GIFT OF 
 
 P ROFESSOR C.A. KOFOID 
 
 #n\\m v . 
 
 0\1\1 
 
"Joe," he cries, " where are ye ?" p. 83. 
 
SEA SPRAY 
 
 B 7 
 
 FRANK T. BULLEN, F.R.G.S 
 
 Author of " The Men of the Merchant Service" " Creatures 
 of the Sea" " Sea Puritans" etc 
 
 LONDON 
 HODDER AND STOUGHTON 
 
 27 PATERNOSTER ROW 
 1906 
 
GIFT OF 
 
 PROFESSOR C,A, KOFOID 
 
 WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR 
 
 WITH CHRIST AT SEA : A RELIGIOUS 
 AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 
 
 Popular Edition, 6d. Crown 8vo, 6s. 
 
 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE. 
 
 Illustrated by A. TWIDLE. Crown 8vo, 
 cloth, 6s. 
 
 THE APOSTLES OF THE SOUTH-EAST. 
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth, 6s. 
 
 SEA PURITANS. 
 
 Illustrated by A. TWIDLE. Crown 8vo, 
 cloth, 6s. 
 
 LONDON : HODDER AND STOUGHTON, 
 
 27, PATERNOSTER Row. 
 

 THE following Collection of Short Stories 
 and Essays have been published at various 
 times in different journals, notably the Country 
 Gentleman and the Daily Mail, to whose pro- 
 prietors my hearty thanks for permission to 
 republish are hereby tendered. 
 
 FBANK T. BULLEN. 
 
 M216810 
 
Contents 
 
 PAGE 
 I 
 
 A NIGHT AT SEA . . . .11 
 
 II 
 
 A FINE DAY AT SEA . . . .17 
 
 III 
 
 THE SAILOR'S NIGHT ... .27 
 
 IV 
 
 "THERE GO THE SHIPS" ..... 35 
 
 V 
 BY LAND AND SEA ..... 43 
 
 vr 
 
 A MEMORY ....... 49 
 
8 CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 VII 
 MONOTONY ....... 57 
 
 VIII 
 
 VILLAGE HEALTH . . " , . . 65 
 
 IX 
 
 THE POSTMAN'S STORY . . * ~ 73 
 
 X 
 
 THE LONELY VIGIL . . . . . 83 
 
 XI 
 
 THE STRANGER . . ; . . ' * 91 
 
 XII 
 THE RIVER V 101 
 
 XIII 
 BIRDS ON PASSAGE . . . . .111 
 
 XIV 
 AT LAST 121 
 
 XV 
 A CHRISTMAS ON ALDABRA . 131 
 
CONTENTS 9 
 
 PAGE 
 
 XVI 
 
 CHRISTMAS AT SEA . .143 
 
 XVII 
 A STORMY CHRISTMAS . .153 
 
 XVIII 
 
 THE PACKET RAT 165 
 
 XIX 
 
 THE TESTING OF THE MATE . . . .185 
 
 XX 
 
 THE MUTINY OF THE " MAIDEN QUEEN " . . 207 
 
 XXI 
 
 THE LUCK OF THE DOCTOR . . .227 
 
 XXII 
 
 THE POETRY OF THE SEA . . . .241 
 
 XXIII 
 TRAWL FISHING ...... 249 
 
 XXIV 
 
 THE STORY OF A PIECE OF WHALEBONE 255 
 
10 CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 XXV 
 
 THE MYSTERY OF SELFISHNESS . .271 
 
 XXVI 
 
 THE FATE OF THE INVENTOR .... 287 
 
 XXVII 
 
 THE NIGHT OF STABS ..... 307 
 
A Night at Sea 
 
 PERFECT peace. Over all the wide circle of 
 the sea spread around me there lies a hush 
 of infinite solace, a sense of eternal truce between 
 warring creatures and battling elements ; the 
 very zephyr, scarcely rippling the plane of the 
 ocean, is like the wafting of a kiss of tenderest 
 maternal love. 
 
 I sit upon the forecastle-head with a strange 
 consciousness of aloofness from my kind, of being 
 poised in space far removed from the possibility 
 of a disturbing word or even thought. I do not 
 look behind me, where the splendid panoply of 
 sails rises tier upon tier into the ether, every piece 
 of canvas gently held in perfect shape, a series 
 of most beautiful curves, by the steady suasion of 
 the delicate breeze, for I am keenly conscious of 
 its presence. The only sound apparent is the 
 cooing ripple of the smoothly parted waters as 
 the great fabric of steel glides through them ; 
 indeed, it is hardly more than the suggestion of 
 
IS SEA FOAM 
 
 sound, serving to bring more fully to the resting 
 senses the lulling silence. 
 
 Above me the blue infinity, adorned with 
 countless globules of crystal light, spreads its 
 limitless dome, in contemplation of which the 
 soul realizes its true region, and, unshackled by 
 bodily hamperings, soars beyond the shining stars 
 in eager quest of the unknowable. Sea and sky 
 blend so perfectly that the illusion of being sus- 
 pended in space becomes impossible to avoid ; 
 but gradually it combines with another and more 
 subtle idea. That wide glade of molten silver 
 laid from the horizon to me by the glorious moon 
 must be traversable, leading by a definite and 
 unmistakable road to the real place of my desire. 
 So strongly does this mystical sense of tangibility 
 become impressed upon my mind, that the inde- 
 finable verge of the bright way appears full of 
 palaces and spires and domes, compacted of light 
 and the shadow of light. For the eyes have lost 
 power, temporarily, to see what is there before 
 them, and only behold what is not. 
 
 A meteor blazes into incandescence and sails 
 slowly through the sky, parallel to the horizon, 
 and forty degrees above it by man's empirical 
 measurement, leaving behind it a broad riband of 
 glowing light, as if a rift had been made in the 
 heavens, revealing a trace of the unutterable 
 splendour beyond. That silvern line is drawn 
 
A NIGHT AT SEA 13 
 
 around a third of the apparent circumference in 
 the wake of the triumphal star, until the painful 
 contracting of my scalp and the searing sensation 
 of intense cold over the great ganglions of my 
 body draw me down with irresistible grasp to the 
 limitations of physical disability. The flesh for 
 the time resumes its despotism ; matter ham- 
 pers mind, and hunger, chill, weariness, knock 
 clamorously at the door of sense, which admits 
 them to the mournful accompaniment of a heavy 
 sigh. 
 
 But the buoyant spirit again eludes gross 
 holding, and soars among the thickly-sown star- 
 lets of the Milky Way, which, like the floating 
 vesture of some mighty angel, extends from east 
 to west across the placid blue. 
 
 What is it that draws my gaze so persistently 
 to the moon ? She hangs in the infinite sky, a 
 perfect circle of glowing silver, her well-defined 
 markings strangely real to the unassisted eye as 
 mountain and valley and sea. 
 
 Yet there is something amiss with her light : 
 surely it is not fading ! There is not in all the 
 vast concave the tiniest wisp of cloud or suspic- 
 ion of haze to dim her usual radiant effulgence. 
 Still, I cannot avoid the knowledge that the 
 brilliancy is leaving the splendid satellite, she is 
 becoming just a flat white disc, from which the 
 light is departing. Is it, I ask myself, with a 
 
14 SEA FOAM 
 
 momentary spasm of dread, that I am going 
 blind ? Does sight thus leave the eyes ? How 
 foolish of me ; the stars are increasing their lus- 
 tre, the less remote planets blazing like miniature 
 suns. And then I note, with new dismay, an 
 encroaching darkness on the moon's rim, a creep- 
 ing upon her of a circular shadow, and I say, 
 aloud, for my own comfort, " Why, it's an eclipse." 
 And I try to remember that this is a purely natural 
 phenomenon, its time of occurrence predicted 
 many years beforehand to the fraction of a second 
 by astronomical science. 
 
 But it is of no avail. That innate sense of the 
 supernatural, which is 6ne of the deepest instincts 
 of human nature, forbids me so to look upon this 
 solemn celestial display being given with infinitesi- 
 mal me for sole spectator (as I feel). The shadow 
 advances fatefully ; the gloom upon the waters 
 deepens ; the sweet peaceful silence becomes the 
 terrible strained hush before some awful calamity ; 
 the breathless waiting for a cataclysm. Strange 
 spectral glares begin to show in the sea, as if the 
 good spirits were being imprisoned for a season 
 and the demons of the depth were gathering for 
 high carnival. 
 
 Still the darkening of the moon<goes on, the sky 
 deepening in colour until, as the last faint cresc- 
 ent of white disappears the whole vault above 
 is of so deep a violet that it may almost be called 
 
A NIGHT AT SEA 15 
 
 black. It is a curious darkness, too, an unnatural 
 gloom which has none of the characteristics of 
 the overcast sky, or of the appearance of the 
 heavens upon an ordinary moonless night. 
 
 There is a sense of tremendous loss, a feeling of 
 bereavement, not to be expressed in mere words, 
 and I unconsciously mourn the loss of the Lady 
 of Night as if she were an intimately dear friend. 
 While I am still perfectly conscious that her ab- 
 sence from view is but temporary , this is my feeling. 
 And not unnaturally. How hard it is to realize 
 upon a miserably gloomy and weeping day that 
 just on the other side of the pall of cloud there 
 is a boundless ocean of sunshine ! 
 
 The stars have now grown still more brilliant, 
 glowing like points of molten steel against the 
 intensely dark background of the heavens. And 
 in the west there rises the mysterious leaning 
 cone of the Zodiacal Light, never so plainly visi- 
 ble as on a night like this. Like a far-off lam- 
 bent reflection of some unutterably vast pyramid 
 of fire glowing a universe away, it brightens and 
 fades and brightens again, its borders melting so 
 imperceptibly into the darkness as to make it 
 impossible to decide where one ceases and the 
 other begins. 
 
 And now, as if to heighten the darkness above, 
 the sea is all ablaze with greenish light. Living 
 flames, describing a thousand thousand mazy evo- 
 
16 SEA FOAM 
 
 lutions amid an ocean that seems to be supplied 
 with diffused light from beneath, whose every 
 tiny wavelet breaks in a miniature surf of dia- 
 mond spray. And a bewildered sea-bird, its fine 
 sensibilities touched to their depths by the sud- 
 den and palpable dark, gives utterance to a long 
 wail as of some acutely wretched spirit condemned 
 to suffer inarticulately for ever. 
 
 Suddenly the tide of gloom has reached its or- 
 dained height. It begins to ebb in the same haste- 
 less fashion as it flowed, and presently, bringing 
 with it relief beyond my hopes, peeps out again 
 the sweet shy curve of light. As if irresistibly 
 forced to return to its darksome lair, the shadow 
 recedes, reluctantly, lingeringly ; but the un- 
 shrouded face of the moon now beams brighter 
 apparently than ever before. The lambent flame 
 in the sea fades and almost disappears ; the stars 
 resume their sober twinkling, and the Zodiacal 
 Light disappears. The eclipse is over. 
 
 " Pretty sight," says my relief, with startling 
 abruptness in my ear. I murmur something un- 
 intelligibly, and turn away with something like 
 a feeling of despair. That such a vision of 
 wonder should be spoken of as " pretty " ! 
 
II 
 A Fine Day at Sea 
 
 MOST trite and commonplace doubtless is 
 the remark that miracles repeated be- 
 come ordinary events, but, like so many other 
 axioms, it is too often taken for granted for the 
 most of us to realize its amazing wonder. And 
 therefore it is so good for modern man to take a 
 trip to sea occasionally in some grand comfort- 
 able vessel like the one in which I am now writing, 
 and, devoid of all mundane cares for the time 
 being, set himself resolutely to realize the nature 
 and extent of the miracles by which he is sur- 
 rounded. The result must be in any case the 
 enlargement of his mind, a deepening of its recep- 
 tivity of the thoughts that matter, the ideas that 
 count ; and beyond, above all that, a quickening 
 of his sense of participation in the glories and 
 mysteries of inanimate creation. All of which 
 will inevitably make for his highest enjoyment. 
 Let us consider, if you will, the miracle of a fine 
 day at sea, as being, perhaps, the most ordinary 
 of the happenings in certain parts of the ocean. 
 
 17 2 
 
18 SEA FOAM 
 
 After a dreamless sleep, in which the deep-throated 
 hum of the gigantic slaves below comes mellowed 
 to a most melodious murmur, lulling the happily 
 tired body to sweetest rest, you are awakened by 
 some of your willing servants preparing the float- 
 ing palace for your pleasure ere you rise. Do not 
 let the drowsy god cajole you into further slum- 
 ber unnecessary, debilitating but rise, even 
 if the hour be most unusual, say as early as four 
 a.m. Just in your sleeping rig come on deck, and 
 watch the fading splendours of the night prepar- 
 ing to depart in hasteless procession. The silken 
 sea reflects the glittering stars, and is divided by 
 a wide silvern band shed by that molten white 
 disc, my Lady Moon. Low down on the western 
 horizon the setting stars glow redly by reason of 
 refraction. As the eye turns slowly upwards, 
 the higher luminaries glitter with a purer, more 
 piercing sheen. So let the vision range over the 
 purple concave until it reaches the eastern verge 
 of sky and sea, where, although there is as yet no 
 perceptible beginning of light, the stars are wan- 
 ing, their gleam is dulled to a lustreless white. 
 Look long enough, and the gentle luminaries fade 
 completely away, making place for their mighty 
 master, the Sun. 
 
 There is usually in these sub-tropical regions 
 of the sea wherein I now roam so pleasantly, a 
 brief interregnum between the departure of night 
 
A FINE DAY AT SEA 19 
 
 and the coming of day. It is apparently an inde- 
 terminate time, as if night had not yet decided to 
 go and day were unwilling to come. Also, there 
 is often at this time a heavy shower or two, shed 
 by some gloomy nimbus clouds, which rise ghost- 
 like, pass dispensing their refreshing burdens, and 
 are gone. As the assiduous shipmen seize the 
 opportunity afforded them by the interval of the 
 middle watch, with its absence of guests, to pre- 
 pare the floating home for another day's enjoy- 
 ment, so do these homely clouds, with their benefi- 
 cent lustrations, make sweeter and fresher still 
 the loveliness of the coming day. They disap- 
 pear, and along the eastern rim of the sea-circle 
 shimmers a suggestion of light, followed imper- 
 ceptibly, yet immediately, by silken streamers 
 of tenderest tints, glowing, and paling, and 
 changing against the lightening violet of the 
 night. Their colours deepen, brighten, while the 
 cloudlets around the horizon flush rosily like a 
 bevy of virgins at the approach of the bridegroom. 
 A golden glory floods the eastern sky, dominating, 
 overpowering, the throbbing precursors in its 
 splendour. The waiting sea reflects it, there is a 
 hush of almost awful expectation as the last shade 
 belonging to the night passes from the presence 
 of light, and almost at a bound, with the majestic 
 upward sweep of an archangel, the great Sun 
 appears. 
 
20 SEA FOAM 
 
 Look now at the sea, note how in multitudi- 
 nous welcome it greets the day, how from each 
 of its collected myriads of drops there beams a 
 gleeful smile, as if with all created things the waters 
 of the eternal ocean were rejoicing with joy 
 ineffable, unutterable, obeying the sublime invo- 
 cation of the Psalmist, " Oh, all ye seas and floods, 
 bless ye the Lord ; praise him, and magnify him 
 for ever." 
 
 This is, however, but the opening miracle, the 
 prime factor of an expanding series, the result being 
 infinity. For who can assess the value, or express 
 it in terms comprehensible by finite minds, of one 
 fine day ? Not that I dare depreciate the value 
 of the rain, hail, frost, and snow, stormy wind 
 fulfilling His word. But each of these in their 
 own order. For the present we are far from the 
 possibility of any of these happenings but the 
 first, and that only in pleasantest passing fashion. 
 We are just on the verge of the Tropic of Cancer 
 in mid-Atlantic a place of perennial sunshine 
 by day and beauty of the tenderest by night. A 
 place where the fiercely contending forces of sea 
 and sky meet, as it were, on neutral ground, and 
 peacefully commune with each other, sinking 
 their differences, resting from the fury of their 
 labours in purifying the earth, and murmuring 
 kindliest welcome to the intruder upon their 
 peaceful domain. 
 
A TINE DAY AT SEA 21 
 
 The day strengthens, brightens ; the golden 
 sun soars ever higher towards the zenith, but his 
 ardent beams are tempered by the cool and gentle 
 breeze. There is no sense of heat or cold, the air, 
 whether in sunshine or shadow, having a wooing 
 softness about it that, while it lulls, does not debili- 
 tate. As the huge ship speeds steadily onward 
 to her goal those wonderful little ocean nomads, 
 the flying fish, rise and flee outwards from her 
 path, singly, in small companies, and occasionally 
 in such vast numbers that they appear like broad 
 sheets of silver rising and falling over the intense 
 blue of the sea. I often wonder what they think, 
 or feel, or whatever it is that affects them in that 
 way, when the vast mass of the ship comes gliding 
 over them, with the enormous propeller whirling 
 through the heretofore undisturbed waters. I 
 suppose they must take the vessel for just an 
 immensely exaggerated sea-monster of an inimical 
 character, since practically every moving thing 
 they meet in the sea is the latter, and I do not 
 suppose that they possess much power of dis- 
 crimination, as far as mere size goes. But see 
 over yonder ! A mass of black, fish-shaped, rises 
 majestically in mid-air. It is nearly ten miles 
 away, but its outlines are well and clearly defined, 
 as is also the snowy commotion in the sea when 
 it falls. Again, and again, and again, in slow 
 sequence, the feat is performed. It is the hump- 
 
22 SEA FOAM 
 
 backed whale, full of fun, and frolic, and power, 
 exhibiting at once his might and joy of living by 
 hurling his vast bulk skywards. But to our 
 regret his frolicsome mood is soon over ; he does 
 not care, apparently, to exhibit his prowess to 
 any extent, and so is gone. 
 
 And now, nearing noon, it would appear as if 
 the few sea-folk of whom we are privileged to 
 make the acquaintance, the distant acquaintance 
 in a ship of this kind, have agreed to remove them- 
 selves far from our ken, leaving us in undisturbed 
 solitude, as far as our immediate aerial and oceanic 
 environment is concerned. Not a solitary petrel, 
 or porpoise, or flying fish comes to break the vast 
 loneliness of sea and sky with some appearance 
 of animated nature. It needs the informed 
 imagination to see, with mental vision, the teem- 
 ing busy life beneath that apparently lifeless sur- 
 face just agitated by the steady breeze, to realize 
 how in every drop of that incalculable mass of 
 water there dwells a busy colony of beings play- 
 ing an active, useful part in the great economy of 
 the ocean. 
 
 And now the sun is in the meridian, his lam- 
 bent beams dart down their fervent glow, and 
 involuntarily those whose position does not 
 compel them to brave the celestial fire seek shade, 
 and yield themselves to the gentle languor in- 
 
 Vitr f.Vi^ naic*ciainrY TITO TIYI f Ti HPViCk "f.imo ia 
 
A PINE DAY AT SEA 23 
 
 unfavourable to exertion, except of necessity ; it 
 makes for complete rest of mind and body, if only 
 one be privileged to yield to its gentle invitation. 
 The necessary meals are taken perfunctorily, yet 
 not without a certain decorous appetite ; but each 
 seems to heave a sigh of relief upon returning to 
 the upper deck and the cool side. Still sky and 
 sea wear their bright beaming smile, still the 
 fleecy cloudlets sail imperceptibly over the shim- 
 mering blue as the sun begins his majestic descent 
 adown that glorious slope to the western verge of 
 ocean and heaven. The air grows cooler, and a 
 gentle increase in the breeze makes the wavelets 
 grow and frolic joyously, in contrast to their 
 sedate motion of the earlier portion of the day. 
 Now there are a few more clouds and a decided 
 sense of the ebbing of day's tide, albeit where the 
 oblique beams of the sun strike full upon the face 
 they seem to have lost none of their heat. But, 
 as if with accelerating pace, the sun nears the 
 horizon, and the sky begins to glow with the 
 astounding pageantry of sunset. All the pomp 
 and glory of evening is preparing for the closing 
 miracleof the day. Thereis a tender freshness in the 
 air, a sense of subdued joy, placid of enjoyment. 
 The cumulous clouds take a sombre hue, almost 
 black, in strange contrast with their fleecy white- 
 ness of a few moments ago. And between them 
 the sky, low down towards the horizon, assumes 
 
24 SEA FOAM 
 
 that wonderfully soft shade of green that partakes 
 of both blue and orange, yet is not either, a tint 
 so pleasing, so restful to the eye, that it soothes 
 and lulls the other senses like soft music sweetly 
 played. The higher clouds grow rosy as the up- 
 ward streaming rays from the disappearing 
 sun catch them, and, as at dawn, streamers 
 of all glorious hues flame across the deepening 
 violet of the sky. Veiled in a close canopy of 
 cloud, as if entering the Holiest of all, the sun 
 sinks below the horizon, and it is hard, indeed, 
 even with our knowledge, to believe that but a 
 little way westward he is still beaming upon the 
 world, while beneath our feet weary souls are 
 anxiously awaiting his appearance to dispel the 
 morbid ghoulish fancies of their long sleepless 
 night. 
 
 Rapidly the glow fades from the sky, for if the 
 glory of a tropical sunset be great, it is very brief ; 
 the last faint streamers of colour disappear, only 
 an almost blood-red horizontal streak of light 
 remaining till the last, close to the western verge. 
 That, too, dies into deepest violet, and looking 
 up we see with almost a start of astonishment 
 that all the majestic constellations are shining 
 forth, as if suddenly lit by an Almighty hand. 
 There is no moon visible, but the sea is aflame 
 with phosphorescence, the effect of which upon 
 the eye is to darken the sky still more. So look- 
 
A FINE DAY AT SEA 25 
 
 ing up suddenly to the westward, where now no 
 cloud can be seen, we may catch sight of that mys- 
 terious, almost awful cone of light-shadow which, 
 without knowing aught of its origin or reason of 
 being, men have agreed to call the Zodiacal Light. 
 Day is done and sweet night succeeds, and soon, 
 lulled by the delicate freshness in the air, we feel 
 drawn sleepwards, whither we willingly go with 
 just a tinge of regret shading our satisfaction, 
 because eager as we have been so to do, we have 
 not appreciated more than a tithe of the miracul- 
 ousness of a perfectly fine day at sea. 
 
Ill 
 The Sailor's Night 
 
 "1 T TITH monotonous frequency of late the 
 dwellers on shore, whether in low-lying 
 districts, high open country, or sheltered vale, 
 have alike felt the whole entity protest against 
 the savage persistency of persecution evidenced 
 by the elements. 
 
 All varieties of discomfort seem to have com- 
 bined to worry the patient citizen who suffers 
 according to his degree, but who, whatever his 
 station, feels constrained to admit that his endur- 
 ance is drawing near its limit. And yet, if we 
 would only realize it, how helpful it would be to us 
 all to understand that certain of our workers, the 
 most indispensable of them in fact, must come to 
 look upon the state of things which we so much 
 deplore as normal, only to be expected, and in 
 no wise to be made a fuss about. And when we 
 compare our lot with theirs, it is impossible for 
 us t to feel otherwise than shamefaced, the dis- 
 crepancy is so great. 
 
 Wretched indeed is the lot of the worker who, 
 
 27 
 
28 SEAfFOAM 
 
 after buffeting the elements all day, cannot look 
 forward to a weather-tight shelter, a change of 
 clothes, and a good, if homely, meal. Yes ; and 
 at various intervals throughout the day there 
 will be ameliorations in the shape of warming, 
 stimulating food and drink, consumed in compara- 
 tive comfort. Even the homeless wretch may 
 find these necessaries if he will, although it is a 
 truism that many of the dregs of the population 
 will endure any privation rather than sacrifice 
 one hour of liberty to freeze, or to starve, as 
 it so often happens. 
 
 But the lot of the merchant seaman more 
 especially in sailing vessels, and lowest of all in 
 the small sailing coasters of our shores that cling 
 so tenaciously to their most precarious positions 
 is so sordid and trying that it ought, it must do 
 us good, to mitigate our grumbling and increase 
 our patience by the contemplation of it for a 
 little. Take, for instance, the case of a small 
 barque outward bound off Portland, say. The 
 weather is not bad enough, that is to say it does 
 not blow hard enough, to reduce sail below top- 
 gallant sails, but in every other respect it is atro- 
 cious. Incessant rain, only modified occasion- 
 ally by sleet, continually shifting wind, and thick 
 darkness are its general characteristics. 
 
 After a day of severe toil, made so principally 
 by the weather, the watch below from 8 p.m. to 
 
THE SAILOR'S NIGHT 29 
 
 midnight prepare to " turn in." Their apartment 
 is wedge-shaped, right forward where every im- 
 portunate sea thunders against it for admittance, 
 and along both sides are ranged the " homes " 
 of the men, spaces just a little larger than their 
 coffins will be, if ever they have any. An ordinary 
 man can stand upright between the beams, but 
 while he does so he will find the atmospheric 
 compound up there grip him by the throat and 
 induce vertigo. The odours are of unclean man, 
 steaming clothing and wet oilskins held together 
 by strong tobacco smoke, which probably dis- 
 courages the various microbes so much that they 
 cannot carry on business. There is no place to 
 dry anything, and the heat is purely animal 
 any other kind would surely result in suffocation. 
 Yet sheer weariness overcomes all the forces 
 making for insomnia, and presently in that dis- 
 mal cave five sailors are temporarily as happy as 
 an infant duchess in her swansdown cradle. But 
 the depth of that first fathomless sleep is rudely 
 plumbed by a most terrific uproar. " All hands 
 shorten sail look alive ! " is roared into the den 
 to the accompaniment of howling wind, thunder- 
 ing canvas, and thrashing spray. The worried 
 vessel staggers uncertainly like a spirited horse 
 overladen and beaten on both sides at once, 
 while every item of her structure groans as if in 
 the throes of dissolution. 
 
30 SEA FOAM 
 
 In less than five minutes from the time of being 
 called the hardly awakened men are groping their 
 way aloft in the blackness, their just warmed 
 bodies protesting at this sudden change from the 
 damp warmth of the bunk to the full inclemency 
 of that savage gale. Their very vitals shiver, 
 for they are ill-nourished and poorly clad, while 
 the venomous spear-points of the rain seem to find 
 every weak point in a full suit even of good oil- 
 skins. But they cling instinctively to shroud and 
 jackstay, and presently are drawing upon their 
 scanty reserves of strength in conflict with the 
 sails, which seem full of vengeful desire to de- 
 stroy them. Numbly they succeed in " spilling " 
 the sail, and holding the gathered-up roll with one 
 arm, grope blindly in the blackness beneath the 
 yard for the gasket wherewith to secure it. And 
 by the time they have finished handing that 
 sail they are a little better fit for the next, their 
 muscles having settled into the needed positions. 
 
 The lashing of the elements, too, has lost some 
 of its power to annoy by constant repetition of it. 
 
 But the work goes on too long, and tired bodies 
 respond but languidly to the demands made upon 
 them by willing if somewhat muddled brains. 
 Moreover, there is a sense of deep grievance. The 
 watch below is slipping away with marvellous 
 celerity, and with it all chance of rest and shelter 
 for another four hours, or until 4 a.m. Under 
 
THE SAILOR'S NIGHT 31 
 
 these circumstances it induces a feeling of sym- 
 pathy for those poor wastrels who growl under 
 
 their breath, "Let the sail blow away; I 
 
 ain't goin' t' kill myself." Also a feeling of intense 
 admiration for those who, usually the majority, 
 keep doggedly toiling on, refusing to acknowledge 
 the body's rebellion until the task is done, and 
 well done. 
 
 At last a voice is heard from out of the darkness 
 aft. " That'll do the watch," repeated sullenly 
 by the men of the watch below, who mutter 
 afterwards, " 'Spose 'taint worth while turning 
 in agen." Now would be the time for hot tea 
 or coffee ; or, even in spite of teetotalism, a tot 
 of grog, for the vital forces of those men are at 
 a low ebb, and they have the immediate prospect 
 before them of four hours' exposure to the relent- 
 less weather, even if no work be a-doing. But 
 the only item of comfort available is a smoke, 
 and a change into day clothing for those whose 
 meagre wardrobe has not yet been exhausted. 
 That contingency during a steady run of dirty 
 weather is bound to come soon, and I very well 
 remember our third mate in the Columbus inform- 
 ing me that he had just put on his twelfth and 
 last change. We in the forecastle had not known 
 the feel of dry clothing for a fortnight. 
 
 The pipes are barely smoked out when the bell 
 strikes, and sticking a quid of tobacco in his 
 
32 SEA FOAM 
 
 cheek the man whose trick it is at the wheel 
 goes aft, the lookout man mounts the top- 
 gallant forecastle, and the rest of the watch 
 stand by under the lee of such erections as will 
 shield them from the hissing spindrift and the 
 incessant rain. They account themselves happy 
 if they need only just suffer the passage of the 
 hours without being of necessity kept on the go, 
 for they feel wet less while quiet. 
 
 Happier still if they can cultivate successfully 
 a Chinese-like absence of mental travail, of self- 
 commiseration, and jealous recollection of what 
 a comfortable bed ashore with a certainty of all 
 night in means. Even the wretched little hole 
 in the mephitic forecastle looms before them 
 more invitingly than does the cosy carpeted cham- 
 ber, with its large white bed and every comfort- 
 able accessory, to some of us, ingrates that we are. 
 And they think most savagely of the lucky (?) 
 beggars snoring away there below, who have not 
 had their watch's rest broken into. 
 
 The long, weary watch comes to an end. As 
 the relieved ones hurry below hardly a word is 
 uttered. Just the outer garments are shed, and in 
 ten minutes they have attained a temporary 
 Nirvana, while the watch on deck, even amid their 
 shivering hatred of their lot, feel some allevia- 
 tion in the prospect of scalding coffee close at 
 hand does not the fragrance of the beans 
 
THE SAILOR'S NIGHT 33 
 
 being energetically ground in the galley give po- 
 tent promise of that much-needed refreshment ? 
 And while partaking of it there is a temporary 
 abatement of the weather's malignity, a watery 
 sun gleams through the rifted masses of leaden 
 cloud at the edge of the horizon, and tongues 
 are loosened. There is even a gleam of hope 
 that " we might get a slant down-Channel after 
 this." No higher do their aspirations soar ; 
 such minor details (to us) as a comfortable break- 
 fast, a newspaper, and a definite task for the 
 day just commencing are not in their programme. 
 Methinks it would modify greatly our queru- 
 lous complaints of the weather and its effects 
 upon our lives could we occasionally sample the 
 delights of an ordinary night at sea. 
 
IV 
 
 "There go the Ships " 
 
 OTANDING upon the extreme verge of St. 
 ^ Catherine's Point this bright, biting morning, 
 the words of the old Psalmist came with extreme 
 vividness to my mind. I do not pause to con- 
 sider whether he in the fields of Palestine ever 
 saw a ship or not, save in the poetic mirror of his 
 wonderful mind, or whether, if he did see what he 
 called ships they were about on a par with the 
 fishing smacks of to-day. Sufficient that he used 
 this pregnant phrase which, occurring to any of 
 us who know the sea, even in the quietest of in- 
 land villages, will suffice to bring before us a 
 series of pictures unmatchable for beauty and 
 interest in all the wide world beside. 
 
 There go the ships. First, because she will 
 soon be gone for ever ; note yonder labouring old 
 brigantine. Her hull was modern, and con- 
 sidered a triumph of the shipbuilder's craft, 
 half a century ago. What a to-do they made of 
 her when she was launched from the slips in that 
 salt little coast town, to be sure. She was al- 
 
36 SEA FOAM 
 
 most the sole topic of conversation for a week, 
 and the youth of the place were nearly rabid 
 with envy of the two boys who had succeeded 
 in getting a berth in her. Her master would 
 hardly have changed places with a king, so 
 proud and satisfied was he at being chosen to 
 command her. And now, how wearily she seems 
 to trudge the boisterous channel seas, like some 
 aged farm labourer lifting his heavily-shod feet 
 in the loamy furrows, her grimy, patched sails 
 slatting as she stumbles along. Everything 
 about her spells poverty and decay, but her name 
 and that jars unpleasantly as being in the nature 
 of a sarcasm the Bonny Kate, of Poole. Just 
 an old collier, that has been able to secure a cargo 
 for some little coast port, a cargo not worth a 
 steamship's while to look at ; there she goes, 
 and a blessing go with her for old sake's sake. 
 But, see, here comes an even more pathetic object 
 if possible, especially to one who has known 
 her in her day of glory. Even under that towering 
 deckload of deals, as high as her shearpoles, and 
 in spite of the "Norwegian House Flag'' (windmill 
 pump) which twirls in melancholy fashion, and 
 sends a thin stream of water out of a lee-scupper, 
 I can recognize my old ship the Conqueror. And I 
 feel something that a large-hearted hunting man 
 might who should suddenly come across in the 
 crowded streets of a busy town a once favourite 
 
-THERE GO THE SHIPS 53 37 
 
 hunter of his toiling along with strained knees 
 and cracked hoofs in the shafts of a coal wagon. 
 Her once tall, tapering masts (she carried sky- 
 sails in those days) are razeed till she only spreads 
 top-gallant sails ; her splendid jibboom, whereon 
 she used to spread four head sails, is docked to a 
 stump, and altogether she presents a piteous 
 spectacle. She symbolizes the decline and fall 
 of the sailor. In the day of her pride fifty prime 
 seamen sprang at the sound of the bo'sun's pipe ; 
 now eight starvelings do what they can, and leave 
 the rest to luck. Yet, so staunchly was she built, 
 and so well cared for in those far-off days, that 
 for years she has been doing this tremendous 
 work of timber droguing across the Atlantic, 
 and is yet sound and fit as ever, if only she could 
 get fair play. I feel that I have seen a ghost 
 redolent of the old romance, and I would that 
 she had been laid long ago. 
 
 Another sailing-ship surely they are unusually 
 plentiful to-day ? But this one still flies the red 
 ensign of England ; still bravely holds on to the 
 few remnants of her once splendid trade. She is 
 one of the Australian clippers, known all over the 
 world, who performed feats of sailing without 
 any ostentation, such as the Yankee blowhards 
 of those days never equalled except in talk. She 
 is trim and taut, clean and bright, a delight to 
 a seaman's eye. But when she makes her num- 
 
38 SEA FOAM 
 
 her, and we learn that she is from one of the 
 nitrate ports, a sigh escapes us, for we fully realize 
 what that means. Her Australian trade, with its 
 fat profits, is quite gone, and she must needs, for 
 all her brave appearance, go groping about the 
 ports where nonperishable low-freight-paying 
 cargo is to be had, taking what she can get, 
 and being as thankful for it as she can. Of course, 
 it is childish and useless to bemoan the stride 
 of progress, and, indeed, I would be the last one 
 to do it ; but I do not feel culpable in giving a 
 regretful thought to the passing of those great 
 yacht-like clippers, beautiful as a dream, where 
 they bred sailors of the real type, and whose 
 deeds are still the talk of sailors wherever two or 
 three are gathered together. 
 
 Yet one more, a sailing-ship, with five masts, 
 each carrying a veritable mountain of canvas. 
 No, seamanship is not dead, if men can handle 
 that awful monster, especially the handful that 
 she is certainly carrying. She flies the French 
 flag, one of those vessels built to earn subsidies 
 wrung from the thrifty French people, under the 
 mistaken impression that they are assisting to re- 
 habilitate France's decayed mercantile marine. 
 Her advent, and that of those like her, have 
 hastened the going of English sailing-ships, though 
 what amount of energy, skill, and enterprise on 
 the part of a British sailing-ship owner can avail 
 
"THERE GO THE SHIPS" 39 
 
 against the competition of vessels that can carry 
 cargoes for nothing, and yet, by reason of the 
 mileage subsidy, yield a profit to their owners ? 
 And such a cargo as she can take, too ! Between 
 eight and nine thousand tons of grain home from 
 San Francisco in less than four months, without a 
 penny of expense for engines or coal, and with a 
 crew all told of less than forty. She represents 
 the worst, hardest side of a sailor's calling let 
 her go, the great, oversparred, undermanned 
 brute ! 
 
 The breeze freshens, and a nasty little lop gets 
 up. The gulls begin to soar, and draw nearer 
 the land ; there is dirty weather coming, surely. 
 And there goes, loaded to her scuppers, a thousand 
 ton cargo-boat, grim, devoid of ornament, the 
 helot of the sea. There's a black lookout ahead, 
 but she plunges forward to meet it as if urged by 
 some dread fate. Already, at intervals, she 
 drives her blunt nose beneath an oncoming wave, 
 which lollops over the bows and streams aft in a 
 foaming flood. Oh ! toiler at the loom, in the 
 machine shop, in the furrow, or in the mine, 
 think, if you can, for a moment of the lot of her 
 crew. The watch on deck consists of an officer 
 on the bridge, a man on the lookout (who is on 
 the bridge too, for there is no other safe lookout 
 place for him), the man at the wheel, and one 
 other, who is paddling about in the icy-cold water, 
 
40 SEA FOAM 
 
 precariously attending to such duties as must be 
 performed, and dimly wondering what kind of an 
 infernal time they are going to have to-night. 
 But never in their wildest dreams do any of them 
 suppose that there is any possibility of their put- 
 ting in for shelter. Oh, no ! drive her out into 
 the black night and the jaws of the blinding gale, 
 for dividends must be earned, times are hard, 
 and time is precious. Toiling gnomes below, see 
 to it that you keep a full head of steam, for upon 
 it all your lives may depend to-night. Go on, 
 and God be with you, unconsidered men of the 
 sea. 
 
 There go the ships ; yes, and with relief I 
 notice that these two are something better fitted 
 to face the night that is coming, likely to yield a 
 trifle more comfort to watch below as well as 
 watch on deck. Uncouth, almost brutal, in the 
 severity of their huge outlines, they seem to scorn 
 the trivial channel seas. For one thing, they 
 are flying light, being outward bound. A visible 
 sign of Britain's great prosperity, according to 
 some ideas, that the majority of her ships shall 
 leave her shores in ballast and return deep-laden. 
 Each of these ships will carry in her capacious 
 holds the produce of a county in grain, the cattle 
 and sheep from a hundred hills. They are not 
 fast, they just grind along at an even ten-knots or 
 so, but they look as if they could keep that up 
 
-THERE GO THE SHIPS" 41 
 
 all round the world, as, indeed, some of them do, 
 in mute testimony to the skill of their designers, 
 the integrity of their builders, and the courageous 
 ability of their engineers. Every time-saving, 
 labour-saving appliance is fitted in them, and 
 still they are well-manned. As long as they 
 can keep going, unless, lifting too high to an 
 insistent sea, the propeller emerges from its 
 tremendous thrust at the water, and, flying 
 round suddenly in unresisting air, she carries 
 away the shaft, life on board is not too hard. 
 There are many worse places to be found than 
 even the stokehold of such vessels . Moreover, they 
 are indispensable. Without their constant ser- 
 vice in bearing to us the food from other lands, 
 we must starve. Therefore, in spite of the shock 
 their ungainly snub-nosed, tank-built shapes may 
 give to the aesthetic sense, in spite of our dislike 
 to their befouling the clean sky with their inky 
 trails of smoke from the cheap coal they burn, let 
 us gratefully bid them and their gallant crews 
 God-speed and pleasant days. 
 
 There go the ships. Ah, there, indeed, go some 
 ships that are a pure delight. Built regardless 
 of cost, their fittings in no wise inferior to those 
 of some great hotel, their speed equal to and far 
 more reliable than that of some railways I could 
 name, but need not- there go a couple of liners. 
 Here we may indeed feel exultant when we see 
 
42 SEA FOAM 
 
 to what a pitch of perfection man's skill and cour- 
 age have brought ocean travel. Here is that which 
 will reconcile us to the loss we feel at the passing 
 of the sailing-ship. We can feel proud to belong 
 to the country that builds such ships, that owns 
 such numbers of them, and that so faithfully, 
 regularly produces the men to handle them. To 
 my mind there is something intensely fascinating 
 in the sight of a great liner, by day or by night, 
 gliding along at her accustomed steady twenty 
 or twenty-two miles an hour, with such apparent 
 ease that it gives little or no hint of the mighty 
 forces conspiring to drive the vast fabric through 
 the water at such speed. To think, too, of the 
 great company on board, housed in comfort, fed 
 luxuriously, borne safely across the trackless 
 ocean for thousands of miles. Only to meditate 
 upon it for a little should do us good, and, 
 better still, should give us an ardent desire to re- 
 member for good the men who perform this mira- 
 cle year after year, until old age compels them 
 to lay down the sextant, and betake themselves 
 into the quiet obscurity of some country home. 
 Of one thing I am sure, which is : That no more 
 profitable way for a landsman to spend a leisure 
 hour could be found than a quiet meditation upon 
 the modern meaning of " There go the ships." 
 
By Land and Sea 
 
 "TT7HO wouldn't sell a farm and go to 
 V V sea ? " To-night, on many a strange 
 and remote sea, that ironical question is being 
 asked by seamen of one another, by seamen of 
 themselves, by men who have never seen a farm, 
 nor know at all of what a farmer's life is built 
 up. The old question comes forcibly to me to- 
 night, as in mid-harvest time I sit at my window 
 in this remote Cambridgeshire village. I hear 
 the howling of the wind among the barren fruit- 
 trees, strangely reminiscent of the surf upon 
 lonely beaches I visited in bygone years ; I 
 note the lashing of the rain upon the window- 
 panes, and hear the steady rush of the torrent 
 from the eaves, and I wonder, after all, if some 
 would not sell their farms, presupposing buyers, 
 and go to sea. But while I wonder thus the 
 rain suddenly ceases, the wind, as if weary of 
 striving, tired of destroying, lulls to a calm, 
 the gloomy pall of cloud above grows thin in 
 places, arid a pallid moon peeps through. A 
 
 43 
 
44 SEA FOAM 
 
 delicious autumn scent arises from the storm- 
 beaten plants, and also an aroma of hope. It 
 will be a fine day to-morrow, and perhaps the 
 crops are not so much damaged as we feared. 
 Let us turn over and go to sleep. We shall not 
 be called out at midnight to gaze upon an inter- 
 minable waste of waters heaving disconsolately 
 under the grey sky, nor shall we know, whatever 
 our station, the misery of a forecastle breakfast. 
 It is better here. 
 
 Naturally, I feel considerable trepidation in 
 venturing upon so utterly strange a field (to me) 
 as that of country life in print. I can only hope 
 that those well- versed people who read these 
 errant papers will remember the limitations of a 
 sailor, will, when coming athwart some grotesque 
 blunder, feel that perchance that is how the 
 matter would strike a sailor, and, above all, be- 
 lieve that I utterly disclaim any idea of being 
 didactic or dogmatic, or any other ic that carries 
 with it the insulting idea of pedantic. 
 
 My true intent is all for your delight, 
 
 and that only. As to bucolic business generally, 
 is it not recorded on the tablets of my memory 
 how once in the interval between ship and ship I 
 accepted a berth upon an up-country New Zealand 
 farm, and realized, in the most complete fashion, 
 how utterly futile a farmer's assistant I was ? Shall 
 
BY LAND AND SEA 45 
 
 I ever forget my shameful failure in the matter 
 of milking a cow ? How, after anchoring her fore 
 and aft with halters found in the stable, I assaulted 
 her udder, and pulled and pulled without extract- 
 ing one drop from her almost overflowing teats. 
 How my mistress came with many words and 
 released my victim, sitting down upon the stool 
 before my astonished eyes, and immediately elicit- 
 ing a double stream of milk without any apparent 
 effort. But when, turning scornfully to me, she 
 said, " Now you see how it's done ; go on and do 
 it," she waited my obedience ; how complete, 
 how gross was my discomfiture, for apparently 
 Poley's springs dried up automatically. Milk 
 I got none. The memory of that complete 
 failure is ever with me, and will effectually pre- 
 vent me from ever pretending to full knowledge 
 of any one branch of farming or gardening, or any 
 one phase of country life generally. Perhaps it 
 is hardly necessary to say that it can in nowise 
 hinder me from enjoying country life to the full, 
 cannot prevent me from sympathizing most 
 heartily with neighbouring farmers in their many 
 trials, or feeling the most intense admiration for 
 the sturdy, manful way in which they scorn 
 defeat by any of Nature's vagaries, and after each 
 new disappointment, mutter an honest grumble 
 or so, and then go on as if nothing had happened 
 out of the ordinary. They always remind me of a 
 
46 SEA FOAM 
 
 jingle current among the negroes in the Southern 
 States when I was a boy, and the chances of my 
 roving life flung me among those irrepressible 
 darkies : 
 
 I'll scratch an' fight, an' gouge an' bite, 
 
 An' tumble in de mud ; 
 
 Till all de groun' fer miles aroun' 
 
 Am kivered wid my blood. 
 
