A GALE AT CAPE TOWN--ALABAMA GETS UNDER WAY FOR SIMON'S TOWN--CAPTURE OF
THE MARTHA WENZELL--THE TUSCALOOSA; HER STATUS AS SHIP OF WAR
CONSIDERED--THE TUSCALOOSA PROCEEDS TO SEA--THE ALABAMA FOLLOWS HER--THEY,
WITH THE SEA-BRIDE, RENDEZVOUS AT ANGRA PEQUENA.
Having brushed away Mr. Seward's gadfly, as described in the last chapter,
we may turn our attention again to the _Alabama_. On the 7th of August, we
took one of the gales so common at the Cape, in the winter season. Dense
banks of black clouds hove up in the north-west, soon overspreading the
whole heavens, and the wind came out whistling from that quarter. The
reader must bear in mind, that when he crossed into the southern
hemisphere he reversed the points of the compass, so far as wind and
weather are concerned, and that the north-wester, at the Cape of Good
Hope, answers to our south-easter, on the American coast--bringing with it
thick, rainy weather. There was a number of ships in the harbor, and the
gale drove in upon them without the least protection. These ships,
forewarned by the usual signs, had all struck their upper masts, sent down
their yards, and let go second anchors, and veered to long scopes. We did
the same in the _Alabama_.
It was a sublime spectacle to look abroad upon the bay in the height of
the gale. The elements seemed to be literally at war, a low scud rushing
to the shore, and climbing, as if pursued by demons, up and over the
Lion's Rump and Table Mountain. Huge waves were rolling in upon the
struggling shipping, trying its ground-tackle to its utmost tension; the
jetties and landings were covered with spray; and Cape Town, though only
a mile off, looked like a spectre town, as viewed through the spray and
driving scud. And what added much to the interest of the scene, was the
daring and skill of the watermen. These men, in substantial launches,
under close-reefed sails, and with spare anchors and cables on board, for
the use of any ships that might be in distress for want of sufficient
ground-tackle, were darting hither and thither, like so many spirits of
the storm. They seemed to be sporting with the dashing and blinding waves
and the fury of the gale, in very wantonness, as though they would defy
the elements. The ships at anchor were all fortunate enough to hold on;
but a luckless Bremen brig, outside, which had ventured too near the land,
was wrecked, during the night, on Green Point. Fortunately, no lives were
lost.
The gale lasted about twenty-four hours; and when it had sufficiently
abated, we communicated with the shore, and got off such supplies as we
needed; it being my intention to run round to Simon's Town, on the
opposite side of the Cape, where there is shelter from these gales, for
the purpose of completing my repairs. On the 9th, the weather had again
become fine. The wind had gone round to south-east, the fair-weather
quarter, and the Devil had spread his table-cloth on Table Mountain. Every
one has heard of this famous table-cloth at the Cape of Good Hope. It is a
fleecy, white cloud, which hangs perpetually over Table Mountain during
fine weather. The south-east winds, as they climb the steep ascent, bring
with them more or less moisture. This moisture is sufficiently cooled as
it passes over the "table"--a level space on the top of the mountain--to
become condensed into a white vapor, very similar to that which escapes
from a steam-pipe. When the wind shifts, and the storm begins to gather,
the table-cloth disappears.
At nine o'clock, on this morning, we got under way, and steamed out of the
harbor, on our way to Simon's Town. The day was charmingly fine. The
atmosphere was soft and transparent, and the sun bright, bringing out all
the beauties of the bold promontories and the deep-water bays that indent
the coast. We were now really doubling the Cape of Good Hope. As we
approached the famous headland, with its lighthouse perched several
hundred feet above the bold and blackened rocks, our imaginations busy
with the past, endeavoring to depict the frail Portuguese bark, which had
first dared its stormy waters, the cry of "sail ho!" resounded most
musically from the mast-head. Imagination took flight at once, at the
sound of this practical cry. It recalled us from our dream of John of
Portugal, to one Abraham Lincoln and his surroundings. Here was not the
poetical bark, of four centuries ago, that had at last found its way to
those "Indies," which Columbus so long sought for in vain, but a Yankee
ship laden with rice; for an hour's steaming brought us alongside of the
_Martha Wenzell_, of Boston, from Akyab for Falmouth in England. The
_Wenzell_ had better luck than the _Sea-Bride_, for she had clearly
entered the mouth of False Bay, and though seven or eight miles yet from
the land, was within a line drawn from point to point of the Bay. Being
thus within British jurisdiction, I astonished the master by releasing,
instead of burning his ship. He looked so dumfounded when I announced to
him this decision, that if I had been a Yankee, he would, no doubt, have
suspected me of some Yankee trick. He gathered his slow ideas together, by
degrees, however, and was profuse in his thanks. I told him he had none to
give me, for I was only too sorry not to be able to burn him.
