h which to hoist them in; for I was obliged to lower
the mainsail whenever the halyards were used for such purposes, and it
was no small matter to hoist the large sail again. But the
turtle-steak was good. I found no fault with the cook, and it was the
rule of the voyage that the cook found no fault with me. There was
never a ship's crew so well agreed. The bill of fare that evening was
turtle-steak, tea and toast, fried potatoes, stewed onions; with
dessert of stewed pears and cream.

Sometime in the afternoon I passed a barrel-buoy adrift, floating
light on the water. It was painted red, and rigged with a signal-staff
about six feet high. A sudden change in the weather coming on, I got
no more turtle or fish of any sort before reaching port. July 31 a
gale sprang up suddenly from the north, with heavy seas, and I
shortened sail. The _Spray_ made only fifty-one miles on her course
that day. August 1 the gale continued, with heavy seas. Through the
night the sloop was reaching, under close-reefed mainsail and bobbed
jib. At 3 P.M. the jib was washed off the bowsprit and blown to rags
and ribbons. I bent the "jumbo" on a stay at the night-heads. As for
the jib, let it go; I saved pieces of it, and, after all, I was in
want of pot-rags.

On August 3 the gale broke, and I saw many signs of land. Bad weather
having made itself felt in the galley, I was minded to try my hand at
a loaf of bread, and so rigging a pot of fire on deck by which to bake
it, a loaf soon became an accomplished fact. One great feature about
ship's cooking is that one's appetite on the sea is always good--a
fact that I realized when I cooked for the crew of fishermen in the
before-mentioned boyhood days. Dinner being over, I sat for hours
reading the life of Columbus, and as the day wore on I watched the
birds all flying in one direction, and said, "Land lies there."

Early the next morning, August 4, I discovered Spain. I saw fires on
shore, and knew that the country was inhabited. The _Spray_ continued
on her course till well in with the land, which was that about
Trafalgar. Then keeping away a point, she passed through the Strait of
Gibraltar, where she cast anchor at 3 P. M. of the same day, less than
twenty-nine days from Cape Sable. At the finish of this preliminary
trip I found myself in excellent health, not overworked or cramped,
but as well as ever in my life, though I was as thin as a reef-point.

[Illustration: Coming to anchor at Gibr