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But not in vain beneath this lofty shade I danced awhile, frail plaything of the seas; Unfit to brave the ampler main with these; Yet, by the instinct which their souls obeyed, Less steadfast, o'er the trackless wave I strayed, And follow still their vanishing trestle-trees.
Now, the second mate and the bo'sun set the carpenter to work upon the spare topmast, bidding him make for it some trestle-trees and bolsters, upon which to lay the eyes of the rigging; but they did not trouble him to shape it. Further, they ordered the same to be fitted to the foretopmast and the spare t'gallant and royal mast.
The examination of the hold led to one curious and not easily explained discovery. The Ella was in gravel ballast, and my search there was difficult and nerve-racking. The creaking of the girders and floor-plates, the groaning overhead of the trestle-trees, and once an unexpected list that sent me careening, head first, against a ballast-tank, made my position distinctly disagreeable.
During the night, and also all the 11th, the volcano was exceedingly troublesome, and made a terrible noise, throwing up prodigious columns of fire and smoke at each explosion, which happened every three or four minutes; and, at one time, great stones were seen high in the air. Besides the necessary work of wooding and watering, we struck the main-top-mast to fix new trestle-trees and back-stays.
I ordered the top-masts to be struck and unrigged, in order to fix to them moveable chocks or knees, for want of which the trestle-trees were continually breaking; the forge to be set up, to make bolts and repair our iron-work; and tents to be erected on shore for the reception of a guard, coopers, sail-makers, etc.
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