WEST SHORE.
December.
CHRISTMAS ON THE ATLANTIC.
" But are you not afraid of crossing the
Atlantic at such an inclement season as
thii?" was the query put to me four years
ago this month. ( December.)
" Certainly not," I replied; " a man who
lias been twice around the world twice
rounded Cape Horn need surely fear no
other voyage; and, moreover, what is a
jcoo miles' passage in a large and power
full steamer but a few days' short trip?"
And yet that few days' short trip, which
I was rrailv to undertake with such indif
ference, turned out the most trying voyage
I ever undertook, and never wish to exper
ience agan.
I had come to America from New Zea
land in a return whale-ship, and after several
months' residence in the States, took my
passage home to Great Britain in a large
steamer which still runs from New York to
Liverpool. I went on board Wednesday,
December. 1871. I had taken a steerage
passage, as my funds were then nearly run
out. 1 went on board at 1 1 o'clock in the
morning, and found all in a bustle and tur
moil of a start. At noon exactly we got
under way, but had not steamed out ol
dock above an hour when a dense fog
came on, and we were compelled to stop.
All that afternoon and succeeding night we
remained in the same place, ringing an
alarm-bell every few minutes, and it was
not until near mid-day on Thursday that
we were enabled once more to make a
start. This delay was the more vexation
to me from my having lost nearly the
whole of my luggage, owing to the care
lessness of an express-man, to whom I
had entrusted it for conveyance from the
hotel to the vessel. I found, some weeks
afterwards, that it lad been placed on
board a ferry-boat hy mistake; and after,
Heaven only knows, how many wanderings
and adventure, it arrived at last, some
lime in the following summer, in Kngland,
the boxes broken oen and deprived of the
most valuable of their contents.
1 fretted and fumed, then, over the delay
of the stcani-ackci, so ncae the shore, as
I thought 1 should have had more than
sufficient time to recover my missing ef
fects. On Thursday, at noon, we once more
got under steam, favored, as well, by a
stiff, lair breeze. A motley mob of pass
engers forward, consisting of some thirty
males, and fourteen of the opposiic sex:
two or three returning from California, la
den with golden sinil; three cx-militiamcn,
and a Birmingham man, who came on
hard hugging a demijohn of whisky, which
he applied most assiJuouily to his lips, with
sane any intermission; several Irishmen,
and one or two Scotchmen, and myself, the
only hnglishnun, except llrumni'agem, as
we called him, who was almost a cosmo
Hilitan. Among the other sex were two
actresses, and a popular vocalist.
Thursday and Friday we made good way.
and every thing seemed to promise a fair,
steedy and successful voyage. Friday
night we were all disturlicd by llrumma
gt'm, who lud drunk himself into an attack
of delirium tremens, and aroused us and
alarmed his (cui.de neighbor in the cabin,
Sfjiarated from him hy a thin wooden par
tition, by violently kicking down the par
tition alorcsaid, considerably to the damaire
of his feel, ami then tumbling out of his
uuiiK Willi an oiien-bladed bowie-knife
threatening 10 cut all our throats. 1 rushed
oil lor, and relumed wuh. the doctor. Al
ter Mine delay, and at a cost of a irood deal
of coaxing, we prevailed upon him lore.
111111 10 ins iwitn, where, alter taking a
Luge dose of laudanum, he fell asleen
while wejcirefully removed all weapons of
11 uiieiisivc nature irom Ins person. The
)uj ol w inty ho had already emptied
beneath his pillow were a uuantiiv of Km-
hsh sovereigns some fifty or sixiv. Next
morning when he awoke,' his first look-out
was lor his boule, and we found him snulf
ing at the cmty hole.
'I'hrow it overboard," said his neighbor,
an liishman; "shure it's t marine.''
"No 1," he replied; " I will keep it for the
g-i-vl It lias done " tliat good being well
nigh his death.
Of all ihe character I ever met with his
was the strangest. The owl, quiet way he
lelatcj his adventures in California, told, as
nit; cie, nun sum an evident simplicity
to bear the impress of truth ; and yei,
est friend one hour, and wanting to break
your head the next. Andy was his name.