We now hauled in for the coast, and taking a pilot, as we approached the
harbor, anchored at two P. M. in Simon's Bay. This is the naval station of
the colony, and we found here the frigate _Narcissus_, wearing the flag of
Rear Admiral Sir Baldwin Walker, the commander-in-chief of the British
naval forces at the Cape. We were visited immediately upon anchoring by a
lieutenant from the flag-ship. The _Tuscaloosa_ had preceded me, as the
reader has seen, a few days, and we found her still here, not having quite
completed her preparations for sea. The gadfly, I found, had been buzzing
around her, too, but her difficulties were all ended. As the
correspondence is short, I will give it to the reader. The Federal Consul
wrote to the Governor, as follows:--
"An armed vessel named the _Tuscaloosa_, claiming to act under the
authority of the so-called Confederate States, entered Simon's Bay,
on Saturday, the 8th instant. That vessel was formerly owned by
citizens of the United States, and while engaged in lawful commerce
[as if lawful commerce was not a subject of capture, during war] was
captured as a prize by the _Alabama_. She was subsequently fitted out
with arms, by the _Alabama_, to prey upon the commerce of the United
States, and now, without having been condemned as a prize, by any
Admiralty Court of any recognized government, she is permitted to
enter a neutral port, in violation of the Queen's proclamation, with
her original cargo on board. Against this proceeding, I, hereby, most
emphatically protest, and I claim that the vessel ought to be given
up to her lawful owners."
It is quite true that the _Tuscaloosa_ had not been condemned by a prize
court of the Confederacy, but it was equally true that the Sovereign Power
of the Confederacy, acting through its authorized agent, had commissioned
her as a ship of war, which was the most solemn condemnation of the prize,
that the Sovereign could give. It was equally true, that no nation has the
right to inquire into the _antecedents_ of the ships of war of another
nation. But these were points beyond the comprehension of the gadfly. The
following was the answer of the Governor. The Colonial Secretary writes:--
"I am directed by the Governor to acknowledge the receipt of your
letter of this date, and to acquaint you, that it was not until late
last evening, that his Excellency received from the Naval
Commander-in-Chief, information, that the condition of the
_Tuscaloosa_ was such as, as his Excellency is advised, to entitle
her to be regarded as a vessel of war. The Governor is not aware, nor
do you refer him to the provisions of the International Law, by which
captured vessels, as soon as they enter our neutral ports, revert to
their original owners, and are forfeited by their captors. But his
Excellency believes, that the claims of contending parties to vessels
captured can only be determined, in the first instance, by the courts
of the captor's country."
We remained five days at Simon's Town. We did not need coal, but we had
some caulking of the bends, and replacing of copper about the water-line
to do, and some slight repairs to put upon our engine. Whilst these
preparations for sea were going on, we had some very pleasant intercourse
with the officers of the station and the citizens on shore. Besides the
_Narcissus_, flag-ship, there were one or two other British ships of war
at anchor. There were some officers stationed at the navy-yard, and there
was a Chinese gunboat, the _Kwan-Tung_, with an English commander and
crew, which had put into the harbor, on her way to the east. Simon's Town
was thus quite gay. The Governor, Sir Philip Wodehouse, also came over
from Cape Town during our stay. Lunches on board the different ships,
excursions on board the _Kwan-Tung_, and dinner-parties were the order of
the day. As I have before remarked, the English naval officers discarded
all the ridiculous nonsense about our not being "recognized," and extended
to us official, as well as private civilities.
The Admiral was kind enough to give me a dinner-party, at which the
Governor, and his lady, and the principal officers of his squadron were
present. I found the ladies of the Admiral's family exceedingly agreeable.
