United States or Gabon ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !


Bereft of his spectacles, he peered short-sightedly across at the Chancellor of the Exchequer. In turn, the talking man of the windward coast, the talking man of the leeward coast, and the talking man of the mountain villages, each backed by his group of lesser talking men and chiefs, arose and made oration. What they said was much the same. They grumbled about the paper money.

I therefore determined to get well to leeward of the spot where my calculations indicated that I ought to find them, and from there work to windward on an easy bowline, making stretches of some twenty-six miles in length.

What became of the brig, and whether she outlived the gale or not, we never knew, for she continued her erratic course to leeward, and we lost sight of her in about an hour and a half from the time when she so nearly fell on board us, and we saw her no more.

He rather wondered that, instead of running off the wind, the captain had not put her about so as to take her position to windward instead of to leeward of the vessel behind; but he soon arrived at the object of the maneuver.

It was a perfect mess; a score of ropes flying at once; the men rolling about and holding on; the sails slapping like mad, and ends of rigging streaming off to leeward. After an exhausting fight the mainsail was furled, the upper half of the topsail set close-reefed, and everything hauled taut again.

"Give way, men!" cried the lieutenant, on our getting out into the open sea the next moment beyond the hull of the derelict, the coxswain heading the cutter directly for our ship, which had run down to leeward of the wreck so that we could fetch her more easily. "Pull all you can, my lads. Our lives depend on it!"

"Starboard the helm," cried McAllister, in a deep tone, without the slightest sign of agitation. It was doubtful if the vessel would feel the effect of the helm sufficiently to prevent her drifting bodily to leeward. On we drove. Another moment might see the vessel and all on board hurled to destruction.

I did not expect that our anchor would hold; I gave out, however, plenty of cable and watched the result at the prow, Jose placing himself at the helm, and the men standing by the jib and foresail, so as to be ready if we dragged to attempt the passage of the Marai spit, which was now almost dead to leeward.

No sooner had the Ville de Paris struck her colours, which "went down with the setting sun," than the Russell made sail in chase of one of the French ships which had deserted her chief, as also did Sir Samuel Hood; but their noble efforts were arrested by the night signal to bring to, which put an end to the battle in that quarter: and although Commodore Affleck in the Bedford, and three others, who did not see the signal, continued the chase, they were unable to come up with the enemy, who escaped to leeward in small divisions and single ships, leaving the Ville de Paris, the Glorieux, the Hector, and Cæsar, in possession of the English.

In about an hour more the schooner was within a mile of the ship, and now altered her course so as to range up within a cable's length of her to leeward. Cain stood upon the gunwale and hailed. The answer was in Portuguese. 'Heave to, or I'll sink you! replied he in the same language.