THE CITY OF SYDNEY. IN A GALE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIV, Issue 118, 19 May 1879, Page 4

THE CITY OF SYDNEY. IN A GALE.

Tho "San Francisco Call" has the following :— A paesecg-r by the steamer City of Syduey, which Bailed from Auckland on the 4:h of Match and arrived at Son Francisco, furnishes the following account of a gale encountered by the vessel off the Tonga Islands : — On the morning of the 7th I left ray berth about hfllf-pnst five, and noticed that we had a fine strong windjfrora the Gouth-eaßt nearly across our track, ac-companied-by hiL'h sen. Presently I felt the chip rise for a " pitch," and looking toward the bows, I observe-] a tremendous wave coming from the corth-enßt, directly in our trnek, and alrooßt at right angles with the win-J. In about ICO eoconds a second great wave followed, and this limn if. slopped tight over our bulwarks. P/oeeeding forward, I learned that tho barometer ha.l fallen rapidly during the night, from fine weather indicaMons to below 29. Eight hours afterwards we »1! sit in the Social Hall. We had had no breakfast lo spsak of, no luncheon, and there was a certainty of no dinner, becans* the verandah had become impassable between the -cooking-galley and the dining-saloon. All the windows aud doors on the weather side of the Social Hall were close fastened. The windows were double, and both were drawn across the opening, yet (he wind was driving in the epraylike rain, and everything and every orifice was whistling and shrieking like a million of maniacs. Every place end every person was saturated with water, and the only eound that reached our eara in tho intervals of the battle was that of the water on tbe robin deck p&ssagea fal • ling in heavy cascades through the ventilation openings into the dining-ealoan nnd lower deck rooms, and the shouts of the stewards and sailors as they tried . to stay its progrese. Suddenly a sound as of a distant explosion reached .our ears This was followed immediately by h tremendous pounding upon the toof of the Social Hal!. The mizen staysail had burst from the bolt-ropes, ■and the blocks, ropes, and pieces of canvas were thumping with all their might overhead. I Bucceeded in pulling back the cover from a window and looked out. Nothing was visible except spray, rushing pest horizontally with almost incredible speed. Sea aud air seemed one, and out of this chaos of madly-flying wind and water there leaped upon deck masses of solid green waves, which almost as instantly turned into spray and foam, and rushed furiously across the deck. Never did I witness so awful, so grand, so terrible a -eight. I watched anxiously for a lull when I could catch sight of some of the objects between the Social Hall cud the bow of tbe vessel. At last I caught a glimpse of the low itaelf . as it -fell slowly and painfully with a downward' plunge inio the ecu. From that moment I felt safe. The nobla ship, although she. ley heeled over at an angle of nearly forty-five degrees, as she. made the p'unge, tossed off the waves from her pigeon -head in ' a w«y tint showed ehe was no diver, I and meant to remain above water. My - vision of the bow of tba vessel wa3 almost as instantaneous as that revealed by a flash of lightning, bat tbe \ interval, short as it was, showed to the watchful officers and crew the condition of the staysail. I saw the chief officer ■ wave his armß in the air as a signal to the sailors, and then a rush of shrieking foam and epray across the deck con- . cealed everything from view — sailors, masts, smoke-stack, deck and all. la about ten or fifteen minutes afterwards the wrecked sail eeeraed to have been gathered in or cut away, and the passengers once more breathed freely. Just then the ship heeled over almost on her beam-ends, and a greaiiwave struck her a mighty blow. , The larch caused a chair, screwed to the floor, to ■ : burst from its moorings, and a gallant major was sent flying through the open 1 door toward tbe lee bulwarks. If the rails of the iron bulwarks had been set a little further apart, the gallant major would probably now be drilling a corps of mermaids somewhere near the Tonga , Islands, but luckily for him be did not .■' fit the opening, and stack fast by the neck. Hour after hour we sat silent and wretched; and soaked with salt 'water. Nobody read, nobody looked to the right or left, and all seemed to await the coming of night. Presently a kind of whisper went round that the hutricane-deck was going, I crept, holding on, to the doorway and looked put. I saw that tbe iron railings round the stern of the vessel and also the ; steering wheel had been left standing in mid-air, Tbe deck had gone from tinder them, and other portions of it ; wero breaking away with every sea. The question instantly occurred— had the smoking-room bulkhead gone too ? and we listened for the sound of rushing waters on the deck below. Presently Captain Dearborn went to the edge of the broken deck and looked down into the boiling sea. He seemed to be considering what he should do. • As he retarned along the deck he looked in at our rather dismal crowd, and was juat going to say something when a sailor presented himself at the door and said, " Please, sir, the engineer Bays the engine room is — — ." " All right; tell him I'll be down presently." Away weut the sailor, and • away followed the captain. • What's wrong in the engine-room ? Had the sea broken in there also ? Heaven held us if that has happened ! a In i three or four minutes after the captain had left as we perceived that -the chip's courae had |been changed

hi*al to wind, so that the. heavy spcs could inflictno further damage on the broken deck. DuriDg the night the wind and sea moderated, end next morning we found the ship again pursuing her proper course. For 24 hours the pussengershnd had nothing to eat. For 36 hours the captain and hia officers had neither eaten nor drank, nor luin down to rest. As soon gs the doors coulj he opened, and it wa3 reasonably cafe to walk along the verandah, I went along it to. see wbat amount of damage we had sustained. It was a Bij;ht. Bfato-rooma wrecked ; doors rff their bingos; windows knocked in and smashed. I looked into the engine-room. The engines were encrusted with salt, in some places heaped like snow upon a snow drift. The sheep-pan had dead sheep in it. The poultry boxes were strewu with dead Hrds. I went, to the stern of the ship to see what had becomo of the smokingroom and tbe other "conveniences." The smuking-room wa3 there, but all tbe tables nnd like fittings had gone to isea on their own account, and as to the oiber "convenience," most of them were non est. About three noire after the usual time of breakfast, the stewards managed to put some food for the hungry pnsaengeis on the table, and a few of us assembled and ate, attended by limping waiters, with blackened eyes, and bandaged heads. No less thau five of them were off duty and in hospital with more serious ailments. Next day the gala was succeeded by fine weather, and,, the hurricane deck presented the appearance of a Russian Fair. Everybody'tj cloibiug was spread out to dry, and men, women, and children lay exhausted over the deck. It took three or four days more to restore /.lungs to their usual coarse and people to their accustomed chaerfulnees. " Captain," said I to him a few days afterward, •'" now that it's nil over, and everybody alive and well, what do you say about that little breeza we have just paasud through?" "Ihuvebeen in many a gale of wind,'! said he, " but I never waa in one before like that. JSTo inna who ha-l not walked tha open deck e»n imagine the full force of that gale." I do not wish to sse another 'like it. again,