They were living in a picturesque cottage, near the sea-shore, and solaced
themselves for their temporary banishment from "dear old England," by
making their home as English as possible. They had surrounded themselves
by fine lawns and shrubbery and flowers, and Mrs. Walker, and one of the
bewitching young ladies were kind enough to show me over their extensive
and well-cultivated garden, in which they took much interest. Horseback
riding, picnics to the country, and balls on board the ships were the
principal amusements of the young people. Whilst my officers and myself
were thus relaxing ourselves, my sailors were also making the most of
their time. Kell had told them off, by quarter watches, and sent them on
"liberty." Each batch was mustered, and inspected as it was sent on shore,
and pretty soon we had the old Jamaica scenes over again. Most of them
went over to Cape Town, in the stage-coach that was running between the
two places, and put that lively commercial town "in stays." The sailor
quarter was a continuous scene of revelry for several days. The
townspeople humored and spoiled them. They all overstayed their time, and
we only got them back by twos and threes. It was of no use to muster, and
inspect them now. The tidy, new suits, in which they had gone on shore,
were torn and draggled, and old-drunks were upon nearly all of them.
The _Tuscaloosa_ went to sea at daylight on the 14th, and we followed her
in the _Alabama_ the next day. The former was to proceed to Saldanha Bay,
and thence take the _Sea-Bride_ with her to one of the uninhabited
harbors, some distance to the northward, and the _Alabama_ was to follow
her thither, after a cruise of a few days off the Cape. The object of
these movements will be explained in due time. I now threw myself into
that perpetual stream of commerce, that comes setting around the Cape of
Good Hope from the East Indies. From daylight until dark, ships are
constantly in sight from the lighthouse on the Cape. The road is about
twenty miles wide--no more. We kept our station in this road, day in and
day out for ten days, during which we chased and overhauled a great number
of ships, but there was not a Yankee among them! It was winter-time, we
were off the "stormy Cape," and we had the weather suited to the season
and the locality. Storms and fogs and calms followed in succession--the
storm being the normal meteorological condition. As we would be lying to,
in this track, under reefed sails, in a dark and stormy night, our very
hair would sometimes be made to stand on end, by the apparition of a huge
ship rushing past us at lightning speed, before the howling gale, at no
more than a few ships' lengths from us. A collision would have crushed us
as if we had been an egg-shell.
At length, when I supposed the _Tuscaloosa_ and the _Sea-Bride_ had
reached their destination, I filled away and followed them. As we were
making this passage, it was reported to me that our fresh-water condenser
had given out. Here was a predicament! The water was condensed once a
week, and we had no more than about one week's supply on hand. The joints
of the piping had worked loose, and the machine had become nearly useless.
It was now still more necessary to make a harbor, where we might get
access to water, and see what could be done in the way of repairs. We
worked our way along the African coast somewhat tediously, frequently
encountering head-winds and adverse currents. On the morning of the 28th
of August, we sighted the land, after having been delayed by a dense fog
for twenty-four hours, and in the course of the afternoon we ran into the
Bay of Angra Pequena, and anchored. This was our point of rendezvous. I
found the _Tuscaloosa_ and the _Sea-Bride_ both at anchor. I had at last
found a port into which I could take a prize! I was now, in short, among
the Hottentots; no civilized nation claiming jurisdiction over the waters
in which I was anchored.
When at Cape Town, an English merchant had visited me, and made overtures
for the purchase of the _Sea-Bride_ and her cargo. He was willing to run
the risk of non-condemnation by a prize-court, and I could put him in
possession of the prize, he said, at some inlet on the coast of Africa,
without the jurisdiction of any civilized power. I made the sale to him.
He was to repair to the given rendezvous in his own vessel, and I found
him here, according to his agreement, with the stipulated price--about one
third the value of the ship and cargo--in good English sovereigns, which,
upon being counted, were turned over to the paymaster, for the military
chest. The purchaser was then put in possession of the prize. I had made
an arrangement with other parties for the sale of the wool still remaining
on board the _Tuscaloosa_. This wool was to be landed at Angra Pequena,
also, the purchaser agreeing to ship it to Europe, and credit the
Confederate States with two thirds of the proceeds. The reader will see
how easy it would have been for me, to make available many of my prizes in
this way, but the great objection to the scheme, was the loss of time
which it involved, and the risks I ran of not getting back my prize crews.
If I had undertaken, whenever I captured a prize, to follow her to some
out-of-the-way port, and spend some days there, in negotiating for her
sale, and getting back my prize crew, I should not have accomplished half
the work I did. The great object now was to destroy, as speedily as
possible, the enemy's commerce, and to this I devoted all my energies. I
did not, therefore, repeat the experiment of the _Sea-Bride_.
