esenting a letter of the
alphabet. The questions usually asked were, "Where are you from?"
"Where bound?" "How many days out?" and then a wish for a pleasant
passage. My experience in running down the Easting has always been
the same and I have made the trip a number of times. I have heard of
ships running across the Indian Ocean with royals set but whenever I
have been, we have had a succession of heavy gales. In thirty-six
degrees fifty minutes south and Lon. twenty-nine degrees fifty-nine
minutes east a heavy gale sprung up which gradually turned into a
hurricane. The barometer was falling fast when I retired and at
eleven o'clock it stood at 28.50. I have merely to close my eyes now
and I can hear the wind as it shrieked and roared about us. We ran
before those mountainous seas with but one thought and that to keep
them from breaking over the ship. All hands were on deck all night,
each one lashed, with the exception of those who were between decks
passing out oil cases which were broken open and thrown overboard by
those on deck. Fifteen hundred cases were used that night with good
effect. The seas were as high but the oil prevented them from
breaking over the ship. During the worst of the gale one man was
washed overboard but his loss was not discovered for nearly twenty
minutes, and even if it had been, nothing could have been done to
save him in such tremendous seas. Clark Russell says that the
grandeur and sublimity of the ocean can be best seen on a yard arm
during a gale of wind, but somehow I have not been able to make
those words applicable to the gales through which I have passed.
Through our ninety degrees of Easting I had but little exercise. The
lee side of the cabin usually found me with my books, work and
numerous small articles for ready use. I think the most exercise I
had during those days was when I tried to dress, as it was almost
impossible to stand in one spot any length of time on account of the
rolling and pitching of the ship. With a firm stand I would place
myself in front of my mirror, only to gradually slide away across
the room to a lounge where I would sit down, then I would climb back,
and with as much speed as possible do what I could before
disappearing again. In a length of time I was able to make my toilet,
and when made it was not changed during the day in those latitudes.

They were certainly strenuous days, but we were well and had good
appetites for the excellent meals which w