at the rate of forty miles an hour, +increased to eighty or ninety miles by March 2nd. This hurricane +continued through March 3rd, and gave us serious concern for the ship +and all on board.</p> + +<p>At New York, on those days, the wind howled from the north, with the +"storm centre somewhere on the Atlantic," so said the wise seamen of the +weather bureau, to whom, by the way, the real old salt is indebted, at +the present day, for information of approaching storms, sometimes days +ahead. The prognostication was correct, as we can testify, for out on +the Atlantic our bark could carry only a mere rag of a foresail, +some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span>what larger than a table-cloth, and with this storm-sail she went +flying before the tempest, all those dark days, with a large "bone in +her mouth,"<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> making great headway, even under the small sail. +Mountains of seas swept clean over the bark in their mad race, filling +her decks full to the top of the bulwarks, and shaking things generally.</p> + +<p>Our men were lashed, each one to his station; and all spare spars not +doubly lashed were washed away, along with other movables that were +broken and torn from their fastenings by the wild storm.</p> + +<p>The cook's galley came in for its share of the damage, the cook himself +barely escaping serious injury from a sea that went thundering across +the decks, taking with it doors, windows, galley stove, pots, kettles +and all, together with the culinary artist; landing the whole wreck in +the lee scuppers, but, most fortunately, with the professor on top. A +misfortune like this is always—felt. It dampens one's feelings, so to +speak. It means cold food for a time to come, if not even worse fare.</p> + +<p>The day following our misfortune, however, was not so bad. In fact, the +tremendous seas boarding the bark latterly were indications of the good +change coming, for it meant that her speed had slackened through a lull +of the gale, allowing the seas to reach her too full and heavy.</p> + +<p>More sail was at once crowded on, and still more was set at every stage +of the abatement of the gale, for the craft should not be lazy when big +seas race after her. And so on we flew, like a scud, sheeting home sail +after sail as required, till the 5th of March, when all of her white +wings were spread, and she fairly "walked the waters like a thing of +life." There was now wind enough<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> for several days, but not too much, +and our swift-sailing craft laughed at the seas trying to catch her.</p> + +<p>Cheerily on we sailed for days and days, pressed by the favouring gale, +meeting the sun each day a long span earlier, making daily four degrees +of longitude. It was the time, on these bright days, to forearm with dry +clothing against future stormy weather. Boxes and bags were brought on +deck, and drying and patching went on by wholesale in the watch below, +while the watch on deck bestirred themselves putting the ship in order. +"Chips," the carpenter, mended the galley; the cook's broken shins were +plastered up; and in a few days all was well again. And the sailors, +moving cheerfully about once more in their patched garments of varied +hues, reminded me of the spotted cape pigeons pecking for a living, the +pigeons, I imagined, having a better life of the two. A panican of hot +coffee or tea by sailors called "water bewitched," a sea-biscuit, and +"bit of salt-horse," had regaled the crew and restored their voices. +Then "Reuben Ranzo" was heard on the breeze, and the main tack was +boarded to the tune of "Johnny Boker." Other wondrous songs through the +night-watch could be heard in keeping with the happy time. Then what +they would do and what they wouldn't do in the next port was talked of, +when song and yarn ran out.</p> + +<p>Hold fast, shipmate, hold fast and belay! or the crimps of Montevideo +will wear the new jacket you promise yourself, while you will be off +Cape Horn, singing "Haul out to leeward," with a wet stocking on your +neck, and with the same old "lamby" on, that long since was "lamby" only +in name, the woolly part having given way to a cloth worn much in "Far +Cathay"; in short, you will dress in dungaree, the same as now, while +the crimps and landsharks divide your<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> scanty earnings, unless you "take +in the slack" of your feelings, and "make all fast and steady all."</p> + +<p>Ten days out, and we were in the northeast "trades"—porpoises were +playing under the bows as only porpoises can play; dolphins were racing +alongside, and flying-fish were all about. This was, indeed, a happy +change, and like being transported to another world. Our hardships were +now all forgotten, for "the sea washes off all the woes of men."</p> + +<p>One week more of pleasant sailing, all going orderly on board, and Cape +Verde Islands came in sight. A grand and glorious sight they were! All +hail, <i>terra firma</i>! It is good to look at you once again! By noon the +islands were abeam, and the fresh trade-wind in the evening bore us out +of sight of them before dark.</p> + +<p>Most delightful sailing is this large, swinging motion of our bark +bounding over the waves, with the gale abaft the beam, driving her +forward till she fairly leaps from billow to billow, as if trying to +rival her companions, the very flying-fish. Thwarted now by a sea, she +strikes it with her handsome bows, sending into the light countless +thousand sprays, that shine like a nimbus of glory. The tread on her +deck-plank is lighter now, and the little world afloat is gladsome fore +and aft.</p> + +<p>Cape Frio (cold cape) was the next landfall. Upon reaching that point, +we had crossed the Atlantic twice. The course toward Cape Verde Islands +had been taken to avail ourselves of a leading wind through the +south-east trades, the course from the islands to Frio being +southwesterly. This latter stretch was spanned on an easy bow-line; with +nothing eventful to record. Thence our course was through variable winds +to the River Plate, where a <i>pampeiro</i> was experienced that blew "great +guns," and whistled a hornpipe through the rigging.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span></p> + +<p>These <i>pampeiros</i> (winds from the <i>pampas</i>) usually blow with great +fury, but give ample warning of their approach: the first sign being a +spell of unsurpassed fine weather, with small, fleecy clouds floating so +gently in the sky that one scarcely perceives their movements, yet they +do move, like an immense herd of sheep grazing undisturbed on the great +azure field. All this we witnessed, and took into account. Then +gradually, and without any apparent cause, the clouds began to huddle +together in large groups; a sign had been given which the elements +recognized. Next came a flash of fire from behind the accumulating +masses, then a distant rumbling noise. It was a note of warning, and one +that no vessel should let pass unheeded. "Clew up, and furl!" was the +order. To hand all sail when these fierce visitors are out on a frolic +over the seas, and entertain them under bare poles, is the safest plan, +unless, indeed, the best storm sails are bent; even then it is safest to +goose-wing the tops'ls before the gale comes on. Not till the fury of +the blast is spent does the ship require sail, for it is not till then +that the sea begins to rise, necessitating sail to steady her.</p> + +<p>The first onslaught of the storm, levelling all before it, and sending +the would-be waves flying across in sheets—sailor sheets, so to +speak—lends a wild and fearful aspect; but there is no dread of a +lee-shore in the sailor's heart at these times, for the gale is from off +the land, as indicated by the name it bears.</p> + +<p>After the gale was a calm; following which came desirable winds, that +carried us at last to the port we sought—Montevideo; where we cast +anchor on the 5th of May, and made preparations, after the customs' +visit, for discharging the cargo, which was finally taken into lighters +from alongside to the piers, and thence to the warehouses, where ends +the ship's responsibility to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> the owner of the goods. But not till then +ceases the ship's liability, or the captain's care of the merchandise +placed in his trust. Clearly the captain has cares on sea and on land.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> The white foam at the bows produced by fast sailing is, by +sailors, called "a bone in her mouth."</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<blockquote><p>Montevideo—Beggars—Antonina for maté—Antonina to Buenos +Aires—The <i>bombelia</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p>Montevideo, sister city to Buenos Aires, is the fairer of the two to +look upon from the sea, having a loftier situation, and, like Buenos +Aires, boasts of many fine mansions, comely women, liberal schools, and +a cemetery of great splendour.</p> + +<p>It is at Montevideo that the "beggar a-horse-back" becomes a verity +(horses are cheap); galloping up to you the whining beggar will implore +you, saying: "For the love of Christ, friend, give me a coin to buy +bread with."</p> + +<p>From "the Mont" we went to Antonina, in Brazil, for a cargo of maté, a +sort of tea, which, prepared as a drink, is wholesome and refreshing. It +is partaken of by the natives in a highly sociable manner, through a +tube which is thrust into the steaming beverage in a silver urn or a +calabash, whichever may happen to be at hand when "drouthy neebors +neebors meet"; then all sip and sip in bliss from the same tube, which +is passed from mouth to mouth. No matter how many mouths there may be, +the <i>bombelia</i>, as it is called, must reach them all. It may have to be +replenished to make the drink go around, and several times, too, when +the company is large. This is done with but little loss of time. By +thrusting into the urn or gourd a spoonful of the herb, and two +spoonfuls of sugar to a pint of water, which is poured, boiling, over +it, the drink is made. But to give it some fancied extra flavour, a live +coal (<i>carbo vegetable</i>) is plunged into the potion to the bottom.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> Then +it is again passed around, beginning where it left off. Happy is he, if +a stranger, who gets the first sip at the tube, but the initiated have +no prejudices. While in that country I frequently joined in the social +rounds at maté, and finally rejoiced in a <i>bombelia</i> of my own.</p> + +<p>The people at Antonina (in fact all the people we saw in Brazil) were +kind, extremely hospitable, and polite; living in thrift generally, +their wants were but few beyond their resources. The mountain scenery, +viewed from the harbour of Antonina, is something to gloat over; I have +seen no place in the world more truly grand and pleasing. The climate, +too, is perfect and healthy. The only doctor of the place, when we were +there, wore a coat out at the elbows, for lack of patronage. A desirable +port is Antonina.</p> + +<p>We had musical entertainments on board, at this place. To see the +display of beautiful white teeth by these Brazilian sweet singers was +good to the soul of a sea-tossed mariner. One nymph sang for the +writer's benefit a song at which they all laughed very much. Being in +native dialect, I did not understand it, but of course laughed with the +rest, at which they were convulsed; from this, I supposed it to be at my +expense. I enjoyed that, too, as much, or more, than I would have +relished <i>areytos</i> in my favour.</p> + +<p>With maté we came to Buenos Aires, where the process of discharging the +cargo was the same as at Montevideo—into lighters. But at Buenos Aires, +we lay four times the distance from the shore, about four miles.</p> + +<p>The herb, or <i>herva maté</i>, is packed into barrels, boxes, and into +bullock-hide sacks, which are sewed up with stout hide thongs. The +contents, pressed in tightly when the hide is green and elastic, becomes +as hard as a cannon-ball by the contraction which follows when it dries. +The first load of the <i>soroes</i>, so-called, that came off<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> to the bark at +the port of loading, was espied on the way by little Garfield. Piled in +the boat, high above the gunwales, the hairy side out, they did look +odd. "Oh, papa," said he, "here comes a load of cows! Stand by, all +hands, and take them in."</p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<blockquote><p>Salvage of a cargo of wine—Sailors happy—Cholera in the +Argentine—Death in the land—Dutch Harry—Pete the Greek—Noted +crimps—Boat lost—Sail for Ilha Grande—Expelled from the +port—Serious hardships.</p></blockquote> + +<p>From Buenos Aires, we proceeded up the River Plate, near the confluence +of the Parana and Paraguay, to salve a cargo of wine from the stranded +brig <i>Neovo San Pascual</i>, from Marseilles.</p> + +<p>The current of the great river at that point runs constantly seaward, +becoming almost a sea of itself, and a dangerous one to navigate; hence +the loss of the <i>San Pascual,</i> and many others before her.</p> + +<p>If, like the "Ancient Mariner," we had, any of us, cried, "water, water +all around, and not a drop to drink," we forgot it now, in this +bountiful stream. Wine, too, we had without stint. The insurance agent, +to leave no excuse for tampering with the cargo, rolled out a cask of +the best, and, like a true Hans Breitmann, "knocked out der bung." Then, +too, cases were broken in the handling, the contents of which drenched +their clothes from top to toe, as the sailors carried them away on their +heads.</p> + +<p>The diversity of a sailor's life—ah me! The experience of Dana and his +shipmates, for instance, on a sun-burnt coast, carrying dry hides on +their heads, if not a worse one, may be in store for us, we cried, now +fairly swimming in luxuries—water and wine alike free. Although our +present good luck may be followed by times less cheerful, we preferred +to count this, we said, as compensation for past misfortunes, marking +well that "it never rains but it pours."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span></p> + +<p>The cargo of wine in due course was landed at Rosario with but small +loss, the crew, except in one case, remaining sober enough to help +navigate even the difficult Parana. But one old sinner, the case I speak +of, an old Labrador fisherman, became a useless, drunken swab, in spite +of all we could do. I say "we" for most of the crew were on my side, in +favour of a fair deal and "regular supplies."</p> + +<p>The hold was barred and locked, and every place we could think of, for a +time, was searched; still Dan kept terribly drunk. At last his mattress +was turned out, and from it rolled a dozen or more bottles of the best +liquor. Then there was a row, but all on the part of Dan, who swore blue +vengeance on the man, if he could but find him out, who had stowed that +grog in his bunk, "trying to get" him "into trouble"; some of those +"young fellows would rue it yet!"</p> + +<p>The cargo of wine being discharged, I chartered to load alfalfa, packed +in bales, for Rio. Many deaths had occurred about this time, with +appalling suddenness; we soon learned that cholera was staring us all in +the face, and that it was fast spreading through the country, filling +towns and cities with sickness and death.</p> + +<p>Approaching more frightfully near, it carried our pilot over the bar; +his wife was a widow the day after he brought our bark to the loading +berth. And the young man who commenced to deliver us the cargo was +himself measured the day after. His ship had come in!</p> + +<p>Many stout men, and many, many women and children succumbed to the +scourge; yet it was our high privilege to come through the dark cloud +without losing a loved one, while thousands were cast down with +bereavements and grief. At one time it appeared that we were in the +centre of the cloud which zig-zagged its ugly body, serpent-like, +through districts, poisoning all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> that it touched, and leaving death in +its wake. This was indeed cholera in its most terrible form!</p> + +<p>One poor fellow sat at the Widow Lacinas' hotel, bewildered. +"Forty-eight hours ago," said he, "I sat at my own hearth, with wife and +three children by my side. Now I am alone in the world! Even my poor +house, such as it was, is pulled down." This man, I say, had troubles; +surely was his "house pulled down!"</p> + +<p>There was no escaping the poison or keeping it off, except by +disinfectants, and by keeping the system regular, for it soon spread +over all the land and the air was full of it. Remedies sold so high that +many must have perished without the test of medicinal aid to cure their +disease. A cry went up against unprincipled druggists who were +over-charging for their drugs, but nothing more was done to check their +greed. Camphor sold as high as four dollars a pound, and the druggist +with a few hundred drops of laudanum and as much chlorodyne could travel +through Europe afterward on the profits of his sales.</p> + +<p>It was at Rosario, and at this time, that we buried our young friend, +Captain Speck, well loved of young and old. His friends did not ask +whether it was cholera or not that he died of, but performed the last +act of friendship as became men of heart and feeling. The minister could +not come that day, but Captain Speck's little friend, Garfield, said: +"The flags were set for the angels to come and take the Captain to +Heaven!" Need more be said?</p> + +<p>And the flags blew out all day.</p> + +<p>Then it became us to erect a memorial slab, and, hardest of all, to +write to the widow and orphans. This was done in a homely way, but with +sympathetic, aching hearts away off there in Santa Fè.</p> + +<p>Our time at Rosario, after this, was spent in gloomy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> days that dragged +into weeks and months, and our thoughts often wandered from there to a +happy past. We preferred to dwell away from there and in other climes, +if only in thought. There was, however, one happy soul among us—the +child whose face was a sunbeam in all kinds of weather and at all times, +happy in his ignorance of the evils that fall to the lot of man.</p> + +<p>Our sailing-day from Rosario finally came; and, with a feeling as of +casting off fetters, the lines were let go, and the bark hauled out into +the stream, with a full cargo on board; but, instead of sailing for Rio, +as per charter, she was ordered by the Brazilian consul to Ilha Grande +(Great Island), the quarantine station of Brazil, some sixty-two miles +west of Rio, there to be disinfected and to discharge her cargo in +quarantine.</p> + +<p>A new crew was shipped and put aboard, but while I was getting my +papers, about noon, they stole one of the ship's boats and scurried off +down the river as fast, no doubt, as they could go. I have not seen them +or my boat since. They all deserted,—every mother's son of them! +taking, beside the boat, a month's advance pay from a Mr. Dutch Harry, a +sailor boarding-master, who had stolen my inward crew that he might, as +he boasted afterward, "ship new hands in their places." In view of the +fact that this vilest of crimps was the loser of the money, I could +almost forgive the "galoots" for the theft of my boat. (The ship is +usually responsible for advance wages twenty-four hours after she has +sailed, providing, too, that the sailors proceed to sea in her.) Seeing, +moreover, that they were of that stripe, unworthy the name of sailor, my +vessel was the better without them, by at least what it cost to be rid +of them, namely, the price of my boat.</p> + +<p>However, I will take back what I said about Dutch Harry being the +"vilest crimp." There came one to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> Rosario worse than he, one "Pete the +Greek," who cut off the ears of a rival boarding-master at the Boca, +threw them into the river, then, making his escape to Rosario, some 180 +miles away, established himself in the business in opposition to the +Dutchman, whom he "shanghaied" soon after, then "reigned peacefully in +his stead."</p> + +<p>A captain who, like myself, had suffered from the depredations of this +noted gentry, told me, in great glee, that he saw Harry on a bone-laden +Italian bark outward bound,—"even then nearly out of the river." The +last seen of him by my friend, the captain, was "among the branches," +with a rope around his neck—they hanged him, maybe—I don't know what +else the rope was for, or who deserved more to be hanged. The captain +screamed with delight:—"he'll get bone soup, at least, for a while, +instead of Santa Fè good mutton-chops at our expense."</p> + +<p>My second crew was furnished by Mr. Pete, before referred to, and on the +seventeenth of December we set sail from that country of revolutions. +Things soon dropped into working order, and I found reason to be pleased +with the change of crew. We glided smoothly along down the river, thence +wishing never again to see Rosario under the distressing circumstances +through which she had just passed.</p> + +<p>On the following day, while slipping along before a light, rippling +breeze, a dog was espied out in the current, struggling in the +whirlpools, which were rather strong, apparently unable to extricate +himself, and was greatly exhausted. Coming up with him our main-tops'l +was laid to the mast, and as we ranged by the poor thing, a sailor, +plunging over the side in a bow-line, bent a rope on to doggy, another +one hauled him carefully on board, and the rescue was made. He proved<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> +to be a fine young retriever, and his intelligent signs of thankfulness +for his escape from drowning were scarcely less eloquent of gratitude +than human spoken language.</p> + +<p>This pleasant incident happening on a Friday, suggested, of course, the +name we should give him. His new master, to be sure, was Garfield, who +at once said, "I guess they won't know me when I get home, with my new +suit—and a dog!" The two romped the decks thenceforth, early and late. +It was good to see them romp, while "Friday" "barkit wi' joy."</p> + +<p>Our pets were becoming numerous now, and all seemed happy till a +stowaway cat one day killed poor little "Pete," our canary. For ten +years or more we had listened to the notes of this wee bird, in many +countries and climes. Sweetest of sweet singers, it was buried in the +great Atlantic at last. A strange cat, a careless steward, and its tiny +life was ended—and the tragedy told. This was indeed a great loss to us +all, and was mourned over,—almost as the loss of a child.</p> + +<p>A book that has been read at sea has a near claim on our friendship, and +is a thing one is loth to part with, or change, even for a better book. +But the well-tried friend of many voyages is oh! so hard to part with at +sea. A resting-place in the solemn sea of sameness—in the trackless +ocean, marked only by imaginary lines and circles—is a cheerless spot +to look to; yet how many have treasures there!</p> + +<p>Returning to the voyage and journal: Our pilot proved incompetent, and +we narrowly escaped shipwreck in consequence at Martin Garcia Bar, a bad +spot in the River Plate. A small schooner captain, observing that we +needlessly followed in his track, and being anything but a sailor in +principle, wantonly meditated mischief to us. While I was confidently +trusting to my pilot, and he (the pilot) trusting to the schooner, one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> +that could go over banks where we would strike, what did the scamp do +but shave close to a dangerous spot, my pilot following faithfully in +his wake. Then, jumping upon the taffrail of his craft, as we came +abreast the shoal, he yelled, like a Comanche, to my pilot to: "Port the +helm!" and what does my mutton-headed jackass do but port hard over! The +bark, of course, brought up immediately on the ground, as the other had +planned, seeing which his whole pirate crew—they could have been little +less than pirates—joined in roars of laughter, but sailed on, doing us +no other harm.</p> + +<p>By our utmost exertions the bark was gotten off, not a moment too soon, +however, for by the time we kedged her into deep water a <i>pampeiro</i> was +upon us. She rode out the gale safe at anchor, thanks to an active crew. +Our water tanks and casks were then refilled, having been emptied to +lighten the bark from her perilous position.</p> + +<p>Next evening the storm went down, and by mutual consent our mud-pilot +left, taking passage in a passing river-craft, with his pay and our best +advice, which was to ship in a dredging-machine, where his capabilities +would be appreciated.</p> + +<p>Then, "paddling our own canoe," without further accident we reached the +light-ship, passing it on Christmas Day. Clearing thence, before night, +English Bank and all other dangers of the land, we set our course for +Ilha Grande, the wind being fair. Then a sigh of relief was breathed by +all on board. If ever "old briny" was welcomed, it was on that Christmas +Day.</p> + +<p>Nothing further of interest occurred on the voyage to Brazil, except the +death of the little bird already spoken of, which loss deeply affected +us all.</p> + +<p>We arrived at Ilha Grande, our destination, on the 7th day of January, +1887, and came to anchor in nine<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> fathoms of water, at about noon, +within musket-range of the guard-ship, and within speaking distance of +several vessels riding quarantine, with more or less communication going +on among them all, through flags. Several ships, chafing under the +restraint of quarantine, were "firing signals" at the guard-ship. One +Scandinavian, I remember, asked if he might be permitted to communicate +by <i>cable</i> with his owners in Christiana. The guard gave him, as the +Irishman said, "an evasive answer," so the cablegram, I suppose, laid +over. Another wanted police assistance; a third wished to know if he +could get fresh provisions—ten milreis' ($5) worth (he was a +German)—naming a dozen or more articles that he wished for, "and <i>the +balance in onions</i>!" Altogether, the young fellows on the guard-ship +were having, one might say, a signal practice.</p> + +<p>On the next day, January 8th, the officers of the port came alongside in +a steam-launch, and ordered us to leave, saying the port had been closed +that morning. "But we have made the voyage," I said. "No matter," said +the guard, "leave at once you must, or the guard-ship will fire into +you." This, I submit, was harsh and arbitrary treatment. A thunderbolt +from a clear sky could not have surprised us more or worked us much +greater harm—to be ruined in business or struck by lightning, being +equally bad!</p> + +<p>Then pointing something like a gun, Dom Pedro said, said he, "<i>Vaya +Homem</i>" (hence, begone), "Or you'll give us cholera." So back we had to +go, all the way to Rosario, with that load of hay—and trouble. But on +our arrival there we found things better than they were when we sailed. +The cholera had ceased—it was on the wane when we sailed from Rosario, +and there was hardly a case of the dread disease in the whole country +east of Cordova when we returned. That was,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> indeed, a comfort, but it +left our hardship the same, and led, consequently, to the total loss of +the vessel after dragging us through harrowing trials and losses, as +will be seen by subsequent events.</p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<blockquote><p>Ilha Grande decree—Return to Rosario—Waiting opening of the +Brazilian ports—Scarcity of sailors—Buccaneers turned +pilots—Sail down the river—Arrive at Ilha Grande the second +time—Quarantined and fumigated—Admitted to <i>pratique</i>—Sail for +Rio—Again challenged—Rio at last.</p></blockquote> + +<p>This Ilha Grande decree, really a political movement, brought great +hardships on us, notwithstanding that it was merely intended by the +Brazilians as retaliation for past offences by their Argentine +neighbours; not only for quarantines against Rio fevers, but for a +discriminating duty as well on sugar from the empire; a combination of +hardships on commerce—more than the sensitive Brazilians could +stand—so chafing them that a retaliation fever sprung up reaching more +than the heat of <i>febre marello</i>, and they decided to teach their +republican cousins a wholesome lesson. However, their wish was to +retaliate without causing war, and it was done. In fact, closing ports +as they did at the beginning of Argentine's most valuable season of +exports to Brazil, and with the plausible excuse, namely fear of pain in +the stomach, so filled the Argentines with admiration of their equals in +strategy that they on the earliest opportunity proclaimed two public +holidays in honour of bright Brazil. So the matter of difference ended, +to the delight of all—in fire-crackers and champagne!</p> + +<p>To the delight of all except the owner and crew of the <i>Aquidneck</i>. For +our bark there was no way but to return where the cargo came from, at a +ruinous loss, too, of time and money. We called at the first open port<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> +and wired to the owner of the cargo, but got no answer. Thence we sailed +to Buenos Aires, where I telegraphed again for instructions. The +officers of the guard-ship, upon receiving my report from Brazil, were +convulsed with laughter, while I——I confess it—could not see the +joke. After waiting two days, this diplomatic reply came from the owner +of the cargo: "Act as the case may require." Upon this matter I had +several opinions. One person suggested that the case required me to +pitch the whole cargo into the sea! This friend, I may mention, was from +Boston.</p> + +<p>I have ever since regretted, however, that I did not take his advice. +There seemed to be no protection for the vessel; the law that a ship +must be allowed to live was unheeded; in fact this law was reversed and +there were sharpers and beach-combers at every turn ready to take +advantage of one's misfortunes or even drive one to despair. I +concluded, finally, to shake the lot of them, and proceeding up the +Parana, moored again at the berth where, a few weeks before, we had +taken in the cargo. Spans and tackle were rigged, and all was made ready +to discharge. It was now, "Come on, McCarthy, or McCarthy, come on!" I +didn't care which, I had one <i>right</i> on my side, and I kept that always +in view; namely, the right to discharge the cargo where I had first +received it; but where the money to buy ballast and pay other charges +was to come from I could not discover.</p> + +<p>My merchant met me in great concern at my "misfortunes," but "carramba!" +(zounds) said he, "my own losses are great." It required very little +reasoning to show me that the least expensive course was the safest one +for me to adopt, and my merchant offering enough to pay the marketing, I +found it wisest not to disturb the cargo, but to lay up instead with it +in the vessel and await the reopening of the Brazilian ports. This I +did.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span></p> + +<p>My merchant, Don Manuel, is said to be worth millions of <i>pesos</i>. The +foundation of his wealth was laid by peddling charcoal, carrying it at +first, to his credit be it said, on his back, and he was then a good +fellow. Many a hard bargain has he waged since, and is now a "Don," +living in a $90,000 house. The Don doesn't peddle charcoal any more.</p> + +<p>Moored at Rosario, waiting, waiting; but all of us well in body, and +myself finally less agitated in mind. My old friend, Don Manuel, seems +better also; he "may yet purge and live clean like a gentleman."</p> + +<p>I found upon our return to Rosario that some of the old hands were +missing; laid low by the scourge, to make room for others, and some were +spared who would have been less lamented. Among all the ship-brokers +that I knew at Rosario, and I knew a great many, not one was taken away. +They all escaped, being, it was thought, epidemic-proof. There was my +broker, Don Christo Christiano—called by Don Manuel "El Sweaga" (the +Swede)—whom nothing could strike with penetrative force, except a +commission.</p> + +<p>At last, April 9th, 1887, news came that the Brazilian ports were open. +Cholera had long since disappeared in Santa Fè and Buenos Aires. The +Brazilians had established their own beef-drying factories, and could +now afford to open their ports to competition. This made a great stir +among the ships. Crews were picked up here and there, out of the few +brothels that had not been pulled down during the cholera, and out of +the streets or from the fields. Some, too, came in from the bush. Mixed +among them were many that had been let out of the prisons all over the +country, so that the scourge should not be increased by over-crowded +jails. Of six who shipped with me, four had been so released from +prison, where they had been serving for murder or high<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>way robbery; all +this I learned when it was too late. I shall have occasion before long +to speak of these again!</p> + +<p>Well, we unmoored and dropped down the river a few miles the first day; +with this crew, the hardest looking set that ever put foot on a ship of +mine, and with a swarthy Greek pilot that would be taken for a pirate in +any part of the world. The second mate, who shipped also at Rosario, was +not less ill-visaged, and had, in addition to his natural ugly features, +a deep scar across his face, suggestive of a heavy sabre stroke; a mark +which, I thought upon further acquaintance, he had probably merited. I +could not make myself easy upon the first acquaintance of my new and +decidedly ill-featured crew. So, early the first evening I brought the +bark to anchor, and made all snug before dark for prudent reasons. Next +morning, the Greek, instead of getting the bark underweigh, as I +expected him to do, came to me demanding more pay for his services and +thinking, maybe, that I could not do without him, demanded, unless I +chose to pay considerably in excess of his regular dues, to be put on +shore. I took the fellow at his first bounce. He and his grip-sack were +landed on the bank there and then, with but little "palaver" over it. It +was then said, so I learned after, that "old S——" would drop into the +wake of some ship, and save his pilotage; in fact, they didn't know +"what else he could do," as the pilots were then all engaged for other +vessels.</p> + +<p>The money was taken care of all right, and so was the <i>Aquidneck</i>! By +daylight of the following morning she was underweigh, and under full +sail at the head of a fleet of piloted vessels, and, being the swiftest +sailer, easily kept the lead, and was one of the vessels that did <i>not +"rompe el banco</i>," as was predicted by all the pilots, while<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> they +hunched their shoulders above their ears, exclaiming, "No <i>practico</i>, no +<i>possebla</i>!" This was my second trip down the Parana, it is true, and I +had been on other rivers as wonderful as this one, and had, moreover, +read Mark Twain's "Life on the Mississippi," which gives no end of +information on river currents, wind-reefs, sand-reefs, alligator-water, +and all that is useful to know about rivers, so that I was confident of +my ability; all that had been required was the stirring-up that I got +from the impertinent pilot, or buccaneer, whichever is proper to call +him—one thing certain, he was no true sailor!</p> + +<p>A strong, fair wind on the river, together with the current, in our +favour, carried us flying down the channel, while we kept the lead, with +the Stars and Stripes waving where they ought always to be seen; namely, +on the ship in the van! So the duffers followed us, instead of our +following them, and on we came, all clear, with the good wishes of the +officers and the crews. But the pilots, drawing their shoulders up and +repeating the refrain, "No <i>practico</i>, no <i>possebla</i>!" cursed us +bitterly, and were in a vile mood, I was told, cursing more than usual, +and that is saying a great deal, for all will agree who have heard them +that the average "Dago" pilot is the most foul-mouthed thing afloat.</p> + +<p>Down the river and past the light-ship we came once more, this time with +no halt to make, no backing sails to let a pilot off, nothing at all to +stop us; we spread all sail to a favourable breeze, and reached Ilha +Grande eight days afterward, beating the whole fleet by two days. +Garfield kept strict account of this. He was on deck when we made the +land, a dark and foggy night it was! nothing could be seen but the +dimmest outline of a headland through the haze. I knew the place, I +thought, and Garfield said he could smell land, fog or coal-tar.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> This, +it will be admitted, was reassuring. A school of merry porpoises that +gambolled under the bows while we stood confidently in for the land, +diving and crossing the bark's course in every direction, also guarded +her from danger. I knew that so long as deep-sea porpoises kept with us +we had nothing to fear of the ground. When the lookout cried, "Porpoises +gone," we turned the bark's head off-shore, backed the main-tops'l, and +sent out the "pigeon" (lead). A few grains of sand and one soft, +delicate white shell were brought up out of fourteen fathoms of water. +We had but to heed these warnings and guides, and our course would be +tolerably clear, dense and all as the fog and darkness was.</p> + +<p>The lead was kept constantly going as we sailed along in the intense +darkness, till the headland of our port was visible through the haze of +grey morning. What Garfield had smelled, I may mention, turned out to be +coal-tar, a pot of which had been capsized on deck by the leadsman, in +the night.</p> + +<p>By daylight in the morning, April 29, we had found the inner entrance to +Ilha Grande, and sailed into the harbour for the second time with this +cargo of hay. It was still very foggy, and all day heavy gusts of wind +came down through the gulches in the mountains, laden with fog and rain.</p> + +<p>Two days later, the weather cleared up, and our friends began to come +in. They found us there all right, anchored close under the highest +mountain.</p> + +<p>Eight days of sullen gloom and rain at this place; then brimstone, +smoke, and fire turned on to us, and we were counted healthy enough to +be admitted to <i>pratique</i> in Rio, where we arrived May 11th, putting one +more day between ourselves and our friendly competitors, who finally +arrived safe, all except one, the British bark <i>Dublin</i>. She was +destroyed by fire between the two ports.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> The crew was rescued by +Captain Lunt, and brought safe into Rio next day.</p> + +<p>At the fort entrance to the harbour of Rio we were again challenged and +brought to, all standing, on the bar; the tide running like a mill race +at the time brought the bark aback on her cables with a force, nearly +cutting her down.</p> + +<p>The <i>Aquidneck</i> it would seem had outsailed the telegram which should +have preceded her; it was, nevertheless, my imperative duty to obey the +orders of the port authorities which, however, should have been tempered +with reason. It was easy for them in the fort to say, "Come to, or we'll +sink you," but we in the bark, between two evils, came near being sunk +by obeying the order.</p> + +<p>Formerly, when a vessel was challenged at this fort, one, two or three +shots, if necessary to bring her to, were fired, at a cost to the ship, +if she were not American, of fifteen shillings for the first shot, +thirty for the second, and sixty for the third; but, for American ships, +the sixty shilling shot was fired first—Americans would always have the +best!</p> + +<p>After all the difficulties were cleared away, the tardy telegram +received, and being again identified by the officers, we weighed anchor +for the last time on this voyage, and went into our destined port, the +spacious and charming harbour of Rio.</p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<blockquote><p>At Rio—Sail for Antonina with mixed cargo—A <i>pampeiro</i>—Ship on +beam-ends—Cargo still more mixed—Topgallant-masts carried +away—Arrive safely at Antonina.</p></blockquote> + +<p>The cargo was at last delivered, and no one made ill over it. A change +of rats also was made; at Rio those we brought in gave place to others +from the Dom Pedro Docks where we moored. Fleas, too, skipped about in +the hay as happy as larks, and nearly as big; and all the other live +stock that we brought from Rosario, goodness knows of what kind and +kith, arrived well and sound from over the water, notwithstanding the +fumigations and fuss made at the quarantine.</p> + +<p>Had the little microbes been with us indeed, the Brazilians would not +have turned us away as they did, from the doors of an hospital! for they +are neither a cruel nor cowardly people. To turn sickness away would be +cruel and stupid, to say the least! What we were expelled for I have +already explained.</p> + +<p>After being so long in gloomy circumstances we felt like making the most +of pleasant Rio! Therefore on the first fine day after being docked, we +sallied out in quest of city adventure, and brought up first in +Ouvidor—the Broadway of Rio, where my wife bought a tall hat, which I +saw nights looming up like a dreadful stack of hay, the innocent cause +of much trouble to me, and I declared, by all the great islands—in my +dreams—that go back with it I would not, but would pitch it, first, +into the sea.</p> + +<p>I get nervous on the question of quarantines. I visit the famous +Botanical Gardens with my family, and I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> tremble with fear lest we are +fumigated at some station on the way. However, our time at Rio is +pleasantly spent in the main, and on the first day of June, we set sail +once more for Paranagua and Antonina of pleasant recollections; partly +laden with flour, kerosene, pitch, tar, rosin and wine, three pianos, I +remember, and one steam engine and boiler, all as ballast; "freight +free," so the bill of lading read, and further, that the ship should +"not be responsible for leakage, breakage, or rust." This clause was +well for the ship, as one of those wild <i>pampeiros</i> overtook her, on the +voyage, throwing her violently on her beam-ends, and shaking the motley +cargo into a confused and mixed-up mess. The vessel remaining tight, +however, no very serious damage was done, and she righted herself after +a while, but without her lofty topgallant-masts, which went with a crash +at the first blast of the tempest.</p> + +<p>This incident made a profound impression on Garfield. He happened to be +on deck when the masts were carried away, but managed to scamper off +without getting hurt. Whenever a vessel hove in sight after that having +a broken spar or a torn sail, it was "a <i>pampeiroed</i> ship."</p> + +<p>The storm, though short, was excessively severe, and swept over +Paranagua and Antonina with unusual violence. The owner of the pianos, I +was told, prayed for us, and regretted that his goods were not insured. +But when they were landed, not much the worse for their tossing about, +old Strichine, the owner (that was his name or near that, strychnine the +boys called him, because his singing was worse than "rough on rats," +they said, a bit of juvenile wit that the artist very sensibly let pass +unheeded), declared that the ship was a good one, and that her captain +was a good pilot; and as neither freight nor insurance had been paid, he +and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> his wife would feast us on music; having learned that I especially +was fond of it. They had screeched operas for a lifetime in Italy, but I +didn't care for that. As arranged, therefore, I was on deck at the +appointed time and place, to stay at all hazards.</p> + +<p>The pianos, as I had fully expected, were fearfully out of +tune—suffering, I should say, from the effects of seasickness!</p> + +<p>So much so that I shall always believe this opportunity was seized upon +by the artist to avenge the damage to his instruments, which, indeed, I +could not avert, in the storm that we passed through. The good Strichine +and his charming wife were astonished at the number of opera airs I +could name. And they tried to persuade me to sing Il Trovatore; but +concluding that damage enough had already been done, I refrained, that +is, I refracted my song.</p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<blockquote><p>Mutiny—Attempt at robbery and murder—Four against one—Two go +down before a rifle—Order restored.</p></blockquote> + +<p>July 23rd, 1887, brings me to a sudden and shocking point in the history +of the voyage that I fain would forget, but that will not be possible. +Between the hours of 11 and 12 p.m. of this day I was called instantly +to defend my life and all that is dear to a man.</p> + +<p>The bark, anchored alone in the harbour of Antonina, was hid from the +town in the darkness of a night that might well have covered the +blackest of tragedies. My pirates thought their opportunity had surely +come to capture the <i>Aquidneck</i>, and this they undertook to do. The +ringleader of the gang was a burly scoundrel, whose boast was that he +had "licked" both the mate and second mate of the last vessel he had +sailed in, and had "busted the captain in the jaw" when they landed in +Rio, where the vessel was bound, and where, of course, the captain had +discharged him. It was there the villain shipped with me, in lieu of one +of the Rosario gang who had been kindly taken in charge by the guard at +Ilha Grande and brought to Rio to be tried before the American Consul +for insubordination. Said he, one day when I urged him to make haste and +help save the topsails in a squall, "Oh, I'm no soft-horn to be +hurried!" It was the time the bark lost her topgallant-mast and was cast +on her beam-ends on the voyage to Antonina, already told; it was, in +fact, no time for loafing, and this braggart at a decisive word hurried +aloft with the rest to do his duty. What I said to him was meant for +earnest, and it cowed him. It is only<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> natural to think that he held a +grudge against me forever after, and waited only for his opportunity; +knowing, too, that I was the owner of the bark, and supposed to have +money. He was heard to say in a rum-mill a day or two before the attack +that he would find the——money and his life, too. His chum and bosom +friend had come pretty straight from Palermo penitentiary at Buenos +Aires when he shipped with me at Rosario.</p> + +<p>It was no secret on board the bark that he had served two years for +robbing, and cutting a ranchman's throat from ear to ear. These records, +which each seemed to glory in, were verified in both cases.</p> + +<p>I met the captain afterwards who had been "busted in the jaw"—Captain +Roberts, of Baltimore, a quiet gentleman, with no evil in his heart for +any one, and a man, like myself, well along in years.</p> + +<p>Two of the gang, old Rosario hands, had served for the lesser offence of +robbery alone—they brought up in the rear! The other two of my foremast +hands—one a very respectable Hollander, the other a little Japanese +sailor, a bright, young chap—had been robbed and beaten by the four +ruffians, and then threatened so that they deserted to the forest +instead of bringing a complaint of the matter to me, for fear, as the +Jap expressed it afterwards, when there was no longer any danger,—for +fear the "la-la-long mans (thieves) would makee killo mi!"</p> + +<p>The ringleader bully had made unusual efforts to create a row when I +came on board early in the evening; however, as he had evidently been +drinking, I passed it off as best I could for the natural consequence of +rum, and ordered him forward; instead of doing as he was bid, when I +turned to hand my wife to the cabin he followed me threateningly to the +break of the poop. What struck me most, however, was the conduct of his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> +chum, who was sober, but in a very unusual, high, gleeful mood. It was +knock-off time when I came along to where he was seizing off the mizzen +topgallant backstay, the last of the work of refitting the late +<i>pampeiro</i> damage; and the mate being elsewhere engaged, I gave the +usual order to quit work. "Knock off," I said to the man, "and put away +your tools. The bark's rigging looks well," I added, "and if to-morrow +turns out fine, all will be finished"; whereupon the fellow laughed +impertinently in my face, repeating my words, "All will be finished!" +under his breath, adding, "before to-morrow!" This was the first insult +offered by the "Bloodthirsty Tommy," who had committed murder only a +short time before; but I had been watched by the fellow, with a cat-like +eye at every turn.