Читать книгу A Boy's Adventures Round the World - John Andrew Higginson - Страница 5

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The 'Silver Crown' was now in the midst of the steady north-east trade wind, the anchors had been taken in-board and secured on the forecastle-head, the cables were stowed away in their respective lockers, while the plugging of the hawse-pipes rendered the forecastle itself more comfortable and dry for the crew. With lower, topmast, topgallant, and even royal studding-sails swelling out bravely on the fresh breeze the clipper maintained her reputation for fast sailing, each day's run finding her drawing nearer the 'doldrums,' or the calm belts situated on either side of the equator.

Every hour of those lovely days brought fresh attractions and delight to Jack Clewlin, who never wearied of watching the shoals of flying-fish rise above the sea, and with extended 'wings' speed off to leeward.

Bonito, skip-jack, dolphin, and the gracefully-moving porpoise, gambolled fearlessly under the bow, now momentarily disappearing in the fringe of foam cast up by the cleaving cut-water, or forging far ahead without apparent effort.

The scene was sufficiently striking, and well calculated to impress itself on a young and imaginative mind, while the whole was brilliantly illuminated by a cloudless sun set in a dome of exquisite blue.

From the topgallant forecastle-head a fairly good view of the speeding vessel could be obtained, but the best point from which to see her was the jib-boom end, and although Jack felt inclined to climb out there, he was not permitted to do so.

'No, no, Master Jack,' one of the quarter-masters, named Readyman, exclaimed; 'a few months ahead you may try that. A slip of hand or foot now would end all your voyaging, and how could I send your dad such news?'

'Do you know my father?' Jack eagerly inquired.

'Ay, lad, and sailed with him too, long before you were born! Directly I saw him here I knew him again, and promised to keep an eye on you.'

At that moment a cry from amongst the swelling canvas aloft reached the deck.

'There they blow!'

The boy at first failed to see anything, although he knew that whales must be in sight.

It was not long, however, before Readyman pointed out several dark specks just awash off the port-quarter, and fast overhauling the clipper, despite her ten knots an hour.

As they drew closer Jack perceived several jets of spray suddenly rise above the water.

'They are playing,' the quarter-master explained, 'and only live in warm latitudes. We call them "bottle-noses."'

'Is it not wonderful how many strange creatures there are in the sea, Readyman?' Jack said.

'It is indeed, Master Jack,' the quarter-master replied; 'I have often thought so, and tried to guess what some of them were made for.'

Like war-ships in line ahead the bottle-noses approached still closer.

'They will strike us!' Jack cried.

'No, no, you need not fear that,' Readyman said; 'they are more scared of you than you could be of them. Directly they see the vessel they'll dive.'

Almost immediately their leader did so, and, sinking fathoms deep beneath the keel of the speeding clipper, all disappeared, but were soon seen far off to starboard.

The steady wind proved so favourable that considerable progress was made, but by degrees it began to slacken, until at last the 'Silver Crown' was left wholly becalmed within the 'doldrums.'

The heat had now become most oppressive, especially for those obliged to sleep under decks, but the captain ordered several 'windsails' to be rigged up fore and aft, and their long, tubular bodies were dropped below, so that the slightest breath of passing airs might be directed into the 'tween and orlop, or lower decks. The crew, too, whistled for a breeze that might take all hands out of such discomfort.

Yet day after day the vessel remained unassisted on the glittering sea; the pitch oozed in black bubbles from the main deck seams; the yards were constantly swung to catch the slightest 'cat's-paw' of air; the timbers fore and aft groaned unceasingly, and the rigging and the canvas suffered chafe as the hull rolled helplessly on the equatorial ocean.

Occasionally a downpour of rain tended to cool the stifling atmosphere, but as it ceased the heat seemed to increase.

Water-spouts were frequently observed forming on the horizon, but most fortunately none of them came near the ship.

Some of the gentlemen suggested bathing. Captain Thorne, however, would not permit even a sail to be used for that purpose, since several sharks were suddenly perceived within a few fathoms. Next day he made a cheering announcement.