I could not have chosen a better spot for my present purpose. At Angra
Pequena I was entirely out of the world. It was not visited at all, except
by some straggling coaster in quest of shelter in bad weather. There was,
indeed, no other inducement to visit it. It was in a desert part of
Africa. The region was rainless, and there was not so much as a shrub, or
even a blade of grass to be seen. The harbor was rock-bound, and for miles
inland the country was a waste of burning sand. The harbor did not even
afford fresh water, and we were obliged to supply ourselves from the
vessel of my English friend, until our condenser could be repaired. The
whole country was a waste, in which there was no life visible away from
the coast. On the coast itself; there were the usual sea-birds--the gannet
and the sea-gull--and fish in abundance. We hauled the seine, and caught a
fine mess for the crews of all the ships. Three or four naked, emaciated
Hottentots, having seen the ships from a distance, had made their way to
the harbor, and came begging us for food. They remained during our stay,
and had their emptiness filled. Some thirty or forty miles from the coast,
they said, vegetation began to appear, and there were villages and cattle.
I ordered Lieutenant Low, the commander of the _Tuscaloosa_, as soon as he
should land his cargo, to ballast his ship with the rock which abounded on
every hand, and proceed on a cruise to the coast of Brazil. Sufficient
time had now elapsed, I thought, for the ships of war of the enemy, which
had been sent to that coast, in pursuit of me, to be coming in the
direction of the Cape of Good Hope. Lieutenant Low would, therefore, in
all probability, have a clear field before him. Having nothing further to
detain me in the _Alabama_, I got under way, on my return to Simon's Town,
intending to fill up with coal, and proceed thence to the East Indies, in
compliance with the suggestion of Mr. Secretary Mallory. The _Tuscaloosa_,
after cruising the requisite time on the coast of Brazil, was to return to
the Cape to meet me, on my own return from the East Indies.
When I reached the highway off the Cape again, I held myself there for
several days, cruising off and on, and sighting the land occasionally, to
see if perchance I could pick up an American ship. But we had no better
success than before. The wary masters of these ships, if there were any
passing, gave the Cape a wide berth, and sought their way home, by the
most unfrequented paths, illustrating the old adage, that "the farthest
way round is the shortest way home." Impatient of further delay, without
results, on Wednesday, the 16th of September, I got up steam, and ran into
Simon's Bay. I learned, upon anchoring, that the United States steamer
_Vanderbilt_, late the flag-ship of Admiral Wilkes, and now under the
command of Captain Baldwin, had left the anchorage, only the Friday
before, and gone herself to cruise off the Cape, in the hope of falling in
with the _Alabama_. She had taken her station, as it would appear, a
little to the eastward of me, off Cape Agulhas and Point Danger. On the
day the _Vanderbilt_ went to sea, viz., Friday, the 11th of September, it
happened that the _Alabama_ was a little further off the land than usual,
which accounts for the two ships missing each other. The following is the
record on my journal, for that day: "Weather very fine, wind light from
the south-west. At half-past six, showed the English colors to an English
bark, after a short chase." On the following Sunday, we were in plain
sight of Table Mountain. The two ships were thus cruising almost in sight
of each other's smoke.
The _Vanderbilt_ visited both Cape Town, and Simon's Town, and lay several
days at each. I did not object that she had been "painting ship," and
should have been sent to sea earlier. The more time Baldwin spent in port,
the better I liked it. Indeed, it always puzzled me, that the gadflies
should insist upon my being sent to sea so promptly, when nearly every day
that the _Alabama_ was at sea, cost them a ship.