</p> + +<p>The full significance of his words on this occasion came up to me only +next morning, when I saw him lying on the deck with a murderous weapon +in his hand! I was not expecting a cowardly, night attack, nevertheless +I kept my gun loaded. I went to sleep this night as usual, forgetting +the unpleasant episode as soon as my head touched the pillow; but my +wife, with finer instincts, kept awake. It was well for us all that she +did so. Near midnight, my wife, who had heard the first footstep on the +poop-deck, quietly wakened me, saying, "We must get up, and look out for +ourselves! Something is going wrong on deck; the boat tackle has been +let go with a great deal of noise, and—O! don't go that way on deck. I +heard some one on the cabin steps, and heard whispering in the forward +entry."</p> + +<p>"You must have been dreaming," I said.</p> + +<p>"No, indeed!" said she; "I have not been asleep yet; don't go on deck by +the forward companionway; they are waiting there, I am sure, for I heard +the creaking of the loose step in the entry."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span></p> + +<p>If my wife has not been dreaming, thought I, there can be no possible +doubt of a plot.</p> + +<p>Nothing justifies a visit on the poop-deck after working-hours, except a +call to relieve sickness, or for some other emergency, and then secrecy +or stealth is non-permissible.</p> + +<p>It may be here explained to persons not familiar with ships, that the +sailors' quarters are in the forward part of the ship where they (the +sailors) are supposed to be found after working-hours, in port, coming +never abaft the mainmast; hence the term "before the mast."</p> + +<p>My first impulse was to step on deck in the usual way, but the earnest +entreaties of my wife awoke me to a danger that should be investigated +with caution. Arming myself, therefore, with a stout carbine repeater, +with eight ball cartridges in the magazine, I stepped on deck abaft +instead of forward, where evidently I had been expected. I stood rubbing +my eyes for a moment, inuring them to the intense darkness, when a +coarse voice roared down the forward companionway to me to come on deck. +"Why don't ye come on deck like a man, and order yer men forid?" was the +salute that I got, and was the first that I heard with my own ears, and +it was enough. To tell the whole story in a word, I knew that I had to +face a mutiny.</p> + +<p>I could do no less than say: "Go forward there!"</p> + +<p>"Yer there, are ye?" said the spokesman, as with an oath, he bounded +toward me, cursing as he came.</p> + +<p>Again I ordered him forward, saying, "I am armed,—if you come here I +will shoot!" But I forbore to do so instantly, thinking to club him to +the deck instead, for my carbine was a heavy one. I dealt him a blow as +he came near, sufficient I thought, to fell an ox; but it had, +apparently, no effect, and instantly he was inside of my guard. Then +grasping me by the throat, he tried to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> force me over the taffrail, and +cried, exultingly, as he felt me give way under his brute strength, +"Now, you damn fool, shoot!" at the same time drawing his knife to +strike.</p> + +<p>I could not speak, or even breathe, but my carbine spoke for me, and the +ruffian fell with the knife in his hand which had been raised against +me! Resolution had proved more than a match for brute force, for I then +knew that not only my own life but also the lives of others depended on +me at this moment. Nothing daunted, the rest came on, like hungry +wolves. Again I cried, "Go forward!" But thinking, maybe, that my rifle +was a single shooter, or that I could not load it so quickly, the order +was disregarded.</p> + +<p>"What if I don't go forward?" was "Bloody Tommy's" threatening question, +adding, as he sprang toward me, "I've got this for you!" but fell +instantly as he raised his hand; and there on the deck was ended his +misadventure! and like the other he fell with the deadly knife in his +hand. I was now all right. The dread of cold steel had left me when I +freed myself from the first would-be assassin, and I only wondered how +many more would persist in trying to take my life. But recollecting +there were only two mutineers left, and that I had still six shots in +the magazine of my rifle, and one already in the chamber, I stood ready +with the hammer raised, and my finger on the trigger, confident that I +would not be put down.</p> + +<p>There was no further need of extreme measures, however, for order was +now restored, though two of the assailants had skulked away in the dark.</p> + +<p>How it was that I regained my advantage, after once losing it, I hardly +know; but this I am certain of, that being down I was not to be spared. +Then desperation took the place of fear, and I felt more than a match +for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> all that could come against me. I had no other than serene +feelings, however, and had no wish to pursue the two pirates that fled.</p> + +<p>Immediately after the second shot was fired, and I found myself once +more master of my bark, the remaining two came aft again, at my bidding +this time, and in an orderly manner, it may be believed.</p> + +<p>It is idle to say what I would or would not have given to have the +calamity averted, or, in other words, to have had a crew of sailors, +instead of a gang of cut-throats.</p> + +<p>However, when the climax came, I had but one course to pursue; this I +resolutely followed. A man will defend himself and his family to the +last, for life is sweet, after all.</p> + +<p>It was significant, the court thought afterwards, that while my son had +not had time to dress, they all had on their boots except the one who +fell last, and he was in his socks, with no boots on. It was he who had +waited for me as I have already said, on the cabin steps that I usually +passed up and down on, but this time avoided. Circumstantial evidence +came up in abundance to make the case perfectly clear to the +authorities. There are few who will care to hear more about a subject so +abhorrent to all, and I care less to write about it. I would not have +said this much, but for the enterprise of a rising department clerk, +who, seeing the importance of telling to the world what he knew, and +seeing also some small emolument in the matter, was I believe prompted +to augment the consular dispatches, thus obliging me to fight the battle +over. However, not to be severe on the poor clerk, I will only add that, +no indignities were offered me by the authorities through all the strict +investigation that followed the tragedy.</p> + +<p>The trial being for justice and not for my money the case was soon +finished.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p> + +<p>I sincerely hope that I may never again encounter such as those who came +from the jails to bring harm and sorrow in their wake.</p> + +<p>The work of loading was finished soon after the calamity to my bark, and +a Spanish sailing-master was engaged to take her to Montevideo; my son +Victor going as flag captain.</p> + +<p>I piloted the <i>Aquidneck</i> out of the harbour, and left her clear of the +buoy, looking as neat and trim as sailor could wish to see. All the +damage done by the late <i>pampeiro</i> had been repaired, new +topgallant-masts rigged, and all made ataunto. I saw my handsome bark +well clear of the dangers of the harbour limits, then in sorrow I left +her and paddled back to the town, for I was on parole to appear, as I +have said, for trial! That was the word; I can find no other name for +it—let it stand!</p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<blockquote><p>Join the bark at Montevideo—A good crew—Small-pox breaks +out—Bear up for Maldonado and Flores—No aid—Death of sailors—To +Montevideo in distress—Quarantine.</p></blockquote> + +<p>As soon as the case was over I posted on for Montevideo by steamer, +where the bark had arrived only a few days ahead of me. I found her +already stripped to a gantline though, preparatory to a long stay in +port. I had given Victor strict orders to interfere in no way with the +Spaniard, but to let him have full charge in nearly everything. I could +have trusted the lad with full command, young as he was; but there was a +strange crew of foreigners which might, as often happens, require +maturer judgment to manage than to sail the vessel. As it proved, +however, even the <i>cook</i> was in many ways a better man than the +sailing-master.</p> + +<p>Victor met me with a long face, and the sailors wore a quizzical look as +I came over the vessel's side. One of them, in particular, whom I shall +always remember, gave me a good-humoured greeting, along with his shake +of the head, that told volumes; and next day was aloft, crossing yards, +cheerfully enough. I found my Brazilian crew to be excellent sailors, +and things on board the <i>Aquidneck</i> immediately began to assume a +brighter appearance, aloft and alow.</p> + +<p>Cargo was soon discharged, other cargo taken in, and the bark made ready +for sea. My crew, I say, was a good one; but, poor fellows, they were +doomed to trials—the worst within human experience, many of them giving +up to grim death before the voyage was ended. Too often one bit of bad +luck follows another. This rule<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> brought us in contact with one of these +small officials at Montevideo, better adapted to home life; one of those +knowing, perhaps, more than need a cowboy, but not enough for consul. +This official, managing to get word to my crew that a change of master +dissolved their contract, induced them to come on shore and claim pay +for the whole voyage and passage home on a steamer besides, the same as +though the bark had been sold.</p> + +<p>What overwhelming troubles may come of having incompetent officials in +places of trust, the sequel will show. This unwise, even stupid +interference, was the indirect cause of the sufferings and deaths among +the crew which followed.</p> + +<p>I was able to show the consul and his clerk that sailors are always +engaged for the ship, and never for the master, and that a change of +master did not in any way affect their contract. However, I paid the +crew off, and then left it to their option to re-ship or not, for they +were all right, they had been led to do what they did, and I knew that +they wanted to get home, and it was there that the bark was going, +direct.</p> + +<p>All signed the articles again, except one, a long-haired Andalusian, +whom I would not have longer at any price. The wages remained the same +as before, and all hands returned to their duty cheerful and +contented—but pending the consul's decision (which, by the way, I +decided for him), they had slept in a contagioned house, where, alas, +they contracted small-pox of the worst type.</p> + +<p>We were now homeward bound. All the "runaway rum" that could be held out +by the most subtle crimps of Montevideo could not induce these sober +Brazilian sailors to desert their ship.</p> + +<p>These "crimps" are land-sharks who get the sailors drunk when they can, +and then rob them of their ad<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>vance money. The sailors are all paid in +advance; sometimes they receive in this way most of their wages for the +voyage, which they make after the money is spent, or wasted, or stolen.</p> + +<p>We all know what working for dead horse means—sailors know too well its +significance.</p> + +<p>As sailing day drew near, a half-day liberty to each watch was asked for +by the men, who wanted to make purchases for their friends and relatives +at Paranagua. Permission to go on shore was readily granted, and I was +rewarded by seeing every one return to his ship at the time promised, +and every one sober. On the morrow, which was sailing day, every man was +at his post and all sang "Cheerily, ho!" and were happy; all except one, +who complained of slight chills and a fever, but said that he had been +subject to this, and that with a dose of quinine he would soon be all +right again.</p> + +<p>It appeared a small matter. Two days later though, his chills turned to +something which I knew less about. The next day, three more men went +down with rigor in the spine, and at the base of the brain. I knew by +this that small-pox was among us!</p> + +<p>We bore up at once for Maldonado, which was the nearest port, the place +spoken of in "Gulliver's Travels," though Gulliver, I think, is mistaken +as to its identity and location, arriving there before a gathering storm +that blew wet and cold from the east. Our signals of distress, asking +for immediate medical aid were set and flew thirty-six hours before any +one came to us; then a scared Yahoo (the country was still inhabited by +Yahoos) in a boat rowed by two other animals, came aboard, and said, +"Yes, your men have got small-pox." "<i>Vechega</i>" he called it, but I +understand the lingo of the Yahoo very well, I could even speak a few +words of it and comprehend the meanings. "<i>Vechega</i>!" he bellowed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> to +his mates alongside, and, turning to me, he said, in Yahoo: "You must +leave the port at once," then jumping into his boat he hurried away, +along with his scared companions.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> + +<p>To leave a port in our condition was hard lines, but my perishing crew +could get no succour at Maldonado, so we could do nothing but leave, if +at all able to do so. We were indeed short-handed, but desperation +lending a hand, the anchor was weighed and sufficient sail set on the +bark to clear the inhospitable port. The wind blowing fair out of the +harbour carried us away from the port toward Flores Island, for which we +now headed in sore distress. A gale, long to be remembered, sprang +suddenly up, stripping off our sails like autumn leaves, before the bark +was three leagues from the place. We hadn't strength to clew up, so her +sails were blown away, and she went flying before the mad tempest under +bare poles. A snow-white sea-bird came for shelter from the storm, and +poised on the deck to rest. The incident filled my sailors with awe; to +them it was a portentous omen, and in distress they dragged them<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>selves +together and, prostrate before the bird, prayed the Holy Virgin to ask +God to keep them from harm. The rain beat on us in torrents, as the bark +tossed and reeled ahead, and day turned black as night. The gale was +from E.S.E., and our course lay W.N.W. nearly, or nearly before it. I +stood at the wheel with my shore clothes on, I remember, for I hadn't +yet had time to change them for waterproofs; this of itself was small +matter, but it reminds me now that I was busy with other concerns. I was +always a good helmsman, and I took in hand now the steering of the bark +in the storm—and I gave directions to Victor and the carpenter how to +mix disinfectants for themselves, and medicines for the sick men. The +medicine chest was fairly supplied.</p> + +<p>Flores, when seen, was but a few ship's lengths away. Flashes of +lightning revealed the low cliffs, amazingly near to us, and as the bark +swept by with great speed, the roar of the breakers on the shore, heard +above the din of the storm, told us of a danger to beware. The helm was +then put down, and she came to under the lee of the island like a true, +obedient thing.</p> + +<p>Both anchors were let go, and all the chain paid out to both, to the +bitter end, for the gale was now a hurricane. She walked away with her +anchors for all that we could do, till, hooking a marine cable, one was +carried away, and the other brought her head to the wind, and held her +there trembling in the storm.</p> + +<p>Anxious fear lest the second cable should break was on our minds through +the night; but a greater danger was within the ship, that filled us all +with alarm.</p> + +<p>Two barks not far from us that night, with pilots on board, were lost, +in trying to come through where the <i>Aquidneck</i>, without a pilot and +with but three hands on deck to work her, came in. Their crews, with +great difficulty, were rescued and then carried to Montevideo.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> When all +had been done that we three could do, a light was put in the rigging, +that flickered in the gale and went out. Then wet, and lame, and weary, +we fell down in our drenched clothes, to rest as we might—to sleep, or +to listen to groans of our dying shipmates.</p> + +<p>When daylight came (after this, the most dismal of all my nights at +sea), our signals went up telling of the sad condition of the crew, and +begging for medical assistance. Toward night the gale went down; but, as +no boat came off, a gloom darker than midnight settled over the crew of +the pest-ridden bark, and in dismay they again prayed to be spared to +meet the loved ones awaiting them at home.</p> + +<p>Our repeated signals, next day, brought the reply, "Stand in." +<i>Carramba!</i> Why, we could hardly stand at all; much less could we get +the bark underway, and beat in against wind and current. No one knew +this better than they on the island, for my signals had told the whole +story, and as we were only a mile and a half from the shore, the flags +were distinctly made out. There was no doubt in our minds about that!</p> + +<p>Late in the day, however, a barge came out to us, ill-manned and +ill-managed by as scared a set of "galoots" as ever capsized a boat, or +trembled at a shadow! The coxswain had more to say than the doctor, and +the Yahoo—I forgot to mention that we were still in Yahoodom, but one +would see that without this explanation—the Yahoo in the bow said more +than both; and they all took a stiff pull from a bottle of +<i>cachazza</i>,<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> the doctor having had the start, I should say, of at +least one or two pulls before leaving the shore, insomuch as he appeared +braver than the rest of the crew.</p> + +<p>The doctor, having taken an extra horn or two, with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> Dutch courage came +on board, and brought with him a pound of sulphur, a pint of carbolic +acid, and some barley—enough to feed a robin a few times, for all of +which we were thankful indeed, our disinfectants being by this time +nearly exhausted; then, glancing at the prostrate men, he hurried away, +as the other had done at Maldonado. I asked what I should do with the +dead through the night—bury them where we lay? "Oh, no, no!" cried the +Yahoo in the bow; but the doctor pointed significantly to the water +alongside! I knew what he meant!</p> + +<p>That night we buried José, the sailor whose honest smile had welcomed me +to my bark at Montevideo. I had ordered stones brought on deck, before +dark, ostensibly to ballast the boat. I knew they would soon be wanted! +About midnight, the cook called me in sore distress, saying that José +was dying without confession!</p> + +<p>So poor José was buried that night in the great River Plate! I listened +to the solemn splash that told of one life ended, and its work done; but +gloomy, and sad, and melancholy as the case was, I had to smile when the +cook, not having well-secured the ballast, threw it over after his +friend, exclaiming, "Good-bye, José, good-bye!" I added, "Good-bye, good +shipmate, good-bye! I doubt not that you rest well!"</p> + +<p>Next day, the signal from the shore was the same as the day before, +"Stand in," in answer to my repeated call for help. By this time my men +were demoralized and panic-stricken, and the poor fellows begged me, if +the doctor would not try to cure them, to get a priest to confess them +all. I saw a padre pacing the beach, and set flags asking him to come on +board. No notice was taken of the signal, and we were now left entirely +to ourselves.</p> + +<p>After burying one more of the crew, we decided to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> remain no longer at +this terrible place. An English telegraph tender passing, outward-bound, +caught up our signals at that point, and kindly reported to her consul +at Maldonado, who wired it to Montevideo.</p> + +<p>The wind blowing away from the shore, as may it always blow when friend +of mine nears that coast, we determined to weigh anchor or slip cable +without further loss of time, feeling assured that by the telegraph +reports some one would be on the look-out for us, and that the +<i>Aquidneck</i> would be towed into port if the worst should happen—if the +rest of her crew went down. Three of us weighed one anchor, with its +ninety fathoms of chain, the other had parted on the windlass in the +gale. The bark's prow was now turned toward Montevideo, the place we had +so recently sailed from, full of hope and pleasant anticipation; and +here we were, dejected and filled with misery, some of our number +already gone on that voyage which somehow seems so far away.</p> + +<p>At Montevideo, things were better. They <i>did</i> take my remaining sick men +out of the vessel, after two days' delay; my agent procuring a tug, +which towed them in the ship's boat three hundred fathoms astern. In +this way they were taken to Flores Island, where, days and days before, +they had been refused admittance! They were accompanied this time by an +order from the governor of Montevideo, and at last were taken in. Two of +the cases were, by this time, in the favourable change. But the poor old +cook, who stood faithfully by me, and would not desert his old +shipmates, going with them to the Island to care for them to the last, +took the dread disease, died of it, and was there buried, not far from +where he himself had buried his friend José, a short time before. The +death of this faithful man occurred on the day that the bark finally +sailed seaward, by the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> Island. She was in sight from the hospital +window when his phantom ship, that put out, carried him over the bar! +His widow, at Paranagua, I was told, on learning the fate of her +husband, died of grief.</p> + +<p>The work of disinfecting the vessel, at Montevideo, after the sick were +removed, was a source of speculation that was most elaborately carried +on. Demijohns of carbolic acid were put on board, by the dozen, at $3.00 +per demijohn, all diluted ready for use; and a <i>guardo</i> was put on board +to use it up, which he did religiously over his own precious self, in my +after-cabin, as far from the end of the ship where the danger was as he +could get. Some one else disinfected <i>el proa</i>, not he! Abundant as the +stuff was, I had to look sharp for enough to wash out forward while aft +it was knee-deep almost, at three dollars a jar! The harpy that alighted +on deck at Maldonado sent in his bill for one hundred dollars—I paid +eighty.</p> + +<p>The cost to me of all this trouble in money paid out, irrelevantly to +mention, was over a thousand dollars. What it cost me in health and +mental anxiety cannot be estimated by such value. Still, I was not the +greatest sufferer. My hardest task was to come, you will believe, at the +gathering up of the trinkets and other purchases which the crew had +made, thoughtful of wife and child at home. All had to be burned, or +spoiled with carbolic acid! A hat for the little boy here, a pair of +boots for his mamma there, and many things for the <i>familia</i> all +around—all had to be destroyed!</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> In our discourse, Yahoo was spoken, but I write it in +English because many of my readers would not understand the original. +The signals that we used were made by universal code symbols. For +example, two flags hoisted representing "P" "D" signified "want (or +wants) immediate medical assistance." And so on, by hoists of two, three +or four flags representing the consonants, our wants and wishes could be +made known, each possessing the key to the code. +</p><p> +Our commercial code of signals is so invented and arranged that no +matter what tongues may meet, perhaps those utterly incomprehensible by +word of mouth, yet by these signs communications may be carried on with +great facility. The whole system is so beautifully simple that a child +of ordinary intelligence can understand it. Even the Yahoos were made to +comprehend—when not colour-blind. And, lest they should forget their +lesson, a gunboat is sent out every year or two, to fire it into them +with cannon.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> This <i>cachazza</i> is said to be death to microbes, or even to +larger worms; it will kill anything, in fact, except a Yahoo!</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<blockquote><p>A new crew—Sail for Antonina—Load timber—Native canoes—Loss of +the <i>Aquidneck</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p>After all this sad trouble was over, a new crew was shipped, and the +<i>Aquidneck's</i> prow again turned seaward. Passing out by Flores, soon +after, we observed the coast-guard searching, I learned, for a supposed +sunken bark, which had appeared between squalls in the late gale with +signals of distress set. I was satisfied from the account that it was +our bark which they had seen in the gale, and the supposed flags were +our tattered sails, what there was left of them, streaming in the storm. +But we did not discourage the search, as it could do no harm, and I +thought that they might perhaps find something else worth knowing about. +This was the day, as I have said, on which my faithful cook died, while +the bark was in sight from the window of his sick ward. It was a bright, +fine day to us. We cannot say that it was otherwise than bright to him.</p> + +<p>Breathing once more the fresh air of the sea, we set all sail for +Paranagua, passing the lights on the coast to leave them flickering on +the horizon, then soon out of sight. Fine weather prevailed, but with +much head wind; still we progressed, and rarely a day passed but +something of the distance toward our port was gained. One day, however, +coming to an island, one that was inhabited only by birds, we came to a +stand, as if it were impossible to go farther on the voyage; a spell +seemed to hang over us. I recognized the place as one that I knew well; +a very dear friend had stood by me on deck,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> looking at this island, +some years before. It was the last land that my friend ever saw. I would +fain have sailed around it now, but a puff of fair wind coming sent us +on our course for the time some leagues beyond. At sunset, though, this +wind went down, and with the current we drifted back so much that by the +next day we were farther off on the other side. However, fair wind +coming again, we passed up inside, making thus the circuit of the island +at last.</p> + +<p>More or less favourable winds thenceforth filled our sails, till at last +our destined port was gained.</p> + +<p>The little town of Antonina, where my wife and Garfield had remained +over during this voyage, twelve miles up the bay from Paranagua, soon +after our arrival, was made alive with the noise of children marching to +children's own music, my "Yawcob" heading the band with a brand-new +ninety-cent organ, the most envied fellow of the whole crowd. Sorrows of +the past took flight, or were locked in the closet at home, the fittest +place for past misfortunes.</p> + +<p>A truly hard voyage for us all was that to Montevideo! The survivors +reached home after a while. Their features were terribly marked and +disfigured; so much so that I did not know them till they accosted me +when we met.</p> + +<p>I look back with pleasure to the good character of my Brazilian sailors, +regretting the more their hard luck and sad fate! We may meet again! +<i>Quien sabe!</i></p> + +<p>Getting over all this sad business as best we could, we entered on the +next venture, which was to purchase and load a cargo of the famous +Brazilian wood. The <i>Aquidneck</i> was shifted to an arm of the bay, where +she was moored under the lee of a virgin forest, twenty minutes' canoe +ride from the village of Guarakasava, where she soon began to load.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span></p> + +<p>The timber of this country, generally very heavy, is nevertheless hauled +by hand to the water, where, lashed to canoes, it is floated to the +ship.</p> + +<p>These canoes, formed sometimes from mammoth trees, skilfully shaped and +dug out with care, are at once the carriage and <i>cariole</i> of the family +to the <i>citio</i>, or the rice to mill. Roads are hardly known where the +canoe is available; men, women, and children are consequently alike, +skilled in the art of canoeing to perfection, almost. There are no +carriages to speak of in such places, even a saddle horse about the +waterfront is a <i>rara avis</i>. There was, indeed, one horse at +Guarakasava—the owner of it was very conspicuous.</p> + +<p>The family canoe just spoken of, has the capacity, often, of several +tons, is handsomely decorated with carvings along the topsides, and is +painted, as the "Geordie" would say, "in none o' your gaudy colours, but +in good plain red or blue"—sometimes, however, they are painted green.</p> + +<p>The cost of these handsome canoes are, say, from $250 down in price and +size, from the grand turnout to the one-man craft which may be purchased +for five milreis ($2.50).</p> + +<p>From the greatest to the smallest they are cared for with almost an +affectionate care, and are made to last many years.</p> + +<p>One thing else which even the poorest Brazilian thinks much of is his +affectionate wife who literally and figuratively is often in the same +boat with her husband, pulling against the stream. Family ties are +strong in Brazil and the sweet flower of friendship thrives in its sunny +clime. The system of land and sea breezes prevail on the coast from Cape +Frio to Saint Catherine with great regularity most of the year; the sail +is therefore used to good advantage by the almost amphibious<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> +inhabitants along the coast who love the water and take to it like ducks +and natural born sailors.</p> + +<p>The wind falling light they propel their canoes by paddle or long pole +with equal facility. The occupants standing, in the smaller ones, force +them along at a great speed. The larger ones, when the wind does not +serve, are pulled by banks of oars which are fastened to stout pegs in +the gunwail with grummits, that fit loosely over the oars so as to allow +them free play in the hand of the waterman.</p> + +<p>Curling the water with fine, shapely prows as they dart over the smooth +waters of the bays and rivers, these canoes present a picture of +unrivalled skill and grace.</p> + +<p>I find the following entry in my diary made near the close of +transactions at Guarakasava which in the truthful word of an historian I +am bound to record, if only to show my prevailing high opinion of the +natives while I was among them:—</p> + +<blockquote><p class='right'><span class="smcap">Guarakasava</span>, Dec. 20th.</p> + +<p>Heretofore I have doted on native Brazilian honesty as well as +national seamanship and skill in canoes but my dream of a perfect +paradise is now unsettled forever. I find, alas! that even here the +fall of Adam is felt: Taking in some long poles to-day the negro +tallyman persisted in counting twice the same pole. When the first +end entered the port it was "<i>umo</i>" (one); when the last end +disappeared into the ship he would sing out "<i>does</i>" (two).</p></blockquote> + +<p>I had no serious difficulty over the matter, but left Guarakasava with +that hurt feeling which comes of being over persuaded that one and one +make four.</p> + +<p>We spent Christmas of 1887 at Guarakasava. The bark was loaded soon +after, and when proceeding across<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> the bay, where currents and wind +caught her foul near a dangerous sand bar, she misstayed and went on the +strand. The anchor was let go to club her. It wouldn't hold in the +treacherous sands; so she dragged and stranded broadside on, where, open +to the sea, a strong swell came in that raked her fore and aft for three +days, the waves dashing over her groaning hull the while till at last +her back was broke and—why not add heart as well! for she lay now +undone. After twenty-five years of good service the <i>Aquidneck</i> here +ended her days!</p> + +<p>I had myself carried load on load, but alas! I could not carry a +mountain; and was now at the end where my best skill and energy could +not avail. What was to be done? What could be done? We had indeed the +appearance of shipwrecked people, away, too, from home.</p> + +<p>This was no time to weep, for the lives of all the crew were saved; +neither was it a time to laugh, for our loss was great.</p> + +<p>But the sea calmed down, and I sold the wreck, which floated off at the +end of the storm. And after paying the crew their wages out of the +proceeds had a moiety left for myself and family—a small sum.</p> + +<p>Then I began to look about for the future, and for means of escape from +exile. The crew (foreign) found shipping for Montevideo, where they had +joined the <i>Aquidneck</i>, in lieu of the stricken Brazilian sailors. But +for myself and family this outlet was hardly available, even if we had +cared to go farther from home,—which was the least of our thoughts; and +there were no vessels coming our way.</p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<blockquote><p>The building of the <i>Liberdade</i>.</p></blockquote> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div>Away, away, no cloud is lowering o'er us</div> +<div class='i1'>Freely now we stem the wave;</div> +<div>Hoist, hoist all sail, before us</div> +<div class='i1'>Hope's beacon shines to cheer the brave.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div class="right">—<i>Masaniello</i>.</div> +</div></div> + + +<p>When all had been saved from the wreck that was worth saving, or that +could be saved, we found ourselves still in the possession of some goods +soon to become of great value to us, especially my compass and charts +which, though much damaged, were yet serviceable and suggested practical +usefulness; and the chronometer being found intact, my course was no +longer undecided, my wife and sons agreeing with what I thought best.</p> + +<p>The plan, in a word, was this: We could not beg our way, neither would +we sit idle among the natives. We found that it would require more +courage to remain in the far-off country than to return home in a boat, +which then we concluded to build and for that purpose.<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p> + +<p>My son Victor, with much pride and sympathy, entered heartily into the +plan, which promised a speedy return home. He bent his energies in a +practical direction, working on the boat like an old builder.</p> + +<p>Before entering on the project, however, all responsibilities were +considered. Swift ocean currents around capes and coral reefs were taken +into account; and above all else to be called dangerous we knew would +be the fierce tropical storms which surely we would encounter.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><a name="illust-052.png" id="illust-052.png"></a><img src="images/illust-052.png" width='700' height='430' alt="Diagram of the Liberdade" /></p> + +<h4>Diagram of the <i>Liberdade</i></h4> + +<h5>(Length 35 ft. beam 7½ ft., draught 2½ ft. weight 6 tons.)</h5> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>But a boat should be built stout and strong, we all said, one in which +we should not be afraid to trust our lives even in the storm.</p> + +<p>And with the advantage of experience in ships and boats of various sizes +and in many seas, I turned to the work of constructing, according to my +judgment and means, a craft which would be best adapted to all weathers +and all circumstances. My family with sympathetic strength pulling hard +in the same direction.</p> + +<p>Seaworthiness was to be the first and most prominent feature in our +microscopic ship; next to this good quality she should sail well; at +least before free winds. We counted on favourable winds; and so they +were experienced the greater part of the voyage that soon followed.</p> + +<p>Long exposures and many and severe disappointments by this time, I +found, had told on health and nerve, through long quarantines, expensive +fumigations, and ruinous doctors' visits, which had swept my dollars +into hands other than mine. However, with still a "shot in the locker," +and with some feelings of our own in the matter of how we should get +home, I say, we set to work with tools saved from the wreck—a meagre +kit—and soon found ourselves in command of another ship, which I will +describe the building of, also the dimensions and the model and rig, +first naming the tools with which it was made.</p> + +<p>To begin with, we had an axe, an adze, and two saws, one ½-inch auger, +one 6/8 and one 3/8 auger-bit; two large sail-needles, which we +converted into nailing bits; one roper, that answered for a punch; and, +most precious of all, a file that we found in an old sail-bag washed up +on the beach. A square we readily made.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> Two splints of bamboo wood +served as compasses. Charcoal, pounded as fine as flour and mixed in +water, took the place of chalk for the line; the latter we had on hand. +In cases where holes larger than the 6/8 bit were required, a piece of +small jack-stay iron was heated, and with this we could burn a hole to +any size required. So we had, after all, quite a kit to go on with. +Clamps, such as are used by boat builders, we had not, but made +substitutes from the crooked guava tree and from <i>massaranduba</i> wood.</p> + +<p>Trees from the neighbouring forest were felled when the timber from the +wrecked cargo would not answer. Some of these woods that we sought for +special purposes had queer sounding names, such as <i>arregebah, +guanandee, batetenandinglastampai</i>, etc. This latter we did not use the +saw upon at all, it being very hard, but hewed it with the axe, bearing +in mind that we had but one file, whereas for the edged tools we had but +to go down to a brook hard by to find stones in abundance suitable to +sharpen them on.</p> + +<p>The many hindrances encountered in the building of the boat will not be +recounted here. Among the least was a jungle fever, from which we +suffered considerably. But all that and all other obstacles vanished at +last, or became less, before a new energy which grew apace with the +boat, and the building of the craft went rapidly forward. There was no +short day system, but we rested on the Sabbath, or surveyed what we had +done through the week, and made calculations of what and how to strike +on the coming week.</p> + +<p>The unskilled part of the labour, such as sawing the cedar planks, of +which she was mostly made, was done by the natives, who saw in a rough +fashion, always leaving much planing and straightening to be done, in +order to adjust the timber to a suitable<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> shape. The planks for the +bottom were of ironwood, 1¼ X 10 inches. For the sides and top red +cedar was used, each plank, with the exception of two, reaching the +whole length of the boat. This arrangement of exceedingly heavy wood in +the bottom, and the light on top, contributed much to the stability of +the craft.</p> + +<p>The ironwood was heavy as stone, while the cedar, being light and +elastic, lent buoyancy and suppleness, all that we could wish for.</p> + +<p>The fastenings we gathered up in various places, some from the bulwarks +of the wreck, some from the hinges of doors and skylights, and some were +made from the ship's metal sheathing, which the natives melted and cast +into nails. Pure copper nails, also, were procured from the natives, +some ten <i>kilos</i>, for which I paid in copper coins, at the rate of two +<i>kilos</i> of coin for one <i>kilo</i> of nails. The same kind of coins, called +<i>dumps</i>, cut into diamond-shaped pieces, with holes punched through +them, entered into the fastenings as burrs for the nails. A number of +small eyebolts from the spanker-boom of the wreck were turned to account +for lashing bolts in the deck of the new vessel. The nails, when too +long, were cut to the required length, taking care that the ends which +were cut off should not be wasted, but remelted, along with the metal +sheathing, into other nails.</p> + +<p>Some carriage bolts, with nuts, which I found in the country, came in +very handy; these I adjusted to the required length, when too long, by +slipping on blocks of wood of the required thickness to take up the +surplus length, putting the block, of course, on the inside, and +counter-sinking the nut flush with the planks on the outside; then +screwing from the inside outward, they were drawn together, and there +held as in a vice, the planks being put together "lap-streak" fashion,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> +which without doubt is the strongest way to build a boat.</p> + +<p>These screw-bolts, seventy in number, as well as the copper nails, cost +us dearly, but wooden pegs, with which also she was fastened, cost only +the labour of being made. The lashings, too, that we used here and there +about the frame of the cabin, cost next to nothing, being made from the +fibrous bark of trees, which could be had in abundance by the stripping +of it off. So, taking it by and large, our materials were not expensive, +the principal item being the timber, which cost about three cents per +superficial foot, sawed or hewed. Rosewood, ironwood, cedar or mahogany, +were all about the same price and very little in advance of common wood; +so of course we selected always the best, the labour of shaping being +least, sometimes, where the best materials were used.</p> + +<p>These various timbers and fastenings, put together as best we could +shape and join them, made a craft sufficiently strong and seaworthy to +withstand all the bufferings on the main upon which, in due course, she +was launched.</p> + +<p>The hull being completed, by various other contrivances and makeshifts +in which, sometimes, the "wooden blacksmith" was called in to assist, +and the mother of invention also lending a hand, fixtures were made +which served as well on the voyage as though made in a dockyard and at +great cost.</p> + +<p>My builders baulked at nothing, and on the 13th day of May, the day on +which the slaves of Brazil were set free, our craft was launched, and +was named <i>Liberdade</i> (Liberty).</p> + +<p>Her dimensions being—35 feet in length over all, 7½ feet breadth of +beam, and 3 feet depth of hold. Who shall say that she was not large +enough?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span></p> + +<p>Her model I got from my recollections of Cape Ann dories and from a +photo of a very elegant Japanese <i>sampan</i> which I had before me on the +spot, so, as it might be expected, when finished she resembled both +types of vessel in some degree.</p> + +<p>Her rig was the Chinese <i>sampan</i> style, which is, I consider, the most +convenient boat rig in the whole world.</p> + +<p>This was the boat, or canoe I prefer to call it, in which we purposed to +sail for North America and home. Each one had been busy during the +construction and past misfortunes had all been forgotten. Madam had made +the sails—and very good sails they were, too!</p> + +<p>Victor, the carpenter, ropemaker, and general roustabout had performed +his part. Our little man, Garfield, too, had found employment in holding +the hammer to clinch the nails and giving much advice on the coming +voyage. All were busy, I say, and no one had given a thought of what we +were about to encounter from the port officials farther up the coast; it +was pretended by them that a passport could not be granted to so small a +craft to go on so long a voyage as the contemplated one to North +America.</p> + +<p>Then fever returned to the writer and the constructor of the little +craft, and I was forced to go to bed, remaining there three days. +Finally, it came to my mind that in part of a medicine chest, which had +been saved from the wreck, was stored some <i>arsenicum</i>, I think it is +called. Of this I took several doses (small ones at first, you may be +sure), and the good effect of the deadly poison on the malaria in my +system was soon felt trickling through my veins. Increasing the doses +somewhat, I could perceive the beneficial effect hour by hour, and in a +few days I had quite recovered from the malady. Absurd as it was to have +the judgment of sailors set on by polly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>wog navigators, we had still to +submit, the pollywogs being numerous.</p> + +<p>About this time—as the astrologers say—a messenger came down from the +<i>Alfandega</i> (Custom House), asking me to repair thither at midday on the +morrow. This filled me with alarm. True, the messenger has delivered his +message in the politest possible manner, but that signified nothing, +since Brazilians are always polite. This thing, small as it seems now, +came near sending me back to the fever.</p> + +<p>What had I done?</p> + +<p>I went up next day, after having nightmare badly all night, prepared to +say that I wouldn't do it again! The kind administrator I found, upon +presenting myself at his office, had no fault to charge me with; but had +a good word, instead. "The little <i>Liberdade</i>," he observed, had +attracted the notice of his people and his own curiosity, as being "a +handsome and well-built craft." This and many other flattering +expressions were vented, at which I affected surprise, but secretly +said, "I think you are right, sir, and you have good taste, too, if you +are a customs officer."</p> + +<p>The drift of this flattery, to make a long story short, was to have me +build a boat for the <i>Alfandega</i>, or, his government not allowing money +to build new—pointing to one which certainly would require new keel, +planks, ribs, stem, and stern-post—"could I not repair one?"</p> + +<p>To this proposition I begged time to consider. Flattering as the +officer's words were, and backed by the offer of liberal pay, so long as +the boat could be "repaired," I still had no mind to remain in the hot +country, and risk getting the fever again. But there was the old hitch +to be gotten over; namely, the passport, on which, we thought, depended +our sailing.</p> + +<p>However, to expedite matters, a fishing licence was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> hit upon, and I +wondered why I had not thought of that before, having been, once upon a +time, a fisherman myself. Heading thence on a new diplomatic course, I +commenced to fit ostensibly for a fishing voyage. To this end, a fishing +net was made, which would be a good thing to have, anyway. Then hooks +and lines were rigged and a cable made. This cable, or rope, was formed +from vines that grow very long on the sand-banks just above tide water, +several of which twisted together make a very serviceable rope, then +being light and elastic, it is especially adapted for a boat anchor +rope, or for the storm drag. Ninety fathoms of this rope was made for us +by the natives, for the sum of ten milreis ($5.00).</p> + +<p>The anchor came of itself almost. I had made a wooden one from heavy +sinking timber, but a stalwart ranchman coming along, one day, brought a +boat anchor with him which, he said, had been used by his slaves as a +pot-hook. "But now that they are free and away," said he, "I have no +further use for the crooked thing." A sewing-machine, which had served +to stitch the sails together, was coveted by him, and was of no further +use to us; in exchange for this the prized anchor was readily secured, +the owner of it leaving us some boot into the bargain. Things working +thus in our favour, the wooden anchor was stowed away to be kept as a +spare bower.</p> + +<p>These arrangements completed, our craft took on the appearance of a +fishing smack, and I began to feel somewhat in my old element, with no +fear of the lack of ways and means when we should arrive on our own +coast, where I knew of fishing banks. And a document which translated +read: "A licence to catch fish inside and outside of the bar" was +readily granted by the port authorities.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span></p> + +<p>"How far outside the bar may this carry us?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"<i>Quien sabe!</i>" said the officer. (Literally translated, "Who knows?" +but in Spanish or Portuguese used for, "Nobody knows, or, I don't +care.")</p> + +<p>"Adieu, señor," said the polite official; "we will meet in heaven!"</p> + +<p>This meant you can go since you insist upon it, but I must not +officially know of it; and you will probably go to the bottom. In this +he and many others were mistaken.