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Updated: May 10, 2025
It was nothing but "haul down and clew up," until we got all the studding-sails in, and the royals, flying-jib, and mizen top-gallant sail furled, and the ship kept off a little, to take the squall. The fore and main top-gallant sails were still on her, for the "old man" did not mean to be frightened in broad daylight, and was determined to carry sail till the last minute.
I'd heard somewhere but where I couldn't recollect that the skipper was a blasphemous man, given to the drink, and passed by the name of Dog Mitchell; but 'twas hearsay only. I reckernised him through the glass. He made no hail at all, but stood leanin' by the mizen and smokin', watchin' what we did. By then the dark was comin' down.
As it grew dark, we observed a light on shore, which some were of opinion was from our boat, but it was evidently too large for that, and we hung up a light to direct our boat, firing our quarter-deck gun, and showing lights in our mizen and fore shrouds, that our boat might find us, as we had fallen to leeward of the island.
The next time I went I cut the cables in pieces, carried off a hawser whole, with a great deal of iron work, and made another raft with the mizen and sprit-sail-yard; but this being so unwieldy, by the too heavy burden I had upon it, and not being able so dextrously to guide it, as the former, both my cargo and I were overturned.
The fore, main and mizen top-gallant-masts make nine and the fore, main and mizen royals make just twelve. Oh, I'm never wrong in anything about a vessel, especially if she is a full-jiggered ship."
She made a stern board until she was heading about south- south-west, when the squared main and mizen topsails began to fill and checked her, whereupon the head yards were squared, the staysail sheet hauled over, the helm steadied, and the old Mercury began to forge ahead, not to stop again, as we hoped, until she should arrive in Sydney Harbour.
The mizen topsail, which was a comparatively new sail, and close-reefed, split, from head to foot, in the bunt; the fore-topsail went, in one rent, from clew to earing, and was blowing to tatters; one of the chain bobstays parted; the spritsail-yard sprung in the slings; the martingale had slued away off to leeward; and, owing to the long dry weather, the lee rigging hung in large bights, at every lurch.
"She's a large ship, sir main and mizen masts both gone," reported Hardy, who had mounted up three or four ratlines of the main-rigging.
Mulford for you sail in only a half-jigger; but Capt. Budd always sailed in a full-jigger and his full-jiggered ship had just twelve masts, and, to prove it to you, I'll give you the names first then, there were the fore, main, and mizen masts "
The Yankee inventor demanded a spare maincap, and cut away one end of the square piece, so as to make it fit the stem-post: through the circle of the cap he introduced a spare mizen topmast: to this he seized a length of junk, another to that, another to that, and so on: to the outside junk he seized a spare maintop-gallant mast, and this conglomerate being now nearly as broad as a rudder, he planked over all.
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