LITERATURE.

Globe, Volume I, Issue 53, 31 July 1874, Page 3

LITERATURE.

A PERILOUS PASSAGE ACROSS THE ATLANTIC. [From ‘ Chambers’s Journal.’] I am going to try to describe my passage across the Atlantic, two winters ago, on board the steamship Calabria. The above mentioned vessel is a fine Cunard liner of three thousand tons, and was under the command of Captain M’Micken, a gallant and experienced oflicer. It was a line afternoon when the Calabria swung from her moorings in North river, New York, and dropped slowly down the Hudson towards Sandy Hook, which we passed about eight in the evening. On getting over the bar, full steam was got. The noble ship throbbed under the increased nrcssure of her engine, and steamed boldly out from land. The night was beautiful, though cold. All the passengers were on deck, taking a last glimpse of the lighthouse, which was fast disappearing in I he darkness and the distance. Everybody predicted a favorable voyage. It certainly did look as if we were to have continued line weather, for the barometer was high, and the sky clear. When I retired that night, the old Calabria was stretching herself out like a race horse, and making fourteen knots ai hour, steaming, for there was little or no wind, and we, of course, bad no sail on. The barometer had fallen slightly, and the weather was getting a little thick. Our fellow-passengers wore very agreeable people, and comprised specimens of nearly every nationality. The next day, Friday, was a line smooth day, with no wind to speak of, and we made a line run of three hundred miles. On Saturday, the weather got very thick, and the barometer fell very low. The water si ill continued smooth, comparatively. There was every appearance of heavy weather. The passengers were beginning to look ‘ down ’ a little, especially the sanguine ones. Some of the ladies were seasick, oud there were numerous gaps in the company when it assembled for dinner. Saturday was a fresh line day, with nothing of a sea or wind on. Sunday was very ‘ coarse and squally, and rather a heavy sea on. There was service as usual in the

saloon. Nobody seemed much impressed, for our attention was continually drawn off the sermon to ominous sounds which proceeded from among the crockery in the steward’s pantry. I went to bed early in the evening a little tired ; hut I awakened about eleven o’clock in an unpleasant stale of undcfinablc apprehension. There seem -d lo be a great turmoil going on outside. The steamer was rolling almost on her beam ends. I could hear the pattering of the. sailors’ feet on the deck close, above me, for 1 was in the top berth. Every few seconds a sea would strike the ship and make her tremble till over like a leaf ; then it would rush over the deck with a swish, or dash madly along her side, past the port-holes, with a terrible noise. Now and then, a bigger wave than usual would fall clean on her deck with a heavy thud, which would make the stout iron ship shiver like a frightened horse. I could hear the engine going unceasingly throb, thob, tbob, and the telegraph on the bride at work with its ‘ ting, ting,’ showing that onr brave captain was watching over our safety. Altogether, it was the most dreadful and ‘ eerie’ night I ever spent ; for sleep was out of the question. After a long, long time, I rose, and after having been nearly brained in my attemept to put on my clothes, sallied out into the saloon. All were asleep or in their cabins, and the saloon was in total darkness, There was a grand havoc going on among the plates and tumblers in the steward’s pantry. I made my way forward to the engine room, and looked down therein for a long time. It was certainly a solemn thing lo look down on the immense masses of moving steel, lighted up by the sickly gleam of the swinging lamps, and think over the wonderful devices of man for the ruling of the elements, and the power of these engines against combined wind and sea. To think that down in the dark recesses of the ship there were men working for my safety. Above all, the solemn thought —what can a man, a mere worm do, if God be against him. ‘ No,’ I said to mysel ; ‘we arc all in His hand; He is watching over us; without His consent not a hair from our heads cau be injured.’ I was much cheered by these thoughts : so I groped my way up the companion-ladder, having to hold on at every step, till I reached the top, where there were some seats round the hatch. I sat down for a little, to gather courage lo go out, After a while, I gently opened the door, and slid out, closing it rapidly after me. If I were lo say I was astonished at the sight which met my eyes 1 would be saying too little.