1 must mention two muic u hi;
passengers before I proceed with the ac
count of our voyage. One was an old,
God-fearing man, from Rahway, New Jer
sey, cheery, pleasant, always having a kind
word, ever ready to do a kind deed, and
when not otherwise empioyeo, niui f
and down the narrow space between our
berths, singing hymns, more to himself than
for the delectation of others him we called,
by general consent, "Old Dad." The last
character was my chum the one who slept
in the berth below me a young insumaii
named Connolly, from Chicago, where he
had been an employe as clerk on the rail
way, on his road home to Ireland to claim
some property a small farm in the neigh,
borhood of the city of Dublin. He was a
brisk, business-like, gentlemanly fellow.
Our neighbors, the ladies, after their re
covery from sea-sickness, mostly spent
their time in singing; and here, by-the-way
lei me observe, as surely as we had an ex
tra soell of singing, so surely there lonowea
a gale of wind. Over and over again we
observed this to be the case: within twen-
i.T bllm rrommond," said h. "P? ?
out I do, that .he 11 goioj now-
" 'Lnlgm. -1 replied : - .' ?'
wind enough to turn child', toy. How can .he
inkr" . t 1 1 .,! In
Hs ud no more, oui kiu . ,
tnnminute. frightened that I caught the inlec
"on, and, leaping out ol my bunk, begnn .to - hurry
on my cloth- u fut al my eacltement would lot
me, Ltening meanwhile to hi. w"?"
which cm. .tammeriog out ol hut quivering lip. .
"My God, Drummond, we are .inking 1 we
h.,. iprung . leak, end tta eel h "8 'i
we ere going-going down to the bottom.
A lew moment, more .nd I wa. on deck . mII,
.till thinking and hoping that Conchy had either
mi.Mkcn or lad exaggerated the evil. The .teeni
er inn iron .hip, built In three compartment..
end heavily laueu wltu w"ul" uu' ' r.,
looHl; down the hold without beg.. Bo lve."!;
laden we, the Tenel, that a great pert ol the coel
lor the um 01 the .teamer ".-" -room.
Ooing on deck, I met with the nmt mate,
who 111 iuat going into his cabin, haying come up
out ol the engine-room.
"Mr. Campbell, i earn, ' inc '""
wrong with the yeaelr Ha. anything gone
am Us t "
Oh, nothing particular," said he ; " just a little
water has got in wai a an.
I
which
ty-four hours of a night of song we had a
gale a meteorological phenomenon I
leave to others to explain.
All Friday. Saturday and Sunday we pro
gressed favorably; strong, steady breeze,
and lull steam, going, accoraing to inc al
most proverbial nautical myth, sixteen
knots an hour; although I must confess
my experience has seldom or never really
exceeded ten knots an hour. We spent
our time in narrating, each in turn, our
personal adventures, for example :
"Well chaps. I suppose it's now my
turn" (Brummagem loquiUr), "I'm no
hand much at what you call taie-maning,
but 1 can tell you what once happened to
me in Frisco. I was green, then, just ar
rived, in fact, and not uu to the dodges as I
now am. I'm a printer by trade, and a
rare good tin tt is at times. Yes, bir 1 1
tell vou I've made many a pile, av, and
spent them as fast as made. Well, I'll tell
you, my first job was at the newspaper of
ficetype setter and I made thirty dol
lars a week. I chummed with another
young fellow who had been at the diggings.