</p> + +<p>Having the necessary document now in our possession, we commenced to +take in stores for the voyage, as follows: Sea-biscuits, 120 lbs.; +flour, 25 lbs.; sugar, 30 lbs.; coffee, 9 lbs., which, roasted black and +pounded fine as wheaten flour, was equal to double the amount as +prepared in North America, and afforded us a much more delicious cup.</p> + +<p>Of tea we had 3 lbs.; pork, 20 lbs.; dried beef, 100 lbs.; <i>baccalao +secca</i> (dried codfish), 20 lbs.; 2 bottles of honey, 200 oranges, 6 +bunches of bananas, 120 gallons of water; also a small basket of yams, +and a dozen sticks of sugar-cane, by way of vegetables.</p> + +<p>Our medicine chest contained Brazil nuts, pepper, and cinnamon; no other +medicines or condiments were required on the voyage, except table salt, +which we also had.</p> + +<p>One musket and a carbine—which had already stood us in good +stead—together with ammunition and three cutlasses were stowed away for +last use, to be used, nevertheless, in case of necessity.</p> + +<p>The light goods I stowed in the ends of the canoe, the heavier in the +middle and along the bottom, thus economizing space and lending to the +stability of the canoe. Over the top of the midship stores a floor was +made, which, housed over by a tarpaulin roof reaching<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> three feet above +the deck of the canoe, supported by a frame of bamboo, gave us sitting +space of four feet from the floor to the roof, and twelve feet long +amidships. This arrangement of cabin in the centre gave my passengers a +berth where the least motion would be felt; even this is saying but +little, for best we could do to avoid it we had still to accept much +tossing from the waves.</p> + +<p>Precautionary measures were taken in everything, so far as our resources +and skill could reach. The springy and buoyant bamboo was used wherever +stick of any kind was required, such as the frame and braces for the +cabin, yards for the sails, and, finally, for guard on her top sides, +making the canoe altogether a self-righting one, in case of a capsize. +Each joint in the bamboo was an air-chamber of several pounds buoyant +capacity, and we had a thousand joints.</p> + +<p>The most important of our stores, particularly the flour, bread, and +coffee, were hermetically sealed, so that if actually turned over at +sea, our craft would not only right herself, but would bring her stores +right side up, in good order, and it then would be only a question of +baling her out, and of setting her again on her course, when we would +come on as right as ever. As it turned out, however, no such trial or +mishap awaited us.</p> + +<p>While the possibility of many and strange occurrences was felt by all of +us, the danger which loomed most in little Garfield's mind was that of +the sharks.</p> + +<p>A fine specimen was captured on the voyage, showing five rows of pearly +teeth, as sharp as lances.</p> + +<p>Some of these monsters, it is said, have nine rows of teeth; that they +are always hungry is admitted by sailors of great experience.</p> + +<p>How it is that sailors can go in bathing, as they often do, in the face +of a danger so terrible, is past my com<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>prehension. Their business is to +face danger, to be sure, but this is a needless exposure, for which the +penalty is sometimes a life. The second mate of a bark on the coast of +Cuba, not long ago, was bitten in twain, and the portions swallowed +whole by a monster shark that he had tempted in this way. The shark was +captured soon after, and the poor fellow's remains taken out of the +revolting maw.</p> + +<p>Leaving the sharks where they are, I gladly return to the voyage of the +<i>Liberdade</i>.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> This alternative I was obliged to accept, or bring my +family home as paupers, for my wealth was gone—need I explain more? +This explanation has been forced from me.</p></div> +</div> + +<p class="center"><a name="illust-062.png" id="illust-062.png"></a><img src="images/illust-062.png" width='700' height='554' alt="The Liberdade" /></p> + +<h4>The <i>Liberdade</i></h4> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<blockquote><p>Across the bar—The run to Santos—Tow to Rio by the steamship—At +Rio.</p></blockquote> + +<p>The efficiency of our canoe was soon discovered: On the 24th of June, +after having sailed about the bay some few days to temper our feelings +to the new craft, and shake things into place, we crossed the bar and +stood out to sea, while six vessels lay inside "bar-bound," that is to +say by their pilots it was thought too rough to venture out, and they, +the pilots, stood on the point as we put out to sea, crossing themselves +in our behalf, and shouting that the bar was <i>crudo</i>. But the +<i>Liberdade</i> stood on her course, the crew never regretting it.</p> + +<p>The wind from the sou'west at the time was the moderating side of a +<i>pampeiro</i> which had brought in a heavy swell from the ocean, that broke +and thundered on the bar with deafening roar and grand display of +majestic effort.</p> + +<p>But our little ship bounded through the breakers like a fish—as natural +to the elements, and as free!</p> + +<p>Of all the seas that broke furiously about her that day, often standing +her on end, not one swept over or even boarded her, and she finally came +through the storm of breakers in triumph. Then squaring away before the +wind she spread her willing sails, and flew onward like a bird.</p> + +<p>It required confidence and some courage to face the first storm in so +small a bark, after having been years in large ships; but it would have +required more courage than was possessed by any of us to turn back, +since thoughts of home had taken hold on our minds.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span></p> + +<p>Then, too, the old boating trick came back fresh to me, the love of the +thing itself gaining on me as the little ship stood out: and my crew +with one voice said: "Go on." The heavy South Atlantic swell rolling in +upon the coast, as we sped along, toppled over when it reached the ten +fathom line, and broke into roaring combers, which forbade our nearer +approach to the land.</p> + +<p>Evidently, our safest course was away from the shore, and out where the +swelling seas, though grand, were regular, and raced under our little +craft that danced like a mite on the ocean as she drove forward. In +twenty-four hours from the time Paranagua bar was crossed we were up +with Santos Heads, a run of 150 miles.</p> + +<p>A squall of wind burst on us through a gulch, as we swept round the +Heads, tearing our sails into shreds, and sending us into Santos under +bare poles.</p> + +<p>Chancing then upon an old friend, the mail steamship <i>Finance</i>, Capt. +Baker, about to sail for Rio, the end of a friendly line was extended to +us, and we were towed by the stout steamer toward Rio, the next day, as +fast as we could wish to go. My wife and youngest sailor took passage on +the steamer, while Victor remained in the canoe with me, and stood by +with axe in hand, to cut the tow-line, if the case should require +it—and I steered.</p> + +<p>"Look out," said Baker, as the steamer began to move ahead, "look out +that I don't snake that canoe out from under you."</p> + +<p>"Go on with your mails, Baker," was all I could say, "don't blow up your +ship with my wife and son on board, and I will look out for the packet +on the other end of the rope."</p> + +<p>Baker opened her up to thirteen knots, but the <i>Liberdade</i> held on!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span></p> + +<p>The line that we towed with was 1-1/3 inches in diameter, by ninety +fathoms long. This, at times when the steamer surged over seas, leaving +the canoe on the opposite side of a wave astern, would become as taut as +a harp-string. At other times it would slacken and sink limp in a bight, +under the forefoot, but only for a moment, however, when the steamer's +next great plunge ahead would snap it taut again, pulling us along with +a heavy, trembling jerk. Under the circumstances, straight steering was +imperative, for a sheer to port or starboard would have finished the +career of the <i>Liberdade</i>, by sending her under the sea. Therefore, the +trick of twenty hours fell to me—the oldest and most experienced +helmsman. But I was all right and not over-fatigued until Baker cast oil +upon the "troubled waters." I soon got tired of that.</p> + +<p>Victor was under the canvas covering, with the axe still in hand, ready +to cut the line which was so arranged that he could reach it from +within, and cut instantly, if by mischance the canoe should take a +sheer.</p> + +<p>I was afraid that the lad would become sleepy, and putting his head +"under his wing" for a nap, would forget his post, but my frequent cry, +"Stand by there, Victor," found him always on hand, though complaining +somewhat of the dizzy motion.</p> + +<p>Heavy sprays dashed over me at the helm, which, however, seeming to wash +away the sulphur and brimstone smoke of many a quarantine, brought +enjoyment to my mind.</p> + +<p>Confused waves rose about us, high and dangerous—often high above the +gunwale of the canoe—but her shapely curves balanced her well, and she +rode over them all in safety.</p> + +<p>This canoe ride was thrilling and satisfactory to us all. It proved +beyond a doubt that we had in this little<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> craft a most extraordinary +sea-boat, for the tow was a thorough test of her seaworthiness.</p> + +<p>The captain of the steamer ordered oil cast over from time to time, +relieving us of much spray and sloppy motion, but adding to discomforts +of taste to me at the helm, for much of the oil blew over me and in my +face. Said the captain to one of his mates (an old whaler by the way, +and whalers for some unaccountable reason have never too much regard for +a poor merchantman), "Mr. Smith."</p> + +<p>"Aye, aye, sir," answered old Smith.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Smith, hoist out that oil."</p> + +<p>"Aye, aye, sir," said the old "blubberhunter," in high glee, as he went +about it with alacrity, and in less than five minutes from the time the +order was given, I was smothering in grease and our boat was oiled from +keel to truck.</p> + +<p>"She's all right now," said Smith.</p> + +<p>"That's all right," said Baker, but I thought it all wrong. The wind, +meanwhile, was in our teeth and before we crossed Rio bar I had +swallowed enough oil to cure any amount of consumption.</p> + +<p>Baker, I have heard, said he wouldn't care much if he should "drown +Slocum." But I was all right so long as the canoe didn't sheer, and we +arrived at Rio safe and sound after the most exciting boat-ride of my +life. I was bound not to cut the line that towed us so well; and I knew +that Baker wouldn't let it go, for it was his rope.</p> + +<p>I found at Rio that my fishing licence could be exchanged for a pass of +greater import. This document had to be procured through the office of +the Minister of Marine.</p> + +<p>Many a smart linguist was ready to use his influence on my behalf with +the above-named high official; but I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> found at the end of a month that I +was making headway about as fast as a Dutch galliot in a head sea after +the wind had subsided. Our worthy Consul, General H. Clay Armstrong, +gave me a hint of what the difficulty was and how to obviate it. I then +went about the business myself as I should have done at first, and I +found those at the various departments who were willing to help me +without the intervention of outside "influence."</p> + +<p>Commander Marquis of the Brazilian navy recommended me to His +Excellency, the Minister of Marine, "out of regard," he said, "for +American seamen," and when the new document came it was "<i>Passe +Especial</i>," and had on it <i>a seal as big as a soup plate</i>. A port naval +officer then presented me to the good <i>Administradore,</i> who also gave me +a <i>passe especial</i>, with the seal of the <i>Alfandega</i>.</p> + +<p>I had now only to procure a bill of health, when I should have papers +enough for a man-o'-war. Rio being considered a healthy place, this was +readily granted, making our equipment complete.</p> + +<p>I met here our minister whose office, with other duties, is to keep a +weather-eye lifting in the interest of that orphan, the American +ship—alas, my poor relation! Said he, "Captain, if your <i>Liberdade</i> be +as good as your papers" (documents given me by the Brazilian officials), +"you may get there all right"; adding, "well, if the boat ever reaches +home she will be a great curiosity," the meaning of which, I could +readily infer, was, "and your chances for a snap in a dime museum will +be good." This, after many years of experience as an American +shipmaster, and also shipowner, in a moderate way, was interesting +encouragement. By our Brazilian friends, however, the voyage was looked +upon as a success already achieved.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span></p> + +<blockquote><p>The utmost confidence [said the "Journal Opiz," of Rio], is placed +in the cool-headed, audacious American mariner, and we expect in a +short time to hear proclaimed in all of the journals of the Old and +New World the safe arrival of this wonderful little craft at her +destination, ourselves taking part in the glory. (Temos confianca +na pericia e sangue frio do audaciauso marinhero Americano por isso +esperamos que dentro em pouco tempo veremos o seu nome proclamado +por todos os jornaes do velho e novo mundo. A nos tambem cabera +parte da gloria.)</p></blockquote> + +<p>With these and like kind expressions from all of our <i>friends</i>, we took +leave of Rio, sailing on the morning of July 23rd, 1888.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span></p> + +<p class="center"><a name="illust-069.png" id="illust-069.png"></a><img src="images/illust-069.png" width='575' height='700' alt="Course of the Liberdade" /></p> + +<h4>Course of the <i>Liberdade</i> from Paranagua to Barbadoes</h4> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<blockquote><p>Sail from Rio—Anchor at Cape Frio—Encounter with a whale—Sunken +treasure—The schoolmaster—The merchant—The good people at the +village—A pleasant visit.</p></blockquote> + +<p>July 23rd, 1888, was the day, as I have said, on which we sailed from +Rio de Janeiro.</p> + +<p>Meeting with head winds and light withal, through the day we made but +little progress; and finally, when night came on, we anchored twenty +miles east of Rio Heads, near the shore. Long, rolling seas rocked us as +they raced by, then, dashing their great bodies against defying rocks, +made music by which we slept that night. But a trouble unthought of +before came up in Garfield's mind before going to his bunk; "Mamma," +cried he, as our little bark rose and fell on the heavy waves, tumbling +the young sailor about from side to side in the small quarters while he +knelt seriously at his evening devotion, "mamma, this boat isn't big +enough to pray in!" But this difficulty was gotten over in time, and +Garfield learned to watch as well as to pray on the voyage, and full of +faith that all would be well, laid him down nights and slept as +restfully as any Christian on sea or land.</p> + +<p>By daylight of the second day we were again underweigh, beating to the +eastward against the old head wind and head sea. On the following night +we kept her at it, and the next day made Cape Frio where we anchored +near the entrance to a good harbour.</p> + +<p>Time from Rio, two days; distance, 70 miles.</p> + +<p>The wind and tide being adverse, compelled us to wait outside for a +favourable change. While comfort<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>ably anchored at this place, a huge +whale, nosing about, came up under the canoe, giving us a toss and a +great scare. We were at dinner when it happened. The meal, it is +needless to say, was finished without dessert. The great sea +animal—fifty to sixty feet long—circling around our small craft, +looked terribly big. He was so close to me twice, as he swam round and +round the canoe, that I could have touched him either time with a +paddle. His flukes stirring the water like a steamer propeller appeared +alarmingly close and powerful!—and what an ugly mouth the monster had! +Well, we expected instant annihilation. The fate of the stout whale-ship +<i>Essex</i> came vividly before me. The voyage of the <i>Liberdade</i>, I +thought, was about ended, and I looked about for pieces of bamboo on +which to land my wife and family. Just then, however, to the infinite +relief of all of us, the leviathan moved off, without doing us much +harm, having felt satisfied, perhaps, that we had no Jonah on board.</p> + +<p>We lost an anchor through the incident, and received some small damage +to the keel, but no other injury was done—even this, I believe, upon +second thought, was unintentional—done in playfulness only! "A shark +can take a joke," it is said, and crack one too, but for broad, rippling +humour the whale has no equal.</p> + +<p>"If this be a sample of our adventures in the beginning," thought I, "we +shall have enough and to spare by the end of the voyage." A visit from +this quarter had not been counted on; but Sancho Panza says, "When least +aware starts the hare," which in our case, by the by, was a great whale!</p> + +<p>When our breath came back and the hair on our heads settled to a normal +level, we set sail, and dodged about under the lee of the cape till a +cove, with a very enticing sand beach at the head of it, opened before +us,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> some three miles northwest of where we lost the anchor in the +remarkable adventure with the whale. The "spare bower" was soon bent to +the cable. Then we stood in and anchored near a cliff, over which was a +goat-path leading in the direction of a small fishing village, about a +mile away. Sheering the boat in to the rocky side of the cove which was +steep to, we leaped out, warp in hand, and made fast to a boulder above +the tidal flow, then, scrambling over the cliff, we repaired to the +village, first improvising a spare anchor from three sticks and a stone +which answered the purpose quite well.</p> + +<p>Judging at once that we were strangers the villagers came out to meet +us, and made a stir at home to entertain us in the most hospitable +manner, after the custom of the country, and with the villagers was a +gentleman from Canada, a Mr. Newkirk, who, as we learned, was engaged, +when the sea was smooth, in recovering treasure that was lost near the +cape in the British warship <i>Thetis</i>, which was wrecked there in 1830. +The treasure, some millions in silver coins and gold in bars, from Peru +for England, was dumped in the cove, which has since taken the name of +the ship that bore it there and, as I have said, came to grief in that +place which is on the west shore near the end of the cape.</p> + +<p>Some of the coins were given to us to be treasured as souvenirs of the +pleasant visit. We found in Mr. Newkirk a versatile, roving genius; he +had been a schoolmaster at home, captain of a lake schooner once, had +practised medicine, and preached some, I think; and what else I do not +know. He had tried many things for a living, but, like the proverbial +moving stone had failed to accumulate. "Matters," said the Canadian, +"were getting worse and worse even, till finally to keep my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> head above +water I was forced to go under the sea," and he had struck it rich, it +would seem, if gold being brought in by the boat-load was any sign. This +man of many adventures still spoke like a youngster; no one had told him +that he was growing old. He talked of going home, as soon as the balance +of the treasure was secured, "just to see his dear old mother," who, by +the way, was seventy-four years old when he left home, some twenty years +before. Since his last news from home, nearly two decades had gone by. +He was "the youngest of a family of eighteen children, all living," he +said, "though," added he, "our family came near being made one less +yesterday, by a whale which I thought would eat my boat, diving-bell, +crew, money and all, as he came toward us, with open mouth. By a back +stroke of the oars, however, we managed to cheat him out of his dinner, +if that was what he was after, and I think it was, but here I am!" he +cried, "all right!" and might have added, "wealthy after all."</p> + +<p>After hearing the diver's story, I related in Portuguese our own +adventure of the same day, and probably with the same whale, the monster +having gone in the direction of the diver's boat. The astonishment of +the listeners was great; but when they learned of our intended voyage to +<i>America do Norte</i>, they crossed themselves and asked God to lend us +grace!</p> + +<p>"Is North America near New York?" asked the village merchant, who owned +all the boats and nets of the place.</p> + +<p>"Why, America is <i>in</i> New York," answered the ex-schoolmaster.</p> + +<p>"I thought so," said the self-satisfied merchant. And no doubt he +thought some of us very stupid, or rude, or both, but in spite of +manners I had to smile at the assuring air of the Canadian.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Why did you not answer him correctly?" I asked of the ex-schoolmaster.</p> + +<p>"I answered him," said Newkirk, "according to his folly. Had I corrected +his rusty geography before these simple, impoverished fishermen, he +would not soon forgive me; and as for the rest of the poor souls here, +the knowledge would do them but little good."</p> + +<p>I may mention that in this out-of-the-way place there were no schools, +and except the little knowledge gained in their church, from the +catechism, and from the fumbling of beads, they were the most innocent +of this world's scheme, of any people I ever met. But they seemed to +know all about heaven, and were, no doubt, happy.</p> + +<p>After the brief, friendly chat that we had, coffee was passed around, +the probabilities of the <i>Liberdade's</i> voyage discussed, and the crew +cautioned against the dangers of the <i>balaena</i> (whale), which were +numerous along the coast, and vicious at that season of the year, having +their young to protect.</p> + +<p>I realized very often the startling sensation alone of a night at the +helm, of having a painful stillness broken by these leviathans bursting +the surface of the water with a noise like the roar of a great sea, +uncomfortably near, reminding me of the Cape Frio adventure; and my +crew, I am sure, were not less sensitive to the same feeling of an awful +danger, however imaginary. One night in particular, dark and foggy I +remember, Victor called me excitedly, saying that something dreadful +ahead and drawing rapidly near had frightened him.</p> + +<p>It proved to be a whale, for some reason that I could only guess at, +threshing the sea with its huge body, and surging about in all +directions, so that it puzzled me to know which way to steer to go +clear. I thought at first, from the rumpus made, that a fight was going +on, such<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> as we had once witnessed from the deck of the <i>Aquidneck</i>, not +far from this place. Our course was changed as soon as we could decide +which way to avoid, if possible, all marine disturbers of the peace. We +wished especially to keep away from infuriated swordfish, which I feared +might be darting about, and be apt to give us a blind thrust. Knowing +that they sometimes pierce stout ships through with their formidable +weapons, I began to feel ticklish about the ribs myself, I confess, and +the little watch below, too, got uneasy and sleepless; for one of these +swords, they knew well, would reach through and through our little boat, +from keel to deck. Large ships have occasionally been sent into port +leaky from the stab of a sword, but what I most dreaded was the +possibility of one of us being ourselves pinned in the boat.</p> + +<p>A swordfish once pierced a whale-ship through the planking, and through +the solid frame timber and the thick ceiling, with his sword, leaving it +there, a valuable plug indeed, with the point, it was found upon +unshipping her cargo at New Bedford, even piercing through a cask in the +hold.</p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<blockquote><p>Sail from Frio—Round Cape St. Thome—High seas and swift +currents—In the "trades"—Dangerous reefs—Run into harbour +unawares, on a dark and stormy night—At Caravellas—Fine +weather—A gale—Port St. Paulo—Treacherous natives—Sail for +Bahia.</p></blockquote> + +<p>July 30th, early in the day, and after a pleasant visit at the cape, we +sailed for the north, securing first a few sea shells to be cherished, +with the <i>Thetis</i> relics, in remembrance of a most enjoyable visit to +the hospitable shores of Cape Frio.</p> + +<p>Having now doubled Cape Frio, a prominent point in our voyage, and +having had the seaworthiness of our little ship thoroughly tested, as +already told; and seeing, moreover, that we had nothing to fear from +common small fry of the sea (one of its greatest monsters having failed +to capsize us), we stood on with greater confidence than ever, but +watchful, nevertheless, for any strange event that might happen.</p> + +<p>A fresh polar wind hurried us on, under shortened sail, toward the +softer "trades" of the tropics, but, veering to the eastward by +midnight, it brought us well in with the land. Then, "Larboard watch, +ahoy! all hands on deck and turn out reefs," was the cry. To weather +Cape St. Thome we must lug on all sail. And we go over the shoals with a +boiling sea and current in our favour. In twenty-four hours from Cape +Frio, we had lowered the Southern Cross three degrees—180 miles.</p> + +<p>Sweeping by the cape, the canoe sometimes standing on end, and sometimes +buried in the deep hollow of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> sea, we sunk the light on St. Thome +soon out of sight and stood on with flowing sheet. The wind on the +following day settled into regular south-east "trades," and our cedar +canoe skipped briskly along, over friendly seas that were leaping toward +home, doffing their crests onward and forward, but never back, and the +splashing waves against her sides, then rippling along the thin cedar +planks between the crew and eternity, vibrated enchanting music to the +ear, while confidence grew in the bark that was <span class="smcap">homeward bound</span>.</p> + +<p>But coming upon coral reefs, of a dark night, while we listened to the +dismal tune of the seas breaking over them with an eternal roar, how +intensely lonesome they were! no sign of any living thing in sight, +except, perhaps, the phosphorescent streaks of a hungry shark, which +told of bad company in our wake, and made the gloom of the place more +dismal still.</p> + +<p>One night we made shelter under the lee of the extensive reefs called +the Paredes (walls), without seeing the breakers at all in the dark, +although they were not far in the distance. At another time, dragging on +sail to clear a lee shore, of a dark and stormy night, we came suddenly +into smooth water, where we cast anchor and furled our sails, lying in a +magic harbour till daylight the next morning, when we found ourselves +among a maze of ugly reefs, with high seas breaking over them, as far as +the eye could reach, on all sides, except at the small entrance to the +place that we had stumbled into in the night. The position of this +future harbour is South Lat. 16° 48', and West Long, from Greenwich 39° +30'. We named the place "<span class="smcap">Port Liberdade</span>."</p> + +<p>The next places sighted were the treacherous Abrohles, and the village +of Caravellas back of the reef where, upon refitting, I found that a +chicken cost a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> thousand reis, a bunch of bananas four hundred reis; but +where a dozen limes cost only twenty reis—one cent. Much whaling gear +lay strewn about the place, and on the beach was the carcass of a whale +about nine days slain. Also leaning against a smart-looking boat was a +grey-haired fisherman, boat and man relics of New Bedford, employed at +this station in their familiar industry. The old man was bare-footed and +thinly clad, after the custom in this climate. Still, I recognized the +fisherman and sailor in the set and rig of the few duds he had on, and +the ample straw hat (donkey's breakfast) that he wore, and doffed in a +seaman-like manner, upon our first salute. "<i>Filio do Mar do Nord +Americano</i>," said an affable native close by, pointing at the same time +to that "son of the sea of North America," by way of introduction, as +soon as it was learned that we, too, were of that country. I tried to +learn from this ancient mariner the cause of his being stranded in this +strange land. He may have been cast up there by the whale for aught I +could learn to the contrary.</p> + +<p>Choosing a berth well to windward of the dead whale—the one that landed +"the old man of the sea" there, maybe!—we anchored for the night, put a +light in the rigging and turned in. Next morning, the village was astir +betimes; canoes were being put afloat, and the rattle of poles, paddles, +bait boxes, and many more things for the daily trip that were being +hastily put into each canoe, echoed back from the tall palm groves notes +of busy life, telling us that it was time to weigh anchor and be +sailing. To this cheerful tune we lent ear and, hastening to be +underweigh, were soon clear of the port. Then, skimming along near the +beach in the early morning, our sails spread to a land breeze, laden +with fragrance from the tropic forest and the music of many songsters, +we sailed in great felicity, dreading no dangers<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> from the sea, for +there were none now to dread or fear.</p> + +<p>Proceeding forward through this belt of moderate winds, fanned by +alternating land and sea breezes, we drew on toward a region of high +trade-winds that reach sometimes the dignity of a gale. It was no +surprise, therefore, after days of fine-weather sailing, to be met by a +storm, which so happened as to drive us into the indifferent anchorage +of St. Paulo, thirty miles from Bahia, where we remained two days for +shelter.</p> + +<p>Time, three days from Caravellas; distance sailed, 270 miles.</p> + +<p>A few fishermen lounged about the place, living, apparently, in wretched +poverty, spending their time between waiting for the tide to go out, +when it was in, and waiting for it to come in, when it was out, to float +a canoe or bring fish to their shiftless nets. This, indeed, seemed +their only concern in life; while their ill-thatched houses, forsaken of +the adobe that once clung to the wicker walls, stood grinning in rows, +like emblems of our mortality.</p> + +<p>We found at this St. Paulo anything but saints. The wretched place +should be avoided by strangers, unless driven there for shelter, as we +ourselves were, by stress of weather. We left the place on the first +lull of the wind, having been threatened by an attack from a gang of +rough, half-drunken fellows, who rudely came on board, jostling about, +and jabbering in a dialect which, however, I happened to understand. I +got rid of them by the use of my broken Portuguese, and once away I was +resolved that they should stay away. I was not mistaken in my suspicions +that they would return and try to come aboard, which shortly afterward +they did, but my resolution to keep them off was not shaken. I let them +know, in their own jargon this time, that I was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> well armed. They +finally paddled back to the shore, and all visiting was then ended. We +stood a good watch that night, and by daylight next morning, Aug. 12th, +put to sea, standing out in a heavy swell, the character of which I knew +better, and could trust to more confidently than a harbour among +treacherous natives.</p> + +<p>Early in the same day, we arrived at <i>Bahia do todos Santos</i> (All +Saints' Bay), a charming port, with a rich surrounding country. It was +from this port, by the way, that Robinson Crusoe sailed for Africa to +procure slaves for his plantation and that of his friend, so fiction +relates.</p> + +<p>At Bahia we met many friends and gentle folk. Not the least interesting +at this port are the negro lasses of fine physique seen at the markets +and in the streets, with burdens on their heads of baskets of fruit, or +jars of water, which they balance with ease and grace, as they go +sweeping by with that stately mien which the dusky maiden can call her +own.</p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<blockquote><p>At Bahia—Meditations on the discoverers—The Caribbees.</p></blockquote> + +<p>At Bahia we refitted, with many necessary provisions, and repaired the +keel, which we found, upon hauling out, had been damaged by the +encounter with the whale at Frio. An iron shoe was now added for the +benefit of all marine monsters wishing to scratch their backs on our +canoe.</p> + +<p>Among the many friends whom we met at Bahia were Capt. Boyd and his +family of the bark <i>H. W. Palmer</i>. We shall meet the <i>Palmer</i> and the +Boyds again on the voyage. They were old traders to South America and +had many friends at this port who combined to make our visit a pleasant +one. And their little son Rupert was greatly taken with the +"<i>Rib</i>erdade," as he called her, coming often to see us. And the +officials of the port taking great interest in our voyage, came often on +board. No one could have treated us more kindly than they.</p> + +<p>The venerable <i>Administradore</i> himself gave us special welcome to the +port and a kind word upon our departure, accompanied by a present for my +wife in the shape of a rare white flower, which we cherished greatly as +coming from a true gentleman.</p> + +<p>Some strong abolitionists at the port would have us dine in an epicurean +way in commemoration of the name given our canoe, which was adopted +because of her having been put afloat on the thirteenth day of May, the +day on which every human being in Brazil could say, "I have no master +but one." I declined the banquet tendered us, having work on hand, +fortifying the canoe<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> against the ravaging worms of the seas we were yet +to sail through, bearing in mind the straits of my great predecessor +from this as well as other causes on his voyage over the Caribbean Seas. +I was bound to be strengthened against the enemy.</p> + +<p>The gout, it will be remembered, seized upon the good Columbus while his +ship had worms, when both ship and admiral lay stranded among menacing +savages; surrounded, too, by a lawless, threatening band of his own +countrymen not less treacherous than the worst of cannibals. His state +was critical indeed! One calamity was from over-high living—this I was +bound to guard against—the other was from neglect on the part of his +people to care for the ship in a seaman-like manner. Of the latter +difficulty I had no risk to run.</p> + +<p>Lazy and lawless, but through the pretext of religion, the infected crew +wrought on the pious feelings of the good admiral, inducing him at every +landing to hold mass instead of cleaning the foul ship. Thus through +petty intrigue and grave neglects, they brought disaster and sorrow on +their leader and confusion on their own heads. Their religion, never +deep, could not be expected to keep <i>Terredo</i> from the ship's bottom, so +her timbers were ravished, and ruin came to them all! Poor Columbus! had +he but sailed with his son Diego and his noble brother Bartholomew, for +his only crew and companions, not forgetting the help of a good woman, +America would have been discovered without those harrowing tales of woe +and indeed heartrending calamities which followed in the wake of his +designing people. Nor would his ship have been less well manned than was +the <i>Liberdade</i>, sailing, centuries after, over the same sea and among +many of the islands visited by the great discoverer—sailing, too, +without serious accident of any kind, and without sickness or +discontent. Our advantage<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> over Columbus, I say, was very great, not +more from the possession of data of the centuries which had passed than +from having a willing crew sailing without dissent or murmur—sailing in +the same boat, as it were.</p> + +<p>A pensive mood comes over one voyaging among the scenes of the New +World's early play-ground. To us while on this canoe voyage of pleasant +recollection the fancied experience of navigators gone before was +intensely thrilling.</p> + +<p>Sailing among islands clothed in eternal green, the same that Columbus +beheld with marvellous anticipations, and the venerable Las Casas had +looked upon with pious wonder, brought us, in the mind's eye, near the +old discoverers; and a feeling that we should come suddenly upon their +ships around some near headland took deep hold upon our thoughts as we +drew in with the shores. All was there to please the imagination and +dream over in the same balmy, sleepy atmosphere, where Juan Ponce de +Leon would fain have tarried young, but found death rapid, working side +by side with ever springing life. To live long in this clime one must +obey great Nature's laws. So stout Juan and millions since have found, +and so always it will be.</p> + +<p>All was there to testify as of yore, all except the first owners of the +land; they alas! the poor Caribbees, together with their camp fires, had +been extinguished long years before. And no one of human sympathy can +read of the cruel tortures and final extermination of these islanders, +savages though they were, without a pang of regret at the unpleasant +page in a history of glory and civilization.</p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV</h2> + +<blockquote><p>Bahia to Pernambuco—The meeting of the <i>Finance</i> at sea—At +Pernambuco—Round Cape St. Roque—A gale—Breakers—The stretch to +Barbadoes—Flying-fish alighting on deck—Dismasted—Arrive at +Carlysle Bay.</p></blockquote> + +<p>From Bahia to Pernambuco our course lay along that part of the Brazilian +coast fanned by constant trade-winds. Nothing unusual occurred to +disturb our peace or daily course, and we pressed forward night and day, +as was our wont from the first.</p> + +<p>Victor and I stood watch and watch at sea, usually four hours each.</p> + +<p>The most difficult of our experiences in fine weather was the intense +drowsiness brought on by constantly watching the oscillating compass at +night: even in the daytime this motion would make one sleepy.</p> + +<p>We soon found it necessary to arrange a code of signals which would +communicate between the tiller and the "man forward." This was +accomplished by means of a line or messenger extending from one to the +other, which was understood by the number of pulls given by it; three +pulls, for instance, meant "Turn out," one in response, "Aye, aye, I am +awake, and what is it that is wanted?" one pull in return signified that +it was "Eight bells," and so on. But three quick jerks meant "Tumble out +and shorten sail."</p> + +<p>Victor, it was understood, would tie the line to his arm or leg when he +turned in, so that by pulling I would be sure to arouse him, or bring +him somewhat unceremoniously out of his bunk. Once, however, the +messenger failed to accomplish its purpose. A boot came<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> out on the line +in answer to my call, so easily, too, that I suspected a trick. It was +evidently a preconceived plan by which to gain a moment more of sleep. +It was a clear imposition on the man at the wheel!</p> + +<p>We had also a sign in this system of telegraphing that told of +flying-fish on board—manna of the sea—to be gathered up for the +<i>cuisine</i> whenever they happened to alight or fall on deck, which was +often, and as often they found a warm welcome.</p> + +<p>The watch was never called to make sail. As for myself, I had never to +be called, having thoughts of the voyage and its safe completion on my +mind to keep me always on the alert. I can truly say that I never, on +the voyage, slept so sound as to forget where I was, but whenever I fell +into a doze at all it would be to dream of the boat and the voyage.</p> + +<p>Press on! press on! was the watchword while at sea, but in port we +enjoyed ourselves and gave up care for rest and pleasure, carrying a +supply, as it were, to sea with us, where sail was again carried on.</p> + +<p>Though a mast should break, it would be no matter of serious concern, +for we would be at no loss to mend and rig up spars for this craft at +short notice, most anywhere.</p> + +<p>The third day out from Bahia was set fine weather. A few flying-fish +made fruitless attempts to rise from the surface of the sea, attracting +but little attention from the sea-gulls which sat looking wistfully +across the unbroken deep with folded wings.</p> + +<p>And the <i>Liberdade</i>, doing her utmost to get along through the common +quiet, made but little progress on her way. A dainty fish played in her +light wake, till tempted by an evil appetite for flies, it landed in the +cockpit upon a hook, thence into the pan, where many a one had brought +up before. Breakfast was cleared away<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> at an early hour; then day of +good things happened—"the meeting of the ships."</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div>When o'er the silent sea alone</div> +<div class='i1'>For days and nights we've cheerless gone,</div> +<div>Oh they who've felt it know how sweet,</div> +<div class='i1'>Some sunny morn a sail to meet.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div>Sparkling at once is every eye,</div> +<div class='i1'>"Ship ahoy! ship ahoy!" our joyful cry</div> +<div>While answering back the sound we hear,</div> +<div class='i1'>"Ship ahoy! ship ahoy! what cheer, what cheer."</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div>Then sails are backed, we nearer come,</div> +<div class='i1'>Kind words are said of friends and home,</div> +<div>And soon, too soon, we part with pain,</div> +<div class='i1'>To sail o'er silent seas again.</div> +</div></div> + +<p>On the clear horizon could be seen a ship, which proved to be our +staunch old friend, the <i>Finance</i>, on her way out to Brazil, heading +nearly for us. Our course was at once changed, so as to cross her bows. +She rose rapidly, hull up, showing her lines of unmistakable beauty, the +Stars and Stripes waving over all. They on board the great ship soon +descried our little boat, and gave sign by a deep whistle that came +rumbling over the sea, telling us that we were recognized. A few moments +later and the engines stopped. Then came the hearty hail, "Do you want +assistance?" Our answer "No" brought cheer on cheer from the steamer's +deck, while the <i>Liberdade</i> bowed and courtesied to her old +acquaintance, the superior ship. Captain Baker, meanwhile, not +forgetting a sailor's most highly prized luxury, had ordered in the +slings a barrel of potatoes—new from home! Then dump they came, in a +jiffy, into the canoe, giving her a settle in the water of some inches. +Other fresh provisions were handed us, also<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> some books and late papers. +J. Aspinwill Hodge, D.D., on a tour of inspection in the interest of the +Presbyterian Mission in Brazil—on deck here with his camera—got an +excellent photograph of the canoe.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></p> + +<p>One gentleman passed us a bottle of wine, on the label of which was +written the name of an old acquaintance, a merchant of Rio. We pledged +Mr. Gudgeon and all his fellow passengers in that wine, and had some +left long after, to the health of the captain of the ship, and his crew. +There was but little time for words, so the compliments passed were +brief. The ample plates in the sides of the <i>Finance</i>, inspiring +confidence in American thoroughness and build, we had hardly time to +scan, when her shrill whistle said "good-bye," and moving proudly on, +the great ship was soon out of sight, while the little boat, filling +away on the starboard tack, sailed on toward home, perfumed with the +interchange of a friendly greeting, tinged though with a palpable +lonesomeness. Two days after this pleasant meeting, the Port of +Pernambuco was reached.</p> + +<p>Tumbling in before a fresh "trade" wind that in the evening had sprung +up, accompanied with long, rolling seas, our canoe came nicely round the +point between lighted reef and painted buoy.</p> + +<p>Spray from the breakers on the reef opportunely wetting her sails gave +them a flat surface to the wind as we came close haul.</p> + +<p>The channel leading up the harbour was not strange to us, so we sailed +confidently along the lee of the wonderful wall made by worms, to which +alone Pernam<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>buco is indebted for its excellent harbour; which, +extending also along a great stretch of the coast, protects Brazil from +the encroachment of the sea.</p> + +<p>At 8 p.m. we came to in a snug berth near the <i>Alfandega</i>, and early +next morning received the official visit from the polite port officers.</p> + +<p>Time from Bahia, five days; distance sailed, 390 miles.</p> + +<p>Pernambuco, the principal town of a large and wealthy province of the +same name, is a thriving place, sending out valuable cargoes, +principally of sugar and cotton. I had loaded costly cargoes here, times +gone by. I met my old merchant again this time, but could not carry his +goods on the <i>Liberdade</i>. However, fruits from his orchards and a run +among the trees refreshed my crew, and prepared them for the coming +voyage to Barbadoes, which was made with expedition.</p> + +<p>From Pernambuco we experienced a strong current in our favour, with, +sometimes, a confused cross sea that washed over us considerably. But +the swift current sweeping along through it all made compensation for +discomforts of motion, though our "ups and downs" were many. Along this +part of the coast (from Pernambuco to the Amazon), if one day should be +fine, three stormy ones would follow, but the gale was always fair, +carrying us forward at a goodly rate.</p> + +<p>Along about half way from Cape St. Roque to the Amazon, the wind which +had been blowing hard for two days, from E.S.E., and raising lively +waves all about, increased to a gale that knocked up seas, washing over +the little craft more than ever. The thing was becoming monotonous and +tiresome; for a change, therefore, I ran in toward the land, so as to +avoid the ugly cross sea farther out in the current. This course was a +mistaken one; we had not sailed far on it when a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> sudden rise of the +canoe, followed by an unusually long run down on the slope of a roller, +told us of a danger that we hardly dared to think of, then a mighty +comber broke, but, as Providence willed, broke short of the canoe, which +under shortened sail was then scudding very fast.</p> + +<p>We were on a shoal, and the sea was breaking from the bottom! The second +great roller came on, towering up, up, up, until nothing longer could +support the mountain of water, and it seemed only to pause before its +fall to take aim and surely gather us up in its sweeping fury.</p> + +<p>I put the helm a-lee; there was nothing else to do but this, and say +prayers. The helm hard down, brought the canoe round, bows to the +danger, while in breathless anxiety we prepared to meet the result as +best we could. Before we could say "Save us, or we perish," the sea +broke over with terrific force and passed on, leaving us trembling in +His hand, more palpably helpless than ever before. Other great waves +came madly on, leaping toward destruction; how they bellowed over the +shoal! I could smell the slimy bottom of the sea, when they broke! I +could taste the salty sand!</p> + +<p>In this perilous situation, buried sometimes in the foaming breakers, +and at times tossed like a reed on the crest of the waves, we struggled +with might and main at the helm and the sheets, easing her up or forcing +her ahead with care, gaining little by little toward deep water, till at +last she came out of the danger, shook her feathers like a sea-bird, and +rode on waves less perilous. Then we had time and courage to look back, +but not till then.</p> + +<p>And what a sight we beheld! The horizon was illumined with +phosphorescent light from the breakers just passed through. The +rainstorm which had obscured the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> coast was so cleared away now that we +could see the whole field of danger behind us. One spot in particular, +the place where the breakers dashed over a rock which appeared awash, in +the glare flashed up a shaft of light that reached to the heavens.