Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: June 13, 2025
"A number of the natives now rushed in at the cabin door, while others jumped down through the skylight, and others were employed in cutting the lanyards of the rigging of the stays. At the same time, four of our crew jumped overboard off the foreyard, but were picked up by some canoes that were coming from the shore, and immediately bound hand and foot.
The studding-sail boom of the foreyard, which had been carelessly left out, had been broken off short in the earing, from the pressure of the wind on the bare spar. The roaring of the wind through the rigging was such as only one who has heard it can conceive.
He said no more; the cutwater of the stranger touched their sides; one general cry was raised by the sailors of the Utrecht, they sprang to catch at the rigging of the other vessel's bowsprit, which was now pointed between their masts they caught at nothing nothing there was no shock no concussion of the two vessels the stranger appeared to cleave through them her hull passed along in silence no cracking of timbers no falling of masts the foreyard passed through their mainsail, yet the canvas was unrent the whole vessel appeared to cut through the Utrecht, yet left no trace of injury not fast, but slowly, as if she were really sawing through her by the heaving and tossing of the sea with her sharp prow.
Next day, February 5, at eight o'clock, the raft was finished. John had given all his attention to the building of this structure. The foreyard, which did very well for mooring the anchors, was quite inadequate to the transport of passengers and provisions. What was needed was a strong, manageable raft, that would resist the force of the waves during a passage of nine miles.
She remained dodging about and occasionally burning port-fires for fully another hour by which time we had sunk her to her foreyard below the horizon, as viewed from our deck and then, as she discontinued her pyrotechnic display, we lost sight of her.
He tumbled backwards, and the sails all being loosened to air them and the topsail yard at the mast head, he fell over it, broke his fall on the foreyard, clutched at the reef points of the foresail, and then tumbled headfirst into the jolly-boat which lay at the bow, and was smashed to pieces.
He fired, and the enemy's foreyard came instantly down. The effect was to throw her up into the wind, in which position she received a raking broadside from the Ruby. "That's your doing, True Blue. All at the gun saw it I know they did." "Yes, that was True Blue's shot, as sure as a gun!" cried Tom Marline. "You shall have as many more as you like, Billy."
She sat very low in the water, and might have been sworn to as a slaver as far away as she could be seen, her raking masts being short and stout, and her yards of enormous proportionate length her foreyard measuring no less than seventy-eight feet with a truly astonishing spread of beautifully cut canvas.
Two men at this moment lay out on his larboard foreyard arm, apparently with the intention of splicing the sheet, and getting the clew of the fore topsail once more down to the yard; if they had succeeded in this, the vessel would again have fetched way, and drawn out from under our fire.
At 1 P.M., shifted our berth nearer to the shore, for the convenience of coaling, mooring head and stern with a hawser to the shore. Received on board thirty tons by 9 P.M.; sent down the foreyard for repairs. Quarantined the paymaster and surgeon for being out of the ship after hours, but upon the explanations of the former, released them both.
Word Of The Day
Others Looking