One day we went on a spree, and both got
blessed tight so tight 1 got wuu; i up
sometimes." (We all believed him, for we
had seen a specimen.) "1 uont know
how it happened, but a fellow at the bar
began to fight me. I tell you my blood
was up, and 1 quickly had my knile into
him; sec, this was the knife. That fellow
ain't the last I guess it touched. I believe
he died, but I ain't sure, for you sec I got
so I c red tike at the row they kicked up, so
made a bee-line for home, and lacked up
a few traps, and we I and my chum
made a start ol it lor some new diggings
he'd heard of. Well, we got there, but it
wasn't in my line, do you see; my hands
ain't used to such hard work as it turned
out, and the grog-shops were a long way
off. Hob. however, made out pretty well :
and I stuck to it as well as I could, until
one day we agreed to go down to the bar
tor a drink; and we went, and a jolly time
we had of it lor a day or two, until one
night, the third night I think it was, mates,
we both got warm like at a game at Hooka
fiq, and He called me a lur, and
then we fought and I quieted him; and
then 1 cut for it, but I got his belt. I'm
sorry now, d'ye see, 1 hurl him; but it was
just here, if I didn't do it to him he would
luve to me,
did not, however, like the doubting way In
nk hm ui.l it. nor vet an evident effort he
teemed to make at subduing some feeling or other ;
ha. vhn narallv wna an cool mo aniiecLeu,
" Oh ! Mr. Campbell," 1 again exclaimed, " do
tell me the truth-tbe whole truth. I do not aay
I will not be frightened, but I will try not to be,
and if I can be of any use, I shall be only too
look down iuto the engine-room, and ye will not
need to apeer any more questions."
Aft I went, and there dowa below, far down in
the depths of the vessel, I saw a crowd of men
hurrying backward and forward, busily oh, how
busily ! shoveling away at some coals. The cap
tain, the males, black and begrimed, were hastily
iuuii.iT aiders : and most fearful of all sounds on
board a vessel, next only to the roaring and crack
ing ol names; a sound once neara never w vs ior
m.ttnn &f forward the dull, heavv Dlosh of waters.
as the ship slowly and ceaselessly rolled from side
to side. Just then one of the engineers came up.
! thn leak a. verv bad one r ' I uLcsd.
God onlv knows" be said. "Thus much I
khow : There are ten feet of coal down in that
hole, aud the water u bubbling out of the top
of tt."
On Monday uermtig, at 10 o clock, the water
hod gained considerably on, us despite all our
utmost efforts to keep it under ; and what was still
worse, we could not find out where it was. The
removal of the coal had occupied us so long and
detained us so much, what quantity of water there
mignt oe in ine noiu now i iearea to ui, ana i
was not at all sure that a oorrect answer would be
returned. I could only guess, from the looks of
to in omcert ana men, mat it was more man seri
ous. 1 strove to forget our danger in working
wherever i could or wherever l was most winted.
At noon, " Man the pumus t " had been ordered
some time, but, alas I no pumps would work. The
w neat naa got in ana cnoKeu mem all. HU or
even bauds were at each pump, and brought up,
wjth hard Labor and no small difficulty, more wheat
than water. The leak was telling on us fast, and
there was danger of its reaching and putting out
the engine fires. If it did that, may God in His
men; j iieiu ua i
At 3 o'clock, afternoon, " All hands on deck !
That order had come at last How startliugly it
full upon the ears of passengers I never heard
but in times of sharp peril and urgent extreme
distress; what wonderful strength it gives to the
limbs and muscles, causing the hearers to attempt
aad accomplish feats of labor they would never
have dreamed of elso! We all quickly mustered
on deck, all now fully alive with a sense of our
pern.
"Off hatches!" needed no second order,
" Throw canto overboard ! " wan inaimitlv nlumiul
I and Andy jumped down into one of the holds
and hoisted un barrels of resin anil uMra nf iwiU
Uuspuir lent me strength as well as others, and
many a weight was lilted, many a feat accom
plished that we none of us dreamed onuM nor.
form. Almost in silenee we wrought wrought all
Unit long, long afternoon. Biscuits and brandy
were served out to us at short intervals. Mcau
while, blankets had been thrown overboard with
the faint hope of the leak drawinn them in. A
vain hope ! Still it gaiued on us gained on us
nil" ' 'l""?'
1 here we wore, -WO miles from the nesMt Unit
Newfoundland ; in the depth of winter ; ice all
arouud us ; the very boats belonging to the vessel
leaky and not to be trusted, even could we have
launshed them in the rough sea then running, or
nvu .it me extreme cow men existing. No hoi
there! It must be the shin or not t .n a
how we all toiled. I, for one, although I wrought
. . . xu ncii-uiKii UTOrcome. COIl ll nut.