 An' w'en I fine dat I am lick' 
 
 I neber will gib in; 
 
 But res' myse'f, and ketch my bref,' 
 
 And den go in agin." 
 
 But to a sailor who has learned to use his eyes, 
 life in an English country village is full of poignant 
 delights. His mind is continually contrasting 
 the scenes wherein his present most peaceful lot 
 is cast, and those so vividly impressed upon his 
 memory. Each has its own perfect charm, totally 
 differing, yet all delightful. 
 
 For instance, the live stock. All sailors are 
 born pet-makers. There never yet was an animal 
 or bird allowed to run loose or fly freely about a 
 ship that did not presently become tame, no 
 matter how uncouth or unlikely a pet it appeared. 
 As for cocks and hens, geese, turkeys, goats, 
 sheep, cows, and pigs, these delightful domestic 
 animals are always immense favourites. And 
 horses, although a sailor's acquaintance with 
 them must necessarily be of the smallest ; give 
 him but a chance to know them and see how soon 
 
BY LAND AND SEA 47 
 
 he will become as full of horse-sense as any stud- 
 groom. The vegetable world, too, is to a sailor 
 a never-failing source of delight. It is a region 
 that has always been just beyond his ken, 
 his experience of growing crops having usually 
 been limited to a crop of mustard and cress raised 
 on a flannel-covered lime-juice bottle suspended 
 by rope-yarns attached to a plate, also covered 
 with flannel, on which it stands. How care- 
 fully he apportions its share of precious water 
 deducted from his exiguous three quarts, and with 
 what intensity of delight he champs the pungent 
 produce. Your sailor is your true vegetarian. 
 Not a slave to strange, unholy messes, reeking 
 of coco-nut oil, but fresh potatoes, turnips, onions, 
 cabbage ; these are to him joys unspeakable, 
 especially if they are moistened with a little 
 gravy. The meat becomes quite a secondary 
 consideration. And eggs think of it, ye dwel- 
 lers in the beautiful country, who often go back 
 on eggs, and say that you are sick of them. The 
 sailor often goes for years and never sees one ex- 
 cept the shop variety, of doubtful antiquity and 
 high flavour. Do I not remember the almost 
 insane delight with which my chum in the Brink- 
 burn, who had made a special pet of one quaint 
 old hen until it used to stalk into the forecastle 
 after him, and, perching upon his shoulder, watch 
 every morsel he put into his mouth at meals, 
 
48 SEA FOAM 
 
 showed me an egg which his pet had laid in his 
 bunk. Fifteen of these precious ovoids were 
 deposited in the same nook, and never a cackle 
 did Dame Partlet emit, as if she fully understood 
 that this little matter was solely between herself 
 and her friend, and of not the slightest moment to 
 anybody else. I grieve to say that these loving 
 bonds were rudely severed by the steward 
 one day slaying the hen for the cuddy dinner. 
 This perfectly legitimate, and indeed unavoid- 
 able, act on the steward's part secured for him a 
 terrible thrashing from my bereaved chum, who 
 was promptly put in irons therefor. He deserted 
 in Rangoon, and I never saw him again; but 
 I know that it would be very long before his 
 blighted affections again blossomed. 
 
 But, as a conclusion to this brief and rambling 
 paper, I would say that in my humble opinion this 
 meticulous affection of the sailor for his proteges, 
 whether animal or vegetable, must effectually 
 prevent him from ever being a successful agricul- 
 turist or stock-raiser, in that he does not obtain 
 that broad grasp of his subject, and that detach- 
 ment from the sentimental side of his business, 
 which I think is the hall-mark of a good and pros- 
 pering farmer. 
 
VI 
 
 A Memory 
 
 TO-NIGHT the wild west wind is howling 
 across these pleasant Cambridgeshire levels, 
 moaning among the closely clustered trees of the 
 surrounding orchards with a note curiously 
 reminiscent of the long monotonous roll of 
 breakers upon an entirely exposed beach. Over- 
 head the low-packed scud is flying, showing at 
 brief intervals the pale watery disc of the moon. 
 And a sharp lashing of rain occasionally against 
 the windows simulates wonderfully the wind- 
 whipped spray snatched from the summits of 
 breaking waves. One thing, however, refuses 
 to lend itself to sea-illusion, the sweet odour of 
 ripening vegetation, sharply different from the 
 keen ozone of the sea atmosphere. Also the 
 twittering of disturbed birds nestling in the ivy 
 on the front wall of the house introduces a note 
 that has in it nothing of the belated sea-bird's 
 scream as it wanders over the foaming sea like a 
 forlorn ghost. 
 
 But somehow the thought will persist in mak- 
 
 49 4 
 
50 SEA FOAM 
 
 ing itself felt, that I am not snugly housed in 
 this fair inland county of rural England, but 
 cowering beneath an upturned boat on the 
 exposed strand of a coral atoll, one of a distressed 
 crew who have only just succeeded in escaping 
 with their lives from the wreck of their ship. 
 The thirty-four years which have elapsed between 
 the occurrence which will be remembered and 
 to-night, fall away as fell the blossoms from my 
 fruit-trees under the biting frosts of our terrible 
 spring, and I cannot realize myself as I am, but 
 only as I was. For some time I continue the 
 attempt to remember that the first immense 
 event in my life, the first time that I realized 
 that I was assisting at a dramatic representation 
 of one of the most interesting happenings common 
 to man upon the sea was so far back (to be precise, 
 in 1869) that it ought to be but a dim and shadowy 
 memory only. Quite uselessly I thus strive 
 until I relinquish the attempt, and yield sub- 
 missively to the glamour of the hour. All my 
 surroundings fade away, and I am just arousing 
 from my hard little straw mattress, in the bunk 
 underneath the steward's, at the clamour of 
 kicking the door of our narrow berth. Sleepily 
 the steward commands me to rise and " see what's 
 up." Sulkily I obey, not daring to refuse, and 
 opening the door am confronted by the white 
 scared face of the helmsman, who almost screams 
 
A MEMORY 51 
 
 at me, " The ship's ashore." Happily I do not at 
 all recognize the dread significance of his words, 
 and reply with some piece of childish insolence, 
 which, so great is his terror, he does not notice. 
 But the steward, hurriedly dragging on his 
 clothes behind me (I am always dressed), orders 
 me to go and find the skipper, the watch on deck. 
 Where can they be ? What are they doing ? 
 Now I begin to feel important, and nimbly dart 
 off into the darkness bawling, "The ship's ashore ! " 
 with all the shrill strength of my lungs. Out 
 of the gloom shadowy figures begin to emerge, 
 sleepily asking why they are thus rudely dis- 
 turbed. And no one knows whose watch on 
 deck it is ; there is utter confusion, while guiding 
 voice of officer there is none. I find the captain 
 at last, prone on his back, his mouth wide open, 
 emitting stertorous noises. He is on watch, 
 the second mate being on the sick list. By the 
 time I have pinched, pulled, and kicked him 
 (with bare feet only) into consciousness, all hands 
 are anxiously awaiting directions. They do not 
 receive any. The brain that should control 
 them is so bemused that it can give no guidance, 
 and the disciplinary instinct in the crew is too 
 strong to allow of the reins being taken out of 
 those helpless hands. So while the gale roars 
 overhead, and the hungry breakers cover us in 
 hissing vortices of foam, we stand about wonder- 
 
52 SEA FOAM 
 
 ing what the end will be. With the light comes 
 a revelation of our position. Truly a wild picture 
 of desolation. Far to seaward spread the foam- 
 ing breakers, telling the most ignorant of us that 
 however we got into our present position, we, 
 that is the ship, shall never leave it as a ship. 
 To starboard a range of black jagged rock-points 
 protruding from the breakers like broken teeth 
 from a foaming mouth. And behind them just 
 a patch of white sand with a few scattered 
 boulders on its remote side. 
 
 But as the day grows the weather becomes a 
 little better, and an effort is made to find a way 
 of escape to that little patch of firm sand. And 
 it is crowned with success, for the usual opening 
 is found into the atoll, and through it all hands 
 are safely carried in two crazy boats, leaving our 
 poor old ship broken in twain amidships. Pro- 
 visions and water, too, have been saved, and 
 although the outlook is grim and barren enough, 
 there is a solid sense of satisfaction in missing 
 that agonized quiver of our late floating home 
 as the monstrous waves buffeted her without 
 her having any chance of yielding gracefully to 
 their impact, and of being obliged to stay and be 
 battered to pieces. Night is falling fast, so is a 
 pitiless cold rain, and our blood, chilled by long 
 abiding in the fierce tropical heats of Mexico, 
 courses but sluggishly through our arteries. 
 
A MEMORY 53 
 
 So with shivering bodies and chattering teeth 
 we set about making a rude shelter by turning 
 the boats over. But there is not room for all, 
 and some, myself among them, are fain to scoop 
 holes in the sand, burrow in them like rabbits, 
 and pulling such garments over us as we have, 
 set our teeth and prepare to endure the misery 
 of the long night. For my part, the solid satis- 
 faction of being ashore compensated for much 
 hardship ; I felt so safe. And amid the pour- 
 ing of the rain and howling of the storm I slept. 
 Only a little while though, for suddenly a rush 
 of water aroused me, and disentangling my head 
 from its clinging covering with an awful sense 
 of doom at my heart, saw that the breakers, 
 having overleaped the fringing reef -barrier, were 
 hurling themselves ever higher upon our tiny 
 refuge. Already the upturned boats had been 
 rolled over again, and their bewildered occupants 
 were struggling blindly in the darkness, which 
 was only relieved by the glare of the encroaching 
 waves, to save their coverings and their shelter. 
 Then, being but a small boy, and without any 
 brave spirit to buttress my fainting one, I felt 
 a strange desire to struggle no longer, but just to 
 lie still and let the conquering sea add my small 
 item to its long list of spoils. For with (as I after- 
 wards found) all my shipmates, I felt sure that 
 the island was about to be submerged. But some 
 
54 SEA FOAM 
 
 of the stouter souls, disdaining to yield thus 
 easily to death, bestirred themselves and dragged 
 the boats out of the grasp of the sea up to a slight 
 eminence. There they upturned them again, 
 and after an hour's most anxious vigil, during 
 which the still steady down-rush of the rain was 
 not even noticed, every one saw for certain that 
 the breakers had ceased to advance. So all 
 hands wedged themselves into the shelter in some 
 mysterious way, and steaming with the accumu- 
 lated heat of the closely packed bodies acting 
 upon their soaking clothes were soon asleep. 
 
 As I have been sitting at this open window, 
 lulled off by the monotonous complaint of the 
 wind among the trees; so now, waking with 
 a start, I feel sundry twinges of pain as I did on 
 that never-to-be-forgotten morning, a rough 
 chunk of coral seemingly having bored a hole 
 in my back, while all my limbs were cramped 
 and aching from the combined effects of pack- 
 ing and steaming. But what a privilege to be 
 able to sleep at all under such circumstances, and 
 feel no ill effects afterwards ! The sun leaps up 
 out of the sea, and floods the world with warm 
 light, transfiguring the unutterably dreary sur- 
 roundings of the night before, and lighting again 
 the torch of hope. Under that beneficent glow 
 romance revives, and the sensation of having 
 been in some measure the hero of a real adventure 
 
A MEMORY 55 
 
 compensates for the ills of the past night, already 
 fading from recollection. All kinds of interests 
 crowd in to occupy thought and stimulate won- 
 der, the birds, the fish, the wreckage, and, 
 later on, the turtle. And presently I am full 
 of the thoughtless happiness of a boy again. 
 
VII 
 
 Monotony 
 
 IT is really astonishing how many points of 
 resemblance one may find between sea life 
 and village life after a lengthened experience of 
 the two, with a considerable time of town dwelling 
 sandwiched between them. Of course, there are 
 some inevitable and well-marked differences, 
 but, speaking broadly, there is much similarity. 
 For instance, how many and bitter are the com- 
 plaints made by both villagers and sailors of the 
 monotony of their lives. This complaint is a 
 sure index of the badly furnished minds of the 
 utterer, for in neither life should there be any 
 monotony. There are all too few hours in the 
 day wherein to wonder and worship in the country 
 or on board ship, but I will admit that it is not 
 so easy to find subjects of interest at sea as it 
 is in the country. At sea more than anywhere 
 else people need to be educated into seeing, taught 
 what to look for, what to admire. Nature does 
 
 not wear her heart on her sleeve at sea as she 
 
 57 
 
58 SEA FOAM 
 
 does in the country. Moreover, the higher enjoy- 
 ment derived from contemplation of the ocean 
 fauna is scarcely possible to any one under the 
 rank of an officer, and not even to him in a steamer. 
 Opportunities of getting fully in contact with 
 one's environment at sea on board a steamer are 
 sadly to seek. They are indeed mostly con- 
 fined to harbours where there are no wharves and 
 the vessel must anchor out in a bay or a roadstead, 
 and then all day, except Sunday, is taken up with 
 work ; there is no watch below in which to 
 cultivate the acquaintance of the sea and its 
 wonders manifold. Yet it will be found that 
 even under these prosaic and unfavourable 
 circumstances some men will rise superior to 
 their limitations, will persist in giving the divine 
 spark within them full play, full access to the 
 sweet influences around, instead of callously 
 allowing it to become extinguished beneath a 
 heavy cerement of animalism and worse than 
 brutal indifference. I well remember how in a 
 steamer, of which as a boy I was lamp-trimmer, 
 when trading between Sydney, N.S.W., and 
 Auckland, N.Z., I used to feel deep sympathy for 
 the slaves of the stokehold, as I considered them. 
 They laboured under the best conditions possible 
 to their terrible task, had the best of food and 
 wages, at least double those they would have 
 received at home ; but still I felt that any lot 
 
MONOTONY 59 
 
 was preferable to theirs, and I did not wonder 
 that they were a reckless, drunken set of men, 
 whenever they could get the chance so to be. 
 Yet one of them, a Londoner of about thirty, 
 who was slowly dying of consumption, to which 
 dread scourge these men are of course particularly 
 liable, interested me more than all the rest. For 
 in the brief intervals between his spells of savage 
 roasting toil he would climb up and sit on the 
 fidley, gazing out upon the sea in apparently a 
 happy waking dream. One day I ventured to 
 ask him what he was looking at so steadfastly. 
 Turning slowly towards me, with the far-away 
 look in his eyes reluctantly fading, he said, 
 quietly : " I'm enjoying the glory of the sea an 5 
 the sky, the clouds, an' the winds, an' the waves." 
 Then, his few minutes of respite being expired, 
 he descended again to the inferno that claimed 
 him. Afterwards, when we became more intimate, 
 he did much to open my purblind eyes to the 
 splendours of the world around us, and I enjoyed 
 several excursions with him to Botany Bay, where 
 he just abandoned himself to Nature like a tired 
 child to the arms of its mother. He died at sea 
 shortly after, laid by his request on the deck for- 
 ward where he could feast his eyes on the loveli- 
 ness of the sunset, sinking to his own rest as the 
 short twilight faded, and just as peacefully. 
 And I have met sailors, though I will admit 
 
60 SEA FOAM 
 
 they have been but few, who have found an 
 inexpressible delight in the myriad changes of the 
 aspect of sea and sky, who, without any microscope 
 or natural history knowledge, would gaze de- 
 lightedly for a considerable portion of their watch 
 below upon the contents of a drawbucket of sea- 
 water, examine every frond and cranny of a mass 
 of sea-weed, or sitting on the martingale guys 
 beneath the bowsprit on a fine day, just watch 
 what a casual, unthinking observer would call 
 the barren sea. These men were far better 
 fitted to endure hardships than their fellows, 
 although of so much finer, more sensitive, tissue. 
 For in all Nature they found something to admire, 
 and so moved in a plane remote from many of the 
 more material worries of life which glanced over 
 them almost unnoticed. But I never found them 
 bad or careless workmen. Their romantic natures 
 seem to scorn the baseness of doing as little, and 
 that little as badly as possible without suffering 
 therefor. 
 
 Now in the village it seems to me that the 
 opportunities of the individual are far greater 
 for that intimacy with Nature which is so valu- 
 able, the justice of the complaint of monotony 
 far less than it is at sea. During certain seasons 
 of the year the hours of labour are long, and the 
 need for rest greater out of those hours ; but 
 taking the year round, the villager has privileges 
 
MONOTONY 61 
 
 of recreation, time for self-improvement, such as 
 never come in the way of the seaman before the 
 mast. But oh ! the pity of it ! the pity of it ! 
 Groups of youths stand in the middle of the 
 cross-roads for long hours when not at work, 
 weekdays and nearly all day Sunday, mind and 
 body absolutely inert. Feeble, inane talk 
 it were a shame to call it conversation passes 
 from one vacant mind to another. A passing 
 stranger is a sweet boon, for the open mouths and 
 eyes, wherein is no speculation, turn ox-like after 
 him or her. The time of arrival of the trains (two 
 or three) on the Sunday is the signal for a slouch- 
 ing departure for the railway station, where for 
 half an hour or so the platform is so crowded that 
 a stranger would imagine that the railway traffic 
 was exceedingly heavy. But a few minutes after 
 the train has shed and picked up its half dozen 
 passengers, under the stolid, gaping scrutiny of 
 the crowd, the whole contingent loiters back again 
 to its post to loaf and gape until bedtime. 
 Where are the elder men ? Far too many are in 
 the village alehouses, sitting in dim taprooms, 
 and exchanging an occasional well-worn idea. 
 But still a good many of them are usefully and 
 pleasantly employed in their gardens, where the 
 need for plenty of vegetables to supplement the 
 scanty food they are able to buy does not pre- 
 vent them from cultivating flowers. These men 
 
62 SEA FOAM 
 
 are well on the road to the higher appreciation 
 of life, and seldom complain of monotony. 
 
 The women-folk corresponding to this class of 
 workers are hardly bestead. What with the 
 home duties and the outdoor work, they have 
 little time to spend in self -instruction or enjoy- 
 ment. It is, then, little wonder that the futile 
 and exasperating (to the subject) village gossip 
 becomes to them their only recreation, except 
 their church or chapel. For here, as in most other 
 places, it is the women-folk who are the stay of 
 the religious part of the community. Were it 
 not for the women, all the churches would die for 
 lack of support. It is painful though, to see, 
 how in search of escape from that monotony of 
 which they complain, the young folks drift away 
 to the great cities, and fall an easy prey to that 
 most hideous of all existences, where every 
 moment not needed for work or sleep is spent in 
 aimless parading of the streets, listening to lewd 
 talk, and tippling in glaring public houses. Con- 
 sidering the immense aggregate of philanthropic 
 effort to counteract this curious tendency of our 
 young people of the respectable labouring classes, 
 the condition of our streets at night and on Sundays 
 gives much food for anxious thought. Yet such 
 is the mysterious glamour which this noisy nerve- 
 wearing street life casts over its victims, that 
 to it the village youths and girls look forward as 
 
MONOTONY 63 
 
 to some splendid goal, and, once having come 
 under its influence, they seldom return to the 
 monotonous life of the village. Passing strange, 
 is it not, that minds should be thus beclouded ? 
 So to prefer the utterly monotonous, utterly 
 aimless, utterly harmful wandering in the crowded 
 streets of a great town to the sweet, healthful, 
 and even interesting life of the country. Especi- 
 ally now, when villages where books and 
 the daily papers and helpful, unpaid teachers 
 are to be found. I feel firmly persuaded 
 that the most fruitful idea for the stay of 
 the mental and moral and physical degen- 
 eration of the race is Back to the Land. 
 
 

VIII 
 
 Village Health 
 
 THERE is a matter which has been troubling 
 me greatly since I took to country life, for 
 I have as yet found no satisfactory explanation of 
 it. Indeed, I do not think any explanation can 
 be satisfactory. It may supply the reasons for 
 the state of things which I have noticed, but it 
 certainly would show that those reasons ought 
 not to exist. I allude to the general poor health 
 and physique of village folk. I do not wish to 
 touch upon matters outside my province if such 
 there be, but this subject is peculiarly interesting 
 to me from its close analogy to a similar condition 
 of things on board merchant ships, and I shrewdly 
 suspect that the reasons for the sad business are 
 much the same in both cases. Nothing has im- 
 pressed me more in travelling about the country, 
 even before I settled down to village life myself, 
 than the wretchedly low standard of physical 
 capacity among the rising generation of country 
 people of the labouring classes, especially of 
 women and children. It does not seem to be 
 
 65 5 
 
66 SEA FOAM 
 
 confined either to any particular county, but 
 from north to south, east to west, the same 
 lamentable facts are to be noticed. Much food 
 for profound thought may be furnished by a stroll 
 of observation along the platform of a village 
 railway station on a Sunday afternoon or evening 
 when the train of the day is due to arrive. It seems 
 a favourite rendezvous, for the younger people 
 especially, and they are certainly seen then to 
 their best advantage. But no finery, however 
 carefully made and put on, can draw the attention 
 away from the rounded, narrow shoulders, the 
 hollow cheeks, flat chests (of the women), and 
 shockingly bad teeth. Splay feet and resultant 
 shambling gait are painfully frequent, and there 
 is usually a vacant expression in the faces and a 
 giggling, fatuous note in the voices that is very 
 saddening to see and hear. 
 
 These discoveries come with a heavy shock to 
 one who has been reading with much alarm the 
 statements made about the decadence of the 
 rising generations in our large cities. But 
 although I am not able to furnish any statistics, 
 I feel perfectly certain that, judged by the stand- 
 ards of health, height, robustness, and intelli- 
 gence, the labouring classes of London and their 
 children are far superior to those filling a similar 
 station of life in any village of my acquaintance. 
 And I am sure that this decadence is a sign only 
 
VILLAGE HEALTH 67 
 
 made manifest of recent years. The older people 
 are sturdy and healthy-looking, even if their backs 
 are bent with heavy toil. But the children's 
 pale, anaemic faces haunt one. They make one 
 feel ready to demand loudly the whereabouts of 
 the ruddy country youngsters who used to present 
 such a striking contrast to the pale little town-bred 
 plants visiting the country in search of health. 
 Not so very long ago I visited a lovely little vil- 
 lage in Wiltshire with my family, four children 
 being with us. We came from East Dulwich, a 
 district of London about the average for health, 
 a little below perhaps where we lived, at the 
 bottom of the valley. But our children were the 
 the only ones in the village who had rosy cheeks, 
 and their appearance was a constant topic of 
 wondering conversation among the villagers, who 
 evinced profound amazement that such healthy 
 children could possibly have been born and bred 
 in London. And this brings me to another fact 
 worthy of notice, which is that as soon as you 
 leave the labouring class you notice a wonderful 
 improvement in health and physical qualifications. 
 What does this suggest ? I do not wish to theorise, 
 but there must be a reason, and I do not think it 
 is far to seek. Before giving what I believe a 
 reason or those reasons to be, I would like to 
 advert for a moment to the condition of things 
 among merchant seamen, not firemen (stokers). 
 
68 SEA FOAM 
 
 By common consent there is no healthier place 
 in the world to live than on the the sea, not even 
 in a country village with a porous soil, plenty of 
 trees, and no marsh-land near. If any proof 
 were needed of this the most cursory study of 
 fishermen, bluejackets, and the crews of coasting 
 and short voyage steamers would furnish it 
 abundantly. But when the crews of vessels mak- 
 ing long voyages, sailing vessels, and tramp 
 steamers are examined, we receive a shock. We 
 say, " Can these be sailors ? " Not only are they 
 poor in physique, but they have no stamina, are 
 full of ailments, and are worn out at forty. That 
 is, supposing they remain as common seamen. 
 If, however, they succeed in raising themselves 
 out of the forecastle, even if only as high as bo'sun, 
 say at the age of thirty, the deterioration is 
 arrested, and they become, accident of course ex- 
 cepted, stalwart long-lived men, about the best 
 preserved of the community. 
 
 Now the reasons for this are very well known, 
 although it is only fair to say that they are 
 strenuously denied by, nota bene, interested 
 people. Ships' forecastles are, speaking generally, 
 the worst- ventilated of all living places occupied by 
 men of our race. And personal cleanliness, at 
 least, in sailing-ships, is almost an impossibility 
 for the foremast hand. Lastly, the food is 
 generally innutritious, badly prepared, and mono- 
 
VILLAGE HEALTH 69 
 
 tonous in character. Naturally, I should be ex- 
 pected to add the sailors' own well-known dis- 
 regard of his health while ashore his drinking, 
 etc. ; but while I fully admit the evil, I maintain 
 that its effects upon him are trivial, lasting as 
 these outbursts do such a very short time, while 
 the three baneful influences I have quoted are 
 the normal conditions of his whole life. When 
 he rises, if only to petty officer, the conditions 
 of his life that make for health are completely 
 changed. He has better food, a better lodging, 
 kept clean and ventilated, and his facilities for 
 personal cleanliness are not only increased, but 
 necessity is laid upon him to keep clean even if he 
 be not so inclined. Now the natural goodness of 
 his calling makes itself felt, having got a fair 
 chance to do so, and he becomes a sturdy, vigorous 
 man, who was before fast falling into decrepitude. 
 Unless I have been unusually obscure, my 
 analogy between the sailor and the villager will 
 now be apparent. With the best possible sur- 
 roundings of pure air, abundant sunshine, fresh 
 scents of flowers and fields, the villager lives quite 
 half his time in a poisonous atmosphere at home. 
 His or her sleeping apartment is usually so stuffy 
 and foul that upon entering it from the fresh air 
 one has usually a slight attack of giddiness ; and 
 as the air is shut out, so is the sunshine and even 
 the light, as if they were two of the most noxious 
 
70 SEA FOAM 
 
 evils, instead of the most powerful factors making 
 for health. And to such a pitch does the villager 
 carry this antipathy to ventilation that in travel- 
 ling about by train I have continually to plead 
 for a little bit of one carriage window to be left 
 open. Often I have been sitting contentedly in a 
 compartment alone with both windows open 
 wide, and, on stopping at some village station, 
 several labouring men and women have entered. 
 Their first action is invariably to close both 
 windows, the next to close the ventilators (if they 
 understand them), and the next to befoul still 
 further the stagnant atmosphere with the fumes 
 of cheap shag tobacco. Being remonstrated with 
 they reply sheepishly that they do not want to 
 catch cold ! 
 
 But I do not think that this curious dislike to 
 fresh air in their homes, bad and unhealthy as it 
 undoubtedly is, furnishes the sole reason for the 
 decadence of village health. I cannot speak 
 very positively, only having made a few timid 
 inquiries, but I am quite convinced in my own 
 mind that the average villager is badly nourished. 
 Either he cannot get food, or does not know what 
 to get, or does not understand its preparation. 
 But everything about the people, especially their 
 teeth, points to malnutrition. And there must 
 also be some reason, if it could only be found, for 
 the alarming spread of cancer in the villages. 
 
VILLAGE HEALTH 71 
 
 Some particular defect in food or water is certainly 
 to blame. Village people give themselves a 
 variety of reasons, some of which tally with the 
 above, and others are hardly reproduceable here, 
 but are based upon the vicious practice of over- 
 crowding, of whole families, mostly grown up, 
 herding in one room. 
 
 Whatever the cause may be, if once the facts of 
 decadence in the health and physique of village 
 populations be admitted, no time should be lost 
 in doing something to alter or arrest it. It is 
 quite bad enough to note that the populations of 
 our villages are fast dwindling away, the younger 
 folks making for the towns and never returning, 
 without having those young folks carrying to the 
 slums of our great cities already enfeebled frames 
 incapable of resisting disease. A campaign of 
 fresh air enthusiasts, for instance, would do a lot 
 of good, a series of object-lessons on the use of 
 cheap disinfectants, and the necessity of personal 
 cleanliness, would do more, and some plain talks 
 about food and morality, both for mind and body, 
 would fitly round off the good work that ought to 
 be carried on 
 
 
IX 
 
 The Postman's Story 
 
 ONE morning lately, when looking somewhat 
 disconsolately out across the dim and sod- 
 den fields, while the relentless rain fell heavily, 
 I was startled to hear above the moaning of the 
 wind a cheerful lusty voice trolling out the chorus 
 of the well-known sea-chanty, " Sally Brown." 
 In a flash I was transported to Demerara, the 
 glowing glare of the great sun in the intense blue 
 above, the rushing muddy river below, on one 
 side the long line of warehouses and sterlings 
 (wharves), on the other the low-lying jungly shore, 
 and in front of me a happy, toiling band of darkies 
 yelling " Sally Brown " at the pitch of their lungs 
 as they hove in the great hogsheads of sugar. So 
 did I first hear that labour song, and now again, 
 in the heart of England, in this remote village. 
 What could it mean ? Just then the gate 
 clanged, as a quaint figure swung through it, 
 crunching the gravel beneath a pair of heavy, 
 clumsy boots, and letting its voice die away in 
 the last cadences of " Way, ay ay, roll an' go." It 
 
74 SEA FOAM 
 
 was the old postman, swathed amazingly against 
 the persistent rain, no sign of uniform visible but 
 his cap, which perched incongruously upon the 
 top of his head. I hailed him with " Below, 
 there ! " He immediately responded with a 
 cheery " Aye, aye, sir ! " and our acquaintance- 
 ship had begun. That afternoon, the weather 
 having cleared, I waylaid him, returning from 
 his allotment with next day's supply of vegetables 
 in his arms, and in five minutes was deep in his 
 confidence, exchanging with him the argot of the 
 sea. In that short time I learned that he had been 
 a sailor for thirty years one of the real old shell- 
 backs that are fast becoming extinct that he 
 had never been in steam or risen higher than 
 A.B., and that he regarded his present position as 
 one to thank God for every day, since it saved 
 him from that inevitable destination of the old 
 foremast hand if he outlives his usefulness the 
 workhouse. 
 
 Perhaps it is hardly necessary to say that our 
 fellowship ripened fast, as we were the only two 
 seafarers for many miles around. There were a 
 few bluejackets who now and then came home, 
 but my old tarpot regarded them with all the 
 scorn of the old sailor for those whom he regards 
 as sea labourers merely. And it did not take long 
 to reveal the fact that my old friend was not only 
 an able seaman, but that he had seen many 
 
THE POSTMAN'S STORY 75 
 
 wonderful things and remembered them, and that 
 his experiences were far from being confined, as 
 usual, to a long series of riotous proceedings in the 
 purlieus of many seaports. One evening, as we 
 sat in the garden swapping reminiscences, he 
 suddenly said : " Tell ye what, sir, the funniest 
 thing as ever happened to me in all my fishin' 
 was when I was 'fore the mast in the old Nimrod, 
 of Liverpool, 1,280 ton register, bound to Calcutta 
 with salt. I don't know how it was, but skipper, 
 mate, and second mate was all makin' their fust 
 voy'ge as such, hadn't any of 'em ever filled such 
 a berth afore. Don't often happen like that, does 
 it, sir ? But the petty officers was a fine lot 
 bo'sun, carpenter an' sailmaker, cook an' stooard. 
 If you'd sorted Liverpool you couldn't have 
 bettered 'em. An' we wasn't half a bad crowd 
 either twenty-two of us, all told, an' only eight 
 squareheads among the lot. By the big hook 
 block though, she was workus rigged, took two 
 men to haul the slack of the taupsle halliards 
 through a snatch block, an' there wasn't a sail 
 in her 'ud come down in any weather 'thout 
 a couple of hands to overhaul the halliards, or that 
 we could clew up without sendin' a hand aloft 
 to light up the sheets. She was an old East 
 Injieman, built in Maulmein, good enough in her 
 day, of course, but that was long enough afore 
 our time. And we hadn't got to the west'ard 
 
76 SEA FOAM 
 
 of Cape Clear afore we found that she'd got the 
 dry-rot got it so bad that you couldn't stick yer 
 knife in a beam 'thout findin' the wood a-crumblin'. 
 The grub was bad, of course, the pantiles being 
 extry so (I lost these two teeth aboard of her 
 trying to eat 'em), but what worried us most was 
 the vermin. She was just a-swarmin' with rats 
 and cockroaches and bugs so's you couldn't 
 hardly sleep. But we was a quiet crowd, an' 
 there wasn't any trouble, the officers being very 
 civil an' apparently pretty well up to their work. 
 " The weather was pretty bad, of course, bein' 
 about this time of the year, an' we had a lot of 
 fore-reachin' an' hard beatin' in Channel ; but 
 we made the most of every slant, and in a fort- 
 night we'd got her fairly well out, say in about 
 forty-five twenty. She had been makin' a good 
 sup o' water up till then, but nothin' to holler 
 about say a quarter of an hour or twenty 
 minutes spell every two hours (we'd got pretty 
 good flywheel pumps) ; but now it begun to blow 
 from the N.W. a reg'lar snifter, an' an ugly sea 
 got up surprisin' quick. Her canvas wasn't good 
 either, so we couldn't carry a storm stays'le to 
 steady her, an' she wouldn't lie to with a tar- 
 paulin in the weather mizen-riggin'. So she laid 
 mostly in the trough o' the sea, and tumbled 
 about so much that she racketed herself as loose 
 as a coal basket. An' it soon got to be pump or 
 
THE POSTMAN'S STORY 77 
 
 sink. We couldn't get a suck out of her, no 
 matter how hard we tried, and somehow the pumps 
 didn't seem to act good either. Everybody 
 tailed on, from the skipper down, only stopping 
 one side occasionally for fresh leathers. We'd 
 give up soundin' her. It was only a waste of 
 time, an' the weather was so bad we dursn't take 
 a hatch off to go down an' see, so we just slogged 
 away for dear life. But gradually it appeared 
 to all of us that, although we never got a sign of a 
 suck, the old hooker seemed to be gettin' livelier 
 instead of deader-like in the water, as she ought 
 to hev done if she'd a been founderin'. An' 
 suddenly the skipper drops the bell-rope on the 
 pump-handle he'd been a pullin' at, an' he shouts, 
 ' My God ! it's the salt ! ' I tell you what them 
 pumps stopped mighty quick. We had one o' 
 the hatches off like a shot, an' lowered a ridin' 
 light down, down, till it was below the 'tween 
 deck beams, an' there was a white level flood of 
 melted salt. We had pumped most of her cargo 
 out,' 
 
 " We hauled the light up, an' put the hatch on 
 again quick's we could, an' the skipper tried to get 
 her afore the wind. But it was blowin' so hard that 
 the fore topmast stays'le an' the fore tops'le blew 
 out o' the bolt ropes when we tried to get 'em to 
 pay her head off, an' we had to give it up an' 
 tackle the pumps again. Because, of course, we 
 
78 SEA FOAM 
 
 didn't know how much she was leakin' or any- 
 thing, except that if we left off pumpin' she'd 
 founder, an' if we went on pumpin' she'd probably 
 capsize. However, one was certain and the other 
 wasn't, so the skipper decided we'd better go on 
 pumpin'. We started the wagon again, an' the 
 misbul clankety clank clank went on steady hour 
 after hour, while that everlasting gale fair roared 
 overhead. Daylight come at last, thank God, but 
 there was never a vessel in sight. We hoisted a 
 distress signal, however, ensign union down, and 
 got all ready to leave her on the jump, saw all the 
 boats clear, and clothes, etcetery, in 'em. 
 
 " An' so that day wore on to afternoon without 
 any sign of improvement, when the skipper calls 
 us who had just been relieved at the pumps down 
 into the saloon to have a tot of grog. I ought to 
 have told you she was a flush deck ship, saloon and 
 fo'c'sle below. While we was takin' our grog 
 something happened. I've felt some queer things 
 in my time but none like that nor never want to 
 again. She was tumbling about pretty lively, 
 but you know, not enough for a sailor man to hold 
 on for 'less he was where he couldn't balance 
 himself, but now she just slung us all like rags from 
 port to starboard, the lights went out, and I felt 
 myself fall bang on top of somebody who yelled 
 frightful. There was a horrible noise louder than 
 the roaring of the sea and a washin' of water all 
 
THE POSTMAN'S STORY 79 
 
 round, and then came quiet, at least quiet to 
 what it had been. But the dark was awful. I 
 know how I felt as if I was shut up in my coffin, 
 an' not bein' able to bear it any longer I shouted 
 out, ' For God's sake what's happened ? ' The 
 skipper's voice replied, ' She must have capsized, 
 Bill.' ' Then, the Lord have mercy on us ! ' 
 says I, for I couldn't see no way of escape, an' 
 it struck me, too, like a kick it did, that all our 
 poor shipmates what had been on deck was gone. 
 Well, we was in big trouble no doubt, but we was 
 still alive, and if we'd only been able to see, things 
 wouldn't have been so hopeless. But in the dark, 
 and with everything upsy down, we was afraid 
 to move lest we should fall out of the companion 
 into the sea, fortunately the saloon skylights was. 
 all battened down. 
 
 i " Then a fellow sings out, ' The water's a risin', 
 we'll all be drowned here in the dark,' and then he 
 shut up as suddenly as he'd sung out, and all was 
 quiet for half a minute, except for the squeakin' 
 of the rats there must have been hundreds of 
 'em swimmin' about, an' I remember feelin' sorry 
 for 'em, poor little creeturs. Suddenly the 
 skipper hollers, 'Thank God, boys, there's a 
 chance yet. I've found the lazareete hatch, an ' 
 it's open. Come to me all of ye and climb up 
 through.' An' so we did. Guided by the sound of 
 his voice we all got through into the lazareete, an' 
 
80 SEA FOAM 
 
 climbed up on top of the stores which had fallen 
 anyhow when she turned over, but fortunately 
 hadn't blocked up the hatchway. An' presently 
 there come streamin' in from somewhere a thin 
 thread o' light it must have been one of the leaks 
 in the run of her, an' our eyes gettin' used to it, 
 we could presently make out to see a little and find 
 some cabin biscuit and bottled beer, which revived 
 us. But getting down to the hatch again, we 
 found we hadn't been a bit too soon out of that 
 cabin the water had filled it completely. Indeed, 
 we felt sure that it would soon swamp us out of 
 our present place, but up till now we was out of 
 its reach. 
 
 " Well, sir, if I was to tell you of all we said and 
 thought and done while we was prisoned up in 
 that lazareete but there, I couldn't. I know 
 that half the time we was off our heads,quite loony 
 all except the skipper. Ah, that was a man, sir. 
 He never lost heart or seemed to think about him- 
 self (though I learnt afterwards that he was only 
 just married afore we left), -but talked and sung 
 and said pieces of the Bible to us, till we all got 
 like to hang on him as if he was our only hope. 
 And at last after we'd been shut in there over a 
 week, one day when it was as still as death, and 
 the hull hardly movin', we heard voices. On the 
 moment we all shouted at the very pitch of our 
 lungs. Then, far away like, we heard ' Nimrod 
 
THE POSTMAN'S STORY 81 
 
 ahoy ! anybody aboard ? ' Such a yelling as we 
 set up then it was enough to deafen a dead man. 
 However, they heard us, and after what seemed 
 a frightful long time, we heard them a choppin' at 
 the counter. It took 'em nearly four hours to 
 cut us out, for the old ship was a mass o' teak 
 beams aft there, but the crowd held on, and we 
 was got out at last. She was the ' Tecumseh', 
 American man-o'-war, and her crowd was that 
 pleased with themselves you can't think for that 
 they had reskied us. We was all very white an' 
 pinched lookin' when we got out, but none the 
 worse for our terrible time. Only eighteen of 
 our shipmates had been suddenly swept out of 
 existence an' it might just as easily have been us. 
 But I must up stick an' sheer off 'relse my ole 
 woman '11 want to know if I ben waitin' for these 
 here cabbages to grow. So long, sir." 
 
The Lonely Vigil 
 
 AT no great distance from one of our most 
 perfectly picturesque stretches of coast 
 there is anchored a lightship for the purpose of 
 pointing out and warning passing ships against 
 a most treacherous range of shoals. In the bright 
 days of summer, when the sleeping sea reflects 
 from its softly swelling bosom the many tender 
 lights and smiles of the golden sunshine, the soli- 
 tary vessel's position would seem to be an ideal 
 one. There is beauty all around her, veiling 
 effectually the terrors of Nature's forces. Land- 
 ward, the watchkeeper's eye can mark the tall 
 corn growing lustily, the orderly hedgerows bright 
 with flowers, the sturdy trees supporting their 
 burden of ripening fruit. By using his glass, he 
 can even discern the features of his wife and 
 children about the garden of his snug cottage, 
 the infrequent visitor passing along the shady 
 lanes, and the busy gulls driving off the rooks 
 from their common hunting-ground, the farmers' 
 prolific fields. The merciless shoals are merci- 
 
84 SEA FOAM 
 
 fully hidden, except when a larger swell than usual 
 curdles around the broken summits of the spur 
 of rock running out half-way across the inshore 
 channel, or leaves a stretch of level sand on the 
 bank, gleaming flatly for an instant like a sword- 
 blade laid along the heaving water. The bases 
 of the cliffs that rise perpendicularly from the 
 sea in places are softly caressed by the wavelets, 
 as if in most peaceful dalliance, and there is not 
 a sound discernible at the touch of the incoming 
 swell with the shore. 
 
 Seaward, the vessels swim in a glamour of 
 thinnest haze, the lordly liner appearing sus- 
 pended in the ether, and the long black trails of 
 smoke from her two huge funnels melting softly 
 into the blue above, as if impotent to distain its 
 purity for more than a few fleeting minutes. The 
 few white-sailed craft dependent upon the lazy 
 wind lie restfully, compelled to share in the univer- 
 sal peace. But as the glowing sun glides gently 
 down the western slope of heaven, there appear 
 wisps and wreaths of colours that are crude and 
 harsh. They do not blend with the placid scene 
 at all, and the two silent seamen look stealthily 
 towards one another, with alternate glances at 
 the smoke-spirals from their pipes curling up- 
 wards. The same thought is in both their minds 
 will the other watch, who, in defiance of regula- 
 tions, have taken advantage of this glorious day 
 
THE LONELY VIGIL 85 
 
 to visit the village, return before the change 
 which is evidently impending takes place ? In 
 the north-east there appears, as if magically sum- 
 moned into being, a mountain range of sombre 
 cumuli, with black level bases, snowy bodies, 
 and gloomy summits. The pleasant warmth 
 leaves the air, succeeded by a chilly dampness, 
 and the descending sun is suddenly veiled. The 
 coming of these celestial shrouds has been without 
 observation, but their effect is at once apparent, 
 for the questing sea-birds rise into the upper air, 
 and with doleful wailing cries, fly heavily shore- 
 ward. 
 
 Without a word, the two men bestir themselves 
 to prepare for the coming night. Hatches and 
 companion are battened down, a look is given 
 to the machinery, and a last touch of careful 
 preparation bestowed upon the all-important 
 apparatus of the light. For, whatever may 
 betide himself or his surroundings, the light- 
 keeper is ever most loyal to, most mindful of, 
 his trust. He never forgets the absolute faith 
 reposed in him by the mariner battling with 
 wind and sea and darkness. Presently the sweet 
 day fails ; gloom gathers swiftly ; night is here. 
 And with it comes, mournfully heralding its 
 advance with bitterly shrill cries, the precursor 
 of the gale. From being the centre of a circle 
 of beauty and peace, the lightship has become 
 
86 SEA FOAM 
 
 the solitary point of certainty in a wide waste 
 apparently extending to infinity. The shore 
 and the ships have receded beyond the reach of 
 sense, and naught is knowable save the hungry 
 waters rising ever more angrily overside and the 
 increasing force of the wind overhead. The 
 light has been wound up to its place, and sheds 
 a steady radiance around, against the wall of the 
 night ; but, although there is as yet no fog, it 
 seems impossible to believe that the penetrative 
 power of its beams is of sufficient avail against 
 the all-enshrouding cover of this darkness. 
 
 That, however, is no concern of the light- 
 keepers. They can only use such means as are 
 provided for them, faithfully, carefully ready, 
 if need should arise, to give themselves, nor to 
 count the cost of self-sacrifice. 
 