I had scarcely come to anchor, before Captain Bickford, of the
_Narcissus_, came on board of me, on the part of the Admiral, to have an
"explanation." The gadfly had continued its buzzing, I found, during my
late absence from the Cape. A short distance to the northward of the Cape
of Good Hope, in the direction of Angra Pequena, there is an island called
Ichaboe, a dependency of the Cape colony. It had been represented to the
Admiral, by the Consul, that the transactions which have been related as
taking place at Angra Pequena, had taken place at this island, in
violation of British neutrality. In what the evidence consisted I did not
learn, but the Consul, in his distress and extremity, had probably had
recourse to some more Yankee affidavits. It was this charge which Captain
Bickford had come on board to ask an explanation of. The following letter
from Sir Baldwin Walker, to the Secretary of the Admiralty in London, will
show how easily I brushed off the gadfly, for the second time:--
"With reference to my letters, dated respectively the 19th and 31st
ult., relative to the Confederate States ship-of-war _Alabama_, and
the prizes captured by her, I beg to enclose, for their lordships
information, the copy of a statement forwarded to me by the Collector
of Customs at Cape Town, wherein it is represented, that the
_Tuscaloosa_ and _Sea-Bride_ had visited Ichaboe, which is a
dependency of this colony. Since the receipt of the above-mentioned
document, the _Alabama_ arrived at this anchorage, (the 16th
instant,) and when Captain Semmes waited on me, I acquainted him with
the report, requesting he would inform me if it was true. I was glad
to learn from him that it was not so. He frankly explained that the
prize _Sea-Bride_, in the first place, had put into Saldanha Bay,
through stress of weather, and on being joined there, by the
_Tuscaloosa_, both vessels proceeded to Angra Pequena, on the west
coast of Africa, where he subsequently joined them in the _Alabama_,
and there sold the _Sea-Bride_ and her cargo, to an English subject
who resides at Cape Town. The _Tuscaloosa_ had landed some wool at
Angra Pequena, and received ballast, but he states, is still in
commission as a tender. It will, therefore, be seen, how erroneous is
the accompanying report. I have no reason to doubt Captain Semmes'
explanation; and he seems to be fully alive to the instructions of
her Majesty's Government, and appears to be most anxious not to
commit any breach of neutrality. The _Alabama_ has returned to this
port for coal, some provisions, and to repair her condensing
apparatus. From conversation with Captain Semmes, I find he has been
off this Cape for the last five days, and as the _Vanderbilt_ left
this, on the night of the 11th inst., it is surprising they did not
meet each other."
The _Vanderbilt_, I found, had exhausted the supply of coal at Simon's
Town, having taken in as much as eight or nine hundred tons. Commodore
Vanderbilt, as he is called, had certainly presented a mammoth
coal-consumer to the Federal Government, if nothing else. I was obliged,
in consequence, to order coal for the _Alabama_, around from Cape Town.
And as the operation of coaling and making the necessary repairs would
detain me several days, and as I was, besides, bound on a long voyage, I
yielded to the petitions of my crew, and permitted them to go on liberty
again. The officers of the station were as courteous to us as before, and
I renewed my very pleasant intercourse with the Admiral's family. The
owner of the famous Constantia vineyard, lying between Simon's Town and
Cape Town, sent me a pressing invitation to come and spend a few days with
him, but I was too busy to accept his hospitality. He afterward sent me a
cask of his world-renowned wine. This cask of wine, after making the
voyage to India, was offered as a libation to the god of war. It went down
in the _Alabama_ off Cherbourg. We had another very pleasant dinner at the
Admiral's--the guests being composed, this time, exclusively of naval
officers. After our return to the drawing-room, the ladies made their
appearance, and gave us some delightful music. These were some of the
oases in the desert of my life upon the ocean.
In the course of five or six days, by the exercise of great diligence, we
were again ready for sea. But unfortunately all my crew were not yet on
board. My rascals had behaved worse than usual, on this last visit to Cape
Town. Some of them had been jugged by the authorities for offences against
the peace, and others had yielded to the seductions of the ever vigilant
Federal Consul, and been quartered upon his bounty. The Consul had made a
haul. They would be capital fellows for "affidavits" against the
_Alabama_. I need not say that they were of the cosmopolitan sailor class,
none of them being citizens of the Southern States. I offered large
rewards for the apprehension and delivery to me of these fellows; but the
police were afraid to act--probably forbidden by their superiors, in
deference to their supposed duty under the neutrality laws. That was a
very one-sided neutrality, however, which permitted the Federal Consul to
convert his quarters into a hostile camp, for the seduction of my sailors,
and denied me access to the police for redress. My agent at Cape Town,
having made every exertion in his power to secure the return of as many of
my men as possible, finally telegraphed me, on the evening of the 24th of
September, that it was useless to wait any longer. As many as fourteen had
deserted; enough to cripple my crew, and that, too, with an enemy's ship
of superior force on the coast.