'The ship will cross the line at noon,' he said.

That event had been eagerly awaited by the passengers.

It was understood that 'King Neptune' would pay them a visit, and such an event would divert attention from a trying existence beneath an almost vertical sun.

The sailors immediately became the busiest of all on board, and much reticence was observed by them.

As the interesting moment approached, the skipper kindly permitted many people to peer through his telescope, across which a hair had been artfully fastened, at the 'line' otherwise invisible to an ordinary eye.

With the making of eight bells, noon, a blast on the fog-horn announced the arrival of a stranger from 'over the bow,' and in loud voice he hailed the ship, wishing to know her name, whither she was bound, and if the captain desired the presence of his master King Neptune.

Through his speaking-trumpet the skipper made the necessary replies.

Immediately afterwards Neptune himself appeared on the forecastle head. He was a burly, dignified old fellow in fantastic attire. His touzled hair and great white beard hung below the shoulders and waist, while his arms and lower limbs were exposed, and in the right hand he held a trident.

His arrival was greeted with rounds of cheering, and much hand-shaking followed, while his trusty 'barber,' laden with an enormous shaving-pot, lathering brush, and large-sized razor, also came in for a good deal of notice.

Accompanied by several retainers, the 'King' reached the main deck. On his mounting a strangely caparisoned steed the animal was distinctly heard to observe, 'If old Bill don't sit farther aft, my back-bone will part amidships.'

Surrounded by an admiring throng, Neptune moved aft and wished Captain Thorne and all his people a safe voyage.

His assistants lost no time in getting to work.

A young ordinary seaman was seized and placed in a chair. His face was covered with a soapy mixture, but, when he objected to the bluntness of the razor, his mouth was filled with soap. Then, suddenly losing his balance, he fell backward into a large water-filled deck tub.

Other 'greenhorns,' who had not previously crossed the equator, received similar attentions, but, thanks to the watchfulness of his friend Readyman, Jack escaped notice.

Some of the young emigrants, however, presently found the sharp eye of Neptune bent on them, and taking to the rigging for safety, they were compelled to 'pay their footing' in lieu of a shave.

The utmost good humour prevailed, but before Neptune retired the amused passengers witnessed yet another strange custom, which, alas! is fast dying out, if not wholly forgotten by present day British sailors.

With some ceremony the crew brought aft the effigy of a horse, which was fastened to a rope that ran through a block at the main yardarm.

The interested and curious spectators closed round the seamen. All being ready, two of the latter seized the rope, and as the 'animal' ascended the hands sang the old sea chanty:

'I say, old man, your horse must die,

We say so, and we hope so.

I say, old man, your horse must die:

Oh, poor old man.

But should he live we'll ride him ag'in,

We say so, and we hope so.

And if he dies we'll tan his skin:

Oh, poor old man.'

The figure was thus hauled out to the yardarm, and being cut adrift fell into the sea, where it was several times dragged below the surface, but always released, by inquisitive sharks.

The meaning of that procedure was, that on that day the crew had completed one month's work in lieu of the advance of money obtained on signing articles, and having thus 'worked off the dead horse,' as the debt is styled, they would now be earning wages. Captain Thorne addressed all hands.

'You will remember,' he said, 'that this day, the tenth of March, is not alone made memorable by our crossing of the line, but that, in London, His Royal Highness, Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, and the Princess Alexandra of Denmark, become husband and wife. God bless them! I call for three cheers; and three more for our beloved Sovereign, Queen Victoria, who, since her occupation of the British throne, has endeared herself to her people. God bless her too! Hip, hip, hurrah!'

The simple words touched the hearts of the assembled throng. Many a husband and wife recalled their own wedding-day, and up rose a succession of heart-stirring cheers.

The clipper, momentarily steadied on an even keel, seemed to listen too, and tremble under the outburst.

'Well done, and I thank you all,' the captain said. And thus ended that crossing of the line on board the 'Silver Crown.'