</p> + +<p>This was the greatest danger we had yet encountered. The elasticity of +our canoe, not its bulk, saved it from destruction. Her light, springy +timbers and buoyant bamboo guards brought her upright again and again +through the fierce breakers. We were astonished at the feats of wonder +of our brave little craft.</p> + +<p>Fatigued and worn with anxiety, when clear of the shoal we hauled to +under close reefs, heading off shore, and all hands lay down to rest +till daylight. Then, squaring away again, we set what sail the canoe +could carry, scudding before it, for the wind was still in our favour, +though blowing very hard. Nevertheless the weather seemed fine and +pleasant at this stage of our own pleased feelings. Any weather that +one's craft can live in, after escaping a lee shore, is pleasant +weather—though some may be pleasanter than other.</p> + +<p>What we most wished for, after this thrilling experience, was sea room, +fair wind, and plenty of it. That these without stint would suit us +best, was agreed on all hands. Accordingly then I shaped the course +seaward, clearing well all the dangers of the land.</p> + +<p>The fierce tropical storm of the last few days turned gradually into +mild trade-winds, and our cedar canoe skipped nimbly once more over +tranquil seas. Our own agitation, too, had gone down and we sailed on +unruffled by care. Gentle winds carried us on over kindly waves, and we +were fain to count fair days ahead, leaving all thoughts of stormy ones +behind. In this hopeful mood we sailed for many days, our spirits never +lowering, but often rising higher out of the miserable<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> condition which +we had fallen into through misfortunes on the foreign shore. When a star +came out, it came as a friend, and one that had been seen by friends of +old. When all the stars shone out, the hour at sea was cheerful, bright, +and joyous. Welby saw, or had in the mind's-eye, a day like many that we +experienced in the soft, clear "trades" on this voyage, when writing the +pretty lines:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div>The twilight hours like birds flew by,</div> +<div class='i1'>As lightly and as free,</div> +<div>Ten thousand stars were in the sky,</div> +<div class='i1'>Ten thousand on the sea.</div> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<div>For every rippling, dancing wave,</div> +<div class='i1'>That leaped upon the air,</div> +<div>Had caught a star in its embrace,</div> +<div class='i1'>And held it trembling there.</div> +</div></div> + +<p>"The days pass, and our ship flies fast upon her way."</p> + +<p>For several days while sailing near the line we saw the constellations +of both hemispheres, but heading north, we left those of the south at +last, with the Southern Cross—most beautiful in all the heavens—to +watch over a friend.</p> + +<p>Leaving these familiar southern stars and sailing toward constellations +in the north, we hoist all sail to the cheery breeze which carries us +on.</p> + +<p>In this pleasant state of sailing with our friends all about us, we +stood on and on, never doubting once our pilot or our ship.</p> + +<p>A phantom of the stately <i>Aquidneck</i> appeared one night, sweeping by +with crowning skysails set, that fairly brushed the stars. No apparition +could have affected us more than the sight of this floating beauty, so +like the <i>Aquidneck</i>, gliding swiftly and quietly by,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> from her mission +to some foreign land—she, too, was homeward bound!</p> + +<p>This incident of the <i>Aquidneck's</i> ghost, as it appeared to us, passing +at midnight on the sea, left a pang of lonesomeness for a while.</p> + +<p>But a carrier dove came next day, and perched upon the mast, as if to +tell that we had yet a friend! Welcome harbinger of good! you bring us +thoughts of angels.</p> + +<p>The lovely visitor remained with us two days, off and on, but left for +good on the third, when we reached away from Avis Island, to which, +maybe, it was bound. Coming as it did from the east, and flying west +toward the island when it left, bore out the idea of the lay of sweet +singer Kingsley's "Last Buccaneer."</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div>If I might but be a sea dove, I'd fly across the main</div> +<div>To the pleasant Isle of Avis, to look at it once again.</div> +</div></div> + +<p>The old Buccaneer, it may have been, but we regarded it as the little +bird, which most likely it was, that sits up aloft to look out for poor +"Jack."<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></p> + +<p>A moth, blown to our boat on the ocean, found shelter and a welcome +there. The dove we secretly worshipped.</p> + +<p>With utmost confidence in our little craft, inspired by many thrilling +events, we now carried sail, blow high, blow low, till at times she +reeled along with a bone in her mouth quite to the mind of her mariners. +Thinking one day that she might carry more sail on the mast already +bending hopefully forward, and acting upon the liberal thought of sail, +we made a wide mistake, for the mainmast went by the board, under the +extra press and the foremast tripped over the bows. Then spars, booms, +and sails swung alongside like the broken wings<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> of a bird, but were +grappled, however, and brought aboard without much loss of time. The +broken mast was then secured and strengthened by "fishes" or splints +after the manner in which doctors fish a broken limb.</p> + +<p>Both of the masts were very soon refitted and again made to carry sail, +all they could stand; and we were again bowling along as before. We made +that day a hundred and seventy-five miles, one of our best days' work.</p> + +<p>I protest here that my wife should not have cried "More sail! more +sail!" when as it has been seen the canoe had on all the sail that she +could carry. Nothing further happened to change the usual daily events +until we reached Barbadoes. Flying-fish on the wing striking our sails, +at night, often fell on deck, affording us many a toothsome fry. This +happened daily, while sailing throughout the trade-wind regions. To be +hit by one of these fish on the wing, which sometimes occurs, is no +light matter, especially if the blow be on the face, as it may cause a +bad bruise or even a black eye. The head of the flying-fish being rather +hard makes it in fact a night slugger to be dreaded. They never come +aboard in the daylight. The swift darting bill-fish, too, is a danger to +be avoided in the tropics at night. They are met with mostly in the +Pacific Ocean; therefore South Sea Islanders are loath to voyage during +the "bill-fish season."</p> + +<p>As to the flight of these fishes, I would estimate that of the +flying-fish as not exceeding fifteen feet in height, or five hundred +yards of distance, often not half so much.</p> + +<p>Bill-fish, darting like an arrow from a bow, have, fortunately for +sailors, not the power or do not rise much above the level of the waves, +and cannot dart further,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> say, than two hundred and fifty feet, +according to the day for jumping. Of the many swift fish in the sea, the +dolphin, perhaps, is the most marvellous. Its oft-told beauty, too, is +indeed remarkable. A few of these fleet racers were captured, on the +voyage, but were found tough and rank; notwithstanding some eulogy on +them by other epicures, we threw the mess away. Those hooked by my crew +were perhaps the tyrrhena pirates "turned into dolphins" in the days of +yore.</p> + +<p>On the 19th day from Pernambuco, early in the morning, we made Barbadoes +away in the West. First, the blue, fertile hills, then green fields came +into view, studded with many white buildings between sentries of giant +wind-mills as old nearly as the hills. Barbadoes is the most pleasant +island in the Antilles; to sail round its green fringe of coral sea is +simply charming. We stood in to the coast, well to windward, sailing +close in with the breakers so as to take in a view of the whole +delightful panorama as we sailed along. By noon we rounded the south +point of the island and shot into Carlysle Bay, completing the run from +Pernambuco exactly in nineteen days. This was considerably more than an +hundred miles a day. The true distance being augmented by the circuitous +route we adopted made it 2,150 miles.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> We had the pleasure of meeting this gentleman again on the +voyage at Barbadoes, again at New London, and finally with delight we +heard him lecture on his travels, at Newport, and saw there produced on +the wall the very picture of the <i>Liberdade</i> taken by the doctor on the +great ocean.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> +</p> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div>There's a sweet little cherub that sits up aloft,</div> +<div>To look out for a berth for poor Jack.—<i>Dibdin's Poems.</i></div> +</div></div> +</div> +</div> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV</h2> + +<blockquote><p>At Barbadoes—Mayaguez—Crossing the Bahama Banks—The Gulf +Stream—Arrival on the coast of South Carolina.</p></blockquote> + +<p>Many old friends and acquaintances came down to see us upon our arrival +at Barbadoes, all curious to inspect the strange craft. While there our +old friend, the <i>Palmer</i>, that we left at Bahia, came in to refit, +having broken a mast "trying to beat us," so Garfield would have it. For +all that we had beaten her by four days. Who then shall say that we +anchored nights or spent much time hugging the shore? The <i>Condor</i> was +also at Barbadoes in charge of an old friend, accompanied by a pleasant +helpmeet and companion who had shared the perils of shipwreck with her +husband the year before in a hurricane among the islands.</p> + +<p>Meeting so many of this class of old friends of vast and varied +experiences gave contentment to our visit, and we concluded to remain +over at this port till the hurricane season should pass. Our old friend, +the <i>Finance</i>, too, came in, remaining but a few hours. However, she +hurried away with her mails, homeward bound.</p> + +<p>The pleasant days at Barbadoes with its enchantment flew lightly by; and +on the 7th of October we sailed, giving the hurricane season the benefit +of eight days. The season is considered over on the 15th of that month.</p> + +<p>Passing thence through the Antilles into the Caribbean Sea, a new period +of our voyage was begun. Fair breezes filled the sails of the +<i>Liberdade</i> as we glided along over tranquil seas, scanning eagerly the +islands as they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> came into view, dwelling on each, in our thoughts, as +hallowed ground of the illustrious discoverers—the same now as seen by +them! The birds, too, of "rare plumage," were there, flying from island +to island, the same as seen by the discoverers; and the sea with fishes +teemed, of every gorgeous hue, lending enchantment to the picture, not +less beautiful than the splendour on the land and in the air to thrill +the voyager now, the same as then; we ourselves had only to look to see +them.</p> + +<p>Whether it was birds with fins, or fishes with wings, or neither of +these that the old voyagers saw, they discovered yet enough to make them +wonder and rejoice.</p> + +<p>"Mountains of sugar, and rivers of rum and flying-fish, was what I saw, +mother," said the son on his return from a voyage to these islands. +"John," said the enraptured mother, "you must be mistaken about the +fish; now don't lie to me, John. Mountains of sugar, no doubt you saw, +and even rivers of rum, my boy, but <i>flying-fish</i> could never be."</p> + +<p>And yet the <i>fish</i> were there.</p> + +<p>Among the islands of great interest which came in view, stretching along +the Caribbean Sea, was that of Santa Cruz, the island famous for its +brave, resolute women of days gone by, who, while their husbands were +away, successfully defended home and happiness against Christian +invaders, and for that reason were called fierce savages. I would fain +have brought away some of the earth of the island in memory of those +brave women. Small as our ship was, we could have afforded room in it +for a memento thus consecrated; but the trades hauling somewhat to the +northward so headed us off that we had to forgo the pleasure of landing +on its shores.</p> + +<p>Pushing forward thence, we reached Porto Rico, the nearest land in our +course from the Island of Brave<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> Women, standing well in with the +southeast capes. Sailing thence along the whole extent of the south +coast, in waters as smooth as any mill pond, and past island scenery +worth the perils of ten voyages to see, we landed, on the 12th of +October, at Mayaguez in the west of the island, and there shook the +kinks out of our bones by pleasant walks in tropic shades.</p> + +<p>Time, five days from Barbadoes; distance 570 miles.</p> + +<p>This was to be our last run among the trees in the West Indies, and we +made the most of it. "Such a port for mariners I'll never see again!" +The port officials, kind and polite, extended all becoming courtesies to +the quaint "<i>barco piquina</i>."</p> + +<p>The American Consul, Mr. Christie, Danish Consul, Mr. Falby, and the +good French Consul, vied in making our visit a pleasant one.</p> + +<p>Photographers at Mayaguez desiring a picture of the canoe with the crew +on deck at a time when we felt inclined to rest in the shade on shore, +put a negro on board to take the place of captain. The photographs taken +then found their way to Paris and Madrid journals where, along with some +flattering accounts, they were published, upon which it was remarked +that the captain was a fine-looking fellow, but "awfully tanned!" The +moke was rigged all ataunto for the occasion, and made a picture +indicative of great physical strength, one not to be ashamed of, but he +would have looked more like me, I must say, if they had turned him back +to.</p> + +<p>We enjoyed long carriage drives over rich estates at Mayaguez. We saw +with pain, however, that the atmosphere of the soldier hung over all, +pervading the whole air like a pestilence.</p> + +<p>Musketed and sabred and uniformed in their bed-ticking suits; hated by +the residents and despised by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> themselves, they doggedly marched, +counter-marched and wheeled, knowing that they are loathsome in the +island, and that their days in the New World are numbered. The sons of +the colonies are too civil and Christianlike to be ruled always by sword +and gun.</p> + +<p>On the 15th of October, after three days' rest, we took in, as usual +before sailing from ports, sufficient fresh supplies to carry us to the +port steered for next, then set sail from pleasant Mayaguez, and bore +away for the old Bahama Channel, passing east of Hayti, thence along the +north coast to the west extremity of the island, from which we took +departure for the head-lands of Cuba, and followed that coast as far as +Cardinas, where we took a final departure from the islands, regretting +that we could not sail around them all.</p> + +<p>The region on the north side of Cuba is often visited by gales of great +violence, making this the lee shore; a weather eye was therefore kept +lifting, especially in the direction of their source, which is from +north to nor'west. However, storms prevailed from other quarters, mostly +from the east, bringing heavy squalls of wind, rain and thunder every +afternoon, such as once heard will never be forgotten. Peal on peal of +nature's artillery for a few hours, accompanied by vivid lightning, was +on the cards for each day, then all would be serene again.</p> + +<p>The nights following these severe storms were always bright and +pleasant, and the heavens would be studded with constellations of +familiar, guiding stars.</p> + +<p>My crew had now no wish to bear up for port short of one on our own +coast, but, impatient to see the North Star appear higher in the +heavens, strung every nerve and trimmed every sail to hasten on.</p> + +<p>Nassau, the place to which letters had been directed to us, we forbore +to visit. This departure from a programme which was made at the +beginning was the only<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> change that we made in the "charter party" +throughout the voyage. There was no haphazard sailing on this voyage. +Daily observations for determining latitude and longitude were +invariably made unless the sun was obscured. The result of these +astronomical observations were more reliable than one might suppose, +from their being taken on a tittlish canoe. After a few days' +practising, a very fair off-hand contact could be made, when the canoe +rose on the crest of a wave, where manifestly would be found the best +result. The observer's station was simply on the top of the cabin, where +astride, like riding horseback, Victor and I took the "sights," and +indeed became expert "snap observers" before the voyage ended.</p> + +<p>One night in the Bahama Channel, while booming along toward the Banks to +the nor'west of us before stiff trades, I was called in the first watch +by Victor, to come up quickly, for signs of the dread "norther" were in +the sky. Our trusty barometer had been low, but was now on the cheerful +side of change. This phenomenon disturbed me somewhat, till the +discovery was made, as we came nearer, that it was but the reflection of +the white banks on the sky that we saw, and no cause at all for alarm.</p> + +<p>Soon after this phenomenon the faint glimmer of Lobos Light was descried +flickering on the horizon, two points on the weather bow. I changed the +course three points to windward, having determined to touch at the small +Cay where the lighthouse stands; one point being allowed for leeway, +which I found was not too much.</p> + +<p>Three hours later we fetched in under the lee of the reef, or Cay, as it +is commonly called, and came to in one and a half fathoms of water in +good shelter.</p> + +<p>We beheld then overhead in wonderful beauty what had awed us from the +distance in the early night—a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> chart of the illuminating banks marked +visibly on the heavens.</p> + +<p>We furled sails and, setting a light in the rigging, turned in; for it +lacked three hours yet of daylight. And what an interesting experience +ours had been in the one short night! By the break of day my crew were +again astir, preparing to land and fill water at a good landing which we +now perceived farther around the point to leeward, where the surf was +moderate.</p> + +<p>On the Cay is stored some hundred thousand gallons of rain water in +cisterns at the base of the iron tower which carries the light; one that +we saw from the canoe at a distance of fourteen miles.</p> + +<p>The keeper of the light, a hardy native of Nassau, when he discovered +the new arrival at his "island," hoisted the British Board of Trade flag +on a pole in the centre of this, his little world, then he came forward +to speak us, thinking at first, he said, that we were shipwrecked +sailors, which indeed we were, but not in distress, as he had supposed +when hoisting the flag, which signified assistance for distressed +seamen. On learning our story, however, he regarded us with grave +suspicions, and refused water to Victor, who had already landed with +buckets, telling him that the captain would have to bring his papers +ashore and report. The mate's report would not be taken. Thus in a +moment was transformed the friend in need to <i>governor of an island</i>. +This amused me greatly, and I sent back word to my veritable Sancho +Panza that in my many voyages to islands my mate had attended to the +customs reports; at which his Excellency chafed considerably, giving the +gunnels of his trousers a fitful tug up now and then as he paced the +beach, waiting my compliance with the rules of the island. The governor, +I perceived, was suspicious of smugglers and wreckers, apparently +under<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>standing their ways, if, indeed, even he were not a reformed +pirate himself.</p> + +<p>However, to humour the punctiliousness of his Excellency, now that he +was governor of an island, I placed my papers in my hat, and, leaping +into the surf, waded ashore, where I was received as by a monarch.</p> + +<p>The document I presented was the original <i>Passe Especial</i>, the one with +the big seal on it, written in Portuguese; had it been in Choctàw the +governor would have read it with the same facility that he did this, +which he stared at knowingly and said, "all right, take all the water +you want; it is free."</p> + +<p>I lodged a careful report of the voyage with the governor and explained +to his Excellency the whereabouts of the "Island of Rio," as his grace +persistently called Rio de Janeiro, whence dated my papers.</p> + +<p>Conversing on the subject of islands, which was all the world to him, +the governor viewed with suspicion the absence of a word in my +documents, referring even to an islet; this, in his mind, was a +reprehensible omission; for surely New York, to which the papers +referred, was built on an island. Upon this I offered to swear to the +truth of my clearance, "as far as known to me," after the manner of +cheap custom-house swearing with which shipmasters, in some parts of the +world, are made familiar. "Not on the island!" quickly exclaimed the +governor, "'for thou shalt not disglorify God's name,' is written in the +Bible."</p> + +<p>I assured the governor of my appreciation of his pious sentiment of not +over-swearing,—a laudable plan that even the Chinese adopt as a policy, +and one that I would speak of on my return home, to the end that we all +emulate the laws of the island; whereupon the governor, greatly pleased, +urged me to take some more water, minding me again that it was free.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span></p> + +<p>In a very few minutes I got all the water I wished for; also some aurora +shells from the governor's lady, who had arisen with the sun to grace +the day and of all things most appropriate held in her generous lap +beautiful aurora shells for which—to spoil the poem—I bartered +cocoa-nuts and rusty gnarly yams.</p> + +<p>The lady was on a visit only to her lord and master, the monarch of all +he surveyed. Beside this was their three children also on a visit, from +Nassau, and two assistant keepers of the light which made up the total +of this little world in the ocean.</p> + +<p>It was the smallest kingdom I had ever visited, peopled by happy human +beings and the most isolated by far.</p> + +<p>The few blades of grass which had struggled into existence, not enough +to support a goat, was all there was to look at on the island except the +lighthouse, and the sand and themselves.</p> + +<p>Some small buildings and a flagstaff had once adorned the place, but +together with a coop of chickens, the only stock of the +islanders—except a dog—had been swept away by a hurricane which had +passed over the island a short time before. The water for which we had +called being now in the canoe, and my people on board waiting for me, I +bade the worthy governor good-bye, and, saluting his charming island +queen in a seaman-like manner, hastened back to my own little world; and +bore away once more for the north. Sailing thence over the Great Bahama +Banks, in a crystal sea, we observed on the white marl bottom many +curious living things, among them the conch in its house of exquisite +tints and polished surface, the star-fish with radiated dome of curious +construction, and many more denizens of the place, the names of which I +could not tell, resting on the soft white bed under the sea.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span></p> + +<p>"They who go down to the sea in ships, they see the wonders of the +Lord," I am reminded by a friend who writes me, on receipt of some of +these curious things which I secured on the voyage, adding: "For all +these curious and beautiful things are His handiwork. Who can look at +such things without the heart being lifted up in adoration?"</p> + +<p>For words like these what sailor is there who would not search the caves +of the ocean? Words too, from a lady.</p> + +<p>Two days of brisk sailing over the white Bahama Banks brought us to +Bimini. Thence a mere push would send us to the coast of our own native +America. The wind in the meantime hauling from regular nor'east trade to +the sou'west, as we came up to Bimini, promising a smooth passage +across, we launched out at once on the great Gulf Stream, and were swept +along by its restless motion, making on the first day, before the wind +and current, two hundred and twenty miles. This was great getting along +for a small canoe. Going at the same high rate of speed on the second +night in the stream, the canoe struck a spar and went over it with a +bound. Her keel was shattered by the shock, but finally shaking the +crippled timber clear of herself she came on quite well without it. No +other damage was done to our craft, although at times her very ribs were +threatened before clearing this lively ocean river. In the middle of the +current, where the seas were yet mountainous but regular, we went along +with a wide, swinging motion and fared well enough; but on nearing the +edge of the stream a confused sea was met with, standing all on end, in +every which way, beyond a sailor's comprehension. The motion of the +<i>Liberdade</i> was then far from poetical or pleasant. The wind, in the +meantime, had chopped round to the nor'east, dead<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> ahead; being thus +against the current, a higher and more confused sea than ever was heaped +up, giving us some uneasiness. We had, indeed, several unwelcome +visitors come tumbling aboard of our craft, one of which furiously +crashing down on her made all of her timbers bend and creak. However, I +could partially remedy this danger by changing the course.</p> + +<p>"Seas like that can't break this boat," said our young boatswain; "she's +built strong." It was well to find among the crew this feeling of +assurance in the gallant little vessel. I, too, was confident in her +seaworthiness. Nevertheless, I shortened sail and brought her to the +wind, watching the lulls and easing her over the combers, as well as I +could. But wrathful Neptune was not to let us so easily off, for the +next moment a sea swept clean over the helmsman, wetting him through to +the skin and, most unkind cut of all, it put out our fire, and capsized +the hash and stove into the bottom of the canoe. This left us with but a +<i>damper</i> for breakfast! Matters mended, however, as the day advanced, +and for supper we had a grand and glorious feast. Early in the afternoon +we made the land and got into smooth water. This of itself was a feast, +to our minds.</p> + +<p>The land we now saw lying before us was hills of America, which we had +sailed many thousands of miles to see. Drawing in with the coast, we +made out, first the broad, rich forests, then open fields and villages, +with many signs of comfort on every hand. We found it was the land about +Bull's Bay on the coast of South Carolina, and night coming on, we could +plainly see Cape Roman Light to the north of us. The wind falling light +as we drew in with the coast, and finding a current against us, we +anchored, about two miles from the shore, in four fathoms of water. It +was now 8 p.m., October 28,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> 1888, thirteen days from Mayaguez, +twenty-one days from Barbadoes, etc.</p> + +<p>The following was the actual time at sea and distances in nautical miles +from point to point on the courses steered, approximately:</p> + +<table border='0' cellspacing='0' cellpadding='5' summary='time at sea and distances'> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td><i>Days.</i></td> + <td><i>Distance.</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>From Paranagua to Santos</td> + <td align='right'>1</td> + <td align='right'>150</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> " Santos to Rio de Janeiro<br /> (towed by <i>Finance</i>)</td> + <td align='right'>¾</td> + <td align='right'>200</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> " Rio to Cape Frio</td> + <td align='right'>2</td> + <td align='right'>70</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> " Cape Frio to Carvellas</td> + <td align='right'>4</td> + <td align='right'>370</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> " Carvellas to Saint Paulo</td> + <td align='right'>3</td> + <td align='right'>270</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> " Saint Paulo to Bahia</td> + <td align='right'>½</td> + <td align='right'>40</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> " Bahia to Pernambuco</td> + <td align='right'>5</td> + <td align='right'>390</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> " Pernambuco to Barbadoes</td> + <td align='right'>19</td> + <td align='right'>2,150</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> " Barbadoes to Mayaguez</td> + <td align='right'>5</td> + <td align='right'>570</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> " Mayaguez to Cape Roman</td> + <td align='right'>13</td> + <td align='right'>1,300</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td align='right'>—</td> + <td align='right'>——</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td align='right'>53¼</td> + <td align='right'>5,510</td> + </tr> + + +</table> + +<p>Computing all the distances of the ins and outs that we made would +considerably augment the sum. To say, therefore, that the <i>Liberdade</i> +averaged a hundred and three miles a day for fifty-three days would be +considerably inside the truth.</p> + +<p>This was the voyage made in the boat which cost less than a hundred +dollars outside of our own labour of building. Journals the world over +have spoken not unkindly of the feat; encomiums in seven languages +reached us through the newspapers while we lay moored in Washington. +Should the same good fortune that followed the <i>Liberdade</i> attend this +little literary craft, when finished, it would go safe into many lands. +Without looking, however, to this mark of good fortune, the journal of +the voyage has been as carefully constructed as was the <i>Liberdade</i>, and +I trust, as conscientiously, by a hand, alas! that has grasped the +sextant more often than<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> the plane or pen, and for the love of doing. +This apology might have been more appropriately made in the beginning of +the journal, maybe, but it comes to me now, and like many other things +done, right or wrong, but done on the impulse of the moment, I put it +down.</p> + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI</h2> + +<blockquote><p>Ocean Currents—Visit to South Santee—At the Typee +River—Quarantined—South Port and Wilmington, N.C.—Inland sailing +to Beaufort, Norfolk and Washington, D.C.—Voyage ended.</p></blockquote> + +<p>No one will be more surprised at the complete success of the voyage and +the speedy progress made than were we ourselves who made it.</p> + +<p>A factor of the voyage, one that helped us forward greatly, and which is +worthy of special mention, was the ocean current spoken of as we came +along in its friendly sway.</p> + +<p>Many are the theories among fresh-water philosophists respecting these +currents, but in practical sailing, where the subject is met with in its +tangible form, one cause only is recognized; namely, the action of the +wind on the surface of the water, pushing the waves along. Out on the +broad ocean the effect at first is hardly perceptible, but the constant +trades, sending countless millions of waves in one direction, cause at +last a mighty moving power, which the mariner meets sometimes as an +enemy to retard and delay, sometimes as a friend, as in our case, to +help him on his way. These are views from a practical experience with no +theory to prove.</p> + +<p>By daylight on the twenty-ninth, we weighed anchor and set sail again +for the north. The wind and current were still adverse, but we kept near +the land, making short boards off and on through the day where the +current had least effect. And when night came on again we closed in once +more with Cape Roman light. Next day we worked up under the lee of the +Roman<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> shoals and made harbour in South Santee, a small river to the +north of Cape Roman, within range of the light, there to rest until the +wind should change, it being still ahead.</p> + +<p>Next morning, since the wind had not changed, we weighed anchor and +stood farther into the river looking for inhabitants, that we might +listen to voices other than our own. Our search was soon rewarded, for, +coming around a point of woodland, a farmhouse stood before us on the +river side. We came alongside the bank and jumped ashore, but hardly had +we landed when, as out of the earth, a thousand dogs, so it seemed, +sprung up threatening to devour us all. However, a comely woman came out +of the house and it was explained to the satisfaction of all, especially +to a persistent cur, by a vigorous whack on the head with a cudgel, that +our visit was a friendly one; then all was again peaceful and quiet. The +good man was in the field close by, but soon came home accompanied by +his two stalwart sons each "toting" a sack of corn. We found the +Andersons—this was the family name—isolated in every sense of the +word, and as primitive as heart could wish. The charming simplicity of +these good people captivated my crew. We met others along the coast +innocent of greed, but of all unselfish men, Anderson the elder was +surely the prince.</p> + +<p>Purchasing some truck from this good man, we found that change could not +be made for the dollar which I tendered in payment. But I protested that +I was more than content to let the few odd cents go, having received +more garden stuff than I had ever seen offered for a dollar in any part +of the world. And indeed I was satisfied. The farmer, however, nothing +content, offered me a coon skin or two, but these I didn't want, and +there being no other small change about the farm, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> matter was +dropped, I thought, for good, and I had quite forgotten it, when later +in the evening I was electrified by his offering to carry a letter for +us which we wished posted, some seven miles away, and call it "square," +against the twenty cents of the morning's transaction. The letter went, +and in due course of time we got an answer.</p> + +<p>I do not say that we stuck strictly to the twenty-cent transaction, but +I fear that not enough was paid to fair-dealing Anderson. However, all +were at last satisfied and warming into conversation, a log fire was +improvised and social chat went round.</p> + +<p>These good people could hardly understand how it was, as I explained, +that the Brazilians had freed the slaves and had no war, Mr. Anderson +often exclaiming, "Well, well, I d'clar. Freed the niggers, and had no +wah. Mister," said he, turning to me after a long pause, "mister, d'ye +know the South were foolish? They had a wah, and they had to free the +niggers, too."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, mister, I was thar! Over thar beyond them oaks was my house."</p> + +<p>"Yes, mister, I fought, too, and fought hard, but it warn't no use."</p> + +<p>Like many a hard fighter, Anderson, too, was a pious man, living in a +state of resignation to be envied. His years of experience on the new +island farm had been hard and trying in the extreme. My own misfortunes +passed into shade as the harder luck of the Andersons came before my +mind, and the resolution which I had made to buy a farm was now shaken +and finally dissolved into doubts of the wisdom of such a course. On +this farm they had first "started in to raise pork," but found that it +"didn't pay, for the pigs got wild and had to be gathered with the +dogs," and by the time they were "gathered and then toted, salt would +hardly cure<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> them, and they most generally tainted." The enterprise was +therefore abandoned, for that of tilling the soil, and a crop was put +in, but "the few pigs which the dogs had not gathered came in at night +and rooted out all the taters." It then appeared that a fence should be +built. "Accordingly," said he, "the boys and I made one which kept out +the stock, but, sir, the rats could get in! They took every tater out of +the ground! From all that I put in, and my principal work was thar, I +didn't see a sprout." How it happened that the rats had left the crop +the year before for their relations—the pigs—was what seemed most to +bother the farmer's mind. Nevertheless, "there was corn in Egypt yet"; +and at the family circle about the board that night a smile of hope +played on the good farmer's face, as in deep sincerity he asked that for +what they had they might be made truly thankful. We learned a lesson of +patience from this family, and were glad that the wind had carried us to +their shore.</p> + +<p>Said the farmer, "And you came all the way from Brazil in that boat! +Wife, she won't go to Georgetown in the batto that I built because it +rares too much. And they freed the niggers and had no wah! Well, well, I +d'clar!"</p> + +<p>Better folks we may never see than the farmers of South Santee. Bidding +them good-bye next morning at early dawn we sailed before a light land +wind which, however, soon petered out.</p> + +<p>The S.S. <i>Planter</i> then coming along took us in tow for Georgetown, +where she was bound. We had not the pleasure, however, of visiting the +beloved old city; for having some half dozen cocoa-nuts on board, the +remainder of small stores of the voyage, a vigilant officer stopped us +at the quarantine ground. Fruit not being admitted into South Carolina +until after the first of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> November, and although it was now late in the +afternoon of the first, we had to ride quarantine that night, with a +promise, however, of <i>pratique</i> next morning. But there was no steamer +going up the river the next day. The <i>Planter</i> coming down though +supplied us with some small provisions, such as were not procurable at +the Santee farm. Then putting to sea we beat along slowly against wind +and current.</p> + +<p>We began now to experience, as might be expected, autumn gales of +considerable violence, the heaviest of which overtaking us at Frying-pan +Shoal, drove us back to leeward of Cape Fear for shelter. South Port and +Wilmington being then so near we determined to visit both places. Two +weeks at these ports refreshed the crew and made all hands willing for +sea again.</p> + +<p>Sailing thence through Corn-cake Inlet we cut off Cape Fear and the +Frying-pan Shoals, being of mind to make for the inlets along the +Carolina coast and to get into the inland waters as soon as practicable.</p> + +<p>It was our good fortune to fall in with an old and able pilot at +Corn-cake Inlet, one Capt. Bloodgood, who led the way through the +channel in his schooner, the <i>Packet</i>, a Carolina pitch and cotton +droger of forty tons register, which was manned solely by the captain +and his two sons, one twelve and the other ten years old. It was in the +crew that I became most interested, and not the schooner. Bloodgood gave +the order when the tide served for us to put to sea. "Come, children," +said he, "let's try it." Then we all tried it together, the <i>Packet</i> +leading the way. The shaky west wind, that filled our sails as we +skimmed along the beach with the breakers close aboard, carried us but a +few leagues when it flew suddenly round to nor'east and began to pipe.</p> + +<p>The gale increasing rapidly inclined me to bear up for New River Inlet, +then close under our lee, with a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> treacherous bar lying in front, which +to cross safely would require great care.</p> + +<p>But the gale was threatening, and the harbour inside, we could see, was +smooth; then, too, cried my people: "Any port in a storm." I decided +prompt; put the helm up and squared away. Flying thence, before it, the +tempest-tossed canoe came sweeping in from sea over the rollers in a +delightfully thrilling way. One breaker only coming over us, and even +that did no harm more than to give us all the climax soaking of the +voyage. This was the last sea that broke over the canoe on the memorable +voyage.</p> + +<p>The harbour inside the bar of New River was good. Adding much to our +comfort too was fish and game in abundance.</p> + +<p>The <i>Packet</i>, which had parted from us, made her destined port some +three leagues farther on. The last we saw of the children, they were at +the main sheets hauling aft, and their father was at the helm, and all +were flying through the mist like fearless sailors.</p> + +<p>After meeting Carolina seamen, to say nothing of the few still in +existence further north, I challenge the story of Greek supremacy.</p> + +<p>The little town of South Port was made up almost entirely of pilots +possessing, I am sure, every quality of the sailor and the gentleman.</p> + +<p>Moored snug in the inlet, it was pleasant to listen to the roar of the +breakers on the bar, but not so cheerful was the thought of facing the +high waves seaward. Therefore the plan suggested itself of sufficiently +deepening a ditch that led through the marshes from New River to Bogue +Sound, to let us through; thence we could sail inland the rest of the +voyage without obstruction or hindrance of any kind. To this end we set +about contrivances to heave the canoe over the shoals, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> borrowed a +shovel from a friendly schooner captain to deepen the ditch which we +thought would be necessary to do in order to ford her along that way. +However, the prevailing nor'east gales had so raised the water in the +west end of the sound as to fill all the creeks and ditches to +overflowing. I hesitated then no longer, but heading for the ditch +through the marshes on a high tide, before a brave west wind took the +chances of getting through by hook or by crook or by shovel and spade if +required.</p> + +<p>The "Coast Pilot," in speaking of this place, says there is never more +than a foot of water there, and even that much is rarely found. The +<i>Liberdade</i> essayed the ditch, drawing two feet and four inches, thus +showing the further good fortune or luck which followed perseverance, as +it usually does, though sometimes, maybe, it is bad luck! Perhaps I am +not lucid on this, which at best must remain a disputed point.</p> + +<p>I was getting lost in the maze of sloughs and creeks, which as soon as I +entered seemed to lead in every direction but the right one. Hailing a +hunter near by, however, I was soon put straight and reassured of +success. The most astonished man, though, in North Carolina, was this +same hunter when asked if he knew the ditch that led through where I +wished to go.</p> + +<p>"Why, stranger," said he, "my gran'ther digged that ditch."</p> + +<p>I jumped, I leaped! at thought of what a pilot this man would be.</p> + +<p>"Well, stranger," said he, in reply to my query, "stranger, if any man +kin take y' thro' that ditch, why, I kin"; adding doubtfully, however, +"I have not hearn tell befo' of a vessel from Brazil sailing through +these parts; but then you mout get through, and again ye moutent. Well, +it's jist here; you mout and you moutent."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span></p> + +<p>A bargain was quickly made, and my pilot came aboard, armed with a long +gun, which as we sailed along proved a terror to ducks. The entrance to +the ditch, then close by, was made with a flowing sheet, and I soon +found that my pilot knew his business. Rush-swamps and corn-fields we +left to port and to starboard, and were at times out of sight among +brakes that brushed crackling along the sides of the canoe, as she swept +briskly through the narrows, passing them all, with many a close hug, +though, on all sides. At a point well on in the crooked channel my pilot +threw up his hat, and shouted, with all his might:</p> + +<p>"Yer trouble is over! Swan to gosh if it ain't! And ye come all the way +from Brazil, and come through gran'ther's ditch! Well, I d'clar!"</p> + +<p>From this I concluded that we had cleared all the doubtful places, and +so it turned out. Before sundown my pilot was looking for the change of +a five-dollar-piece; and we of the <i>Liberdade</i> sat before a pot-pie, at +twilight, the like of which on the whole voyage had not been tasted, +from sea fowl laid about by our pilot while sailing through the meadows +and marshes. And the pilot himself, returning while the pot-pie was yet +steaming hot, declared it "ahead of coon."</p> + +<p>A pleasant sail was this through the ditch that gran'ther dug. At the +camp fire that night, where we hauled up by a fishing station, thirty +stalwart men talked over the adventures of their lives. My pilot, the +best speaker, kept the camp in roars. As for myself, always fond of +mirth, I got up from the fire sore from laughing. Their curious +adventures with coons and 'gators recounted had been considerable.</p> + +<p>Many startling stories were told. But frequently reverting to the voyage +of the <i>Liberdade</i>, they declared with one voice that "it was the +greatest thing since the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> wah." I took this as a kind of complimentary +hospitality. "When she struck on a sand reef," said the pilot, "why, the +captain he jumped right overboard and the son he jumped right over, too, +to tote her over, and the captain's wife she holp."</p> + +<p>By daylight next morning we sailed from this camp pleasant, and on the +following day, November 28, at noon, arrived at Beaufort.</p> + +<p>Mayor Bell of that city and many of his townfolk met us at the wharf, +and gave me as well as my sea-tossed crew a welcome to their shores, +such as to make us feel that the country was partly ours.</p> + +<p>"Welcome, welcome home," said the good mayor; "we have read of your +adventures, and watched your progress as reported from time to time, +with deep interest and sympathy."</p> + +<p>So we began to learn now that prayers on shore had gone up for the +little canoe at sea. This was indeed America and home, for which we had +longed while thousands of miles across the ocean.</p> + +<p>From Beaufort to Norfolk and thence to Washington was pleasant inland +sailing, with prevailing fair winds and smooth sea. Christmas was spent +on the Chesapeake—a fine, enjoyable day it was! with not a white-cap +ripple on the bay. Ducks swimming ahead of the canoe as she moved +quietly along were loath to take wing in so light a breeze, but flapping +away, half paddling and half flying, as we came toward them, they +managed to keep a long gun-shot off; but having laid in at the last port +a turkey of no mean proportions, which we made shift to roast in the +"caboose" aboard, we could look at a duck without wishing its +destruction. With this turkey and a bountiful plum duff, we made out a +dinner even on the <i>Liberdade</i>.</p> + +<p>Of the many Christmas days that come crowding in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> my recollections now; +days spent on the sea and in foreign lands, as falls to the lot of +sailors—which was the merriest it would be hard to say. Of this, +however, I am certain, that the one on board the <i>Liberdade</i> on the +Chesapeake was not the least happy of them all.</p> + +<p>The day following Christmas found us on the Potomac, enjoying the same +fine weather and abundant good cheer of the day before. Fair winds +carried us through all the reaches of the river, and the same prosperity +which attended our little bark in the beginning of the voyage through +tempestuous weather followed her to the end of the voyage, which +terminated in mild days and pleasant sunshine.</p> + +<p>On the 27th of December, 1888, a south wind bore us into harbour at +Washington, D.C., there we moored for the winter, furled our sails and +coiled up the ropes, after a voyage of joys and sorrows, crowned with +pleasures, however, which lessened the pain of past regrets.</p> + +<p>Having moored the <i>Liberdade</i> and weather-bitted her cables, it remains +only to be said that after bringing us safely through the dangers of a +tropical voyage, clearing reefs, shoals, breakers, and all storms +without a serious accident of any kind, we learned to love the little +canoe as well as anything could be loved that is made by hands.</p> + +<p>To say that we had not a moment of ill-health on the voyage would not +tell the whole story.</p> + +<p>My wife, brave enough to face the worst storms, as women are sometimes +known to do on sea and on land, enjoyed not only the best of health, but +had gained a richer complexion.</p> + +<p>Victor, at the end of the voyage, found that he had grown an inch and +had not been frightened out of his boots.