What was to be done? Luckily there was a remedy at hand. A
sailor-landlord, one of those Shylocks who coin Jack's flesh and blood
into gold, hearing of the distress of the _Alabama_, came off to tell me
that all his boarders, eleven in number, had volunteered to supply the
place of my deserters. This seemed like a fair exchange. It was but
"swapping horses," as the "sainted Abraham" would have said, if he had
been in my place--only I was giving a little "boot"--fourteen well-fed,
well-clothed fellows, for eleven ragged, whiskey-filled vagabonds. It was
a "swap" in another sense, too, as, ten to one, all these eleven fellows
were deserters from other ships that had touched at this "relay house" of
the sea. There was only one little difficulty in the way of my shipping
these men. There was my good friend, her Majesty, the Queen--I must not be
ungallant to her, and violate her neutrality laws. What monstrous sophists
we are, when interest prompts us? I reasoned out this case to my entire
satisfaction. I said to myself, My sailors have gone on shore in her
Majesty's dominions, and refuse to come back to me. When I apply to her
Majesty's police, they tell me that so sacred is the soil of England, no
man must be coerced to do what he doesn't want to do. Good! I reply that a
ship of war is a part of the territory to which she belongs, and that if
some of the subjects of the Queen should think proper to come into my
territory, and refuse to go back, I may surely apply the same principle,
and refuse to compel them.
When I had come to this conclusion, I turned to the landlord, and said:
"And so you have some _gentlemen_ boarding at your house, who desire to
take passage with me?" The landlord smiled, and nodded assent. I
continued: "You know I cannot ship any seamen in her Majesty's ports, but
I see no reason why I should not take passengers to sea with me, if they
desire to go." "Certainly, your honor--they can work their passage, you
know." "I suppose you'll charge something for bringing these gentlemen on
board?" "Some'at, your honor." Here the landlord pulled out a greasy
memorandum, and began to read. "Bill Bunting, board and lodging, ten
shillings--drinks, one pound ten. Tom Bowline, board and lodging, six
shillings--Tom only _landed_ yesterday from a Dutch ship--drinks, twelve
shillings." "Hold!" said I; "never mind the board and lodging and
drinks--go to the paymaster,"--and turning to Kell, I told him to give the
paymaster the necessary instructions,--"and he will pay you your _fares_
for bringing the passengers on board." The "passengers" were already
alongside, and being sent down to the surgeon, were examined, and passed
as sound and able-bodied men.
It was now nine o'clock at night. It had been blowing a gale of wind, all
day, from the south-east; but it was a fair-weather gale, if I may use the
solecism; the sky being clear, and the barometer high. These are notable
peculiarities of the south-east gales at the Cape of Good Hope. The sky is
always clear, and the gale begins and ends with a high barometer. I was
very anxious to get to sea. A report had come in, only a day or two
before, that the _Vanderbilt_ was still cruising off Cape Agulhas, and I
was apprehensive that she might get news of me, and blockade me. This
might detain me several days, or until I could get a dark night--and the
moon was now near her full--in which to run the blockade. I need not
remark that the _Vanderbilt_ had greatly the speed of me, and threw twice
my weight of metal. The wind having partially lulled, we got up steam, and
at about half-past eleven, we moved out from our anchors. The lull had
only been temporary, for we had scarcely cleared the little islands that
give a partial protection to the harbor from these south-east winds, when
the gale came whistling and howling as before. The wind and sea were both
nearly ahead, and the _Alabama_ was now put upon her metal, under steam,
as she had been so often before, under sail. False Bay is an immense sheet
of water, of a horse-shoe shape, and we had to steam some twenty miles
before we could weather the Cape of Good Hope, under our lee. We drove her
against this heavy gale at the rate of five knots per hour.
This struggle of the little ship with the elements was a thing to be
remembered. The moon, as before remarked, was near her full, shedding a
flood of light upon the scene. The Bay was whitened with foam, as the
waters were lashed into fury by the storm. Around the curve of the
"horse-shoe" arose broken, bald, rocky mountains, on the crests of which
were piled fleecy, white clouds, blinking in the moonlight, like banks of
snow. These clouds were perfectly motionless. It appeared as if the
D----l had spread a great many "table-cloths" around False Bay, that
night; or, rather, a more appropriate figure would be, that he had
touched the mountains with the stillness of death, and wreathed them with
winding-sheets. The scene was wild and weird beyond description. It was a
picture for the eye of a poet or painter to dwell upon. Nor was the
imagination less touched, when, from time to time, the revolving light
upon the grim old Cape--that Cape which had so long divided the Eastern
from the Western world--threw its full blaze upon the deck of the
struggling ship. Overhead, the sky was perfectly clear, there being not so
much as a speck of a cloud to be seen--and this in the midst of a howling
gale of wind! At three A. M. we cleared the Cape, and keeping the ship off
a few points, gave her the trysails, with the bonnets off. She bounded
over the seas like a stag-hound unleashed. I had been up all night, and
now went below to snatch some brief repose before the toils of another day
should begin.