 " Jem, lad," says the elder, " it's your watch 
 below. Get down and sleep, for you'll need it ; 
 and in any case no good can be done by both of 
 us being worn out together. T'other chaps 
 can't get back hear the noise of the breakers 
 over the Dragon ? " The young eyes of Jem 
 look keenly wistful at his shipmate, for he has 
 noted for long past how the willing mind and 
 heart have been taxed to the utmost, and how 
 the importance of his charge has weighed more 
 and more heavily upon him with advancing years. 
 But he has for so long been accustomed to accept 
 
THE LONELY VIGIL 87 
 
 implicitly the dictates of his mate that any 
 remonstrance does not occur to him, and with 
 a curt " Good-night ! " he descends to his narrow 
 bunk, which is within easy hail of the man on 
 deck. 
 
 Left alone, the elder man finds himself in a 
 strangely interesting mood. He feels painfully 
 his importance to his fellows instead of exultantly. 
 There is a strong resentment rising in his heart 
 against the increasing gale, instead of a passive 
 acceptance of whatever weather may come as 
 purely incidental to his calling and in no wise 
 personal to him. Dimly, impersonally, the know- 
 ledge of his chief possessions flits over the phan- 
 tasmagoria of his mind, but does not give him 
 any trouble ; they are safe and cosy over there. 
 Then there is a curious sensation in his breast 
 of sudden fear, fear of something indefinable. 
 Succeeding to that a swimming in the head and 
 afterwards. . . . 
 
 At ten minutes past twelve Jem wakes, keenly 
 conscious of all his surroundings on the instant. 
 His first thought is that he has been called and 
 dozed off, and that brings him up with a jerk. 
 The clock confronting him under the dim lamp 
 confirms his idea, and with muttered condem- 
 nation of his laxity he springs to his feet and 
 swiftly gets into his clothes, in spite of the motion 
 of the vessel, now as lively as that of a swing 
 
88 SEA FOAM 
 
 boat. In three minutes he is climbing up on 
 deck, in full panoply of oilskins and sea boots, 
 and on emerging meets the snarling, biting blast 
 of the bitter gale, the thrash of the sleet, and the 
 hissing stroke of the briny spray. " Joe," he 
 cries ; " where are ye ? I dropped off again." 
 But there is no reply. Overhead the steady 
 beams of the light reach out into the mist, faithful 
 as ever, but the man whose care had kept it so 
 steadfast is not to be seen. A few hurried steps, 
 a stumble, and Jem has found what was his mate, 
 who has been finally relieved. 
 
 A few minutes of numbed faculties succeed, 
 for the discovery has been like a blow on the head 
 with a bludgeon, then automatically his activities 
 reassert themselves, and, having attended to 
 his routine duties, he tenderly removes Joe's clay 
 below. Having with truest reverence arranged 
 the body, he returns to the deck and resumes 
 his watch, the increasing power of the gale and 
 blackness of the night having absolutely no 
 effect upon him. How the hours go by he does 
 not know. Nature mercifully attends to these 
 things for us in most instances, lest the over- 
 burdened spirit flee, or the awful change in 
 mental and physical relations which we know 
 as madness takes place. No one could have 
 imagined, seeing Jem's methodical performance 
 of his duties, what a crisis he had passed through, 
 
THE LONELY VIGIL 89 
 
 and he himself was perhaps less acutely conscious 
 of it than an outsider would have been. 
 
 The sad grey dawn stole in, only making 
 visible the tormented and closely circumscribed 
 area of groaning sea. According to regulations, 
 Jem fired the signal gun ; but, as he well knew, 
 it would be without effect. There was no life- 
 boat near enough to hear it, and, moreover, the 
 gale being right off the land, it probably passed 
 completely unnoticed. So Jem remained alone. 
 He ate and drank mechanically, but felt an 
 unreasoning dread of being down there with It 
 any longer than he could help. Feeling deeply 
 the probability of a whole night's watch before 
 him, he tried to sleep, but in vain. A dreadful 
 longing for other companionship than that of 
 the still figure below tortured him, revealing 
 possibilities of suffering to himself unsuspected 
 before. But the day passed, and the night, with 
 its pressing duties, came. Ever fiercer raged the 
 wind, ever higher mounted the sea, until Jem 
 mistily connected the battle of the elements with 
 the passing of his chum. And this mysteriously 
 consoled him, exhilarated him. He faced the 
 savage blast proudly, he did his work calmly, he 
 even went down and took quietly and firmly the 
 dead right hand, as if making a compact. 
 
 But it was well that at the first lull of the tempest 
 on the evening of the second day his shipmates 
 
90 SEA FOAM 
 
 returned. For they found him sitting by the side 
 of the dead, looking fixedly into the wide eyes 
 that saw not, and babbling of precious fellowship. 
 They bore him and his silent companion away, 
 and in the peaceful seclusion of his little village 
 cottage Jem slowly recovered from the long and 
 painful effects of his lonely vigil. 
 
XI 
 
 The Stranger 
 
 BROWN, bare, and deserted lay the thirty 
 acre field of Farmer Grey. After long 
 waiting for a favourable opportunity, while the 
 steady downward thrust of the inexorable rain 
 laid low the graceful spears of corn in sodden 
 areas, a few bright days of intermittent sunshine 
 had intervened and the busy harvesters had 
 gathered in the sorely injured crop. It now stood 
 in a lonely row of ricks at one corner of the field, 
 well protected by expertly laid thatch from the 
 renewed torrents which streamed from the grey, 
 gloomy skies. Between the regular rows of 
 withered stalks the drenched furrows were showing 
 a sturdy growth of unneeded new vegetation, 
 which would presently clog the delving plough- 
 shares, as they would be heavily drawn through 
 the muddy loam, and make the sturdy ploughmen 
 look wearily to the end of the day's toil ere it was 
 half accomplished. It was about the time of 
 sunrise, and on the upper side of that dank over- 
 lay of blended cloud hopeful ones remembered 
 
 91 
 
92 SEA FOAM 
 
 that the great luminary was flooding the universe 
 with golden light as usual, but all over the land 
 the pale, cheerless day only timidly made visible 
 the face of nature. 
 
 Silently as shadows, but with a languid flight 
 most unlike their usual brisk fussiness, a little 
 company of rooks appeared out of the surrounding 
 mist. They were visitors from a somewhat 
 distant colony, drawn by some subtle instinct of 
 their own to this stubble for their much needed 
 morning meal. Posting their usual sentinels, 
 they went steadily to work without even a moni- 
 tory caw from the grave elders to modify or direct 
 the fidgety unsteadiness of the younger birds, for 
 indeed the provision of fat slugs, juicy snails, and 
 other kinds of enemies of the farmer was most 
 plentiful, while to season the meal there was much 
 sprouting corn shed from the recently gathered 
 sheaves. So they proceeded busily with their 
 occupation, until a long drawn melancholy caw 
 from one of the sentinels warned the party of the 
 presence of an intruder. Low querulous notes 
 in response were sounded, and a few jerky leaps 
 upward were made by nervous members of the 
 party, until with a long easy swing there came 
 into their midst a stranger from the far-away sea. 
 He alighted in the midst of the indignant rooks 
 with a shrill wail of weariness, and immediately 
 began to preen the pearly-grey feathers of his 
 
THE STRANGER 93 
 
 wings and back, as if conscious of the need of 
 looking his best before these sombre citizens into 
 whose domain he had intruded so abruptly. 
 Whether he knew how elegant, how fairy-like 
 he appeared as compared with their dingy livery 
 is a moot point, but probably he did, for birds of 
 all creatures are extremely self-conscious and well- 
 aware of all their best points. But one thing he 
 certainly knew instinctively, and that was that he 
 was not in the presence of friends, and he cauti- 
 ously compared the strong curves of his hooked 
 beak with the lance-like mandibles of the rooks. 
 However, he was alone, the odds were very great, 
 and while in company with his fellow gulls hover- 
 ing over the foaming sea preying upon a school 
 of fish, he would have scorned even the appear- 
 ance of timidity, here it was a matter of ordi- 
 nary prudence to be quite modest in his 
 demeanour. 
 
 Nevertheless his bright keen eyes kept keenest 
 watch upon the gathering company of rooks. He 
 noted every side-long flutter which brought them 
 nearer to him, heard discriminatingly every 
 change of note in their hoarse voices. And 
 suddenly, as, seeing a fat slug at his feet he 
 stooped and gulped it in, the whole array at a 
 given signal closed in upon him, the old general in 
 front, and he stood erect facing them. In a voice 
 like the grating of a file upon a saw the rook said 
 
94 SEA FOAM 
 
 " How dare you intrude upon our feeding grounds ? 
 Where have you come from, oh, ungainly stranger, 
 and why have you left your proper place. An- 
 swer quickly ; we have little time to waste upon 
 you, miserable, pale interloper that you are." 
 " Friends," he replied, " driven by storm from 
 the sea, and separated from my fellows, I flew 
 blindly through the night, having lost my sense 
 of direction, and only knowing that I was escaping 
 from the angry tumult that rages over the waves. 
 And I reached this quiet spot at dawn, weary and 
 hungry ; feeling, indeed, as a stranger in a strange 
 land until I saw your noble forms busily gathering 
 your harvest beneath me. There was such a 
 peaceful and dignified air of rightful ownership 
 of these pleasant fields, and withal your harvest 
 seemed so generously abundant, that I felt im- 
 pelled to stay my flight among you and implore 
 your hospitality for a brief space. Just a few 
 morsels from your overflowing store, and a rest 
 from my long journey, then I will return to my 
 fellows and sing the praises of the noble ebon 
 landowners, who so well know how to receive 
 strangers." " Haw, haw, haw ! " cried the whole 
 company, with intense sarcasm, while the general 
 said raspingly, " Pale fledgling with a forked 
 tongue, know that we are famous for discernment 
 and accurate estimates of those who come with 
 specious speeches to beguile us of our right, rob 
 
THE STRANGER 95 
 
 us of our property. More, we fully understand 
 your mission. You are but the spy and scout of 
 an assemblage of your marauding fellows, who 
 await your return and report, to come in force 
 and drive us away. So you lost your way ! " 
 " Haw, haw, haw ! " chorused the exultant flock. 
 " Oh, yes, we will entertain you so well that 
 you will neither wish nor be able to leave us 
 again. Young stranger, you have come to 
 stay." 
 
 Just then a long mournfully howling blast of 
 wind came over the stubble, and the air became 
 thick with snow. The threatening attitude of 
 the rooks changed to one of doubt and anxiety, 
 and the gull, full of inherited knowledge of how to 
 make the most of every fleeting moment, began 
 to feed, gobbling up hastily the numerous worms 
 and slugs and snails that crawled around him. 
 This apparent indifference filled to overflowing 
 the cup of anger possessed by the old rook, who, 
 with a hoarse caw of rage flapped heavily toward 
 the stranger. The latter lightly rose and circled 
 around the astonished rooks, who, forgetting for 
 a moment the threatening weather, mounted too, 
 and endeavoured to surround the daring bird. 
 But he had realized the immense superiority which 
 he held over them in the present stress of wind, 
 and with the greatest ease he maintained his 
 position above the angry rooks, who strove with 
 
96 SEA FOAM 
 
 all their powers to reach him, and kept up an 
 incessant tumult of furious cries, as if they could 
 intimidate him by noise. 
 
 Meanwhile the wind and rain rapidly increased, 
 much to the discomfiture of the rooks. They 
 faltered in their purpose of attacking the stranger, 
 huddled together with querulous cries taking the 
 place of their previous strident noises, and at last, 
 fairly scared, flew off towards their rookery, 
 closely followed by the triumphant stranger, who, 
 quite forgetting his^hunger and weariness, literally 
 bullied and harassed his late persecutors over three 
 fields to their nests. But the trees in which those 
 nests were built were thrashing about in the storm 
 most dangerously, threatening continually to be 
 snapped off at their bases, as many of their upper 
 branches already were. In the midst of that 
 wild scene the whole covey of rooks were whirled 
 away like ragged clumps of withered leaves into 
 the still gathering gloom, followed by a final 
 prolonged scream of triumph from the elated gull. 
 His practical mind, however, forbade him wasting 
 any more of his fast failing energies upon mere 
 enjoyment of victory. He settled down under 
 the nearest hedgerow and, screened from the 
 violence of the storm, began to satisfy his great 
 hunger. He was fortunate in finding abundant 
 food, and having eaten his fill, he stepped into the 
 snuggest corner of the hedge that he could find, 
 
THE STRANGER 97 
 
 and, after a perfunctory preening of his feathers, 
 slept soundly. 
 
 When he awoke the snow had fallen thickly, 
 and covered everything with a deep mantle of 
 white, obliterating every feature of the landscape 
 from recognition. A sense of utter loneliness 
 seized upon him, and he gave utterance to a 
 moaning cry full of sorrow. To his utter surprise 
 and joy it was immediately answered by a whole 
 chorus of screams from near at hand, which he 
 recognized as the voices of a flock of his own kind. 
 He screamed shrilly in answer, and rising excitedly 
 into the still sleet-laden air, balanced himself 
 against the stress of the gale while he peered 
 eagerly around. Suddenly he descried his fellows 
 gathered disconsolately under a hedge in the 
 adjoining field, and immediately darted into their 
 midst. From them he heard a tale of utter 
 destruction upon the sea. Everything about the 
 waves, they said, had been swept away, the tall 
 ships especially, and on their long estranging 
 flight inland they had passed hundreds of sea- 
 birds being whirled forward blindly, not knowing 
 whither they went. And they told him of their 
 sufferings from hunger, for your gull is a most 
 voracious devourer of food. In this the first, 
 comer, by virtue of his older acquaintance with 
 the neighbourhood, was, in spite of his youth, 
 able to take that much coveted position to which 
 
 7 
 
98 SEA FOAM 
 
 we all aspire that of the looked-up to, the guide, 
 leader, and adviser of others. And his task was 
 comparatively easy, for now the veil of grey above 
 was thinning fast, the sleet had ceased, and the 
 sun's warmth was beginning to penetrate the 
 desolate surroundings cheerfully. In a very few 
 minutes the whole group were immensely busy 
 gleaning rich aftermath of insect and molluscan 
 life, especially the latter, the snails being most 
 grateful to their craving stomachs, and reminding 
 them of the gelatinous delight of the harvest of 
 the sea. 
 
 Steadfastly the weather bettered, the sun 
 peeped out, the snow melted, and presently the 
 rooks came back, increased to nearly double their 
 previous numbers. But when they saw that the 
 lonely stranger, upon whose annihilation they 
 were bent, had also received reinforcements, they 
 hovered angrily in the air, filling it with their 
 discordant cries, and yet not daring to bring 
 matters to a crisis by any precipitate action. 
 Meanwhile the gulls had been quietly preening 
 their feathers and listening to the story of inhospi- 
 tality related by their forerunner. All at once, 
 at a signal from the senior gull, they all rose into 
 the air and hurled themselves at the black army. 
 There was a chaotic intermingling of black and 
 white for a few moments, then with triumphant 
 screams the sea-birds saw their enemies routed. 
 
THE STRANGER 99 
 
 They fled blindly, dropping every little while 
 some of their number sorely maimed by the sharp 
 hooked jaws of the gulls, and at last, scattered 
 over three counties, the miserable remnant were 
 left to repent as best they might their reception 
 of the stranger, while he and his beautiful com- 
 panions floated leisurely through the warm sun- 
 shine back to the sea. 
 
XII 
 
 The River 
 
 FED by scores of little rills trickling down the 
 sides of a vast boulder-bestrewn eminence, 
 shy little threads of glistening water that appeared 
 ready to vanish at the first touch of sun, our river 
 began. We babies used to dam it with clay and 
 grass and sticks, laughing gleefully as it over- 
 flowed our hastily- constructed barriers, and 
 spread muddily all about us till we could splash 
 and paddle and bedaub ourselves like the semi- 
 savage urchins that we were. It was our chief 
 joy, our choice playground, our most treasured 
 plaything. For somehow we recognized the baby 
 river as an intimate, dimly ; though we always 
 pretended to be angry at our failure, we admired 
 the sturdy little stream's calm defiance of our 
 efforts to stop its flow, and more than all we loved 
 the water, the cool shade of its surroundings in the 
 little dell at the foot of the mountain, overhung 
 with creepers depending from the boles of mighty 
 trees, which shut out the terrible heat of the sun. 
 Here we were always permitted to come as to a 
 
 101 
 
102 SEA FOAM 
 
 place where no harm could befall us, and where 
 we were certainly guarded from sunstroke. True, 
 we got very wet and muddy, but, as mother used 
 to say, it was clean, wholesome dirt ; and as for 
 the wet, our scanty garments always dried on the 
 short passage from the dell to our hut, for it was 
 little more, so fierce were the rays of the Queens- 
 land sun. 
 
 But gradually as we grew older we came to 
 understand that our little friend, that we could 
 divert from its bed by planting two pairs of chubby 
 feet in it, flowed on and on, gathering strength as 
 it went, until somewhere out in that wide unknown 
 it became a great flood, carrying lordly ships upon 
 its bosom, and blessing with its waters hundreds 
 of homes like ours, which drank at its source. 
 The knowledge came with something of a shock 
 we felt a severance of the old familiar ties, as if 
 we no longer dare treat the steadily flowing rill 
 with childish carelessness, lest we should do 
 harm to some one whom we had never seen, 
 might never know. The years rolled on peace- 
 fully as flowed the rills ; we ate and romped, and 
 grew, knowing none of the hardships of life, and 
 all the happier because of the scanty number and 
 simplicity of our pleasures. Mother and father 
 grew grey and gaunt with the struggle to keep 
 us and themselves alive ; they had sorrows of 
 which we knew nothing, but as long as we were 
 
THE RIVER 103 
 
 happy they were satisfied that all was well. 
 Changes that even we children could note came 
 all about us ; in everything it seemed but our 
 constant solace and resource the river. Even 
 the sky and the mountain and the home seemed 
 altered, but the river ran the same and so continued 
 to us a source of unbounded delight. 
 
 And then there came a great break in the even 
 flow of our lives. By what untold exertions we 
 never knew, father had scraped together enough 
 capital to take a large farm " down the river," 
 and we became full of activity in view of the 
 momentous flitting. But not until the wagons 
 were actually loaded and all was in readiness to 
 start did I realize that we were leaving our dear 
 little playmate for ever. Somehow I could not 
 bear the thought of leaving it to trickle on in utter 
 loneliness ; it seemed to me as if the solitude 
 unpeopled by us must be unbearable to it, and I 
 wept bitterly at the thought. You see I was only 
 a girl of twelve, and Tom, my brother, had grown 
 away from being a sharer in all my fanciful 
 imaginings as he was when we were younger. 
 Mother found me, and wonderingly asked why I 
 was crying now she had shed all her tears before. 
 And when I told her, blushing hotly for fear 
 of being laughed at, she said, soothingly : " Never 
 mind, dearie ; you'll still have your river, 
 only grown bigger, as you have." Her gentle 
 
104 SEA FOAM 
 
 words consoled me, and I dried my tears, although 
 the feeling would still linger that the river I was 
 going to live by could not be the same as this, 
 which I had always looked upon as our own. 
 I bade it a long, affectionate farewell, and the new 
 departure of my life having begun, I never saw it 
 again. 
 
 Very welcome, because possessing those prime 
 qualifications for children, newness and strange- 
 ness, was the first view of our second home. There, 
 on a promontory, formed by a sharp bend of the 
 river (here half a mile wide), our predecessor had 
 built what to me was a lordly mansion. How 
 poor and mean it would appear now ! It had 
 four large rooms on one floor, was stoutly con- 
 structed of weatherboard, roofed with stringy 
 bark slats, and surrounded by banana trees. 
 Prom the front and both sides glimpses of the 
 rolling river were visible through the thick, tall 
 fronds of the bananas, and at the back, far beyond 
 the waving feathers of the sugar cane and the 
 thick forest of the bush, there arose in blue haze 
 the shadowy outlines of a range of mountains. 
 My dear father had taken over the place as a going 
 concern, with crops and live stock, at a valuation, 
 so that for some time the home interests absorbed 
 us all, there was so much to see and to do. But 
 when once we had settled down I stole away to the 
 river's bank, and, sitting with my feet overhanging 
 
THE RIVER 105 
 
 the water on the trunk of an old iron-wood, I 
 courted the acquaintance of the majestic stream. 
 Beautiful it was beyond my power to describe, 
 with steep-to banks and cosy little creeks joining 
 it here and there from dim bush fastnesses, sil- 
 very stretches of sand peeping up from its bosom 
 unexpectedly, and affording a safe preening 
 place for stately rows of pelicans, and withal a 
 limpid clearness that made, even where it was 
 deep, every pebble and bunch of scudge visible at 
 the bottom as if reflected in a mirror. There 
 were fish, too, many thousands of them, leaping 
 in the golden sunlight or flashing in the shadows 
 like gleams of molten silver. There were enough 
 of them to feed all the hungry multitudes of 
 black swans that used to fly over our house so 
 thickly as to darken the sky at noonday, and for 
 the myriads of ducks that followed them, keeping 
 very sedately to their own quarter of the river at 
 feeding time. And I often watched the quaint 
 pelican birds just shovelling in the shining fry as 
 if the water was solid with them. 
 
 Yes, the river was beautiful ; I never could 
 decide whether it was more so by day or by night, 
 in a storm or a calm, when the first wonderful 
 tints of dawn made it glow with all tender shades 
 of colour, or when on a moonless night the burning 
 stars reflected themselves in its inscrutable black 
 depths, and, the banks having vanished, gave it the 
 
106 SEA FOAM 
 
 likeness of a shoreless silent sea. But, alas ! it 
 was no longer my river. I could admire it, did 
 do so with all my heart ; no keener appreciation 
 of it than mine was possible in all its phases, even 
 when the grey storm-clouds veiled its beauties, 
 and its wavelets snarled under the pressure of the 
 compelling wind. But my heart ached for the 
 gentle companionship of my rivulet up-country. 
 My admiring wonder had now in it no familiarity, 
 no love. Nor, try as I would, could I induce any 
 such sentiment for the noble stream at my feet to 
 stay with me. 
 
 It bore to our very threshold ships from the 
 great outer world. New faces, new things, and, 
 best of all, a sense of association with that big 
 community, the existence of which had been like 
 a dream to us in our haunt up-country. Illus- 
 trated papers and books and pretty clothes were 
 left by the weekly steamer, which took in exchange 
 eggs and chickens and bananas and pineapples 
 to Sydney for us. And once I went (I was nearly 
 crazy with delight) right down to the bar in one 
 of the steamers on an excursion planned to meet 
 the incoming boat and bring us back. I fear I 
 was very selfish, but I could not help it ; I spoke 
 no word all the trip. I just worshipped the river, 
 but with growing awe. It grew more and more 
 beautiful every mile of its course, and the pretty 
 sailing craft bound up over its shining surface 
 
THE RIVER 107 
 
 helped still more to adorn it as pictures and china 
 do a beautiful room. Then we reached its mouth ; 
 I saw the monstrous waves rolling their snowy 
 masses in upon the bar in the most striking con- 
 trast to the glassy, fresh spaces inside I saw the 
 great SEA. And my spirit trembled, my head 
 swam, I felt faint and overborne it was too much 
 for me. 
 
 We met the incoming ship and were transferred, 
 and I was persuaded to look once again at the bar, 
 at the line where the river met the sea, as I had not 
 done since my first sight of that marvel of all the 
 world. I saw the long line of billows rolling in as 
 if bent upon penetrating the river's outward 
 flow, watched the steamer like a toy being danced 
 upon their summits, now high in air, then hidden 
 in foaming hollows, and I felt more and more 
 reverent towards both river and sea. Neverthe- 
 less, I was glad to go back. I was full of fear, 
 like a fledgling just away from the nest, and 
 longed to return to its shelter. But on the way 
 back, which was at night, how I admired the 
 skill of the quiet man who, on his little platform 
 above our heads, found his way apparently by 
 instinct through the utter dark, when we could 
 not distinguish land from water. And then there 
 was pointed out to me a glow in the sky, a wonder- 
 ful light such as I had never before seen. It 
 deepened and brightened as we gazed, until 
 
108 SEA FOAM 
 
 presently, coming round a bend of the river, we 
 plunged in between two terrible furnaces, the 
 blazing forests on either bank. Here the river 
 was not more than four hundred yards wide, and 
 it seemed as if the mighty tongues of flames met 
 overhead, while beneath us the river ran like 
 blood. The wild things about us wailed in their 
 agony of fear and pain of heat, the fierce fire 
 roared upon its destroying way, but we passed 
 through unscathed. And three hours later I 
 landed at our little wharf safe. 
 
 When I awoke in the morning my first thought 
 was of the river, grander and more terrible than I 
 had ever dreamed it to be. And as I looked 
 out of my window towards it, through the thrash- 
 ing banana trees, I saw that there was a great 
 storm of wind and rain raging such as I had never 
 known before. I hurriedly dressed and went into 
 the kitchen, where my father and brother and 
 mother were talking, with grave faces, of the 
 effect that this tremendous rain would have upon 
 our crops, now almost ready for garnering. We 
 had maize and wheat and sugar-cane covering the 
 whole of our land, and father's face had been 
 bright of late as he had looked over those splendid 
 areas of green and gold. Darker and darker 
 gloomed the heavens, and heavier poured the 
 rain every hour until no sound was discernible 
 save that of the falling water from above. All 
 
THE RIVER 109 
 
 through that day and night we sat, snatching 
 brief spells of sleep, and full of fear, of what I 
 hardly knew, save that such terrific rain filled me 
 with nameless apprehension. Then at mid-day 
 the rain ceased, the sky cleared, and out shone 
 the sun. But the river, justifying all my dread 
 of its size and power, continued to rise, being now 
 an awful rushing flood, laden with wreckage from 
 the land. Foot by foot it gained, ruthlessly 
 mounting towards us, until we must needs fly 
 to one tiny point before the house with a few 
 necessaries, whence we looked out upon a wide 
 desolation of waters with eyes that saw no hope. 
 All we had possessed was gone except our lives, 
 and for those we did not feel grateful. Moreover, 
 it was not yet apparent whether we would even be 
 permitted to retain them. But suddenly the 
 steamer came in sight, and, seeing us, sent a boat 
 and took us away. We went, giving not a look 
 behind. We left that hopeless scene, and were 
 borne, in company with hundreds of other unfortu- 
 nates, to a better place, whence I have never 
 returned to look upon either the source of the 
 strength or the terrors of my river. 
 
XIII 
 
 Birds on Passage 
 
 THE chapter before last I had the pleasure of 
 chronicling the visit of a weather-worn 
 sea-bird to one of our inland fields, and the recep- 
 tion he unfortunately met at the beaks of those 
 grim ruffians the rooks, and it was my intention 
 to have reversed the story this week in order to 
 tell of some visits paid by inshore birds to vessels 
 at sea in which I have been sailing. But by one 
 of those coincidences which have become so 
 common in my experience that I now hardly take 
 any notice of them, on taking up my Newspaper 
 on Tuesday I read with great pleasure an article 
 by the Deputy-Superintendent of the Indian 
 Museum, Mr. Finn, on the same topic. Very 
 fine reading it was, too ; but for the moment I 
 was minded to forego my intention, as I felt 
 that it would look as if I was borrowing ideas. 
 A little consideration, however, showed me that 
 such abstention on my part was not necessary, 
 since I must of necessity deal with the matter on 
 the lines of personal experience, and, moreover, 
 
112 SEA FOAM 
 
 those experiences have been in different parts of 
 the ocean to Mr. Finn's. So I hope if he sees 
 this screed he will understand that I am not 
 poaching. 
 
 My first meeting with land birds at sea was on 
 board of the Investigator, a barque in which 
 I was homeward bound from the Gulf Coast of 
 Mexico thirty-four years ago. We were at least 
 200 miles from land, and careering gaily along 
 under all plain sail, when one of the men, going 
 to his bunk for his pipe, found a dear little bird, 
 very like a blue tit, sitting on the edge of the 
 shelf eagerly devouring cockroaches. She was 
 an old sugar ship, and, like nearly all of them, 
 fairly swarmed with those nasty insect pests. I 
 don't mind rats on board ship they aren't bad 
 company ; but I draw a severe line at cock- 
 roaches, tarantulas, scorpions, centipedes, and 
 bugs especially bugs. Being a sensible, as well 
 as a sentimental, man, August did not attempt 
 to cage the confiding little stranger, who repaid 
 his hospitality by remaining, and fearlessly 
 using the shelf as his headquarters. All hands 
 paid visits to that bunk in the course of the after- 
 noon, many of them envious of August's luck in 
 having such a guest. But just after dark in the 
 second dog-watch, from 6 to 8 p.m., another 
 man announced excitedly that he had two birds 
 in his bunk a yellow and a green one. And 
 
BIRDS ON PASSAGE 113 
 
 before the little stir caused by these fresh arrivals 
 had died away, it was found that other little 
 visitors had arrived, until before midnight the 
 dingy house was quite an aviary. The birds 
 were of differing sizes, though none were as large 
 as a thrush, and of all the colours conceivable. 
 One trait they all had in common a perfectly 
 fearless tameness. They would even allow them- 
 selves to be handled without evincing any signs 
 of dread. And they all loved cockroaches, of 
 which we had an inexhaustible store. 
 
 Next day the ship was quite peopled by birds. 
 The intense interest taken in their movements by 
 the men, the anxiety manifested by a man when 
 a bird he recognized, or thought he recognized, as 
 his particular guest, was pretty, almost pathetic, 
 to see. All quarrels were forgotten, and a sort 
 of golden era of Theocritus seemed to have 
 begun. During the ensuing two days all hands 
 lived in an idyllic dream, begrudging themselves 
 sleep in order to watch the pretty evolutions of 
 their busy, graceful little guests. But on the 
 evening of the second day a tragedy took place 
 which aroused a storm of wrath. A stalwart 
 lumpish Finn was watching with tenderest 
 solicitude the roguish play of his especial pet a 
 wee golden bird, something like a canary. He 
 had gotten a handful of cockroaches, and was 
 doling them out one by one to his friend on the 
 
 8 
 
114 SEA FOAM 
 
 ship's rail (it was just before sunset), and the 
 bird was fluttering coquettishly above his head, 
 occasionally darting out over the side a fathom 
 or so. Suddenly there came down hissingly a 
 veritable bolt from the blue, a brown shadow, 
 which enfolded the little bird, emitting at the 
 same time a shrill scream. And presently there 
 was to be seen, perched on one of the ratlines half- 
 way up the fore-rigging, a hawk, with the poor 
 little yellow bird clutched tightly in his talons, 
 tearing savagely at the palpitating body with his 
 strong hooked beak. Jack uttered a howl of rage 
 and started aloft, but as he was about as agile as 
 a bear, it will be understood that he stood no 
 possible chance of capturing so exceedingly 
 nimble a bird as a hawk. And, besides, there 
 were others. Out of the void, as the first-comers 
 had arrived, the hawks, led by the same mysteri- 
 ous instinct warning the small birds of the presence 
 of food, had followed them, and now all around 
 the ship were to be seen those keen marauders, 
 occasionally descending with a whirl upon some 
 luckless wee fellow, and bearing him triumphantly 
 aloft to devour him. 
 
 At dark there was a conference. The little 
 birds roosted contentedly in forecastle, galley, 
 and cabin, and it was seen that high aloft their 
 grim enemies were also awaiting the return of day 
 to resume their cruel, but natural, operations. 
 
BIRDS ON PASSAGE 115 
 
 So the men, after consultation, decided upon a 
 raid aloft in the hope of doing justice, as they 
 thought it, upon the cannibal intruders. The 
 hunt began, and although there were some narrow 
 escapes from death on the part of the very angry 
 sailors, they all returned to the house safely, 
 having captured four birds at the cost of some 
 severe scratches and tears from those lethal 
 beaks and claws. By the dim light of the fore- 
 castle lamp the pirates were examined, and 
 pardoned. For when they were caught the men 
 remembered that they were only doing as Nature 
 bade them, and were in consequence nowise to 
 blame. But it was wonderful to see the haughty 
 fearlessness manifested by the captives. Their 
 yellow eyes gleamed unconquerably ; their talons 
 and beaks were ready at any moment to tear 
 vengefully at the first hand near, and altogether 
 they extorted admiration. But they were held 
 captive, and offered cockroaches, which they re- 
 fused disdainfully. And as no one even thought 
 of giving them a little bird to eat, they would 
 doubtless have starved, but that on the wreck 
 of the vessel, a few days later, they were all set free, 
 and I dare say regained their native forests. 
 
 A year afterwards, during a terrific gale in the 
 North Atlantic, on board the Nova Scotian 
 barque Sea Gem, I went into the forecastle 
 at midnight to get a biscuit from the bread-barge, 
 
116 SEA FOAM 
 
 which hung from a beam out of the way of the 
 rats, and it was with an unbounded surprise that 
 I found the edge of that square wooden vessel 
 completely equipped by at least two score little 
 birds, which I afterwards knew to be swifts. 
 Poor little wanderers ! They had reached a 
 resting-place only to die. For worn out, I 
 suppose with exertion and privation, they all 
 perished. Indeed, we discovered during the 
 next day over two hundred of them in various 
 parts of the ship, clinging tightly to whatever 
 they had perched upon, but all dead. And the 
 sorrow of that mixed crew of sailors was great. 
 We were then six days' full sail at our best 
 speed about ten knots an hour from Cape 
 Clear. 
 
 While cruising in the Java Sea, en route to 
 Hong Kong, I was ordered aloft one night with 
 others to furl the top-gallant sails, and on the 
 main-top-gallant yard I found a pair of pigeons 
 as large as our big wood-pigeons. I found time 
 to secure them, before furling the sail, by a piece 
 of marline to the tye, and brought them down, 
 apparently none the worse for their rough usage. 
 Fed on good grain and cockroaches,they developed 
 amazingly, and I regret to say were encouraged 
 in their pugnacious proclivities by all of us. We 
 had never heard of Malays' fighting pigeons, but 
 we found out that these two would fight, and 
 
BIRDS ON PASSAGE 117 
 
 we had many an exciting bout. They were always 
 ready, and never allowed themselves beaten. 
 Such plucky creatures I never saw. Whenever 
 you put a hand near them they always struck it. 
 No thought of consequences ever seemed to occur 
 to them, and whenever I have since heard of or 
 seen gamecocks, I have thought of these pigeons 
 as being quite the equal in courage of any game- 
 cock that ever lived. 
 
 When crossing the stormy sea (in the S.W. 
 monsoon) which joins the Chinese mainland to 
 the great Philippine Island group I was one even- 
 ing at the wheel just at sunset. We were on a 
 wind, and carrying on, too, for the skipper was 
 anxious to get across, so I had all my work at 
 hand to keep her full and bye. Yet, as the 
 occupation was so much more manual than mental, 
 I became presently mightily interested in the 
 appearance of a stork, who was evidently over- 
 borne with weariness, and wanted a resting-place. 
 But, do what he would, he could not summon up 
 sufficient enterprise to board us. I don't know 
 that I ever felt so much sympathy for any living 
 thing, except when I sat once with the naked 
 little body of my two-year-old daughter across 
 my knees for four hours, watching her go out of 
 one convulsion into another, powerless to do any- 
 thing but pray, yet full of fearful admiration of 
 the way in which the sorely overstrained flesh 
 
118 SEA FOAM 
 
 sought to retain the spirit that " wanted out," 
 as the Scotch say. 
 
 Trust himself to windward the bird would not. 
 Instinctively he dreaded an indraught, and the 
 impossibility of his again winning his way to 
 windward in case alighting was not advisable. 
 How could he know, poor creature, of the natural 
 cushion of air in front of each sail, in which he 
 might have safely manoeuvred for a quiet settling- 
 place ? So he kept either astern or in the most 
 dangerous place of all, along the lee, where the 
 down-draught from the sails, the back-lash of a 
 moderate gale, made his position most dangerous. 
 He was evidently so weary, his need was so great, 
 night was falling fast and the wind was ever 
 strengthening indeed, the heart of his lonely 
 audience was quite full at sight of the unequal 
 conflict, which, it seemed, could only have one 
 end. Again and again he sheered in by tremen- 
 dous efforts, his great wings working convulsively, 
 his long neck strained out straight before him, 
 until he got under the eddy from the mizen, the 
 barque would give a lee-lurch, and away he would 
 be whirled to leeward again. Fain would I say 
 that so gallant a fight for mere life was eventually 
 crowned with success. But this is fact, not fiction, 
 and we know from grim experience that all too 
 often the bravest warriors of all kinds fight on, 
 only to die fighting. My stork came up for the 
 
BIRDS ON PASSAGE 119 
 
 hundredth time under the foot of the mizen, a 
 heavier squall than usual careened the Dart- 
 mouth over until the water spouted in through 
 the lee scupper-holes, and, a bundle of ragged 
 feathers, the gallant bird was dashed under the 
 crest of a huge wave and disappeared. 
 
 Next evening I caught a goat-sucker. I did 
 not know that it was one until long after. All I 
 noted was the owl-like softness of his feathers 
 and the extraordinary way in which, when it 
 opened its mouth, its head seemed to come in 
 two halves, only held together by a little integu- 
 ment at the back. I kept it alive until we entered 
 Cavite Bay by feeding it on cockroaches, of which 
 it would swallow a handful and then go to sleep. 
 But knowing that I could not hope to keep it 
 much longer, I gave it liberty as we entered the 
 heads, and it went straight for the nearest shore, 
 where I hope it found food as plentiful as it had 
 while under my care. Many other birds have 
 been voluntary passengers with me, that is, on 
 board the ship in which I happened to be 
 sailing at the time, of which I can only mention a 
 splendid acquisition on the Australian coast of 
 twenty-two canaries all songsters. They did 
 not come from shore, for the wind was blowing 
 direct from the sea. I am sure they came from 
 some ship arriving from China. Anyhow, they 
 were a great blessing to us all the way home. 
 
XIV 
 
 At Last 
 
 ON "the pleasant shore of the beautiful basin 
 of Minas, Evangeline's country, Robert 
 Wilson tilled the fruitful meadows, grew apples 
 and potatoes in splendid superabundance, and 
 raised a few good kine, also an occasional litter 
 of frolicsome pigs. He was aided in this quiet 
 pastoral life by his good, sensible, and helpful 
 wife, and, as the uneventful years rolled by, three 
 sons were added to them, who all followed in the 
 plodding, patient footsteps of their father and 
 mother. Content so to live, unambitious of 
 rising in the world, and loving their home 
 their very own, every rood of it in the whole of 
 broad Canada no pleasanter and more placid 
 family circle than that of the Wilsons could have 
 been found. They seemed to reflect, as did the 
 summer waters of the Basin, the towering mass 
 of Mount Blomidon, under which the house 
 nestled, in their lives the peace of their happy 
 surroundings. But, unlike the waters upon 
 whose shores they lived, they had no seasons of 
 
 121 
 
122 SEA FOAM 
 
 storm and stress, when the terrible winter gales 
 combined with the fierce flow of the swiftest tides 
 in the wide world to make that narrow sea a 
 place of dread, only navigable by seafarers with 
 hearts of truest temper and bodies inured to the 
 most tremendous hardships. Nor did the winter 
 cold, when the Frost King continually essayed 
 to bind the rushing waters in icy chains, and in 
 the futile effort to do so piled floe upon floe to the 
 rending, shattering accompaniment of elemental 
 roarings, until the whole Basin was covered with 
 swiftly rushing masses of thick-ribbed ice, make 
 those peaceful ones regret their being compelled 
 to live in so stern a climate. They just worked 
 on, looking forward to the spring resurrection 
 time, and enjoying to the full the many bright 
 opportunities for brisk outdoor fun afforded them 
 by the brilliant days and nights, when, without a 
 breath of air stirring, the health-laden air was 
 like ethereal wine, and almost as heady. 
 
 During the winter, as was common with the 
 Acadian coast farmers, Wilson usually " got out " 
 a schooner, being, indeed, a shipbuilder born, 
 and looking upon that wonderful art and mystery 
 as one that could hardly be acquired, but must be 
 inherited. All the suitable timber that his land 
 yielded, and there was much of it, he reserved 
 for this purpose. Not being compelled to cut it 
 down and sell it, or eager to turn it into money 
 
AT LAST 123 
 
 quickly, he refused all offers for it except and 
 until it was hewn and bolted into the graceful 
 shape of a ship. Shipbuilding was the hobby of 
 his life, although he had never been to sea, nor 
 felt a desire to go, a curious distinction from all 
 his neighbours (the nearest a mile away) shared by 
 his three sons. When he had finished building 
 and sold a vessel he seemed to have lost all interest 
 in her that she would be a good sea-boat, and 
 give satisfaction to her owners and crew, always 
 was to him a foregone conclusion, amply justified 
 in the event. And so Robert Wilson's twin busi- 
 nesses of farming and shipbuilding went prosper- 
 ously forward for many years until, when his 
 youngest boy was fifteen, his eldest twenty, and 
 himself forty-two, another boy was born to him, 
 his gentle wife being then forty. 
 
 Nothing in all the placid current of their career 
 had so stirred them as this event, for they had 
 not the slightest idea a year before of such a 
 possibility ; their family seemed complete, rounded 
 off, the possible advent of grandsons in their old 
 age being just a hazy idea. They felt as if newly 
 wedded again, began to make fresh plans for the 
 future, and, indeed, were more consciously happy 
 than they had ever been before. The three 
 stalwart sons, too, made a tremendous fuss of the 
 coming of this wee brother, and all their rather 
 sluggish instincts of joy were quickened and 
 
124 SEA FOAM 
 
 intensified. They conspired with their parents 
 to make Jemmy an idol, they endeavoured to 
 anticipate his every wish,and when he vociferously 
 demanded something they could not possibly 
 get him, their sorrow and disappointment was 
 great. In consequence of this acceleration of 
 their sensations much of the peace they had 
 always enjoyed disappeared ; if their joys were 
 keener, their sorrows appeared where hitherto 
 had been only a placid flow of peaceful life. 
 Jemmy was at the bottom of it all. He was 
 self-willed, autocratic from his early babyhood. 
 Feeling his absolute power over his adoring sub- 
 jects, he used it without any sense of compunction 
 for giving pain or trouble, but as of innate right. 
 And they loved him all the more for it. As he grew 
 old enough to get about their solicitude increased. 
 For he evidently possessed a daring, energetic, 
 and adventurous spirit, that never stopped to 
 count the cost of any deed he might desire to do, 
 and, as his strong brothers, in their fervent love 
 and admiration for him, aided him in the accom- 
 plishment of his desires, his life very soon became 
 a series of hair-breadth escapes from death. Yet 
 he seemed to bear a charmed life, and recovered 
 easily from injuries that ought, according to all 
 rules, have killed him. 
 
 By the time Jemmy was twelve it had become 
 obvious to all his family that this peaceful life 
 
AT LAST 125 
 
 was not to be his. The one thing which would 
 always draw him from any pursuit he might be 
 engaged in was the sight of a vessel passing down 
 the Basin outward bound to sea. Hereditary 
 instincts dormant in his father and mother and 
 brothers were at work, fostered unconsciously 
 by the latter, who were, as usual with Nova 
 Scotian coast dwellers, full of stories of the sea. 
 His grandfathers on both sides had been among 
 the most daring seamen of that daring race, and 
 tales of their prowess had power to hold him 
 enthralled when otherwise he would have been 
 out and about all manner of mischief. Still, he 
 did take an interest in the shipbuilding also, and 
 early gained a proficiency in the handling of broad 
 axe, adze, and chisel that made his father's keen 
 grey eyes sparkle with appreciation. When he 
 was fifteen an order came to his father to build a 
 barque of 1,200 tons, at least three times larger 
 than any Robert had ever before attempted. But 
 size being a mere detail, all their resources were 
 brought into play, the keel was laid, and the 
 vessel grew. Jemmy was saturated with delight. 
 Strangely enough, it steadied him. His extrava- 
 gances were laid aside, his brows began to knit, and 
 in every detail of the new vessel's construction he 
 took a deep, earnest interest. It seemed as if 
 his volatile spirit had found its objective, the 
 lack of affection only too manifest in him he 
 
126 SEA FOAM 
 
 received all love as his due, and never appeared 
 to give any in return was replaced by a deep 
 sense of interest in this calling, and his family all 
 noted the change. 
 
