The building of the _Liberdade_.
Away, away, no cloud is lowering o'er us
Freely now we stem the wave;
Hoist, hoist all sail, before us
Hope's beacon shines to cheer the brave.
--_Masaniello_.
When all had been saved from the wreck that was worth saving, or that
could be saved, we found ourselves still in the possession of some goods
soon to become of great value to us, especially my compass and charts
which, though much damaged, were yet serviceable and suggested practical
usefulness; and the chronometer being found intact, my course was no
longer undecided, my wife and sons agreeing with what I thought best.
The plan, in a word, was this: We could not beg our way, neither would
we sit idle among the natives. We found that it would require more
courage to remain in the far-off country than to return home in a boat,
which then we concluded to build and for that purpose.[4]
My son Victor, with much pride and sympathy, entered heartily into the
plan, which promised a speedy return home. He bent his energies in a
practical direction, working on the boat like an old builder.
Before entering on the project, however, all responsibilities were
considered. Swift ocean currents around capes and coral reefs were taken
into account; and above all else to be called dangerous we knew would
be the fierce tropical storms which surely we would encounter.
[Illustration: Diagram of the _Liberdade_
(Length 35 ft. beam 7½ ft., draught 2½ ft. weight 6 tons.)]
But a boat should be built stout and strong, we all said, one in which
we should not be afraid to trust our lives even in the storm.
And with the advantage of experience in ships and boats of various sizes
and in many seas, I turned to the work of constructing, according to my
judgment and means, a craft which would be best adapted to all weathers
and all circumstances. My family with sympathetic strength pulling hard
in the same direction.
Seaworthiness was to be the first and most prominent feature in our
microscopic ship; next to this good quality she should sail well; at
least before free winds. We counted on favourable winds; and so they
were experienced the greater part of the voyage that soon followed.
Long exposures and many and severe disappointments by this time, I
found, had told on health and nerve, through long quarantines, expensive
fumigations, and ruinous doctors' visits, which had swept my dollars
into hands other than mine. However, with still a "shot in the locker,"
and with some feelings of our own in the matter of how we should get
home, I say, we set to work with tools saved from the wreck--a meagre
kit--and soon found ourselves in command of another ship, which I will
describe the building of, also the dimensions and the model and rig,
first naming the tools with which it was made.
To begin with, we had an axe, an adze, and two saws, one ½inch auger,
one 6/8 and one 3/8 auger-bit; two large sail-needles, which we
converted into nailing bits; one roper, that answered for a punch; and,
most precious of all, a file that we found in an old sail-bag washed up
on the beach. A square we readily made. Two splints of bamboo wood
served as compasses. Charcoal, pounded as fine as flour and mixed in
water, took the place of chalk for the line; the latter we had on hand.
In cases where holes larger than the 6/8 bit were required, a piece of
small jack-stay iron was heated, and with this we could burn a hole to
any size required. So we had, after all, quite a kit to go on with.
Clamps, such as are used by boat builders, we had not, but made
substitutes from the crooked guava tree and from _massaranduba_ wood.
Trees from the neighbouring forest were felled when the timber from the
wrecked cargo would not answer. Some of these woods that we sought for
special purposes had queer sounding names, such as _arregebah,
guanandee, batetenandinglastampai_, etc. This latter we did not use the
saw upon at all, it being very hard, but hewed it with the axe, bearing
in mind that we had but one file, whereas for the edged tools we had but
to go down to a brook hard by to find stones in abundance suitable to
sharpen them on.
The many hindrances encountered in the building of the boat will not be
recounted here. Among the least was a jungle fever, from which we
suffered considerably. But all that and all other obstacles vanished at
last, or became less, before a new energy which grew apace with the
boat, and the building of the craft went rapidly forward. There was no
short day system, but we rested on the Sabbath, or surveyed what we had
done through the week, and made calculations of what and how to strike
on the coming week.
The unskilled part of the labour, such as sawing the cedar planks, of
which she was mostly made, was done by the natives, who saw in a rough
fashion, always leaving much planing and straightening to be done, in
order to adjust the timber to a suitable shape. The planks for the
bottom were of ironwood, 1¼ X 10 inches. For the sides and top red cedar
was used, each plank, with the exception of two, reaching the whole
length of the boat. This arrangement of exceedingly heavy wood in the
bottom, and the light on top, contributed much to the stability of the
craft.
The ironwood was heavy as stone, while the cedar, being light and
elastic, lent buoyancy and suppleness, all that we could wish for.
The fastenings we gathered up in various places, some from the bulwarks
of the wreck, some from the hinges of doors and skylights, and some were
made from the ship's metal sheathing, which the natives melted and cast
into nails. Pure copper nails, also, were procured from the natives,
some ten _kilos_, for which I paid in copper coins, at the rate of two
_kilos_ of coin for one _kilo_ of nails. The same kind of coins, called
_dumps_, cut into diamond-shaped pieces, with holes punched through
them, entered into the fastenings as burrs for the nails. A number of
small eyebolts from the spanker-boom of the wreck were turned to account
for lashing bolts in the deck of the new vessel. The nails, when too
long, were cut to the required length, taking care that the ends which
were cut off should not be wasted, but remelted, along with the metal
sheathing, into other nails.
Some carriage bolts, with nuts, which I found in the country, came in
very handy; these I adjusted to the required length, when too long, by
slipping on blocks of wood of the required thickness to take up the
surplus length, putting the block, of course, on the inside, and
counter-sinking the nut flush with the planks on the outside; then
screwing from the inside outward, they were drawn together, and there
held as in a vice, the planks being put together "lap-streak" fashion,
which without doubt is the strongest way to build a boat.
These screw-bolts, seventy in number, as well as the copper nails, cost
us dearly, but wooden pegs, with which also she was fastened, cost only
the labour of being made. The lashings, too, that we used here and there
about the frame of the cabin, cost next to nothing, being made from the
fibrous bark of trees, which could be had in abundance by the stripping
of it off. So, taking it by and large, our materials were not expensive,
the principal item being the timber, which cost about three cents per
superficial foot, sawed or hewed. Rosewood, ironwood, cedar or mahogany,
were all about the same price and very little in advance of common wood;
so of course we selected always the best, the labour of shaping being
least, sometimes, where the best materials were used.
These various timbers and fastenings, put together as best we could
shape and join them, made a craft sufficiently strong and seaworthy to
withstand all the bufferings on the main upon which, in due course, she
was launched.
The hull being completed, by various other contrivances and makeshifts
in which, sometimes, the "wooden blacksmith" was called in to assist,
and the mother of invention also lending a hand, fixtures were made
which served as well on the voyage as though made in a dockyard and at
great cost.
My builders baulked at nothing, and on the 13th day of May, the day on
which the slaves of Brazil were set free, our craft was launched, and
was named _Liberdade_ (Liberty).
Her dimensions being--35 feet in length over all, 7½ feet breadth of
beam, and 3 feet depth of hold. Who shall say that she was not large
enough?
Her model I got from my recollections of Cape Ann dories and from a
photo of a very elegant Japanese _sampan_ which I had before me on the
spot, so, as it might be expected, when finished she resembled both
types of vessel in some degree.
Her rig was the Chinese _sampan_ style, which is, I consider, the most
convenient boat rig in the whole world.
This was the boat, or canoe I prefer to call it, in which we purposed to
sail for North America and home. Each one had been busy during the
construction and past misfortunes had all been forgotten. Madam had made
the sails--and very good sails they were, too!
Victor, the carpenter, ropemaker, and general roustabout had performed
his part. Our little man, Garfield, too, had found employment in holding
the hammer to clinch the nails and giving much advice on the coming
voyage. All were busy, I say, and no one had given a thought of what we
were about to encounter from the port officials farther up the coast; it
was pretended by them that a passport could not be granted to so small a
craft to go on so long a voyage as the contemplated one to North
America.
Then fever returned to the writer and the constructor of the little
craft, and I was forced to go to bed, remaining there three days.
Finally, it came to my mind that in part of a medicine chest, which had
been saved from the wreck, was stored some _arsenicum_, I think it is
called. Of this I took several doses (small ones at first, you may be
sure), and the good effect of the deadly poison on the malaria in my
system was soon felt trickling through my veins. Increasing the doses
somewhat, I could perceive the beneficial effect hour by hour, and in a
few days I had quite recovered from the malady. Absurd as it was to have
the judgment of sailors set on by pollywog navigators, we had still to
submit, the pollywogs being numerous.
About this time--as the astrologers say--a messenger came down from the
_Alfandega_ (Custom House), asking me to repair thither at midday on the
morrow. This filled me with alarm. True, the messenger has delivered his
message in the politest possible manner, but that signified nothing,
since Brazilians are always polite. This thing, small as it seems now,
came near sending me back to the fever.
What had I done?
I went up next day, after having nightmare badly all night, prepared to
say that I wouldn't do it again! The kind administrator I found, upon
presenting myself at his office, had no fault to charge me with; but had
a good word, instead. "The little _Liberdade_," he observed, had
attracted the notice of his people and his own curiosity, as being "a
handsome and well-built craft." This and many other flattering
expressions were vented, at which I affected surprise, but secretly
said, "I think you are right, sir, and you have good taste, too, if you
are a customs officer."
The drift of this flattery, to make a long story short, was to have me
build a boat for the _Alfandega_, or, his government not allowing money
to build new--pointing to one which certainly would require new keel,
planks, ribs, stem, and stern-post--"could I not repair one?"
To this proposition I begged time to consider. Flattering as the
officer's words were, and backed by the offer of liberal pay, so long as
the boat could be "repaired," I still had no mind to remain in the hot
country, and risk getting the fever again. But there was the old hitch
to be gotten over; namely, the passport, on which, we thought, depended
our sailing.
However, to expedite matters, a fishing licence was hit upon, and I
wondered why I had not thought of that before, having been, once upon a
time, a fisherman myself. Heading thence on a new diplomatic course, I
commenced to fit ostensibly for a fishing voyage. To this end, a fishing
net was made, which would be a good thing to have, anyway. Then hooks
and lines were rigged and a cable made. This cable, or rope, was formed
from vines that grow very long on the sand-banks just above tide water,
several of which twisted together make a very serviceable rope, then
being light and elastic, it is especially adapted for a boat anchor
rope, or for the storm drag. Ninety fathoms of this rope was made for us
by the natives, for the sum of ten milreis ($5.00).
The anchor came of itself almost. I had made a wooden one from heavy
sinking timber, but a stalwart ranchman coming along, one day, brought a
boat anchor with him which, he said, had been used by his slaves as a
pot-hook. "But now that they are free and away," said he, "I have no
further use for the crooked thing." A sewing-machine, which had served
to stitch the sails together, was coveted by him, and was of no further
use to us; in exchange for this the prized anchor was readily secured,
the owner of it leaving us some boot into the bargain. Things working
thus in our favour, the wooden anchor was stowed away to be kept as a
spare bower.
These arrangements completed, our craft took on the appearance of a
fishing smack, and I began to feel somewhat in my old element, with no
fear of the lack of ways and means when we should arrive on our own
coast, where I knew of fishing banks. And a document which translated
read: "A licence to catch fish inside and outside of the bar" was
readily granted by the port authorities.
"How far outside the bar may this carry us?" I asked.
"_Quien sabe!_" said the officer. (Literally translated, "Who knows?"
but in Spanish or Portuguese used for, "Nobody knows, or, I don't
care.")
"Adieu, señor," said the polite official; "we will meet in heaven!"
This meant you can go since you insist upon it, but I must not
officially know of it; and you will probably go to the bottom. In this
he and many others were mistaken.
Having the necessary document now in our possession, we commenced to
take in stores for the voyage, as follows: Sea-biscuits, 120 lbs.;
flour, 25 lbs.; sugar, 30 lbs.; coffee, 9 lbs., which, roasted black and
pounded fine as wheaten flour, was equal to double the amount as
prepared in North America, and afforded us a much more delicious cup.
Of tea we had 3 lbs.; pork, 20 lbs.; dried beef, 100 lbs.; _baccalao
secca_ (dried codfish), 20 lbs.; 2 bottles of honey, 200 oranges, 6
bunches of bananas, 120 gallons of water; also a small basket of yams,
and a dozen sticks of sugar-cane, by way of vegetables.
Our medicine chest contained Brazil nuts, pepper, and cinnamon; no other
medicines or condiments were required on the voyage, except table salt,
which we also had.
One musket and a carbine--which had already stood us in good
stead--together with ammunition and three cutlasses were stowed away for
last use, to be used, nevertheless, in case of necessity.
The light goods I stowed in the ends of the canoe, the heavier in the
middle and along the bottom, thus economizing space and lending to the
stability of the canoe. Over the top of the midship stores a floor was
made, which, housed over by a tarpaulin roof reaching three feet above
the deck of the canoe, supported by a frame of bamboo, gave us sitting
space of four feet from the floor to the roof, and twelve feet long
amidships. This arrangement of cabin in the centre gave my passengers a
berth where the least motion would be felt; even this is saying but
little, for best we could do to avoid it we had still to accept much
tossing from the waves.
Precautionary measures were taken in everything, so far as our resources
and skill could reach. The springy and buoyant bamboo was used wherever
stick of any kind was required, such as the frame and braces for the
cabin, yards for the sails, and, finally, for guard on her top sides,
making the canoe altogether a self-righting one, in case of a capsize.
Each joint in the bamboo was an air-chamber of several pounds buoyant
capacity, and we had a thousand joints.
The most important of our stores, particularly the flour, bread, and
coffee, were hermetically sealed, so that if actually turned over at
sea, our craft would not only right herself, but would bring her stores
right side up, in good order, and it then would be only a question of
baling her out, and of setting her again on her course, when we would
come on as right as ever. As it turned out, however, no such trial or
mishap awaited us.
While the possibility of many and strange occurrences was felt by all of
us, the danger which loomed most in little Garfield's mind was that of
the sharks.
A fine specimen was captured on the voyage, showing five rows of pearly
teeth, as sharp as lances.
Some of these monsters, it is said, have nine rows of teeth; that they
are always hungry is admitted by sailors of great experience.
How it is that sailors can go in bathing, as they often do, in the face
of a danger so terrible, is past my comprehension. Their business is to
face danger, to be sure, but this is a needless exposure, for which the
penalty is sometimes a life. The second mate of a bark on the coast of
Cuba, not long ago, was bitten in twain, and the portions swallowed
whole by a monster shark that he had tempted in this way. The shark was
captured soon after, and the poor fellow's remains taken out of the
revolting maw.
Leaving the sharks where they are, I gladly return to the voyage of the
_Liberdade_.
FOOTNOTE:
[4] This alternative I was obliged to accept, or bring my
family home as paupers, for my wealth was gone--need I explain more?
This explanation has been forced from me.
[Illustration: The _Liberdade_]