I tlien made my way back to d-irwi not,ceaM to sit down and think. Think, and
In those few fleeting moments were compressed
a retime: arm uu wn
my frieniis would nay at home-how they would
wonder at my non-arrival; wonder whatad be
come of the ship; what had been our fateu
hidden in that vast repository of so many
secreu-the sea. Face to Taoe nave I been, more
momentary, sharp, of' fl few momenta' continu
ance Butioh! the dreadful wear of the aoul in
meeting Death thua, and flKhtlng him hour by
hour. Inch by Inch, as It were the alow fadlnjt
away of all hope, and the sure encroach of
dei" Pcannot but mention the brave conduct of
the women. They ahained some of us men by
their quiet, still manner. Ready and prepared
thy all seemed for any emergency. No shriek
ing or confusion. Tliey aat in their cabins,
aoine praying, and nearly a 1 silently weeping.
One poor lady-a widow, with a little child ot
some six or seven years or age-ner son, and nor
only one-came on the deck to me, aud, bursting
in.h ui.( An vniittilnlt there Is real I v no hnn
for us-none whatever ? I do not care so much
for myseir, OUl It uoen mm um iwr tug utile
boy to meet such a fate."
Dear mother's heart of hers 1 even In that sad,
c.n.Aii hmir hop i-lilld was her sole thounht. hAr
nole care. Oh, mother's love! the only true reali
ty of entire abnegation of self.
find the sailors and crew becoming mutinous and
rebellious. Some wanted to take the boats, and
were trylng-partly by persuasions, and partly
by threata to obtain provisions from the ship's
stewards; while others, more determined, were
bent upon oreaainji uiiw u uwmu mo wins
.wit-it arjirpa. Thflv were Just cominz aft tu r
descended the gangway- disorderly body of
some thirty or forty men.
" UO DOCK lO your puma, mou i " mo wurui
I heard from the first mate words to which they
mea mouneu wpnj uu iii.MiiHuu.
Back. men. all of you I" he spake loudly and
Irmly. .
Two or three of the foremost came forward,
each, as we could nee, armed with a bowie knife.
"We wunt brandy," they suid, "and, d n It,
we mean to have It too I "
The captain am not unnwer, outquieiiy aieppea
back Into bis cabin, and returned with a revolver
Frisco, and took up my old trade
now bound tor home,
I cannot give, nor should I like to try to give,
the whole account of his adventures, and vet this
man-murderer, and what not he hod been in the I as the vessel rolled a little heavier than usual!
uumm ui un mo, Hsu wmt icurn 01 Mimical m
hu heart, was not altogether bad who is t) ; for
on our arrival at Ulasguw the following moraiug
he called into hu bed-room (he was then far
advanml tu a consumption, owing to his habitat,
and told me he wanted me to go out with him, and
help him to buy a new suit of handsome black
clolhns and a gold watch and chain, saying he
would not leave OUugow until he had got them ;
" for my folks are somewhat more than common.
and up in the world, and 1 would not like them to
he aihamnl of me, or their neighbors think me
beneath them." And so he stayed three days iu
lllaagow until the clothes were mads; the gold
watch and chain I saw bought mvself ; and doubt
less he was received hy his brother as one well to
do-an eiottlWnt example of well-earned success,
to be shown oil to the admiring neighbors in his
fuil.blown glory of gold waU-h, chain, and full
drees.
I m see me uarit, com waters creeping in on us
ntar meir hull, nesw waih from an in . . i
nearly drove me wild, ltetter work the lingers
nearer "a IZ ' C '"5
U"K w iook into tnem, and splash into
the open mouths of the furnaces, quickly to be
driven out again in angry jets of steam. Still
mm unci (aim UU US.
One liUHW rnlln !.... .!
Si?': fit.1 "'rJ,,l ,n ' r-
Iviilly lip Ih. iti-a oiitck. Nt.ivrtn. t...Ki.
r.ih llio wlu.l,. .Iil.-a,l then r,.r a W i
. r"V,""L ""-I hur.-a deep
Ii'lit. TU Itrwt wen. mil ami H.- .
bUni lay li.lpln.iy wUn, In Ihe trousri
...... nuw anarily aimnilM I
all
imitJcr, theft, ami ilmcisi every conccivil.lt iM ,,,k P-d
ciiine. 1 can never ,J yet aimJn TJT.mTbo:i-
WICK HIW ills uuuiu, auu ikiiiiii 'v.i.tl
in hiai nirln hand. Must of the DaSienners ransred
themselves alongside or behind him, as well as
the omcers. " now, my wvn, ww m unpiain.