 The ship was finished. Her towering masts 
 swung into their places, her equipment was all 
 arranged, and Jemmy, as the son of his father, was 
 permitted to give the launching stroke. Then he 
 turned to his father, and announced his intention 
 of going to sea in her. It was a heavy blow, only 
 slightly anticipated, the more so as the father 
 knew the character of the skipper who was to 
 command her, a ruffian who, though a perfect 
 seaman, should have been a bloodthirsty pirate 
 instead of a peaceful merchantman. But it was 
 too late in the day to thwart the youngster 
 now, after having yielded to him all his life. 
 Every inducement that love could offer, every 
 argument that common sense could produce, 
 was used, and in vain. And Jemmy, full of 
 glowing anticipations of the adventurous life for 
 which his nature craved, sailed in the James 
 H. Wilson, bidding a careless and preoccupied 
 farewell to that little home group who had loved 
 him better than their lives. 
 
 All his father's anticipations of the life await- 
 ing him were realized. The barque was an abode 
 of terror, the skipper and mates brutes of un- 
 matchable ferocity, and the men poor slaves who 
 
AT LAST 127 
 
 never stayed in the ship a day longer than they 
 could help, but fled in any port where they could 
 escape, leaving clothes, money, everything they 
 possessed behind them but life. And through 
 this inferno of seafaring Jemmy Wilson gradually 
 held his way. Being from the first destined for 
 an officer, there was no brutality used to him, 
 until he, in his turn, strode her quarterdeck as 
 her master. And never once in those ten years 
 had he sent a word to those loving ones who had 
 so tenderly lavished upon him all the treasures 
 of their hearts. He just went his hard way, 
 ambitious only for power, careless of his money, 
 addicted to all the vices of the sailor but drunken- 
 ness, and as far as any feeling or thought of home, 
 father, mother, brothers was concerned, they 
 might have been absolutely non-existent. 
 
 The effect upon them was cruel. The men 
 grew hard, especially the father ; the mother 
 aged terribly fast, her wistful heart ever yearn- 
 ing after her lost boy. Of course, news vague 
 news of him came now and then ; but those 
 ships seldom return to the coast villages where 
 they are built, and although news of the ship's 
 smartness in making passages, her success as a 
 freight-earner, etc., filtered through the usual 
 channels, the message to the mother never came. 
 Yet she never lost heart. Her husband and 
 sons having grown morose and savagely intolerant 
 
128 SEA FOAM 
 
 of the mention of his name, she now never 
 uttered it ; but deep down in her tender heart 
 his image as the curly-haired, bright-faced, four- 
 year-old boy was ever present, along with a sense 
 of absolute certainty that she should see him again. 
 And so their weary days rolled on, all the bright- 
 ness gone out of their lives. They just worked 
 on, none of the sons getting married or apparently 
 caring to, and their means accumulating until 
 they were fairly wealthy, but feeling no satisfaction 
 in the fact. 
 
 Then one winter a season long to be remem- 
 bered on the coast there was a succession of 
 terrible gales, snowstorms, and frosts, so severe 
 that it really seemed as if even the race off Blomi- 
 don and Cape Sharp would be stopped in the 
 savage grip of the Ice King. The bright, clear 
 nights, so enjoyable in those winters, appeared 
 to have all been stopped by some strange breach 
 of law. And on the worst night of that awful 
 year the Wilson family sat silently around the 
 roaring fire, each busy with his own thoughts, 
 while the tempest tore at the house as if it would 
 carry it bodily over the Peninsula. Suddenly 
 the mother rose, a strange light in her eyes, and 
 screamed, " My boy's come home at last ! " And 
 outside the tempest thundered. 
 
 In the morning, when it had lulled, and the 
 blue peeped through the grey lift, while Blomidon's 
 
AT LAST 129 
 
 crest was hidden as if in steam, they saw lying 
 across the end of the building slip the remains of 
 a ship, and a little higher up upon the frozen shore 
 a man, who was also a block of ice, his rigid 
 arm through a lifebuoy whereon was painted the 
 name James H. Wilson. 
 
 The son and the ship had come home at last ! 
 
XV 
 
 A Christmas on Aldabra 
 
 T T yTILLIE PARKER was a dear lad of fifteen, 
 W w ho owned that most precious of all 
 treasures, a good home and parents, entirely wise 
 and sympathetic. With his two sisters and a 
 younger brother he had, ever since his earliest 
 recollections, always enjoyed the most intimate 
 fellowship with his father and mother, the fellow- 
 ship that should exist between parents and chil- 
 dren, but so seldom does. Now one of the great 
 features of the Parker home was their joyful 
 observance of family festivals, and especially of 
 the greatest of all, Christmas. To all of them it 
 was a time of greatest joy, and they felt truly 
 sorry for those who in their modern affectation 
 of cynicism derided Christmas keeping as utter 
 folly and hypocrisy. 
 
 Now Willie, when asked what he would like to 
 be, promptly decided for the life of a sailor. And 
 his parents, after placing before him all the argu* 
 ments they could find against such a calling, and 
 finding him still firm in his desire, did not try to 
 
132 SEA FOAM 
 
 thwart him, but at once set about getting him 
 bound in a good ship with a highly respectable 
 firm, so that he might have the best possible 
 chance in the chosen profession. The same 
 thoroughness and energy that characterized all 
 Mr. Parker's home and business activities was 
 not wanting here, and so it came to pass that 
 within two months of the day that Willie made 
 his choice he was outward bound from Cardiff to 
 Bombay in the splendid sailing-ship Conqueror, 
 laden with coal for the Bombay, Baroda, and 
 Central Indian Railway Company. 
 
 The Conqueror was not only a grand ship, 
 well found and well manned, but the captain and 
 officers had a high sense of their duties towards 
 the young fellows committed to their charge for 
 training in the (sea) way they should go. There 
 were seven apprentices, all berthed together as 
 usual in the so-called half-deck, but not, as usual, 
 left to themselves in their watch below nor when 
 on deck, nor were they kept at the most menial 
 employments in order that the crew might not 
 grumble. They were really taught, made to feel 
 that their sea education was an important matter, 
 their apprenticeship time far too valuable to be 
 frittered away, and in consequence, before the 
 good ship had reached the Equator all the lads 
 had acquired an intelligent idea of what they were 
 expected to do, and why. 
 
A CHRISTMAS ON ALDABRA 133 
 
 In any case, this was well and as it should be, 
 but it was especially so now, for after cross- 
 ing the line a most evil sequence of events, 
 which for want of a more lucid definition we 
 usually call a run of bad luck, set in for the 
 Conqueror and her crew. A strange unknown 
 malady attacked the crew, probably brought on 
 board by one of their number from his last voy- 
 age. It puzzled the captain beyond measure, 
 for neither the book of directions in the medicine 
 chest nor his long previous experience gave him 
 any clue as to what should be the treatment. 
 One by one the men sickened and died, yet, curi- 
 ously enough, for some time the dread destroyer 
 kept to the fore end of the ship. But the weather 
 was terribly embarrassing, the doldrums seemed 
 as if they were determined not to allow the ship 
 to pass through their baffling barrier. Rain and 
 calm and squalls in every direction prevented 
 any progress, and, as no vessels were sighted for 
 weeks, it really seemed as if the ship had drifted 
 into a special cycle of evil weather prepared for 
 her alone. 
 
 The captain and officers grew haggard and 
 worn with hard work and anxiety as day suc- 
 ceeded day and progress seemed impossible, while 
 the ravages of disease forward appeared to in- 
 crease. The only comfort those hardly entreated 
 seafarers found was in the fine conduct of the 
 
134 SEA FOAM 
 
 boys, who repaid with compound interest the 
 care they had received during the early days of 
 the passage. They treated the whole affair as a 
 splendid adventure, and while grieving over the 
 frequent burials, were not in the least alarmed 
 for themselves. Also, they toiled like seasoned 
 seamen to get the ship along, feeling proud that 
 they were able to do so much thus early in their 
 sea career. 
 
 At last the south-east Trades were found, fitful 
 and erratic it is true, but in their general direction 
 favourable enough to allow the ship to lay a good 
 course to the southward. This, however, decided 
 the captain to pursue his voyage, instead of mak- 
 ing for Rio, as he was sorely tempted to do. Out 
 of sixteen able seamen he had already lost eight, 
 and four more were almost hopeless. Still, as 
 the Trades held so well to the eastward and fresh- 
 ened steadily, his hopes rose, and he felt that even 
 if all his foremast hands died, as seemed only too 
 probable, he would still be able to get his ship to 
 Bombay, since he would have no great stretch of 
 stormy easting to run down. It would mean a 
 long passage, of course, but that was far preferable 
 to putting into a Brazilian port. 
 
 So the Conqueror was edged gradually and 
 at an ever-increasing rate southward, but, un- 
 happily, the mortality among the crew did not 
 cease. Also the third officer, a most brilliant 
 
A CHRISTMAS ON ALDABRA 135 
 
 young fellow and a great favourite of the captain's, 
 was seized one afternoon and died the following 
 morning. But, having taken him, the plague 
 seemed to be content as far as the after-guard 
 was concerned, and, indeed, from that day there 
 was a decided improvement in the health of the 
 ship. Only four of the poor fellows forward 
 were left though, and they, in spite of their natural 
 depression, gradually became vigorous again, so 
 that in spite of the sorely shrunken number of 
 his crowd, the captain looked forward hopefully 
 to the passage round the Cape. 
 
 It is now time to muster the remains of the 
 crew. Captain and two mates, four A.B.'s, seven 
 apprentices of fifteen to sixteen years of age, and 
 three Chinese- Ah Toy, Wan Lung, and Yee 
 Hop. I have put them last ; but, really, although 
 they were " Chinks," and filled the almost menial 
 offices of cook and stewards, they were a host in 
 themselves. Captain Broadbent had carried 
 them for several years, and was wont to say that 
 he believed that, although Chinese, there were 
 no better men in the world. Certainly, on this 
 memorable voyage they abundantly justified 
 his encomiums, for while they always attended 
 perfectly to their own special duties, they were 
 to be found helping wherever help was needed 
 by night or by day. And Willie, who had never 
 seen a Chinese before, had learned to love them. 
 
136 SEA FOAM 
 
 I know that it is said that the Chinese are inca- 
 pable of affection ; I know, too, that it is a lie. 
 As Willie found, for having shown these three 
 queerly-named, slant-eyed pagans that he loved 
 them, they lost no opportunity of showing him 
 that they loved him in return. 
 
 But this is premature. Gradually the Con- 
 queror slipped from the South-East Trades into 
 the Westerlies, and that too so easily that the 
 captain began to tell himself that, after all, he 
 wouldn't make such a bad passage, and that the 
 ill-wind of the early part of the passage might 
 blow him and his officers much good. This feel- 
 ing deepened as he saw how tenderly the Wester- 
 lies dealt with him. True, he dared not " carry 
 on " ; but then the wind was never too strong for 
 a fairly good show of canvas, and take it 
 all round matters might have been very much 
 worse. So the good ship glided along round the 
 Stormy Cape, which was on its best behaviour, 
 until she reached the meridian of 50 E., when the 
 wind still holding strong and steady to the west- 
 ward she was hauled up eight points, and began 
 to lessen her latitude every day. Gradually the 
 weather became finer, with wind lighter, and 
 tending to variableness, making the captain feel 
 glad that he had decided against trying the 
 Mozambique Channel with his weakly-manned 
 ship. 
 
A CHRISTMAS ON ALDABRA 137 
 
 And so they drew northward to sight of Mada- 
 gascar, passed Reunion and Mauritius, until, 
 being well within the Trade area again, Cap- 
 tain Broadbent began to wonder what had be- 
 come of the south-east wind. Soon his wonder 
 deepened into anxiety as the light airs and 
 showers began to give place to ugly weather, 
 stifling sulphury calms, and crashing cloudbursts 
 shot through with lurid fires. To add to his cares, 
 he became aware that the sulphur-laden atmo- 
 sphere was not entirely due to the air being sur- 
 charged with electricity ; the badly-ventilated 
 cargo of coal was obeying natural laws, and was 
 very probably on fire. That, however, was a 
 catastrophe he would not contemplate, nor would 
 it have helped for him to do so, since additional 
 ventilation was impossible now under the cur- 
 rent weather conditions, and if combustion had 
 really begun it would only have precipitated 
 disaster. 
 
 Then came the crowning calamity, heralded as 
 it had been by the celestial signs. A belated 
 hurricane burst upon the devoted ship and her 
 almost impotent crew. It dealt with her as it 
 would, for even had she been fully manned, little 
 more could have been done but make everything 
 as secure as possible. And with that perversity 
 of trouble which so often characterizes sea calami- 
 ties in the height of the tempest, when the experi- 
 
138 SEA FOAM 
 
 enced ones were whispering hopefully to them- 
 selves that she was weathering it, the fore and 
 main hatch burst upwards in a volcano of soaring 
 flame. Then the hopes of all nearly died. This 
 was on December 22. 
 
 Willie had been crouching in the midst of his 
 fellow-apprentices, just inside the half-deck door, 
 when the dread truth suddenly burst upon them 
 all, and how or why he will never know they 
 dispersed, and the darkness swallowed them up. 
 Presently he found himself in the grip of two 
 strong arms, dully conscious of that grip amidst 
 the surrounding uproar of wind and wave and 
 fire. And after that he remembered no more. 
 Poor lad, he had been subjected to a strain of 
 body and mind such as the strongest man might 
 well be forgiven for succumbing to, and had he 
 then died, his passage hence would have been un- 
 attended by any of those pains the frail flesh so 
 much protests against and dreads. 
 
 When he returned to the world of sense his eyes 
 opened upon a sky of limpid blue, with just a tiny 
 fluff of snowy cloud flecking its pure expanse. 
 And then between it and his vacant gaze was 
 obtruded a stolid yellow face, devoid of all expres- 
 sion save perhaps that the oblique eyes had in 
 them a strange, soft light. Willie strove to rise, 
 but a skinny, sinewy arm restrained him, and a 
 well-remembered voice said : " Willie pigeon 
 
A CHRISTMAS ON ALDABRA 139 
 
 blong stop plenty quiet. Maskey now. Velly 
 good keep still." " But where am I, Wan Lung ; 
 where's the ship an' Bill an' Tom an' the old 
 man; where's everybody?" "My no shabee, 
 no have got there. My think it make lun' 
 'way noth' boat. Ship plenty burn, fire too 
 muchee hot, tyfoong makee blake evellyting. 
 No can do any more. All litee. Look see, blong 
 land lite here ; makee chop chop go shore. You 
 no shabee Ah Toy, Yee Hop plenty low makee 
 come shore fore darlk." 
 
 Willie sank back in the bottom of the gig and 
 wondered why she had survived, why only he and 
 the three Chinese had been spared, and many 
 other things. And then his wandering thoughts 
 focussed themselves upon the fact that it was 
 Christmas time, and his wondering dwelt upon 
 that happy home circle preparing for their best- 
 loved festival without him, a gap there for the 
 first time since the Parker family became a fact. 
 A tear or two stole down his cheeks, but he was 
 too worn-out to feel sorrow very acutely, and sleep, 
 the sleep of exhaustion, again enfolded him merci- 
 fully. When he awoke, he was being carried 
 ashore with utmost gentleness. A shelter from 
 the ardent sun-rays had been prepared for him, 
 and three men who apparently knew nothing of 
 such human failings as fatigue or helplessness 
 were busy preparing what by the smell of it was 
 
140 SEA FOAM 
 
 a most sumptuous meal. He lay luxuriously 
 watching them, feeling at times a strange choking 
 sensation as he noted their wonderful care of him, 
 but withal enjoying himself amazingly. Pres- 
 ently there came back to him the old feeling of 
 Christmas, and by dint of earnest questioning he 
 ascertained from Wan Lung what had happened 
 since he had last been fully conscious of the date, 
 and found that this was indeed Christmas Day. 
 Naturally his first impulse was to bemoan himself, 
 for he was only a boy, although a rare good one, 
 but, remembering his mercies, he restrained him- 
 self and insisted upon being thankful. 
 
 What a meal that was ! There was roast tor- 
 toise and boiled eggs and dressed crab and a curi- 
 ous pie of crushed biscuit mixed with the con- 
 tents of a tin of roast turkey which one of his 
 yellow friends had snatched and brought with 
 him. They ate the strange food, ate to reple- 
 tion, and when at last it was all gone, and the 
 impassive Chinese had loaded their pipes, and 
 sat stolidly smoking, Willie cried out, " Ah, I 
 feel I must wish you a happy Christmas, you good 
 men." Yee Hop murmured interrogatively, 
 " What pigeon blong him happy Klissumass ? " 
 And then, had any one been there to see, a strange 
 scene was enacted. A typical English boy, with 
 all the shyness and poverty of expression which 
 characterizes that curious piece of humanity, 
 
A CHRISTMAS ON ALDABRA 141 
 
 struggling with all his limitations in the earnest 
 attempt to tell the wonderful story of the first 
 Christmas Day. It cannot be reproduced, the 
 quaint jargon, and still quainter interruptions, 
 as the queer auditory in their eagerness to miss 
 no essential point sought explanation after 
 explanation. It was wound up by a long-drawn 
 sigh from Ah Toy, and the lucid remark, " My 
 thinkee blong all litee. Joss man blong top 
 side, makee come down here allee samee poor 
 fellow me. Blong littee baby no can catchee 
 house. Plenty Joss bird sing top side only 
 poor man makee look see. Me shabee plenty, 
 my likee allee samee." 
 
 Much more to the same effect followed from 
 Wan Lung and Yee Hop, and Willie felt a succes- 
 sion of thrills of satisfaction mingling with his 
 deep sorrow for those whom he deemed entirely 
 lost. But after a short detention upon the island, 
 a calling French gunboat rescued the little party, 
 and took them to Tamatave, where he learned to 
 his immense joy and relief that the whole of his 
 ship-mates had been picked up in the lifeboat 
 and taken to Mauritius, where in a fortnight he 
 , and his yellow friends rejoined them. 
 
XVI 
 
 Christmas at Sea 
 
 T T 7"HETHER it was because even before I went 
 * * to sea, and that was early enough in my 
 life, dear knows, I had formed a high ideal of what 
 Christmas Day should be and how kept, I do not 
 know, but certainly I have always reckoned my 
 sea-time by the number of Christmases spent 
 and the general character of the ships by the kind 
 of treatment seamen then received on board. I 
 cannot here attempt in the space at my disposal 
 to deal with all those sea Christmases of mine, 
 but as far as I may I will in most prosaic fashion 
 record my experiences, and how far they kept 
 pace with my desires. My ideal Christmas re- 
 mains precisely the same as it was in my earliest 
 recollection of the season, a time for the reunion 
 of scattered families, of plenty of good food for 
 everybody, an air of grateful rejoicing, of con- 
 sciousness that the Prince of Peace and goodwill 
 had indeed come to this world. Let me admit 
 that at a very early age I found that I could not 
 realize these ideals, although I always lived in 
 
 143 
 
144 SEA FOAM 
 
 hope to do so. And when I went to sea I found 
 that my ideal Christmas was quite out of the 
 question, for reasons which need not be enlarged 
 upon. Yet I thankfully record that I have known 
 large-hearted skippers who have done their best 
 to make their men feel how universal the brother- 
 hood of man should be on that great day. And 
 this in spite of the fact that some of them were 
 men with whom the idea of specialising, as it were, 
 any day in the year, except the first day of each 
 week, savoured of heathenism. 
 
 My first Christmas on board ship was an extra- 
 ordinary one, and although it is now thirty-five 
 years ago, every detail of it is graven indelibly 
 upon my memory. I was then " boy," not any 
 special kind of boy, but just everybody's boy, in 
 a good-sized barque, the Sea Gem, of St. An- 
 drew's, Nova Scotia. We were loading cotton 
 in Mobile Bay, Alabama, for Liverpool, and bit- 
 terly cold I remember it was for those genial 
 latitudes. The huge bales of cotton used to come 
 down the Dog River in steamers to the fleet of 
 ships in the Bay, and be jerked on board in double- 
 quick time by the uproarious darkies, then only 
 just emerging from the slave condition. Up till 
 the 23rd of December they came in rapid succes- 
 sion, and then their visits suddenly ceased. As 
 all fresh provisions were brought by them, and 
 consumed by the ships almost day by day, our 
 
CHRISTMAS AT SEA 145 
 
 outlook for a supply of Christmas cheer was parti- 
 cularly gloomy, and the murmuring was great. 
 But we had for a skipper a particularly able Welsh- 
 man, with a keen eye to the main chance, who 
 happened to have gone up to Mobile City on 
 business with the last of the steamers, and found 
 himself apparently unable to return in the ordi- 
 nary way. Instead of consoling himself with the 
 Christmas delights to be obtained " up town," 
 he turned the opportunity to good account, get- 
 ting very rightly a reputation for philanthropy 
 and good sense at the same time. He chartered 
 a schooner and loaded her with everything in the 
 way of Christmas provisions he could lay hold of 
 at such short notice pigs, poultry, beef, vege- 
 tables, fruit, soft tack, etc. and, sailing on the 
 morning of the 24th, succeeded in reaching us very 
 late on Christmas Eve, when we were all looking 
 forward to sea-fare in harbour on Christmas Day. 
 I have never seen such a sight on a ship's decks 
 in my life as was to be witnessed on board the 
 Sea Gem that night. She was like a country 
 market-place crowded into one-tenth of its usual 
 space. Every lantern we could scare up swung 
 about her, lighting up the grunting, cackling, 
 gobbling victims and the heaps of other produce, 
 while over all the vigorous skipper sat in state, 
 disposing of his precious wares to the multitude 
 of eager applicants from every ship in the har- 
 
 10 
 
146 SEA FOAM 
 
 hour, whose boats surrounded us like a swarm of 
 bees. Our men worked hard but willingly all 
 night, and by morning all had been supplied with 
 the materials for a good Christmas dinner, and 
 there was abundance left for us. What wonder 
 that all the crews of those vessels rose up and 
 called Captain Jones blessed ! As far as feasting 
 went, that was a most noble Christmas for all 
 concerned, entirely owing to the energy and fore- 
 thought of one man. 
 
 My next Christmas was really the first spent 
 at sea. We were outward bound to India in a 
 big Scotch ship, whose owners bore a most unenvi- 
 able reputation as regarded the supply of food to 
 their men. But we had a jovial, genial skipper 
 and first-class officers, and by chance were almost 
 becalmed in perfectly lovely tropical weather. 
 A whole holiday was given, of course, like Sunday, 
 and much pleasant intercourse was indulged in 
 fore and aft ; but, oh ! if the fare had been served 
 out to the inmates of any of our workhouses there 
 would have been a to-do ! All the ordinary pro- 
 visions were vile, and had as well that absolute 
 lack of variety which almost always characterized 
 the food-scales of sailing-ships in those days. 
 The only fresh provisions for the crew were sun- 
 dry six-pound tins of, not " bully beef," but soup 
 and bouilli, which was aptly characterized by a 
 facetious negro member of our crew as being 
 
CHRISTMAS AT SEA 147 
 
 essentially French in its make-up " Soupa de 
 bulliong, two bucket a vater, one oniong." It 
 was not quite so bad as that, but not much bet- 
 ter. A great effort was made by the careful 
 steward, and about a pound of raisins handed to 
 the cook, who incorporated them with the seven 
 pounds of flour served out as the legitimate ration 
 of the crew. With yeast, fat, and water, the 
 cook perpetrated a " railway duff " a plum at 
 every station, as we say and there was much 
 hilarity at the counting of the number of raisins 
 in each man's " whack " of duff when served out. 
 This, with a tin of soup for each watch, formed 
 the feast, eked out by the allowance of fetid, 
 tar-saturated beef allotted to us as usual. Yet, 
 because she was an easy-going ship and a good 
 feeling existed between forward and aft, there 
 was far less growling than I have heard in many 
 better-found ships, and when, after dinner, the 
 steward sung out, " Grog, oh ! " and the un- 
 usual tot was handed out from the skipper's 
 private store of rum, there was a general con- 
 sensus of opinion that she was not half a bad ship, 
 after all. 
 
 I pass over a Christmas spent in London of 
 course and come to the lamentable tale of how 
 the best intentions of owners, skipper, and cook 
 were frustrated by the unstable sea. Such a feast 
 I have never seen provided in a sailing ship be- 
 
148 SEA FOAM 
 
 fore or since, and the duff was a wonder. How- 
 ever the cook managed his day's work I cannot 
 think, as he had over one hundred first, second, 
 and third-class passengers to provide for as well 
 as the crew, and the ship's behaviour was simply 
 scandalous. 
 
 She was skipping about like a crazy monkey in 
 the ugly sea which gets up in the Bay of Biscay 
 during a south-west gale, and he could only 
 do his work at all by chocking himself off in most 
 ingenious ways in his galley. And I do not know 
 who suffered most, he or I, when, having delivered 
 one of those champion duffs to me at the galley 
 door, he saw it and its bearer swept away aft 
 along the lee-scuppers in the heart of a foaming 
 sea, which had just lopped on board over her 
 bows. When I emerged from the smother I still 
 grasped the empty kid, but the duff, in brown 
 fragments, was gradually finding its way through 
 the scupper holes. The forecastle was flooded 
 out, and what food was obtained was eaten under 
 circumstances of painful difficulty amid sodden 
 surroundings. Yet when the weather cleared 
 up and we got the rags on her again in the after- 
 noon, cheerfulness reigned, we had almost too 
 much grog served out, and an impromptu concert 
 held on the main deck in the evening was a grand 
 success. So taken all round, it was perhaps as 
 good as sea Christmases usually are. But the 
 
CHRISTMAS AT SEA 149 
 
 cook never forgot or forgave the ship for spoiling 
 his grand duff. 
 
 A strange Christmas, too, was that I spent in 
 one of the intercolonial coasting steamers, com- 
 pelled by the exigencies of the mail service to 
 leave Sydney for Auckland on Christmas Eve. 
 It was my only experience of the kind, and I am 
 truly grateful it was never repeated. All the 
 coarser elements of Christmas keeping were in 
 evidence, as if crew and passengers were fully 
 determined that the company, or whoever was 
 responsible for sending the ship to sea on Christ- 
 mas Eve, should reap no benefit. Feasting and 
 drinking began early, and continued until, as far 
 as I knew or could see, the only sober persons on 
 board were the captain and the lamp-trimmer, 
 myself. The steam was allowed to go down un- 
 til the screw ceased to revolve, and for a space of 
 about twelve hours the big vessel lay quietly 
 awaiting the return of her crew to duty. It is not 
 a pleasant reminiscence, and I gladly leave it. 
 
 Of my Christmases on board the Cachalot^ 
 I can say very little, having dealt with all of them 
 so fully elsewhere, and of the strangest of all, that 
 Christmas on the whale in the Pacific Ocean, 
 especially as I have dealt with it this year for 
 another paper by itself. Really no difference 
 was made between Christmas and any other day 
 either in work or food. Then I come to my ideal 
 
150 SEA FOAM 
 
 sea Christmas, spent on board the barque West 
 York in the North Pacific. A plentiful break- 
 fast of ham and eggs and fruit (we were only lately 
 from Portland, Oregon), a delightful service^in the 
 cabin in the morning, with abundance of singing ; 
 a dinner of poultry, potatoes, and plum pudding ; 
 and the rest of the day full of pleasant intercourse 
 one with another, made up the most enjoyable 
 Christmas I have ever spent at sea. And the 
 weather was splendid throughout, as if in harmony 
 with all else. No one, I am sure, felt the need of 
 vinous or spirituous aids to happiness ; indeed, 
 most of us had no use for them. But for sheer 
 downright misery, not to be matched by any of 
 the whaling Christmases I spent, the one in the 
 little Bluenose schooner, in which I was mate 
 (the rest of the crew being the skipper and two 
 boys), bears the palm. All Christmas Day we 
 were turning her down from Bryer Island harbour, 
 Bay of Fundy, to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, 
 in such awful weather that the spray froze as it 
 fell, and incessant exertions were imperative to 
 keep the little craft workable by chipping the ice 
 off her deck and rigging and running gear. At 
 last a frost fog set in, and we were compelled to 
 anchor in Yarmouth, going on being quite out of 
 the question. In that tiny cabin of eight feet 
 square by six high, we four crouched, after we 
 had anchored her, taking it in turns (all but the 
 
CHRISTMAS AT SEA 151 
 
 little boy, who was sickening for measles) to feed 
 the big and badly-cracked stove lest we should 
 all be frozen stiff. Water dripped from the roof, 
 the coffin-like little bunks were soaked, and the 
 atmosphere was foul. There was nothing to eat 
 but semi-putrid beef and herrings, except pota- 
 toes, and to crown the misery, the skipper drank 
 the bottle of square gin he had been saving as a 
 specific for the threatened measles (it was much 
 esteemed in those days in Nova Scotia for that 
 purpose), and was sullenly, dangerously intoxi- 
 cated, pouring forth a monotonous flood of filthy 
 abuse of all people generally, and us in particular. 
 Action of some sort was imperative, as there was 
 nothing to read, even had reading been possible, 
 so I got out my ditty bag and carefully, method- 
 ically, reseated two pairs of flannel pants in 
 superior sea-tailor style. I worked at them as 
 assiduously as if my life depended upon the neat- 
 ness and expedition with which I executed the 
 job, and when it was finished, my companions in 
 wretchedness being all asleep, I fell asleep also. 
 
 In concluding these few rambling remem- 
 brances, I must apologize for laying so much 
 stress upon the eating side of the question of 
 Christmas, my only excuse being that it is usually 
 a most important part of the Christmas festivities 
 anywhere, but at sea especially so, the sailors' 
 possible enjoyments being so few. And I am 
 
152 SEA FOAM 
 
 sure all my friends who read will heartily wish 
 all sailors everywhere this Christmas a full tasty 
 dinner and as happy a day as the peculiar disabili- 
 ties of their calling will permit. 
 
XVII 
 
 A Stormy Christmas 
 
 IS it too much to say, I wonder, that the 
 majority of English folk, high or low, rich 
 or poor, do look forward to Christmas as a sea- 
 son of reunion and rejoicing ? I think not. In 
 spite of the many harsh and cynical things said 
 about Christmas most of them utterly insincere 
 I feel quite safe in saying that there are few 
 English people, whatever their age or condition, 
 who do not, as the blessed season draws near, 
 feel strangely moved in the direction of universal 
 peace and love. 
 
 And yet there are many of our workers to 
 whom Christmas means a time of terrible strain. 
 This comes, I suppose, by operation of that 
 wonderful bye-law of nature that for the good of 
 the whole community some one must suffer here 
 and there. But I do not intend to particularize, 
 except in one instance that of the sailor. He 
 is, as most of us know, or ought to know, by way 
 of being a vicarious sacrifice, not for the sins of 
 the shore-folk, but in order that they may be 
 
 153 
 
154 SEA FOAM 
 
 supplied with all they need or want, or, as in the 
 case of the Navy, that the toilers who are bring- 
 ing luxuries and necessaries to this little group 
 of islands may be protected against the piratical 
 onslaughts of envious neighbours, who appar- 
 ently can only see in the ever-increasing mag- 
 nanimity and humanity of Britain more cogent 
 reasons for hating her and all her ways. 
 
 But in the Royal Navy a harsh or sorrowful 
 Christmas because of privation or storm or over- 
 work is almost unknown. The reason is not far 
 to seek. Between the seamen of the Navy and 
 their splendid officers there is a strong, sympathe- 
 tic bond of union for one thing, preventing the 
 possibility of any hardship by reason of short 
 commons while an officer has the wherewithal 
 to provide the materials for a feast ; and for 
 another, it is but seldom that our modern ships 
 are found at sea at Christmas-time, as most com- 
 missions are spent in harbour, where, the ship 
 being snugly anchored, all hands may give them- 
 selves up to enjoyment of the season. Even 
 those that are at sea have such large crews that 
 only a very few of them need be on watch at a 
 time on a holiday, and especially a holiday like 
 that. 
 
 But in the Mercantile Marine an entirely 
 different set of conditions obtains, and my little 
 story deals with a case in point. On December 
 
A STORMY CHRISTMAS 155 
 
 24, 1878, there sailed from Blackwall one of 
 those splendidly fast clipper sailing-ships that 
 were once our glory and pride, until steam ousted 
 them from their pre-eminence and saw them 
 become the mendicants of the sea. She was a 
 full-rigged ship of 1,200 tons register, beautiful 
 as a yacht, and fairly well manned with twenty 
 men before the mast, well found, well handled, 
 and well kept. She carried 120 passengers, first 
 class, second class, and steerage, and was bound 
 to Australia. Indeed, so good was the ship and 
 all appertaining to her, that on the bright Decem- 
 ber morning when she was towed down the 
 Thames there was scarcely a complaint heard at 
 leaving the Old Country on the eve of the great 
 Christian festival and time of home-keeping. 
 
 She slipped her tug off Beachy Head that 
 night under a brilliant moon, and the passengers 
 watched with intense interest the water being 
 so smooth that no sign of sea-sickness had yet 
 appeared the almost miraculous manner in 
 which the Albatross grew into a tower of snow 
 under the deft hands and amid the weird cries of 
 the sailors. Then, as with a freshening breeze 
 the beautiful fabric began to dip and curtsey to 
 the young waves, one by one the spectators 
 retired with perfect confidence in the courage, 
 ability, and faithfulness of those into whose hands 
 they had, humanly speaking, given their lives. 
 
156 SEA FOAM 
 
 The captain paced the poop uneasily, every little 
 while lifting his face to the moon, across whose 
 face of burnished silver fled an occasional wisp of 
 cloud so thin as to be almost invisible. Then he 
 would look to the westward, where the horizon 
 was wrapped in gloom, pause for a moment in 
 thought, and then resume his hurried stride to and 
 fro. Meanwhile, in the gloomy forecastle, the com- 
 ing change was being busily discussed. There 
 was a lull in the work,iand consequently, merchant- 
 ship fashion, all hands, except the helmsman and 
 lookout man, were below, the watch " on deck " 
 busily preparing for their night duties, filling 
 pipes, etc., and the watch " below " making 
 themselves as comfortable as possible in their 
 bunks, knowing well how precarious their tenure 
 of sleep would be in such narrow waters. 
 
 " In for a fine thing, we are, I c'n see," growled 
 one old A.B. ; " but I don't care, I'd jes's leave 
 be out here in a gale o' wind as be humbugged 
 about in the ' Home ' by people who don't care 
 a snap what comes of me 'ceptin' one day a year. 
 Whyn't they let us alone, I wonder ? " 
 
 "That's right, Bill, growl away, 't'll do ye 
 good," laughingly replied a fine stalwart seaman 
 of about twenty-eight. " Good job we know 
 you don't mean half what ye say. I lay you was 
 just as glad as me to be took a bit o' notice of last 
 Christmas we spent in the Home in London by 
 
A STORMY CHRISTMAS 157 
 
 them ladies an' gentlemen what come among 
 us ; least, I didn't hear ye growlin' then. Any- 
 how, 's far 's I'm concerned I wouldn't ha' missed 
 that day fer any thin'. I didn't know er care 
 anythin' about Christmas before, 'cept as a day 
 t' get boozed on if ye could. But now I do know, 
 I kin feel whatever I'm a-goin' through 'at it's 
 better than He went through, who hadn't got 
 where to lay His heeud. 'Twas the happiest 
 Christmas, or I ought to say 'twas the only happy 
 Christmas ever I spent, an' the joy of it's lasted 
 me ever since." 
 
 " Ah, what r' ye talkin' about ? " snarled a 
 voice from the darkness. " Get out o' this an' 
 let th' watch below go asleep. Anybody 'd think 
 ye was runnin' th' Sailors' Welcome Home in th' 
 Highway." 
 
 Nothing more was said, for sea etiquette de- 
 mands imperatively that an invitation to " get 
 out " from the watch below to the watch on deck 
 be obeyed on the instant. On emerging into the 
 outer air, although but a few minutes had elapsed 
 since their retiring, the members of the watch on 
 deck noticed with depressing sensations that the 
 fineness of the weather had disappeared. The 
 sky was almost overcast, and the upper strata 
 of clouds were flying over the face of the pallid 
 moon at great and continually accelerating speed, 
 all the more noticeable because of the gradual 
 
158 SEA FOAM 
 
 dying away of the wind, which was propelling 
 the ship in the direction from whence those clouds 
 were coming. 
 
 A few minutes of waiting in increasing sus- 
 pense, then, like a thunderclap from aft, came the 
 great voice of the mate : " Clew up royals and 
 top-gallant sails." Answering cries greeted him, 
 and immediately the heavy night's work began, 
 rather to the relief of the watch, to whom action 
 was greatly more to be preferred than suspense. 
 But the watch below and the passengers heard 
 and suffered each in their degree, the former in the 
 thought of their sorely-needed rest being in 
 jeopardy, the latter from fear of the unknown, 
 alarm at the strange noises, and the uneasy motion 
 of the ship just feeling ^he incoming Atlantic 
 swell. 
 
 The upper sails were hardly fast before the 
 skipper, in set, stern tones, said to the mate : 
 " Call all hands, Mr. Wilson ; we shall have barely 
 time to get her fore-reaching on the starboard 
 tack before that is on us," waving his hand to the 
 westward. 
 
 "Aye, aye, sir," replied the mate steadily, 
 instantly adding in a shout that rang through the 
 remotest corners of the ship : " All hands on 
 deck. Shorten sail ! " 
 
 The order was caught up and repeated by half 
 a dozen voices, and immediately followed by 
 
A STORMY CHRISTMAS 159 
 
 the lowering of the upper topsails, clewing up of 
 foresail and mainsail, and hauling down of lower 
 staysails and jibs. But although there was little 
 delay things indeed going amazingly smartly 
 for a ship just out of dock with all hands new to 
 her before the crew could get aloft to handle 
 those huge squares of canvas, the storm wind from 
 the west had leapt upon them like a tiger from its 
 lair, and caught the vessel flat aback. Stern 
 foremost through the hissing sea she was hurled 
 amid an elemental uproar so appalling that an 
 effect of numbness was produced upon the brain. 
 Recovering themselves, and realizing the peril, 
 the crew sprang aloft, tearing with almost savage 
 energy at the plank-like concavities of the sails 
 as the tremendous weight of wind drove them 
 backwards against masts and rigging. Before 
 one sail had been furled, " Down from aloft ! " 
 came an order in some mysterious way, rather 
 felt than heard. But when the men reached the 
 deck again and tried to fight their way to the 
 braces to get the yards round, as the ship refused 
 to answer her helm, they found their way hindered 
 by frenzied groups of men, women, and children, 
 clutching frantically at each other, and wailing 
 as if in the agony of death. 
 
 Most valiantly in the face of this new danger 
 did the seamen labour to get their helpless charges 
 below again, and, almost incredible as it may 
 
160 SEA FOAM 
 
 appear, succeeded in so doing just as, by some 
 friendly wave lifting her counter aside for a 
 moment, the ship swung to port, felt her helm, and 
 came round. As she did so the great sails, released 
 from the steady strain upon them, made a few 
 thunderous flappings and disappeared. 
 
 Now, accidents of running down apart, the ship 
 was safe for a little while. The fore and aft 
 canvas remained, and with this she could fore- 
 reach, only drifting slowly to leeward. And 
 so with her head pointed towards the French 
 shore, under just the heads of the fore and main 
 topmast staysails, she bore on her broadside the 
 full brunt of the gale, while the weary hours of 
 the night wore away to daylight amid the never- 
 ceasing prayers of the passengers for the latter. 
 
 When at last the dreary dawn did steal over the 
 misty, sleet-laden sky it was to find the captain 
 out of his reckoning, and fain to get the ship on 
 the other tack. This was done without much 
 trouble, only it seemed that when her head was 
 pointed towards England again the storm howled 
 louder than ever, while the sea had risen to a 
 dangerous height, breaking over the deeply-laden 
 vessel in masses of white foam which sometimes 
 hid her from stem to stern. Cooking of food was 
 impossible, and exhausted nature had to be 
 sustained by some cold meat, biscuit, and water. 
 The poor passengers were now hardly in a fit 
 
A STORMY CHRISTMAS 161 
 
 condition to feel apprehension as to their ultimate 
 fate. And let who will make a jest of sea-sickness, 
 it is a terrible thing to watch its effect upon those 
 who are in imminent peril of life to see how 
 indifferent to their own welfare or that of those 
 dearest to them they become ; how willingly, 
 to all appearance, they go down into the pit. 
 
 So with these unhappy ones upon that grey 
 Christmas morning. Mother and child, husband 
 and wife, sat or lay by each other in the stupor of 
 malaise and despair. And on deck the crew, 
 drenched and hungry, but undaunted still, worked 
 as best they could to prepare for the dread 
 calamity that was imminent sudden collision 
 with vessel or rock, and swift death. 
 
 In spite of the universal misery which prevailed, 
 it was noticed by some of his shipmates that one 
 young seaman he who had spoken up for Christ- 
 mas so boldly wore a solemn smile upon his 
 face through all the terror round about. And by 
 some magnetic influence none understood, when- 
 ever it was possible to do so, a little group of his 
 shipmates gathered round him. He had a word 
 of cheer for each, not, indeed, of hope that they 
 might be saved from death, for that he did not 
 think likely, but of trust in a loving Father whose 
 children's welfare, in spite of their waywardness 
 and disobedience and ingratitude, was inex- 
 pressibly dear. And it must not be understood 
 
 11 
 
162 SEA FOAM 
 
 that his ministrations, for such they were, came 
 couched in any formal language. They were just 
 the outpourings of a heart full of love, and, there- 
 fore, empty of fear. And their effect was in the 
 last degree remarkable for its steadying, solemn- 
 izing, and consoling effect upon all around him. 
 There had been a noticeable tendency to despair, 
 to let things go, to give way to the combined 
 effects of cold, hunger, fatigue, and fear, but the 
 influence of this one young and ignorant servant 
 of God, endeavouring to pour out upon others the 
 joy with which the Father had filled his life, was 
 as miraculous as the effect upon the storm of the 
 words of our Master. 
 
 The weary day wore on to noon without a lull 
 in the gale or a break in the grey pall of driving 
 cloud and fog and sleet overhead. Naught could 
 be heard but the incessant volume of sound made 
 up of the hissing of the spindrift, the howling of 
 the wind and the thunder of the waves. 
 
 And at last all their fears and forebodings were 
 focussed at once by the sudden appearance of a 
 barrier of snowy foam, with an awful vibrant roar 
 that dominated the heretofore predominant voice 
 of the storm, under the bows of the ship. There 
 was but a moment's suspense ; no minute was 
 allowed in which to exercise futile seamanship ; 
 the self -announcement of the terror was at once 
 followed by its consummation. The ship was 
 
A great shout is raised as a lithe figure appears just abaft the fore- 
 rigging/- J 63- 
 
A STORMY CHRISTMAS 163 
 
 driven upon the Goodwin Sands. To the undula- 
 tory motion of her hull communicated by the 
 uneasy waves now succeeded the horrible jarring 
 of her frame as it was dashed against those treach- 
 erous banks. Carlines and beams and planks 
 and stringers were wrenched from their holdings, 
 and yawning gaps broke the contour of her once 
 pleasant decks. A move towards the boats was 
 arrested at once, without orders, for what boat 
 could live in such a combination of sea and shoal ? 
 What boat, indeed ? The question is answered. 
 Brave British hearts manning a little group of Deal 
 luggers, in default of Christmas dinner cruising 
 in that wild weather to search for one, have seen 
 or scented the calamity, and, like beneficent blood- 
 hounds, have borne down to save. Anchoring 
 well to windward of the wreck, they veer away 
 with utmost care until from the highly canted 
 weather rail of the ship they can receive a flung 
 lead line. Communication is established, and 
 soon one by one the almost moribund passengers 
 are being transferred. There is neither haste 
 nor rest until all the helpless ones and the almost 
 frozen crew have been removed from the fast 
 disintegrating vessel. Even the captain, assumed 
 to be the last, has been hauled on board the fore- 
 most lugger, when a great shout is raised as a lithe 
 figure appears just abaft the fore-rigging with a 
 little bundle in his arms. Slack the cable, let 
 
164 SEA FOAM 
 
 the boat run in to the limit of safety a big 
 wave snatches her, lifts her high above the ship ; 
 as she falls, the figure springs from the rail of 
 the wreck and clutches the lugger's rigging, 
 descending almost momentarily upon her deck. 
 
 " Hurrah ! Thank God ! " goes up in a wild 
 cry of joy. All saved ! 
 