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span></p> + +<p>Little Garfield—well he had grown some, too, and continued to be a +pretty good boy and had managed to hold his grip through many ups and +downs. He it was who stood by the bow line to make fast as quick as the +<i>Liberdade</i> came to the pier at the end of the voyage.</p> + +<p>And I, last, as it should be, lost a few pounds' weight, but like the +rest landed in perfect health; taking it altogether, therefore, only +pleasant recollections of the voyage remain with us who made it.</p> + +<p>With all its vicissitudes I still love a life on the broad, free ocean, +never regretting the choice of my profession.</p> + +<p>However, the time has come to debark from the <i>Liberdade</i>, now breasted +to the pier where I leave her for a time; for my people are landed safe +in port.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="DISPOSAL_OF_THE_LIBERDADE" id="DISPOSAL_OF_THE_LIBERDADE"></a>DISPOSAL OF THE LIBERDADE</h2> + +<p>About the middle of April the <i>Liberdade</i> cast loose her moorings from +the dock at Washington, and spreading sail before a brave west wind, +bent her course along down the Potomac with the same facility as +experienced in December coming up before a wind from the South; then +shaping her course for New York via Baltimore and Philadelphia through +inland passages, the voyage was turned into a pleasure excursion. +Animation of spring clothed the landscape on all sides in its greatest +beauty; and our northern forest the voyagers found upon their return was +not less charming than "tropic shade" of foreign climes. And the robin +sang even a sweeter trill than ever before heard by the crew, for they +listened to it now in the country that they loved.</p> + +<p>From New York, the <i>Liberdade</i> sailed for Boston via New London, New +Bedford, Martha's Vineyard, New<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>port, and Taunton, at which latter place +she hauled out, and the crew, thence to the Bay State Capital, enjoyed +the novelty of a "sail over land."</p> + +<p>Then the <i>Liberdade</i> moored snug in Boston and her crew spent the winter +again among friends. They met here during this time the man who advised +the captain at Buenos Aires to pitch the <i>Aquidneck's</i> cargo of hay into +the sea; for not taking the advice—witness, alas! the captain's plight!</p> + +<p>Finally, upon return of spring, the <i>Liberdade</i> was refitted on a voyage +retracing her course to Washington, where, following safe arrival, she +will end her days in the Smithsonian Institution; a haven of honour that +many will be glad to know she has won.</p> + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Voyage of the Liberdade, by Captain Joshua Slocum + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VOYAGE OF THE LIBERDADE *** + +***** This file should be named 18541-h.htm or 18541-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/8/5/4/18541/ + +Produced by David Garcia, Martin Pettit and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Voyage of the Liberdade + +Author: Captain Joshua Slocum + +Release Date: June 9, 2006 [EBook #18541] +[Last updated: February 6, 2021] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VOYAGE OF THE LIBERDADE *** + + + + +Produced by David Garcia, Martin Pettit and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + +VOYAGE OF THE LIBERDADE + + +Captain Joshua Slocum + + + + +Robinson & Stephenson Boston 1890 + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER I: PAGE 1 + +The ship--The crew--A hurricane--Cape Verde Islands--Frio--A _pampeiro_. + + +CHAPTER II: PAGE 8 + +Montevideo--Beggars--Antonina for mate--Antonina to Buenos Aires--The +_bombelia_. + + +CHAPTER III: PAGE 11 + +Salvage of a cargo of wine--Sailors happy--Cholera in the +Argentine--Death in the land--Dutch Harry--Pete the Greek--Noted +crimps--Boat lost--Sail for Ilha Grande--Expelled from the port--Serious +hardships. + + +CHAPTER IV: PAGE 20 + +Ilha Grande decree--Return to Rosario--Waiting opening of the Brazilian +ports--Scarcity of sailors--Buccaneers turned pilots--Sail down the +river--Arrive at Ilha Grande the second time--Quarantined and +fumigated--Admitted to _pratique_--Sail for Rio--Again challenged--Rio +at last. + + +CHAPTER V: PAGE 27 + +At Rio--Sail for Antonina with mixed cargo--A _pampeiro_--Ship on +beam-ends--Cargo still more mixed--Topgallant-masts carried away--Arrive +safely at Antonina. + + +CHAPTER VI: PAGE 30 + +Mutiny--Attempt at robbery and murder--Four against one--Two go down +before a rifle--Order restored. + + +CHAPTER VII: PAGE 37 + +Join the bark at Montevideo--A good crew--Small-pox breaks out--Bear up +for Maldonado and Floras--No aid--Death of sailors--To Montevideo in +distress--Quarantine. + + +CHAPTER VIII: PAGE 46 + +A new crew--Sail for Antonina--Load timber--Native canoes--Loss of the +_Aquidneck_. + + +CHAPTER IX: PAGE 51 + +The building of the _Liberdade_. + + +CHAPTER X: PAGE 63 + +Across the bar--The run to Santos--Tow to Rio by the steamship--At Rio. + + +CHAPTER XI: PAGE 70 + +Sail from Rio--Anchor at Cape Frio--Encounter with a whale--Sunken +treasure--The schoolmaster--The merchant--The good people at the +village--A pleasant visit. + + +CHAPTER XII: PAGE 76 + +Sail from Frio--Round Cape St. Thorne--High seas and swift currents--In +the "trades"--Dangerous reefs--Run into harbour unawares, on a dark and +stormy night--At Garavellas--Fine weather--A gale--Port St. +Paulo--Treacherous natives--Sail for Bahia. + + +CHAPTER XIII: PAGE 81 + +At Bahia--Meditations on the discoverers--The Caribbees. + + +CHAPTER XIV: PAGE 84 + +Bahia to Pernambuco--The meeting of the _Finance_ at sea--At +Pernambuco--Round Cape St. Roque--A gale--Breakers--The stretch to +Barbadoes--Flying-fish alighting on deck--Dismasted--Arrive at Carlysle +Bay. + + +CHAPTER XV: PAGE 95 + +At Barbadoes--Mayaguez--Crossing the Bahama Banks--The Gulf +Stream--Arrival on the coast of South Carolina. + + +CHAPTER XVI: PAGE 107 + +Ocean Currents--Visit to South Santee--At the Typee +River--Quarantined--South Port and Wilmington, N.C.--Inland sailing to +Beaufort, Norfolk and Washington, D.C.--Voyage ended. + + +DISPOSAL OF THE LIBERDADE: PAGE 117 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + +Diagram of the _Liberdade_ 52 + +The _Liberdade_ 62 + + +MAP + +Course of the _Liberdade_ from Paranagua to Barbadoes 69 + + + + +GREETING + + +This literary craft of mine, in its native model and rig, goes out laden +with the facts of the strange happenings on a home afloat. Her +constructor, a sailor for many years, could have put a whole cargo of +salt, so to speak, in the little packet; but would not so wantonly +intrude on this domain of longshore navigators. Could the author and +constructor but box-haul, club-haul, tops'l-haul, and catharpin like the +briny sailors of the strand, ah me!--and hope to be forgiven! + +Be the current against us, what matters it? Be it in our favour, we are +carried hence, to what place or for what purpose? Our plan of the whole +voyage is so insignificant that it matters little, maybe, whither we go, +for the "grace of a day" is the same! Is it not a recognition of this +which makes the old sailor happy, though in the storm; and hopeful even +on a plank in mid-ocean? Surely it is this! for the spiritual beauty of +the sea, absorbing man's soul, permits of no infidels on its boundless +expanse. + + THE AUTHOR + + + + +CHAPTER I + + The ship--The crew--A hurricane--Cape Verde Islands--Frio--A + _pampeiro_. + + +To get underweigh: It was on the 28th of February 1886, that the bark +_Aquidneck_, laden with case-oil, sailed from New York for Montevideo, +the capital of Uruguay, the strip of land bounding the River Plate on +the east, and called by the natives "Banda Oriental." The _Aquidneck_ +was a trim and tidy craft of 326 tons' register, hailing from Baltimore, +the port noted for clippers, and being herself high famed above them all +for swift sailing, she had won admiration on many seas. + +Her crew mustered ten, all told; twelve had been the complement, when +freights were good. There were, beside the crew with regular stations, a +little lad, aged about six years, and his mamma (age immaterial), +privileged above the rest, having "all nights in"--that is, not having +to stand watch. The mate, Victor, who is to see many adventures before +reaching New York again, was born and bred on shipboard. He was in +perfect health, and as strong as a windlass. When he first saw the light +and began to give orders, he was at San Francisco on the packet +_Constitution_, the vessel lost in the tempest at Samoa, just before the +great naval disaster at the same place in the year of 1889. Garfield, +the little lad above mentioned, Victor's brother, in this family ship, +was born in Hong Kong harbour, in the old bark _Amethyst_, a bona-fide +American citizen, though first seeing the light in a foreign port, the +Stars and Stripes standing sponsors for his nationality. This bark had +braved the wind and waves for fifty-eight years, but had not, up to that +date, so far as I know, experienced so lively a breeze as the one which +sprung up about her old timbers on that eventful 3rd of March, 1880. + +Our foremast hands on the _Aquidneck_, six in number, were from as many +nations, strangers to me and strangers to each other; but the cook, a +negro, was a native American--to the manner born. To have even so many +Americans in one ship was considered exceptional. + +Much or little as matters this family history and description of the +crew: the day of our sailing was bitter-cold and stormy, boding no good +for the coming voyage, which was to be, indeed, the most eventful of my +life of more than five-and-thirty years at sea. Studying the morning +weather report, before sailing, we saw predicted a gale from the +nor'west, and one also approaching from the sou'west at the same time. +"The prospect," said the New York papers, "is not encouraging." We were +anxious, however, to commence the voyage, having a crew on board, and, +being all ready, we boldly sailed, somewhat against our better judgment. +The nor'wester blowing, at the time, at the rate of forty miles an hour, +increased to eighty or ninety miles by March 2nd. This hurricane +continued through March 3rd, and gave us serious concern for the ship +and all on board. + +At New York, on those days, the wind howled from the north, with the +"storm centre somewhere on the Atlantic," so said the wise seamen of the +weather bureau, to whom, by the way, the real old salt is indebted, at +the present day, for information of approaching storms, sometimes days +ahead. The prognostication was correct, as we can testify, for out on +the Atlantic our bark could carry only a mere rag of a foresail, +somewhat larger than a table-cloth, and with this storm-sail she went +flying before the tempest, all those dark days, with a large "bone in +her mouth,"[1] making great headway, even under the small sail. +Mountains of seas swept clean over the bark in their mad race, filling +her decks full to the top of the bulwarks, and shaking things generally. + +Our men were lashed, each one to his station; and all spare spars not +doubly lashed were washed away, along with other movables that were +broken and torn from their fastenings by the wild storm. + +The cook's galley came in for its share of the damage, the cook himself +barely escaping serious injury from a sea that went thundering across +the decks, taking with it doors, windows, galley stove, pots, kettles +and all, together with the culinary artist; landing the whole wreck in +the lee scuppers, but, most fortunately, with the professor on top. A +misfortune like this is always--felt. It dampens one's feelings, so to +speak. It means cold food for a time to come, if not even worse fare. + +The day following our misfortune, however, was not so bad. In fact, the +tremendous seas boarding the bark latterly were indications of the good +change coming, for it meant that her speed had slackened through a lull +of the gale, allowing the seas to reach her too full and heavy. + +More sail was at once crowded on, and still more was set at every stage +of the abatement of the gale, for the craft should not be lazy when big +seas race after her. And so on we flew, like a scud, sheeting home sail +after sail as required, till the 5th of March, when all of her white +wings were spread, and she fairly "walked the waters like a thing of +life." There was now wind enough for several days, but not too much, +and our swift-sailing craft laughed at the seas trying to catch her. + +Cheerily on we sailed for days and days, pressed by the favouring gale, +meeting the sun each day a long span earlier, making daily four degrees +of longitude. It was the time, on these bright days, to forearm with dry +clothing against future stormy weather. Boxes and bags were brought on +deck, and drying and patching went on by wholesale in the watch below, +while the watch on deck bestirred themselves putting the ship in order. +"Chips," the carpenter, mended the galley; the cook's broken shins were +plastered up; and in a few days all was well again. And the sailors, +moving cheerfully about once more in their patched garments of varied +hues, reminded me of the spotted cape pigeons pecking for a living, the +pigeons, I imagined, having a better life of the two. A panican of hot +coffee or tea by sailors called "water bewitched," a sea-biscuit, and +"bit of salt-horse," had regaled the crew and restored their voices. +Then "Reuben Ranzo" was heard on the breeze, and the main tack was +boarded to the tune of "Johnny Boker." Other wondrous songs through the +night-watch could be heard in keeping with the happy time. Then what +they would do and what they wouldn't do in the next port was talked of, +when song and yarn ran out. + +Hold fast, shipmate, hold fast and belay! or the crimps of Montevideo +will wear the new jacket you promise yourself, while you will be off +Cape Horn, singing "Haul out to leeward," with a wet stocking on your +neck, and with the same old "lamby" on, that long since was "lamby" only +in name, the woolly part having given way to a cloth worn much in "Far +Cathay"; in short, you will dress in dungaree, the same as now, while +the crimps and landsharks divide your scanty earnings, unless you "take +in the slack" of your feelings, and "make all fast and steady all." + +Ten days out, and we were in the northeast "trades"--porpoises were +playing under the bows as only porpoises can play; dolphins were racing +alongside, and flying-fish were all about. This was, indeed, a happy +change, and like being transported to another world. Our hardships were +now all forgotten, for "the sea washes off all the woes of men." + +One week more of pleasant sailing, all going orderly on board, and Cape +Verde Islands came in sight. A grand and glorious sight they were! All +hail, _terra firma_! It is good to look at you once again! By noon the +islands were abeam, and the fresh trade-wind in the evening bore us out +of sight of them before dark. + +Most delightful sailing is this large, swinging motion of our bark +bounding over the waves, with the gale abaft the beam, driving her +forward till she fairly leaps from billow to billow, as if trying to +rival her companions, the very flying-fish. Thwarted now by a sea, she +strikes it with her handsome bows, sending into the light countless +thousand sprays, that shine like a nimbus of glory. The tread on her +deck-plank is lighter now, and the little world afloat is gladsome fore +and aft. + +Cape Frio (cold cape) was the next landfall. Upon reaching that point, +we had crossed the Atlantic twice. The course toward Cape Verde Islands +had been taken to avail ourselves of a leading wind through the +south-east trades, the course from the islands to Frio being +southwesterly. This latter stretch was spanned on an easy bow-line; with +nothing eventful to record. Thence our course was through variable winds +to the River Plate, where a _pampeiro_ was experienced that blew "great +guns," and whistled a hornpipe through the rigging. + +These _pampeiros_ (winds from the _pampas_) usually blow with great +fury, but give ample warning of their approach: the first sign being a +spell of unsurpassed fine weather, with small, fleecy clouds floating so +gently in the sky that one scarcely perceives their movements, yet they +do move, like an immense herd of sheep grazing undisturbed on the great +azure field. All this we witnessed, and took into account. Then +gradually, and without any apparent cause, the clouds began to huddle +together in large groups; a sign had been given which the elements +recognized. Next came a flash of fire from behind the accumulating +masses, then a distant rumbling noise. It was a note of warning, and one +that no vessel should let pass unheeded. "Clew up, and furl!" was the +order. To hand all sail when these fierce visitors are out on a frolic +over the seas, and entertain them under bare poles, is the safest plan, +unless, indeed, the best storm sails are bent; even then it is safest to +goose-wing the tops'ls before the gale comes on. Not till the fury of +the blast is spent does the ship require sail, for it is not till then +that the sea begins to rise, necessitating sail to steady her. + +The first onslaught of the storm, levelling all before it, and sending +the would-be waves flying across in sheets--sailor sheets, so to +speak--lends a wild and fearful aspect; but there is no dread of a +lee-shore in the sailor's heart at these times, for the gale is from off +the land, as indicated by the name it bears. + +After the gale was a calm; following which came desirable winds, that +carried us at last to the port we sought--Montevideo; where we cast +anchor on the 5th of May, and made preparations, after the customs' +visit, for discharging the cargo, which was finally taken into lighters +from alongside to the piers, and thence to the warehouses, where ends +the ship's responsibility to the owner of the goods. But not till then +ceases the ship's liability, or the captain's care of the merchandise +placed in his trust. Clearly the captain has cares on sea and on land. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[1] The white foam at the bows produced by fast sailing is, by +sailors, called "a bone in her mouth." + + + + +CHAPTER II + + Montevideo--Beggars--Antonina for mate--Antonina to Buenos + Aires--The _bombelia_. + + +Montevideo, sister city to Buenos Aires, is the fairer of the two to +look upon from the sea, having a loftier situation, and, like Buenos +Aires, boasts of many fine mansions, comely women, liberal schools, and +a cemetery of great splendour. + +It is at Montevideo that the "beggar a-horse-back" becomes a verity +(horses are cheap); galloping up to you the whining beggar will implore +you, saying: "For the love of Christ, friend, give me a coin to buy +bread with." + +From "the Mont" we went to Antonina, in Brazil, for a cargo of mate, a +sort of tea, which, prepared as a drink, is wholesome and refreshing. It +is partaken of by the natives in a highly sociable manner, through a +tube which is thrust into the steaming beverage in a silver urn or a +calabash, whichever may happen to be at hand when "drouthy neebors +neebors meet"; then all sip and sip in bliss from the same tube, which +is passed from mouth to mouth. No matter how many mouths there may be, +the _bombelia_, as it is called, must reach them all. It may have to be +replenished to make the drink go around, and several times, too, when +the company is large. This is done with but little loss of time. By +thrusting into the urn or gourd a spoonful of the herb, and two +spoonfuls of sugar to a pint of water, which is poured, boiling, over +it, the drink is made. But to give it some fancied extra flavour, a live +coal (_carbo vegetable_) is plunged into the potion to the bottom. Then +it is again passed around, beginning where it left off. Happy is he, if +a stranger, who gets the first sip at the tube, but the initiated have +no prejudices. While in that country I frequently joined in the social +rounds at mate, and finally rejoiced in a _bombelia_ of my own. + +The people at Antonina (in fact all the people we saw in Brazil) were +kind, extremely hospitable, and polite; living in thrift generally, +their wants were but few beyond their resources. The mountain scenery, +viewed from the harbour of Antonina, is something to gloat over; I have +seen no place in the world more truly grand and pleasing. The climate, +too, is perfect and healthy. The only doctor of the place, when we were +there, wore a coat out at the elbows, for lack of patronage. A desirable +port is Antonina. + +We had musical entertainments on board, at this place. To see the +display of beautiful white teeth by these Brazilian sweet singers was +good to the soul of a sea-tossed mariner. One nymph sang for the +writer's benefit a song at which they all laughed very much. Being in +native dialect, I did not understand it, but of course laughed with the +rest, at which they were convulsed; from this, I supposed it to be at my +expense. I enjoyed that, too, as much, or more, than I would have +relished _areytos_ in my favour. + +With mate we came to Buenos Aires, where the process of discharging the +cargo was the same as at Montevideo--into lighters. But at Buenos Aires, +we lay four times the distance from the shore, about four miles. + +The herb, or _herva mate_, is packed into barrels, boxes, and into +bullock-hide sacks, which are sewed up with stout hide thongs. The +contents, pressed in tightly when the hide is green and elastic, becomes +as hard as a cannon-ball by the contraction which follows when it dries. +The first load of the _soroes_, so-called, that came off to the bark at +the port of loading, was espied on the way by little Garfield. Piled in +the boat, high above the gunwales, the hairy side out, they did look +odd. "Oh, papa," said he, "here comes a load of cows! Stand by, all +hands, and take them in." + + + + +CHAPTER III + + Salvage of a cargo of wine--Sailors happy--Cholera in the + Argentine--Death in the land--Dutch Harry--Pete the Greek--Noted + crimps--Boat lost--Sail for Ilha Grande--Expelled from the + port--Serious hardships. + + +From Buenos Aires, we proceeded up the River Plate, near the confluence +of the Parana and Paraguay, to salve a cargo of wine from the stranded +brig _Neovo San Pascual_, from Marseilles. + +The current of the great river at that point runs constantly seaward, +becoming almost a sea of itself, and a dangerous one to navigate; hence +the loss of the _San Pascual,_ and many others before her. + +If, like the "Ancient Mariner," we had, any of us, cried, "water, water +all around, and not a drop to drink," we forgot it now, in this +bountiful stream. Wine, too, we had without stint. The insurance agent, +to leave no excuse for tampering with the cargo, rolled out a cask of +the best, and, like a true Hans Breitmann, "knocked out der bung." Then, +too, cases were broken in the handling, the contents of which drenched +their clothes from top to toe, as the sailors carried them away on their +heads. + +The diversity of a sailor's life--ah me! The experience of Dana and his +shipmates, for instance, on a sun-burnt coast, carrying dry hides on +their heads, if not a worse one, may be in store for us, we cried, now +fairly swimming in luxuries--water and wine alike free. Although our +present good luck may be followed by times less cheerful, we preferred +to count this, we said, as compensation for past misfortunes, marking +well that "it never rains but it pours." + +The cargo of wine in due course was landed at Rosario with but small +loss, the crew, except in one case, remaining sober enough to help +navigate even the difficult Parana. But one old sinner, the case I speak +of, an old Labrador fisherman, became a useless, drunken swab, in spite +of all we could do. I say "we" for most of the crew were on my side, in +favour of a fair deal and "regular supplies." + +The hold was barred and locked, and every place we could think of, for a +time, was searched; still Dan kept terribly drunk. At last his mattress +was turned out, and from it rolled a dozen or more bottles of the best +liquor. Then there was a row, but all on the part of Dan, who swore blue +vengeance on the man, if he could but find him out, who had stowed that +grog in his bunk, "trying to get" him "into trouble"; some of those +"young fellows would rue it yet!" + +The cargo of wine being discharged, I chartered to load alfalfa, packed +in bales, for Rio. Many deaths had occurred about this time, with +appalling suddenness; we soon learned that cholera was staring us all in +the face, and that it was fast spreading through the country, filling +towns and cities with sickness and death. + +Approaching more frightfully near, it carried our pilot over the bar; +his wife was a widow the day after he brought our bark to the loading +berth. And the young man who commenced to deliver us the cargo was +himself measured the day after. His ship had come in! + +Many stout men, and many, many women and children succumbed to the +scourge; yet it was our high privilege to come through the dark cloud +without losing a loved one, while thousands were cast down with +bereavements and grief. At one time it appeared that we were in the +centre of the cloud which zig-zagged its ugly body, serpent-like, +through districts, poisoning all that it touched, and leaving death in +its wake. This was indeed cholera in its most terrible form! + +One poor fellow sat at the Widow Lacinas' hotel, bewildered. +"Forty-eight hours ago," said he, "I sat at my own hearth, with wife and +three children by my side. Now I am alone in the world! Even my poor +house, such as it was, is pulled down." This man, I say, had troubles; +surely was his "house pulled down!" + +There was no escaping the poison or keeping it off, except by +disinfectants, and by keeping the system regular, for it soon spread +over all the land and the air was full of it. Remedies sold so high that +many must have perished without the test of medicinal aid to cure their +disease. A cry went up against unprincipled druggists who were +over-charging for their drugs, but nothing more was done to check their +greed. Camphor sold as high as four dollars a pound, and the druggist +with a few hundred drops of laudanum and as much chlorodyne could travel +through Europe afterward on the profits of his sales. + +It was at Rosario, and at this time, that we buried our young friend, +Captain Speck, well loved of young and old. His friends did not ask +whether it was cholera or not that he died of, but performed the last +act of friendship as became men of heart and feeling. The minister could +not come that day, but Captain Speck's little friend, Garfield, said: +"The flags were set for the angels to come and take the Captain to +Heaven!" Need more be said? + +And the flags blew out all day. + +Then it became us to erect a memorial slab, and, hardest of all, to +write to the widow and orphans. This was done in a homely way, but with +sympathetic, aching hearts away off there in Santa Fe. + +Our time at Rosario, after this, was spent in gloomy days that dragged +into weeks and months, and our thoughts often wandered from there to a +happy past. We preferred to dwell away from there and in other climes, +if only in thought. There was, however, one happy soul among us--the +child whose face was a sunbeam in all kinds of weather and at all times, +happy in his ignorance of the evils that fall to the lot of man. + +Our sailing-day from Rosario finally came; and, with a feeling as of +casting off fetters, the lines were let go, and the bark hauled out into +the stream, with a full cargo on board; but, instead of sailing for Rio, +as per charter, she was ordered by the Brazilian consul to Ilha Grande +(Great Island), the quarantine station of Brazil, some sixty-two miles +west of Rio, there to be disinfected and to discharge her cargo in +quarantine. + +A new crew was shipped and put aboard, but while I was getting my +papers, about noon, they stole one of the ship's boats and scurried off +down the river as fast, no doubt, as they could go. I have not seen them +or my boat since. They all deserted,--every mother's son of them! +taking, beside the boat, a month's advance pay from a Mr. Dutch Harry, a +sailor boarding-master, who had stolen my inward crew that he might, as +he boasted afterward, "ship new hands in their places." In view of the +fact that this vilest of crimps was the loser of the money, I could +almost forgive the "galoots" for the theft of my boat. (The ship is +usually responsible for advance wages twenty-four hours after she has +sailed, providing, too, that the sailors proceed to sea in her.) Seeing, +moreover, that they were of that stripe, unworthy the name of sailor, my +vessel was the better without them, by at least what it cost to be rid +of them, namely, the price of my boat. + +However, I will take back what I said about Dutch Harry being the +"vilest crimp." There came one to Rosario worse than he, one "Pete the +Greek," who cut off the ears of a rival boarding-master at the Boca, +threw them into the river, then, making his escape to Rosario, some 180 +miles away, established himself in the business in opposition to the +Dutchman, whom he "shanghaied" soon after, then "reigned peacefully in +his stead." + +A captain who, like myself, had suffered from the depredations of this +noted gentry, told me, in great glee, that he saw Harry on a bone-laden +Italian bark outward bound,--"even then nearly out of the river." The +last seen of him by my friend, the captain, was "among the branches," +with a rope around his neck--they hanged him, maybe--I don't know what +else the rope was for, or who deserved more to be hanged. The captain +screamed with delight:--"he'll get bone soup, at least, for a while, +instead of Santa Fe good mutton-chops at our expense." + +My second crew was furnished by Mr. Pete, before referred to, and on the +seventeenth of December we set sail from that country of revolutions. +Things soon dropped into working order, and I found reason to be pleased +with the change of crew. We glided smoothly along down the river, thence +wishing never again to see Rosario under the distressing circumstances +through which she had just passed. + +On the following day, while slipping along before a light, rippling +breeze, a dog was espied out in the current, struggling in the +whirlpools, which were rather strong, apparently unable to extricate +himself, and was greatly exhausted. Coming up with him our main-tops'l +was laid to the mast, and as we ranged by the poor thing, a sailor, +plunging over the side in a bow-line, bent a rope on to doggy, another +one hauled him carefully on board, and the rescue was made. He proved +to be a fine young retriever, and his intelligent signs of thankfulness +for his escape from drowning were scarcely less eloquent of gratitude +than human spoken language. + +This pleasant incident happening on a Friday, suggested, of course, the +name we should give him. His new master, to be sure, was Garfield, who +at once said, "I guess they won't know me when I get home, with my new +suit--and a dog!" The two romped the decks thenceforth, early and late. +It was good to see them romp, while "Friday" "barkit wi' joy." + +Our pets were becoming numerous now, and all seemed happy till a +stowaway cat one day killed poor little "Pete," our canary. For ten +years or more we had listened to the notes of this wee bird, in many +countries and climes. Sweetest of sweet singers, it was buried in the +great Atlantic at last. A strange cat, a careless steward, and its tiny +life was ended--and the tragedy told. This was indeed a great loss to us +all, and was mourned over,--almost as the loss of a child. + +A book that has been read at sea has a near claim on our friendship, and +is a thing one is loth to part with, or change, even for a better book. +But the well-tried friend of many voyages is oh! so hard to part with at +sea. A resting-place in the solemn sea of sameness--in the trackless +ocean, marked only by imaginary lines and circles--is a cheerless spot +to look to; yet how many have treasures there! + +Returning to the voyage and journal: Our pilot proved incompetent, and +we narrowly escaped shipwreck in consequence at Martin Garcia Bar, a bad +spot in the River Plate. A small schooner captain, observing that we +needlessly followed in his track, and being anything but a sailor in +principle, wantonly meditated mischief to us. While I was confidently +trusting to my pilot, and he (the pilot) trusting to the schooner, one +that could go over banks where we would strike, what did the scamp do +but shave close to a dangerous spot, my pilot following faithfully in +his wake. Then, jumping upon the taffrail of his craft, as we came +abreast the shoal, he yelled, like a Comanche, to my pilot to: "Port the +helm!" and what does my mutton-headed jackass do but port hard over! The +bark, of course, brought up immediately on the ground, as the other had +planned, seeing which his whole pirate crew--they could have been little +less than pirates--joined in roars of laughter, but sailed on, doing us +no other harm. + +By our utmost exertions the bark was gotten off, not a moment too soon, +however, for by the time we kedged her into deep water a _pampeiro_ was +upon us. She rode out the gale safe at anchor, thanks to an active crew. +Our water tanks and casks were then refilled, having been emptied to +lighten the bark from her perilous position. + +Next evening the storm went down, and by mutual consent our mud-pilot +left, taking passage in a passing river-craft, with his pay and our best +advice, which was to ship in a dredging-machine, where his capabilities +would be appreciated. + +Then, "paddling our own canoe," without further accident we reached the +light-ship, passing it on Christmas Day. Clearing thence, before night, +English Bank and all other dangers of the land, we set our course for +Ilha Grande, the wind being fair. Then a sigh of relief was breathed by +all on board. If ever "old briny" was welcomed, it was on that Christmas +Day. + +Nothing further of interest occurred on the voyage to Brazil, except the +death of the little bird already spoken of, which loss deeply affected +us all. + +We arrived at Ilha Grande, our destination, on the 7th day of January, +1887, and came to anchor in nine fathoms of water, at about noon, +within musket-range of the guard-ship, and within speaking distance of +several vessels riding quarantine, with more or less communication going +on among them all, through flags. Several ships, chafing under the +restraint of quarantine, were "firing signals" at the guard-ship. One +Scandinavian, I remember, asked if he might be permitted to communicate +by _cable_ with his owners in Christiana. The guard gave him, as the +Irishman said, "an evasive answer," so the cablegram, I suppose, laid +over. Another wanted police assistance; a third wished to know if he +could get fresh provisions--ten milreis' ($5) worth (he was a +German)--naming a dozen or more articles that he wished for, "and _the +balance in onions_!" Altogether, the young fellows on the guard-ship +were having, one might say, a signal practice. + +On the next day, January 8th, the officers of the port came alongside in +a steam-launch, and ordered us to leave, saying the port had been closed +that morning. "But we have made the voyage," I said. "No matter," said +the guard, "leave at once you must, or the guard-ship will fire into +you." This, I submit, was harsh and arbitrary treatment. A thunderbolt +from a clear sky could not have surprised us more or worked us much +greater harm--to be ruined in business or struck by lightning, being +equally bad! + +Then pointing something like a gun, Dom Pedro said, said he, "_Vaya +Homem_" (hence, begone), "Or you'll give us cholera." So back we had to +go, all the way to Rosario, with that load of hay--and trouble. But on +our arrival there we found things better than they were when we sailed. +The cholera had ceased--it was on the wane when we sailed from Rosario, +and there was hardly a case of the dread disease in the whole country +east of Cordova when we returned. That was, indeed, a comfort, but it +left our hardship the same, and led, consequently, to the total loss of +the vessel after dragging us through harrowing trials and losses, as +will be seen by subsequent events. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + Ilha Grande decree--Return to Rosario--Waiting opening of the + Brazilian ports--Scarcity of sailors--Buccaneers turned + pilots--Sail down the river--Arrive at Ilha Grande the second + time--Quarantined and fumigated--Admitted to _pratique_--Sail for + Rio--Again challenged--Rio at last. + + +This Ilha Grande decree, really a political movement, brought great +hardships on us, notwithstanding that it was merely intended by the +Brazilians as retaliation for past offences by their Argentine +neighbours; not only for quarantines against Rio fevers, but for a +discriminating duty as well on sugar from the empire; a combination of +hardships on commerce--more than the sensitive Brazilians could +stand--so chafing them that a retaliation fever sprung up reaching more +than the heat of _febre marello_, and they decided to teach their +republican cousins a wholesome lesson. However, their wish was to +retaliate without causing war, and it was done. In fact, closing ports +as they did at the beginning of Argentine's most valuable season of +exports to Brazil, and with the plausible excuse, namely fear of pain in +the stomach, so filled the Argentines with admiration of their equals in +strategy that they on the earliest opportunity proclaimed two public +holidays in honour of bright Brazil. So the matter of difference ended, +to the delight of all--in fire-crackers and champagne! + +To the delight of all except the owner and crew of the _Aquidneck_. For +our bark there was no way but to return where the cargo came from, at a +ruinous loss, too, of time and money. We called at the first open port +and wired to the owner of the cargo, but got no answer. Thence we sailed +to Buenos Aires, where I telegraphed again for instructions. The +officers of the guard-ship, upon receiving my report from Brazil, were +convulsed with laughter, while I----I confess it--could not see the +joke. After waiting two days, this diplomatic reply came from the owner +of the cargo: "Act as the case may require." Upon this matter I had +several opinions. One person suggested that the case required me to +pitch the whole cargo into the sea! This friend, I may mention, was from +Boston. + +I have ever since regretted, however, that I did not take his advice. +There seemed to be no protection for the vessel; the law that a ship +must be allowed to live was unheeded; in fact this law was reversed and +there were sharpers and beach-combers at every turn ready to take +advantage of one's misfortunes or even drive one to despair. I +concluded, finally, to shake the lot of them, and proceeding up the +Parana, moored again at the berth where, a few weeks before, we had +taken in the cargo. Spans and tackle were rigged, and all was made ready +to discharge. It was now, "Come on, McCarthy, or McCarthy, come on!" I +didn't care which, I had one _right_ on my side, and I kept that always +in view; namely, the right to discharge the cargo where I had first +received it; but where the money to buy ballast and pay other charges +was to come from I could not discover. + +My merchant met me in great concern at my "misfortunes," but "carramba!" +(zounds) said he, "my own losses are great." It required very little +reasoning to show me that the least expensive course was the safest one +for me to adopt, and my merchant offering enough to pay the marketing, I +found it wisest not to disturb the cargo, but to lay up instead with it +in the vessel and await the reopening of the Brazilian ports. This I +did. + +My merchant, Don Manuel, is said to be worth millions of _pesos_. The +foundation of his wealth was laid by peddling charcoal, carrying it at +first, to his credit be it said, on his back, and he was then a good +fellow. Many a hard bargain has he waged since, and is now a "Don," +living in a $90,000 house. The Don doesn't peddle charcoal any more. + +Moored at Rosario, waiting, waiting; but all of us well in body, and +myself finally less agitated in mind. My old friend, Don Manuel, seems +better also; he "may yet purge and live clean like a gentleman." + +I found upon our return to Rosario that some of the old hands were +missing; laid low by the scourge, to make room for others, and some were +spared who would have been less lamented. Among all the ship-brokers +that I knew at Rosario, and I knew a great many, not one was taken away. +They all escaped, being, it was thought, epidemic-proof. There was my +broker, Don Christo Christiano--called by Don Manuel "El Sweaga" (the +Swede)--whom nothing could strike with penetrative force, except a +commission. + +At last, April 9th, 1887, news came that the Brazilian ports were open. +Cholera had long since disappeared in Santa Fe and Buenos Aires. The +Brazilians had established their own beef-drying factories, and could +now afford to open their ports to competition. This made a great stir +among the ships. Crews were picked up here and there, out of the few +brothels that had not been pulled down during the cholera, and out of +the streets or from the fields. Some, too, came in from the bush. Mixed +among them were many that had been let out of the prisons all over the +country, so that the scourge should not be increased by over-crowded +jails. Of six who shipped with me, four had been so released from +prison, where they had been serving for murder or highway robbery; all +this I learned when it was too late. I shall have occasion before long +to speak of these again! + +Well, we unmoored and dropped down the river a few miles the first day; +with this crew, the hardest looking set that ever put foot on a ship of +mine, and with a swarthy Greek pilot that would be taken for a pirate in +any part of the world. The second mate, who shipped also at Rosario, was +not less ill-visaged, and had, in addition to his natural ugly features, +a deep scar across his face, suggestive of a heavy sabre stroke; a mark +which, I thought upon further acquaintance, he had probably merited. I +could not make myself easy upon the first acquaintance of my new and +decidedly ill-featured crew. So, early the first evening I brought the +bark to anchor, and made all snug before dark for prudent reasons. Next +morning, the Greek, instead of getting the bark underweigh, as I +expected him to do, came to me demanding more pay for his services and +thinking, maybe, that I could not do without him, demanded, unless I +chose to pay considerably in excess of his regular dues, to be put on +shore. I took the fellow at his first bounce. He and his grip-sack were +landed on the bank there and then, with but little "palaver" over it. It +was then said, so I learned after, that "old S----" would drop into the +wake of some ship, and save his pilotage; in fact, they didn't know +"what else he could do," as the pilots were then all engaged for other +vessels. + +The money was taken care of all right, and so was the _Aquidneck_! By +daylight of the following morning she was underweigh, and under full +sail at the head of a fleet of piloted vessels, and, being the swiftest +sailer, easily kept the lead, and was one of the vessels that did _not +"rompe el banco_," as was predicted by all the pilots, while they +hunched their shoulders above their ears, exclaiming, "No _practico_, no +_possebla_!" This was my second trip down the Parana, it is true, and I +had been on other rivers as wonderful as this one, and had, moreover, +read Mark Twain's "Life on the Mississippi," which gives no end of +information on river currents, wind-reefs, sand-reefs, alligator-water, +and all that is useful to know about rivers, so that I was confident of +my ability; all that had been required was the stirring-up that I got +from the impertinent pilot, or buccaneer, whichever is proper to call +him--one thing certain, he was no true sailor! + +A strong, fair wind on the river, together with the current, in our +favour, carried us flying down the channel, while we kept the lead, with +the Stars and Stripes waving where they ought always to be seen; namely, +on the ship in the van! So the duffers followed us, instead of our +following them, and on we came, all clear, with the good wishes of the +officers and the crews. But the pilots, drawing their shoulders up and +repeating the refrain, "No _practico_, no _possebla_!" cursed us +bitterly, and were in a vile mood, I was told, cursing more than usual, +and that is saying a great deal, for all will agree who have heard them +that the average "Dago" pilot is the most foul-mouthed thing afloat. + +Down the river and past the light-ship we came once more, this time with +no halt to make, no backing sails to let a pilot off, nothing at all to +stop us; we spread all sail to a favourable breeze, and reached Ilha +Grande eight days afterward, beating the whole fleet by two days. +Garfield kept strict account of this. He was on deck when we made the +land, a dark and foggy night it was! nothing could be seen but the +dimmest outline of a headland through the haze. I knew the place, I +thought, and Garfield said he could smell land, fog or coal-tar. This, +it will be admitted, was reassuring. A school of merry porpoises that +gambolled under the bows while we stood confidently in for the land, +diving and crossing the bark's course in every direction, also guarded +her from danger. I knew that so long as deep-sea porpoises kept with us +we had nothing to fear of the ground. When the lookout cried, "Porpoises +gone," we turned the bark's head off-shore, backed the main-tops'l, and +sent out the "pigeon" (lead). A few grains of sand and one soft, +delicate white shell were brought up out of fourteen fathoms of water. +We had but to heed these warnings and guides, and our course would be +tolerably clear, dense and all as the fog and darkness was. + +The lead was kept constantly going as we sailed along in the intense +darkness, till the headland of our port was visible through the haze of +grey morning. What Garfield had smelled, I may mention, turned out to be +coal-tar, a pot of which had been capsized on deck by the leadsman, in +the night. + +By daylight in the morning, April 29, we had found the inner entrance to +Ilha Grande, and sailed into the harbour for the second time with this +cargo of hay. It was still very foggy, and all day heavy gusts of wind +came down through the gulches in the mountains, laden with fog and rain. + +Two days later, the weather cleared up, and our friends began to come +in. They found us there all right, anchored close under the highest +mountain. + +Eight days of sullen gloom and rain at this place; then brimstone, +smoke, and fire turned on to us, and we were counted healthy enough to +be admitted to _pratique_ in Rio, where we arrived May 11th, putting one +more day between ourselves and our friendly competitors, who finally +arrived safe, all except one, the British bark _Dublin_. She was +destroyed by fire between the two ports. The crew was rescued by +Captain Lunt, and brought safe into Rio next day. + +At the fort entrance to the harbour of Rio we were again challenged and +brought to, all standing, on the bar; the tide running like a mill race +at the time brought the bark aback on her cables with a force, nearly +cutting her down. + +The _Aquidneck_ it would seem had outsailed the telegram which should +have preceded her; it was, nevertheless, my imperative duty to obey the +orders of the port authorities which, however, should have been tempered +with reason. It was easy for them in the fort to say, "Come to, or we'll +sink you," but we in the bark, between two evils, came near being sunk +by obeying the order. + +Formerly, when a vessel was challenged at this fort, one, two or three +shots, if necessary to bring her to, were fired, at a cost to the ship, +if she were not American, of fifteen shillings for the first shot, +thirty for the second, and sixty for the third; but, for American ships, +the sixty shilling shot was fired first--Americans would always have the +best! + +After all the difficulties were cleared away, the tardy telegram +received, and being again identified by the officers, we weighed anchor +for the last time on this voyage, and went into our destined port, the +spacious and charming harbour of Rio. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + At Rio--Sail for Antonina with mixed cargo--A _pampeiro_--Ship on + beam-ends--Cargo still more mixed--Topgallant-masts carried + away--Arrive safely at Antonina. + + +The cargo was at last delivered, and no one made ill over it. A change +of rats also was made; at Rio those we brought in gave place to others +from the Dom Pedro Docks where we moored. Fleas, too, skipped about in +the hay as happy as larks, and nearly as big; and all the other live +stock that we brought from Rosario, goodness knows of what kind and +kith, arrived well and sound from over the water, notwithstanding the +fumigations and fuss made at the quarantine. + +Had the little microbes been with us indeed, the Brazilians would not +have turned us away as they did, from the doors of an hospital! for they +are neither a cruel nor cowardly people. To turn sickness away would be +cruel and stupid, to say the least! What we were expelled for I have +already explained. + +After being so long in gloomy circumstances we felt like making the most +of pleasant Rio! Therefore on the first fine day after being docked, we +sallied out in quest of city adventure, and brought up first in +Ouvidor--the Broadway of Rio, where my wife bought a tall hat, which I +saw nights looming up like a dreadful stack of hay, the innocent cause +of much trouble to me, and I declared, by all the great islands--in my +dreams--that go back with it I would not, but would pitch it, first, +into the sea. + +I get nervous on the question of quarantines. I visit the famous +Botanical Gardens with my family, and I tremble with fear lest we are +fumigated at some station on the way. However, our time at Rio is +pleasantly spent in the main, and on the first day of June, we set sail +once more for Paranagua and Antonina of pleasant recollections; partly +laden with flour, kerosene, pitch, tar, rosin and wine, three pianos, I +remember, and one steam engine and boiler, all as ballast; "freight +free," so the bill of lading read, and further, that the ship should +"not be responsible for leakage, breakage, or rust." This clause was +well for the ship, as one of those wild _pampeiros_ overtook her, on the +voyage, throwing her violently on her beam-ends, and shaking the motley +cargo into a confused and mixed-up mess. The vessel remaining tight, +however, no very serious damage was done, and she righted herself after +a while, but without her lofty topgallant-masts, which went with a crash +at the first blast of the tempest. + +This incident made a profound impression on Garfield. He happened to be +on deck when the masts were carried away, but managed to scamper off +without getting hurt. Whenever a vessel hove in sight after that having +a broken spar or a torn sail, it was "a _pampeiroed_ ship." + +The storm, though short, was excessively severe, and swept over +Paranagua and Antonina with unusual violence. The owner of the pianos, I +was told, prayed for us, and regretted that his goods were not insured. +But when they were landed, not much the worse for their tossing about, +old Strichine, the owner (that was his name or near that, strychnine the +boys called him, because his singing was worse than "rough on rats," +they said, a bit of juvenile wit that the artist very sensibly let pass +unheeded), declared that the ship was a good one, and that her captain +was a good pilot; and as neither freight nor insurance had been paid, he +and his wife would feast us on music; having learned that I especially +was fond of it. They had screeched operas for a lifetime in Italy, but I +didn't care for that. As arranged, therefore, I was on deck at the +appointed time and place, to stay at all hazards. + +The pianos, as I had fully expected, were fearfully out of +tune--suffering, I should say, from the effects of seasickness! + +So much so that I shall always believe this opportunity was seized upon +by the artist to avenge the damage to his instruments, which, indeed, I +could not avert, in the storm that we passed through. The good Strichine +and his charming wife were astonished at the number of opera airs I +could name. And they tried to persuade me to sing Il Trovatore; but +concluding that damage enough had already been done, I refrained, that +is, I refracted my song. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + Mutiny--Attempt at robbery and murder--Four against one--Two go + down before a rifle--Order restored. + + +July 23rd, 1887, brings me to a sudden and shocking point in the history +of the voyage that I fain would forget, but that will not be possible. +Between the hours of 11 and 12 p.m. of this day I was called instantly +to defend my life and all that is dear to a man. + +The bark, anchored alone in the harbour of Antonina, was hid from the +town in the darkness of a night that might well have covered the +blackest of tragedies. My pirates thought their opportunity had surely +come to capture the _Aquidneck_, and this they undertook to do. The +ringleader of the gang was a burly scoundrel, whose boast was that he +had "licked" both the mate and second mate of the last vessel he had +sailed in, and had "busted the captain in the jaw" when they landed in +Rio, where the vessel was bound, and where, of course, the captain had +discharged him. It was there the villain shipped with me, in lieu of one +of the Rosario gang who had been kindly taken in charge by the guard at +Ilha Grande and brought to Rio to be tried before the American Consul +for insubordination. Said he, one day when I urged him to make haste and +help save the topsails in a squall, "Oh, I'm no soft-horn to be +hurried!" It was the time the bark lost her topgallant-mast and was cast +on her beam-ends on the voyage to Antonina, already told; it was, in +fact, no time for loafing, and this braggart at a decisive word hurried +aloft with the rest to do his duty. What I said to him was meant for +earnest, and it cowed him. It is only natural to think that he held a +grudge against me forever after, and waited only for his opportunity; +knowing, too, that I was the owner of the bark, and supposed to have +money. He was heard to say in a rum-mill a day or two before the attack +that he would find the ---- money and his life, too. His chum and bosom +friend had come pretty straight from Palermo penitentiary at Buenos +Aires when he shipped with me at Rosario. + +It was no secret on board the bark that he had served two years for +robbing, and cutting a ranchman's throat from ear to ear. These records, +which each seemed to glory in, were verified in both cases. + +I met the captain afterwards who had been "busted in the jaw"--Captain +Roberts, of Baltimore, a quiet gentleman, with no evil in his heart for +any one, and a man, like myself, well along in years. + +Two of the gang, old Rosario hands, had served for the lesser offence of +robbery alone--they brought up in the rear! The other two of my foremast +hands--one a very respectable Hollander, the other a little Japanese +sailor, a bright, young chap--had been robbed and beaten by the four +ruffians, and then threatened so that they deserted to the forest +instead of bringing a complaint of the matter to me, for fear, as the +Jap expressed it afterwards, when there was no longer any danger,--for +fear the "la-la-long mans (thieves) would makee killo mi!" + +The ringleader bully had made unusual efforts to create a row when I +came on board early in the evening; however, as he had evidently been +drinking, I passed it off as best I could for the natural consequence of +rum, and ordered him forward; instead of doing as he was bid, when I +turned to hand my wife to the cabin he followed me threateningly to the +break of the poop. What struck me most, however, was the conduct of his +chum, who was sober, but in a very unusual, high, gleeful mood. It was +knock-off time when I came along to where he was seizing off the mizzen +topgallant backstay, the last of the work of refitting the late +_pampeiro_ damage; and the mate being elsewhere engaged, I gave the +usual order to quit work. "Knock off," I said to the man, "and put away +your tools. The bark's rigging looks well," I added, "and if to-morrow +turns out fine, all will be finished"; whereupon the fellow laughed +impertinently in my face, repeating my words, "All will be finished!" +under his breath, adding, "before to-morrow!" This was the first insult +offered by the "Bloodthirsty Tommy," who had committed murder only a +short time before; but I had been watched by the fellow, with a cat-like +eye at every turn. + +The full significance of his words on this occasion came up to me only +next morning, when I saw him lying on the deck with a murderous weapon +in his hand! I was not expecting a cowardly, night attack, nevertheless +I kept my gun loaded. I went to sleep this night as usual, forgetting +the unpleasant episode as soon as my head touched the pillow; but my +wife, with finer instincts, kept awake. It was well for us all that she +did so. Near midnight, my wife, who had heard the first footstep on the +poop-deck, quietly wakened me, saying, "We must get up, and look out for +ourselves! Something is going wrong on deck; the boat tackle has been +let go with a great deal of noise, and--O! don't go that way on deck. I +heard some one on the cabin steps, and heard whispering in the forward +entry." + +"You must have been dreaming," I said. + +"No, indeed!" said she; "I have not been asleep yet; don't go on deck by +the forward companionway; they are waiting there, I am sure, for I heard +the creaking of the loose step in the entry." + +If my wife has not been dreaming, thought I, there can be no possible +doubt of a plot. + +Nothing justifies a visit on the poop-deck after working-hours, except a +call to relieve sickness, or for some other emergency, and then secrecy +or stealth is non-permissible. + +It may be here explained to persons not familiar with ships, that the +sailors' quarters are in the forward part of the ship where they (the +sailors) are supposed to be found after working-hours, in port, coming +never abaft the mainmast; hence the term "before the mast." + +My first impulse was to step on deck in the usual way, but the earnest +entreaties of my wife awoke me to a danger that should be investigated +with caution. Arming myself, therefore, with a stout carbine repeater, +with eight ball cartridges in the magazine, I stepped on deck abaft +instead of forward, where evidently I had been expected. I stood rubbing +my eyes for a moment, inuring them to the intense darkness, when a +coarse voice roared down the forward companionway to me to come on deck. +"Why don't ye come on deck like a man, and order yer men forid?" was the +salute that I got, and was the first that I heard with my own ears, and +it was enough. To tell the whole story in a word, I knew that I had to +face a mutiny. + +I could do no less than say: "Go forward there!" + +"Yer there, are ye?" said the spokesman, as with an oath, he bounded +toward me, cursing as he came. + +Again I ordered him forward, saying, "I am armed,--if you come here I +will shoot!" But I forbore to do so instantly, thinking to club him to +the deck instead, for my carbine was a heavy one. I dealt him a blow as +he came near, sufficient I thought, to fell an ox; but it had, +apparently, no effect, and instantly he was inside of my guard. Then +grasping me by the throat, he tried to force me over the taffrail, and +cried, exultingly, as he felt me give way under his brute strength, +"Now, you damn fool, shoot!" at the same time drawing his knife to +strike. + +I could not speak, or even breathe, but my carbine spoke for me, and the +ruffian fell with the knife in his hand which had been raised against +me! Resolution had proved more than a match for brute force, for I then +knew that not only my own life but also the lives of others depended on +me at this moment. Nothing daunted, the rest came on, like hungry +wolves. Again I cried, "Go forward!" But thinking, maybe, that my rifle +was a single shooter, or that I could not load it so quickly, the order +was disregarded. + +"What if I don't go forward?" was "Bloody Tommy's" threatening question, +adding, as he sprang toward me, "I've got this for you!" but fell +instantly as he raised his hand; and there on the deck was ended his +misadventure! and like the other he fell with the deadly knife in his +hand. I was now all right. The dread of cold steel had left me when I +freed myself from the first would-be assassin, and I only wondered how +many more would persist in trying to take my life. But recollecting +there were only two mutineers left, and that I had still six shots in +the magazine of my rifle, and one already in the chamber, I stood ready +with the hammer raised, and my finger on the trigger, confident that I +would not be put down. + +There was no further need of extreme measures, however, for order was +now restored, though two of the assailants had skulked away in the dark. + +How it was that I regained my advantage, after once losing it, I hardly +know; but this I am certain of, that being down I was not to be spared. +Then desperation took the place of fear, and I felt more than a match +for all that could come against me. I had no other than serene +feelings, however, and had no wish to pursue the two pirates that fled. + +Immediately after the second shot was fired, and I found myself once +more master of my bark, the remaining two came aft again, at my bidding +this time, and in an orderly manner, it may be believed. + +It is idle to say what I would or would not have given to have the +calamity averted, or, in other words, to have had a crew of sailors, +instead of a gang of cut-throats. + +However, when the climax came, I had but one course to pursue; this I +resolutely followed. A man will defend himself and his family to the +last, for life is sweet, after all. + +It was significant, the court thought afterwards, that while my son had +not had time to dress, they all had on their boots except the one who +fell last, and he was in his socks, with no boots on. It was he who had +waited for me as I have already said, on the cabin steps that I usually +passed up and down on, but this time avoided. Circumstantial evidence +came up in abundance to make the case perfectly clear to the +authorities. There are few who will care to hear more about a subject so +abhorrent to all, and I care less to write about it. I would not have +said this much, but for the enterprise of a rising department clerk, +who, seeing the importance of telling to the world what he knew, and +seeing also some small emolument in the matter, was I believe prompted +to augment the consular dispatches, thus obliging me to fight the battle +over. However, not to be severe on the poor clerk, I will only add that, +no indignities were offered me by the authorities through all the strict +investigation that followed the tragedy. + +The trial being for justice and not for my money the case was soon +finished. + +I sincerely hope that I may never again encounter such as those who came +from the jails to bring harm and sorrow in their wake. + +The work of loading was finished soon after the calamity to my bark, and +a Spanish sailing-master was engaged to take her to Montevideo; my son +Victor going as flag captain. + +I piloted the _Aquidneck_ out of the harbour, and left her clear of the +buoy, looking as neat and trim as sailor could wish to see. All the +damage done by the late _pampeiro_ had been repaired, new +topgallant-masts rigged, and all made ataunto. I saw my handsome bark +well clear of the dangers of the harbour limits, then in sorrow I left +her and paddled back to the town, for I was on parole to appear, as I +have said, for trial! That was the word; I can find no other name for +it--let it stand! + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + Join the bark at Montevideo--A good crew--Small-pox breaks + out--Bear up for Maldonado and Flores--No aid--Death of sailors--To + Montevideo in distress--Quarantine. + + +As soon as the case was over I posted on for Montevideo by steamer, +where the bark had arrived only a few days ahead of me. I found her +already stripped to a gantline though, preparatory to a long stay in +port. I had given Victor strict orders to interfere in no way with the +Spaniard, but to let him have full charge in nearly everything. I could +have trusted the lad with full command, young as he was; but there was a +strange crew of foreigners which might, as often happens, require +maturer judgment to manage than to sail the vessel. As it proved, +however, even the _cook_ was in many ways a better man than the +sailing-master. + +Victor met me with a long face, and the sailors wore a quizzical look as +I came over the vessel's side. One of them, in particular, whom I shall +always remember, gave me a good-humoured greeting, along with his shake +of the head, that told volumes; and next day was aloft, crossing yards, +cheerfully enough. I found my Brazilian crew to be excellent sailors, +and things on board the _Aquidneck_ immediately began to assume a +brighter appearance, aloft and alow. + +Cargo was soon discharged, other cargo taken in, and the bark made ready +for sea. My crew, I say, was a good one; but, poor fellows, they were +doomed to trials--the worst within human experience, many of them giving +up to grim death before the voyage was ended. Too often one bit of bad +luck follows another. This rule brought us in contact with one of these +small officials at Montevideo, better adapted to home life; one of those +knowing, perhaps, more than need a cowboy, but not enough for consul. +This official, managing to get word to my crew that a change of master +dissolved their contract, induced them to come on shore and claim pay +for the whole voyage and passage home on a steamer besides, the same as +though the bark had been sold. + +What overwhelming troubles may come of having incompetent officials in +places of trust, the sequel will show. This unwise, even stupid +interference, was the indirect cause of the sufferings and deaths among +the crew which followed. + +I was able to show the consul and his clerk that sailors are always +engaged for the ship, and never for the master, and that a change of +master did not in any way affect their contract. However, I paid the +crew off, and then left it to their option to re-ship or not, for they +were all right, they had been led to do what they did, and I knew that +they wanted to get home, and it was there that the bark was going, +direct. + +All signed the articles again, except one, a long-haired Andalusian, +whom I would not have longer at any price. The wages remained the same +as before, and all hands returned to their duty cheerful and +contented--but pending the consul's decision (which, by the way, I +decided for him), they had slept in a contagioned house, where, alas, +they contracted small-pox of the worst type. + +We were now homeward bound. All the "runaway rum" that could be held out +by the most subtle crimps of Montevideo could not induce these sober +Brazilian sailors to desert their ship. + +These "crimps" are land-sharks who get the sailors drunk when they can, +and then rob them of their advance money. The sailors are all paid in +advance; sometimes they receive in this way most of their wages for the +voyage, which they make after the money is spent, or wasted, or stolen. + +We all know what working for dead horse means--sailors know too well its +significance. + +As sailing day drew near, a half-day liberty to each watch was asked for +by the men, who wanted to make purchases for their friends and relatives +at Paranagua. Permission to go on shore was readily granted, and I was +rewarded by seeing every one return to his ship at the time promised, +and every one sober. On the morrow, which was sailing day, every man was +at his post and all sang "Cheerily, ho!" and were happy; all except one, +who complained of slight chills and a fever, but said that he had been +subject to this, and that with a dose of quinine he would soon be all +right again. + +It appeared a small matter. Two days later though, his chills turned to +something which I knew less about. The next day, three more men went +down with rigor in the spine, and at the base of the brain. I knew by +this that small-pox was among us! + +We bore up at once for Maldonado, which was the nearest port, the place +spoken of in "Gulliver's Travels," though Gulliver, I think, is mistaken +as to its identity and location, arriving there before a gathering storm +that blew wet and cold from the east. Our signals of distress, asking +for immediate medical aid were set and flew thirty-six hours before any +one came to us; then a scared Yahoo (the country was still inhabited by +Yahoos) in a boat rowed by two other animals, came aboard, and said, +"Yes, your men have got small-pox." "_Vechega_" he called it, but I +understand the lingo of the Yahoo very well, I could even speak a few +words of it and comprehend the meanings. "_Vechega_!" he bellowed to +his mates alongside, and, turning to me, he said, in Yahoo: "You must +leave the port at once," then jumping into his boat he hurried away, +along with his scared companions.[2] + +To leave a port in our condition was hard lines, but my perishing crew +could get no succour at Maldonado, so we could do nothing but leave, if +at all able to do so. We were indeed short-handed, but desperation +lending a hand, the anchor was weighed and sufficient sail set on the +bark to clear the inhospitable port. The wind blowing fair out of the +harbour carried us away from the port toward Flores Island, for which we +now headed in sore distress. A gale, long to be remembered, sprang +suddenly up, stripping off our sails like autumn leaves, before the bark +was three leagues from the place. We hadn't strength to clew up, so her +sails were blown away, and she went flying before the mad tempest under +bare poles. A snow-white sea-bird came for shelter from the storm, and +poised on the deck to rest. The incident filled my sailors with awe; to +them it was a portentous omen, and in distress they dragged themselves +together and, prostrate before the bird, prayed the Holy Virgin to ask +God to keep them from harm. The rain beat on us in torrents, as the bark +tossed and reeled ahead, and day turned black as night. The gale was +from E.S.E., and our course lay W.N.W. nearly, or nearly before it. I +stood at the wheel with my shore clothes on, I remember, for I hadn't +yet had time to change them for waterproofs; this of itself was small +matter, but it reminds me now that I was busy with other concerns. I was +always a good helmsman, and I took in hand now the steering of the bark +in the storm--and I gave directions to Victor and the carpenter how to +mix disinfectants for themselves, and medicines for the sick men. The +medicine chest was fairly supplied. + +Flores, when seen, was but a few ship's lengths away. Flashes of +lightning revealed the low cliffs, amazingly near to us, and as the bark +swept by with great speed, the roar of the breakers on the shore, heard +above the din of the storm, told us of a danger to beware. The helm was +then put down, and she came to under the lee of the island like a true, +obedient thing. + +Both anchors were let go, and all the chain paid out to both, to the +bitter end, for the gale was now a hurricane. She walked away with her +anchors for all that we could do, till, hooking a marine cable, one was +carried away, and the other brought her head to the wind, and held her +there trembling in the storm. + +Anxious fear lest the second cable should break was on our minds through +the night; but a greater danger was within the ship, that filled us all +with alarm. + +Two barks not far from us that night, with pilots on board, were lost, +in trying to come through where the _Aquidneck_, without a pilot and +with but three hands on deck to work her, came in. Their crews, with +great difficulty, were rescued and then carried to Montevideo. When all +had been done that we three could do, a light was put in the rigging, +that flickered in the gale and went out. Then wet, and lame, and weary, +we fell down in our drenched clothes, to rest as we might--to sleep, or +to listen to groans of our dying shipmates. + +When daylight came (after this, the most dismal of all my nights at +sea), our signals went up telling of the sad condition of the crew, and +begging for medical assistance. Toward night the gale went down; but, as +no boat came off, a gloom darker than midnight settled over the crew of +the pest-ridden bark, and in dismay they again prayed to be spared to +meet the loved ones awaiting them at home. + +Our repeated signals, next day, brought the reply, "Stand in." +_Carramba!_ Why, we could hardly stand at all; much less could we get +the bark underway, and beat in against wind and current. No one knew +this better than they on the island, for my signals had told the whole +story, and as we were only a mile and a half from the shore, the flags +were distinctly made out. There was no doubt in our minds about that! + +Late in the day, however, a barge came out to us, ill-manned and +ill-managed by as scared a set of "galoots" as ever capsized a boat, or +trembled at a shadow! The coxswain had more to say than the doctor, and +the Yahoo--I forgot to mention that we were still in Yahoodom, but one +would see that without this explanation--the Yahoo in the bow said more +than both; and they all took a stiff pull from a bottle of +_cachazza_,[3] the doctor having had the start, I should say, of at +least one or two pulls before leaving the shore, insomuch as he appeared +braver than the rest of the crew. + +The doctor, having taken an extra horn or two, with Dutch courage came +on board, and brought with him a pound of sulphur, a pint of carbolic +acid, and some barley--enough to feed a robin a few times, for all of +which we were thankful indeed, our disinfectants being by this time +nearly exhausted; then, glancing at the prostrate men, he hurried away, +as the other had done at Maldonado. I asked what I should do with the +dead through the night--bury them where we lay? "Oh, no, no!" cried the +Yahoo in the bow; but the doctor pointed significantly to the water +alongside! I knew what he meant! + +That night we buried Jose, the sailor whose honest smile had welcomed me +to my bark at Montevideo. I had ordered stones brought on deck, before +dark, ostensibly to ballast the boat. I knew they would soon be wanted! +About midnight, the cook called me in sore distress, saying that Jose +was dying without confession! + +So poor Jose was buried that night in the great River Plate! I listened +to the solemn splash that told of one life ended, and its work done; but +gloomy, and sad, and melancholy as the case was, I had to smile when the +cook, not having well-secured the ballast, threw it over after his +friend, exclaiming, "Good-bye, Jose, good-bye!" I added, "Good-bye, good +shipmate, good-bye! I doubt not that you rest well!" + +Next day, the signal from the shore was the same as the day before, +"Stand in," in answer to my repeated call for help. By this time my men +were demoralized and panic-stricken, and the poor fellows begged me, if +the doctor would not try to cure them, to get a priest to confess them +all. I saw a padre pacing the beach, and set flags asking him to come on +board. No notice was taken of the signal, and we were now left entirely +to ourselves. + +After burying one more of the crew, we decided to remain no longer at +this terrible place. An English telegraph tender passing, outward-bound, +caught up our signals at that point, and kindly reported to her consul +at Maldonado, who wired it to Montevideo. + +The wind blowing away from the shore, as may it always blow when friend +of mine nears that coast, we determined to weigh anchor or slip cable +without further loss of time, feeling assured that by the telegraph +reports some one would be on the look-out for us, and that the +_Aquidneck_ would be towed into port if the worst should happen--if the +rest of her crew went down. Three of us weighed one anchor, with its +ninety fathoms of chain, the other had parted on the windlass in the +gale. The bark's prow was now turned toward Montevideo, the place we had +so recently sailed from, full of hope and pleasant anticipation; and +here we were, dejected and filled with misery, some of our number +already gone on that voyage which somehow seems so far away. + +At Montevideo, things were better. They _did_ take my remaining sick men +out of the vessel, after two days' delay; my agent procuring a tug, +which towed them in the ship's boat three hundred fathoms astern. In +this way they were taken to Flores Island, where, days and days before, +they had been refused admittance! They were accompanied this time by an +order from the governor of Montevideo, and at last were taken in. Two of +the cases were, by this time, in the favourable change. But the poor old +cook, who stood faithfully by me, and would not desert his old +shipmates, going with them to the Island to care for them to the last, +took the dread disease, died of it, and was there buried, not far from +where he himself had buried his friend Jose, a short time before. The +death of this faithful man occurred on the day that the bark finally +sailed seaward, by the Island. She was in sight from the hospital +window when his phantom ship, that put out, carried him over the bar! +His widow, at Paranagua, I was told, on learning the fate of her +husband, died of grief. + +The work of disinfecting the vessel, at Montevideo, after the sick were +removed, was a source of speculation that was most elaborately carried +on. Demijohns of carbolic acid were put on board, by the dozen, at $3.00 +per demijohn, all diluted ready for use; and a _guardo_ was put on board +to use it up, which he did religiously over his own precious self, in my +after-cabin, as far from the end of the ship where the danger was as he +could get. Some one else disinfected _el proa_, not he! Abundant as the +stuff was, I had to look sharp for enough to wash out forward while aft +it was knee-deep almost, at three dollars a jar! The harpy that alighted +on deck at Maldonado sent in his bill for one hundred dollars--I paid +eighty. + +The cost to me of all this trouble in money paid out, irrelevantly to +mention, was over a thousand dollars. What it cost me in health and +mental anxiety cannot be estimated by such value. Still, I was not the +greatest sufferer. My hardest task was to come, you will believe, at the +gathering up of the trinkets and other purchases which the crew had +made, thoughtful of wife and child at home. All had to be burned, or +spoiled with carbolic acid! A hat for the little boy here, a pair of +boots for his mamma there, and many things for the _familia_ all +around--all had to be destroyed! + +FOOTNOTES: + +[2] In our discourse, Yahoo was spoken, but I write it in +English because many of my readers would not understand the original. +The signals that we used were made by universal code symbols. For +example, two flags hoisted representing "P" "D" signified "want (or +wants) immediate medical assistance." And so on, by hoists of two, three +or four flags representing the consonants, our wants and wishes could be +made known, each possessing the key to the code. + +Our commercial code of signals is so invented and arranged that no +matter what tongues may meet, perhaps those utterly incomprehensible by +word of mouth, yet by these signs communications may be carried on with +great facility. The whole system is so beautifully simple that a child +of ordinary intelligence can understand it. Even the Yahoos were made to +comprehend--when not colour-blind. And, lest they should forget their +lesson, a gunboat is sent out every year or two, to fire it into them +with cannon. + +[3] This _cachazza_ is said to be death to microbes, or even to +larger worms; it will kill anything, in fact, except a Yahoo! + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + A new crew--Sail for Antonina--Load timber--Native canoes--Loss of + the _Aquidneck_. + + +After all this sad trouble was over, a new crew was shipped, and the +_Aquidneck's_ prow again turned seaward. Passing out by Flores, soon +after, we observed the coast-guard searching, I learned, for a supposed +sunken bark, which had appeared between squalls in the late gale with +signals of distress set. I was satisfied from the account that it was +our bark which they had seen in the gale, and the supposed flags were +our tattered sails, what there was left of them, streaming in the storm. +But we did not discourage the search, as it could do no harm, and I +thought that they might perhaps find something else worth knowing about. +This was the day, as I have said, on which my faithful cook died, while +the bark was in sight from the window of his sick ward. It was a bright, +fine day to us. We cannot say that it was otherwise than bright to him. + +Breathing once more the fresh air of the sea, we set all sail for +Paranagua, passing the lights on the coast to leave them flickering on +the horizon, then soon out of sight. Fine weather prevailed, but with +much head wind; still we progressed, and rarely a day passed but +something of the distance toward our port was gained. One day, however, +coming to an island, one that was inhabited only by birds, we came to a +stand, as if it were impossible to go farther on the voyage; a spell +seemed to hang over us. I recognized the place as one that I knew well; +a very dear friend had stood by me on deck, looking at this island, +some years before. It was the last land that my friend ever saw. I would +fain have sailed around it now, but a puff of fair wind coming sent us +on our course for the time some leagues beyond. At sunset, though, this +wind went down, and with the current we drifted back so much that by the +next day we were farther off on the other side. However, fair wind +coming again, we passed up inside, making thus the circuit of the island +at last. + +More or less favourable winds thenceforth filled our sails, till at last +our destined port was gained. + +The little town of Antonina, where my wife and Garfield had remained +over during this voyage, twelve miles up the bay from Paranagua, soon +after our arrival, was made alive with the noise of children marching to +children's own music, my "Yawcob" heading the band with a brand-new +ninety-cent organ, the most envied fellow of the whole crowd. Sorrows of +the past took flight, or were locked in the closet at home, the fittest +place for past misfortunes. + +A truly hard voyage for us all was that to Montevideo! The survivors +reached home after a while. Their features were terribly marked and +disfigured; so much so that I did not know them till they accosted me +when we met. + +I look back with pleasure to the good character of my Brazilian sailors, +regretting the more their hard luck and sad fate! We may meet again! +_Quien sabe!_ + +Getting over all this sad business as best we could, we entered on the +next venture, which was to purchase and load a cargo of the famous +Brazilian wood. The _Aquidneck_ was shifted to an arm of the bay, where +she was moored under the lee of a virgin forest, twenty minutes' canoe +ride from the village of Guarakasava, where she soon began to load. + +The timber of this country, generally very heavy, is nevertheless hauled +by hand to the water, where, lashed to canoes, it is floated to the +ship. + +These canoes, formed sometimes from mammoth trees, skilfully shaped and +dug out with care, are at once the carriage and _cariole_ of the family +to the _citio_, or the rice to mill. Roads are hardly known where the +canoe is available; men, women, and children are consequently alike, +skilled in the art of canoeing to perfection, almost. There are no +carriages to speak of in such places, even a saddle horse about the +waterfront is a _rara avis_. There was, indeed, one horse at +Guarakasava--the owner of it was very conspicuous. + +The family canoe just spoken of, has the capacity, often, of several +tons, is handsomely decorated with carvings along the topsides, and is +painted, as the "Geordie" would say, "in none o' your gaudy colours, but +in good plain red or blue"--sometimes, however, they are painted green. + +The cost of these handsome canoes are, say, from $250 down in price and +size, from the grand turnout to the one-man craft which may be purchased +for five milreis ($2.50). + +From the greatest to the smallest they are cared for with almost an +affectionate care, and are made to last many years. + +One thing else which even the poorest Brazilian thinks much of is his +affectionate wife who literally and figuratively is often in the same +boat with her husband, pulling against the stream. Family ties are +strong in Brazil and the sweet flower of friendship thrives in its sunny +clime. The system of land and sea breezes prevail on the coast from Cape +Frio to Saint Catherine with great regularity most of the year; the sail +is therefore used to good advantage by the almost amphibious +inhabitants along the coast who love the water and take to it like ducks +and natural born sailors. + +The wind falling light they propel their canoes by paddle or long pole +with equal facility. The occupants standing, in the smaller ones, force +them along at a great speed. The larger ones, when the wind does not +serve, are pulled by banks of oars which are fastened to stout pegs in +the gunwail with grummits, that fit loosely over the oars so as to allow +them free play in the hand of the waterman. + +Curling the water with fine, shapely prows as they dart over the smooth +waters of the bays and rivers, these canoes present a picture of +unrivalled skill and grace. + +I find the following entry in my diary made near the close of +transactions at Guarakasava which in the truthful word of an historian I +am bound to record, if only to show my prevailing high opinion of the +natives while I was among them:-- + + + GUARAKASAVA, Dec. 20th. + + Heretofore I have doted on native Brazilian honesty as well as + national seamanship and skill in canoes but my dream of a perfect + paradise is now unsettled forever. I find, alas! that even here the + fall of Adam is felt: Taking in some long poles to-day the negro + tallyman persisted in counting twice the same pole. When the first + end entered the port it was "_umo_" (one); when the last end + disappeared into the ship he would sing out "_does_" (two). + + +I had no serious difficulty over the matter, but left Guarakasava with +that hurt feeling which comes of being over persuaded that one and one +make four. + +We spent Christmas of 1887 at Guarakasava. The bark was loaded soon +after, and when proceeding across the bay, where currents and wind +caught her foul near a dangerous sand bar, she misstayed and went on the +strand. The anchor was let go to club her. It wouldn't hold in the +treacherous sands; so she dragged and stranded broadside on, where, open +to the sea, a strong swell came in that raked her fore and aft for three +days, the waves dashing over her groaning hull the while till at last +her back was broke and--why not add heart as well! for she lay now +undone. After twenty-five years of good service the _Aquidneck_ here +ended her days! + +I had myself carried load on load, but alas! I could not carry a +mountain; and was now at the end where my best skill and energy could +not avail. What was to be done? What could be done? We had indeed the +appearance of shipwrecked people, away, too, from home. + +This was no time to weep, for the lives of all the crew were saved; +neither was it a time to laugh, for our loss was great. + +But the sea calmed down, and I sold the wreck, which floated off at the +end of the storm. And after paying the crew their wages out of the +proceeds had a moiety left for myself and family--a small sum. + +Then I began to look about for the future, and for means of escape from +exile. The crew (foreign) found shipping for Montevideo, where they had +joined the _Aquidneck_, in lieu of the stricken Brazilian sailors. But +for myself and family this outlet was hardly available, even if we had +cared to go farther from home,--which was the least of our thoughts; and +there were no vessels coming our way. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + The building of the _Liberdade_. + + + Away, away, no cloud is lowering o'er us + Freely now we stem the wave; + Hoist, hoist all sail, before us + Hope's beacon shines to cheer the brave. + --_Masaniello_. + + +When all had been saved from the wreck that was worth saving, or that +could be saved, we found ourselves still in the possession of some goods +soon to become of great value to us, especially my compass and charts +which, though much damaged, were yet serviceable and suggested practical +usefulness; and the chronometer being found intact, my course was no +longer undecided, my wife and sons agreeing with what I thought best. + +The plan, in a word, was this: We could not beg our way, neither would +we sit idle among the natives. We found that it would require more +courage to remain in the far-off country than to return home in a boat, +which then we concluded to build and for that purpose.[4] + +My son Victor, with much pride and sympathy, entered heartily into the +plan, which promised a speedy return home. He bent his energies in a +practical direction, working on the boat like an old builder. + +Before entering on the project, however, all responsibilities were +considered. Swift ocean currents around capes and coral reefs were taken +into account; and above all else to be called dangerous we knew would +be the fierce tropical storms which surely we would encounter. + +[Illustration: Diagram of the _Liberdade_ + +(Length 35 ft. beam 71/2 ft., draught 21/2 ft. weight 6 tons.)] + +But a boat should be built stout and strong, we all said, one in which +we should not be afraid to trust our lives even in the storm. + +And with the advantage of experience in ships and boats of various sizes +and in many seas, I turned to the work of constructing, according to my +judgment and means, a craft which would be best adapted to all weathers +and all circumstances. My family with sympathetic strength pulling hard +in the same direction. + +Seaworthiness was to be the first and most prominent feature in our +microscopic ship; next to this good quality she should sail well; at +least before free winds. We counted on favourable winds; and so they +were experienced the greater part of the voyage that soon followed. + +Long exposures and many and severe disappointments by this time, I +found, had told on health and nerve, through long quarantines, expensive +fumigations, and ruinous doctors' visits, which had swept my dollars +into hands other than mine. However, with still a "shot in the locker," +and with some feelings of our own in the matter of how we should get +home, I say, we set to work with tools saved from the wreck--a meagre +kit--and soon found ourselves in command of another ship, which I will +describe the building of, also the dimensions and the model and rig, +first naming the tools with which it was made. + +To begin with, we had an axe, an adze, and two saws, one 1/2inch auger, +one 6/8 and one 3/8 auger-bit; two large sail-needles, which we +converted into nailing bits; one roper, that answered for a punch; and, +most precious of all, a file that we found in an old sail-bag washed up +on the beach. A square we readily made. Two splints of bamboo wood +served as compasses. Charcoal, pounded as fine as flour and mixed in +water, took the place of chalk for the line; the latter we had on hand. +In cases where holes larger than the 6/8 bit were required, a piece of +small jack-stay iron was heated, and with this we could burn a hole to +any size required. So we had, after all, quite a kit to go on with. +Clamps, such as are used by boat builders, we had not, but made +substitutes from the crooked guava tree and from _massaranduba_ wood. + +Trees from the neighbouring forest were felled when the timber from the +wrecked cargo would not answer. Some of these woods that we sought for +special purposes had queer sounding names, such as _arregebah, +guanandee, batetenandinglastampai_, etc. This latter we did not use the +saw upon at all, it being very hard, but hewed it with the axe, bearing +in mind that we had but one file, whereas for the edged tools we had but +to go down to a brook hard by to find stones in abundance suitable to +sharpen them on. + +The many hindrances encountered in the building of the boat will not be +recounted here. Among the least was a jungle fever, from which we +suffered considerably. But all that and all other obstacles vanished at +last, or became less, before a new energy which grew apace with the +boat, and the building of the craft went rapidly forward. There was no +short day system, but we rested on the Sabbath, or surveyed what we had +done through the week, and made calculations of what and how to strike +on the coming week. + +The unskilled part of the labour, such as sawing the cedar planks, of +which she was mostly made, was done by the natives, who saw in a rough +fashion, always leaving much planing and straightening to be done, in +order to adjust the timber to a suitable shape. The planks for the +bottom were of ironwood, 11/4 X 10 inches. For the sides and top red cedar +was used, each plank, with the exception of two, reaching the whole +length of the boat. This arrangement of exceedingly heavy wood in the +bottom, and the light on top, contributed much to the stability of the +craft. + +The ironwood was heavy as stone, while the cedar, being light and +elastic, lent buoyancy and suppleness, all that we could wish for. + +The fastenings we gathered up in various places, some from the bulwarks +of the wreck, some from the hinges of doors and skylights, and some were +made from the ship's metal sheathing, which the natives melted and cast +into nails. Pure copper nails, also, were procured from the natives, +some ten _kilos_, for which I paid in copper coins, at the rate of two +_kilos_ of coin for one _kilo_ of nails. The same kind of coins, called +_dumps_, cut into diamond-shaped pieces, with holes punched through +them, entered into the fastenings as burrs for the nails. A number of +small eyebolts from the spanker-boom of the wreck were turned to account +for lashing bolts in the deck of the new vessel. The nails, when too +long, were cut to the required length, taking care that the ends which +were cut off should not be wasted, but remelted, along with the metal +sheathing, into other nails. + +Some carriage bolts, with nuts, which I found in the country, came in +very handy; these I adjusted to the required length, when too long, by +slipping on blocks of wood of the required thickness to take up the +surplus length, putting the block, of course, on the inside, and +counter-sinking the nut flush with the planks on the outside; then +screwing from the inside outward, they were drawn together, and there +held as in a vice, the planks being put together "lap-streak" fashion, +which without doubt is the strongest way to build a boat. + +These screw-bolts, seventy in number, as well as the copper nails, cost +us dearly, but wooden pegs, with which also she was fastened, cost only +the labour of being made. The lashings, too, that we used here and there +about the frame of the cabin, cost next to nothing, being made from the +fibrous bark of trees, which could be had in abundance by the stripping +of it off. So, taking it by and large, our materials were not expensive, +the principal item being the timber, which cost about three cents per +superficial foot, sawed or hewed. Rosewood, ironwood, cedar or mahogany, +were all about the same price and very little in advance of common wood; +so of course we selected always the best, the labour of shaping being +least, sometimes, where the best materials were used. + +These various timbers and fastenings, put together as best we could +shape and join them, made a craft sufficiently strong and seaworthy to +withstand all the bufferings on the main upon which, in due course, she +was launched. + +The hull being completed, by various other contrivances and makeshifts +in which, sometimes, the "wooden blacksmith" was called in to assist, +and the mother of invention also lending a hand, fixtures were made +which served as well on the voyage as though made in a dockyard and at +great cost. + +My builders baulked at nothing, and on the 13th day of May, the day on +which the slaves of Brazil were set free, our craft was launched, and +was named _Liberdade_ (Liberty). + +Her dimensions being--35 feet in length over all, 71/2 feet breadth of +beam, and 3 feet depth of hold. Who shall say that she was not large +enough? + +Her model I got from my recollections of Cape Ann dories and from a +photo of a very elegant Japanese _sampan_ which I had before me on the +spot, so, as it might be expected, when finished she resembled both +types of vessel in some degree. + +Her rig was the Chinese _sampan_ style, which is, I consider, the most +convenient boat rig in the whole world. + +This was the boat, or canoe I prefer to call it, in which we purposed to +sail for North America and home. Each one had been busy during the +construction and past misfortunes had all been forgotten. Madam had made +the sails--and very good sails they were, too! + +Victor, the carpenter, ropemaker, and general roustabout had performed +his part. Our little man, Garfield, too, had found employment in holding +the hammer to clinch the nails and giving much advice on the coming +voyage. All were busy, I say, and no one had given a thought of what we +were about to encounter from the port officials farther up the coast; it +was pretended by them that a passport could not be granted to so small a +craft to go on so long a voyage as the contemplated one to North +America. + +Then fever returned to the writer and the constructor of the little +craft, and I was forced to go to bed, remaining there three days. +Finally, it came to my mind that in part of a medicine chest, which had +been saved from the wreck, was stored some _arsenicum_, I think it is +called. Of this I took several doses (small ones at first, you may be +sure), and the good effect of the deadly poison on the malaria in my +system was soon felt trickling through my veins. Increasing the doses +somewhat, I could perceive the beneficial effect hour by hour, and in a +few days I had quite recovered from the malady. Absurd as it was to have +the judgment of sailors set on by pollywog navigators, we had still to +submit, the pollywogs being numerous. + +About this time--as the astrologers say--a messenger came down from the +_Alfandega_ (Custom House), asking me to repair thither at midday on the +morrow. This filled me with alarm. True, the messenger has delivered his +message in the politest possible manner, but that signified nothing, +since Brazilians are always polite. This thing, small as it seems now, +came near sending me back to the fever. + +What had I done? + +I went up next day, after having nightmare badly all night, prepared to +say that I wouldn't do it again! The kind administrator I found, upon +presenting myself at his office, had no fault to charge me with; but had +a good word, instead. "The little _Liberdade_," he observed, had +attracted the notice of his people and his own curiosity, as being "a +handsome and well-built craft." This and many other flattering +expressions were vented, at which I affected surprise, but secretly +said, "I think you are right, sir, and you have good taste, too, if you +are a customs officer." + +The drift of this flattery, to make a long story short, was to have me +build a boat for the _Alfandega_, or, his government not allowing money +to build new--pointing to one which certainly would require new keel, +planks, ribs, stem, and stern-post--"could I not repair one?" + +To this proposition I begged time to consider. Flattering as the +officer's words were, and backed by the offer of liberal pay, so long as +the boat could be "repaired," I still had no mind to remain in the hot +country, and risk getting the fever again. But there was the old hitch +to be gotten over; namely, the passport, on which, we thought, depended +our sailing. + +However, to expedite matters, a fishing licence was hit upon, and I +wondered why I had not thought of that before, having been, once upon a +time, a fisherman myself. Heading thence on a new diplomatic course, I +commenced to fit ostensibly for a fishing voyage. To this end, a fishing +net was made, which would be a good thing to have, anyway. Then hooks +and lines were rigged and a cable made. This cable, or rope, was formed +from vines that grow very long on the sand-banks just above tide water, +several of which twisted together make a very serviceable rope, then +being light and elastic, it is especially adapted for a boat anchor +rope, or for the storm drag. Ninety fathoms of this rope was made for us +by the natives, for the sum of ten milreis ($5.00). + +The anchor came of itself almost. I had made a wooden one from heavy +sinking timber, but a stalwart ranchman coming along, one day, brought a +boat anchor with him which, he said, had been used by his slaves as a +pot-hook. "But now that they are free and away," said he, "I have no +further use for the crooked thing." A sewing-machine, which had served +to stitch the sails together, was coveted by him, and was of no further +use to us; in exchange for this the prized anchor was readily secured, +the owner of it leaving us some boot into the bargain. Things working +thus in our favour, the wooden anchor was stowed away to be kept as a +spare bower. + +These arrangements completed, our craft took on the appearance of a +fishing smack, and I began to feel somewhat in my old element, with no +fear of the lack of ways and means when we should arrive on our own +coast, where I knew of fishing banks. And a document which translated +read: "A licence to catch fish inside and outside of the bar" was +readily granted by the port authorities. + +"How far outside the bar may this carry us?" I asked. + +"_Quien sabe!