Mr Wood, the shipbuilder, took us into his office, and there laid
before us a sail draught, which he had carefully prepared for the
guidance of the sailmaker, in making the _Water Lily's_ sails.
"You have never told me, gentlemen," said he, "_why_ you are having this
little craft built; but the great pains which you have taken in the
preparation of her design, and the whole tenour of your remarks when
giving us the order to build her, impressed me at the time with a
conviction that her destiny is to be something beyond that of most
vessels of her size. As we proceeded with our work, I could not fail to
be struck (as you will perhaps remember I was at my first glance at your
drawing) with the fact, that whilst she is eminently calculated to prove
a wonderfully fine little sea-boat, she is equally certain to develop
most extraordinary sailing powers; and so great is the interest I take
in her, that I could not be satisfied with intrusting the preparation of
her sail draught to any other than myself; for I foresee that she will,
in all probability, become a `public character,' so to speak, and in
that capacity she will undoubtedly reflect great credit on her builders.
I have therefore calculated, with the utmost nicety, the proportion of
her various sails, so that they may take effect to the greatest
advantage; and this is the result of my labours," producing at the same
time the drawing to which I have referred.
I must confess that, for my own part, I was staggered at the enormous
spread of canvas Mr Wood proposed to pile upon our little boat; but he
declared that she would carry it with the greatest ease. "In fact,"
said he, "I have kept rather _within_ the limit of her powers, bearing
in mind a remark you made to the effect that she would have to keep to
sea _in all weathers_; and so confident am I that she is not over-
sailed, that if you find I am wrong, I undertake to bear all the expense
of a new outfit of sails, and the necessary reduction of spars. With
regard to your `boat' (though to my mind she looks much more like an
ingeniously designed _raft_), the idea is so new that I cannot take it
upon myself to utter an opinion about her, though I can see no reason
why she should not be as fast as she undoubtedly is safe."
We sent off the sail-drawing to Lapthorn of Gosport (determined to have
the best made suit of sails it was possible to procure), with
instructions to prepare them without delay, and then started off, by the
first train, to Weymouth.
I found my dear sister safe and well, and more lovely than ever; but her
spirits were subdued by contemplation of the dangers attending the
voyage upon which we were now so soon to embark. The poor girl had been
thinking of little else, it seemed, during our absence, until the
liveliest alarm had taken the place of that confidence with which she
had viewed the expedition when it was first broached.
But Bob and I had talked matters over together in many a quiet night-
watch, canvassing the various emergencies which might arise, and the
best mode of meeting them; and we were now confident that, with only the
ordinary perils of the ocean to contend with, our adventure was not only
feasible, but that it would certainly be crowned with success. And so
we were well prepared to do battle with Ada's apprehensions, which we
did so vigorously that we at length succeeded in restoring, in a great
measure, the confidence she had lost.
We arranged, after a considerable amount of discussion, that our own
house should be let, furnished as it was, during my absence, and that my
sister should take up her quarters with an aunt who resided on the
Esplanade, Mrs Moseley accompanying her, with unlimited leave of
absence from time to time to visit her own relatives.
These arrangements completed, Bob and I set out for London again, to
superintend the rigging of our boat and to bring her round to Weymouth,
from whence we intended to take our final departure.
On our arrival we found the little craft already in the water, with her
mast stepped and her ballast (which was of lead, cast to fit the shape
of her bottom) in. A portion of her ballast, consisting of a piece of
lead weighing five hundredweight, was let into her keel about the
midship section, and this, with two tons of lead inside, we thought
would prove sufficient, after our "cargo" was stowed. Part of this
cargo we intended to take from London with us, viz., the water-tank,
filled, second suit of sails and flying-kites in the shape of spinnaker,
jib-topsail, square-headed gaff-topsail, etcetera, also a four-pound
rifle gun, with a stock of powder and shot, and a few percussion shells.
These we decided to take in case of our being obliged to assume a
warlike attitude towards any savages we might come in contact with, as
we had heard that the natives of some of the Pacific islands are
particularly ferocious, and require to be dealt with promptly. We also
provided ourselves with a couple of air-guns of improved construction
and decidedly formidable character, four six-chambered revolving rifles,
and the same number of revolver pistols, also a small but excellent
chest of carpenter's tools, a medicine-chest, etcetera.