A few days later the first breath of the anxiously awaited south-east trade wind struck the vessel.

The drooping royals began to flutter and then to fill, the topgallant-sails soon imitated that effort, and the hull once more answered its helm.

The heavy topsails and lower courses soon filled out. The hands were called to the braces, and with yards braced sharp up to an increasing breeze, the 'Silver Crown' drew away from those windless regions surrounding the equator.

Within one week she had made such progress that the temperature fell considerably, and refreshing sleep could be once more enjoyed by all.

But about that time Jack Clewlin fell into temporary disgrace with the chief officer.

Throughout the first portion of the voyage its many attractions kept the lad fully alive to the charm of sea experiences, and what with that and the miseries of the 'middle passage' he found it impossible to obtain the proper amount of sleep.

Now all that inconvenience had disappeared. The nights were becoming delightfully cooler, and tired Nature, determined to make up all arrears of sleep, cast on Jack her soothing and irresistible influence.

He battled stoutly against it while on duty, and in semi-wakefulness paced the deck until sudden collision with the bulwarks, or the saloon door, almost sent him to the deck.

Indeed, that duty of night watching proved almost insurmountable. On the occasion to which reference has been made, it fell to his lot to keep the bells going from ten o'clock till midnight.

For a while all went well.

At eight bells Mr. Sennit, the chief officer, was called. He never took more than three minutes to relieve the deck, and on doing so he invariably looked at the clock in the saloon skylight. This night he acted as usual, and immediately became angry.

'Who made eight bells?' he sharply inquired.

'I, sir,' Jack replied, but never suspecting that anything could be amiss.

'Lay aft here, two hands, and clew the mizen royal up,' the mate sang out on the watch. 'You young booby,' he added, 'I'll teach you not to call me twenty minutes before my time. Up you go and stow that sail, and be smart about it too.'

Jack was now thoroughly wide awake, and on looking at the clock found that it still wanted quarter of an hour to midnight.

That small sail fluttering in the breeze far aloft occasioned much regret. However, he scrambled into the lower mizen rigging, and getting through the 'lubber's hole' of the top climbed the topmast rigging, reached the crosstrees, and presently stood on the foot-rope of the royal yard.

How to stow the sail he did not know. Never mind! All that would come later, and the time was his own.

At present he felt sufficiently proud of having accomplished what he had not dared to attempt in broad daylight.

The pure life-giving sea breeze filled his young lungs till a shout of boyish delight could scarcely be repressed.

And what a magnificent spectacle lay spread out before him! On every hand, and far as the eye could see, a vast expanse of ocean lay glittering in the silvery radiance of an almost full moon.

The long narrow hull of the clipper loomed in patches of brilliant moonlight and deep shadows cast by the towering canvas.

The big main topgallant-sail, and the large main royal rose in front far above his own level, and away astern he could see the phosphorescent track of the ship distinctly marked.

Never before had he seen so lovely a spectacle.

Jack began to hum the air of an old sea song learned at home:

'Oh, wonder not that next to thee

I love the galloping wave.

The first of coursers wild and free,

And only carries the brave.

She's a gallant ship, with gallant crew,

Then, mother, be proud of your boy in blue.'

A sharp and stern hail reached him.

'Royal yard, there, are you going to furl that sail?'

'Ay, ay, sir,' he replied.

Rightly judging that some loosely fastened cordage, named gaskets, was for wrapping round the yard and sail, Jack used it, and 'picking up' the centre portion of the canvas he stowed it as best he could, and speedily returned to the deck.

The royal had not been stowed in shipshape fashion, yet it passed muster, and the lad presently discovered that he had spent nearly half his watch on the yard.

'You were asleep when making eight bells, Clewlin,' the mate observed.

'I must have been, sir,' Jack replied. 'It will not occur again.'

'If it does, you shall try your hand at the big main royal,' the officer returned. 'Get to your bunk.'

Alarmed by the threat, Jack disappeared.