My breath almost left me as I looked around on the appalling scene. It was then about six in the morning, and almost light. The clouds which were of a dull leaden color, were flying like the wind, and so low, that they seemed almost to mingle with the sea. which was one mass of boiling foam. The The waves were rolling in great masses, like mountains, one after another, the wind catching up immense volumes of of spray which actually darkened the air. The seas rose in enormous hills up alongside the brave steamer, and burst over the decks. But the noise of the wind, how can I describe it! It seemed to my ears to have hungry sound, as it roared and screamed through the rigging. The ship was in a miserable condition ; not a boat left, not a bulwark. There were a few fragments of sail left flapping on the yards, and giving cracks like cannon-shots. The ends of the yards dipped into the water as she heeled heavily over almost on her beamcuds, and then pitched over on the other side. The captain was on the bridge ; there wore sailors placed at short intervals up from the bridge to the bows, where there was a look-out stationed, who gave warning when the wave was coming. It was appalling to sec the terrible condition of the ship. The call of ‘ Starboard, starboard,’ from the look-out was kept up till it reached the captain's ears, when ting, ting went the telegraph from the bridge to the steersmen, six in number, who were lashed in the wheelhouse, up to the waist in water. The quartermasters let go the wheel, which whirls round like lightning, and the heavy steamer swings round to meet the mountain, which roars wildly over her bows, and rushes in a torrent down the deck. Every minute this scene was enacted about twice. To give some idea of the force of the wind, I must tell you there was a safety-valve on the steam-pipe, connected with the bridge by a rope, which was securely tied there. Every fresh squall of wind pressed the rope strongly enough to open the valve and let off the steam in a deafening roar. Still it required the united force of two strong men to let off the steam. The steamer was laboring so heavily that often she would throw her screw clean out of the water, and it would revolve like lightning, with a tremendous ‘whir-r-r.’ This added to the noise of the wind through the rigging, the roar of the seas, and the ear-splitting scream of the steam-whistle, made up a babel of noises, the like of which 1 never heard before, and which I shall not forget till my dying day. All this time 1 was standing in the lee of the round-house, holding on to the railings like grim death. Occasionally 1 was drenched from head to foot by the waves, which were pouring over the decks by the tun. I managed to get down below. When I reached the saloon, 1 found numbers of Hie passengers gathered together in knots with white faces and looks of great terror. 1 was immediately assailed with anxious questions : ‘ls it any better now?’ ‘Do you think there is much danger?’ ‘ Did you ever see it as bad as this before?’ Ac. Of course, I could not answer their absurd questions, butsaid that 1 bad never seen anything in the least degree approaching to it, although I had repeatedly crossed the Atlantic before, and seen plenty of ‘ rough ’ weather. Towards the afternoon, the captain made his appearance for a few minutes in the saloon ; he was besieged with eager questions. lie said in his frank, sailor-like way ; ‘ i have sailed the Atlantic man and boy for forty-three years, but I have never seen such a hurricane as this. It is ten to one if wc ever see land again ; 1 am expecting she will heave out her engines or smash her screw every minute.’ Ko saying, bo went on deck again, and wc did not see him again foi five whole days. Night and day did that brave and faithful man face the dreadful hurricane alone, and in an exposed position, almost without food, and at times steering the steamer with his own hands. Many ludicrous things happened, but wc were not exactly in the mood lor enjoying them. At any other time, it would have been extremely laughable to watch the waiters bringing in the dishes for dinner. To see one standing with his back against the saloon door and bracing bis legs thinly on Hie floor, then making a short run in the intervals between the rolls, sidling towards the table always : i ometime his charge would lly from his arms.

and then the roll CQtning, he would be shot down the door with a crash, and bring up against the bulkheads with a smashed plate, and perhaps a rest fowl or such-like reposing gently on the carpeted floor. I always felt inclined to sympathise with the poor fellows, instead of laughing at them, as I should certainly have done hail the weather been finer.

The hurricane gradually grew worse and worse till Tuesday afternoon, when Captain M’Mioken determined to lie to. In accomplishing this manoeuvre we were ‘ pooped ; ’ that is, simply, a wave came thundering over our stern, smashing through the large saloon skylight, and deluging us with several tuns of water, which poured in like a waterfall, and filled it knee-deep. At last, however, the captain wore the ship’s head round to the wind, which eased the steamer perceptibly ; in doing this, he said that before he could bring her head to the wind he had to make a circuit of five miles. In moderate weather, this might be accomplished in about a circuit of three-quarters of a mile. Wc lay to thus for thirty-six hours, when the wind moderating slightly, wc turned, and pursued our way. To make a long story short —this hurricane lasted for live days without abating a hit. Nobody on board the Calabria, I believe, slept a wink all that time, and wc were cooped up in the saloon, nobody being allowed up on deck, for fear of being swept away.

I did not go up again till Friday following. The weather was then very bad, a heavy gale blowing ; but it was mere child’s play in comparison to the live previous days. The Calabria was then steaming aloug very fast, to make up for lost time. We bad lain to for a day and half, and, as a matter of course, drifted a long way off the Cunard track, therefore the hurry. The weather continued very stormy till the Thursday following, when we sighted land ; then the gale commenced again, as if refreshed by its rest, and determined to make a last effort for our destruction. We passed what is called the

‘ Head of Kinsale’ that afternoon. It was a grand sight to see the enormous waves following each in succession, and charging against the high cliffs with a noise like thunder. The spray rose in clouds over the top of the precipices, three hundred feet high, and flung itself inland on the greensward. The Thursday night was very stormy, a heavy gale blowing, and a nasty, short chopping sea. which kept the Calabria’s decks wet, and made her toss about like a nutshell. On the Friday night we arrived off the mouth of the Mersey. It was lowwater, and a dense fog, so the captain wisely determined to lie to for the night. We were up on deck a long time with joy in our hearts, but it was blowing so hard and raining so dismally, that we turned in. All night we could hear our fog-whistle going, and the occasional ‘ whiz ’ of a rocket, which was sent up now and then for a pilot. Nobody came ; so the night passed off slowly and wearily. I awoke about seven next morning, and went on deck. We were steaming up the Mersey, abreast of Liverpool, in the gray dawn and a heavy drizzle of rain. The poor old Calabria was in a pitiable condition—no boats, no bulwarks, dripping docks ; and her red funnel looked as if it been whitewashed, from the incrustation of salt. We had not had dry decks for ten whole clays. Captain M‘Micken said that the only time he had ever seen an approach to such a hurricane and heavy sea was in the Bay of Biscay, the night the steamer City o Loudon was lost.