_" said the officer. (Literally translated, "Who knows?" +but in Spanish or Portuguese used for, "Nobody knows, or, I don't +care.") + +"Adieu, senor," said the polite official; "we will meet in heaven!" + +This meant you can go since you insist upon it, but I must not +officially know of it; and you will probably go to the bottom. In this +he and many others were mistaken. + +Having the necessary document now in our possession, we commenced to +take in stores for the voyage, as follows: Sea-biscuits, 120 lbs.; +flour, 25 lbs.; sugar, 30 lbs.; coffee, 9 lbs., which, roasted black and +pounded fine as wheaten flour, was equal to double the amount as +prepared in North America, and afforded us a much more delicious cup. + +Of tea we had 3 lbs.; pork, 20 lbs.; dried beef, 100 lbs.; _baccalao +secca_ (dried codfish), 20 lbs.; 2 bottles of honey, 200 oranges, 6 +bunches of bananas, 120 gallons of water; also a small basket of yams, +and a dozen sticks of sugar-cane, by way of vegetables. + +Our medicine chest contained Brazil nuts, pepper, and cinnamon; no other +medicines or condiments were required on the voyage, except table salt, +which we also had. + +One musket and a carbine--which had already stood us in good +stead--together with ammunition and three cutlasses were stowed away for +last use, to be used, nevertheless, in case of necessity. + +The light goods I stowed in the ends of the canoe, the heavier in the +middle and along the bottom, thus economizing space and lending to the +stability of the canoe. Over the top of the midship stores a floor was +made, which, housed over by a tarpaulin roof reaching three feet above +the deck of the canoe, supported by a frame of bamboo, gave us sitting +space of four feet from the floor to the roof, and twelve feet long +amidships. This arrangement of cabin in the centre gave my passengers a +berth where the least motion would be felt; even this is saying but +little, for best we could do to avoid it we had still to accept much +tossing from the waves. + +Precautionary measures were taken in everything, so far as our resources +and skill could reach. The springy and buoyant bamboo was used wherever +stick of any kind was required, such as the frame and braces for the +cabin, yards for the sails, and, finally, for guard on her top sides, +making the canoe altogether a self-righting one, in case of a capsize. +Each joint in the bamboo was an air-chamber of several pounds buoyant +capacity, and we had a thousand joints. + +The most important of our stores, particularly the flour, bread, and +coffee, were hermetically sealed, so that if actually turned over at +sea, our craft would not only right herself, but would bring her stores +right side up, in good order, and it then would be only a question of +baling her out, and of setting her again on her course, when we would +come on as right as ever. As it turned out, however, no such trial or +mishap awaited us. + +While the possibility of many and strange occurrences was felt by all of +us, the danger which loomed most in little Garfield's mind was that of +the sharks. + +A fine specimen was captured on the voyage, showing five rows of pearly +teeth, as sharp as lances. + +Some of these monsters, it is said, have nine rows of teeth; that they +are always hungry is admitted by sailors of great experience. + +How it is that sailors can go in bathing, as they often do, in the face +of a danger so terrible, is past my comprehension. Their business is to +face danger, to be sure, but this is a needless exposure, for which the +penalty is sometimes a life. The second mate of a bark on the coast of +Cuba, not long ago, was bitten in twain, and the portions swallowed +whole by a monster shark that he had tempted in this way. The shark was +captured soon after, and the poor fellow's remains taken out of the +revolting maw. + +Leaving the sharks where they are, I gladly return to the voyage of the +_Liberdade_. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[4] This alternative I was obliged to accept, or bring my +family home as paupers, for my wealth was gone--need I explain more? +This explanation has been forced from me. + +[Illustration: The _Liberdade_] + + + + +CHAPTER X + + Across the bar--The run to Santos--Tow to Rio by the steamship--At + Rio. + + +The efficiency of our canoe was soon discovered: On the 24th of June, +after having sailed about the bay some few days to temper our feelings +to the new craft, and shake things into place, we crossed the bar and +stood out to sea, while six vessels lay inside "bar-bound," that is to +say by their pilots it was thought too rough to venture out, and they, +the pilots, stood on the point as we put out to sea, crossing themselves +in our behalf, and shouting that the bar was _crudo_. But the +_Liberdade_ stood on her course, the crew never regretting it. + +The wind from the sou'west at the time was the moderating side of a +_pampeiro_ which had brought in a heavy swell from the ocean, that broke +and thundered on the bar with deafening roar and grand display of +majestic effort. + +But our little ship bounded through the breakers like a fish--as natural +to the elements, and as free! + +Of all the seas that broke furiously about her that day, often standing +her on end, not one swept over or even boarded her, and she finally came +through the storm of breakers in triumph. Then squaring away before the +wind she spread her willing sails, and flew onward like a bird. + +It required confidence and some courage to face the first storm in so +small a bark, after having been years in large ships; but it would have +required more courage than was possessed by any of us to turn back, +since thoughts of home had taken hold on our minds. + +Then, too, the old boating trick came back fresh to me, the love of the +thing itself gaining on me as the little ship stood out: and my crew +with one voice said: "Go on." The heavy South Atlantic swell rolling in +upon the coast, as we sped along, toppled over when it reached the ten +fathom line, and broke into roaring combers, which forbade our nearer +approach to the land. + +Evidently, our safest course was away from the shore, and out where the +swelling seas, though grand, were regular, and raced under our little +craft that danced like a mite on the ocean as she drove forward. In +twenty-four hours from the time Paranagua bar was crossed we were up +with Santos Heads, a run of 150 miles. + +A squall of wind burst on us through a gulch, as we swept round the +Heads, tearing our sails into shreds, and sending us into Santos under +bare poles. + +Chancing then upon an old friend, the mail steamship _Finance_, Capt. +Baker, about to sail for Rio, the end of a friendly line was extended to +us, and we were towed by the stout steamer toward Rio, the next day, as +fast as we could wish to go. My wife and youngest sailor took passage on +the steamer, while Victor remained in the canoe with me, and stood by +with axe in hand, to cut the tow-line, if the case should require +it--and I steered. + +"Look out," said Baker, as the steamer began to move ahead, "look out +that I don't snake that canoe out from under you." + +"Go on with your mails, Baker," was all I could say, "don't blow up your +ship with my wife and son on board, and I will look out for the packet +on the other end of the rope." + +Baker opened her up to thirteen knots, but the _Liberdade_ held on! + +The line that we towed with was 1-1/3 inches in diameter, by ninety +fathoms long. This, at times when the steamer surged over seas, leaving +the canoe on the opposite side of a wave astern, would become as taut as +a harp-string. At other times it would slacken and sink limp in a bight, +under the forefoot, but only for a moment, however, when the steamer's +next great plunge ahead would snap it taut again, pulling us along with +a heavy, trembling jerk. Under the circumstances, straight steering was +imperative, for a sheer to port or starboard would have finished the +career of the _Liberdade_, by sending her under the sea. Therefore, the +trick of twenty hours fell to me--the oldest and most experienced +helmsman. But I was all right and not over-fatigued until Baker cast oil +upon the "troubled waters." I soon got tired of that. + +Victor was under the canvas covering, with the axe still in hand, ready +to cut the line which was so arranged that he could reach it from +within, and cut instantly, if by mischance the canoe should take a +sheer. + +I was afraid that the lad would become sleepy, and putting his head +"under his wing" for a nap, would forget his post, but my frequent cry, +"Stand by there, Victor," found him always on hand, though complaining +somewhat of the dizzy motion. + +Heavy sprays dashed over me at the helm, which, however, seeming to wash +away the sulphur and brimstone smoke of many a quarantine, brought +enjoyment to my mind. + +Confused waves rose about us, high and dangerous--often high above the +gunwale of the canoe--but her shapely curves balanced her well, and she +rode over them all in safety. + +This canoe ride was thrilling and satisfactory to us all. It proved +beyond a doubt that we had in this little craft a most extraordinary +sea-boat, for the tow was a thorough test of her seaworthiness. + +The captain of the steamer ordered oil cast over from time to time, +relieving us of much spray and sloppy motion, but adding to discomforts +of taste to me at the helm, for much of the oil blew over me and in my +face. Said the captain to one of his mates (an old whaler by the way, +and whalers for some unaccountable reason have never too much regard for +a poor merchantman), "Mr. Smith." + +"Aye, aye, sir," answered old Smith. + +"Mr. Smith, hoist out that oil." + +"Aye, aye, sir," said the old "blubberhunter," in high glee, as he went +about it with alacrity, and in less than five minutes from the time the +order was given, I was smothering in grease and our boat was oiled from +keel to truck. + +"She's all right now," said Smith. + +"That's all right," said Baker, but I thought it all wrong. The wind, +meanwhile, was in our teeth and before we crossed Rio bar I had +swallowed enough oil to cure any amount of consumption. + +Baker, I have heard, said he wouldn't care much if he should "drown +Slocum." But I was all right so long as the canoe didn't sheer, and we +arrived at Rio safe and sound after the most exciting boat-ride of my +life. I was bound not to cut the line that towed us so well; and I knew +that Baker wouldn't let it go, for it was his rope. + +I found at Rio that my fishing licence could be exchanged for a pass of +greater import. This document had to be procured through the office of +the Minister of Marine. + +Many a smart linguist was ready to use his influence on my behalf with +the above-named high official; but I found at the end of a month that I +was making headway about as fast as a Dutch galliot in a head sea after +the wind had subsided. Our worthy Consul, General H. Clay Armstrong, +gave me a hint of what the difficulty was and how to obviate it. I then +went about the business myself as I should have done at first, and I +found those at the various departments who were willing to help me +without the intervention of outside "influence." + +Commander Marquis of the Brazilian navy recommended me to His +Excellency, the Minister of Marine, "out of regard," he said, "for +American seamen," and when the new document came it was "_Passe +Especial_," and had on it _a seal as big as a soup plate_. A port naval +officer then presented me to the good _Administradore,_ who also gave me +a _passe especial_, with the seal of the _Alfandega_. + +I had now only to procure a bill of health, when I should have papers +enough for a man-o'-war. Rio being considered a healthy place, this was +readily granted, making our equipment complete. + +I met here our minister whose office, with other duties, is to keep a +weather-eye lifting in the interest of that orphan, the American +ship--alas, my poor relation! Said he, "Captain, if your _Liberdade_ be +as good as your papers" (documents given me by the Brazilian officials), +"you may get there all right"; adding, "well, if the boat ever reaches +home she will be a great curiosity," the meaning of which, I could +readily infer, was, "and your chances for a snap in a dime museum will +be good." This, after many years of experience as an American +shipmaster, and also shipowner, in a moderate way, was interesting +encouragement. By our Brazilian friends, however, the voyage was looked +upon as a success already achieved. + + + The utmost confidence [said the "Journal Opiz," of Rio], is placed + in the cool-headed, audacious American mariner, and we expect in a + short time to hear proclaimed in all of the journals of the Old and + New World the safe arrival of this wonderful little craft at her + destination, ourselves taking part in the glory. (Temos confianca + na pericia e sangue frio do audaciauso marinhero Americano por isso + esperamos que dentro em pouco tempo veremos o seu nome proclamado + por todos os jornaes do velho e novo mundo. A nos tambem cabera + parte da gloria.) + + +With these and like kind expressions from all of our _friends_, we took +leave of Rio, sailing on the morning of July 23rd, 1888. + +[Illustration: Course of the _Liberdade_ from Paranagua to Barbadoes] + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + Sail from Rio--Anchor at Cape Frio--Encounter with a whale--Sunken + treasure--The schoolmaster--The merchant--The good people at the + village--A pleasant visit. + + +July 23rd, 1888, was the day, as I have said, on which we sailed from +Rio de Janeiro. + +Meeting with head winds and light withal, through the day we made but +little progress; and finally, when night came on, we anchored twenty +miles east of Rio Heads, near the shore. Long, rolling seas rocked us as +they raced by, then, dashing their great bodies against defying rocks, +made music by which we slept that night. But a trouble unthought of +before came up in Garfield's mind before going to his bunk; "Mamma," +cried he, as our little bark rose and fell on the heavy waves, tumbling +the young sailor about from side to side in the small quarters while he +knelt seriously at his evening devotion, "mamma, this boat isn't big +enough to pray in!" But this difficulty was gotten over in time, and +Garfield learned to watch as well as to pray on the voyage, and full of +faith that all would be well, laid him down nights and slept as +restfully as any Christian on sea or land. + +By daylight of the second day we were again underweigh, beating to the +eastward against the old head wind and head sea. On the following night +we kept her at it, and the next day made Cape Frio where we anchored +near the entrance to a good harbour. + +Time from Rio, two days; distance, 70 miles. + +The wind and tide being adverse, compelled us to wait outside for a +favourable change. While comfortably anchored at this place, a huge +whale, nosing about, came up under the canoe, giving us a toss and a +great scare. We were at dinner when it happened. The meal, it is +needless to say, was finished without dessert. The great sea +animal--fifty to sixty feet long--circling around our small craft, +looked terribly big. He was so close to me twice, as he swam round and +round the canoe, that I could have touched him either time with a +paddle. His flukes stirring the water like a steamer propeller appeared +alarmingly close and powerful!--and what an ugly mouth the monster had! +Well, we expected instant annihilation. The fate of the stout whale-ship +_Essex_ came vividly before me. The voyage of the _Liberdade_, I +thought, was about ended, and I looked about for pieces of bamboo on +which to land my wife and family. Just then, however, to the infinite +relief of all of us, the leviathan moved off, without doing us much +harm, having felt satisfied, perhaps, that we had no Jonah on board. + +We lost an anchor through the incident, and received some small damage +to the keel, but no other injury was done--even this, I believe, upon +second thought, was unintentional--done in playfulness only! "A shark +can take a joke," it is said, and crack one too, but for broad, rippling +humour the whale has no equal. + +"If this be a sample of our adventures in the beginning," thought I, "we +shall have enough and to spare by the end of the voyage." A visit from +this quarter had not been counted on; but Sancho Panza says, "When least +aware starts the hare," which in our case, by the by, was a great whale! + +When our breath came back and the hair on our heads settled to a normal +level, we set sail, and dodged about under the lee of the cape till a +cove, with a very enticing sand beach at the head of it, opened before +us, some three miles northwest of where we lost the anchor in the +remarkable adventure with the whale. The "spare bower" was soon bent to +the cable. Then we stood in and anchored near a cliff, over which was a +goat-path leading in the direction of a small fishing village, about a +mile away. Sheering the boat in to the rocky side of the cove which was +steep to, we leaped out, warp in hand, and made fast to a boulder above +the tidal flow, then, scrambling over the cliff, we repaired to the +village, first improvising a spare anchor from three sticks and a stone +which answered the purpose quite well. + +Judging at once that we were strangers the villagers came out to meet +us, and made a stir at home to entertain us in the most hospitable +manner, after the custom of the country, and with the villagers was a +gentleman from Canada, a Mr. Newkirk, who, as we learned, was engaged, +when the sea was smooth, in recovering treasure that was lost near the +cape in the British warship _Thetis_, which was wrecked there in 1830. +The treasure, some millions in silver coins and gold in bars, from Peru +for England, was dumped in the cove, which has since taken the name of +the ship that bore it there and, as I have said, came to grief in that +place which is on the west shore near the end of the cape. + +Some of the coins were given to us to be treasured as souvenirs of the +pleasant visit. We found in Mr. Newkirk a versatile, roving genius; he +had been a schoolmaster at home, captain of a lake schooner once, had +practised medicine, and preached some, I think; and what else I do not +know. He had tried many things for a living, but, like the proverbial +moving stone had failed to accumulate. "Matters," said the Canadian, +"were getting worse and worse even, till finally to keep my head above +water I was forced to go under the sea," and he had struck it rich, it +would seem, if gold being brought in by the boat-load was any sign. This +man of many adventures still spoke like a youngster; no one had told him +that he was growing old. He talked of going home, as soon as the balance +of the treasure was secured, "just to see his dear old mother," who, by +the way, was seventy-four years old when he left home, some twenty years +before. Since his last news from home, nearly two decades had gone by. +He was "the youngest of a family of eighteen children, all living," he +said, "though," added he, "our family came near being made one less +yesterday, by a whale which I thought would eat my boat, diving-bell, +crew, money and all, as he came toward us, with open mouth. By a back +stroke of the oars, however, we managed to cheat him out of his dinner, +if that was what he was after, and I think it was, but here I am!" he +cried, "all right!" and might have added, "wealthy after all." + +After hearing the diver's story, I related in Portuguese our own +adventure of the same day, and probably with the same whale, the monster +having gone in the direction of the diver's boat. The astonishment of +the listeners was great; but when they learned of our intended voyage to +_America do Norte_, they crossed themselves and asked God to lend us +grace! + +"Is North America near New York?" asked the village merchant, who owned +all the boats and nets of the place. + +"Why, America is _in_ New York," answered the ex-schoolmaster. + +"I thought so," said the self-satisfied merchant. And no doubt he +thought some of us very stupid, or rude, or both, but in spite of +manners I had to smile at the assuring air of the Canadian. + +"Why did you not answer him correctly?" I asked of the ex-schoolmaster. + +"I answered him," said Newkirk, "according to his folly. Had I corrected +his rusty geography before these simple, impoverished fishermen, he +would not soon forgive me; and as for the rest of the poor souls here, +the knowledge would do them but little good." + +I may mention that in this out-of-the-way place there were no schools, +and except the little knowledge gained in their church, from the +catechism, and from the fumbling of beads, they were the most innocent +of this world's scheme, of any people I ever met. But they seemed to +know all about heaven, and were, no doubt, happy. + +After the brief, friendly chat that we had, coffee was passed around, +the probabilities of the _Liberdade's_ voyage discussed, and the crew +cautioned against the dangers of the _balaena_ (whale), which were +numerous along the coast, and vicious at that season of the year, having +their young to protect. + +I realized very often the startling sensation alone of a night at the +helm, of having a painful stillness broken by these leviathans bursting +the surface of the water with a noise like the roar of a great sea, +uncomfortably near, reminding me of the Cape Frio adventure; and my +crew, I am sure, were not less sensitive to the same feeling of an awful +danger, however imaginary. One night in particular, dark and foggy I +remember, Victor called me excitedly, saying that something dreadful +ahead and drawing rapidly near had frightened him. + +It proved to be a whale, for some reason that I could only guess at, +threshing the sea with its huge body, and surging about in all +directions, so that it puzzled me to know which way to steer to go +clear. I thought at first, from the rumpus made, that a fight was going +on, such as we had once witnessed from the deck of the _Aquidneck_, not +far from this place. Our course was changed as soon as we could decide +which way to avoid, if possible, all marine disturbers of the peace. We +wished especially to keep away from infuriated swordfish, which I feared +might be darting about, and be apt to give us a blind thrust. Knowing +that they sometimes pierce stout ships through with their formidable +weapons, I began to feel ticklish about the ribs myself, I confess, and +the little watch below, too, got uneasy and sleepless; for one of these +swords, they knew well, would reach through and through our little boat, +from keel to deck. Large ships have occasionally been sent into port +leaky from the stab of a sword, but what I most dreaded was the +possibility of one of us being ourselves pinned in the boat. + +A swordfish once pierced a whale-ship through the planking, and through +the solid frame timber and the thick ceiling, with his sword, leaving it +there, a valuable plug indeed, with the point, it was found upon +unshipping her cargo at New Bedford, even piercing through a cask in the +hold. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + Sail from Frio--Round Cape St. Thome--High seas and swift + currents--In the "trades"--Dangerous reefs--Run into harbour + unawares, on a dark and stormy night--At Caravellas--Fine + weather--A gale--Port St. Paulo--Treacherous natives--Sail for + Bahia. + + +July 30th, early in the day, and after a pleasant visit at the cape, we +sailed for the north, securing first a few sea shells to be cherished, +with the _Thetis_ relics, in remembrance of a most enjoyable visit to +the hospitable shores of Cape Frio. + +Having now doubled Cape Frio, a prominent point in our voyage, and +having had the seaworthiness of our little ship thoroughly tested, as +already told; and seeing, moreover, that we had nothing to fear from +common small fry of the sea (one of its greatest monsters having failed +to capsize us), we stood on with greater confidence than ever, but +watchful, nevertheless, for any strange event that might happen. + +A fresh polar wind hurried us on, under shortened sail, toward the +softer "trades" of the tropics, but, veering to the eastward by +midnight, it brought us well in with the land. Then, "Larboard watch, +ahoy! all hands on deck and turn out reefs," was the cry. To weather +Cape St. Thome we must lug on all sail. And we go over the shoals with a +boiling sea and current in our favour. In twenty-four hours from Cape +Frio, we had lowered the Southern Cross three degrees--180 miles. + +Sweeping by the cape, the canoe sometimes standing on end, and sometimes +buried in the deep hollow of the sea, we sunk the light on St. Thome +soon out of sight and stood on with flowing sheet. The wind on the +following day settled into regular south-east "trades," and our cedar +canoe skipped briskly along, over friendly seas that were leaping toward +home, doffing their crests onward and forward, but never back, and the +splashing waves against her sides, then rippling along the thin cedar +planks between the crew and eternity, vibrated enchanting music to the +ear, while confidence grew in the bark that was HOMEWARD BOUND. + +But coming upon coral reefs, of a dark night, while we listened to the +dismal tune of the seas breaking over them with an eternal roar, how +intensely lonesome they were! no sign of any living thing in sight, +except, perhaps, the phosphorescent streaks of a hungry shark, which +told of bad company in our wake, and made the gloom of the place more +dismal still. + +One night we made shelter under the lee of the extensive reefs called +the Paredes (walls), without seeing the breakers at all in the dark, +although they were not far in the distance. At another time, dragging on +sail to clear a lee shore, of a dark and stormy night, we came suddenly +into smooth water, where we cast anchor and furled our sails, lying in a +magic harbour till daylight the next morning, when we found ourselves +among a maze of ugly reefs, with high seas breaking over them, as far as +the eye could reach, on all sides, except at the small entrance to the +place that we had stumbled into in the night. The position of this +future harbour is South Lat. 16 deg. 48', and West Long, from Greenwich 39 deg. +30'. We named the place "PORT LIBERDADE." + +The next places sighted were the treacherous Abrohles, and the village +of Caravellas back of the reef where, upon refitting, I found that a +chicken cost a thousand reis, a bunch of bananas four hundred reis; but +where a dozen limes cost only twenty reis--one cent. Much whaling gear +lay strewn about the place, and on the beach was the carcass of a whale +about nine days slain. Also leaning against a smart-looking boat was a +grey-haired fisherman, boat and man relics of New Bedford, employed at +this station in their familiar industry. The old man was bare-footed and +thinly clad, after the custom in this climate. Still, I recognized the +fisherman and sailor in the set and rig of the few duds he had on, and +the ample straw hat (donkey's breakfast) that he wore, and doffed in a +seaman-like manner, upon our first salute. "_Filio do Mar do Nord +Americano_," said an affable native close by, pointing at the same time +to that "son of the sea of North America," by way of introduction, as +soon as it was learned that we, too, were of that country. I tried to +learn from this ancient mariner the cause of his being stranded in this +strange land. He may have been cast up there by the whale for aught I +could learn to the contrary. + +Choosing a berth well to windward of the dead whale--the one that landed +"the old man of the sea" there, maybe!--we anchored for the night, put a +light in the rigging and turned in. Next morning, the village was astir +betimes; canoes were being put afloat, and the rattle of poles, paddles, +bait boxes, and many more things for the daily trip that were being +hastily put into each canoe, echoed back from the tall palm groves notes +of busy life, telling us that it was time to weigh anchor and be +sailing. To this cheerful tune we lent ear and, hastening to be +underweigh, were soon clear of the port. Then, skimming along near the +beach in the early morning, our sails spread to a land breeze, laden +with fragrance from the tropic forest and the music of many songsters, +we sailed in great felicity, dreading no dangers from the sea, for +there were none now to dread or fear. + +Proceeding forward through this belt of moderate winds, fanned by +alternating land and sea breezes, we drew on toward a region of high +trade-winds that reach sometimes the dignity of a gale. It was no +surprise, therefore, after days of fine-weather sailing, to be met by a +storm, which so happened as to drive us into the indifferent anchorage +of St. Paulo, thirty miles from Bahia, where we remained two days for +shelter. + +Time, three days from Caravellas; distance sailed, 270 miles. + +A few fishermen lounged about the place, living, apparently, in wretched +poverty, spending their time between waiting for the tide to go out, +when it was in, and waiting for it to come in, when it was out, to float +a canoe or bring fish to their shiftless nets. This, indeed, seemed +their only concern in life; while their ill-thatched houses, forsaken of +the adobe that once clung to the wicker walls, stood grinning in rows, +like emblems of our mortality. + +We found at this St. Paulo anything but saints. The wretched place +should be avoided by strangers, unless driven there for shelter, as we +ourselves were, by stress of weather. We left the place on the first +lull of the wind, having been threatened by an attack from a gang of +rough, half-drunken fellows, who rudely came on board, jostling about, +and jabbering in a dialect which, however, I happened to understand. I +got rid of them by the use of my broken Portuguese, and once away I was +resolved that they should stay away. I was not mistaken in my suspicions +that they would return and try to come aboard, which shortly afterward +they did, but my resolution to keep them off was not shaken. I let them +know, in their own jargon this time, that I was well armed. They +finally paddled back to the shore, and all visiting was then ended. We +stood a good watch that night, and by daylight next morning, Aug. 12th, +put to sea, standing out in a heavy swell, the character of which I knew +better, and could trust to more confidently than a harbour among +treacherous natives. + +Early in the same day, we arrived at _Bahia do todos Santos_ (All +Saints' Bay), a charming port, with a rich surrounding country. It was +from this port, by the way, that Robinson Crusoe sailed for Africa to +procure slaves for his plantation and that of his friend, so fiction +relates. + +At Bahia we met many friends and gentle folk. Not the least interesting +at this port are the negro lasses of fine physique seen at the markets +and in the streets, with burdens on their heads of baskets of fruit, or +jars of water, which they balance with ease and grace, as they go +sweeping by with that stately mien which the dusky maiden can call her +own. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + At Bahia--Meditations on the discoverers--The Caribbees. + + +At Bahia we refitted, with many necessary provisions, and repaired the +keel, which we found, upon hauling out, had been damaged by the +encounter with the whale at Frio. An iron shoe was now added for the +benefit of all marine monsters wishing to scratch their backs on our +canoe. + +Among the many friends whom we met at Bahia were Capt. Boyd and his +family of the bark _H. W. Palmer_. We shall meet the _Palmer_ and the +Boyds again on the voyage. They were old traders to South America and +had many friends at this port who combined to make our visit a pleasant +one. And their little son Rupert was greatly taken with the +"_Rib_erdade," as he called her, coming often to see us. And the +officials of the port taking great interest in our voyage, came often on +board. No one could have treated us more kindly than they. + +The venerable _Administradore_ himself gave us special welcome to the +port and a kind word upon our departure, accompanied by a present for my +wife in the shape of a rare white flower, which we cherished greatly as +coming from a true gentleman. + +Some strong abolitionists at the port would have us dine in an epicurean +way in commemoration of the name given our canoe, which was adopted +because of her having been put afloat on the thirteenth day of May, the +day on which every human being in Brazil could say, "I have no master +but one." I declined the banquet tendered us, having work on hand, +fortifying the canoe against the ravaging worms of the seas we were yet +to sail through, bearing in mind the straits of my great predecessor +from this as well as other causes on his voyage over the Caribbean Seas. +I was bound to be strengthened against the enemy. + +The gout, it will be remembered, seized upon the good Columbus while his +ship had worms, when both ship and admiral lay stranded among menacing +savages; surrounded, too, by a lawless, threatening band of his own +countrymen not less treacherous than the worst of cannibals. His state +was critical indeed! One calamity was from over-high living--this I was +bound to guard against--the other was from neglect on the part of his +people to care for the ship in a seaman-like manner. Of the latter +difficulty I had no risk to run. + +Lazy and lawless, but through the pretext of religion, the infected crew +wrought on the pious feelings of the good admiral, inducing him at every +landing to hold mass instead of cleaning the foul ship. Thus through +petty intrigue and grave neglects, they brought disaster and sorrow on +their leader and confusion on their own heads. Their religion, never +deep, could not be expected to keep _Terredo_ from the ship's bottom, so +her timbers were ravished, and ruin came to them all! Poor Columbus! had +he but sailed with his son Diego and his noble brother Bartholomew, for +his only crew and companions, not forgetting the help of a good woman, +America would have been discovered without those harrowing tales of woe +and indeed heartrending calamities which followed in the wake of his +designing people. Nor would his ship have been less well manned than was +the _Liberdade_, sailing, centuries after, over the same sea and among +many of the islands visited by the great discoverer--sailing, too, +without serious accident of any kind, and without sickness or +discontent. Our advantage over Columbus, I say, was very great, not +more from the possession of data of the centuries which had passed than +from having a willing crew sailing without dissent or murmur--sailing in +the same boat, as it were. + +A pensive mood comes over one voyaging among the scenes of the New +World's early play-ground. To us while on this canoe voyage of pleasant +recollection the fancied experience of navigators gone before was +intensely thrilling. + +Sailing among islands clothed in eternal green, the same that Columbus +beheld with marvellous anticipations, and the venerable Las Casas had +looked upon with pious wonder, brought us, in the mind's eye, near the +old discoverers; and a feeling that we should come suddenly upon their +ships around some near headland took deep hold upon our thoughts as we +drew in with the shores. All was there to please the imagination and +dream over in the same balmy, sleepy atmosphere, where Juan Ponce de +Leon would fain have tarried young, but found death rapid, working side +by side with ever springing life. To live long in this clime one must +obey great Nature's laws. So stout Juan and millions since have found, +and so always it will be. + +All was there to testify as of yore, all except the first owners of the +land; they alas! the poor Caribbees, together with their camp fires, had +been extinguished long years before. And no one of human sympathy can +read of the cruel tortures and final extermination of these islanders, +savages though they were, without a pang of regret at the unpleasant +page in a history of glory and civilization. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + Bahia to Pernambuco--The meeting of the _Finance_ at sea--At + Pernambuco--Round Cape St. Roque--A gale--Breakers--The stretch to + Barbadoes--Flying-fish alighting on deck--Dismasted--Arrive at + Carlysle Bay. + + +From Bahia to Pernambuco our course lay along that part of the Brazilian +coast fanned by constant trade-winds. Nothing unusual occurred to +disturb our peace or daily course, and we pressed forward night and day, +as was our wont from the first. + +Victor and I stood watch and watch at sea, usually four hours each. + +The most difficult of our experiences in fine weather was the intense +drowsiness brought on by constantly watching the oscillating compass at +night: even in the daytime this motion would make one sleepy. + +We soon found it necessary to arrange a code of signals which would +communicate between the tiller and the "man forward." This was +accomplished by means of a line or messenger extending from one to the +other, which was understood by the number of pulls given by it; three +pulls, for instance, meant "Turn out," one in response, "Aye, aye, I am +awake, and what is it that is wanted?" one pull in return signified that +it was "Eight bells," and so on. But three quick jerks meant "Tumble out +and shorten sail." + +Victor, it was understood, would tie the line to his arm or leg when he +turned in, so that by pulling I would be sure to arouse him, or bring +him somewhat unceremoniously out of his bunk. Once, however, the +messenger failed to accomplish its purpose. A boot came out on the line +in answer to my call, so easily, too, that I suspected a trick. It was +evidently a preconceived plan by which to gain a moment more of sleep. +It was a clear imposition on the man at the wheel! + +We had also a sign in this system of telegraphing that told of +flying-fish on board--manna of the sea--to be gathered up for the +_cuisine_ whenever they happened to alight or fall on deck, which was +often, and as often they found a warm welcome. + +The watch was never called to make sail. As for myself, I had never to +be called, having thoughts of the voyage and its safe completion on my +mind to keep me always on the alert. I can truly say that I never, on +the voyage, slept so sound as to forget where I was, but whenever I fell +into a doze at all it would be to dream of the boat and the voyage. + +Press on! press on! was the watchword while at sea, but in port we +enjoyed ourselves and gave up care for rest and pleasure, carrying a +supply, as it were, to sea with us, where sail was again carried on. + +Though a mast should break, it would be no matter of serious concern, +for we would be at no loss to mend and rig up spars for this craft at +short notice, most anywhere. + +The third day out from Bahia was set fine weather. A few flying-fish +made fruitless attempts to rise from the surface of the sea, attracting +but little attention from the sea-gulls which sat looking wistfully +across the unbroken deep with folded wings. + +And the _Liberdade_, doing her utmost to get along through the common +quiet, made but little progress on her way. A dainty fish played in her +light wake, till tempted by an evil appetite for flies, it landed in the +cockpit upon a hook, thence into the pan, where many a one had brought +up before. Breakfast was cleared away at an early hour; then day of +good things happened--"the meeting of the ships." + + + When o'er the silent sea alone + For days and nights we've cheerless gone, + Oh they who've felt it know how sweet, + Some sunny morn a sail to meet. + + Sparkling at once is every eye, + "Ship ahoy! ship ahoy!" our joyful cry + While answering back the sound we hear, + "Ship ahoy! ship ahoy! what cheer, what cheer." + + Then sails are backed, we nearer come, + Kind words are said of friends and home, + And soon, too soon, we part with pain, + To sail o'er silent seas again. + + +On the clear horizon could be seen a ship, which proved to be our +staunch old friend, the _Finance_, on her way out to Brazil, heading +nearly for us. Our course was at once changed, so as to cross her bows. +She rose rapidly, hull up, showing her lines of unmistakable beauty, the +Stars and Stripes waving over all. They on board the great ship soon +descried our little boat, and gave sign by a deep whistle that came +rumbling over the sea, telling us that we were recognized. A few moments +later and the engines stopped. Then came the hearty hail, "Do you want +assistance?" Our answer "No" brought cheer on cheer from the steamer's +deck, while the _Liberdade_ bowed and courtesied to her old +acquaintance, the superior ship. Captain Baker, meanwhile, not +forgetting a sailor's most highly prized luxury, had ordered in the +slings a barrel of potatoes--new from home! Then dump they came, in a +jiffy, into the canoe, giving her a settle in the water of some inches. +Other fresh provisions were handed us, also some books and late papers. +J. Aspinwill Hodge, D.D., on a tour of inspection in the interest of the +Presbyterian Mission in Brazil--on deck here with his camera--got an +excellent photograph of the canoe.