But when these and our boat were all stowed away, there still remained
more room than I expected in our midship compartment, and the little
craft floated with her load-line nearly a foot above the water's edge.
I proposed ballasting her down to her proper depth with sand-bags, but
Bob seemed anxious to test her sail-carrying powers light as she was,
urging that though we should start well down in the water, she would
lift as our provisions grew short; and it was desirable to know by
experiment beforehand how far we could lighten her with safety.
Our sails had arrived, and we proceeded to bend these forthwith, and set
them; as the weather being fine, with light air, a very favourable
opportunity offered for stretching them gently and uniformly. We were
as pleased with these sails as we were with the hull of our little
craft. They were perfect masterpieces of the sailmaker's art, the jibs
being angulated, and the mainsail, square-headed gaff-topsail, and
trysail being made with gored cloths.
This latter arrangement was an extravagant one as to the amount of cloth
used in the making of each sail, but we were more than repaid for it by
the perfection of _set_ in the sails, which stood as flat as boards.
Our storm-sails were made of stout canvas, and the fine-weather ones of
American cotton canvas, a most beautiful material, extremely light, yet
so close woven that not a breath of the faintest breeze was lost, and
they were white as snow.
Our standing rigging was of wire, this being lighter, and offering less
windage than hemp-rigging of the same strength; but, in order to
counteract its rigidity and give play to the spars, we adopted the
expedient of connecting the deadeyes to the chain-plates by a bolt and
shackle arrangement, interposing a thick india-rubber washer between the
shackle and the bolt-head. This plan answered most admirably, and I
would strongly recommend it to all users of wire-rigging. I am
confident that, in a fresh breeze and a chopping sea, we gained fully a
knot per hour in speed by it.
Whilst our sails were stretching, Bob and I occupied our time in looking
about us for a few things which we thought we could better obtain in
London than anywhere else. Amongst these were a couple of air
mattresses for our hammocks, which, when fully inflated, were capable of
sustaining the weight of three men each in the water. Another article
was a cooking-stove, the smallest, lightest, and most compact thing of
the kind I ever saw.
It had a boiler capable of heating a quart of water, and an oven large
enough to bake a fowl, with kettle, saucepan, etcetera, for the top.
The grate proper was filled with fragments of some substance, the name
of which I have forgotten, and underneath the grate was a sliding tray
which held a six-wicked lamp. The lamp being lighted and placed in
position, speedily raised the substance in the grate to a state of
incandescence, and there was our fire, which gave out a tremendous heat
for the size of the grate. As an aid to this stove, and an economiser
of fuel, we purchased also a most extraordinary invention, which was
named the "Norwegian cooking-stove" if I remember rightly.
This was not a stove at all, though it performed the functions of one.
It was simply a _box_, so constructed that it retained all the heat your
dish might happen to contain when placed in it. The mode of operation
was to place your fowl or pie, or what not, in the oven until it was
thoroughly hot through, then take it out, place it in the "Norwegian,"
shut it up for two or three hours, take it out, and lo! your dinner was
cooked to perfection. The fuel which this affair saved us during the
voyage would have bought a dozen of them. We spent a week looking about
for such things as these, and I am confident that, but for the economy
of space which we were able to secure through the aid of these
contrivances, our voyage must have come to a sudden and ignominious
conclusion.
At length we were all ataunto; sails stretched to perfection and
properly bent, our _impedimenta_ all carefully and snugly stowed, and
everything ready for a start. At the instigation and through the
kindness of some yachting friends of mine, I had been introduced to and
was elected a member of the Royal--Yacht Club; so one fine morning
towards the latter end of July we loosed our sails, set them, ran our
Club burgee up to the mast-head and the ensign up to the peak, and made
a start for Weymouth. At the last moment Mr Wood, the builder of our
little craft, came on board, saying that as he had nothing very pressing
for the day, and was curious to see something of the way in which the
_Water Lily_ behaved, he would take a passage with us as far as
Gravesend, if we had no objection.
We were only too pleased to have his company, and of course gave him a
cordial welcome. The moment he came on board we cast off our moorings,
ran up the jib and foresail, and slid rapidly away from the shore. The
wind was moderately fresh from the northward, so we started under
mainsail, foresail, and jib, but with the topmast lowered, as, being in
very light trim, I did not think it advisable to run any risks by
crowding sail upon the barkie.
We found, as I had expected, that on an even keel she was crank, though
not to the extent I had anticipated; but as she began to heel over her
overhanging topside supported her; so that, as the breeze freshened
(which it did gradually), the more she lay down to it the stiffer she
became.
As our confidence in her stability and sail-carrying powers thus became
established, we grew anxious to try her paces, and forthwith got her
topmast on end, the rigging set up, and put the square-headed gaff-
topsail upon her. This was a very large sail for the size of the
vessel, though, like the mainsail, it was not particularly high in the
_hoist_; but both sails were very much peaked, the gaff-topsail so much
so that the yard was almost straight up and down.
With the setting of our big topsail an immediate and very marked
improvement in speed became manifest. Before this we had been darting
along at a very respectable speed, passing some smart-looking schooners
as though they had been at anchor; but now the little craft fairly
rushed through the water, making it hiss and smoke under her sharp bows,
and leaving a long wake of bubbles behind her. She heeled over still
more, of course, but it was with a steady kind of resistance to the
force of the wind which did finally away with any lurking fears we might
have had that we were over-sparred or over-sailed.
We hove our patent log, and found that we were spinning along a good
eight knots through the water; and indeed we came up with, and passed
with ease, several vessels which were being towed down the river. Bob
and I were enchanted, and Mr Wood scarcely less so; and when, shortly
after luncheon, he stepped into the boat which he had hailed to put him
on shore at Gravesend, he said, "I am sure the little craft will come
with credit out of the ordeal through which you are going to put her,
whatever it may be; so, gentlemen, I hope you will favour me on your
return with a full account of your and her adventures."
We took leave of him with a hearty shake of the hand, and a faithful
promise that we would do so (a promise which I intend to fulfil by
sending him a handsomely-bound copy of this "log" as soon as printed);
let draw the fore-sheet, and resumed our course down the river.
We met with no adventure worthy of record on our passage down, unless I
except the amusement we derived from the chagrin of the crew of a French
steamer bound to Havre, who, to their amazement, found that the little
English yacht, by cutting off corners, skimming across shoals, and
similar manoeuvres, was slowly drawing ahead of them; and though, after
passing Sheerness, she gradually crept ahead of us at first, yet as the
wind freshened, and we continued to "carry on" until the water was over
our deck on the lee-side half-way up to the companion, we actually
overtook and passed her, until, to escape an ignominious defeat, she set
her own sails and so drew away from us.
By eight o'clock that night we were off the North Foreland, bowling
along at a slashing pace, with our mainsail boomed out to starboard, and
our spinnaker set on the port side, jib and foresail stowed.
It was a glorious summer evening, and there was every prospect of its
being a fine night; the aneroid evinced, if anything, a tendency to
rise, and there was a good slice of the moon left, though she would be
rather late in rising, so we determined to keep going all night.
By ten o'clock we were flying through the Downs; and very ticklish work
it was to thread in and out between the ships at anchor there and those
beating up, without experiencing a jibe, but by dint of a sharp look-out
we did it. By midnight we were off Dover, and here we took in the
spinnaker, jibbed the boom over to port, and set our jib and foresail.
Bob wanted the spinnaker set again on the starboard side; but I would
not agree to this, as, though we had both been on deck hitherto, he
insisted on taking the middle watch alone, while I went below for a four
hours' sleep, and I did not think it prudent to leave him alone with so
large and unmanageable a sail.
I wanted to take in the gaff-topsail also, but Bob would not hear of
such a thing. He insisted that she was under easy and manageable
canvas, and that there was nothing like making a passage while we had
the opportunity. In this sentiment I fully agreed with him; but still I
thought it better to err on the safe side, at least for the present,
until we had become better acquainted with the capabilities of the
craft. But Bob was obdurate, and at last I had to give in and rest
content with the assurance that he would give me timely warning if it
should become necessary to shorten sail.
When I came on deck at four o'clock I found we were just off Dungeness,
and in the midst of an outward-bound fleet of ships of all sizes and
almost all nations. The wind appeared to have freshened somewhat during
Bob's watch; but the morning was beautifully clear and fine; and, as our
spars seemed to bear with the utmost ease the sail we were carrying, I
thought we might venture to try the effect of a little extra "muslin."
Accordingly, before relieving Bob at the tiller, I roused out our
spinnaker again; and as we had hauled up a couple of points for Beachy
Head just as I came on deck, I got it to the bowsprit-end and set it,
with its sheet led aft to the main-boom-end, in place of the jib, which,
with the foresail, I stowed. Bob then went below and turned in, first
giving me strict injunctions to call him at "seven-bells," that he might
turn out and prepare breakfast, for it now appeared that he intended to
unite the functions of chief-mate and cook and steward, on the voyage we
had just started upon so auspiciously.
The substitution of the spinnaker for the jib and foresail made a very
great difference in our rate of sailing. When I first came on deck I
noticed some distance astern a splendid clipper-ship, bowling along with
every stitch of canvas set that would draw, up to skysails and royal
studding-sails. By the time I had got my spinnaker set she was abreast
of us, about half a mile outside and consequently to leeward. But _now_
she was unable to draw away from us an inch, so great was our speed
through the smooth water; and when Bob came on deck at "seven-bells,"
she still lay as nearly as possible in the same position with regard to
us as when he went below.
"Phew!" whistled he, as his eye fell on her, "so the big chap has found
his match, has he, in a craft the size of his own long-boat. My eyes!
Harry, but this here _is_ a little flyer, and no mistake. Why, the
post-office people 'll be wanting us to carry their mails for 'em, if so
be as they gets to hear on us, eh, lad?"
Closing this remark with a chuckle of intense satisfaction and a leer at
our big neighbour, Bob dived below again; and shortly afterwards a
frizzling sound from forward, and an odour strongly suggestive of bacon
and eggs, which was wafted upwards from the companion, informed me that
he had entered upon the duties of the less dignified but equally
important part of his combined self-appointment.
We made a hearty breakfast off the aforesaid bacon and eggs, with _soft
tack_ laid in the day before, and washed all down with some most
excellent coffee, in the concoction of which beverage Bob was an adept,
and then, as soon as he had washed up, and put matters to rights in his
pantry, and made arrangements for dinner, I went below and turned in
until noon.
When I went upon deck again, I found that the breeze had softened down
very considerably, and we were slipping along barely five knots through
the water. Our big neighbour, the ship, could do nothing with us in
such light airs, and he was now a good six miles astern.
During the afternoon, the wind dropped still more, and by eight o'clock
in the evening we had little more than steerage-way.
The water was absolutely without a ripple; our sails flapped, the main-
boom swung inboard with every heave of the little craft over the long,
gentle undulations of the ground-swell; and the different vessels in
sight were heading to all points of the compass.
It was, to all appearance, stark calm; yet there must have been a light
though imperceptible air, for on looking over the bows there was a
smooth unbroken ripple stretching away on each side, showing that we
were moving through the water still, though very gently; and the fact
that the little craft answered her helm was additional testimony to the
same effect.
During the night a little air came out from off the land, and we mended
our pace somewhat; but it was not until the following noon that we got
fairly abreast of Saint Catherine's Point.
About eight o'clock the same evening, the wind still being light, we
were abreast of the Needles; about a couple of miles to the westward of
them, and apparently steering pretty nearly the same course as
ourselves, we saw a cutter yacht about our own size.
By midnight we were abreast of Durlstone Head, and had gained so much
upon the other cutter that we could make out that she had a large and
apparently a very merry party on board. Hearty peals of laughter came
frequently across the water towards us from her, and occasionally a
song, generally with a good rattling chorus.
We continued to creep up to her, and at length got abreast of and so
near her that, with the advantage of a good run, an active man might
have leaped from one vessel to the other.
As we ranged up alongside, a most aristocratic-looking man stepped to
leeward, and, grasping lightly with one hand the aftermost shroud, while
with the other he slightly lifted his straw hat in salute, he inquired:
"What cutter is that?"
"The _Water Lily_, Royal--Yacht Club," replied I. "What cutter is
that?"
"The _Emerald_, Royal Victoria," answered our new acquaintance. "You
have a singularly fast vessel under you," continued he; "I believe I may
say she is the first that ever passed me in such weather as this. I
have hitherto thought that, in light winds, the _Emerald_ has not her
match afloat; yet you are stealing through my lee as if we were at
anchor. I presume, by the course you are steering, that you are, like
ourselves, bound to Weymouth. If so, I should like to step on board you
when we arrive, if you will allow me. I am curious to see a little more
of the craft that is able to slip away from us as you are doing, in our
own weather. I am Lord --," he explained, thinking, I suppose, that we
should like to know who it was who thus invited himself on board a
perfect stranger.
I shouted back (for we were by this time some distance ahead of the
_Emerald_) that I should be happy to see his lordship on board whenever
he pleased to come; and then the conversation ceased, the distance
between the two vessels having become too great to permit of its being
continued with comfort.
It was now Bob's watch below; but the night was so very close that he
had brought his bed on deck, and was preparing to "turn in" on the
weather-side of the companion for his four hours' sleep. As he arranged
the bedding to his satisfaction, he cast his eyes frequently astern to
the _Emerald_, whose sails gleamed ghostly in the feeble light of the
moon, which, in her third quarter, was just rising.
"By George, Harry," exclaimed he, "if they _Emeralds_ bain't shifting
topsails, I'm a miserable sinner! Ay, there goes his `ballooner' aloft.
His lordship don't like the looks of our tail, seemin'ly; but I doubt
whether, in this light breeze, his big topsail will enable him to catch
us. My eyes! how we _did_ slip through his lee, sure enough! Tell ye
what, Harry, lad; that topsail of our'n is a good un--a _rare_ good un
for a reach, and in a moderate breeze; but we ought to have a
`ballooner' for running off the wind in light weather--a whacking big
un, with a `jack' as long as the bowsprit, and a yard as long as the
lower-mast. I'm beginning to think we are under-sparred and under-
sailed."
I could scarcely agree with Bob in this. It is true that in fine
weather we could carry considerably more canvas than we had; but I had a
thought for the heavy weather also, and I knew that as soon as it came
on to blow we should find our present sails quite as large as we could
manage. Nevertheless, I made up my mind that we _would_ have a balloon-
topsail, as the voyage would be a long one, and it was possible that we
might have spells of light winds for days together, when such a sail
could be carried to the utmost advantage.
Notwithstanding the change of topsails, we still continued to creep away
from the _Emerald_, and when we let go our anchor in Weymouth Roads,
about six o'clock the next morning, she was still a good three miles
outside of us; the wind had, in the meantime, fallen away so light, that
it was not until after we had breakfasted that she drifted slowly in and
brought up close to us.
Shortly afterwards, Lord--came on board, accompanied by two or three
friends; and his astonishment was great when he found that we only
mustered two hands, all told. He noticed the absence of a boat from our
decks, and inquired whether we had lost ours, and was still more
astonished when we informed him that it was taken to pieces and stowed
snugly away below.
This led to a request that he might be allowed to see it; and gradually
it all came out that we were bound on nothing less than a voyage to the
Pacific.
He was by no means inquisitive; his questions were merely such as one
yachtsman would naturally put to another. But we knew beforehand that
it would be difficult to conceal the fact that we were not merely
cruising for pleasure; so we had come to the conclusion that it would be
best to put a bold face upon the matter, and state at once that we were
going a long trip; and Bob had proposed that, in the event of any
questions being asked, we should give out that we were going to seek for
some traces of my father.
To this I willingly agreed, as I really meant, it possible, to endeavour
to find some clue to his fate; though I could not help acknowledging to
myself that, if we _did_ make any discoveries, it would be by the merest
accident.
Lord--seemed to be singularly struck with the model of the _Water Lily_;
the only fault he found with her being the deficiency of head-room
below. This fault, however, was inseparable from her peculiar shape,
for, as I have already stated, she had a very shallow body, and a flat
floor; and although she drew seven feet of water aft, her depth below
her platform was entirely taken up with the ballast and water-tank,
leaving only a height of four feet between the top of the platform and
the under side of the beams; she was, in short, an exceedingly small
craft for her tonnage.
We went ashore in his lordship's boat at his invitation; and as I
casually mentioned that I meant on the morrow to put our "boat" together
and give her a trial, he very kindly offered to accompany us in the
_Emerald_.
My sister was, of course, delighted to see us both, and equally
delighted to hear how thoroughly satisfied we were with our little
vessel. It was evident that she had not quite conquered her
apprehensions on the score of our long voyage in so small a craft; but
our eulogiums upon the _Water Lily's_ many good qualities were so
enthusiastic, and the confidence we expressed in her sea-going powers so
thorough, that Ada soon came to regard the voyage as in no degree more
perilous than it would have been if undertaken in a vessel of four or
five hundred tons.
We did not think it necessary to point out to her that we should
probably be exposed to many perils besides those of the sea; and so the
dear girl became satisfied, and learned to contemplate our speedy
departure with comparative equanimity.
The next morning we made arrangements with a boatman for the hire of his
punt during the short time that we intended to remain in Weymouth, as we
wished our tubular boat to come into use only when we had no other to
fall back upon.
Having struck our bargain, Bob and I jumped into the hired punt, and
rowed off to the _Water Lily_, which lay at anchor in the roadstead.
It was necessary to pass close to the _Emerald_ to reach our own craft,
and as we pulled under her stern, Lord--hailed us to know whether we
still intended to make our trial trip, and, if so, how long it would be
ere we should be ready.
I replied that I hoped to be ready in about an hour, whereupon his
lordship jumped into his boat to pay a visit to the post-office, saying
he would be back in time to go out with us.
As soon as we got on board the _Water Lily_, we got our tubes on deck,
screwed the different sections together, and launched them overboard.
The framework connecting the two tubes together, and supporting the
stage or deck, was next fixed; then the deck itself, which was in three
pieces, and so contrived that, when properly put together and laid in
its place, a single bolt secured the whole immovably. Our centre-board
and rudder were soon in their places, and nothing remained but to step
the mast and bowsprit, set up the rigging, bend sails, and be off.
These latter operations took but a very short time, as every device had
been adopted which would facilitate the boat's equipment; and, having
timed ourselves, we found that our boat was ready and under weigh
_within_ an hour of the time at which we had first begun to work at her.
We considered this very smart work, but we hoped to shorten the time
considerably after a little practice. We took a few turns in the bay,
whilst the _Emerald_ was getting under weigh, and tried a few manoeuvres
with perfect success. There was only one thing about which we had any
doubt, and that was whether she would _stay_ or no. In the smooth water
close to the shore (the wind was strong from the south-west, that day)
she tacked beautifully, head-reaching a long way in stays; and later on
in the day we found that in this respect rough water made very little
difference to her, owing to the peculiar shape of her tubes.
It was blowing a strong breeze from the south-west, as I have already
said, and we took down a reef in our mainsail, whilst the _Emerald_
started under trysail and jib, keeping her mainsail stowed, so as not to
run away from us.
We intended to run out round the _Shambles_ light-ship and back; but as
soon as I got clear of the bay, and from under the lee of the _Nothe_, I
hauled sharp upon a wind to test the stability of my craft. To my
astonishment, she did not appear to feel the effect of the wind at all,
except as it tended to urge her through the water. She skimmed along
very fast, but stood quite upright. Under these circumstances we, of
course, shook our reef out and bore up for a run away to leeward.
The _Emerald_ could do nothing with us at this game, much to the chagrin
of her noble owner; so she was obliged to in trysail and set her
mainsail, whilst we hove-to and waited for her. But even after her
mainsail was set we had the advantage of her.
She was a regular racer--long, lean, and deep in the water; whilst we
floated entirely upon the surface, the tubes being exactly half
submerged, as we noticed when we first started. The consequence was
that we skimmed along like a feather, whilst the _Emerald_ had to
displace many tons of water with every foot of progress which she made.
We passed through the opening in the magnificent breakwater which
shelters the roadstead at Portland, and soon afterwards began to feel
the heave of the Channel. Our tube-boat rushed along over the crests of
the waves with a very easy and steady motion, but the _Emerald_ started
rolling; and as we drew farther off the land, and got more into the
influence of the rough water, this rolling motion became so violent that
her boom had to be topped up pretty high to prevent it from dipping and
dragging in the water every time she rolled to leeward.