 Slowly, laboriously, but with utmost care, the 
 luggers are hauled to their anchors, close-reefed 
 sails are set, and, with consummate skill, the 
 wonderful craft make their tempestuous way 
 towards Ramsgate, since nearer shelter there may 
 not be found in such an awful gale. By 3 p.m. 
 they are in harbour ; are finding, many of them 
 to their utmost amazement, that they are still 
 alive ; are being conducted, oh, so tenderly, 
 towards the principal hotel, where a smoking feast 
 awaits them saved to remember that Christmas 
 Day for the rest of their lives. And one mother 
 awakes from a stupor of despair to find that her 
 babe is not lost ; that a young Christian sailor 
 has freely imperilled his own life to save the help- 
 less one, and has had his stormy Christmas 
 crowned with a double joy. 
 
XVIII 
 The Packet Rat 
 
 WHEN a man, especially a sailor-man, gets 
 past fifty it seems almost inevitable that 
 he should speak disparagingly of the new genera- 
 tion taking hold of things, and compare them, to 
 their great disadvantage, with the men of " my 
 day." Not having reached the half century yet, 
 I do not feel disposed to do anything of the kind, 
 realizing that though " the old order change th, 
 giving place to the new," the supply of good men 
 does not fail, and given opportunities to put them 
 to the proof, they appear and take hold as their 
 forbears did. 
 
 In spite of this entirely judicial frame of mind, 
 I am bound to admit that, from a spectacular, a 
 romantic point of view, the sailors of the past 
 appeal much more strongly to me than do the 
 steamboat wallahs of to-day, and I feel strongly 
 that for rearing sailor-men there was, there is, no 
 school like a sailing-ship. 
 
 And of all the sailing-ships afloat two genera- 
 tions ago there were none that approached the 
 
166 SEA FOAM 
 
 " packet ships," those wonderful sailing flyers 
 between Liverpool and New York, for smartness, 
 for speed, for all, in a word, that belongs to sea- 
 manship and " sailorizing." The honour of 
 handling them as they were handled was almost 
 equally divided between Americans and Britishers, 
 the genuine article untainted by all the mongrel 
 admixtures of to-day, although I am compelled 
 to say that the young republic, the mightiest 
 child among nations, furnished the great majority 
 of the officers, as she did the ships. 
 
 All along the New England coast, fitting birth- 
 place for such monarchs of the sea, almost self- 
 it shipbuilders produced Dreadryauglits, Don- 
 ald McKays AM i'WJW/ AMietricatii ships whose 
 fame will linger yet for generations among sea- 
 farers who do not know a Flemish horse from a 
 crane line. 
 
 Among such was the Tecumseh, 2,000 tons 
 register, carrying the newly-invented double 
 topsails, three skysails and royal stun'-sails. 
 Her officers were New Englanders to a man 
 that is to say, they combined the unconquerable- 
 ness of the Ironsides with the large adaptiveness 
 of men of the sea. In the execution of their duty 
 they knew no pity ; to get from port to port 
 faster than their compeers was their summum 
 bonum ; to keep their ship up to an almost 
 unthinkable standard of cleanliness, their idea 
 
THE PACKET RAT 167 
 
 of efficiency, and to do deeds that, plainly de- 
 scribed, make the hair rise with admiring terror, 
 the everyday incidents of their life. 
 
 They took such crews as they could get and 
 moulded or rather hammered them to their 
 will. Under their methods of training only the 
 strongest could endure a second passage, and yet 
 such was the fascination they exerted over sea- 
 men, that a class of men sprang up who sailed in 
 these ships again and again, voyage after voyage, 
 a different ship each voyage, who became known 
 as " Packet Rats." 
 
 Save for the fact that they never went " heeled," 
 and their disputes w r ere usually settled with fist 
 or foot, rarely with the knife, they were the proto- 
 type of the Western cowboy, only I make bold to 
 say that theirs was a far harder life than his. 
 They often, nay, generally, joined a ship in Liver- 
 pool at the last moment, with their wardrobes on 
 their backs, full of filthy liquors, which soon 
 evaporated during the stern conflict with the 
 Irish Sea and under the steady drive of the iron 
 officers. I know one man whose sole equipment 
 for a winter passage to the westward was a suit of 
 canvas and a bucko cap. True, he had more 
 dunnage when he " jumped " in New York, but 
 then he was an ardent believer in the " good old 
 rule, the simple plan." 
 
 Now it befell that one bitter mid-November 
 
168 SEA FOAM 
 
 day, when the hissing sleet was whipping the 
 eddying waters of the Mersey into a yellow foam, 
 that the Tecumseh was lying with her cable short, 
 two hundred and fifty most miserable emigrants 
 sorting themselves out below and only happy in 
 so far that they knew nothing of the terrors that 
 awaited them on the Atlantic, and her Blue Peter 
 flying, awaiting the coming of the captain with 
 the balance of the crew. 
 
 At last he arrived, his black eyes glittering with 
 impatience, but his face impassive as a statue's. 
 And as the launch bumped alongside, his voice, 
 not loud, but filling space like thunder, was 
 heard : " Up with ye." Four nondescripts, men 
 undoubtedly, but by appearance referable to no 
 particular order, scrambled inboard, and as they 
 did so that awful voice was heard again : " Man 
 the windlass, Mr. Hampden." 
 
 The launch departed, the tug took a strain on 
 the tow line, and twenty-two men, under pressure 
 of authority standing in fear of no restraining 
 law, broke out, catted and fished the anchor, yes, 
 and lashed it for a full due. Those ships were 
 not in the habit of keeping anchors ready to let 
 go once clear of port. And away the Tecumseh 
 put to sea under the steady stress of the tug, for 
 Liverpool, even in those days, was famous for the 
 finest towing steamers in the world. 
 
 But those were not the days of towing to the 
 
THE PACKET RAT 169 
 
 Tuskar. Hardly was she beyond the Formby 
 lightship when sails began to flutter about her here 
 and there, and presently she dropped tug and 
 pilot at once, setting an enormous press of canvas 
 to a westerly gale, and reducing her hapless pas- 
 sengers to a state in comparison with which their 
 previous misery was as paradise. Like all of her 
 class she was a " lively " ship, and as she was 
 deep she was also a " wet " ship. Driven by the 
 mighty leverage of sail piled upon her under the 
 orders of those splendid seamen in charge of her, 
 she tore through the beam sea into a fast coming 
 night amid a halo of spray and to the accompani- 
 ment of a weird chorus of complaining top- 
 hamper. 
 
 But the human part of her machinery did not 
 groan ; their woes were past speech, and had they 
 attempted to vocalize them they would have met 
 with such stern suppression of complaint that they 
 would have bitten their tongues through rather 
 than say any more. For while in British ships 
 it was a saying, " Growl you may, but go you 
 must," no such permission as to growling was ever 
 accorded in Yankee packets, while the going was 
 always swift, coincident with the order, or the 
 laggard paid promptly in blood and bruises for 
 his weakness. And so, by dint of the intense 
 labour wrung from these twenty-two sufferers from 
 drink and hunger and cold, the stately Tecumseh 
 
170 SEA FOAM 
 
 sped on, a vision of wonder to the slow going coast- 
 ing craft, a stern delight to her captain and a 
 floating hell to passengers and crew. 
 
 At last, when all aloft was as trim as if she had 
 been a week at sea instead of a few hours, the 
 almost exhausted men began to hope wistfully 
 for a spell of rest and a meal. Nothing, however, 
 was further from the mind of the mate than such 
 a concession ; while aught remained lacking to 
 make the ship neat and fit to meet the eagle eye of 
 the captain there could be no slacking off, and his 
 voice, like the roar of a hungry lion, thundered 
 about her issuing fresh order to scrub decks, 
 wash paint-work, re-lash spars, etc. 
 
 Then suddenly a gaunt Liverpool Irishman, 
 whose face as well as his rig stamped him " packet 
 rat," rolled up to the mate and said 
 
 " Are yez goin' t' murdher uz all th' firrst night 
 out, sorr ? Fer Christ's sake, let up on uz fer a 
 few minits, or we'll all be did." 
 
 Only because of his extreme surprise did Mr. 
 Hampden permit the question and statement to 
 be uttered. Then, with a snarl like a wild beast, 
 he sprang at the daring man, and the two were 
 locked in a writhing, kicking heap. The other 
 officers, with Yankee readiness, rushed to the spot, 
 not so much to aid the mate, who they knew was 
 fully capable, but to keep off any possible com- 
 bination of the crew. But before they had well 
 
THE PACKET RAT 171 
 
 reached the fight, the mate had the enfeebled 
 body of Patrick at his disposal, and was showering 
 blows upon it at his will. Finding after a dozen 
 or so that there was no attempt at retaliation, he 
 drew off and allowed Patrick Mclnerney to rise to 
 his feet and say 
 
 " Beg pardon, sorr, fer given ye so much 
 throuble, but ye see I'm wake an' ill an' forgot 
 where I wuz. What '11 I do now ? I'm ready 
 t' go an wid the wurrk." 
 
 The mate eyed the man as he mechanically 
 smeared the blood from his face and spat out a 
 tooth or two, then he said quietly, with a satisfied 
 air 
 
 " Get t' hell forward out of it and get somethin' 
 t' eat." 
 
 In a few minutes more the word " supper " was 
 passed along, and, aching, trembling bodies were 
 in a small measure comforted with a hot meal of 
 good food, hot tea and a blissful smoke. 
 
 After supper the watches were set and kept 
 with that stern attention to watchfulness that 
 allows no weakness of compassion to impair 
 efficiency. By the operation of chance Patrick 
 had the first wheel in the middle watch, being 
 chosen by the mate, who by old sea practice 
 always has the eight hours in on the outward 
 passage. In spite of his condition, of his usage, 
 Patrick steered so well that the mate marked him 
 
172 SEA FOAM 
 
 as one of those born helmsmen who cannot steer 
 badly, and are in consequence always thought 
 well of at sea. 
 
 So, although he had no compunction for his 
 brutality to the man or sympathy with him in his 
 misery, Mr. Hampden sent him at four bells to 
 his bunk, reasoning that he was worth a little 
 privilege like that in order to keep him from 
 collapse, to which he was obviously drawing near. 
 And Patrick, who had never received such a con- 
 cession before, said, " Thank yer, sorr," rolled 
 forward, and before he had taken a dozen draws 
 at his pipe was fast asleep, his aches and pains 
 forgotten. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to descend into the 
 malebolge of the 'tween decks. Fielding or 
 Smollett, or, later, Zola, would have revelled in 
 description of the uncouth heaps of men, women 
 and children lying wallowing in their own vomit, 
 flung from side to side of the dim decks, the thick 
 stench poisoning them, and the wailing of the 
 wind alone mingling with the complaining of the 
 labouring fabric beneath. Amid such conditions 
 did the early builders of the great American nation 
 cross the roaring Atlantic, proving their fitness 
 for the task awaiting them by surviving. 
 
 How many died and were hastily committed to 
 the hungry waves is not on record, nor need be. 
 They fell in the forefront of a great battle, name- 
 
THE PACKET RAT 173 
 
 less rank and file, and found the peace that earth 
 denied them. Nor must we blame the men in 
 authority in those ships for callous indifference 
 to the sufferings of their human freight. Their 
 task was heavy enough to get the ship to her 
 journey's end in the shortest possible time, and to 
 maintain by the force of their own personality 
 and courage that discipline among their half- 
 savage crews without which those ships would 
 never have reached port at all. 
 
 No, our concern is from henceforth with 
 Patrick Mclnerney, the packet rat. Throughout 
 the stern days that followed the ship's departure 
 she was hurled indomitably westward against the 
 winter gales, oftentimes barely holding her own 
 under three close reefed topsails, and at the first 
 slant having all she could drag of sail piled on her 
 in the never ceasing struggle to outface the forces 
 of nature combining to drive her back. 
 
 In those days every passage west was an Iliad, 
 unsung it is true, but what conflict between 
 Greeks and Trojans ever attained the grandeur, 
 the ferocity of those continually recurring battles 
 between man on the one side and the might of 
 Atlantic waves and gales on the other ? Coming 
 east was all right. Before the brave westerlies 
 the great ships fled joyously, swiftly, like homing 
 gulls, reaching sometimes a record of four hundred 
 miles per nautical day. But the Tecumseh was 
 
174 SEA FOAM 
 
 going west and battling every cable's length of 
 the way. 
 
 Now, Patrick Mclnerney, packet rat, was a 
 man of no ideals beyond a big drink and tobacco, 
 but somehow the one kindly action of Mr. Hamp- 
 den loomed amazingly in his limited imagination. 
 Also it cost him sixteen fights. A little thing like 
 that in a packet ship sufficed to arouse the fiercest 
 jealousy on the part of the recipient's shipmates. 
 
 And so it naturally befell that he was compelled 
 to make it clear to his fellows in the foc'sle that he 
 was in no sense favoured of fortune, that his first 
 arrival at weather earring or topsail halliards was 
 in no sense due to his wish to curry favour or get 
 off work-up jobs, but a direct consequence of the 
 ability and energy inherent to a born seaman. 
 
 His was the example, that, in the life and death 
 struggle with plank-hard cotton canvas aloft, 
 when the vicious slat of the demoniacal sails tore 
 off finger nails and battered heads until time and 
 place and work were enfolded in one dull struggle 
 to do or die, kept the rest of the men on the yard 
 from failing and got the writhing area of frozen 
 canvas snugly fast. He led the way, untiring, 
 unconquerable, ever ready at the call, and last to 
 retreat at " That'll do the watch." 
 
 And so curiously are we made that it was 
 Patrick Mclnerney who found time in his scanty 
 leisure of watch below to do a little for some pale 
 
THE PACKET RAT 175 
 
 heroine with a quartet of children, a little washing 
 or nursing, or sometimes just a cheery lie to keep 
 hope alive in a heart from which it had nearly 
 fled. Drunken, blasphemous, reckless Patrick, 
 to all outward seeming purely animal in courage 
 and ferocity, yet who can tell what, under 
 happier auspices, you might have been ? 
 
 The log of that passage, to a landsman, would 
 have been a bald and uninteresting record, but 
 under the plainness of its language there was 
 concealed a list of heroic deeds almost unsurpas- 
 sable. Not the least of the troubles encountered 
 by the Tecumseh was the persistent absence from 
 view of the heavenly bodies. From the time 
 when she emerged into the wide elemental uproar 
 of the Atlantic until the end, her saturnine com- 
 mander saw but one blink of sun, and that w T as at 
 a time when only the most expert navigator could 
 have made use of it for obtaining the longitude. 
 
 Yet, so careful was the attention paid to log and 
 course, so full the experience of the captain, that 
 whenever (it was but rarely) there came a " slant " 
 in the midst of the prevailing opposition of the 
 gales, her course was laid direct for Sandy Hook, 
 as if taking a departure from yesternoon's well 
 ascertained positions, and no one could have 
 divined from any appearance of uncertainty that 
 Captain Van Rensselaer was not entirely satisfied 
 as to his place upon the inscrutable deep. No one, 
 
176 SEA FOAM 
 
 that is, of the crew ; as far as the emigrants were 
 concerned, they had long ago settled down to that 
 dull, almost hopeless, endurance which in people 
 long past feeling or comprehension takes the place 
 of resignation, and is often mistaken for it. It 
 is, instead, the mute acquiescence of benumbed 
 nerve centres in a state of things entirely repugnant 
 but almost inevitable, and accounts for people 
 living through privations which seem to the 
 normal perception unendurable. 
 
 Thirty days had thus dragged their gloomy length 
 along, and even the steel framed officers were 
 beginning to show unmistakable signs of strain. 
 Their voices rang resonant as ever, their eyes 
 shone brightly as at first leaving Liverpool, but 
 hollow cheeks and bagging clothes told a tale of 
 stress and drag that would not be contradicted. 
 And if the officers, well fed and comfortably 
 housed, were thus worn, what of the crew ? 
 Strangely enough, they were fitter than ever, 
 because they did not think. They ate and slept 
 and toiled, savagely, continuously, but from the 
 absence of any responsibility, they did not fail 
 bodily. Patrick alone, among the whole of the 
 fore-mast hands, although, if anything, more 
 fiercely energetic than ever, exhibited signs of 
 feeling the tremendous strain of the passage. 
 
 Of the reason he himself was barely conscious, 
 would have furiously repudiated it had any one 
 
THE PACKET RAT 177 
 
 suggested it to him, but it was none the less 
 real. 
 
 Among the emigrants was a sweet faced Irish 
 girl, with two young children, going to join her 
 husband, who had gained a foothold in the new 
 land. Toward her, in her helplessness and inno- 
 cence, Patrick had felt strangely drawn, and for 
 the sake of her and the two babes he had given up 
 many an hour of sorely needed rest. 
 
 In him she saw just a big kind crachure, fond of 
 childer, and willin' to help, the while her soft, 
 loving heart was ever dwelling upon poor Thady, 
 awaiting her over this cruel say. 
 
 To him she was a sweet, suffering angel, bearing 
 without complaint, and, indeed, with a sweet 
 smile, privation such as he felt should be the lot 
 of no woman on earth. That he loved her never 
 dawned upon his limited mind, but that he could 
 and would, given occasion, gladly die to give her 
 ease and safety, was perfectly clear to him. This 
 it was that brought into his eyes a far-away look 
 of tender self-sacrifice, that made his meditations 
 during wheel and lookout full of a delight he had 
 never known before. He was tasting the highest 
 anticipations of regenerated man, the prospect of 
 gladly giving all without expectation of return or 
 reward. 
 
 Then there came a night when amid a hurricane 
 of orders, faintly heard amid the almost cosmical 
 
 12 
 
178 SEA FOAM 
 
 uproar of the elements, the ship was suddenly 
 brought to the wind. She had been under far 
 too heavy a burden of canvas for prudence, 
 but excusable because of the need to get west, 
 fleeing before a fierce storm from the north- 
 north-east. The night was black, the snow blind- 
 ing, yet withal the glare of the sea beneath dazzled 
 the smarting eyes eagerly peering through the dark 
 for sign of danger. For without a word being 
 spoken to any of the foremast hands, all felt that 
 they were nearing land ; every man instinctively 
 realized that close by was death in the shape of 
 snarling rocks and fierce unopposable currents. 
 
 Suddenly, like the trumpet of doom, the great 
 voice of the captain was heard above the tumult 
 of wind and wave, " All hands shorten sail ; stand 
 by to bring ship to the wind ! " Swiftly they 
 sprang to the call, top-gallant sails, topmast stay- 
 sails and jib were clewed up and hauled down, 
 and amid the howling of orders the well-trained 
 men sprang aloft to furl. But they had barely 
 reached the yards when yells of " Down from 
 aloft, lee braces, all hands ! " came faintly up to 
 them, and with many a curse at their useless 
 journey they descended, Patrick foremost, as 
 usual, by slithering down a top-gallant backstay to 
 windward. 
 
 Careful disposition of their forces followed, for 
 it was necessary to brace up all three sets of yards 
 
THE PACKET RAT 179 
 
 at once, and meanwhile the upper topsails came 
 
 slowly down as their halliards were let go ; but the 
 
 savage wind holding up the ponderous yards 
 
 seemed determined to frustrate the desires of the 
 
 men to get her snugged down. Then, while the 
 
 weather braces were being eased off, a mighty 
 
 blast struck her, the helmsman missed a spoke of 
 
 the wheel and, snatching at another, was flung 
 
 over it like a rag. The Tecumseh flew up into the 
 
 wind like a mad thing, her three topmasts going 
 
 at the caps like sticks of celery between the fingers. 
 
 Striving amid the hustling downward of all that 
 
 massive gear, the wailing cries of the sailors as 
 
 they hauled at the lee braces ceased not, nor did 
 
 the inrush of water over the lee rail, as the ship 
 
 went over to her bearings under the tremendous 
 
 blast, prevent the man whose duty it was to do 
 
 so from belaying his brace firmly before struggling 
 
 to windward out of the welter of foaming sea and 
 
 entangling gear. 
 
 The next two or three hours passed like a 
 maniac's dream. Hacking, sawing, tearing with 
 teeth and nails at the wreckage to leeward ; 
 drowning, battered, but still fighting, the men 
 did all that men might do to get those dreadful 
 jagged spars clear of the ship ere they stove in 
 her planking. Perhaps they had become uncon- 
 scious of danger in the delirium of that struggle, 
 as they were undoubtedly beyond feeling bruises 
 
180 SEA FOAM 
 
 and fatigue. And at last she rode easier, the 
 heart sickening blows under her bilge ceased, and 
 the carpenter reported only eight inches of water 
 in the well. The work eased off a bit, men 
 recovered their sense of pain and began to mutter 
 to themselves about their hurts. 
 
 They had, of course, little leisure for self-examina- 
 tion or pity, because of the need to clear away the 
 raffle of gear that was encumbering the decks. 
 Some of them, doubtless, had a sub-consciousness 
 of savage satisfaction that those particular ene- 
 mies of theirs, the mighty sails, had gone by the 
 board with the masts, but that in no wise hindered 
 their cruel toil, their almost superhuman at- 
 tempts to obey the commands of the officers, who 
 seemingly were incapable of feeling any sensation 
 of weariness as they were undoubtedly unable to 
 sympathize with the sufferings of their subor- 
 dinates. 
 
 As yet no member of the crew had any certain 
 knowledge of the fearful danger so near them. 
 With the exception of that well-known (to seamen) 
 smell of the land which will persist in working to 
 windward against the fiercest gale, and a certain 
 indefinite change in the heave and scend of the 
 Bea, there was nothing to guide. Only the skipper 
 was certain that his splendid ship was on a lee 
 shore, and, owing to the loss of his top-hamper, 
 practically helpless. So as night, black, ominous 
 
THE PACKET RAT 181 
 
 and all concealing, closed in upon them, the 
 almost worn-out crew was driven harder than ever, 
 in order to get some jury rig in place that would 
 stand the strain of the never easing gale. 
 
 Of the condition of the landsfolk below no one 
 thought except Patrick they had ample occupa- 
 tion for their brains in their present duties ; but 
 he, as if endowed with a dual personality, saw 
 continually before his spiritual eyes the pathetic 
 face of Norah O'Brien, clasping her two children 
 to her bosom and peering through the horrible 
 gloom for some glimpse of the Canaan of her hopes. 
 Nor did this permanent vision hinder his useful- 
 ness ; rather it spurred him on, refusing to allow 
 the mechanical part of him to acknowledge defeat. 
 
 It wanted ten minutes of midnight when, 
 accompanied by a scream that dumbed the gale, 
 a jet of flame burst upward from the forehatch 
 and, caught by the wind, curved outboard to 
 leeward, like the sword of Azrael. For a moment 
 or two all the labouring crew stood awe-stricken, 
 motionless ; then, with a yell of " Come on ! " 
 simultaneously with the thunder of the captain's 
 voice marshalling his forces to meet the new 
 enemy, Patrick sprang to the main hatch and 
 began to tear at the wedges as if endowed with a 
 Titan's strength. But even in that awful hour the 
 stern discipline practised so continually in those 
 ships held good, was equal to the strain upon it, 
 
182 SEA FOAM 
 
 and in five minutes there was an organized attack 
 being made upon the fire, while a selected con- 
 tingent attended to the preparation of the boats, 
 those very slender means of escape. And a loud 
 voice, like the herald of doom, rang out from 
 aloft somewhere, " Breakers all along the lee 
 beam ! " 
 
 Steadily, ruthlessly, the shivering, demoralized 
 crowd from below were herded into groups aft, 
 held from breaking into panic by men armed 
 with revolvers, while the preparations for leaving 
 the doomed ship were completed, and her human 
 freight were led and pushed and driven towards 
 the various boats. 
 
 But while this work was a-doing the unhindered 
 fire gained upon the workers with frightful 
 rapidity, driving the toiling men from their 
 stations in enveloping clouds of flame. The ship 
 struck, heeled over like a dying thing, trembling 
 in every timber, and one by one the boats dropped 
 into the water, miraculously preserved from de- 
 struction, while the helpless passengers were 
 lowered or flung into them. As soon as they were 
 loaded they pushed off into the thickness, all 
 unknowing whether the next moment would not 
 see them engulfed in that line of boiling surf whose 
 voice of dread really dominated all other sounds. 
 
 As usual, the last man to leave was the captain. 
 At least he intended to be. But he did not, 
 
THE PACKET RAT 183 
 
 could not, know that Patrick Mclnerney, the 
 packet rat, ubiquitous, all-seeing, had missed 
 from the crowds that had filled the boats one face, 
 one little burdened body. Or that, having done 
 his duty to the mass, he was now groping his way 
 below, where amid rending timbers, hissing flame, 
 and spurting brine, Norah O'Brien crouched for- 
 gotten of all save one, with her darlings held tight 
 to her loving bosom. With a moan of delight, 
 Patrick found them. Snatching a blanket he flung 
 it around them. With a veritable fury of strength 
 he tore aft with them, the flames snarling behind 
 him, and up the after hatch, to find they were 
 alone. And all that remained of a possible piece 
 of floatable timber was a bucket rack on the poop. 
 Laying his burden gently down, he quite coolly 
 cut the signal halyards off as high as he could 
 reach, and methodically lashed mother and chil- 
 dren, quiescent, almost insensible with terror of 
 the time, upon the light structure. Then, as the 
 ship heeled further over and a wide gap opened 
 in her side, he stooped for the first and last time 
 to the pale face of the only woman that had ever 
 touched his lonely heart. And with a muttered 
 " God befrind yez, an' save yez," he launched 
 them and fell, done, but perfectly happy. A big 
 wave broke aboard and carried him away to cer- 
 tain peace. 
 
 Of all the crowd that fled that night not one 
 
184 SEA FOAM 
 
 was lost, and nobody missed Patrick, save the 
 little woman. She, sitting by her Thady's side 
 in Albany, would often try and piece together 
 for him the fragments of what seemed like a 
 fearful dream, and was always dissatisfied with 
 the result. But she always wound up by saying, 
 " An', Thady, he kissed me here," touching her 
 brow between the eyes, " an' thin he wint straight 
 home to his God." 
 
XIX 
 
 The Testing of the Mate 
 
 VERY proudly did Harry Windham conduct 
 his young bride up the accommodation 
 ladder laid on to the dummy in the S.W. India 
 Docks and on board of his first command, the four- 
 masted steel ship Comstock. The elderly mate 
 standing at the gangway with an expression on 
 his brick-red face intended for a smile, and black 
 envy gnawing at his liver, said as pleasantly as 
 he could : " Welcome on board the Comstock, 
 ma'am. Good-morning, Captain Windham," out 
 loud, but the undercurrent of his speech ran " Nice 
 thing for me. Have to run the whole shebang and 
 dry nuss them two kids, the second an' third, as 
 well. An' if anything goes wrong same old 
 yarn, ' We got her ashore but I got her off.' Who 
 wouldn't sell a farm an' go to sea ? " And as the 
 loving couple, after returning his salute, stepped 
 briskly aft to the pretty saloon, the soured man 
 thought of his hard-featured, anxious wife in 
 their 10*. 6d. a week house at East Ham trying 
 
 185 
 
186 SEA FOAM 
 
 to make both ends meet on his half-pay of four 
 pounds a month, and bring up their four children 
 respectably. At last he said to himself with a 
 sigh : " Ah, well, growlin' won't do no good, 
 anyhow. Better go aft, I s'pose, and see what 
 the ' old man's ' got t' say 'bout things." 
 
 So having given a comprehensive look round, 
 he rolled aft and entered the saloon with that 
 curious mixture of deference and privilege always 
 noticeable in the officers of a merchant-ship, an 
 air which they get rid of with wonderful suddenness 
 when they become masters. Fingering his cap, 
 he approached the young master, who sat at the 
 head of the table looking eagerly over some papers, 
 with an obvious effort to appear at his ease in his 
 new position. Looking up at the mate's approach, 
 he said : " Oh, Mr. Seaton, I'm glad you've come 
 in ; I wanted to have a talk with you. I want 
 to tell you that the owners have been kind enough 
 to sanction my wife sailing with me, and I look 
 to your kindly help to make things as comfortable 
 for her as we can. I like the look of the ship. 
 How does she behave herself running ? " " Oh, 
 as for that, sir, you'll find her all right wet, of 
 course, when she's down to her marks, but as good 
 a seaboat as there is going. What about the crew, 
 sir ? Will you select 'em yourself or leave it to 
 me ? " " Oh, I'll leave it to you, Mr. Seaton, but 
 try and get as good a crowd as you can. I don't 
 
THE TESTING OF THE MATE 187 
 
 want to take any chances in a four-poster like 
 this with a crowd of tramp labourers who wouldn't 
 know a sheer-pole from a handspike. And, besides, 
 there's my wife to be thought about oh, here 
 she is. My dear, let me introduce you to the chief 
 officer, Mr. Seaton, the most important man in 
 the ship." Mrs. Windham, a fair blue-eyed darling 
 of twenty, smiled so sweetly on the poor old mate 
 as she shook hands that he inwardly vowed to 
 serve her like a knight of old ; his salt-encrusted 
 heart grew quite soft at sight of her youth and 
 beauty and happiness. Inwardly he swore that 
 if the skipper didn't keep straight, he, the mate, 
 would be athwart his hawse in less than no time, 
 with other rubbish of the kind that is always 
 ready to bubble up in an old sailor's mind on the 
 smallest provocation. 
 
 He was recalled to himself by a hoarse voice 
 at the door of the saloon demanding a receipt for 
 something, and with a muttered apology he hurried 
 away. Then one duty followed upon another so 
 fast that during the few days remaining before 
 sailing he got no opportunity to pass even the 
 time of day with his divinity. And the young 
 brass-bedecked second and third mates wondered 
 why on earth their old chief was so vilely cross 
 with them, so evil-tempered that nothing they did 
 seemed to be right. They did not dream that it 
 was because he had several times seen them 
 
188 SEA FOAM 
 
 assisting Mrs. Windham to come on board or go 
 ashore, had seen her smile sweetly upon them, 
 and could hardly contain his anger in consequence. 
 But if his folly in this direction made him miser- 
 able it also fired his energy. He drove his under- 
 lings to the verge of madness, especially the six 
 apprentices, who, having been to their several 
 homes and there experienced that mild sort of 
 hero-worship usually offered to embryo sailors on 
 their holidays, felt horribly aggrieved at being 
 roused about scrubbing, polishing brass, and 
 clearing out obscure corners of lockers. Nor did 
 this exhaust the mate's energies. He exercised 
 so severe a scrutiny over the candidates for A.B. 
 that came seeking berths that the stevedores who 
 heard his questionings were amazed, and pro- 
 phesied that he wouldn't get a crew at all. They 
 were quite wrong. He got a splendid crew of 
 Scandinavians, big brawny fellows, submissive as 
 lambs, speaking good English, and well up to 
 their work. 
 
 So far, so good. But Mr. Seaton's well-laid 
 plans were presently to receive a complete smash 
 up. He was looking forward to the time when, 
 at sea, those two frivolous youngsters, Daykin and 
 Bland, the second and third officers, would be 
 shut out of the heaven of the saloon except at 
 meal-times, while he, occupying a state-room 
 therein, would every watch below be privileged 
 
THE TESTING OF THE MATE 189 
 
 to enjoy that blissful society. To him the morn- 
 ing before sailing came the skipper beaming : 
 " Mr. Seaton, you'll be glad to know we'll have 
 company six first-class passengers, four gentle- 
 men and two ladies. They are all middle-aged, 
 and are going with us to Sydney for the benefit of 
 their health. I hope you'll be able to keep your 
 berth in the saloon ; but if need should arise you'll 
 have to shift into the second mate's berth and 
 make him share berths with the third." 
 
 But why dwell further upon the mate's mortifi- 
 cation ? Let us rather draw a kindly veil over 
 things, especially over his tribulations while getting 
 the Comstock to sea, his unwillingness to recognize 
 that, in his young skipper as well as in the young 
 officers, he had found as good seamen as a man 
 could wish to sail with. He was in the unhappy 
 position of being an old sailor with nothing to 
 growl at. Fine weather, steady winds, first-class 
 crew, good officers, good food, everything right 
 but himself, and he, with a wife and four chil- 
 dren at home, hopelessly in love with and madly 
 jealous of any one who approached a woman the 
 age of his eldest daughter. What a nest of vul- 
 tures to be gnawing at the vitals of a man of fifty. 
 All sorts of madly impossible schemes revolved 
 in his mind. If only something would happen 
 a hurricane, a fire, destruction of some kind from 
 which he could rescue her, save her when all these 
 
190 SEA FOAM 
 
 young whipper-snappers, including her husband, 
 should fail and perish. Then when only she and 
 himself should safely gain the shore of some 
 lonely isle and his eyes flashed into the irre- 
 sponsive night, his heart was as a glowing coal. 
 And he never once thought of himself sanely as a 
 middle-aged fool. 
 
 Meanwhile Mrs. Windham, with her dear hus- 
 band and, when she needed it, congenial company 
 in the saloon, was supremely happy. She was 
 one of those lovable creatures who are naturally 
 glad and love to see all faces bright about them. 
 So she could not but note the mate's gloom, and 
 was of ten startled at the sudden flash of brightness, 
 the curious deepening of his tan when she spoke 
 to him. Many a merry laugh she and her husband 
 had over the bashfulness of the " old chap," as 
 they called him to one another, little dreaming 
 what underlay it. But as the beautiful passage 
 wore on, this strange behaviour on the old mate's 
 part became so familiar that no notice whatever 
 was taken of it, except the usual growl in the fore- 
 castle and the constant irritation shown by the 
 two young officers, who could not for the life of 
 them see why the mate's age should give him any 
 right to be in such an unreasonable and con- 
 tinuously cantankerous mood. Like sensible 
 youngsters though, they did not brood over it, 
 but went blithely about their work and enjoyed 
 
THE TESTING OF THE MATE 191 
 
 the pleasant society aft as much as they could 
 whenever they were admitted to it. 
 
 And nothing happened to mar anybody's peace 
 of mind. Fine weather, good crew, pleasant 
 company all was ideal. Mr. Seaton's long 
 meditations in the night watches affected no one 
 directly but himself, and since those affected 
 indirectly knew not the source of their woes, there 
 was no trouble on that account. Only the genial 
 young skipper did permit himself occasionally to 
 wish that Mr. Seaton wouldn't be such a fidget, 
 more like an old maid than a man of vast sea 
 experience. This, however, reached nobody's 
 ears except Mrs. Windham's, and even to her the 
 skipper admitted that he would have to look a 
 long way before finding such a capable chief officer. 
 
 A splendid voyage of eighty-two days ended at 
 Sydney without a single sea accident worth 
 chronicling for the reading of seekers after sensa- 
 tion. I beg my readers to believe that such pas- 
 sages are not at all unusual, many instances being 
 known to me personally of colonial and Indian 
 passages, thirteen to sixteen thousand miles of 
 ocean sailing, without any exciting incidents 
 whatever and with generally favouring winds 
 as well as fine weather. Proudly the big four- 
 master swung into the lovely harbour, and was 
 towed to her berth at Circular Quay, her skipper in 
 the highest of high spirits and her passengers 
 
192 SEA FOAM 
 
 ready to give him all the credit for their beautiful 
 journey. Even Mr. Seaton was rewarded, for 
 after the skipper had gone ashore to enter his 
 ship inwards, Mrs. Windham engaged the mate 
 in conversation as he stood on the poop watching 
 his men putting the final touches on the clearing- 
 up. To her amazement he became transfigured. 
 His eyes sparkled, his talk was absolutely brilliant, 
 and his somewhat ungainly figure straightened 
 itself as he drew from his stores of memory all 
 manner of reminiscences for her entertainment. 
 For over an hour they talked thus, she with a dim 
 idea that she had too much neglected the worthy 
 officer, he with his heart on fire and almost 
 unconscious of his middle age. And also, such 
 was the glamour over him, for the time oblivious 
 of East Ham and that poor nook wherein his 
 chief responsibilities lay. 
 
 Thenceforward, until the ship had discharged 
 and loaded (coal from the adjacent port of New- 
 castle) for San Francisco, although Mr. Seaton 
 was more than busy most of his working hours, 
 he was not far from being the happiest man on 
 board. Far too much of his scanty pay went for 
 the purchase of flowers wherewith to decorate 
 his cabin (he was now living in the saloon again, 
 of course) and to hand the steward for the purpose 
 of ornamenting the table at such meal-times as 
 Mrs. Windham graced it with her presence. Also 
 
THE TESTING OF THE MATE 193 
 
 the expense of his own personal upkeep in appear- 
 ance increased, although he scarcely ever went 
 ashore. But still he was extravagant as never 
 before, and his consequent stylishness came in for 
 much sarcastic comment by the rest of the crew, 
 of which he was happily entirely unconscious. 
 The skipper, however, only noticed one thing, 
 which was that Mr. Seaton was the very best 
 chief officer he had ever seen, that everything 
 went on greased wheels under his supervision, and 
 that the Comstock was the smartest-looking and 
 best-kept ship in the two harbours. So the 
 middle part of the voyage commenced auspiciously 
 enough. 
 
 Only commenced ; for a week after they had left 
 Newcastle and were just feeling the first of the 
 south-east Trades, Captain Windham fell ill of 
 some mysterious malady beyond his own or the 
 mate's elementary skill to diagnose. Mrs. Wind- 
 ham's devotion to her perfectly helpless husband 
 was beyond all praise, but under the stress of 
 this calamity Mr. Seaton developed an entirely 
 new side of his character. Up till then he had 
 appeared in the eyes of all the crew, with the 
 exception of the skipper, as an infatuated old fool, 
 who, in spite of his seamanship, made himself 
 ridiculous by his being obviously in love with 
 another man's wife, and she, besides being just 
 married, young enough to be his daughter. Now 
 
 1 Q 
 
194 SEA FOAM 
 
 I 
 
 he passed at one bound to their utmost respect, 
 for his care of the sick man and the almost dis- 
 tracted wife was that of a perfectly wise father, 
 making up in devotion and sound sense what he 
 lacked in medical knowledge. And upon the ship 
 he piled endless devices in the way of wind-savers. 
 The man seemed to possess a perfect genius for 
 inventing queer auxiliaries in the way of sails, 
 added to the most splendid seamanship in handling 
 the vessel. At the slightest change of wind he 
 was on deck instantly, he seemed never to tire, 
 and, moreover, succeeded in imbuing his juniors 
 with the same ardent spirit. 
 
 In the midst of this strenuous time, when it 
 seemed as if a miracle must be needed to save the 
 suffering skipper's life, the second mate was 
 astounded to receive a sudden summons, in the 
 midst of his watch below from 12 till 4 a.m., to 
 attend the mate on the poop. Arriving there in 
 two minutes, Mr. Seaton faced him with, " Mr. 
 Daykin, the cargo is on fire. I discovered it ten 
 minutes ago, and no one knows of it but me. Now 
 I want'you to see that every crevice that can admit 
 air to the hold is chinched up tight as you can get 
 it. Then get the carpenter to cut a hole in the 
 fore part of the main-hatch just big enough to get 
 the nozzle of the hose through, and start the pump. 
 I think we can dowse the fire if I am right in my 
 estimation of its whereabouts, But whatever you 
 
THE TESTING OF THE MATE 195 
 
 do, no fuss, no unnecessary noise, for the skipper 's 
 very low, and any sudden shock might kill him." 
 Daykin took one glance at the worn face and keen 
 eyes, recognizing to the full the man behind them, 
 then said quietly : "All right, Mr. Seaton, you 
 can depend I'll do my best," and went, lifted on 
 to the highest plane of determination. 
 
 So while Daykin and the rest of the crew 
 went silently about their task of fighting the enemy 
 which threatened them all, Mr. Seaton divided his 
 attention between the ship's course and the sick 
 man's cabin, his keen ear telling him how things 
 were going. Mrs. Windham, worn out with sorrow 
 and long watching, was sleeping in the outer 
 berth, and the steward, a bright and clever 
 mulatto, was watching the skipper, when, just 
 as dawn was breaking, Mr. Seaton came down and 
 saw that a crisis had come. 
 
 There was a change in the sick man's pale face, 
 but whether for better or worse the mate did not 
 know. But suddenly an intense desire to see 
 this young man live came over him, a longing that 
 had all the force of a prayer, followed immediately 
 by an almost triumphant assurance that it would 
 be so. The skipper opened his eyes and smiled. 
 He was too weak to move, but, answering the 
 look of inquiry, Mr. Seaton put his face close 
 down to the pale lips and heard the whisper, 
 " How is she ? " " Better," said the mate 
 
196 SEA FOAM 
 
 cheerily, " and so are you. You'll soon be up 
 again, I'm sure, now you've turned the corner." 
 There was a grateful look, the eyelids dropped, and 
 the skipper, giving a contented sigh, sank into 
 a sweet sleep, lifted over the " dead centre," 
 where so many remain, by the will power of his 
 friend. 
 
 Rather wearily dragging himself on to the poop 
 again, the mate greeted the new day with that sense 
 of satisfaction it always brings to such toilers, then 
 turned to meet the second mate, who came to 
 report his belief that the fire was being steadily 
 overcome, for that its seat was manifestly in the 
 vicinity of the main-hatch. But it was decided 
 to keep on at the pumps until all danger was 
 past, and then turn to and pump her out before 
 opening the hatches to see whether their hopes 
 were realized. So all that day, by reliefs, the 
 pump steadily sent its thick stream of sea down 
 into the black mass below, and the mate, having 
 seen to it that his patient was cool and steadily 
 gaining on the baffled dark shadow behind him, 
 obtained four hours of hard-earned sleep. 
 When he woke it was to be told that Mrs. 
 Windham wished to speak to him. He had pur- 
 posely avoided raising her hopes till the matter 
 was beyond a doubt, but her keen eyes of love 
 had seen the change, and spite of inexperience, 
 she felt sure that something favourable had 
 
THE TESTING OF THE MATE 197 
 
 happened. When Mr. Seaton confirmed her 
 hopes she took his two huge hands in hers and 
 said : " You good man, you have saved three 
 lives. God bless you." And, sinking on the 
 couch, she burst into silent tears. In that moment 
 he was the happiest man on earth ; and saying 
 brokenly, " Cheer up, don't cry, it's all right now," 
 he went on deck ready for any fate that might 
 befall, the supreme joy of that moment his for 
 ever. 
 
 Of course, according to the general idea (in 
 fiction), this man should have allowed his love to 
 get the bit between its teeth, let the skipper 
 die in a hurry, help the fire in the hold, and prove 
 his anti-Philistinism by wading through crime in 
 order to possess the person of the loved one. But 
 the facts are against him, poor man, and I am 
 afraid he only succeeded in doing his simple duty 
 under the stress of a love that seems ridiculous 
 but cannot be. And so my jog-trot chronicle goes 
 on to record how, with the fire quite subdued, 
 after several days and nights of anxiety, the 
 skipper convalescent enough to be carried on deck 
 and take an intelligent interest, if not active part, 
 in the work going on, the Comstock entered the 
 Golden Gates and dropped anchor in the splendid 
 harbour of the Queen City of the West. It was 
 well and smartly done, American pilots being 
 among the best of their noble calling throughout 
 
198 SEA FOAM 
 
 
 
 the world ; but while the men were aloft giving 
 the sails a harbour furl, with the skipper's wan 
 face lighting up approvingly, a boat came along- 
 side pulled by four men. She made fast, and a 
 huge fellow, in well-fitting clothes and slouch 
 hat, climbed the side-ladder, and sat down non- 
 chalantly on the gangway, regarding the vesse 
 generally as if she were his personal property. 
 Upon Mr. Seaton's observing him seated there, 
 the idea entered the mate's mind that this was a 
 man to be dealt with, and that speedily. So, 
 approaching him, the officer said quietly : " What 
 do you want, my man ? " The new-comer 
 turned a scarred and sinister face towards the 
 speaker, at the same time producing a plug of 
 tobacco and taking a huge bite. Having re- 
 turned the plug to his pocket, he said drawlingly : 
 
 " Guess that's none o' yer business anyway. 
 
 Run 'long 'n play like a good boy." All the 
 British blood boiled up in the mate's body, and, 
 making two steps towards the ruffian, he shouted : 
 " Git out o' this at once, d'ye hear ? " And 
 would no doubt have laid violent hands upon the 
 man, despite the difference in their size, but that 
 the visitor produced from his coat-pocket a large 
 revolver as one might a card-case, and, pointing it 
 at the mate's head, said : " See here, Johnny, I'd 
 jes' 's soon shoot ye as look, only I'm a quiet sort 
 of man when I ain't riled. Now you go 'way 'n 
 
THE TESTING OF THE MATE 199 
 
 mind yer knittin', an' don't fergit that this 's God's 
 own country, a free country, an' ye cain't come 
 none o' yer lime-juice tricks here. Hain't been in 
 'Frisco before, hev ye ? " Now Seaton was as 
 brave as he ought to be, so, disregarding the 
 revolver, he sprang at the man, who fired as coolly 
 as if he had been practising at a target, and the 
 mate went down. 
 