I dit not want IO resorv v imru luetuturea. uoa
knows we are all In a sufficiently bad plight, and
anv moment we may oe caueu oei
called betore Him. Let
me tell you all quietly to return to your work. I
have no brandy to spare, tub iikib we nave o
huv nn lininriv iJi Mliurfl.
board ship will be more than wanted, and I
neither can nor win give u to you.-
We will see about that." aald one of the men.
advancing another Htep.
The captain took a step or two forward, and,
drawing a chalk-line on the deck, aald:
" rue nrsi uiuu tuuij mwv u t-umt, 4 win
shoot."
By Uou, tnen, 1 win try Hi" answerea ine
mnn.
He had scarcely planted his foot on the line
iDtaln nrcd, and the man's nsnt arm
hung wounded. Two mates sprang forward,
before the cupl
and, seising the man, they fettered his feet, and,
uttended by the doctor, carried him off below.
The remainder of the crew, awed by whut bad
passed, turned round, and, with many a muttered
cunte, returned to their places.
Now," sain tne captain, turning to tne passen
gers, "If any of you like to try the boats, in pref
erence to remaining on the shlplwhlchlfratikly
confess I do not expect to keep afloat many min
utes longer), I will til thorn out for you as well as
I am able; but I must fiilrly tell you, I much
doubt wheiher they will float, much less live, in
n sea like this; setting aside the bitter cold, which
would not let you live long, exposed, as you
wmi Id be, to It, However, It Is for you to decide.
My station and my duty are here, on board, to
the last,"
letMiowiy, out aureiy, uie water nil mis iimea
was creeping on us.
uou oe inerciimio us au,ainnew" exc.aianej.-jr 1
a full, deep voice. j
" We all turned, and there, standing behind us,
was an old gray-headed minister, bareheaded,
with a deep, culm look on his face that face
turned upward from the deep, black waters to
the bright serene blue of (Jod's blue heavens.
une ueep ciuietn another,'" ne continued;
because of the noise of the water-Dines: all thy
storms and waves are gone over me!' 'God Is
our hope and siren gib, a very present help In
trouble. Therefore will we uot fear, though the
waters rage and Kwell. The Lord of hosts Is with
us; the Uod of Jacob Is our refuge.' 'Thou, 0
Lord, who stillest tho raging of tne sen, hear,
hear ux, and save us that we perish notl ' "
Oil, how deep was the response: " Suve us thtt
we perish not ! " and oh, at that hour, In that out
peril, the comfort of those few words so spoken
uy, even comforting to the most sinful and heed-
1 ens mn u us us 1 rur wnore eise couiu wo iuux iu
suchatlme&Uhnt? And the answer came to
that good old mun's prayer, verily.
I sukl the answer ctune. Hniin ware the words
out of his mouth when a voice was heard once
more: "i have round the leak!" It came from
the old carpenter, who had been lndefatlgably at
work. It appeared afterward that, as soon as the
il-uh n un api uug, no miu auspicious wnicu rvavru
upon a leaden leod-pipe, and they turned out
true. The pipe had burst-it might be, from the
the effect of the cold aud Instead of feeding the
boilers It won tilling the ship; and, foot by foot,
amidst the bltick, sooty water In the hold, the old
mun hud felt bis way until he had came on the
leak.
'I have found the leak!" The words were
scarce out of his mouth when the deep, bass
voice again resounded :
"'Out of the deep I have called unto Thee, 0
Lord; Lord hear myvolcel 'Ho when they cry
unto tho Lord In their trouble, He delivered
them out of their distress.'
" Thank God I " was our response, and straight
way there came new vigor Into our frames, new
hope in our souls, newstrenmh Into our hands.
nnu wuu it iima, DumiiiiB cheer, we all maoe ior
Ihe ennlne-room. Quickly a Inree wooden plug
of l hi
wayiin water thm
fiu-e.1 (Hie uuti there was cool, calm. colIeiP?l
Ihe capuin. Kore,(,-t had he bnTu S u
loll ; bravest wtu he uow In all the danger.
