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Updated: May 22, 2025
At this moment the captain came on deck, and mounting into the rigging, surveyed the sail through the glass. Then sweeping his eye round the horizon, he gazed steadily at a particular point. "Take in top-sails," shouted the captain, swinging himself down on the deck by the main-back stay. "Take in top-sails," roared the first mate.
Every one was on the alert, and even the two sick men turned out to lend a hand at the halyards. The wind was now due south-west, and blowing a gale to which a vessel close hauled could have shown no more than a single close-reefed sail; but as we were going before it, we could carry on. Accordingly, hands were sent aloft, and a reef shaken out of the top-sails, and the reefed foresail set.
The extreme precautions adopted or suggested by Newton for security during the night his nervous anxiety during the day became a source of laughter and ridicule to Captain Oughton; who once observed to him, "Newton, my boy, I see how the land lies, but depend upon it the old ship won't tumble overboard a bit sooner than before; so one reef in the top-sails will be quite sufficient."
It was necessary to climb to the spars to let them out, and Dick Sand, not wishing to expose any one of his improvised crew, undertook to do it himself. He then called Tom and put him at the wheel, showing him how he should keep the ship. Then Hercules, Bat, Acteon and Austin being placed, some at the royal halyards, others at those of the top-sails, he proceeded up the mast.
We plainly saw her cream-coloured, or as it is more usual to term it, her yellow streak, dotted with fourteen ports, including the bridle, and gleaming brightly in contrast to the dark and glistening hull, over which the mist and the spray of the ocean cast a species of sombre lustre. The stranger was under his three top-sails, spanker and jib, each of the former sails being double reefed.
It appeared that both vessels had taken shelter in the Humber from stress of weather, nearly at the same time that the Durham, which preceded the Prussian vessel, “clewed up her top-sails, and dropped her anchor rather suddenly; and the Aurora being in the rear, the vessels came in collision.” The question, therefore, was, whether the Durham came to anchor too precipitately, and in an unseamanlike manner; or, in other words, whether, when the “Durham clewed up top-sails and let go her anchor, the Aurora should not have luffed up, or got sternway on her,” &c.
When they reached Gibraltar a heavy west wind was blowing in through the strait. Under lowered top-sails they were compelled to beat up and down under the shelter of the rocks. A large fleet of weather bound vessels kept the George company. It is too deep to anchor here, so the vessels are compelled to keep moving up and down until they get a fair wind to go through the straits into the Adriatic.
By the time the Plantagenet's top-sails were beginning to dip from the cliffs, the Carnatic, the Thunderer, the Blenheim, the Achilles, and the Warspite were all stretching out in line, with intervals of quite two leagues between them, under as much canvass as they could now bear.
The flaws came heavy off the land, and we were forced to reef our top-sails when we opened the middle bay, where we expected to have found our enemy, but saw all clear, and no ships either there or in the other bay near the N.E. end. These are the only bays in which ships can ride that come here for refreshments, the middle one being the best.
"I think she is a man-of-war; but it is so dark, that I cannot make her out very clearly." "Is she standing this way?" "Yes, sir, under top-sails and top-gallant-sails, I think." The officer of the watch went down to report to the captain, who had not yet turned into his cot.
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