By way of Cape Horn

As in the case of our first “Deep-Water Voyage” to Calcutta, the present one was undertaken with the sole idea of enjoyment. The pleasure which such a voyage affords the fortuna...

Next comes the carpenter, whose only name aboard ship is “Chips.” Instead of a neat, clean person, redolent of pine shavings and saw-dust, our carpenter is a very dirty, fat ind...

Light showers prevailed this morning early, but at ten the clouds disappeared, leaving a sky of deep cobalt and a glorious, sparkling sea. Fresh winds from east-northeast blew a...

“I didn’t ask you whether you thought ’twould burn or not,” responded the skipper, who had snapped about an inch off the end of his little saw. “I asked you for a match.”

This afternoon was very hot and calm, and we had the first hard rain of the voyage. As we had had no wind at all previous to this shower, the courses had been hauled up to preve...

This, and much more, did the big, handsome Scot reveal to me, in the pleasant accents of his native land, and with that knack of story-telling which so many ship-masters imagine...

In this twenty-four hours we did two hundred and thirteen knots, an average of more than nine within the hour, while in many of the squalls we must have been going nearly twelve...

This morning, while on the starboard tack, the skipper, who has now lost every vestige of the patience which he formerly exhibited, thought that at last the wind was going to sh...

It is strange how he always tries to show that he knows just a little bit better than any one else; if, for instance, I asked him if Montevideo wasn’t in 34° 50′ south, he would...

Many people, even those identified with affairs nautical, will be surprised to learn that there are still fully half a dozen of our ships which make a regular practice of carryi...

In the morning watch to-day the gale broke after blowing for twenty-four hours, the main-sail being set at four o’clock, during which process both mates were knocked down flat o...

From six o’clock yesterday evening till noon to-day we had a breeze so light that at times the sky-sails flapped idly against the masts, and for several hours we were becalmed o...

As we draw nearer and nearer to Cape Horn the men are daily growing very anxious to know the ship’s position, and as I am, of course, the only individual on board who will grati...

When we went on deck this morning there was no diminution in the wind, though it had shifted into the west; but as the captain had kept off to south, it was still on the beam. T...

The climate of this country is as equable as that of the Falklands, though even more humid. The temperature seldom falls below 30° even in July; but, on the other hand, it seldo...

Two strange, natural formations attract the attention far out on Cape St. John. The first is a mass of gray rock perched upon the very brim of a vertical cliff, almost overhangi...

We are beginning to regard deep-water sailors as little short of heroes. Indeed, they seem to me far more valiant than the battalions of soldiery that are hurled nowadays agains...

At five this morning the wind backed to south and hope glowed warm in the hearts of the men; but it didn’t take it long to shift back again to its old quarter, between southwest...

A few minutes ago, at about two o’clock, we witnessed another exhibition of what is called “discipline” on American ships, but what is elsewhere known as brutality. These are th...

Indeed, he has been in a violent mood all day at the light weather, and a growl is all that he has vouchsafed by way of an answer. After dinner he went prowling about forward lo...

Our breeze from west-northwest has not been very strong for the past twenty-four hours, and in addition we made two degrees of easting, which is sad. This was the first morning...

“No, sir, Cap’in Scruggs, sir, I’m d---- if I do,” stammered the hapless Goggins; for we could perceive the captain through a chink in the door bristled up like a ruffled bantam...

As noted in an earlier page, some people are crying now that as soon as the Central American canal is cut through it will be the instantaneous death-knell of the long-voyage sai...

Even if the weather were not so delightful, our fine progress would cover a multitude of grievances, for we have done five hundred and eighty-six miles in three days, a continuo...

Well, then, we continued to sit where we were till after dark, discussing the event; presently eight bells went, MacFoy came aft with, “The watch is aft, sir,” to which the mate...

The “Whitney,” “Curtis,” “Kelley,” and “Eureka” are American ships, their average being one hundred and ninety days; the rest are English, with an average of one hundred and nin...

In every port of any size in the United States there are a number of men whose business it is to maintain boarding-houses for sailors,--that is, they are known to the outside wo...

Throughout this forenoon, too, the wind was of the lightest sort, though this fact was productive of some little diversion. Shortly after ten o’clock the captain called our atte...

In the fury of its rotary motion and upward suction a tornado is the most appalling of all natural phenomena save, perhaps, the earthquake, and the passing of one causes the mos...

Yesterday afternoon a sail was sighted from the fore-sky-sail-yard, and at once threw everybody into tumult of excitement. Truly, a long time had passed since we had beheld a ve...

Another speech of one of the men afforded us a little amusement this forenoon. As my wife stepped to the binnacle to learn the course, the old man having just gone below with hi...

Long before the anchorage was reached a handsome white steamer was seen approaching us, with a vertically striped flag in the stern. It was the revenue cutter; and, steaming alo...