The Gazette, 1893-08-24, Page 3No
ave
lass
e of
rm Se,
Rate-
ted.
.
r CO.
?1aning Mill
and are now
Pings.
HING
turned
anis ted.
ir'z"_'s
erer
a�-
AILOR " JACK" AND THE STORMY' understand my language., but I said i Yoko
-
the village, f oar common phrases of affectionate greet.
and from there /was taken to another placeo
of a similar description. Thence I was sent ins' simple and unobstrusive as they are,
small
to still another village, and from there p
taken inland on a journey, in course of
which we travelled over mountains on
animals that resemble donkeys. The next
place I reached was 'Yen•os-kima, where I
was taken in charge by Japanese policemen,
who took me to Yokohama and left me in
charge of the British consul there, who paid without much thought. But consider : We
are as voyagers, putting off from time to
PETREL-
A Sailor's Superstition.
One of the best-known of the sea -birds is
the stormy petrel. It is oftenest seen dur-
slg storms, flying above the waves in search
of the shell -fish and other small animals
which are brought to the surface by the
tempest. The sailors call petrels " Mother
Carey's chickens," and do not view them with
much favor, owing to their being constant
companions of storms. " Jack" thinks that
rough weather may be expected when he
sees petrels about, and is not quite sure that
they do not in some way cane the tempest.
When the bird is on the outlook for its prey,
it seems to walk on the water. Hence the
seamen of olden: time, in allusion to the
apostle Peter's walking on the water, called
the bird petrel, from the Latin Petrellus,
" Little Peter."
So far from the sailor being superstitious
as to the capture of another kind of petrel,
the Cape pigeon, which is of a black -and -
white color, and about the size of a tame
pigeon, I have known Jack to take a hand
occasionally in eapturing them, as a bit of
recreation during a dog -watch. In southern
attitudes- the Cape. pigeons follow a ship in
thousands. The method of catching them
is peculiar. A common bottle -cork is tied
to the end of a long piece of thread, and
trailed astern so that the cork touches the
water. This gives the required tautness to the
thread as the birds fly in clouds from side to
side astern, some of them constantly strike
the thread with their wings, and the re-
sistance is enough to turn them over it,
when the thread is wrapped round the
awing and the birdie hauled -on board. In
this manner I have seen hundreds caught
in a day.
On one occasion a clipper ship, carrying
passengers to India, captured pigeons by
hundreds, and the surgeon by some mis-
chance, succeeded in entangling a stormy
petrel.
Now the doctor was an enthusiastic na-
turalist, and what 'to the sailors is known
as a " land -lubber," that is, he was on his
first voyage. The doctor at once took the
specimen to his cabin, and he made prepara-
tions to skin and preserve it. In bot haste
a deputation of seamen, headed by the old
gray-haired sailmaker, came aft with a re-
quest that the petrel be set at liberty, say-
ing that otherwise the ship and all on board
would surely suffer. The doctor, somewhat
surprised, intended to set the bird free, bat
his enthusiasm as a naturalist prevailed over
the superstitious warning and when the
sailors had disappeared, the bird was added
to his collection. The fact soon became
known forward among the men, and the
doctor was regarded with black looks by
the crew for the remainder of the voyage.
In the course of time, the good ship anch-
oredin the Hugi River, and that day, at
dinner, the docter suddenly died.
There was, a gathering of the sailors
round the 'windlass that dog -watch, and
the doctor's sudden death was attribut-
ed, by the superstitious sailors, to his
slaughter of the stormy petrel.—[August
St. Nicholas.
AN AWFUL EXPERIENCE.
Three -Men Vast..Away, Ina Small _Sealing
Boat—Two of Them Lost.
Theodore Anderson, a Norwegian sailor
belonging to the. Victoria, B. C., sealing
schooner Arietaa, has just returned. home
from Yokohama by the steamship Empress
of India. He left Victoria on the Arietaa in
the spring intending to spend the season as
he did the last three years in sealing,but an
unfortunate and lamentable occurrence
changed his plans. When about 80 miles
off the port of Yen-os-kima, at 5 o'clock on
the morning of June 1, he and two com-
panions—one a young Portuguese sailor
who was only known'as "Isadore" by his
somewhat limited number of friends on this
const, and the other a man named Johnnie,
who leaves a wife and two children in Vic-
toria—left their vessel in search of seals.
They were separated from their companions
and before rescued the two last named had
'lost their lives. The story of the hardships
and trials they experienced, as related by
Anderson, is as follows :
"We steered in a straight westerly di-
rection after leaving our schooner and con
tinued in this course until 11:30 o'clock that
morning, in the meanwhile losing sight of
our vessel. We then pulled to the wind-
ward far about half a mile and started back
for our schooner, as she was to be in the
same place we left her about 2 o'clock in
the afternoon. We kept pulling in this
coarse until 7 o'clock in the evening. Then,
fearing something was wrong, we listened
for the report of the boom gun, but we
waited for three hours before we heard its
first sound, and, as it seemed to come from
a northeasterly direction, we decided to
trace it up if possible. Until 7 o'clock next
morning our boat was heading in this direc-
tion, but the sound appeared as distant
then as it did. when we first heard it. As
our boat would not ride in the heavy seas
any longer, we were compelled to heave to,
and prepare for the gale which was rising.
We•took the fifteen skins that were in the
boat, the masts, and oars, and tied them
' securely to the.painter for a sea anchor. A
ahrrk, however soon made away with the
skins, and•we wereobligedto replace them
with our guns. As we were about to lash
our ammunition box also to the rope we cap-
sized. All three got into the boat amain and
started to bail the water out, but this was
impossible, ..and we_sat down as low.as we
could in the water. In spite of all we could
•do, the t` capsized repeatedly, and the
-fourth ti Johnnie waslost. In swimming
for the boat I noticed him a short distance
behind me, but when I looked a second time
- be was gone. -WWhether the big shark which
-was around us; and-whieh had devoured a�1
the'provisions we had, madeaway with him
or notj1'could-not_ say., Nevertheless, I
believe that was the cause of his sudden die -
...appearance. The sixth time' the boat cap=
sized Isadore was lost, but as midnight came
-on the waves calmed down and gave me an
opportunity of tailing but my boat. This
work I did with My compass box, which
wan attached teethe_ .boat . After. two days
-and verespentin this forlorn con
-dition I' finally reaeked shore, being led to
land by a light` which I had seen the last
;night 1 was out. The place I landed at
-was a little island. -. ''I crawled out, on land
on. tray hands and feet, and it was but a
:short time until I found two baskets filled
with sea-gull,eggs. Having eaten some of
these I remained there until the next day,
when spine Japanese fishermen came along
3n a boat and }!act=ed meg They could not
hama'=to them and -thl'ey the rest, The took me toseemed to a little villae knout There is a tender sweetness about some
:
Sweet " Good Nicht." You °an't Est tooOuoh
which falls like dew upon the heart. "Good
night !" The little one lisps it as, gowned in
-white, with shining face and hands, and
prayers said, she toddles off to bed. Sisters
and mothers exchange the wish ; parents
and chiidren,-rfriends and friends.
Familar use has robbed it of its signifi-
cance .to us ;