 At the shot three of the men in the boat rushed 
 up the ladder in time to confront the crew, who 
 came sliding down the backstays to find them- 
 selves faced by sudden death at the mouths of 
 four revolvers ; and whatever their previous 
 intentions might have been, all of them at once 
 assumed as uninterested an air as possible. The 
 second and third officers went quietly to the help 
 of their bleeding superior, carrying him into the 
 cabin, and rendering such aid as they knew 
 how until medical assistance could be procured. 
 
 Meanwhile the visitors dominated the deck, the 
 pilot quietly descending into his boat, with a mat- 
 ter-of-fact salute to the principal ruffian, as if the 
 latter had been engaged in the most peaceful of 
 pursuits instead of having just perpetrated an act 
 of piracy. The pilot had no sooner departed than 
 the leading visitor sauntered forward to where the 
 crew were standing undecidedly, if it be not deroga- 
 tory to the manhood of a good crowd to say so, like 
 shepherdless sheep. To them the ruffian, with 
 
200 SEA FOAM 
 
 what he meant for an ingratiating grin : " Naow 
 then, boys, git that dunnage put up, an' over the 
 side with it. Sh'd think ye'd hed enough o' lime- 
 juicin'. Wages 'way up, thirty a month 'n two 
 months' advance, an' plenty ships. Come, hurry 
 up an' make the 'quaintance o' God's own coun- 
 try." One man said in a doubtful voice : " She 
 ain't a bad sheep unt I got eighteen poun' comin' 
 t' me, I don't vant to leaf her." " N'r me 
 needer," chorused several others. The crimp's 
 face darkened. " Look here," he growled, " I 
 don't want no foolin' round with a lot er square 
 heads, 'r ye goin' t' git that dunnage out, 'r ye 
 goin' 'thout it ? " And he ostentatiously played 
 with his revolver. 
 
 There is no need to linger over the familiar 
 sordid scene in which the very scum and dregs of 
 criminal humanity break laws cheerfully, being 
 " solid," as they call it, with law administrators ; 
 it is sufficient to say that the whole crew were 
 cleared out as if they had been bought slaves, and 
 the fine British ship was left at anchor unmanned 
 except by her officers and apprentices. Of course, 
 help had to be lavishly paid for, and equally, of 
 course, the same contemptuous indifference was 
 paid to the complaints made by the skipper, who 
 laid the whole case before the authorities at the 
 risk of his life. Nothing was done, as nothing 
 ever is done, to punish the miscreants, and the 
 
THE TESTING OF THE MATE 201 
 
 Comstock lay crewless for the remainder of her 
 stay. Of course, in thi case there was a set-off 
 against the heavy expense in the left wages of the 
 unhappy crew, who found themselves off to sea 
 the next day or so with two months' advance to 
 work up for the benefit of the gentleman who had 
 invited them ashore. 
 
 The wounded mate progressed favourably, the 
 bullet having gone through his neck without doing 
 him deadly harm. And as some compensation 
 for his sufferings, Mrs. Windham nursed him 
 devotedly, agreeing with her husband that it was 
 the least return she could make for all his devotion 
 to them both. To himself he said that it was the 
 happiest time of his life, although an occasional 
 qualm at his utter forgetfulness of the partner in 
 East Ham passed over him. Still he dismissed 
 them with the consoling thought that he was quite 
 innocent in intention and deed, and if his thoughts 
 were disloyal he couldn't help it. And so the time 
 passed, all too quickly for him, and presently he 
 took hold again as briskly as if rejuvenated, not 
 at all to the content of his junior, who, while pity- 
 ing him, had rather enjoyed his retirement from a 
 too active supervision of affairs. 
 
 Then came the miserable business of getting a 
 crew. Captain Windham first found that a pay- 
 ment of ten dollars per man obtained was essential, 
 the truly devilish mulct known as " blood-money. 
 
202 SEA FOAM 
 
 Without this preliminary he could not get one 
 seaman. Next, that he must not be too fastidious ; 
 that men might be brought on board helpless 
 (having been drugged or stunned by merciless 
 blows), and, finally, that after the trouble he had 
 given " our respected fellow-citizen Hank Mor- 
 gan," by compelling him to shoot the mate, he 
 might think himself fortunate to get any crew at 
 all. Wondering rather at this curious develop- 
 ment of American freedom, the young skipper 
 was wise enough to say nothing, but awaited, 
 with what patience he could muster, the arrival 
 of his crew. On the night before sailing they (the 
 crew) arrived in the midst of a furious thunder- 
 storm, and to a running accompaniment of 
 cursings and blows were dragged and driven on 
 board. The worthy slave-dealer who had sold 
 them then sauntered aft and said : " Wall, so 
 long, cap'. Ye've a likely crowd thar ; but I 
 guess you'd better git on to blue water soon, er 
 some on 'em's likely to give a few trouble 'f y' 
 ain't outside." The skipper, disgusted, answered 
 him not a word, but at daybreak, mustering such 
 of the hardly entreated wretches as were able to 
 turn to, weighed and put to sea, entirely thankful 
 to get away from the Queen City of the West. 
 A good offing having been made, Captain Wind- 
 ham called his officers around him, and handed 
 each a revolver which he had purchased in San 
 
THE TESTING OF THE MATE 203 
 
 Francisco, warning them as to the use of these 
 handy weapons. Then commenced a series of 
 attempts to muster the crew. A long time 
 elapsed before this was done, and when at last 
 they all appeared, it seemed almost advisable to 
 put back again, so strange and motley a crowd 
 were they. But strangest of all was a figure whose 
 contour was corpulent in the extreme, and who 
 seemed reluctant to come forward, or dazed with 
 ill-treatment. None of the others took much 
 notice of this strange member of their company ; 
 poor wretches, they had lost for the time all interest 
 in life. Finally, Mr. Seaton, taking the stout 
 person by the arm, pulled off a blood-stained 
 wrapper which hid the face. It turned towards 
 him and a faint voice said : " For God's sake, don't 
 hurt me, I'm a woman." And so she was, a 
 woman of fifty-five, the mother-in-law of the 
 crimp who had supplied the crew, and who had 
 taken this novel but convenient method of getting 
 rid of her. Seaton led her aft and showed her to 
 the skipper, who, hearing her sad story and believ- 
 ing some of it, treated her kindly, and made her 
 attendant upon his wife ; secretly rejoicing, too, 
 for a reason soon to become obvious. 
 
 But it was very soon found that, whatever 
 benefit Mrs. Windham might derive from Mrs. 
 Bradley's presence on board, no one else was 
 likely to regard it with pleasure. For she was a 
 
204 SEA FOAM 
 
 veritable demon of discord, whose every word was 
 full of venom. And to crown her iniquities, she 
 made love to the mate not secretly, but with all 
 the glare of publicity, shamelessly, and apparently 
 rejoicing in the condition of things she was bring- 
 ing about. At first, of course, with the exception 
 of Mr. Seaton and Mrs. Windham, all hands found 
 considerable amusement in this curious state of 
 affairs, but as time wore on, and discipline became 
 impossible to maintain, matters grew too serious to 
 be laughed at, except by the crew and the appren- 
 tices. She was threatened with irons and im- 
 prisonment, she retaliated by declaring that if 
 they attempted such a thing she would seek an 
 asylum among the crew and foment a mutiny, 
 besides absolutely refusing to render any assistance 
 to Mrs. Windham in her approaching time of need. 
 So matters came to a deadlock, and the faces of 
 the afterguard grew longer and longer. 
 
 At last Mr. Seaton, pale but resolute, approached 
 the virago, as seated at the foot of the poop ladder 
 outside his room she seemed to gloat over the 
 situation. " Jenny," said he, " it's a lovely 
 evenin', isn't it ? " " 'Tis that," she replied, 
 " an' I'm thankful to see it's makin' you feel a bit 
 reasonable." " Ah, don't be angry with me, 
 Jenny," murmured the martyr, " I didn't know 
 my own mind. But forgive me, won't ye ? an' I 
 won't treat you scornfully any more." Little 
 
THE TESTING OF THE MATE 205 
 
 more was said, but the sound of kissing was heard, 
 and an echo of ribald chuckling. Thus began 
 Mr. Seaton's penance, his sacrifice, and it lasted 
 all the rest of the passage. Not without its 
 humorous side, of course, but sad in view of the 
 fact that no one gave him credit for the services 
 he was rendering to all hands. It would take 
 many pages to tell of the curious courting of the 
 mate by this elderly Venus, and his almost 
 pathetic submission to it for the sake of others. 
 But already this chronicle hath reached its limit, 
 and it must suffice to say that on arrival in the 
 Thames, by connivance of the skipper, poor 
 Seaton was aided to escape, and Mrs. Bradley, 
 by a judicious combination of threats, persuasion 
 and the payment of twelve pounds wages, was 
 induced to disappear into London's labyrinth, 
 from whence, as far as Mr. Seaton was concerned, 
 she never emerged. 
 
 And it is gratifying to record that Mr. Seaton, 
 upon Captain Windham's taking command of a 
 steamer, was appointed master of the Comstock, 
 meeting at last with some reward for his long and 
 faithful service to the sea generally and to his ship- 
 mates of the Comstock in particular. 
 
XX 
 
 The Mutiny of the Maiden Queen 
 
 BRIGHTLY and cheerfully the sun shone 
 down upon the crowded water area of 
 the East India Docks one July morning twenty- 
 five years ago. Even the generally sordid sur- 
 roundings inseparable from dock-work took on 
 quite a glamour of romantic interest under the 
 genial breath of summer, and airs laden with 
 foreign scents played gently about the surface of 
 the befouled water, or^eddied around warehouses, 
 and escaped into the tortuous streets that hemmed 
 in the Docks like a maze. Riggers, stevedores 
 and dock-labourers went about their work with 
 a will under the sweet influence of the unwonted 
 fine weather, and the distant shanty being sung 
 on board of a homeward-bounder about to enter 
 from the river sounded rich, mellow and musical. 
 The whole scene formed a fitting setting for the 
 departure of the Maiden Queen, a mighty steel 
 sailing-ship of the highest class, that lay, with all 
 her far-reaching spread of masts and yards in 
 
 307 
 
208 SEA FOAM 
 
 perfect order, in readiness to be gone. She was 
 indeed a sight to gladden the eyes of a good sailor, 
 and make him forget the tremendous toil neces- 
 sary for latter day diminished crews in the keeping 
 of such a ship up to that perfection of neatness 
 and readiness for service. 
 
 But happily, in the case of the Maiden Queen, 
 no such reflections upon hardships consequent on 
 legal undermanning were called for. Chartered 
 by the Queensland Government for the convey- 
 ance to that bright land of a great company of 
 prospective wives for settled colonists, she was 
 to carry a double crew of picked men, and her 
 officers felt highly elated at the prospect of being 
 able to handle their ship as she deserved to be 
 handled. They thought, too, with considerable 
 satisfaction of the grand opportunities for flirta- 
 tion that would naturally present themselves 
 during a three or four months' passage with three 
 hundred and fifty single young women on board, 
 all, be it remembered, making the voyage to the 
 Antipodes with the expressly avowed intention 
 of getting married as soon as possible, and there- 
 fore unlikely to be averse to a little preliminary 
 practice with gallants of such proved repute as 
 sailors. There were, however, two or three little 
 hindrances to the carrying out of a pleasant pro- 
 gramme, had the officers but realized them. The 
 first was the character of the matron appointed 
 
MUTINY OP THE MAIDEN QUEEN 209 
 
 to take charge of the huge bevy of fair ones ; 
 the second was the grim and saturnine doctor, 
 who in such a ship would be in some respects even 
 more powerful than the captain ; and the third 
 was the presence of the captain's wife, a middle- 
 aged lady, whose one idea was that it was her 
 mission in life to keep a watchful eye upon her 
 husband's behaviour toward the fair sex when 
 she could, and to suspect him of every kind of 
 infidelity towards herself when she could not. 
 
 But these matters, being as yet hidden from 
 the knowledge of the officers, troubled them not 
 at all, and their conversation, as they loitered 
 about the resplendent poop of their magnificent 
 ship, was joyous and witty in the extreme, although 
 it must be admitted that most of the fun was 
 enjoyed by the chief and second officers at the 
 expense of the third, a tall, graceful and handsome 
 young fellow of twenty-one, who answered to the 
 name of Sydney Fitzgerald. He was so mightily 
 susceptible to the influence of female society, that 
 it was said of him that he could hardly help turn- 
 ing his head to look after a hen, and that the 
 flutter of a petticoat in the distance stirred his 
 blood and got into his head far quicker than a 
 tumbler of strong wine would have done. With 
 such a delightful prospect as was now before him, 
 Fitz. took all the chaff of his seniors most good- 
 naturedly, keeping at the same time his weather 
 
 l/t 
 
210 SEA FOAM 
 
 eye lifting for the appearance of the procession of 
 young ladies at the head of the jetty. 
 
 Forrard the fine crew, British almost to a man, 
 were discussing more or less soberly the roseate 
 prospects of such a trip as they were now about 
 to begin. Some of the elder ones were silent and 
 distrait because there was really nothing to find 
 fault with, and some half-dozen bewailed the 
 waste of time in waiting on board at the quay, 
 time that might have been so much more profi- 
 tably spent in some near-by pub, getting com- 
 fortably drunk and incapable of doing their share 
 of disagreeable work until the vessel was fairly 
 on her way down Channel. But taking the whole 
 ship's company together, from the first mate, in 
 all the glory of his uniform, down to the perspiring 
 cook's mate, in the big galley forrard, they 
 were well content at the prospect of as com- 
 fortable a voyage as any decent sailor-man could 
 desire. 
 
 Suddenly the desultory conversation ceased, 
 so did work along the quays ; for all attention was 
 rivetted upon the spectacle of three hundred and 
 fifty young women, the majority of whom brought 
 with them the very breath of the scented meadows 
 of England, turning the corner of a grey ware- 
 house and heading straight for the Maiden Queen. 
 Oh, but it was a goodly gathering. And yet the 
 faces of the officers fell as their gaze became 
 
MUTINY OF THE MAIDEN QUEEN 211 
 
 fixed upon its leader. Tall, angular and erect, 
 with keen black eyes peering sternly forth from 
 a face hard as though chiselled out of grey granite, 
 and every fold of her scanty brown dress betoken- 
 ing rigid resolution, the matron stalked in advance 
 of her charges. Not a giggle escaped her recep- 
 tive ears, not a roguish glance, even behind her 
 back, but seemed to send a thrill of indignation 
 through her spare frame, and the whole ship's 
 company felt as they gazed upon her, that here, 
 indeed, was a force to be reckoned with seriously, 
 and one that would admit of no trifling whatever 
 with its great responsibilities. 
 
 As if to add to the shadows which the vision of 
 this estimable wardress had already cast across 
 the bright horizon of those officers' dreams, came 
 the doctor at a rapid stride from another direc- 
 tion, arriving just in time to scrutinize the em- 
 barking of each individual as she ascended the 
 gangway. The only gleam of satisfaction which 
 crossed that worthy's seamed and lowering 
 countenance was when he exchanged glances with 
 the matron. He recognized a kindred spirit, and 
 would, had he been able, have rejoiced. Both 
 of these people had been prison officials, both 
 possessed the highest credentials as to their abso- 
 lute fitness for the task they had undertaken 
 and their undeviating rectitude, and both were 
 as unpleasant specimens of humanity as any 
 
212 SEA FOAM 
 
 genial soul could wish not to be associated 
 with. 
 
 The last maiden stepped coyly over the rail and 
 disappeared down the companion into the spacious 
 apartment reserved for these emigrants, the 
 doctor and matron, like two surly collies following 
 a flock of sheep, brought up the rear, the captain 
 and pilot suddenly made their appearance on 
 deck from the saloon, and amid the hoarse bawling 
 of orders to " Slack away forrard," " Hold on 
 aft," " Go ahead the tug " etc., the Maiden Queen 
 glided gently away from her berth towards the 
 Dock gates, placidly commencing her long voyage. 
 
 The passage of an outward-bound sailing-ship 
 down the crowded Thames abounds with interest, 
 and might easily be made the subject of a readable 
 article, so little is known about it by land-living 
 people. But as the present story is concerned 
 with matters of more romantic interest, to the 
 general reader, at all events, we will pass rapidly 
 over the Maiden Queen's journey down the river, 
 her exchange of pilots and tug-boats, her parting 
 with both these aids to her safe exit from port, and 
 the taking over the navigation of the splendid fabric 
 by her own officers as, with her towering spread 
 of canvas all set, she sped joyously seaward as if 
 glad to be free from the hampering environment 
 of dock and river. 
 
 Much to the satisfaction of all hands, north- 
 
MUTINY OF THE MAIDEN QUEEN 213 
 
 easterly winds of eager freshness prevailed, and 
 the ship made grand progress for the first few 
 days, while owing to sea-sickness among the 
 passengers there were no opportunities for the 
 shipmen's minds to be distracted by visions of 
 female loveliness. But the weather continuing 
 fine, before the vessel had been one week at sea 
 little batches of girls made their appearance on 
 deck, most of them interestingly pale from the 
 seclusion below and recent nausea. They were, 
 of course, objects of the utmost solicitude on the 
 part of the crew, or such members thereof who 
 could rig up any sort of an excuse for being on the 
 poop, to which sacred precincts the girls were 
 sternly enjoined to confine themselves. Their 
 presence on deck had, however, at once a marked 
 effect upon the course made by the ship, and 
 reasonably so ; for who could expect a poor 
 helmsman to pay due attention to his steering 
 when from so many corners of the poop he was 
 continually meeting arch smiles and roguish 
 glances. In vain did the captain at intervals 
 rush furiously on deck from watching the tell- 
 tale compass below, and noting that the ship was 
 being sculled along rather than steered. All his 
 scoldings and threatenings had but little effect, 
 and that purely temporary, since the original 
 and powerful cause of the neglect they reprobated 
 still remained. And more reprehensible still, 
 
214 SEA FOAM 
 
 all three officers were found frequently in the 
 very act of flirtation with members of the fair 
 company, and their breaches of duty, being 
 observed by the lynx-eyed matron or doctor, were, 
 of course, faithfully reported to the captain. He, 
 poor man, although by no means a stern and 
 unbending ruler, had at his elbow a monitor, 
 whose strictness was rigidity itself. Mrs. Hunt, 
 his wife, kept as keen a watch upon the behaviour 
 of the girls as their two legal controllers did, and 
 no infraction of discipline, however slight, escaped 
 her watchful eyes. Nor did she ever fail to 
 impress upon Captain Hunt the enormity of these 
 offences against propriety, or to urge him to 
 impose the severest penalties upon the offenders. 
 Thus it came to pass that by the time the 
 Maiden Queen was sweeping majestically south- 
 ward through the region of the north-east 
 Trades, matters had reached a very dangerous 
 pitch of discontent. The unsleeping watch main- 
 tained by the matron, doctor and Mrs. Hunt over 
 the girls had resulted in the interception of many 
 tender missives on their passage between crew 
 and passengers, of which, it may be remarked 
 in passing, the majority came from the latter. 
 Every one of these earned the hapless passenger 
 concerned in it a week's confinement below, no 
 light punishment in the tropics, while the number 
 of days' pay of which the amorous seamen were 
 
MUTINY OF THE MAIDEN QUEEN 215 
 
 mulcted amounted to a goodly sum. The officers, 
 too, were in a state of permanent disgrace, while 
 meal times in the saloon were more like peniten- 
 tial ceremonies than anything else from the 
 silence and gloom with which they were always 
 accompanied. More, not only were the officers 
 in bad odour with the skipper, his wife, and the 
 doctor ; they were jealous of one another, Fitz. 
 especially being more like some impotent pacha, 
 the inmates of whose seraglio were all engaged 
 in flirtation before his eyes, than an energetic 
 young merchant officer with a career before him 
 to make or mar. 
 
 Matters culminated at last in dramatic fashion. 
 The ship had reached the calm belt between the 
 Trade winds near the Line, and was encountering 
 the usual detestable weather there prevalent. 
 Tremendous thunderstorms, deluges of rain, fitful 
 airs of wind several times round the compass in 
 an hour, all these combined to make the crew's 
 life a burden to them. But apparently they were 
 finding a mysterious solace in the clandestine 
 correspondence carried on with the passengers, 
 for there was an utter absence of the usual mut- 
 tered growls heard at frequent intervals during 
 the night, when the constantly recurring orders 
 of "Lee fore brace " or " Weather main brace " 
 were heard ringing fore and aft. The explana- 
 tion of their amiability came suddenly. Fitz., 
 
216 SEA FOAM 
 
 the third mate, caught sight of a seaman climbing 
 inboard from the mizen chains during the trimming 
 of the main yards one morning watch, from 4 to 8 ; 
 jealous and all his suspicions aroused, he seized 
 the man, fiercely demanding the reason of his 
 being over the side. Instead of answering, the 
 man endeavoured to wrench himself away from 
 the officer's grip. In the struggle the breast of 
 his jumper was torn open, and out fell a perfect 
 budget of notes, which he had been collecting at 
 one of the portholes, and would doubtless have 
 distributed as soon as the watch had been dis- 
 missed. 
 
 As the letters fell a vivid glare of lightning lit 
 up the scene, and, dropping the braces, the watch 
 rushed to the spot. There was a wild scramble, 
 and a good deal of noise, during which the com- 
 panion leading to the passengers' quarters sud- 
 denly burst open and a stream of girls poured 
 forth on to the poop. Most of them were fully 
 dressed in the sensible serviceable garments pro- 
 vided by the agents, which looked as if the present 
 movement had been premeditated. In two 
 minutes all hands were on deck with one excep- 
 tion, the matron, whose strident entreaties to be 
 let loose dominated every other sound. 
 
 The scuffle was brief but energetic. In ten 
 minutes the control of the ship had passed into 
 the hands of the passengers and the fellows before 
 
MUTINY OF THE MAIDEN QUEEN 217 
 
 the mast, who were all frantic with excitement, 
 while the captain, doctor, officers and petty 
 officers were prisoners, locked in various state 
 rooms under guard of divers buxom damsels who, 
 while full of importance at being thus posted, 
 seemed by their boisterous mirth to look upon 
 the whole affair as a gigantic joke. But as in 
 all similar upheavals, the emergency had pro- 
 duced the necessary leaders, and a tall, splendidly 
 proportioned young Scotchwoman, by virtue of 
 her commanding personality, was unanimously 
 elected head of affairs, and dubbed Captain 
 Jenny on the spot. Sizing up the situation with 
 marvellous celerity, she appointed Pat Mahony, 
 a fine specimen of an Irish seaman, as her first 
 mate, telling him in a confidential whisper that 
 she had fixed upon him as her future husband 
 when coming a-board in London. To him she 
 delegated the task of appointing his officers from 
 among the crowd, and in order that there should 
 be no delay in this necessary operation directed 
 him to proceed at once by mustering all hands. 
 
 What a unique scene it was, to be sure. The 
 weather had cleared, and the purple placid sea 
 was just receiving the first tender suggestions 
 of colour from the high dawn. The stately ship 
 just moved stealthily from side to side, a motion 
 insufficient to disturb the foothold of even the 
 least experienced seafarer on those warm wet 
 
218 SEA FOAM 
 
 decks. An elderly Englishman, his tender sus- 
 ceptibilities unabated by his many years of hard- 
 ship, lolled easefully on the grating by the useless 
 wheel. Even the thickly clustering groups of 
 girls hushed their giggling at the solemn splendour 
 of the sunrise, and the mutinous seamen shifted 
 uneasily from one foot to the other, as if under- 
 going a mental conflict anent the possibilities of 
 this serious prank of theirs. Then the voice of 
 Captain Jenny rang out loud and clear, breaking 
 the silken silence with disconcerting abruptness. 
 
 " Boys an' girls," she said, " we've shaken aff 
 th' yoke of th' tyrants that's been oppressin' huz 
 ever sin' we ben aboard. A little kindness an' 
 forbearance micht ha' prevented a' this, but 
 we couldna get ut. An' noo we're juist gaun 
 t' hannel thon ship weersells, an' kip they vratches 
 as they've kept huz until we get somewhere wheer 
 we can let 'em go an' clear oot t' reap th' reward o' 
 weer enterprise. In orrder to dae this success- 
 fully we must hae laws an' behave weersells. 
 You've eleckit me capten. Weel, capten Ah'll 
 be, an' the first order Ah'm givin' is thet a' things 
 must be conduckit decently. We'el hae nae 
 scandal. Juist an occasional kiss, in public, ye 
 mind, an' free conversashin when worrk's nae 
 goin' on, bit that's a'. Noo a' ye hizzies min' what 
 Ah say, or ye'll fin' me worse than yon auld limmer 
 'at's receivin' th' due reward o' her deeds doon 
 
MUTINY OF THE MAIDEN QUEEN 219 
 
 below the noo. Ma' promust husban' '11 noo 
 address th' meetin'." 
 
 So saying, she stepped back and pushed Pat 
 forward. He looked ill at ease, and well he might, 
 for the matrimonial intentions of Jenny were not 
 at all to his mind. His fancy was for a dear little 
 plump body with a musical South Irish accent, 
 Norah Sullivan by name ; and he foresaw a 
 stupendous difficulty in the way of his winning 
 her with that masterful Scotchwoman in charge. 
 So with a mental summoning of all his reserves he 
 cleared his throat, and, to the utter amazement 
 of everybody, but the secret relief of many, he 
 said, 
 
 " Bhoys an young laadies, it's my opinyon 'at 
 we've a-ben too haasty altogithir. This young 
 lady here's ben mag magniminous enough to 
 make me chief mate, which is playin' a low-down 
 joke on a mahn that can't add 2 an 2 togither ner 
 give an' orrdher to save his life. I've ben doin* 
 some stiff thinkin' (for me) dhurin' th' las' few 
 minyits, an' I feel that th' best thing t' dew' s to 
 put things back as we found 'em. I don't mind 
 ownin 5 'at I've ben a big fool, an I don't want t' 
 be no bigger wan than I am." 
 
 There was a breathless pause. Then that 
 fiery Scotchwoman sprang forward, and seizing 
 the recalcitrant Pat by the shoulders she poured 
 forth a flood of burning words. Eloquent she 
 
220 SEA FOAM 
 
 was, with an eloquence wonderful to hear. But 
 persuade she could not. The reaction had come. 
 All were afraid of the part they had taken in the 
 mutiny. None could foresee what the end of the 
 foolish business would be, and she could note 
 from the bewildered expressions on the faces 
 of the majority that the game was up. It was 
 a bitter awakening from her dream, which had 
 developed like Jonah's gourd into a brilliant 
 prospect of founding a new settlement some- 
 where (that was only a detail), wherein all the 
 members should be married and equal, and where 
 individuality of enterprise and energy should 
 have its fullest scope. And now her great scheme 
 had burst like a bubble, because of the cowardice 
 of those whom she had depended upon. Her 
 overwrought feelings asserted themselves in truly 
 feminine fashion, and she sank to the deck in a 
 dead faint. 
 
 This became the signal for action. While 
 several girls flew towards their late chief to per- 
 form those kindly offices which a fainting female 
 imperiously demands from her own sex, the 
 sailors, led by Pat, hastened to undo as far as 
 they could the mischief already consummated. 
 The officers were released with many apologies 
 for what had happened, and sheepishly enough, 
 as might be expected from men who had been 
 caught napping in so disgraceful a manner, they 
 
MUTINY OF THE MAIDEN QUEEN 221 
 
 resumed control of the ship. Some feeble at- 
 tempts were made by the men to secure terms 
 for themselves while restoring to the captain and 
 doctor their liberty, but those two gentlemen 
 were so crestfallen and ashamed that they could 
 hardly speak. As soon, however, as the ship 
 had resumed her normal aspect, a deputation 
 of twelve of the girls, headed by Jenny, made 
 their appearance at the captain's door, demand- 
 ing, in anything but a humble way, an interview 
 with him and the doctor. Upon the two officers 
 appearing, Jenny informed them that the majority 
 of the girls having agreed upon a course of action, 
 they had deputed her to approach the captain 
 and apologize for the shock their behaviour must 
 have given him ; but that they were fully deter- 
 mined to teach the doctor and matron, especially 
 the matron, a life-long lesson at any cost to them- 
 selves unless their treatment was entirely altered 
 for the better. They promised not to offend any 
 more in frivolous matters, such as sly love-making, 
 letter writing, etc.; but that at the first appearance 
 of tyranny on the part of the matron or doctor, 
 they would take the administration of justice into 
 their own hands, and beat those two officials within 
 an inch of their lives. No answer was given, 
 and the deputation departed triumphantly, hav- 
 ing, as they felt, secured their immunity from 
 reprisals, at least while on board the ship. 
 
222 SEA FOAM 
 
 For a week work went on as usual, except that 
 there was a general sense of trouble impending 
 a feeling among all the foremast hands that some 
 scheme of retribution was maturing against them, 
 which should be as sudden in its execution 
 as it would be complete in its solace to the 
 wounded feelings of the afterguard. Meanwhile 
 the Maiden Queen crept slowly down through 
 the western fringe of the south-east Trades until 
 she reached the latitude of Cape Frio and lay 
 in the variables there, awaiting the coming of 
 the brave west wind that would send her fly- 
 ing along through the roaring forties towards 
 Australia. 
 
 While thus compulsorily idle, a howling squall 
 of almost hurricane violence burst upon her, 
 hurling her over on her beam-ends, for she had 
 nearly everything set at the time. The three 
 mighty steel masts, stayed into the fabric of the 
 ship until they were like an integral part of the 
 hull, refused to give way in any detail, and their 
 enormous leverage prevented any possibility of 
 her righting herself unless they were got rid of. 
 In olden days such a catastrophe would have 
 been met by a few quick axe-strokes upon lanyard 
 and shroud stretched to their utmost tension 
 to windward, and with the parting of those great 
 holding ropes the masts would at once break off 
 and disappear, allowing the overburdened ship 
 
MUTINY OF THE MAIDEN QUEEN 223 
 
 to right herself. But such a proceeding was 
 impossible here. The separation of those mas- 
 sive steel bars bolted into the ship's plates would 
 have been a long heavy task had she been upright, 
 now when the deck was perpendicular as a wall 
 it was not to be thought of. And as the invading 
 sea reached the passengers' quarters where, amid 
 heaps of debris piled up on the lee side, the hap- 
 less girls were huddled, their piteous cries for 
 help needed instant attention. The danger of 
 their being drowned down there like rats in a 
 trap was terribly pressing, and all hands, leaving 
 everything else, laboured like men fighting for 
 their own lives to release them. The magnitude 
 of their task must be left to the imagination, yet 
 owing to the fining of the weather it was not nearly 
 as difficult as, with a gale of wind blowing and 
 a heavy sea rising, it would have been. Two 
 hours of superhuman toil saw the weather top- 
 sides of the Maiden Queen covered with a draggled 
 clinging crowd of women-folk, called at a moment's 
 notice to confront one of the most awful sea- 
 conditions imaginable, yet without a single 
 exception bearing their stupendous trial with the 
 utmost courage. And the most conspicuous 
 instance of self-command as well as self-forget- 
 fulness was the cross-grained old matron, who in 
 that dread hour bore herself like a veritable 
 heroine of romance, so that her grim visage 
 
224 SEA FOAM 
 
 became glorified in the eyes of those who not so 
 long before were ready to inflict any punishment 
 upon her that lay in their power. 
 
 A miserable night and day were spent perched 
 in that precarious position on the port topsides 
 of the now derelict ship, while the crew, as oppor- 
 tunity offered, toiled slavishly to free the boats 
 to windward and get them safely eased down into 
 the water. But it was a hopeless task from the 
 beginning. One by one each gleam of hope died 
 away, and a dull acquiescence in the inevitable 
 gradually seized upon the helpless ones. Then, 
 when hope had almost fled, there appeared a 
 delivering angel in the shape of an English cruiser 
 engaged upon some special service. Her gallant 
 bluejackets, delighted beyond measure at this 
 unique opportunity for exhibiting their prowess, 
 came and went between the two vessels with 
 marvellous celerity until every soul was rescued. 
 And just as the last boat-load was being trans- 
 ported across the bright waves towards the sav- 
 ing ship, the poor Maiden Queen gave a convulsive 
 heave or two and disappeared. 
 
 The rest of the story is hardly worth telling, 
 it was all so peaceful, comfortable and common- 
 place ; from the landing of the saved ones in 
 Buenos Ayres and their subsequent passage to 
 Brisbane in a fine steamer specially chartered 
 for the purpose, to their landing in that handsome 
 
MUTINY OF THE MAIDEN QUEEN 225 
 
 city, they had not one adventure worth record- 
 ing. And never a word was mentioned in any 
 legal document about the Mutiny of the Maiden 
 Queen. 
 
XXI 
 
 The Luck of the Doctor 
 
 THE Arion, four-poster, was as grand a wind- 
 jammer as ever sailed out of Liverpool. 
 Sort of craft a good sailor-man likes the look 
 of, you know, even if he does see that she's going 
 to be no Sunbeam for him, with three men to 
 do every man's work, but the proportions ex- 
 actly reversed. For she had just been bought 
 by a firm whose designation I will not hint at, 
 except by saying that they lived up to their 
 reputation of being the meanest in Great Britain, 
 which means a great deal, without any pun. 
 
 They got a fine charter for her Melbourne 
 with general cargo, and a new lot of officers at 
 little more than half what her former owners 
 had been paying, and also, since such people 
 always seems to have the devil's luck and their 
 own too, got forty first-class passengers, invalids 
 ordered a long sea voyage, at fares of 45 apiece. 
 And this is where the doctor comes in. 
 
 Have you never known a man so smart and 
 
 227 
 
228 SEA FOAM 
 
 intelligent that he not only absorbs knowledge 
 as a sponge does water, but puts his knowledge 
 into practice before most men would have realized 
 that they really knew. If you have, you will also 
 have noticed that such men are usually the 
 world's Cinderellas, always helping somebody 
 out of a hole and getting left, or else magnanim- 
 ously refusing to be rewarded for services, most 
 valuable services too, which the recipient is 
 making a jolly good thing out of, to speak some- 
 what vulgarly. That was the kind of football 
 of fate that Dr. Fred. Norie was. He earned 
 prizes at school, and got disqualified for helping 
 his chums illegitimately : his father died while 
 he was at University College and left him al- 
 most to his own resources ; but his fine pluck and 
 ability, as well as his temperate habits, carried 
 him triumphantly through. He bought a half 
 share in a practice in Manchester, only to be flung 
 out of his trap two days after taking hold, getting 
 run over and so badly hurt that by the time he 
 was well again the little money that his partner 
 handed over to him to relinquish his share had 
 nearly gone. 
 
 Then he saw the advertisement for a fully- 
 qualified medical man put in by the owners of 
 the Arion, and that same afternoon appeared at 
 their offices to apply for the post. They most 
 generously offered him 4 a month outward, and 
 
THE LUCK OP THE DOCTOR 229 
 
 if no passengers were secured for the return passage 
 he might come home free of charge or stay in 
 Australia, whichever suited him best. He ac- 
 cepted, saying politely grateful words which 
 his somewhat sardonic grin hardly corro- 
 borated. The senior hastened to add that as 
 invalids on a health voyage were proverbially 
 liberal in their treatment of the doctor who 
 attended them, it was not customary to give 
 doctors going such a voyage any salary, it being 
 esteemed a wonderful opportunity for a young 
 man with his name to make. But they, the firm, 
 always preferred to err on the side of liberality, 
 and, therefore, etc., etc. Norie merely bowed ; 
 he could not trust himself to speak, as he had 
 six chums in similar positions, and was, there- 
 fore, pretty well posted as to who was on the 
 weather side this tack. 
 
 But having made his bargain, like the good 
 chap he was, he started in to fulfil his position to 
 the best of his ability. The Arion was not sailing 
 for a week, but he went straight on board and 
 obtained permission to rig up his berth and occupy 
 it, spending nearly all his time on board getting 
 familiar with the hang of things in general, and 
 also making the intimate acquaintance of the 
 three mates* the skipper, and the apprentices, 
 eight of the latter, six of whom had been in the 
 ship before, some for three years. And conse- 
 
230 SEA FOAM 
 
 quently, with his wonderful aptitude for acquiring 
 a working acquaintance with things, by the time 
 the tug-boat was ready to hook on outside the 
 Bramley Moore Dock, Doctor Norie might safely 
 have been accounted, apart from his medical 
 skill, as a fairly useful member of the ship's com- 
 pany. On his part, he was fairly alive with per- 
 ceptivity. He had quite appreciated, for in- 
 stance, the appalling fact that the sixteen was- 
 trels, who lurched aboard this 2,000 ton register 
 ship at the last moment, were numerically much 
 too weak to handle her, even if each of them had 
 been the fine fleur of a sailor-man. Being as they 
 were, not sailors at all, but a crowd of sea labourers, 
 and not enamoured of labour either, he saw that 
 if there came a tight corner in their way, those 
 clean British-bred boys, the officers, and himself 
 would have every ounce of their national char- 
 acteristics of stickability and adaptability tested 
 to its last corpuscle. And he smiled a bright 
 comprehensive smile. 
 
 The time was mid-September, and the year 
 was just such another as this, when the seasons 
 seemed to be turned topside behind. Therefore 
 the Arion was towed out past the Formby into a 
 fresh south-easterly gale with her long jibboom 
 to get rigged out, the loose ends left by the riggers 
 to be attended to, and the pleasant prospect of 
 forereaching under four close reefed topsails all 
 
THE LUCK OF THE DOCTOR 231 
 
 night in the fairway of the Channel, for, of course, 
 
 Messrs. & Co. couldn't afford a tow farther 
 
 than Point Lynas. Towing to the Tuskar was an 
 unheard-of extravagance. So what with comforting 
 sea-sick passengers when the gigantic Jolliffe 
 tug dragged her cumbrous tow across three seas 
 at once, and plunging on deck every little while 
 to lend a hand on this rope or that, and infect 
 everybody with whom he came in contact with 
 his own indomitable cheerfulness of spirit, 
 Dr. Norie was fully occupied. Sailors will 
 know well that I do not at all exaggerate when 
 I say that half the credit of boring the Arion 
 out of the Channel at all was due to Dr. Norie. 
 In that abominable four days he established him- 
 self in the hearts of everybody on board as the 
 man whom nothing could upset, a sort of sub- 
 lime Mark Tapley, and withal as unconscious of 
 doing anything extraordinary as a babe. 
 
 But the Arion was an unfortunate ship that 
 trip, a perfect Jonah among vessels. The master 
 had been, nay was, a good seaman, but he had 
 been ashore for over a year, watching with an 
 aching heart his little savings melting away, and 
 now that he had got a ship he felt the effects of 
 that long spell of anxious idleness. He stuck to 
 his post through the succession of gales that buf- 
 fetted the ship end-on, until poor human nature 
 could no longer hold out, and he had perforce 
 
232 SEA FOAM 
 
 to take to his cot. Then Norie tended him like 
 a mother, spent all his spare time with him, and 
 to get his mind easy talked of seamanship and 
 navigation. So the doctor's education progressed, 
 none the less rapidly because unconsciously. If 
 he had a smoke with an officer at night and a shift 
 of wind came, be sure he knew why the yards were 
 trimmed this way or that, why the lee side of a 
 sail, excepting the lower top-sails, was always 
 clewed up first, and what would happen if 
 you let go the tack of a course in a heavy wind, 
 and why the bobstays were the strongest part of 
 a ship's gear. 
 
 With all these educational processes at work in 
 his seething brain, Norie found little time for 
 dalliance, but he could not help becoming aware 
 presently that one of his patients, a beautiful 
 girl of twenty-two, regarded him with that soft, 
 humid, luminous gaze that one usually sees in the 
 eyes of the young mother as she bends over her 
 first-born. When he first noticed it, the rate of 
 his heart beats was accelerated full ten per cent., 
 but his multifarious interests soon brought his 
 pulse down again to the normal. Still, he found 
 time to keep a very careful watch upon her health, 
 and to feel hopeful that the family physician had 
 been mistaken in his diagnosis of her case. That 
 it was not consumption at all, but something which 
 he might be able to cure. 
 
THE LUCK OF THE DOCTOR 233 
 
 Meanwhile the weather did not improve in 
 the least. The winds all seemed to have entered 
 into a terrible compact to prevent sailing vessels 
 getting south, and the long days and nights of 
 " batter-fanging " about were playing fierce havoc 
 with the badly-nourished, badly-lodged crew, 
 whose poor physique was not in any case adapted 
 to bear much hardship. Dr. Norie's careful 
 supervision was mainly instrumental in keeping the 
 boys off the sick list, and his cheery confidence in 
 them stirred up that high spirit of emulation which 
 most British boys have, if only it be fostered by any 
 encouragement at all. As for the three gallant 
 young officers, their exertions were almost 
 superhuman, but each of them unconsciously 
 clung to Norie, and felt that half an hour in his 
 society just for a smoke and a yarn was a tonic 
 incomparable in its effect upon the mind, and, 
 therefore, on the body. Then came a calamity 
 with hideous suddenness which bade fair to end 
 the passage. The gales they had beaten against 
 for nearly three weeks culminated when they were 
 off the Azores in what sailors are fond of calling 
 the " tail-end " of a hurricane, when only the 
 tiniest rag of canvas can be shown (in this case a tar- 
 paulin in the mizen rigging) just to keep her from 
 falling off into the trough of the sea and rolling 
 her upper spars out of her. While in this helpless 
 condition a huge wave, due doubtless to some sub- 
 
234 SEA FOAM 
 
 marine volcanic convulsion, came sweeping upon 
 them, reaching from horizon to horizon. It took 
 her in its stride just at watch changing, midnight, 
 and when it had passed only those parts of the 
 deck which were built into her structure remained. 
 At the roll-call it was found that four seamen and 
 the first and second mates were gone, four more 
 seamen had broken legs or arms, and upon Norie 
 conveying the terrible news to the sick captain, he 
 bowed his head and gave up the ghost. 
 
 Then, as if satisfied with the damage done, the 
 weather fined down, and the wind came out strong- 
 ly from the north and east as if the Trades were 
 anxious to make up for lost time. Norie and the 
 third mate, who held a chief's ticket, held a brief 
 consultation and decided that it was safer to go 
 on than to try and beat back ; only fine weather 
 they felt could save them now, and that they were 
 quite unlikely to find going homeward. So they 
 got sail on her, all hands that were left working 
 manfully, until by 10 a.m. they had every rag 
 set and the ship bowling southward at a good 
 twelve knots an hour. 
 
 But now it needed all the physical and mental 
 firmness possessed by these two young men to hold 
 out against the pleadings of some of the passen- 
 gers, and the threats and growlings of the 
 crew, who wanted to give it up and go back. 
 The boys, however, even to the newest arrival, 
 
THE LUCK OF THE DOCTOR 235 
 
 ranged themselves on the side of the afterguard, 
 and after a few days' careful watching and a 
 feeling of strained relations all round, matters 
 settled down, the fineness of the weather and 
 steadiness of the wind largely contributing to this 
 desirable end. To the intense amazement of the 
 crew, Dr. Norie took his watch like an old salt, 
 Mr. Thurston, the third, sleeping in the chart- 
 room ready for a call if any difficulty presented 
 itself. By dint of the most careful regulation of 
 his time and leaving the deck in charge of one of 
 the elder apprentices when there was no immediate 
 necessity for his being there, he managed to 
 attend to his medical duties, so well too that his 
 patients began to look upon him as miraculously 
 gifted with healing powers. And Miss Everett, 
 the young lady before-mentioned, being wonder- 
 fully improved in health, was, as he said, his 
 right hand in the medical department, doing many 
 small irksome duties which he was able to dele- 
 gate to her, as well as he could do them himself. 
 So they worked together like chums, but had 
 little time for love-making as yet. 
 