''I have done all Iran,'- he said ouletlv. "ami
1 can now uo mile 1 mm.n res-r we are
IP'Init ikwn. Le, lhflf who worfc prav S
lhal-to Him wtm i).,w milsl be our bel -nd
Monilar Piornluf , et 7 o'clock, I we, lyinf car.-
i ... , i i tot nun. laMir MnoaiLg a .nun ciay ptp
i'um mine in the mmt horritile recotj, of i ul oisodoIIj bad ttmah.il hu ebMuu, aid
dun end loirea and lert u. room
u. for to w a imnn.1 it. tun.
. , - . a" ; T a,,.! in . .ir-..r.! . , "aula waien amum
0S a .rl Ol caielesa tlevilm- ami IMrel i nwrtnn. mrall. II. bad tli.i.hl. and at l..,.h I '""! lotlllnk wlnu wiuld be the t.t in .t -Z
lemiwr, anil tKX-asiwul outburst of teller. 1 "' !' 'P'tinW.notlikini( w uhlTmVn-. T,l,m'L' ""W. "nd the water.
TOIIV 8 !'" y P'P- i" a. I wu la the loll rrluh ."Xln ,',dT;',:k:"?h'"," lh1 l"t part
Anmher duracter t haj a lenume f ' ol ucnc out ol which ". i i-nS! i,v. ?u!rt SJItS I,
lviiuen ol Uie'tirten Ule." impulsive ! "11"l,"j M by th. .udd. .aireac ol ;;rv.ti.mt o, piu,,.r.i ,lo; ,,,, ".h.in
vttoiHv alier L aud (omm! ! S
utteniig vows anj nuking resolutions, y n Jims h,t r - nimna-! "J rri,Kuu,1l.,u,'': ,n,n' w font.
liic next tnomcm to 1 broken: vour varm-1 " haunted , inM,M doubNVhey wu ThE Mr,vlv; 1
Ji.v when time .hall be no more.
.miV"'."'! ,he pumi 10 manned tu usual
''." .k-d,.,w.n- uH,n ,h "n.lnK water! Tamuml.
was wrupped round with a portion of a blanket,
a long wooden handle fastened to a malletand
the plug driven Into the hole. Despite the cold,
couts and Jaeketa were doffed, buckets handed
oui.arid all set to work to lade out the water.
Thus in hope we wrounht until midnight, pass
ing the bucket from hand lo hand; a lew of the
crew on deck having put on all the canvas she
could carry.
About midnight the wind gradually freshened
into a Knie, and we hod to take in sail, in which I
BAiInted: and so freiO.lv did It hin thai It tore
open a loose flannel Jacket I wore, and took It, to
iret her with my hat, overboard; and yet to Intent
i. j uriuw iHuins; uui ine wier, it
m, o them neither heard the wind roaring nor
teltlheUMwiriiBnd pitching of Ihe vessel. To
ward morning the gale abated, and, cold, wet and
TZO&i but Tcrv 'hankful, I betook myself to my
berth for an hour or two's rest.
Our next fear was whether or no the water had
Injured the machinery. To our great thankful
ness we found it had not, and by Tuesday night
we jot the water so far under that the Urea were
once more lig hied, and the first sound I heard on
Wednesday morning (sweeter to me than the
sweetest music) was the regular throb, throb,
once more of the engine; and on dressing and
EI.M 00 dwlt' 1 w lW(l rgulw small Jet of
water flowing from the ship's aide pumped out
by a donkey engine.
Our troubles were not yet, however, entirely
rL bad still much to undergo before we
reached home.
i Tr?ra!nrni0rn,nrlm'''be Monday of the
lean or the vessel, Andy went out of the cabin In
a stale ol hair seas over." 1 do not mean this
as a wretched pun; he was. In fact, half lips,
and made his way down to Ihe engine-room. He
had not been away more than half an hour
berore he came twek perfectly sober, and looked
exreeuiniiy grave and serious. Without a worn
he betook himself to hi berth, where, to our
great astonishment, he remained without speak
ing a word fir above an hour.
.1 . ' i " ine mutter t" I asked.
Matin. ?" he replied; "matter enough.