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He saved his ship on one occasion, when she was becalmed and practically surrounded by a powerful British fleet, by "kedging" in other words, sending a row-boat out with an anchor, which was dropped as far ahead as the boat could take it, and the ship pulled up to it by means of the windlass.
Moreover, while the original channel first ran north, then north-east, for the twelve miles that were only to be covered by kedging before it ultimately changed its course to south in which direction the point of ultimate egress lay, the new channel left Mercury Basin at its western, or leeward, extremity, running first west, then south-west, and ultimately south, straight out to sea.
True, some of these stretches were so short that Gurney believed the Mercury could be carried through them by making a half- board; but this would be a somewhat hazardous experiment, unless the wind chanced to veer a point or two in our favour, while, even then, there were other stretches that could only be traversed by kedging.
Just then the Venus took the mud; she grounded just as a huge fat sow knuckles quietly ere stretching herself. "All aback forrard!" sings out Bill Martin, with a loud silly laugh. We were a brig of a hundred and eighty tons, and there was nothing to be done with poling; nor was kedging going to help us at this the first quarter of ebb.
After great persuasion, we induced one of them to accompany us to the ship, and pilot her to the Sarawak. Light and variable winds prevented our arrival at the mouth of the river until the evening of the following day. From thence, after two days' incessant kedging and towing, we anchored off the town of Kuchin, on the morning of the 8th instant.
I was curious, too, to see the latter part. I came to a point where the rain of little sentences, pattering out like small shot, ceased abruptly. It was at the end of 9th September. That day, with its 'kedging' and 'boom-dodging', was filled in with the usual detail. The log then leapt over three days, and went on: '13th. Sept. Wind W.N.W. fresh. Decided to go to Baltic. Sailed 4 a.m.
The captain of one of the enemy's frigates now sees the game, and tries kedging, but does not get near enough to throw a shot. Three of the pursuing frigates open fire at long range, without doing any damage. All day long this pursuit is kept up. Every gun is loaded, ready to fire. The men rest by the cannon, with their rammers and their sponges beside them. All the next day the chase goes on.
"Starboard a little, Mr Jones, there is rather too much cable out, till the tide makes stronger. I presume you are not used to kedging, captain. It's a very pretty thing, as you will acknowledge. Starboard yet. Give her the helm quick, Mr Thompson.
They kept at this kedging till midnight, and later, dropping the anchor ahead from the small boat, then hauling the ship up to it by the chain and steam windlass with the variations splendid exercise for all hands. At first the flat, as it drew less than we did, was left behind a little, and our ship did this fighting with sand and water alone.
The working of the ship, and her progress to windward, seemed to delight him, for he said she went to windward as though she were kedging. Tuesday, Oct. 20th. Having got everything ready, we set the agent ashore, who went up to the mission to hasten down the hides for the next morning.
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