 So well did the Trades favour them that they 
 crossed the Line after all in twenty-nine days, and 
 without meeting any doldrums at all, took the 
 south-east Trades in 2 south, finding them too 
 fairly strong and hanging well to the Eastward. 
 Away they went, heading as high as SSW. at a 
 
236 SEA FOAM 
 
 good ten knots, and everybody on board was 
 in good humour, forgetting the ordeal of the 
 " roaring forties " which lay before them. 
 
 It should be noted in passing that the doctor 
 had insisted upon the men being better fed out of 
 the excess stores put on board for the passengers, 
 and also that no work should be done that might 
 safely be left undone. 
 
 And in those halcyon days, gliding down to the 
 parallel of Monte Video, the doctor learned so 
 much navigation, having a natural bent for 
 mathematics, that, as he laughingly said, he felt 
 almost competent to command a ship. His 
 words had a prophetic ring about them, for when 
 they reached the meridian of 40 east on their 
 great stretch down to Australasia, he was suddenly 
 called upon to take command. Mr. Thurston, 
 whose watch it was, suddenly stepped over to the 
 lee side of the poop to do something, when a man 
 doing a little job in the lee lower jigger rigging, 
 dropped his marlinespike, which fell flat upon 
 the officer's head, knocking him insensible. Dr. 
 Norie, hastily called to him, looked grave as he 
 pronounced it severe concussion of the brain, which 
 might result fatally within the next twenty-four 
 hours or take months to cure. 
 
 Now the brave doctor was in charge indeed, 
 and that, too, on one of the stormiest stretches of 
 sea in the whole world. Yet by this time all 
 
THE LUCK OF THE DOCTOR 237 
 
 hands had such confidence in him, and, better 
 still, he had such confidence in himself, that there 
 was no lowering of his high spirits or look of 
 anxiety upon his cheerful face. He chose the old- 
 est apprentice as his coadjutor in watch keeping, 
 a young man nearly out of his time, and bade him 
 use the drilling he had been getting for the last 
 six weeks now, and above all not to be frightened 
 to act. So the good ship sped on towards her 
 destination with undiminished speed, nay, with 
 accelerated speed, for Norie, having made careful 
 calculations of strains, had come to the conclu- 
 sion that he might safely " crack on " as he had 
 been wont to do in one of his friend's yachts during 
 his studentship. Thenceforward to Cape Otway 
 an average speed of 320 miles a day was main- 
 tained, and when, to the almost delirious delight 
 of everybody, the pilot came aboard at Queens- 
 cliff, the Arion, in spite of all her troubles, had 
 made a passage of eighty-eight days from Liver- 
 pool the best of the year for sailing-ships. 
 
 She anchored off Williamstown, and the doctor 
 went ashore to report, creating a scene on his 
 departure that almost bowled him over, as he 
 said. When he returned with another doctor 
 to give an opinion upon poor Thurston's condition, 
 he was somewhat annoyed to find that the re- 
 porters had been off and obtained material from 
 the boys for a flamboyant yarn, but his vexa- 
 
238 SEA FOAM 
 
 tion passed like a breath when he found that 
 Thurston had taken a turn, and was rapidly on 
 the mend. Now comes the incredible part of 
 my story. A cablegram from the owners was 
 received the next day, censuring the doctor and 
 the sick officer for not putting into the Azores 
 and awaiting instructions, informing the former 
 that according to his agreement, there being no 
 passengers, his engagement had terminated, and 
 desiring the agents to pay him off. 
 
 He received this extraordinary news with a 
 hearty laugh, and then, according to promise, 
 went to the hotel, where his late patients, all 
 wonderfully improved with their passage, were 
 awaiting his company to a farewell dinner. He 
 was met in the lobby by Miss Everett, to whom he 
 told his strange news. " What will you do now, 
 doctor ? " said she. " Look around for another 
 job as quickly as possible," he replied with a 
 small shrug and thrusting his hands a little deeper 
 into his badly furnished pockets. With a tremor 
 in her voice she said : " There's a job you might feel 
 inclined to take, doctor, and one that would 
 pay you better than the last." " What's that ? " 
 he asked with eagerness. " Marry me," she 
 whispered. " Oh ! " he replied, with a high 
 colour, " I'd have liked that fine if I hadn't been 
 a beggar, but I couldn't ask you to share my empty 
 pocket and my rotten luck." " No," she replied, 
 
THE LUCK OF THE DOCTOR 239 
 
 with a bright smile, "you won't either. I 
 asked you because I knew that there's a thousand 
 pounds waiting for you in the next room that 
 we have put up for you, and I can bring you a 
 dot of another thousand." " It's a bargain," 
 he cried, seizing both her hands and appropriating 
 his first kiss. And they went in to dinner. 
 
 But it was not until after the wedding that he 
 discovered that she had a thousand a year of her 
 own, and, better still, decided that his luck had 
 finally turned. 
 
XXII 
 
 Poetry of the Sea 
 
 IN precisely the same way, I suppose, as the 
 best journalists i.e. those who give the 
 most vivid impressions of what they have seen 
 to their readers are men who have apparently 
 devoted a wonderfully short space of time to their 
 observations, so it would seem that for the writing 
 of real sea poetry an extended acquaintance with 
 maritime conditions is not merely unnecessary 
 but hampering. I come to this conclusion 
 reluctantly but inevitably, for in common with 
 all reading seafarers I have noticed that we may 
 look in vain for sea poetry from sailors. Sailors 
 have written verse, Falconer's " Shipwreck " to 
 wit, but between that peculiar poem and the 
 marvellous majesty, profound insight, and truly 
 amazing knowledge of deep-sea secrets exhibited in 
 the " Ancient Mariner " how great a gulf is fixed ! 
 " Only those who brave its dangers comprehend 
 its mystery " rings true, and yet it is no less true 
 that Longfellow, very little more of a sailor than 
 Coleridge, has also interpreted the mystery of the 
 
 3 " 16 
 
242 SEA FOAM 
 
 mighty ocean in a manner (most sailors think) 
 only second in true poetic power to that of Cole- 
 ridge. To the well-read sailor and there are far 
 more of him than one would imagine remembering 
 the poverty of his literary output Coleridge 
 always stands easily highest, Longfellow next, 
 and Byron next as the interpreters of the voices 
 of the sea. The Biblical allusions to the sea in 
 the Old Testament (always in terms of poetry, be 
 it remembered, the inspired writers seeming only 
 able to express themselves rhythmically about 
 the sea) stand on a plane of their own. Their 
 truth, their stupendous power is felt, as the voices 
 of the sea are felt, rather than heard ; but it is only 
 seldom that the sailor obtains any enjoyment 
 from them. They are overwhelming. Some- 
 thing of sacrilege seems involved in the attempt 
 to enjoy them as literature, and also, although I 
 have only twice or thrice heard this mooted, 
 there certainly is a feeling that, grand as the 
 passages are, they have lost immeasurably by 
 translation ; that could they but be read, with 
 full comprehension, in the original, their splendour 
 would be beyond all ordinary thought. 
 
 But to return for a moment to the idea in the 
 first paragraph of this article. Is not this clogging 
 of the poetic foot, this hopeless congestion of the 
 mental faculties forbidding their expressing what 
 they feel, rather the rule than the exception 
 
POETRY OF THE SEA 243 
 
 everywhere, and not merely at sea ? Is the 
 spectacle of the man who knows too much and is 
 consequently unable to make profitable use of his 
 knowledge a rare one ? I think not, and yet 
 how sad a sight it is. The faculty of clear expres- 
 sion of thought seems to be one of the rarest, even 
 in prose. Perhaps that is why, as if in despair, 
 certain writers who revel in obscurity, whose 
 meaning or meanings (for there are usually several 
 alternatives) are apparently hidden from even 
 themselves, are elevated to such an exalted plane 
 by critics of eminence. These gentlemen, finding 
 doubtless a mental intellectual exercise of the 
 highest stimulating properties in elucidating the 
 dark sayings of their favourites, proclaim aloud 
 to a wondering world that in these literary mazes 
 are alone to be found the true prophetic and 
 informing messages for mankind. 
 
 And yet all the great masterpieces of prose and 
 poetry are distinguished by clarity of expression, 
 simplicity of diction. That is, if by masterpieces 
 we understand those works that have gone down 
 deepest into the hearts of the greatest multitude 
 of people. Fords that a babe can wade, depths 
 in which a mammoth may disport himself, are 
 these massive works of the giants of literature. 
 In them the sailor luxuriates, pointing their 
 beauties out to his shipmates in quaint language, 
 and bewailing his inability to go and deal like- 
 
244 SEA FOAM 
 
 wise with the glories amidst which he lives and 
 moves and has his being. 
 
 There is one poet, however, over whose claim 
 to the proud title there is much controversy 
 among experts, who does certainly come nearer to 
 satisfying the primitive needs of the sailor in the 
 matter of adequate sea-expression than either of 
 the three first mentioned. And yet he is placed 
 in a class by himself he does not appear to claim 
 precedence to the sailor's mind among other poets. 
 Really, I think that sailors are apt to claim Rud- 
 yard Kipling as one of themselves I know for a 
 fact that any sailor five minutes in his company 
 will find his tongue wagging freely in familiar 
 nautical jargon, and will never dream of stopping 
 to explain. Yet Kipling is no seaman. He has 
 never spent the long, long hours of the night 
 watches on board of a sailing-ship in a stark calm, 
 or, with all sail furled but the barest scrap of can- 
 vas, in the grip of a howling gale, far out of the 
 track of most shipping. And this not for one or 
 two days but for all the best years of a man's life. 
 So that occasionally even he makes mistakes, 
 detected at once by the keen sensitiveness of the 
 sailor, but looked upon most indulgently in his 
 case, because of the general accuracy of his know- 
 ledge and the intense sympathy with his subject 
 manifested in all he does. That savage, brutal 
 energy so apparent in his verse appeals power- 
 
POETRY OF THE SEA 245 
 
 fully to the sailor. It is of the sea, it rings true, 
 as truly as does his much maligned rhyme of the 
 engine-room to the practical, inaudible engineer. 
 
 But some may ask, " What about ballad 
 poetry ? Do not the stirring lyrics of Dibdin, 
 Russell, Alan Cunningham, and Barry Cornwall 
 appeal to the sailor ? Did not the first named 
 touch the sailor's heart in the days when a British 
 Government found it worth their while to sub- 
 sidize him for the way in which his stirring songs 
 brought men into the Navy ? " The best answer 
 to that must be found in the fact that, whether 
 you go into the forecastle of a merchantman or 
 on to the lower deck of a man-of-war when singing 
 is going on, the songs that you will never hear are 
 the old sea songs. Why is this ? Because the 
 sailor, being intensely critical of everything he 
 reads, cannot away with the false fustian, the 
 utterly unseamanlike jargon that these songs 
 contain, and turns for relief to the latest music- 
 hall inanity, which amuses him, at any rate. 
 
 High appreciation of the splendid deeds of a 
 bygone day such as that of Mr. Henry Newbolt's 
 " Admirals All," massive, spirit-stirring, and 
 historically true, can and does appeal to the men 
 in the Navy ; but, after all, these fine poems deal 
 with the warlike doings of men almost exclusively, 
 and only by the subtlest of touches is the wide 
 salt atmosphere of the ancient yet ever youthful 
 
246 SEA FOAM 
 
 sea conveyed. Over the heads of the hardly 
 bestead merchant seamen these poems glide 
 forcelessly. A rugged chanty like the " Ballad 
 of the Bolivar," with all its merciless over- 
 emphasis, its savagery, its Berserker bitterness, 
 finds their hearts' core at once. Beading it or 
 hearing it, they feel the brine scorching their sea- 
 split hands and feet, they hear the hiss of the 
 curling wave-summit as it threatens to over- 
 whelm their ungainly craft, the broken groans of 
 the tortured engines beneath their feet grind upon 
 their soul-strings, and they see reflected in each 
 other's faces the fundamental fact of the immi- 
 nence of death. 
 
 Therefore it is that in considering sea-poetry I 
 would unhesitatingly give the pre-eminent position 
 to such men as can by their primitive, rugged 
 words, full of the elemental power that is char- 
 acteristic of the ocean, strike most directly at the 
 sailor's heart. What does it matter if occasion- 
 ally there be on the sensitive ear of the highly 
 educated critic a jarring note ? May it not be 
 that he whose life is being passed in the careful 
 balancing of measured language, who has all the 
 literary artist's delight in the coruscations of 
 facetted words, may not understand the need 
 there is for direct, primal, forceful expression 
 of so mighty a chorus of voices as those of the 
 immemorial sea ? The sailor feels always, al- 
 
POETRY OF THE SEA 247 
 
 though in almost every case he lacks utterly the 
 ability to interpret his feelings by the spoken word, 
 that the strong wine of his life is apt to lose its 
 headiness, its savour, when presented in a chased 
 and jewelled goblet whose very glitter makes him 
 fear to take it in hand ; feels, too, if I may use 
 a coarse simile, very much like the dog in the 
 manger, because he himself cannot deliver his soul 
 of its depth of experimental knowledge, because, 
 while the innermost chords of his being vibrate 
 fiercely as the song of the sea sweeps against them, 
 he has no power to tune them so that those who 
 are without shall be able to hear and understand ; 
 therefore no mere dilettante landsmen, no petty 
 amateur looking upon the sea from the comfort- 
 able height of the promenade deck, ought to be 
 credited with the ability to interpret those sensa- 
 tions which the sailor has insensibly grown to 
 regard as almost too sacred for expression. 
 
 The time is fully ripe for the advent of the 
 sailor poet and the marine engineer poet. Whether 
 they write in terms of rhyme or no I care not. A 
 virgin field awaits them, a noble inheritance 
 maturing for ages. They can, if they come, 
 utterly refute the false and foolish prattle of the 
 armchair philosophers, and prove triumphantly 
 that, so far from the romance and poetry of the 
 sea being dead, it has hardly yet been given any 
 adequate expression whatever* 
 
XXIII 
 
 Trawl Fishing 
 
 *\\ THEN, with a delightful sense of sheltered 
 comfort, heightened to its last expression 
 by a certain shuddering shrinking of the flesh, 
 we hear the roaring of the storm fiend around our 
 cosy habitations, I wonder how many of us think 
 of those isolated toilers who are busy wresting 
 from the tormented deep the materials for the 
 comfortable meal to which we shall presently 
 rise ? 
 
 Perhaps the most wonderful of all the ways in 
 which our daily fish is dragged from the beneficent 
 sea is " trawling." Time was, and that not so 
 very long ago, when the pursuit of this most dan- 
 gerous calling bred up some of our finest seamen 
 rough diamonds, indeed, but splendid which- 
 ever way you considered them and their labours. 
 
 They sailed in fleets under the leadership of 
 some veteran of ripe experience, and the way in 
 which under his orders the " mosquito " squadron, 
 as sailors term the fishing fleet, was manipulated, 
 was a sight never to be forgotten. It recalled the 
 
 249 
 
250 SEA FOAM 
 
 days of ancient sea warfare, when the fleets were 
 handled by means of sail alone, calling forth the 
 highest qualities of seamanship, as well as the 
 prime virtue of courage. 
 
 But not only had the commodore of the fishing 
 fleet to be a seaman to his finger tips, but he must 
 pre-eminently be a fisherman, since that was his 
 raison d'etre ; such a fisherman, that he could 
 tell by the signs above as well as those beneath 
 where in all that mobile pasture a harvest might 
 be found, where upon those mysterious plateaux 
 their still more mysterious denizens might, in 
 obedience to who knows what wonderful impulses, 
 be gathered together so that the great purse-like 
 net, stretched wide on its beam, might be let 
 down among them and, dragging along the un- 
 even bottom, scoop them into the narrow-necked 
 recess at its end, from which they could emerge 
 nevermore until turned out on deck. 
 
 It hardly needs much explanation, I suppose, 
 to point out how, when the trawls of the fleet 
 were down, and the great hawsers which, bridled 
 to the beams, dragged the nets along the bottom, 
 the handling of the fleet became really a matter 
 calling for great skill in directing, and hardly less 
 ability allied to the promptest obedience in obey- 
 ing. 
 
 Nor does it seem hard to understand how a 
 trawling fleet at its work is so absolutely helpless, 
 
TRAWL FISHING 251 
 
 in case some ignorant or careless merchantman 
 should come blundering along. 
 
 Dangers of storm, of fog, of collision with one 
 another they were always prepared to meet ; but 
 dangers from fools at sea were the worst and the 
 hardest to bear. However, the old sailing traw- 
 ler, not quite extinct even now, did bear them and 
 did manage to live in spite of all his hindrances, 
 and become as fine a man generally as you would 
 care to meet. 
 
 Then came steam and made a tremendous 
 change. It was so much easier to handle your 
 ship under steam, and during calms, when the 
 old sailing craft was 'perforce idle, the steam 
 trawler was able to reap a splendid harvest. 
 
 But still, as of old, with trawls down, unless 
 they were prepared to suffer greater loss than ever, 
 they were at the mercy of any blundering fool 
 who chose to run into them on a dark night, 
 disregarding their multitudinous signals. 
 
 There is really no excuse for any seaman mis- 
 taking a fleet of trawlers. They carry so many 
 lights, and those of a perfectly well understood 
 character, that the sea is quite illuminated, 
 except, of course, during a thick fog, which will 
 always remain the sailor's worst enemy at sea in 
 narrow waters. 
 
 But since men must live, fishing goes on in all 
 weathers, and I well remember how, not long ago, 
 
252 SEA FOAM 
 
 coming down the North Sea in the middle of 
 winter, I watched them at their wonderful work. 
 
 It had been what sailors call with emphasis a 
 " dirty night," no great force of wind, but alternat- 
 ing patches of fog and drizzle, and, besides, it was 
 blisteringly cold. Plunging along through that 
 cheerless dawn we heard suddenly a feeble " toot, 
 toot," and in a minute afterwards, emerging from 
 a fog bank, found ourselves in the midst of a little 
 group of sailing trawlers with nets down. 
 
 They looked so helpless and so lonely upon that 
 grey, tumbling expanse, each vessel straining at 
 her trawl as if in mute protest at the hard fate 
 that held her thus and did not permit her to 
 exercise her powers of defence against the waves. 
 
 And the men, those wistful figures scattered 
 about the decks, wondering, not whether they 
 would presently be run down or swamped by a 
 tempest, but of how, far beneath them, the trawl 
 might be filling. 
 
 A little later we came upon a steam trawling 
 fleet. The sea had risen and was really ugly ; 
 but between the fishing vessels and the steam 
 carrier that snatches up the catch and takes it to 
 the nearest port at home, whence it is swiftly 
 conveyed to the thousands of waiting mouths, 
 there were plying dozens of tiny boats, each laden 
 with boxes of fish. 
 
 And all around the carrier there was a host, 
 
Coming down the North Sea in the middle of winter, I watched them 
 at their wonderful work /. 252. 
 
TRAWL PISHING 253 
 
 every man of them in imminent deadly peril to 
 life and limb, hurling boxes of fish at the steamer, 
 apparently in entire recklessness as to what 
 became of them. 
 
 It was indeed a picture of toil such as I have 
 never seen surpassed, for anon the ship would rise 
 high upon a sea and appear as if about to over- 
 whelm her pigmy attendants, then in a moment 
 she seemed buried in a sea-trough and the waves 
 were about to hurl all the little boats in a broken 
 battered heap upon her deck. 
 
 They were all working so hard, were all in such 
 danger, and all for the comfort of such as I, un- 
 thinking ones. 
 
XXIV 
 
 The Story of a Piece of Whalebone 
 
 FOR CHILDREN 
 
 MISS DOROTHY CLARKE, aged eight, 
 usually known as Dolly, was tired of 
 play. She sat in the nursery looking sad, as if 
 mamma and dada and nurse had left her for 
 always, and so she would never be happy any 
 more. Jack had grown up and gone to school, 
 Baby Phil was too young to be company, and 
 besides, he had gone to by-bye. Mamma and 
 dada had gone out for the evening, and nurse, 
 dear faithful loving nursie, had gone down for 
 her tea, having left Miss Dolly as she thought 
 quite happy with six of her namesakes, a large 
 house for them with lots of beautiful furniture 
 in it, and a kitchen range upon which it was 
 quite easy to make believe you were a great cook 
 serving up the most splendid dinners. But 
 suddenly there came to Dolly a feeling that often 
 comes to grown-up people, a feeling that the 
 things we wanted so badly once, and have now 
 got, have lost the power to amuse us or give us 
 happiness, and what is worse, we cannot think 
 
256X SEA FOAM 
 
 of anything that would do so, if we try ever so 
 hard. So that Dolly just settled herself down 
 to enjoy a fit of the doleful dumps, and her bright 
 eyes (she really x^asn't a bit sleepy) filled with 
 tender tears of pity^r herself. She did not dream 
 of calling for nurseNpr making a fuss, because? 
 being really a sweet |jood-hearted little lady, 
 she felt that nurse oughtHo have just a little 
 time to herself out of the lohg^long day she so 
 cheerfully gave to Dolly and 
 
 And as Dolly sat thus with her poor forgott 
 dollies lying neglected around her, and the bright 
 tear-drops just beginning to run over the edges 
 of her eyes, she suddenly saw, through her tears, a 
 piece of black stuff, like a narrow thin strip of 
 wood, lying at her feet. (Of course, she was sit- 
 ting on the floor.) Without thinking what she 
 was doing she picked it up, and began idly bend- 
 ing it backwards and forwards until, in spite of her 
 intention to be pleasantly miserable for a little 
 while, she became interested to see how it always 
 came back to its shape again and would not break. 
 She had a dim idea that she had seen something 
 like it before, but could not be sure, and so pre- 
 sently (Dolly had a pretty little habit of think- 
 ing aloud) she said, " I wonder whatever it is ? 
 It isn't wood, for it doesn't break ; it isn't cane, for 
 it's black ; oh, it is funny stuff ! " And then a 
 very strange thing happened. The little black 
 
STORY OF A PIECE OF WHALEBONE 257 
 
 strip began to quiver in her fingers, though she 
 was then holding it quite still, and a clear sweet 
 little voice said, " Dear little Miss Dolly, if you 
 like I'll tell you my story." And being a very 
 good and polite child she said, " Thank you very 
 much. I should so like to hear it. I love to 
 hear stories if they are interesting." 
 
 The curious thing that this piece of stuff should 
 talk did not trouble her, because she had always 
 talked to her dollies, knowing well that they were 
 made of wood or wax or leather or rags, and 
 imagined them as understanding her, and talk- 
 ing back most pleasantly for an hour at a time. 
 So she listened very politely to the clear little 
 voice, watching the piece of black bendy stuff 
 with wide open eyes that seemed to see all it was 
 telling her, and losing herself entirely in the 
 wonder of the story. 
 
 " I am a piece of what people call whalebone, 
 but why I am sure I cannot tell, for even you, my 
 dear little lady, who know nothing at all about 
 me, would never have thought of me as a piece of 
 bone. In fact you won't mind me mentioning 
 it, I'm sure I am one of the most wonderful sub- 
 stances grown in any animal and I come from one 
 of the most wonderful animals, and am used in the 
 most wonderful way by that animal. Not that I 
 am at all stuck up about it, but I like to know it 
 myself, and to tell other people about it, who 
 
 17 
 
258 SEA FOAM 
 
 don't know. Now I must begin at the beginning, 
 or else I shall have to go back every now and 
 then just as you have to do when in reading a 
 book you skip, and then presently you think the 
 book is stupid and doesn't tell the story properly, 
 when it's all your own fault. 
 
 " Long, long ago, so long that there were no 
 books written then, all creatures were very dif- 
 ferent to what they are now. And some of them 
 were very curious creatures indeed, although it 
 is certain that they were just properly made by 
 God to lead their lives in the old and different 
 world. In the course of time as the world altered 
 the animals altered so as to keep their places in 
 it, and one of the strangest alterations was that 
 made in himself by the whale. He had been a 
 great land monster like an enormously large 
 hippopotamus or seal, but what he then fed upon 
 I do not know. Whatever it was, he needed 
 teeth to eat it with, and he had them, a great 
 many in both of his great jaws. But when, for 
 some reason or another which it is now impossible 
 to find out, he began to stay longer and longer 
 in the sea until he did not care to come on shore 
 any more, of course he had to find quite other 
 things to eat, and, of course, he had to eat these 
 other things in quite a different way. And be- 
 sides, having taken to the sea, the whales split 
 up into different families, each of which had 
 
STORY OF A PIECE OP WHALEBONE 259 
 
 ways of their own, and lived upon special kinds 
 of sea-food which they liked best, or, what comes 
 to the same thing with animals, which they could 
 get easiest. 
 
 " And now we come to the particular kind of 
 whale to which I belong, and which I think, of 
 course, is the most interesting of them all, the 
 great Greenland whale. His family were rather 
 timid and fearful, although they were so big, and 
 so, being anxious to get out of the way of the 
 other whales, they swam in their slow way far up 
 north, where the ice mountains grow, where for 
 six months it is always night and for six months 
 it is always day. And it is so cold. It is a place 
 of which you might say that it never gets warmer 
 although it often gets colder, because it is really 
 never warm at all, even in the middle of what 
 should be the summer. This did not trouble the 
 whales much, because they all wore big thick 
 overcoats of fat that kept the cold out very well ; 
 but they soon found that the food they wanted 
 very badly was getting scarcer and scarcer. At 
 that time they used to eat anything fishy that 
 came along, if only it swam slowly enough for 
 them to overtake it, or if it was silly enough to 
 swim into their mouths. But gradually the 
 things upon which they lived got fewer and 
 fewer and softer and softer, so that they had no 
 use for their teeth at all. This, you may be 
 
260 SEA FOAM 
 
 sure, troubled them very much, and they had to 
 grow something instead of teeth that should 
 help them to catch this small shy food of theirs, 
 which their teeth could not touch. Let me say 
 in passing, that you are not to suppose that all 
 these changes took place in one whale's lifetime, 
 but came about gradually through the lives of a 
 very great number, each succeeding family doing 
 a little to alter itself so as to be able to keep alive. 
 It all happened in a very natural way, and you 
 may know how in yourself. Let us suppose, only 
 suppose of course, that you are a very unkind 
 little girl, fond of saying and doing cruel things, 
 and giving pain to your friends. You know 
 that it is wrong and that you should not do such 
 things, but you will not try to stop, you rather 
 try to do more of these cruel things. So you 
 get worse and worse until at last you cannot be 
 good and kind if you would, and your whole life 
 is a danger to yourself and everybody else. But 
 if when you feel inclined to do something kind 
 or say something nice, you do all you can to help 
 on that feeling, it will come easier every time to 
 do so ; and in just the same way, if when the bad 
 fit comes on you try all you can to fight against 
 it, it will become harder and harder to do it, until 
 at last you will not want to do it at all. 
 
 " So the great Greenland whale, not using his 
 teeth because he did not want to for one thing 
 
STORY OF A PIECE OF WHALEBONE 261 
 
 and for another, because he really had not much 
 opportunity, gradually found them becoming of 
 no use to him : and side by side with that loss he 
 found that he was getting something else which, 
 for the purpose of catching such food as was plenti- 
 ful where he had come to live, was of the utmost 
 use to him. And this something was what 
 people call whalebone. When the whale-baby 
 is first born he has a row of pretty white teeth 
 growing closely together all round his top gums, 
 but very soon these first teeth drop out, and plates 
 of horny stuff with fringed edges on the inside 
 begin to grow downwards from the roof of his 
 mouth. Indeed, it seems as if the rough ridges 
 on the roof of the mouth that you can feel you 
 have were growing longer, and separating down 
 the middle into two rows, one each side, until they 
 made a sort of a fence of horny plates growing 
 closely side by side and coming each of them down 
 to a point. They grow very fast, for the young 
 whale is only fed by his mother for about three 
 months, and if he is to live at all on what God 
 has now provided for him to eat in those bitterly 
 cold waters, he must have the right sort of tools 
 to catch that food with. So, of course, those 
 funny plates of bendy stuff came farther and 
 farther down as the little whale's mouth got 
 bigger and bigger, until presently he found out 
 that as he swam along through water swarming 
 
262 SEA FOAM 
 
 with tiny little shell-fish he could gather a great 
 many of them into his mouth, and by pushing 
 his tongue up between those two rows of fringed 
 plates he could squeeze the water out and keep 
 the fish behind. You see they made a kind of a 
 sieve. Well, it was a fine discovery, because 
 he had a curious little trap door in his throat 
 that wouldn't let the water down, but that he 
 could open at the right time, and let the fish down 
 that he had sifted out of the sea. And all the 
 time, with the top of his head just out of the 
 water, he could breathe, for the opening of his 
 breath pipe was there ; and as you can go on 
 breathing and eating at the same time, so could 
 he, only easier. Easier because your breathing 
 pipe and swallowing pipe come into one opening 
 at the back of your throat, while his breathing 
 pipe ran along the back of his head down into his 
 lungs and never came near his throat at all. 
 
 " Now I was just a little tiny part of one of 
 those plates, one of the very biggest of them, 
 growing right in the middle of his mouth. And 
 as he grew and grew so we grew with him, until 
 by and by we were so long that we could not 
 have been stood upright in this room. The young 
 whale became fully grown I cannot tell you how 
 old he was, because we do not notice time but 
 he grew until he was as big as fifteen or sixteen 
 great elephants all rolled together in one lump. 
 
STORY OP A PIECE OF WHALEBONE 263 
 
 I know this is hard for you to believe, but it is 
 true. And it did not seem as if ever he was going 
 to stop getting bigger, for he was always catch- 
 ing great mouthfuls of these little shell-fish the 
 water where he lived being quite thick with them. 
 But he did stop growing, as men do when they 
 get to a certain age, and then he began to get fat : 
 so fat that in some places his blubber, which is 
 something like the fat on very fat bacon, was 
 two feet thick ! That was around his shoulders. 
 This he wanted to keep him warm, for you must 
 remember that where he lived the water was as 
 cold in the height of summer as it is with us in 
 the depth of winter, while in the winter all the 
 sea was frozen up several feet in thickness, and 
 he had to stop breathing and eating, and go to 
 sleep beneath the ice until the spring came again, 
 when, of course, his great coat of fat had got 
 quite thin from his long fasting. At least that is 
 what I think ; I do not know how else he could 
 have lived in that frozen ocean all through the 
 winter, when the ice got too thick for him to 
 break it up with his head, and I know he did not 
 go south to get into warmer water. Of course, 
 being such a very small part of this great creature, 
 I do not know all his ways. 
 
 " He was very gentle and kind, only eating 
 those tiny creatures of which I have told you, 
 never fighting as other kinds of whales do, and 
 
264 SEA FOAM 
 
 giving shelter in his great mouth to a lot of lazy 
 fish that would not look for their own food, but 
 just hung on to the quiet places about his palate 
 and tongue, and took a portion of all the food he 
 ate. But he did not trouble. He was quiet and 
 contented, only wanted to live and eat and inter- 
 fere with nobody. You see he had no idea of 
 getting on in the world except to grow as big as 
 he could by eating as much as he could get, and 
 he was not able to think about to-morrow, which 
 you have to do as you grow up. 
 
 " At last one day, when he had grown very fat, 
 so fat that he could only swim very slowly and 
 just lazily open his mouth under the water to let 
 his food roll in, there came a dreadful change. 
 Some men in a ship came into those seas when 
 the ice had nearly all melted away, and they had 
 all sorts of spears and guns with them for the 
 purpose of killing the poor whales. You see they 
 were very poor men, with wives and little children 
 to keep, and the country where they lived was so 
 poor that they could not earn enough there to 
 keep them. So they went out upon the sea, 
 knowing that if they could manage to kill 
 some whales and take the fat off their bodies 
 and the whalebone out of their mouths, this 
 oil and whalebone could be sold for a lot of money. 
 Then it (the money) would be divided 
 among the men, and they would have food and 
 
STORY OF A PIECE OF WHALEBONE 265 
 
 clothes for their darlings. They came then in 
 their ship up among the floating mountains of 
 ice looking for whales, and one lovely morning, 
 when the sun was shining down upon those shining 
 white ice-fields and ice-bergs, and the blue sea in 
 between was looking just like a great mirror, they 
 saw my whale. They let their boats down into 
 the water very quietly, and rowed along gently 
 until they came up to the side of my master, who 
 did not hear them at all. And the first thing he 
 knew about them was the feeling that they had 
 stuck several long spears into his body, which, of 
 course, hurt him very much. He did not know 
 what to do, but felt that if he went down into the 
 deep sea, these men who had hurt him so would 
 not be able to follow him, and so he might escape. 
 He had no thought of fighting them he never 
 had thought of fighting anybody. But when 
 he went down, down into the deep sea, he felt 
 something dragging at his body it was the long 
 rope tied to the barbed spears, the harpoons, 
 which they had stuck into his poor tender skin 
 and which would not draw out again. And 
 so after a very little while he felt as if he 
 must come up again, because the pain was so 
 great, and he thought he could get a little 
 ease if he yielded to the upward pull. Slowly 
 as ever he could he rose to the sea surface, but 
 when he did arrive there the cruel men were 
 
266 SEA FOAM 
 
 waiting for him with long, slender, and very sharp 
 lances. These they thrust into his body, trying 
 to find out where they could hurt him the most. 
 Presently they touched his heart, his big heavily 
 beating heart, and as soon as they did the sharp 
 burning pain told him that he could not hope to 
 live any longer he must just die and become a 
 prey to those hungry men. So after a little while, 
 since his blood was pouring out upon the blue sea 
 in a hundred streams, he died as quietly as he 
 had lived and the men who had killed him pulled 
 him alongside of their ship. 
 
 " As soon as they had done so they began, 
 with sharp spades and big knives, to cut off his 
 great covering of fat, which they pulled on 
 board, cut in small pieces, and put away in iron 
 tanks, to be boiled down presently when they 
 got back. But the chief thing they wanted was 
 the great upper jaw, containing what they called 
 the whalebone, that being worth far more than 
 all the rest of his poor body, which now laid so 
 limp upon the waves. So they worked furiously 
 to cut off his very big head, and presently, with a 
 terrible amount of hard work, they had the upper 
 jaw cut away from the rest of the body, and with 
 its great fringe of whalebone it was lifted on 
 board. The long blades of precious bone were 
 shorn away from the white tough gum in which 
 they were stuck, the heaps of valueless matter 
 
STORY OF A PIECE OF WHALEBONE 267 
 
 was flung overboard, and then, very carefully, the 
 whalebone was scraped clean and put away. But 
 every fine day after that until the ship got home 
 that is, when no other work was pressing the 
 great heap of whalebone blades must needs be 
 brought out and dried in the sun, wiped, scraped, 
 and trimmed, so that they should be fit for the 
 buyers of the stuff, who were very quick to notice 
 any spot of mildew or decay. 
 
 " At last the ship reached port and all the 
 cargo was taken to the warehouses, the whalebone 
 being especially cared for as being the spoil upon 
 which the owners depended for their profit on the 
 voyage. Now I felt that this was a curious change 
 indeed. I had seen many wonderful changes 
 since first I grew in the whale's mouth, but now 
 in this dark, evil smelling place, with the most 
 perfect quiet all around, I felt that I had come to 
 the end of all things. How long my companions 
 and I lay there I do not know, not being able to 
 take any account of time ; but at last the great 
 doors were opened, the bright day streamed in, 
 and men came in great haste with much noise 
 and dragged us all away. It was very bewildering 
 after our long, long quiet, but the change was not 
 unpleasant ; especially when we were carried 
 into a large building where there were many 
 noisy machines, and a roaring of machinery 
 louder than I had ever heard during a storm at 
 
268 SEA FOAM 
 
 sea. I felt myself torn from my hold upon my 
 fellow fibres, sharp knives smoothed down my 
 edges and left me presently what you see me now. 
 Eleven other pieces like myself were laid side by 
 side in a neat bundle and fastened together for 
 sale. 
 
 " I cannot tell you where we went for we were 
 wrapped in paper, but when again the light broke 
 upon us I saw a long room filled with busy work- 
 girls, who were surrounded by heaps of beautiful 
 stuff for making dresses. One of them took hold 
 of me, and with a quick clever movement of her 
 fingers ran me down into a pretty little silken 
 case in the side of the bodice of your mother's 
 lovely frock, the one she wore when she went to 
 see the Queen. I felt so cosy and comfortable, 
 although I was sorry to be shut in the dark again. 
 Also I could not help wondering at the great change 
 in my experience, from the roaring ice-fields of 
 the frozen northern seas, and the wonderful deep 
 dark places of the sea, to nestling against your 
 mother's gentle side, helping to make her pretty 
 dress fit her more perfectly. 
 
 " I do not know how many times your mother 
 took me out with her, but I know that there 
 came a time when I was again quite quiet, hung 
 up in my snug little house in some corner where 
 no sound ever came. Until a little while ago I 
 felt myself taken out with my companions and 
 
STORY OF A PIECE OF WHALEBONE 269 
 
 brought into the light once more. Something 
 bright and sharp ran down the little cosy pouch 
 in which I had lain so warmly, and let me out 
 into the light again. And this morning, as nurse 
 was carrying a handful of us into her room, she 
 stopped here to do something for you, she dropped 
 me, and so here I am." 
 
 "What will you do now, you clever little 
 thing ? " said Dolly wonderingly. 
 
 " If you like I'll stay with you. But it will 
 not be for very long. I feel sure that I have 
 many more adventures before me yet, because 
 you see I do not get worn out or broken, and I 
 may see many strange things yet before I am 
 burnt." 
 
 Just then nurse came in to see how her little 
 charge had been getting on all alone, and was 
 delighted to hear how well Dolly had been enter- 
 tained by the story of the little piece of whale- 
 bone. 
 
XXV 
 
 The Mystery of Selfishness 
 
 A PARABLE FROM NATURE 
 
 IT was a lovely place in which to be born. If 
 one could have chosen his birthplace, bear- 
 ing in mind all that he would like to find around 
 him for beauty and comfort and health, there 
 could not have been a more perfect answer to his 
 wishes than this, always remembering the neces- 
 sity of a particular environment for a particular 
 species of creature. It was in the sea, the warm 
 quiet tropical waters of the North Atlantic in 
 twenty-six degrees north latitude and thirty 
 degrees west longitude, just on the western edge 
 of the great ocean river, the bend of the Gulf 
 stream where it runs south to join the Equatorial 
 Current. There, where the sea is warm as new 
 milk, and waves never run high because the 
 faithful Trade winds are gentle as they are 
 steady, are far-reaching fields of fairy-like 
 sea-vegetation, all of one colour it is true (a 
 pale golden tint), but in frond and fruit most 
 beautiful. In the quiet groves and thickets 
 
272 SEA FOAM 
 
 of this wonderful sea-field there are a myriad 
 forms of curious life, for it is the first home 
 of an amazing multitude of the sea-folk, and 
 it affords a protection to them in their first 
 youth which is of pre-eminent importance, since 
 the larger fish cannot ravin there unhindered by 
 reason of the density of the sea-foliage. 
 
 In one tiny corner of that immense area of 
 fucus there hung, delicately attached to a branch 
 by some wonderful mucilage unaffected by water, 
 a little purse apparently of dove-coloured kid. 
 It was gently swayed to and fro by the almost 
 imperceptible motion of the sea, as it had been for 
 many days. One morning, as if in obedience to 
 a silent command, it came open from top to 
 bottom, but so easily, so free from all apparent 
 presence of compelling impulse that it might al- 
 most be said to melt apart. And from it there 
 emerged a little company of fourteen baby fish, 
 huddling together as if this great new world into 
 which they had just entered was so terrifying to 
 them that they must needs cling to one another 
 for protection, for company, since other pro- 
 tection there was none. They were quaint little 
 creatures. Each of them was about half an inch 
 long with a curious flat head, upon which a very 
 keen-eyed observer might have detected some 
 strangely regular diagonal lines, perfectly smooth, 
 scaleless bodies, with little slits at the side of the 
 
THE MYSTERY OF SELFISHNESS 273 
 
 head where most fishes show the opening of the 
 gills, mouths that seemed to split their heads in half 
 lengthways, and eyes like tiny black beads. Each 
 of them carried attached to him by a strong cord 
 a little bag of provisions accurately calculated to 
 last three days, food that was perfect in its pro- 
 perties, and required no effort either to eat it or 
 digest it it was just taken in unconsciously as 
 breathing. By the time it was all expended the 
 fish would have learned how to obtain its food in 
 the manner it ought to follow during life. I say 
 " ought to follow " for a definite reason, which will 
 presently appear. 
 
 The life of the new animals was for the first 
 three days by no means full of joy. Hampered 
 by the burden of the food-sac, and full of inherited 
 apprehensions of danger lurking on every hand, 
 the small band clung timorously together in the 
 deepest recesses of a huge bunch of weed, hardly 
 daring to move, yet conscious of increasing power. 
 Their new world was so vast, so mysterious in 
 its countless shadows, and the stealthy comings 
 and goings of its innumerable inhabitants, that 
 but for the inherent desire of continuing to live 
 so firmly planted in the breasts of all young 
 creatures, they would doubtless have given up the 
 struggle. Side by side with that fierce need of 
 life they felt its complement : an intense craving 
 to feed upon others weaker than themselves ; and 
 
 18 
 
274 SEA FOAM 
 
 as the full hours glided past and they knew that 
 the supply of food they had been born with would 
 soon be gone, this craving grew until it must needs 
 be satisfied. Strangely enough, none of them 
 seemed to notice the grim fact that their num- 
 bers were dwindling. In some stealthy fashion 
 one after another of them disappeared ; they were 
 not. Like the air-bubbles ascending, silvery 
 globules of light exhaled from the gills of hidden 
 swimmers and suddenly becoming invisible, so 
 these new animals ceased to be, their destiny ful- 
 filled. 
 
 Presently of the original fourteen there remained 
 but one, a sturdy little fish, whose instincts were 
 all well developed and who, even before the last 
 vestige of his first food supply had disappeared, 
 had stealthily swallowed some smaller wayfarers 
 that had incautiously sauntered near, finding 
 them both in flavour and filling properties emin- 
 ently satisfactory. He felt less lonely too than 
 at first, which may seem strange since all his 
 brothers and sisters had vanished. But really, 
 after the first trembling emergence from their 
 cosy envelope, the society of each other had speed- 
 ily ceased to interest any of them. One object 
 in life, one overmastering desire had full posses- 
 sion of the single survivor to satisfy the crav- 
 ings of hunger. Subordinate to this, and only 
 dimly present to his consciousness, was the neces- 
 
THE MYSTERY OF SELFISHNESS 275 
 
 sity of avoiding the fate he so ardently wished to 
 inflict upon others . These two incentives to energy 
 compelled an innate tendency he felt to be slothful 
 to lie dormant for awhile, and indeed no ob- 
 server of his manners, however keen, could have 
 said truthfully that the little fish had the slightest 
 inclination to be lazy. Indeed his energy was to 
 a human eye phenomenal. Even when lying hid- 
 den under a leaf watching the approach of a possi- 
 ble victim, he had perforce to lie motionless, his 
 whole system vibrated with potential energy, 
 every nerve was tense until suddenly, like the 
 passing of a thought, he had gone and returned, 
 his prey yet quivering within him. 
 
 So amid escapes unaccountable, touching the 
 teeth of death almost as often as he himself seized 
 the smaller fry upon which his frame daily grew 
 in strength and agility, he passed many joyous 
 days. Joyous that is as far as his limited appre- 
 ciation went. For him there were no ethical 
 considerations of right and wrong, no sense of 
 compunction for the suffering of others, no re- 
 proofs or punishments. All his sensations were 
 self-centred, all his desires narrowed down to 
 just the enjoyment of life and the avoidance of 
 death. Moreover, he had no prevision. For 
 him there was no future as also there was no past. 
 And so in his degree he was almost perfectly 
 happy. Almost, why not quite ? Well and 
 
276 SEA FOAM 
 
 herein arises a curious factor in the lives of his 
 kind, distinguishing them from all the other sea 
 people as he grew older the need for such a con- 
 tinual exhibition of energy became distasteful, 
 irksome to him. Now this anomaly in healthy 
 vigorous life, though common enough, alas ! 
 among the highest of all animals, is strange and 
 abnormal in the extreme among the lower animals 
 and especially fish. They seem to find their chief 
 delight in the exercise of their amazing powers of 
 locomotion, the sheer joy of living appears to 
 urge them on to the most extraordinary mani- 
 festations of energy. And even among those whose 
 organic development precludes the possibility of 
 swift movement, there will almost always be 
 found some other manifestation of energy suit- 
 able to their physical powers ; they cannot be 
 called lazy. 
 