[5] + +One gentleman passed us a bottle of wine, on the label of which was +written the name of an old acquaintance, a merchant of Rio. We pledged +Mr. Gudgeon and all his fellow passengers in that wine, and had some +left long after, to the health of the captain of the ship, and his crew. +There was but little time for words, so the compliments passed were +brief. The ample plates in the sides of the _Finance_, inspiring +confidence in American thoroughness and build, we had hardly time to +scan, when her shrill whistle said "good-bye," and moving proudly on, +the great ship was soon out of sight, while the little boat, filling +away on the starboard tack, sailed on toward home, perfumed with the +interchange of a friendly greeting, tinged though with a palpable +lonesomeness. Two days after this pleasant meeting, the Port of +Pernambuco was reached. + +Tumbling in before a fresh "trade" wind that in the evening had sprung +up, accompanied with long, rolling seas, our canoe came nicely round the +point between lighted reef and painted buoy. + +Spray from the breakers on the reef opportunely wetting her sails gave +them a flat surface to the wind as we came close haul. + +The channel leading up the harbour was not strange to us, so we sailed +confidently along the lee of the wonderful wall made by worms, to which +alone Pernambuco is indebted for its excellent harbour; which, +extending also along a great stretch of the coast, protects Brazil from +the encroachment of the sea. + +At 8 p.m. we came to in a snug berth near the _Alfandega_, and early +next morning received the official visit from the polite port officers. + +Time from Bahia, five days; distance sailed, 390 miles. + +Pernambuco, the principal town of a large and wealthy province of the +same name, is a thriving place, sending out valuable cargoes, +principally of sugar and cotton. I had loaded costly cargoes here, times +gone by. I met my old merchant again this time, but could not carry his +goods on the _Liberdade_. However, fruits from his orchards and a run +among the trees refreshed my crew, and prepared them for the coming +voyage to Barbadoes, which was made with expedition. + +From Pernambuco we experienced a strong current in our favour, with, +sometimes, a confused cross sea that washed over us considerably. But +the swift current sweeping along through it all made compensation for +discomforts of motion, though our "ups and downs" were many. Along this +part of the coast (from Pernambuco to the Amazon), if one day should be +fine, three stormy ones would follow, but the gale was always fair, +carrying us forward at a goodly rate. + +Along about half way from Cape St. Roque to the Amazon, the wind which +had been blowing hard for two days, from E.S.E., and raising lively +waves all about, increased to a gale that knocked up seas, washing over +the little craft more than ever. The thing was becoming monotonous and +tiresome; for a change, therefore, I ran in toward the land, so as to +avoid the ugly cross sea farther out in the current. This course was a +mistaken one; we had not sailed far on it when a sudden rise of the +canoe, followed by an unusually long run down on the slope of a roller, +told us of a danger that we hardly dared to think of, then a mighty +comber broke, but, as Providence willed, broke short of the canoe, which +under shortened sail was then scudding very fast. + +We were on a shoal, and the sea was breaking from the bottom! The second +great roller came on, towering up, up, up, until nothing longer could +support the mountain of water, and it seemed only to pause before its +fall to take aim and surely gather us up in its sweeping fury. + +I put the helm a-lee; there was nothing else to do but this, and say +prayers. The helm hard down, brought the canoe round, bows to the +danger, while in breathless anxiety we prepared to meet the result as +best we could. Before we could say "Save us, or we perish," the sea +broke over with terrific force and passed on, leaving us trembling in +His hand, more palpably helpless than ever before. Other great waves +came madly on, leaping toward destruction; how they bellowed over the +shoal! I could smell the slimy bottom of the sea, when they broke! I +could taste the salty sand! + +In this perilous situation, buried sometimes in the foaming breakers, +and at times tossed like a reed on the crest of the waves, we struggled +with might and main at the helm and the sheets, easing her up or forcing +her ahead with care, gaining little by little toward deep water, till at +last she came out of the danger, shook her feathers like a sea-bird, and +rode on waves less perilous. Then we had time and courage to look back, +but not till then. + +And what a sight we beheld! The horizon was illumined with +phosphorescent light from the breakers just passed through. The +rainstorm which had obscured the coast was so cleared away now that we +could see the whole field of danger behind us. One spot in particular, +the place where the breakers dashed over a rock which appeared awash, in +the glare flashed up a shaft of light that reached to the heavens. + +This was the greatest danger we had yet encountered. The elasticity of +our canoe, not its bulk, saved it from destruction. Her light, springy +timbers and buoyant bamboo guards brought her upright again and again +through the fierce breakers. We were astonished at the feats of wonder +of our brave little craft. + +Fatigued and worn with anxiety, when clear of the shoal we hauled to +under close reefs, heading off shore, and all hands lay down to rest +till daylight. Then, squaring away again, we set what sail the canoe +could carry, scudding before it, for the wind was still in our favour, +though blowing very hard. Nevertheless the weather seemed fine and +pleasant at this stage of our own pleased feelings. Any weather that +one's craft can live in, after escaping a lee shore, is pleasant +weather--though some may be pleasanter than other. + +What we most wished for, after this thrilling experience, was sea room, +fair wind, and plenty of it. That these without stint would suit us +best, was agreed on all hands. Accordingly then I shaped the course +seaward, clearing well all the dangers of the land. + +The fierce tropical storm of the last few days turned gradually into +mild trade-winds, and our cedar canoe skipped nimbly once more over +tranquil seas. Our own agitation, too, had gone down and we sailed on +unruffled by care. Gentle winds carried us on over kindly waves, and we +were fain to count fair days ahead, leaving all thoughts of stormy ones +behind. In this hopeful mood we sailed for many days, our spirits never +lowering, but often rising higher out of the miserable condition which +we had fallen into through misfortunes on the foreign shore. When a star +came out, it came as a friend, and one that had been seen by friends of +old. When all the stars shone out, the hour at sea was cheerful, bright, +and joyous. Welby saw, or had in the mind's-eye, a day like many that we +experienced in the soft, clear "trades" on this voyage, when writing the +pretty lines:-- + + + The twilight hours like birds flew by, + As lightly and as free, + Ten thousand stars were in the sky, + Ten thousand on the sea. + + For every rippling, dancing wave, + That leaped upon the air, + Had caught a star in its embrace, + And held it trembling there. + + +"The days pass, and our ship flies fast upon her way." + +For several days while sailing near the line we saw the constellations +of both hemispheres, but heading north, we left those of the south at +last, with the Southern Cross--most beautiful in all the heavens--to +watch over a friend. + +Leaving these familiar southern stars and sailing toward constellations +in the north, we hoist all sail to the cheery breeze which carries us +on. + +In this pleasant state of sailing with our friends all about us, we +stood on and on, never doubting once our pilot or our ship. + +A phantom of the stately _Aquidneck_ appeared one night, sweeping by +with crowning skysails set, that fairly brushed the stars. No apparition +could have affected us more than the sight of this floating beauty, so +like the _Aquidneck_, gliding swiftly and quietly by, from her mission +to some foreign land--she, too, was homeward bound! + +This incident of the _Aquidneck's_ ghost, as it appeared to us, passing +at midnight on the sea, left a pang of lonesomeness for a while. + +But a carrier dove came next day, and perched upon the mast, as if to +tell that we had yet a friend! Welcome harbinger of good! you bring us +thoughts of angels. + +The lovely visitor remained with us two days, off and on, but left for +good on the third, when we reached away from Avis Island, to which, +maybe, it was bound. Coming as it did from the east, and flying west +toward the island when it left, bore out the idea of the lay of sweet +singer Kingsley's "Last Buccaneer." + + + If I might but be a sea dove, I'd fly across the main + To the pleasant Isle of Avis, to look at it once again. + + +The old Buccaneer, it may have been, but we regarded it as the little +bird, which most likely it was, that sits up aloft to look out for poor +"Jack."[6] + +A moth, blown to our boat on the ocean, found shelter and a welcome +there. The dove we secretly worshipped. + +With utmost confidence in our little craft, inspired by many thrilling +events, we now carried sail, blow high, blow low, till at times she +reeled along with a bone in her mouth quite to the mind of her mariners. +Thinking one day that she might carry more sail on the mast already +bending hopefully forward, and acting upon the liberal thought of sail, +we made a wide mistake, for the mainmast went by the board, under the +extra press and the foremast tripped over the bows. Then spars, booms, +and sails swung alongside like the broken wings of a bird, but were +grappled, however, and brought aboard without much loss of time. The +broken mast was then secured and strengthened by "fishes" or splints +after the manner in which doctors fish a broken limb. + +Both of the masts were very soon refitted and again made to carry sail, +all they could stand; and we were again bowling along as before. We made +that day a hundred and seventy-five miles, one of our best days' work. + +I protest here that my wife should not have cried "More sail! more +sail!" when as it has been seen the canoe had on all the sail that she +could carry. Nothing further happened to change the usual daily events +until we reached Barbadoes. Flying-fish on the wing striking our sails, +at night, often fell on deck, affording us many a toothsome fry. This +happened daily, while sailing throughout the trade-wind regions. To be +hit by one of these fish on the wing, which sometimes occurs, is no +light matter, especially if the blow be on the face, as it may cause a +bad bruise or even a black eye. The head of the flying-fish being rather +hard makes it in fact a night slugger to be dreaded. They never come +aboard in the daylight. The swift darting bill-fish, too, is a danger to +be avoided in the tropics at night. They are met with mostly in the +Pacific Ocean; therefore South Sea Islanders are loath to voyage during +the "bill-fish season." + +As to the flight of these fishes, I would estimate that of the +flying-fish as not exceeding fifteen feet in height, or five hundred +yards of distance, often not half so much. + +Bill-fish, darting like an arrow from a bow, have, fortunately for +sailors, not the power or do not rise much above the level of the waves, +and cannot dart further, say, than two hundred and fifty feet, +according to the day for jumping. Of the many swift fish in the sea, the +dolphin, perhaps, is the most marvellous. Its oft-told beauty, too, is +indeed remarkable. A few of these fleet racers were captured, on the +voyage, but were found tough and rank; notwithstanding some eulogy on +them by other epicures, we threw the mess away. Those hooked by my crew +were perhaps the tyrrhena pirates "turned into dolphins" in the days of +yore. + +On the 19th day from Pernambuco, early in the morning, we made Barbadoes +away in the West. First, the blue, fertile hills, then green fields came +into view, studded with many white buildings between sentries of giant +wind-mills as old nearly as the hills. Barbadoes is the most pleasant +island in the Antilles; to sail round its green fringe of coral sea is +simply charming. We stood in to the coast, well to windward, sailing +close in with the breakers so as to take in a view of the whole +delightful panorama as we sailed along. By noon we rounded the south +point of the island and shot into Carlysle Bay, completing the run from +Pernambuco exactly in nineteen days. This was considerably more than an +hundred miles a day. The true distance being augmented by the circuitous +route we adopted made it 2,150 miles. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[5] We had the pleasure of meeting this gentleman again on the +voyage at Barbadoes, again at New London, and finally with delight we +heard him lecture on his travels, at Newport, and saw there produced on +the wall the very picture of the _Liberdade_ taken by the doctor on the +great ocean. + +[6] + + There's a sweet little cherub that sits up aloft, + To look out for a berth for poor Jack.--_Dibdin's Poems._ + + + + +CHAPTER XV + + At Barbadoes--Mayaguez--Crossing the Bahama Banks--The Gulf + Stream--Arrival on the coast of South Carolina. + + +Many old friends and acquaintances came down to see us upon our arrival +at Barbadoes, all curious to inspect the strange craft. While there our +old friend, the _Palmer_, that we left at Bahia, came in to refit, +having broken a mast "trying to beat us," so Garfield would have it. For +all that we had beaten her by four days. Who then shall say that we +anchored nights or spent much time hugging the shore? The _Condor_ was +also at Barbadoes in charge of an old friend, accompanied by a pleasant +helpmeet and companion who had shared the perils of shipwreck with her +husband the year before in a hurricane among the islands. + +Meeting so many of this class of old friends of vast and varied +experiences gave contentment to our visit, and we concluded to remain +over at this port till the hurricane season should pass. Our old friend, +the _Finance_, too, came in, remaining but a few hours. However, she +hurried away with her mails, homeward bound. + +The pleasant days at Barbadoes with its enchantment flew lightly by; and +on the 7th of October we sailed, giving the hurricane season the benefit +of eight days. The season is considered over on the 15th of that month. + +Passing thence through the Antilles into the Caribbean Sea, a new period +of our voyage was begun. Fair breezes filled the sails of the +_Liberdade_ as we glided along over tranquil seas, scanning eagerly the +islands as they came into view, dwelling on each, in our thoughts, as +hallowed ground of the illustrious discoverers--the same now as seen by +them! The birds, too, of "rare plumage," were there, flying from island +to island, the same as seen by the discoverers; and the sea with fishes +teemed, of every gorgeous hue, lending enchantment to the picture, not +less beautiful than the splendour on the land and in the air to thrill +the voyager now, the same as then; we ourselves had only to look to see +them. + +Whether it was birds with fins, or fishes with wings, or neither of +these that the old voyagers saw, they discovered yet enough to make them +wonder and rejoice. + +"Mountains of sugar, and rivers of rum and flying-fish, was what I saw, +mother," said the son on his return from a voyage to these islands. +"John," said the enraptured mother, "you must be mistaken about the +fish; now don't lie to me, John. Mountains of sugar, no doubt you saw, +and even rivers of rum, my boy, but _flying-fish_ could never be." + +And yet the _fish_ were there. + +Among the islands of great interest which came in view, stretching along +the Caribbean Sea, was that of Santa Cruz, the island famous for its +brave, resolute women of days gone by, who, while their husbands were +away, successfully defended home and happiness against Christian +invaders, and for that reason were called fierce savages. I would fain +have brought away some of the earth of the island in memory of those +brave women. Small as our ship was, we could have afforded room in it +for a memento thus consecrated; but the trades hauling somewhat to the +northward so headed us off that we had to forgo the pleasure of landing +on its shores. + +Pushing forward thence, we reached Porto Rico, the nearest land in our +course from the Island of Brave Women, standing well in with the +southeast capes. Sailing thence along the whole extent of the south +coast, in waters as smooth as any mill pond, and past island scenery +worth the perils of ten voyages to see, we landed, on the 12th of +October, at Mayaguez in the west of the island, and there shook the +kinks out of our bones by pleasant walks in tropic shades. + +Time, five days from Barbadoes; distance 570 miles. + +This was to be our last run among the trees in the West Indies, and we +made the most of it. "Such a port for mariners I'll never see again!" +The port officials, kind and polite, extended all becoming courtesies to +the quaint "_barco piquina_." + +The American Consul, Mr. Christie, Danish Consul, Mr. Falby, and the +good French Consul, vied in making our visit a pleasant one. + +Photographers at Mayaguez desiring a picture of the canoe with the crew +on deck at a time when we felt inclined to rest in the shade on shore, +put a negro on board to take the place of captain. The photographs taken +then found their way to Paris and Madrid journals where, along with some +flattering accounts, they were published, upon which it was remarked +that the captain was a fine-looking fellow, but "awfully tanned!" The +moke was rigged all ataunto for the occasion, and made a picture +indicative of great physical strength, one not to be ashamed of, but he +would have looked more like me, I must say, if they had turned him back +to. + +We enjoyed long carriage drives over rich estates at Mayaguez. We saw +with pain, however, that the atmosphere of the soldier hung over all, +pervading the whole air like a pestilence. + +Musketed and sabred and uniformed in their bed-ticking suits; hated by +the residents and despised by themselves, they doggedly marched, +counter-marched and wheeled, knowing that they are loathsome in the +island, and that their days in the New World are numbered. The sons of +the colonies are too civil and Christianlike to be ruled always by sword +and gun. + +On the 15th of October, after three days' rest, we took in, as usual +before sailing from ports, sufficient fresh supplies to carry us to the +port steered for next, then set sail from pleasant Mayaguez, and bore +away for the old Bahama Channel, passing east of Hayti, thence along the +north coast to the west extremity of the island, from which we took +departure for the head-lands of Cuba, and followed that coast as far as +Cardinas, where we took a final departure from the islands, regretting +that we could not sail around them all. + +The region on the north side of Cuba is often visited by gales of great +violence, making this the lee shore; a weather eye was therefore kept +lifting, especially in the direction of their source, which is from +north to nor'west. However, storms prevailed from other quarters, mostly +from the east, bringing heavy squalls of wind, rain and thunder every +afternoon, such as once heard will never be forgotten. Peal on peal of +nature's artillery for a few hours, accompanied by vivid lightning, was +on the cards for each day, then all would be serene again. + +The nights following these severe storms were always bright and +pleasant, and the heavens would be studded with constellations of +familiar, guiding stars. + +My crew had now no wish to bear up for port short of one on our own +coast, but, impatient to see the North Star appear higher in the +heavens, strung every nerve and trimmed every sail to hasten on. + +Nassau, the place to which letters had been directed to us, we forbore +to visit. This departure from a programme which was made at the +beginning was the only change that we made in the "charter party" +throughout the voyage. There was no haphazard sailing on this voyage. +Daily observations for determining latitude and longitude were +invariably made unless the sun was obscured. The result of these +astronomical observations were more reliable than one might suppose, +from their being taken on a tittlish canoe. After a few days' +practising, a very fair off-hand contact could be made, when the canoe +rose on the crest of a wave, where manifestly would be found the best +result. The observer's station was simply on the top of the cabin, where +astride, like riding horseback, Victor and I took the "sights," and +indeed became expert "snap observers" before the voyage ended. + +One night in the Bahama Channel, while booming along toward the Banks to +the nor'west of us before stiff trades, I was called in the first watch +by Victor, to come up quickly, for signs of the dread "norther" were in +the sky. Our trusty barometer had been low, but was now on the cheerful +side of change. This phenomenon disturbed me somewhat, till the +discovery was made, as we came nearer, that it was but the reflection of +the white banks on the sky that we saw, and no cause at all for alarm. + +Soon after this phenomenon the faint glimmer of Lobos Light was descried +flickering on the horizon, two points on the weather bow. I changed the +course three points to windward, having determined to touch at the small +Cay where the lighthouse stands; one point being allowed for leeway, +which I found was not too much. + +Three hours later we fetched in under the lee of the reef, or Cay, as it +is commonly called, and came to in one and a half fathoms of water in +good shelter. + +We beheld then overhead in wonderful beauty what had awed us from the +distance in the early night--a chart of the illuminating banks marked +visibly on the heavens. + +We furled sails and, setting a light in the rigging, turned in; for it +lacked three hours yet of daylight. And what an interesting experience +ours had been in the one short night! By the break of day my crew were +again astir, preparing to land and fill water at a good landing which we +now perceived farther around the point to leeward, where the surf was +moderate. + +On the Cay is stored some hundred thousand gallons of rain water in +cisterns at the base of the iron tower which carries the light; one that +we saw from the canoe at a distance of fourteen miles. + +The keeper of the light, a hardy native of Nassau, when he discovered +the new arrival at his "island," hoisted the British Board of Trade flag +on a pole in the centre of this, his little world, then he came forward +to speak us, thinking at first, he said, that we were shipwrecked +sailors, which indeed we were, but not in distress, as he had supposed +when hoisting the flag, which signified assistance for distressed +seamen. On learning our story, however, he regarded us with grave +suspicions, and refused water to Victor, who had already landed with +buckets, telling him that the captain would have to bring his papers +ashore and report. The mate's report would not be taken. Thus in a +moment was transformed the friend in need to _governor of an island_. +This amused me greatly, and I sent back word to my veritable Sancho +Panza that in my many voyages to islands my mate had attended to the +customs reports; at which his Excellency chafed considerably, giving the +gunnels of his trousers a fitful tug up now and then as he paced the +beach, waiting my compliance with the rules of the island. The governor, +I perceived, was suspicious of smugglers and wreckers, apparently +understanding their ways, if, indeed, even he were not a reformed +pirate himself. + +However, to humour the punctiliousness of his Excellency, now that he +was governor of an island, I placed my papers in my hat, and, leaping +into the surf, waded ashore, where I was received as by a monarch. + +The document I presented was the original _Passe Especial_, the one with +the big seal on it, written in Portuguese; had it been in Choctaw the +governor would have read it with the same facility that he did this, +which he stared at knowingly and said, "all right, take all the water +you want; it is free." + +I lodged a careful report of the voyage with the governor and explained +to his Excellency the whereabouts of the "Island of Rio," as his grace +persistently called Rio de Janeiro, whence dated my papers. + +Conversing on the subject of islands, which was all the world to him, +the governor viewed with suspicion the absence of a word in my +documents, referring even to an islet; this, in his mind, was a +reprehensible omission; for surely New York, to which the papers +referred, was built on an island. Upon this I offered to swear to the +truth of my clearance, "as far as known to me," after the manner of +cheap custom-house swearing with which shipmasters, in some parts of the +world, are made familiar. "Not on the island!" quickly exclaimed the +governor, "'for thou shalt not disglorify God's name,' is written in the +Bible." + +I assured the governor of my appreciation of his pious sentiment of not +over-swearing,--a laudable plan that even the Chinese adopt as a policy, +and one that I would speak of on my return home, to the end that we all +emulate the laws of the island; whereupon the governor, greatly pleased, +urged me to take some more water, minding me again that it was free. + +In a very few minutes I got all the water I wished for; also some aurora +shells from the governor's lady, who had arisen with the sun to grace +the day and of all things most appropriate held in her generous lap +beautiful aurora shells for which--to spoil the poem--I bartered +cocoa-nuts and rusty gnarly yams. + +The lady was on a visit only to her lord and master, the monarch of all +he surveyed. Beside this was their three children also on a visit, from +Nassau, and two assistant keepers of the light which made up the total +of this little world in the ocean. + +It was the smallest kingdom I had ever visited, peopled by happy human +beings and the most isolated by far. + +The few blades of grass which had struggled into existence, not enough +to support a goat, was all there was to look at on the island except the +lighthouse, and the sand and themselves. + +Some small buildings and a flagstaff had once adorned the place, but +together with a coop of chickens, the only stock of the +islanders--except a dog--had been swept away by a hurricane which had +passed over the island a short time before. The water for which we had +called being now in the canoe, and my people on board waiting for me, I +bade the worthy governor good-bye, and, saluting his charming island +queen in a seaman-like manner, hastened back to my own little world; and +bore away once more for the north. Sailing thence over the Great Bahama +Banks, in a crystal sea, we observed on the white marl bottom many +curious living things, among them the conch in its house of exquisite +tints and polished surface, the star-fish with radiated dome of curious +construction, and many more denizens of the place, the names of which I +could not tell, resting on the soft white bed under the sea. + +"They who go down to the sea in ships, they see the wonders of the +Lord," I am reminded by a friend who writes me, on receipt of some of +these curious things which I secured on the voyage, adding: "For all +these curious and beautiful things are His handiwork. Who can look at +such things without the heart being lifted up in adoration?" + +For words like these what sailor is there who would not search the caves +of the ocean? Words too, from a lady. + +Two days of brisk sailing over the white Bahama Banks brought us to +Bimini. Thence a mere push would send us to the coast of our own native +America. The wind in the meantime hauling from regular nor'east trade to +the sou'west, as we came up to Bimini, promising a smooth passage +across, we launched out at once on the great Gulf Stream, and were swept +along by its restless motion, making on the first day, before the wind +and current, two hundred and twenty miles. This was great getting along +for a small canoe. Going at the same high rate of speed on the second +night in the stream, the canoe struck a spar and went over it with a +bound. Her keel was shattered by the shock, but finally shaking the +crippled timber clear of herself she came on quite well without it. No +other damage was done to our craft, although at times her very ribs were +threatened before clearing this lively ocean river. In the middle of the +current, where the seas were yet mountainous but regular, we went along +with a wide, swinging motion and fared well enough; but on nearing the +edge of the stream a confused sea was met with, standing all on end, in +every which way, beyond a sailor's comprehension. The motion of the +_Liberdade_ was then far from poetical or pleasant. The wind, in the +meantime, had chopped round to the nor'east, dead ahead; being thus +against the current, a higher and more confused sea than ever was heaped +up, giving us some uneasiness. We had, indeed, several unwelcome +visitors come tumbling aboard of our craft, one of which furiously +crashing down on her made all of her timbers bend and creak. However, I +could partially remedy this danger by changing the course. + +"Seas like that can't break this boat," said our young boatswain; "she's +built strong." It was well to find among the crew this feeling of +assurance in the gallant little vessel. I, too, was confident in her +seaworthiness. Nevertheless, I shortened sail and brought her to the +wind, watching the lulls and easing her over the combers, as well as I +could. But wrathful Neptune was not to let us so easily off, for the +next moment a sea swept clean over the helmsman, wetting him through to +the skin and, most unkind cut of all, it put out our fire, and capsized +the hash and stove into the bottom of the canoe. This left us with but a +_damper_ for breakfast! Matters mended, however, as the day advanced, +and for supper we had a grand and glorious feast. Early in the afternoon +we made the land and got into smooth water. This of itself was a feast, +to our minds. + +The land we now saw lying before us was hills of America, which we had +sailed many thousands of miles to see. Drawing in with the coast, we +made out, first the broad, rich forests, then open fields and villages, +with many signs of comfort on every hand. We found it was the land about +Bull's Bay on the coast of South Carolina, and night coming on, we could +plainly see Cape Roman Light to the north of us. The wind falling light +as we drew in with the coast, and finding a current against us, we +anchored, about two miles from the shore, in four fathoms of water. It +was now 8 p.m., October 28, 1888, thirteen days from Mayaguez, +twenty-one days from Barbadoes, etc. + +The following was the actual time at sea and distances in nautical miles +from point to point on the courses steered, approximately: + + + _Days._ _ Distance._ + + +From Paranagua to Santos 1 150 + " Santos to Rio de Janeiro + (towed by _Finance_) 3/4 200 + " Rio to Cape Frio 2 70 + " Cape Frio to Carvellas 4 370 + " Carvellas to Saint Paulo 3 270 + " Saint Paulo to Bahia 1/2 40 + " Bahia to Pernambuco 5 390 + " Pernambuco to Barbadoes 19 2,150 + " Barbadoes to Mayaguez 5 570 + " Mayaguez to Cape Roman 13 1,300 + --- ----- + 531/4 5,510 + + +Computing all the distances of the ins and outs that we made would +considerably augment the sum. To say, therefore, that the _Liberdade_ +averaged a hundred and three miles a day for fifty-three days would be +considerably inside the truth. + +This was the voyage made in the boat which cost less than a hundred +dollars outside of our own labour of building. Journals the world over +have spoken not unkindly of the feat; encomiums in seven languages +reached us through the newspapers while we lay moored in Washington. +Should the same good fortune that followed the _Liberdade_ attend this +little literary craft, when finished, it would go safe into many lands. +Without looking, however, to this mark of good fortune, the journal of +the voyage has been as carefully constructed as was the _Liberdade_, and +I trust, as conscientiously, by a hand, alas! that has grasped the +sextant more often than the plane or pen, and for the love of doing. +This apology might have been more appropriately made in the beginning of +the journal, maybe, but it comes to me now, and like many other things +done, right or wrong, but done on the impulse of the moment, I put it +down. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + Ocean Currents--Visit to South Santee--At the Typee + River--Quarantined--South Port and Wilmington, N.C.--Inland sailing + to Beaufort, Norfolk and Washington, D.C.--Voyage ended. + + +No one will be more surprised at the complete success of the voyage and +the speedy progress made than were we ourselves who made it. + +A factor of the voyage, one that helped us forward greatly, and which is +worthy of special mention, was the ocean current spoken of as we came +along in its friendly sway. + +Many are the theories among fresh-water philosophists respecting these +currents, but in practical sailing, where the subject is met with in its +tangible form, one cause only is recognized; namely, the action of the +wind on the surface of the water, pushing the waves along. Out on the +broad ocean the effect at first is hardly perceptible, but the constant +trades, sending countless millions of waves in one direction, cause at +last a mighty moving power, which the mariner meets sometimes as an +enemy to retard and delay, sometimes as a friend, as in our case, to +help him on his way. These are views from a practical experience with no +theory to prove. + +By daylight on the twenty-ninth, we weighed anchor and set sail again +for the north. The wind and current were still adverse, but we kept near +the land, making short boards off and on through the day where the +current had least effect. And when night came on again we closed in once +more with Cape Roman light. Next day we worked up under the lee of the +Roman shoals and made harbour in South Santee, a small river to the +north of Cape Roman, within range of the light, there to rest until the +wind should change, it being still ahead. + +Next morning, since the wind had not changed, we weighed anchor and +stood farther into the river looking for inhabitants, that we might +listen to voices other than our own. Our search was soon rewarded, for, +coming around a point of woodland, a farmhouse stood before us on the +river side. We came alongside the bank and jumped ashore, but hardly had +we landed when, as out of the earth, a thousand dogs, so it seemed, +sprung up threatening to devour us all. However, a comely woman came out +of the house and it was explained to the satisfaction of all, especially +to a persistent cur, by a vigorous whack on the head with a cudgel, that +our visit was a friendly one; then all was again peaceful and quiet. The +good man was in the field close by, but soon came home accompanied by +his two stalwart sons each "toting" a sack of corn. We found the +Andersons--this was the family name--isolated in every sense of the +word, and as primitive as heart could wish. The charming simplicity of +these good people captivated my crew. We met others along the coast +innocent of greed, but of all unselfish men, Anderson the elder was +surely the prince. + +Purchasing some truck from this good man, we found that change could not +be made for the dollar which I tendered in payment. But I protested that +I was more than content to let the few odd cents go, having received +more garden stuff than I had ever seen offered for a dollar in any part +of the world. And indeed I was satisfied. The farmer, however, nothing +content, offered me a coon skin or two, but these I didn't want, and +there being no other small change about the farm, the matter was +dropped, I thought, for good, and I had quite forgotten it, when later +in the evening I was electrified by his offering to carry a letter for +us which we wished posted, some seven miles away, and call it "square," +against the twenty cents of the morning's transaction. The letter went, +and in due course of time we got an answer. + +I do not say that we stuck strictly to the twenty-cent transaction, but +I fear that not enough was paid to fair-dealing Anderson. However, all +were at last satisfied and warming into conversation, a log fire was +improvised and social chat went round. + +These good people could hardly understand how it was, as I explained, +that the Brazilians had freed the slaves and had no war, Mr. Anderson +often exclaiming, "Well, well, I d'clar. Freed the niggers, and had no +wah. Mister," said he, turning to me after a long pause, "mister, d'ye +know the South were foolish? They had a wah, and they had to free the +niggers, too." + +"Oh, yes, mister, I was thar! Over thar beyond them oaks was my house." + +"Yes, mister, I fought, too, and fought hard, but it warn't no use." + +Like many a hard fighter, Anderson, too, was a pious man, living in a +state of resignation to be envied. His years of experience on the new +island farm had been hard and trying in the extreme. My own misfortunes +passed into shade as the harder luck of the Andersons came before my +mind, and the resolution which I had made to buy a farm was now shaken +and finally dissolved into doubts of the wisdom of such a course. On +this farm they had first "started in to raise pork," but found that it +"didn't pay, for the pigs got wild and had to be gathered with the +dogs," and by the time they were "gathered and then toted, salt would +hardly cure them, and they most generally tainted." The enterprise was +therefore abandoned, for that of tilling the soil, and a crop was put +in, but "the few pigs which the dogs had not gathered came in at night +and rooted out all the taters." It then appeared that a fence should be +built. "Accordingly," said he, "the boys and I made one which kept out +the stock, but, sir, the rats could get in! They took every tater out of +the ground! From all that I put in, and my principal work was thar, I +didn't see a sprout." How it happened that the rats had left the crop +the year before for their relations--the pigs--was what seemed most to +bother the farmer's mind. Nevertheless, "there was corn in Egypt yet"; +and at the family circle about the board that night a smile of hope +played on the good farmer's face, as in deep sincerity he asked that for +what they had they might be made truly thankful. We learned a lesson of +patience from this family, and were glad that the wind had carried us to +their shore. + +Said the farmer, "And you came all the way from Brazil in that boat! +Wife, she won't go to Georgetown in the batto that I built because it +rares too much. And they freed the niggers and had no wah! Well, well, I +d'clar!" + +Better folks we may never see than the farmers of South Santee. Bidding +them good-bye next morning at early dawn we sailed before a light land +wind which, however, soon petered out. + +The S.S. _Planter_ then coming along took us in tow for Georgetown, +where she was bound. We had not the pleasure, however, of visiting the +beloved old city; for having some half dozen cocoa-nuts on board, the +remainder of small stores of the voyage, a vigilant officer stopped us +at the quarantine ground. Fruit not being admitted into South Carolina +until after the first of November, and although it was now late in the +afternoon of the first, we had to ride quarantine that night, with a +promise, however, of _pratique_ next morning. But there was no steamer +going up the river the next day. The _Planter_ coming down though +supplied us with some small provisions, such as were not procurable at +the Santee farm. Then putting to sea we beat along slowly against wind +and current. + +We began now to experience, as might be expected, autumn gales of +considerable violence, the heaviest of which overtaking us at Frying-pan +Shoal, drove us back to leeward of Cape Fear for shelter. South Port and +Wilmington being then so near we determined to visit both places. Two +weeks at these ports refreshed the crew and made all hands willing for +sea again. + +Sailing thence through Corn-cake Inlet we cut off Cape Fear and the +Frying-pan Shoals, being of mind to make for the inlets along the +Carolina coast and to get into the inland waters as soon as practicable. + +It was our good fortune to fall in with an old and able pilot at +Corn-cake Inlet, one Capt. Bloodgood, who led the way through the +channel in his schooner, the _Packet_, a Carolina pitch and cotton +droger of forty tons register, which was manned solely by the captain +and his two sons, one twelve and the other ten years old. It was in the +crew that I became most interested, and not the schooner. Bloodgood gave +the order when the tide served for us to put to sea. "Come, children," +said he, "let's try it." Then we all tried it together, the _Packet_ +leading the way. The shaky west wind, that filled our sails as we +skimmed along the beach with the breakers close aboard, carried us but a +few leagues when it flew suddenly round to nor'east and began to pipe. + +The gale increasing rapidly inclined me to bear up for New River Inlet, +then close under our lee, with a treacherous bar lying in front, which +to cross safely would require great care. + +But the gale was threatening, and the harbour inside, we could see, was +smooth; then, too, cried my people: "Any port in a storm." I decided +prompt; put the helm up and squared away. Flying thence, before it, the +tempest-tossed canoe came sweeping in from sea over the rollers in a +delightfully thrilling way. One breaker only coming over us, and even +that did no harm more than to give us all the climax soaking of the +voyage. This was the last sea that broke over the canoe on the memorable +voyage. + +The harbour inside the bar of New River was good. Adding much to our +comfort too was fish and game in abundance. + +The _Packet_, which had parted from us, made her destined port some +three leagues farther on. The last we saw of the children, they were at +the main sheets hauling aft, and their father was at the helm, and all +were flying through the mist like fearless sailors. + +After meeting Carolina seamen, to say nothing of the few still in +existence further north, I challenge the story of Greek supremacy. + +The little town of South Port was made up almost entirely of pilots +possessing, I am sure, every quality of the sailor and the gentleman. + +Moored snug in the inlet, it was pleasant to listen to the roar of the +breakers on the bar, but not so cheerful was the thought of facing the +high waves seaward. Therefore the plan suggested itself of sufficiently +deepening a ditch that led through the marshes from New River to Bogue +Sound, to let us through; thence we could sail inland the rest of the +voyage without obstruction or hindrance of any kind. To this end we set +about contrivances to heave the canoe over the shoals, and borrowed a +shovel from a friendly schooner captain to deepen the ditch which we +thought would be necessary to do in order to ford her along that way. +However, the prevailing nor'east gales had so raised the water in the +west end of the sound as to fill all the creeks and ditches to +overflowing. I hesitated then no longer, but heading for the ditch +through the marshes on a high tide, before a brave west wind took the +chances of getting through by hook or by crook or by shovel and spade if +required. + +The "Coast Pilot," in speaking of this place, says there is never more +than a foot of water there, and even that much is rarely found. The +_Liberdade_ essayed the ditch, drawing two feet and four inches, thus +showing the further good fortune or luck which followed perseverance, as +it usually does, though sometimes, maybe, it is bad luck! Perhaps I am +not lucid on this, which at best must remain a disputed point. + +I was getting lost in the maze of sloughs and creeks, which as soon as I +entered seemed to lead in every direction but the right one. Hailing a +hunter near by, however, I was soon put straight and reassured of +success. The most astonished man, though, in North Carolina, was this +same hunter when asked if he knew the ditch that led through where I +wished to go. + +"Why, stranger," said he, "my gran'ther digged that ditch." + +I jumped, I leaped! at thought of what a pilot this man would be. + +"Well, stranger," said he, in reply to my query, "stranger, if any man +kin take y' thro' that ditch, why, I kin"; adding doubtfully, however, +"I have not hearn tell befo' of a vessel from Brazil sailing through +these parts; but then you mout get through, and again ye moutent. Well, +it's jist here; you mout and you moutent." + +A bargain was quickly made, and my pilot came aboard, armed with a long +gun, which as we sailed along proved a terror to ducks. The entrance to +the ditch, then close by, was made with a flowing sheet, and I soon +found that my pilot knew his business. Rush-swamps and corn-fields we +left to port and to starboard, and were at times out of sight among +brakes that brushed crackling along the sides of the canoe, as she swept +briskly through the narrows, passing them all, with many a close hug, +though, on all sides. At a point well on in the crooked channel my pilot +threw up his hat, and shouted, with all his might: + +"Yer trouble is over! Swan to gosh if it ain't! And ye come all the way +from Brazil, and come through gran'ther's ditch! Well, I d'clar!" + +From this I concluded that we had cleared all the doubtful places, and +so it turned out. Before sundown my pilot was looking for the change of +a five-dollar-piece; and we of the _Liberdade_ sat before a pot-pie, at +twilight, the like of which on the whole voyage had not been tasted, +from sea fowl laid about by our pilot while sailing through the meadows +and marshes. And the pilot himself, returning while the pot-pie was yet +steaming hot, declared it "ahead of coon." + +A pleasant sail was this through the ditch that gran'ther dug. At the +camp fire that night, where we hauled up by a fishing station, thirty +stalwart men talked over the adventures of their lives. My pilot, the +best speaker, kept the camp in roars. As for myself, always fond of +mirth, I got up from the fire sore from laughing. Their curious +adventures with coons and 'gators recounted had been considerable. + +Many startling stories were told. But frequently reverting to the voyage +of the _Liberdade_, they declared with one voice that "it was the +greatest thing since the wah." I took this as a kind of complimentary +hospitality. "When she struck on a sand reef," said the pilot, "why, the +captain he jumped right overboard and the son he jumped right over, too, +to tote her over, and the captain's wife she holp." + +By daylight next morning we sailed from this camp pleasant, and on the +following day, November 28, at noon, arrived at Beaufort. + +Mayor Bell of that city and many of his townfolk met us at the wharf, +and gave me as well as my sea-tossed crew a welcome to their shores, +such as to make us feel that the country was partly ours. + +"Welcome, welcome home," said the good mayor; "we have read of your +adventures, and watched your progress as reported from time to time, +with deep interest and sympathy." + +So we began to learn now that prayers on shore had gone up for the +little canoe at sea. This was indeed America and home, for which we had +longed while thousands of miles across the ocean. + +From Beaufort to Norfolk and thence to Washington was pleasant inland +sailing, with prevailing fair winds and smooth sea. Christmas was spent +on the Chesapeake--a fine, enjoyable day it was! with not a white-cap +ripple on the bay. Ducks swimming ahead of the canoe as she moved +quietly along were loath to take wing in so light a breeze, but flapping +away, half paddling and half flying, as we came toward them, they +managed to keep a long gun-shot off; but having laid in at the last port +a turkey of no mean proportions, which we made shift to roast in the +"caboose" aboard, we could look at a duck without wishing its +destruction. With this turkey and a bountiful plum duff, we made out a +dinner even on the _Liberdade_. + +Of the many Christmas days that come crowding in my recollections now; +days spent on the sea and in foreign lands, as falls to the lot of +sailors--which was the merriest it would be hard to say. Of this, +however, I am certain, that the one on board the _Liberdade_ on the +Chesapeake was not the least happy of them all. + +The day following Christmas found us on the Potomac, enjoying the same +fine weather and abundant good cheer of the day before. Fair winds +carried us through all the reaches of the river, and the same prosperity +which attended our little bark in the beginning of the voyage through +tempestuous weather followed her to the end of the voyage, which +terminated in mild days and pleasant sunshine. + +On the 27th of December, 1888, a south wind bore us into harbour at +Washington, D.C., there we moored for the winter, furled our sails and +coiled up the ropes, after a voyage of joys and sorrows, crowned with +pleasures, however, which lessened the pain of past regrets. + +Having moored the _Liberdade_ and weather-bitted her cables, it remains +only to be said that after bringing us safely through the dangers of a +tropical voyage, clearing reefs, shoals, breakers, and all storms +without a serious accident of any kind, we learned to love the little +canoe as well as anything could be loved that is made by hands. + +To say that we had not a moment of ill-health on the voyage would not +tell the whole story. + +My wife, brave enough to face the worst storms, as women are sometimes +known to do on sea and on land, enjoyed not only the best of health, but +had gained a richer complexion. + +Victor, at the end of the voyage, found that he had grown an inch and +had not been frightened out of his boots. + +Little Garfield--well he had grown some, too, and continued to be a +pretty good boy and had managed to hold his grip through many ups and +downs. He it was who stood by the bow line to make fast as quick as the +_Liberdade_ came to the pier at the end of the voyage. + +And I, last, as it should be, lost a few pounds' weight, but like the +rest landed in perfect health; taking it altogether, therefore, only +pleasant recollections of the voyage remain with us who made it. + +With all its vicissitudes I still love a life on the broad, free ocean, +never regretting the choice of my profession. + +However, the time has come to debark from the _Liberdade_, now breasted +to the pier where I leave her for a time; for my people are landed safe +in port. + + + + +DISPOSAL OF THE LIBERDADE + +About the middle of April the _Liberdade_ cast loose her moorings from +the dock at Washington, and spreading sail before a brave west wind, +bent her course along down the Potomac with the same facility as +experienced in December coming up before a wind from the South; then +shaping her course for New York via Baltimore and Philadelphia through +inland passages, the voyage was turned into a pleasure excursion. +Animation of spring clothed the landscape on all sides in its greatest +beauty; and our northern forest the voyagers found upon their return was +not less charming than "tropic shade" of foreign climes. And the robin +sang even a sweeter trill than ever before heard by the crew, for they +listened to it now in the country that they loved. + +From New York, the _Liberdade_ sailed for Boston via New London, New +Bedford, Martha's Vineyard, Newport, and Taunton, at which latter place +she hauled out, and the crew, thence to the Bay State Capital, enjoyed +the novelty of a "sail over land." + +Then the _Liberdade_ moored snug in Boston and her crew spent the winter +again among friends. They met here during this time the man who advised +the captain at Buenos Aires to pitch the _Aquidneck's_ cargo of hay into +the sea; for not taking the advice--witness, alas! the captain's plight! + +Finally, upon return of spring, the _Liberdade_ was refitted on a voyage +retracing her course to Washington, where, following safe arrival, she +will end her days in the Smithsonian Institution; a haven of honour that +many will be glad to know she has won. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Voyage of the Liberdade, by Captain Joshua Slocum + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VOYAGE OF THE LIBERDADE *** + +***** This file should be named 18541.txt or 18541.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/8/5/4/18541/ + +Produced by David Garcia, Martin Pettit and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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