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And the truth is he came and went the same night; for, when the dawn broke on a cloudy sky the brig, under reefed canvas and smothered in sprays, was storming along to the southward on her way out of the Gulf.
Captain Forsyth, of the Valorous, came on board. Returned his visit. Friday, Aug. 7th. I should have been under way for Simons Bay this morning but for the gale. The bold watermen in all the gale are cruising about the bay under reefed sails, some of them with anchors and cables, ready to assist any ships that may require it.
"Man the fore and main tops'il clew-lines and bunt-lines," sung out Bowse, laying his hand on the main. "Away with it, my lads." The topsails were clewed up, the reef tackles hauled out, and the hands aloft lying in, in as short a time almost as it has taken to describe. Both sails were close reefed, and again sheeted home.
Lowington comprehended the situation of the students, and when the topsails and courses had been reefed, he called up all the stewards, and sent them through the after cabin and steerage, to ascertain the condition of the boys, and to give them the benefit of certain expedients known to old voyagers for such occasions. Jacobs, the steward of the after cabin, entered to perform his duty.
The sea rose rapidly; topsail after topsail was furled; and by dusk the Pacific was flying through the water with the wind on her quarter, under reefed foresail and storm staysail. It was with difficulty that three men at the wheel could keep the helm, such were the blows which the vessel received from the heavy seas on the quarter.
All that day did we chase the privateer, without gaining more than a mile upon her, and it now blew up a furious gale: the topgallant sails had been before taken in; the top-sails were close reefed, and we were running at the speed of nearly twelve miles an hour; still so well did the privateer sail, that she was barely within gunshot when the sun went down below the horizon, angry and fiery red.
Sometimes several seas following each other with great rapidity and thundering down on our decks filled them full to the bulwarks, but soon they were discharged through the lee scuppers. To reef the mainsail we were forced to run off before the gale under the single reefed jib. By the time we had finished the wind had forced up such a tremendous sea that it was impossible to heave her to.
Under her reefed mizzen and reefed storm foresail the lifeboat came ramping over the four miles of tempestuous sea between the mainland and the Goodwins, the sea getting bigger and breaking more at the top of each wave, or 'peeling more, as the Deal phrase goes, the farther they went into the full fetch of the sea rolling up Channel.
Peter Winn, looking up, saw that the pigeon was outdistancing the machine. Then he saw something else. The aeroplane suddenly and instantly became smaller. It had reefed. Its high-speed plane-design was now revealed. Instead of the generous spread of surface with which it had taken the air, it was now a lean and hawklike monoplane balanced on long and exceedingly narrow wings.
We had variable winds and calms till five o'clock in the evening, when it fixed at W.S.W. and soon blew so hard that it put us past our topsail, and split the foresail all to pieces: After getting another to the yard, we continued to stand to the southward under two courses; and at six the next morning, the southermost land in sight bore W. by N. and Cape Saunders N. by W. distant eight leagues: At noon, it bore N. 20 W. fourteen leagues; and our latitude by observation was 46° 36'. The gale continued, with heavy squalls and a large hollow sea all the afternoon; and at seven in the evening, we lay-to under our foresail, with the ship's head to the southward: At noon on the 27th, our latitude was 46° 54', and our longitude from Cape Saunders 1° 24' E. At seven in the evening, we made sail under our courses; and at eight the next morning set the top-sails close reefed.
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