etofore. The
opportunity was immediately taken of erecting jury-masts, and all hands
were employed on this important work. To do this we had to use all the
studden-sail-booms and spare spars on board. When completed and set up,
they were pronounced to be equal if not superior to any ever before
under similar circumstances fitted at sea. The captain looked at them
with no little satisfaction, and complimenting the ship's company on
what had been done, called the officers aft, and informed them that he
was resolved to attempt once more to reach the coast of America. Had
there been a war with France, we should have been eager to get to our
station, but as we expected to have little enough to do in putting down
the American rebellion, I cannot say that our captain's announcement was
received with any great satisfaction. For several days we made
tolerably fair progress, but on the 2nd of December a gale of wind
sprang up, and carried away our jury-main-topmast and top-yard, and
split the sail from clew to earing. During the whole of this month the
weather continued as boisterous as at the commencement. Disaster
followed disaster in quick succession. Among others, we lost four
top-masts, six topsail-yards, one mainsail and one foresail, two
topsails and one fore-topsail, besides which the cover of the arm-chest
fell out of the mizen-top, and, striking the gunner, knocked out four of
his teeth, broke his shoulder in two places, and cut his right eye in
the most shocking manner. He was carried below in great agony, and his
life was despaired of. I need not mention any more of the accidents we
encountered. It may be supposed that by this time we were in a
tolerably forlorn condition, with nearly every yard of our spare canvas
expended, and with scarcely a spar remaining to replace our jury-masts,
should they be carried away. Unpleasant, however, as was our position,
I must say that we respected our captain for his perseverance, though it
had become the pretty generally received opinion on board, both fore and
aft, that we were destined never to reach our station. All sorts of
stories were going the round of the decks. An old woman near Plymouth,
Mother Adder-fang she was called, had been heard to declare, two nights
before the ship went out of harbour, that not a stick of the Orpheus
would ever boil a kettle on English ground. Another was said to have
cursed the ship and all on board. Then we had a fine variety of