 But the subject of our story was one of a class 
 that is an exception to the almost universal rule. 
 Throughout many generations his ancestors, 
 encouraging this slothful distaste for exertion 
 instead of combating it, had actually developed 
 it into a science with fitting appliances for the 
 purpose of carrying it to its perfect conclusion. 
 The ability not merely to live upon others, but 
 to do so without the expenditure of any physical 
 force in so doing, was their object, and in its pur- 
 suit they used all the higher powers of their 
 
THE MYSTERY OF SELFISHNESS 277 
 
 nature until they attained an ability of indolence 
 that in a lower animal than man was marvellous. 
 The principal mechanical results of this striving 
 after an easy life is seen in every member of the 
 family, rudimentary in the fry, but becoming 
 perfected within the first three months. It is an 
 oval plate on the top of the flat head, having a 
 series of angular grooves springing diagonal from 
 each longer side of its border, and meeting in the 
 middle like a succession of Vs. The whole appli- 
 ance becomes in the living creature a pneumatic 
 attachment of the most perfect, as well as of the 
 simplest kind. Touching any surface large 
 enough to cover it, the contact becomes an adher- 
 ence of the firmest character, so that the creature 
 may be carried along through the water at the 
 highest speed possible, yet be not in the slightest 
 degree inconvenienced, much less detached. 
 This I have tested personally, by using all 
 my strength to try and drag one of these fish 
 from its hold by its tail, exciting a far greater 
 strain upon the suction apparatus than any pas- 
 sage through the water by its host could do. Of 
 course a slight forward push is sufficient to dis- 
 place the fish, but in ordinary life that would 
 never be given. 
 
 In consequence therefore of this inherited dis- 
 position towards indolence and a growing desire 
 to make others provide for his needs, our young 
 
278 SEA FOAM 
 
 fish gradually became less and less energetic in 
 the pursuit of prey, and tested his holding-on 
 appliance more and more frequently as he found 
 substances that gave him a fair surface whereon 
 to stick. But this he found very unsatisfying, 
 because the creatures upon which he must needs 
 feed had an awkward habit of noticing the grey- 
 ish streak of his body lying along a piece of drift- 
 wood or a great weed-stem, and avoiding it most 
 carefully, thus making it necessary for him to 
 detach himself far too frequently for his liking 
 in order to go in chase of the food that refused to 
 come to him. But still he persevered for a con- 
 siderable time, growing less and less inclined to 
 exert himself except under the stress of absolute 
 need, until one day he attached himself uninten- 
 tionally to a moving body. He did not realize 
 at the time that his involuntary host was one of 
 the same huge family of which he was a distant 
 and decidedly degenerate relation, nor had he 
 known would the fact have seemed to him of any 
 importance. Now, however, he found himself 
 carried far away from the pleasant nooks of his 
 birthplace out into the wide vastnesses of unen- 
 cumbered ocean ; found too, a great pleasure in the 
 swift motion without any exertion on his part, 
 since the act of holding on was performed 
 automatically and involved no expenditure of 
 energy at all. 
 
THE MYSTEEY OF SELFISHNESS 279 
 
 In this pleasantly easy manner he was borne 
 swiftly through thousands of miles of sea, be- 
 coming each day more and more contented with 
 his lot in life, and still less desirous of ever doing 
 anything for himself at all, as he could count with 
 such apparent certainty upon all he needed being 
 done for him or brought to him. Only occasion- 
 ally, and this he thought a great hardship, he got 
 scraped off against some piece of wreckage or 
 outlying edge of rock. This made it necessary 
 for him to put out all the energy of which he was 
 capable in order to regain his position, and was 
 indeed a great and, as he felt, an unmerited hard- 
 ship. That his sudden dislodgment was due to 
 the almost frantic efforts of his host to assuage 
 the intolerable irritation caused by his long 
 adhesion he neither knew nor cared, its conse- 
 quences to him were his sole concern. Even then 
 there were considerable compensations. Being 
 attached to an omnivorous creature of great 
 energy and an enormous appetite he was contin- 
 ually being taken into the midst of abundant 
 food. And as he was in nowise dainty or dis- 
 criminating, this bountiful provision even of offal 
 suited him exceedingly well. So he grew and 
 thrived, and became less and less capable of pro- 
 viding for himself every day. Under his present 
 comfortable circumstances he still found it neces- 
 sary to use some slight efforts, not to obtain food, 
 
280 SEA FOAM 
 
 but to reach it as it passed by him, making it 
 often necessary for him to detach himself 
 momentarily from his host, which same exer- 
 cise daily grew more and more distasteful, 
 harder and harder to perform. Then suddenly 
 there came into his life a catastrophe, the magni- 
 tude of which to him it is hard for us to estimate 
 his host was captured and hoisted on board of 
 a ship. He only just managed to detach himself 
 in time to avoid capture also. And as it had now 
 become impossible for him to lead an indepen- 
 dent life for any length of time he was obliged to 
 make the vessel his host, which previous expe- 
 rience reminded him was not likely to result in 
 such abundant provision for his wants as the 
 hospitality of a living creature would be. It is 
 true that at first he obtained an enormous amount 
 of tasty food, due to the cutting up of the body of 
 his late host, but to get that he had to use con- 
 siderable exertion. And after that first great 
 feast was over he found supplies sadly wanting. 
 Many an excursion he made after some fancied 
 luxury, only to find it, literally, dust arid ashes in 
 his mouth. Yet he had no initiative, his instinct 
 did not supply him with the needed directions how 
 to find another and more suitable if unwilling 
 patron, and more than that, the food he ate so 
 greedily bred in him a desire to utilize the strength 
 it gave him for helping himself. And an accident 
 
THE MYSTERY OF SELFISHNESS 281 
 
 helped him that grieved him sorely, making him 
 feel that something was entirely wrong with the 
 scheme of Creation as far as he was concerned. 
 He was more than ordinarily hungry, and the 
 vessel being becalmed was making a languid cir- 
 cuit of her, looking eagerly in every direction for 
 sight of something eatable. Suddenly he saw 
 something gleaming in the still water near. It 
 was white and had a slender thread attached to 
 it, which meant nothing to him. He swam up to 
 it, took it in his mouth, and thought he had never 
 tasted anything so nice as salt pork in all his life, 
 when to his horror and disgust he felt a sharp 
 pain shoot through his head felt too that he 
 was being drawn upwards in a totally different 
 way to his usual experiences as a passenger. A 
 sudden impulse made him swerve in towards the 
 vessel and with a great effort fasten himself to her 
 bottom. There was a wrench, a dreadful pang, 
 and the strain ceased. He felt safe although the 
 pain was still intense. The hook with which he 
 had -been caught had torn out, and as an added 
 injury the piece of pork had also gone. More- 
 over, this, his first experience of the machinations 
 of mankind, bred in him such a profound distrust 
 of anything that might conceal a deadly lure that 
 he hardly dared look at food as long as the ache 
 in his jaw gave him painful recollections of how 
 he had been deceived. But for the dread of hav- 
 
282 SEA FOAM 
 
 ing to provide for himself, of putting forth that 
 energy he had so long devoted himself to conserv- 
 ing, he would have left the ship at once. 
 
 As, however, in the lives of all creatures there 
 come predisposing causes outside of their wishes 
 and efforts, it came about that very shortly after 
 his painful experience, and while yet the state of 
 his mouth made him timid, a huge black shadow 
 ranged up beneath the ship, and, materializing 
 near him, gave him such a fright that he released 
 himself from his hold on the copper and passed 
 gently into warmth and darkness, for he had 
 entered all unconsciously the mouth of a basking 
 shark, the largest of all the great shark family, 
 and but that he did not, could not know also 
 the most harmless to all living creatures beyond 
 the scale of the smallest and softest : a great 
 sluggish fish, whose mouth was only furnished 
 with the tiniest, most ineffective of teeth, and 
 even they were covered with a veil of thinnest 
 skin, almost a membrane, as if to prevent them 
 doing any harm whatever to other creatures, and 
 to compel their owner to live upon the lowest 
 organisms in the sea which might be eaten with- 
 out biting or any attempt at mastication, which 
 latter process indeed is one that all fish eschew. 
 
 The natural instinct of the frightened intruder 
 impelled him to fasten on to the first available 
 surface, which happened to be the roof of the great 
 
THE MYSTERY OF SELFISHNESS 283 
 
 shark's mouth. I will not say what the latter 
 thought about this sudden intrusion, and the un- 
 pleasant sensation of having something suddenly 
 stuck on to the roof of his mouth, because I do 
 not know. But it is quite immaterial, as he could 
 not do anything to eject his undesired guest, 
 since fish, as is generally known, have almost im- 
 movable tongues and cannot wipe anything off the 
 upper parts of their mouth. The lodger, on the 
 other hand, after the first terror had passed away, 
 finding that nothing was happening, and getting 
 accustomed to the warm dark, ventured in timid 
 fashion to rearrange himself, feeling doubtless, in 
 obedience to his inherited predilections, that in 
 any circumstances it was always well to make 
 himself as comfortable as possible as the condi- 
 tions of his environment would permit. His 
 languid efforts in this laudable direction were 
 entirely satisfactory to himself ; for having 
 secured himself with his head pointing towards 
 his host's mouth and his tail streaming back- 
 ward towards the great throat, he found that a 
 little light came in, the inflow of fresh, that is 
 clean, sea-water impinged upon him in exactly 
 the right place, and in short that he was fairly, and 
 likely to be very, comfortable. 
 
 Moreover, and this was his prime discovery, 
 he presently found that the small molluscs that 
 came almost constantly streaming in to the great 
 
284 SEA FOAM 
 
 opening before him had a most satisfactory way 
 of whirling about within the cavity of the huge 
 mouth, and an almost sufficient number of them 
 found a half-way house, as it were, a point of 
 interception, which was his mouth. And as all 
 food was acceptable to him, it may readily be 
 understood how extremely so were these savoury 
 little morsels which all fish love so much. This 
 arrangement impressed him as being nearly per- 
 fect, since now he would no longer need to make 
 even the slight effort of detaching himself for a 
 minute or so from his base, but found all his wants 
 supplied without any necessity for prevision or 
 exertion on his part. But, it may well be asked, 
 what about his host, who had not been consulted, 
 who might reasonably be supposed to endure 
 much annoyance and discomfort, if not positive 
 pain, from the presence in so sensitive a spot of 
 such a large parasite, who, while not doing active 
 harm to the tissues to which he had fastened him- 
 self, was certainly not doing any good ? The cling- 
 ing of outside parasites to the skin of the larger 
 fish is obviously a terrible nuisance to them, causing 
 them to excoriate their skin against the needle-like 
 points of the coral, in the hope of dislodging their 
 unpleasant hangers-on. This, it is supposed, and 
 with great reason, is why the whales exhibit such 
 tremendous power in their upward leapings out 
 of the sea at times, when they are entirely un- 
 
THE MYSTERY OF SELFISHNESS 285 
 
 molested by man or chased by other enemies . We 
 may fairly assume that the irritation becomes 
 almost intolerable, maddening ; so that what it 
 must be inside the mouth is most difficult to rea- 
 lize. 
 
 Our slothful subject, however, was concerned 
 for none of these things. The goal of his desire 
 was reached at last, and, supremely content, he 
 lay and ate and waxed fat, nor ever dreamed 
 that he was becoming ever more unfit to make a 
 supreme effort which might at any moment be- 
 come necessary in order to save his worthless life. 
 And as the unheeded time slipped away, and he 
 grew bulkier, more lethargic, more indifferent to 
 all things save the steady supply of food, he grew 
 more amiable. He did not even resent the 
 intrusion of two others of his species, who also 
 found their way in to his home and anchored 
 themselves near him, bent upon enjoying a like 
 immunity from looking after their own food and 
 safety. Although the three, each wrapped in 
 himself, took no heed of one another, they yet 
 preserved the peace ; there was no enmity if 
 there was no friendliness. 
 
 Then suddenly there came a catastrophe. The 
 huge shark in whose mouth the easeful ones 
 dwelt so serenely was seized with a strange lassi- 
 tude, a failure to meet the necessities of his exis- 
 tence. Languidly he swam, obeying some un- 
 
286 SEA FOAM 
 
 known impulse, toward the shore. Keeping near 
 the surface he was buffeted by the waves, until 
 at last, getting among the breakers surrounding 
 a reef -fringed islet, he was flung heavily against the 
 jagged rock points and died. The unheeding seas 
 beat against the great limp body until they had 
 driven it on shore, where it lay limply, only just 
 stirred occasionally by the ripple of the waves, 
 until, the tide falling, it was left to fester in 
 the blazing sun. And the busy crabs came 
 and feasted enormously, taking all that came in 
 their way, and especially appreciating the choice 
 morsels provided by the bodies of the lodgers, 
 who had shared the fate of their host as fully as 
 they had enjoyed his involuntary hospitality. 
 
XXVI 
 
 The Fate of the Inventor 
 
 A LITTLE group of stalwart Maories lay upon 
 ^""V. the beach in one of the outlying coves of 
 the Bay of Islands, resting after their terrible toil 
 of towing a sperm whale ashore. Two days had 
 elapsed since the lookout man of their little bay 
 whaling station had reported the visit of a couple 
 of those valuable cetaceans within the area of the 
 firm's operations, and the fine descendants of 
 ancient warriors lying idly in their well-equipped 
 whaleboat floating off the base of the cliff upon 
 whose summit the lookout man was perched, had 
 eagerly responded to his signal, and made the 
 buoyant craft fly seaward in chase. It had been 
 a bad season for them, not that whales had been 
 scarce, but luck had been against them, weather 
 had been bad, and in spite of their entirely heroic 
 efforts to capture a whale, it was now nearly 
 three months since their last haul. And since 
 they were quite dependent upon the proceeds of 
 their whaling for all the necessities of life except 
 fish, they were feeling the pinch of poverty. Yet 
 
288 SEA FOAM 
 
 none of them complained, or thought of forsaking 
 the toilful business in which they had spent most 
 of their lives. Often they thought regretfully 
 of the days when their beautiful harbour was 
 the rendezvous of scores of whale ships, and 
 money might be easily made, or positions of trust 
 and honour accepted, as harpooners and boat- 
 headers, in ships whose masters knew the value 
 of these splendid hunters of the monarch of the 
 seas. Now months would elapse before a 
 solitary whale ship would come lounging in, and 
 such straggling survivals of the hearty money- 
 making days of sperm whaling brought no cash 
 to their pockets. 
 
 So they had been fain to establish a little joint- 
 stock concern of their own, and wrench from the 
 sea by the severest toil in the old-fashioned way 
 a precarious existence for themselves and their 
 large families. But they had the patient endur- 
 ance of savages persisting, although they were 
 quite civilized, and well educated even, according 
 to the European standard for working-men. 
 But this last capture had been so hardly purchased 
 that it appeared almost sufficient to deter them 
 from continuing so exacting an occupation. 
 When the whale was sighted it was blowing half 
 a gale right on shore, and they had pulled dead in 
 the teeth of that stern blast for over six miles 
 before they had succeeded in reaching the uncon- 
 
THE FATE OF THE INVENTOR 289 
 
 scious mammal and hurling two harpoons into 
 his black wrinkled side. Then he had fought 
 most doughtily with jaws and flukes, adopting 
 every method of attack and defence, acquired 
 by him in several conflicts forced upon him during 
 his long life by whalemen who longed for the 
 profit he carried about on his vast body. And 
 had he not felt the weight of his years, with 
 possibly some added disability on account of 
 old wounds, it is very doubtful whether all the 
 patience, skill, and courage of his aggressors would 
 have been sufficient to master him. In fact, 
 they themselves had almost began to despair of 
 victory when suddenly, while still the sinewy 
 boat-header, Ropata, had some vigour left, the 
 whale had rolled upon the surface away from the 
 boat and exposed the broad rotundity of his 
 belly : only for a couple of seconds, but long 
 enough for Ropata to hurl the slender five foot 
 lance with so true an aim that it sank up to the 
 hitches of the shaft through the soft blubber and 
 into the centre of that mighty heart. Then it 
 only remained to keep out of the way for a few 
 minutes while the blind, deaf, and dying monster 
 churned the sea into bloody foam in his last mon- 
 strous protest against the coming of death. 
 With their skill in boat handling and the perfect 
 discipline among them making them act as if 
 one mind informed them all, the doughty five 
 
 Ifl 
 
290 SEA FOAM 
 
 found their task of keeping clear an easy one 
 (for them), and presently out of the tremendous 
 turmoil peace emerged, a silence that seemed 
 oppressive, as the vast carcase lay on its side, 
 rocked gently by the swell and keeping off the 
 near approach of the waves by the exuding oil 
 from its many wounds. A short smoke was all 
 they could allow themselves, although their 
 flaccid muscles bore eloquent testimony to the 
 strain of the past few hours, for they noted, with 
 the most extreme dissatisfaction, that the direction 
 of the wind had altered. It was now blowing 
 nearly dead off shore, but fortunately the force 
 of the wind was taking off. All the available 
 provision consisted of a couple of ship biscuits per 
 man and about a gallon of water, so that they could 
 not look for much replenishment of exhausted 
 tissue, and therefore it was with a sense of asking 
 for all, and perhaps a little more, than willing 
 flesh and blood were able to give that K/opata 
 cried to his harpooner, "Heke, haul up, boy, 
 there is no time to spare. Huru, Kawiti, Tuki, 
 Rautara, let us be doing. The sooner we get his 
 majesty under way the better." 
 
 All obeyed simultaneously and silently, for all 
 knew the need, and had an equal interest in 
 success. They hauled the boat alongside the 
 mighty spread of the whale's tail, and with much 
 labour hewed off the wide spreading fans thereof, 
 
Having drawn their great prize up to the wharf, they regaled them- 
 selves with a meal and a long rest -/. 291. 
 
THE PATE OF THE INVENTOR 291 
 
 so that they might take no hold of the water and 
 hinder progress. Then boring a hole through the 
 thick fibres of the remainder of the tail fin, they 
 made fast their tow line, and with a drift of 
 about forty feet started upon their immense 
 labour. It is not necessary to dwell upon the 
 forty hours of that task, the steady bone- 
 wrenching strain until the whole body felt all 
 pain, the oar a huge mass of timber, to move 
 which was beyond all human power, the whale a 
 vast demon stubbornly resisting all efforts at 
 overcoming his resistance. Their eyes burned 
 like coals of fire, their lips cracked and bled, their 
 hands seemed to be swollen larger than their 
 thighs ; but one thing never occurred to them, that 
 they should give in. 
 
 So finally they drew their great prize up to the 
 rough little wharf they used for cutting in the 
 blubber, and, having secured him, were regaling 
 themselves with a long rest after a meal, prelimin- 
 ary to another period of fierce toil in stripping 
 the blubber from the huge and now foul-smelling 
 body. It was while thus refreshing themselves 
 that Ropata, with sententious deliberation, un- 
 folded to them the beginning of a plan that had 
 formed in his mind during the many weary hours 
 of the tow. I am not going to translate his speech 
 into dialect, but give it as nearly as possible in the 
 equivalent English words : 
 
292 SEA FOAM 
 
 " Brothers, this last job of ours has set me think- 
 ing more than ever before of the tremendous labour 
 we must needs perform before we can secure the 
 spoil we have won so hardly. The chase and cap- 
 ture of a whale is no child's play, it is work the 
 performance of which calls for the utmost strength 
 of men, yet in the joy of doing it we forget the 
 strain upon our bodies, and as for the danger, it is 
 to us the chief charm of the work. And if we 
 could but employ a small steamship to tow in our 
 prize when we have slain him all would be well, 
 for we should be able to rest while the towing 
 was being done for us, and be fresh and ready for 
 the flenching when we had reached the shore. Also, 
 if we could count upon the whales coming nearer 
 in shore, we should not feel the strain so much, for 
 a mile or even two of towing with ordinary fair 
 weather would be comparatively easy for us . But 
 a steamboat is far beyond our means, and, as you 
 know too well, the whales seem far too shy of this 
 corner of ours ever to come within that short 
 distance of our station. 
 
 66 Now you know the point about twenty miles 
 south, where there is a mighty mass of rocks 
 lying in the sea a short stone throw from the 
 shore, and between it and the point there is a 
 fairly deep channel, sheltered from heavy seas. 
 Well, I have this day remembered that not only 
 have I heard my father speak of the whales choos- 
 
THE FATE OF THE INVENTOR 293 
 
 ing on their way south to go through that channel, 
 but twice have I seen a school of from ten to twenty 
 do so." 
 
 " But," said Heke, " thou knowest, Ropata, 
 that so fiercely runs the tide southwards round 
 that point that even though that should be the 
 regular way of the whales, we could never get them 
 north of our station when dead. And more- 
 over, before we had killed one we should be down 
 to Waangarura, or may be even as far as the Poor 
 Knights, and what should we do then but lose all 
 our labour, and perchance our boat as well." 
 
 " Full well I know the truth of what you say," 
 answered Ropata, " and yet wait till I have un- 
 folded all my plans before you condemn it. Let 
 us, when we have finished our labour of cutting 
 in and trying out, devote two or three of the days 
 of our hard won leisure to the exploring of that 
 pass under Cape Brett, and then will I, if it appear 
 possible, explain to you the rest of my plan. 
 It will be for you all to decide whether it be ac- 
 cepted or rejected. Until then I will say no more." 
 
 Silently Ropata resumed his pipe, and presently, 
 in the fierce labour of tearing the blubber from 
 the vast carcase, dissecting the massy head, and 
 converting the evil smelling, greasy lumps into oil, 
 his words were apparently forgotten. 
 
 When, however, the work was finished, and the 
 dealers at Russell had advanced money upon the 
 
294 SEA FOAM 
 
 catch pending its sale sufficient to pay all debts 
 and lay in a stock of provisions, Ropata summoned 
 his partners to him and proposed that they should 
 visit what he had already called the Whale Chan- 
 nel. All agreed with alacrity, and next morning 
 in lovely weather, they embarked with a plentiful 
 stock of food for three days, hoisted their big 
 spritsail to a favouring breeze, and sped away 
 south. As they neared the point Ropata scanned 
 the shore anxiously and continually for a landing- 
 place, where, in the event of their deciding to 
 conduct their operations from the Whale Channel, 
 they might hope to set up their tryworks, and find 
 a sheltered ledge or beach where they might flench 
 a whale. But none appeared. All the coast 
 was rugged and unapproachable, and its foi- 
 bidding character grew worse and worse as they 
 went southwards. At last they entered the 
 channel itself, having first furled the sail, for they 
 found that the current set through the narrow 
 pass at the rate of three or four miles an hour. 
 But as they gained the narrowest part, where it 
 was certainly not more than a hundred feet 
 wide, Ropata's keen eyes noted a jagged cleft in 
 the rocks that formed the seaward barrier, and 
 shouting, " Pull two, starn three," bore hard a 
 starboard upon his steering oar, shooting the 
 obedient craft up into a perfect little dock with 
 a gently shelving beach at the far end, which 
 
THE FATE OP THE INVENTOR 295 
 
 widened out to nearly double the width at the 
 entrance. As the boat gently grounded all hands 
 gazed around with guttural exclamations of 
 wonder and delight, for it was simply ideal 
 for their purpose. The entrance between two 
 jagged portals of rock barely forty feet apart 
 was perfectly protected from any wind that could 
 possibly blow, and also from any sea that might 
 rise in the narrow channel without. From the 
 entrance to the beach was about one hundred 
 yards, and as the latter was neared the grim walls 
 rose higher, so that the scanty water-space was 
 just like a dock basin bordered with warehouse 
 walls. Finally, from the beach inwards there 
 ran a plateau of about two acres in extent, and 
 then the cliffs rose sheer again. 
 
 For a little while none spoke, for they were 
 busy taking in the immense possibilities of the 
 place, supposing that it were true that the south- 
 ern going sperm whales did choose this narrow 
 way at all frequently. And while they mused 
 Tuki said, " I smell whale ! Yes, and there he 
 is," as a long sleek black form glided past the 
 mouth of the haven, followed almost immediately 
 by another, who ejected his bushy diagonal cloud 
 of vapour as he too surged past the narrow open- 
 ing. Another and another followed, until fourteen, 
 all fine bulls of about eighty barrels, had passed, 
 while stern brows frowned and strange mutterings 
 
296 SEA FOAM 
 
 of annoyance passed through bearded lips as the 
 immensely valuable concourse swept by. But 
 Ropata's eyes gleamed with triumph as he foresaw 
 the fruition of his hopes in the immediate future, 
 and as his comrades settled down for a smoke, 
 he said in quiet assured tones 
 
 " Brothers, ye see how perfectly the place is 
 adapted for a whaling station, even on the old 
 lines, if only we could find some way, some means 
 whereby we might evade the stress of the current, 
 and save ourselves from being swept away to the 
 southward with a prize. That, however, I am 
 not going to consider for one moment, for I believe 
 that you will agree with nap that the scheme I 
 am going to explain to you is free from any ob- 
 jection whatever on that score. Let us make 
 a great net of two-inch rope, fifteen fathoms long 
 and seven fathoms wide with bordering ropes 
 of five-inch stuff. It must have bridles of five- 
 inch stuff at either end spliced into seven-inch 
 hausers, the ends of which shall be securely moored 
 on opposite sides of the channel, but not hove 
 too taut. Of course the lower edge must be well 
 weighted to keep the net upright in the water, 
 while the upper edge must be buoyed. Not 
 too much though, for I propose using ropes made of 
 our native flax, which is as you know lighter and 
 better adapted for water-work than any other 
 kind, except coir, which is out of the question 
 
THE PATE OP THE INVENTOR 297 
 
 both for its cost and its stubbornness. Then 
 when our net is stretched across the channel, the 
 whales, blundering into it as they must, not being 
 able to see ahead of them, will be utterly be- 
 wildered, and know not which way to turn. With 
 a stout line from the shore we may push off and 
 lance them at our leisure, only using the harpoon 
 to drag them shoreward when they are dead. 
 The rest of the work in such a fine spot as this 
 will be comparatively easy. What do you say ? " 
 
 Then Heke, who had been listening intently 
 with his eyes fixed upon Ropata's face, said : 
 " The scheme sounds well, but I have doubts 
 about any net we may make holding a big bull 
 when once he finds himself hindered ; for who 
 knows what is the utmost strength of a sperm 
 whale when trying to free himself from restraining 
 bonds ? Until now we have only seen him 
 fastened to a boat, which gives to the strain, and 
 when he sounds we must needs give him all the 
 line he cares to take." 
 
 " I should think as you do, Heke," answered 
 Ropata, " if I had not once seen a similar plan 
 tried with complete success by Japanese whalers 
 at Owashi when I was boat-header of the American 
 whaling barque Porpoise. They used a net made 
 of bamboo and coir, but they towed it with boats 
 and surrounded the whale with it, one who had 
 ventured well in the bay. He certainly flung 
 
298 SEA FOAM 
 
 himself about heavily, but seemed unable to do 
 the net any damage, and the cunning yellow 
 men, with wonderful skill and courage, came 
 upon him in canoes, and lanced him so continuously 
 that before long he grew weak from loss of blood 
 and seemed about to go into his flurry. Then 
 all the hunters drew off a little distance and offered 
 up prayers for the repose of the whale's soul, asked 
 his forgiveness for slaying him, and then, finding 
 he did not go into the death agony, they went 
 for him again with redoubled energy, and soon 
 finished him. Whether it was the calming effect of 
 their prayers I do not know, but he died without 
 going into a flurry at all, and with loud shoutings 
 the hunters towed him triumphantly ashore." 
 
 " But what about the gear ? " murmured Rua- 
 tara. " Do you think we shall be able to buy 
 enough rope for the purpose ? It will take almost 
 as much as would rig a schooner." 
 
 "I have thought of that," eagerly replied 
 Ropata. " Williams, the storekeeper at Russell, 
 will surely supply us, even if we have no money. 
 We have always dealt with him and fairly too, 
 although, as you know, he has often been hard 
 upon us when we have had bad luck such as we 
 have suffered from lately. But I think, if you 
 are agreed, that this venture should be under- 
 taken, providing if the means may be looked upon 
 as assured. Are you thus agreed ? " 
 
THE FATE OP THE INVENTOR 299 
 
 A loud chorus of assent came unanimously from 
 the four, and Ropata, nodding gravely, said : 
 " That is well. Then we can at once plan out the 
 ground for the tryworks and cutting gear. That 
 done I vote we lose no time in getting back home 
 and acquainting our partners of the lookout with 
 our decision, getting to work and becoming rich." 
 Again a satisfied assent greeted him, and all hands 
 became immediately busy with the details of the 
 new station. This to their practised minds was 
 a matter of very short duration, for they were 
 also sensible men, who only sought the general 
 good, and were not hampered by any fussy busy- 
 bodies with fads of their own which they must 
 bring forward, no matter how the main purpose 
 was hindered thereby. So that night saw every 
 thing settled, and the sturdy band homeward 
 bound, stemming the current under a full press 
 of sail. 
 
 They reached home after a boisterous passage 
 on the next morning after their departure from 
 the Whale Channel, and lost no time in getting 
 to work in preparations for removal of their whaling 
 gear. They found the storekeeper, Williams, 
 fairly easy to deal with, as well as willing to take 
 a share in their new undertaking in part payment 
 for the big order for rope which they gave him. 
 To the great task of making the net they bent 
 all their best energies, and so severely did they 
 
300 SEA FOAM 
 
 toil that within a week the monstrous snare was 
 completed, its meshes being eighteen inches wide, 
 and every one securely seized with hambro' 
 line, and all parts likely to be rubbed against the 
 rocks well protected with spunyarn service. It 
 was a noble piece of work, and looked fit for its 
 intended purpose, than which no higher praise 
 can be accorded to it. 
 
 In a fortnight from the day of their return, 
 such had been their expedition that they had all 
 the gear loaded into a small schooner chartered 
 for the purpose, and with high hopes they sailed 
 for the new station, whither they arrived without 
 mishap, and succeeded by dint of much careful 
 labour in warping the vessel into their cove and 
 mooring her to the rocks. Two days saw the 
 schooner discharged, and in another week all was in 
 readiness to begin their novel enterprise. These 
 brief lines must cover the almost incredible amount 
 of labour put forth by the band, labour, too, 
 unmarred by any complainings or attempts of 
 shirking. At last all was in readiness for a 
 start, and looking round with pride upon the per- 
 fected preparations which had so changed the 
 appearance of the little cove, Ropata proposed 
 that the occasion should be marked by a feast and 
 songs. There would be no debauch, for intoxi- 
 cants were entirely absent. Indeed, the whole 
 company were abstainers from anything stronger 
 
THE FATE OF THE INVENTOR 301 
 
 than tea or coffee, and had been so all their lives, 
 having early learned how dire had been the 
 effects of fire-water upon their splendid race. So 
 a pig was roasted whole, Maori fashion, and the 
 subsequent feast upon that devoted hog and his 
 accompaniments of vegetables, bread, and duff, 
 would certainly have been deemed gluttonous ex- 
 cess by persons accustomed to a comfortable life 
 ashore and three good regular meals a day. To 
 these hard-bitten toilers, however, it was nothing 
 of the sort, nor did any nightmares disturb their 
 deep sleep afterwards. 
 
 Thus far all the preparations for the first realiza- 
 tion of the entire scheme had gone forward with 
 scarcely a hitch, but now, when all were full of 
 eagerness to put their materialised ideas into 
 practice, they were all suddenly condemned to 
 idleness for a whole week, eating, drinking, and 
 sleeping, but not earning. For during the night 
 a gale sprang up, and raging through the narrow 
 channel against the rushing current, it heaped up 
 the sea between the rocks in masses of boiling 
 foam. Within the cove the calm of the waters was 
 unbroken, and it was possible to discern, through 
 the seething masses of broken sea outside, the 
 dark forms of whales rushing past apparently in 
 helpless confusion, as if they had lost all control of 
 their motions. Overhead the ragged storm- 
 clouds flew past in masses so low as almost to 
 
302 SEA FOAM 
 
 touch the rocks, and the patient men sat and 
 smoked through the long, long days, and wondered 
 if ever the mighty storm would cease. Ropata, 
 outwardly unmoved, suffered most, for the burden 
 of debt began to weigh heavily upon him, feeling 
 as he did that he had led his brethren into this 
 enormous outlay, and fretting inwardly at his 
 inability to test the opportunities for recoup- 
 ing it. 
 
 At last the gale broke, the sun beamed out, and 
 the sea in the channel smoothed down, while the 
 current was perceptibly lessened owing to the long 
 prevalence of the southerly gale. Not a moment 
 was lost in getting to work. The huge net was 
 carefully unrolled, and one boat with a full crew 
 started for the opposite shore, paying out a whale 
 line attached to the hawser of the net. It was a 
 most difficult task to gain foothold over there, 
 the rock ledges being so steep, but among the pre- 
 parations the securing of a bight of chain cable 
 around a spur of rock close down to high 
 water mark had been chief, and after much scram- 
 bling, straining, bruising, and cuts from sharp 
 stones, the thing was accomplished, and the far end 
 of the net secured. A joyful shout announced the 
 fact to the watchers in the cove, who immedi- 
 ately took their end of the hawser to the wind- 
 lass erected for the purpose, and hove upon it 
 until the great net spread across the channel, 
 
THE PATE OP THE INVENTOR 303 
 
 effectually blocking it to the passage of any whale. 
 
 Then they all rested from their labours and 
 awaited the coming of their prey. Three 
 more weary days passed without a sign of whales, 
 but on the morning of the fourth the watchers 
 beheld a sight beyond their utmost expectations. 
 A school of sperm whales led by an immense bull 
 came steering majestically into the channel 
 The leader touched the net and immediately 
 appeared to lose control of himself. Without 
 attempting to force his way through he wallowed 
 hopelessly, while around him surged in bewildered 
 masses his disorganized followers. The panic 
 spread to the whole school, yet it did not occur 
 to any of them apparently that safety might be 
 found in the opposite direction to which they 
 had been going. And all this colossal confusion 
 arrived in the space of a few minutes. The whole 
 entrance and much off the sea beyond seemed 
 packed with the heaving bodies of the mighty 
 monsters, whose instincts had all failed them in the 
 presence of this entirely new terror. 
 
 For a few minutes Ropata and his boat's crew 
 sat as if stupefied. That such an occurrence was 
 possible must have crossed their minds before, 
 but now that it had confronted them its magnitude 
 appalled them. Only for that brief space though. 
 Then, with a yell of triumph, Ropata urged his 
 men to pull forward, and as they emerged upon the 
 
304 SEA FOAM 
 
 gigantic turmoil each man seized a lance and 
 lunged it at the nearest black mass to him, as if 
 the old destroying instinct of his cannibal ances- 
 tors had suddenly awakened within him. Ropata 
 was transformed. Uttering inarticulate cries, 
 his beard flecked with foam and blood from his 
 clenched jaws, his arms seemed to work like the 
 pistons of a steam engine, as untiringly, as force- 
 fully. And yet withal he kept a wary eye upon 
 the closely packed masses before him, and cast an 
 occasional glance at the straining hawsers on 
 either shore to see if they still held. And then 
 suddenly came the catastrophe. He had thrust 
 his lance deep down into the body of a whale, wal- 
 lowing by the side of the boat, and while wrenching 
 at it in the effort to withdraw it, the whale swiftly 
 rolled outwards, spouting blood. Ropata should 
 have let go, but did not, why, none will ever 
 know : and his body flew through the air, falling 
 between two dying monsters, and disappearing 
 beneath the crimson foam. To attempt a rescue 
 was impossible, for the space between the boat 
 and the point where he sank was close packed with 
 the gigantic bodies of the victims. 
 
 His men shipped their lances and withdrew 
 into the cove for a breathing space. Then Heke, 
 taking the leadership, seized a harpoon and hurled 
 it deep into the nearest carcase, shouting to his 
 crew to stern the boat to the beach. They reached 
 
THE PATE OP THE INVENTOR 305 
 
 it, and springing ashore, took the line to the wind- 
 lass and hove the whale in. The other boat fol- 
 lowed the example, while Heke and his crew went 
 out again and again until six monstrous bodies 
 were secured and ready for cutting in. And then 
 they saw that the school had gradually recovered 
 from their panic and were returning against the 
 current the way they had come. Several dead 
 whales still lay against the faithful net, which 
 Heke gave orders to have slacked off, so that they 
 might float away, as they could not be secured. 
 
 That tremendous day's work assured the suc- 
 cess of the new venture, and made comparatively 
 wealthy men of all the partners, but the body of 
 Ropata, the inventor of the great scheme, was 
 never seen again. 
 
XXVII 
 
 The Night of Stars 
 
 January, 1871 
 
 A PERFECT tropical night, without a cloud, 
 not a breath of air stirring, the long, long 
 swell just causing the slightest possible motion of 
 the great hull so deeply settled in the sea. So 
 limpid, so smooth was the expanse of water 
 beneath her that no division between it and the 
 heavens was consciously visible, and it was impos- 
 sible to avoid the feeling that she was suspended 
 in the eternal ether, having no further concern 
 with earthly things. The great moon swung low 
 on the horizon, but so clear was the air that she 
 was as silvern as if she had been in the meridian, 
 and all the vast serene above, below, and around, 
 was palpitating with cool light. But every 
 luminary that burned so purely above was re- 
 flected below in tripled splendour, not calmly 
 shining, but dancing blithely, as if rejoicing in 
 the consciousness of its being but a shadow, and 
 having no solemn duty to fulfil. These lovely 
 
 307 
 
308 SEA FOAM 
 
 phantoms of far-off suns played daintily with the 
 infinitely lesser pyrosomes around them, engaged 
 in their ordained duties of giving lustre to the dark 
 waters. 
 
 And the broad breast of the queen of night 
 shone brighter and fairer as she sank with sweet 
 grace to the waiting bosom of the ocean, dipped 
 with a thrill of rippling incandescence, swam in 
 an aureole of sweetest glow and was gone. A 
 tender deepening of the dark fell caressingly upon 
 heaven and ocean. A deeper hush, a silence 
 superposed upon stillness embraced the restful 
 scene. The stars shone brighter and their faithful 
 reflections below responded in chastened obedience, 
 as if conscious of the high duty that had now 
 fallen upon them of illuminating sea and sky in 
 the absence of the sovereign of the night. But 
 the subaqueous light-bearers shone out more 
 vividly and redoubled their activities. Their 
 numbers too appeared to be enormously in- 
 creased, until the reflected stars were hardly 
 distinguishable among the multitudes of living 
 fires, and the solemn heavens took on an almost 
 velvety blackness, such as appears within the 
 coronal of the Aurora when it is most brilliant. 
 
 This strange reversal of the usual order of 
 nightly illumination lasted for about an hour, 
 during which the solitary ship with her awe- 
 striken watches seemed like an incongruity a 
 
THE NIGHT OF STARS 309 
 
 huge blot upon the lovely scene, such as would be 
 made by the presence of a black mass of rock in 
 the middle of a flower spangled meadow. But 
 even she must needs partake of the glory around 
 her, for although the light ripples recoiled from 
 her black hull they cast their soft rays upward, and 
 invested her motionless sails with an unearthly 
 radiance, so that she became to all appearance 
 but the spectre of a ship. 
 
 Then suddenly, as if the celestial host had 
 grown weary of the display of ocean's mellow fires, 
 there burst out from the intense dark a glorious 
 globe of golden flame like a younger sun, hurling 
 away the darkness with one superb thrust, and 
 eclipsing at the same instant all the marine glow, 
 while the steady stars lost their lustre and hung 
 like points of white chalk. With a sweep like 
 the flight of an archangel, the mighty meteor 
 began the circuit of the sphere, casting off at 
 regular intervals showers of glowing fragments of 
 varied colour to the accompaniment of loud 
 detonations. Behind it shone a band of purest 
 light, twice the breadth of its own disc, which 
 gradually faded according to its distance from its 
 source. When the meteor had made three- 
 quarters of the circuit it paused, and with one 
 tremendous explosion and a dazzling glare it 
 dispersed. Darkness returned as suddenly as it 
 had gone, to the great relief of the watchers, who, 
 
310 SEA FOAM 
 
 with parched lips and curdling blood, were behold- 
 ing the apparent disintegration of a world. But 
 their easement was merely temporary. As if 
 that amazing meteor had been the herald of a 
 still more majestic celestial display, there now 
 began a series of graceful movements on the part of 
 the heavenly host itself. Timidly, tentatively at 
 first, the lesser, almost invisible, stars brightened, 
 darted a little way, disappeared. Gradually the 
 larger ones took up the stately measure, making 
 longer and longer flights, until the whole of the 
 midnight dome was occupied by an innumerable 
 multitude of darting meteors entirely hiding the 
 fixed stars, and making it impossible to help 
 believing that, for a time at all events, the orderly 
 orbits of the universe had been forsaken, and suns 
 and planets alike were holding high revels, albeit 
 with befitting gravity. And as every movement 
 of a meteor left a trail of light behind it, the effect 
 upon the vision of the observers was most strange 
 and bewildering. The heavens seemed alive, 
 eternal stability changed into the most excessive 
 mutability, akin to the breaking up of the fountain 
 of the great deep. 
 
 Stern and terrible as had been the impression 
 made upon the minds of the observers by this 
 most amazing spectacle, as it continued without 
 alteration fear and trembling gave place to 
 interest, admiration, and wonder what would 
 
THE NIGHT OF STARS 311 
 
 happen next, whether these glancing brightnesses 
 really were the once stable stars, and, if they were, 
 would they ever resume the orderly sequence of 
 their eternal journeys through space after such 
 wild vicissitudes as those in which they were 
 indulging. And as the time passed away and 
 still these celestial evolutions went on, the impres- 
 sion deepened that the great apocalyptic change 
 was surely at hand. Long forgotten fragments of 
 St. John's recorded vision returned to the memory 
 side by side with recollections of past misdeeds, 
 and men's hearts indeed failed them for fear. Of 
 course astronomers will smile in conscious know- 
 ledge, but still I think that even they will sym- 
 pathize with the sorrows of these uneducated men 
 and boys suddenly brought into the presence of 
 so stupendous a manifestation of the celestial 
 glories. Towards the close of the middle watch, 
 however, say at 3 a.m., a decrease in the acti- 
 vities of the meteors began to be noticeable, and 
 it was possible to see also, behind the almost 
 incessant coming and going of those elusive bright- 
 nesses, the stars shining steadily on. Another 
 half hour and the number of darting meteors was 
 reduced by fully two-thirds, the normal darkness 
 had almost resumed its reign, and men began to be 
 ashamed of what they now felt were childish fears. 
 But they were not yet to be set quite free of 
 alarms. As the meteors ceased their mazy 
 
312 SEA FOAM 
 
 evolutions there appeared a glow in the west, not 
 indeed as of the rising sun, for it was unheralded 
 by any flaming streamers of colour such as spread 
 upward from the eastern horizon at the dawn 
 when the sky is clear, but like the lambent glow 
 before moonrise. Some one whispered " Aurora, " 
 but in the most doubtful tones, for we were in 
 23 north latitude only. Some thought of high 
 dawn, but only for an instant, for it was not yet 
 4 a.m., and besides the month was January. 
 Still there the light was, spreading upwards and 
 brightening so as to pale the stars again. It could 
 not be the Zodiacal Light, for it was not cone 
 shaped, and besides it had no indefinite glow such 
 as always characterizes that mysterious radiance. 
 Said one old sailor, " All God's works seem to be 
 thrown out o' gear to-night, an' I expect we shall 
 hear of some dreadful happenings directly we get 
 home if ever we do get there." Then suddenly 
 there came the familiar summons of the bell 
 our watch was over, and the little bustle always 
 incident to watch-changing, turning our thoughts 
 to everyday matters, did more to dispel our fears 
 and speculations than any arguments or explana- 
 tion could have done. A perfunctory account 
 of the wonders of that watch was handed on to the 
 relieving men, received by them, of course, with 
 utter incredulity, and the pressure of recent sleep 
 prevented them from taking more than the most 
 
THE NIGHT OF STARS 313 
 
 casual notice of the already fading light in the 
 western sky. What remained of that mysterious 
 glow was dissipated by the arrival of a glorious sun- 
 rise, and the " Night of Stars " was only a memory. 
 
 Butler and Tanner , The Selwood Printing Works, Frome, and London 
 \ 
 
Sullen, F.T 
 Sea spray 
 
 952 
 B936 
 se 
 
 M2X6810 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY