A BALLAD OF APIA BAY.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXI, Issue 310, 29 December 1900, Page 1 (Supplement)

A BALLAD OF APIA BAY.

By RCrtYAX STEVENS

In "Harper's Round Table." (Published by request.)

By green Upolu's curving1 shore the slender calm trees wave, And peaceful billows, rippling1 o'er, its yellow beaches lave:'

The dusky native dreaming lies beneath his mango tree, Qr in his swift canoe he flies along the dimpling soa;

From isle to isle and port to port his , pleasant way he seeks; From Apolima's island fort to Tutuila's peaks.

So calm it is, so gentle there, so soft the ruffling breeze, It seems amid that scented air an Eden of the seas;

But eastward, eastward, know ye well, along the ways of doom A thousand leagues of ocean swell to give the Storm King room

At sunrise in Apia Bay we saw the squadrons lie. And spread their colours' glowing hues beneath the azure skyAbreast the knightly German Cross the Starry Banner hung-. And the Meteor Flag of England there its folds of glory flung-.

Ashore we watched the ordered scene, the sunny watered bay, The ships atauto trim, serene, the launches on their way, The quartermasters, glass in hand, that trod their decks of snow, The graceful spars that rose on" high, and the long dark hulls below.

Together at the swinging booms the cutters rose and fell, As lazily the great ships bowed to greet the morning swell; And daintily the glassy wave each cat's paw rippled o'er, At sunrise on that morn of spring on far Samoa's shore.

At sunset in Apia Bay, along the darkened wave, The tempest, roaring on its way, its deadly warning gave; It burst upon the waters gray in gathered clouds of gloom, And swept the billow's crest away in sheets of misty spume.

Through scudding spray our anxious eyes were turned toward the deep, To see amid the mounting seas the stout shiDs roll and leap; We saw their funnels, black with smoke, the leeward darkness stain, As toward their anchors on they steamed to ease the cable's strain.

But higher yet the breakers piled, ana louder rose the storm, And on amid that awful sea there drew a drifting form — Dismasted, drawing ever nigh, all hopeless -of relief. Along the furious white lee shore and toward the roaring reef.

She struck upon the solid rock the angry waves that churned, Her timbers parted at the shock, her riven kel upturned, And down she plunged beneath the sea, ten fathoms deep to lie, And o'er the mocking billows rang her last despairing cry.

Then, as the tempest lulled again, amid the scattered fleet. Against the fierce head sea in vain the gallant Trenton beat; And battling grandly in her lee, and slipping through the gale, The Koyai ship Calliope dipped low Tier British rail.

We watched their officers that paced the slippery deck's inpline, The knots of stalwart sailor men, tlwi trim marines in line; And as they pitched ahead, we heard' th« racing engines go, Or spinning with a steady hum ag?unK the screws below.

And on they struggled, side by side1, by, where the Eber drew A helpless wreck, a shattered bulk, th* battering breakers through, By where the stranded Nipsio hung1 is clouds of driving spray, And where, with crowded tops aad shrouds, the sunk Vaadali* lay.

Then o'er the conquered blast we keard a glorious burst of song, That floated from the Trenton's »ea the darkening wave along; And faintly from the sea thare cani»>: above the tempest's roar, The anthem of the Starry Flag, on tut Samoa's shore.

Too soon wo knew the varied fates the gallant two should find. The swift Calliope sped on, the Trenton hung behind. And dimly so we saw them go through; night's increasing gloom, The Briton to the open sea, the Trenton to her doom.

Then, as the Briton crossed her Fows to seaward disappear, Above the thunders of the deep rang out a gallant cheer, From where the Trenton's men had manned the shrouds that swept on high, A Salutamus! to the saved from those about to die.

And fainter still, and fainter still, again, and once again, Through danger drear rang out the cheer from those undaunted men, Till louder came the tempest's roar, and fiercer screamed the squall, And darkness settled down once more, and night was over all.

And when 'mid clouds of sullen gray the late dawn slowly broke O'er splintered spars and tangled shrouds and riven sides of oak, When morning's muttering waves arose and, moaning, lipped their prey. The noblest wreck among them all the gallant Trenton lay.

Oh, Britain, when the flame is cojd, anfl quenched the fitful fire That stirred us to the strife of old and fratricidal ire, The hearts of England still shall hold in Memory's loving store The Trenton's parting- cheer tfiat rollef by far Samoa's shore.