THE DAYS OF SAIL.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 263, 5 November 1932, Page 4

THE DAYS OF SAIL.

STORY OF SHIP HAMPSHIRE.

CAUGHT ABACK IN A STORM.

(By THE LOOK-OUT MA2s.)

" . But the most unearthly soujid I ever heard," said the old deep-water sailor, "was the wailing of the hurricane through the rigging of the Hampshire when she struck a storm near Mauritius in '73. She was almost lost." Grey-haired and bent, he was one of a group of old sailors, all about the same age, and of whom to-day there rema.ll only tales such as the one told here. At, his words a circle of grey heads nodded in solemn affirmation. Unearthly sounds are heard at sea, and when sailors tell of them their listeners hide then- smiles and speak of superstition "Yes, unearthly," he continued. It was early in '73, my first voyage in her. We were out of Melbourne bound for London, via the Cape of Good Hope. She was a full-rigged ship of 1000 tons, built in '67. I was only a lad at the time, but I remember that storm. It was what they used to call a 'Mauritius hurricane. When I turned in at 10 o'clock that night we were bowling along with stunsails set. The weather was moderate, but the next thing I knew, when, four hours later, I was jolted from sleep into wakefulness, was a terriiic shock. Everything seemed to be going round. I don't know exactly what woke me, but from all other sounds, the groaning of the ship, the shouts of men, the cries of children, and that dominating under-current, the roar of the 6ea, there stood out one —the shrieking and the wailing of the wind through the rigging." It was uncanny, he added, like laughter from the dead. He could never forget it, though many storms he had seen since. Stood on the Wall of the Ship. "Being, as I said, but a boy, I had a thwartship bunk. When I went to get out of it in the dark of that morning, so far over was the Hampshire leaning thatI found myself standing on the bulkhead (what on shore would be called the wall) instead of the floor." She had been caught aback, he added, so sudden had been the storm, and she was going down by the stern. When, after struggling through alleways that seemed to be running askew, like a snake, he got on deck, he did not think the ship would live. She had lost her top-gallant and royal masts, and they were hanging in a confusion of cordage' and tattered canvas. She was going all the time. Everything was so new on her that her mainsail would not part under the strain. Not one of the ship's company ever thought that she could right herself. She lay over on her beam ends. "I am not good at description, added the old man, "but I wish I could make you see her as she was. "There was just enough light to make everything dispro- j portionate. The ship and the great whitecapped waves were not to be told distinctly apart. What had held in the rigging, and what had been blown to tatters, had been tangled together in confusion, and the sailors were trying to cut them apart. The great mainsail was billowing and laying her further over. She lay until the combings of her main I hatch were under water." Then he added an admonition against exaggeration in tales about storms. "I have heard people saw that ships have rolled until the yards touched the water," ho said. "I could never believe that. Why, the Hampshire, stricken as she was, did not do that; and I do not believe that a ship could go further over and live." How They Saved Her. But the Hampshire did live, and the telling of it is like a tale from a story book. On board they had some 300 second and third-class passengers, the majority of whom had run away from their ships in Australia, had gone to the goldfields, and having made their fortunes were returning to England. As many as were required, after the first few minutes of shock, when they saw how things were, raced into the rigging with the crew, and did their share to save the ship and their own lives. There they stayed, in' the words of the old sailor, until the ship was "all ataunto." For the next two weeks, while repairs were being carried out, they put them* selves under our captain's orders. Some, my profession, were sailmakers, others carpenters, more again able seamen; and between them they fitted the Hampshire again until she was as good as before the hurricane. The extra "crew" were treated just as ordinary members. They all went aft with the men for their ration of grog; "but," he added, "as for why they stood by? Well, I don't know, but for the men of those days the ships actually lived, and those who sailed them loved them and cursed them, like men do women." But the saving of the Hampshire had a sequel. "As we neared St. Helena, the extra 'crew' put in a petition to the old man, Captain Robert Ridgers, that he should stop at the island, as all wanted to feel dry land under their feet. He did—and it was the biggest 'drunk' I ever saw in my life. They all got foul of what in those days was known as 'Cape Smoke.' They spent the day ashore and ran amok. "After the orgy some swam off to the ship, some were towed off by the boats, and the moment they got on board they began to fight, and they were all fighting drunk. They fell foul of everyone and anyone. In a little while the decks and the men were very bloody. Men were lying unconscious here, there and everywhere. Some bad unopened bottles witb them, when they came aboard, and these were taken from them as soon as they arrived. The taking was not gentle. That added fuel to the fire. 'Cape Smoke' was the foulest and about the most potent drink I ever saw. . "Our captain stood by, and in his quick way, said: liet them fight; let them fight, as long as they keep clear of the running gear.' I think he rather enjoyed it. As for the men, as in the manner of drunken men, they wore themselves out and staggered below. There was nothing said. We were delayed for a day, but she made it up, and nothing more happened on the way to London." And that is how the Hampshire was nearly lost, and was saved by those who were not of her crew. The Ship Coriolanus. There is a chance of the famous old Yankee clipper ship Coriolanus going to sea again, for, after being sold for the scrap price of £150, she has been resold, her purchasers being a syndicate of young American enthusiasts, who have renamed her Hispaniola, and who plan to take her on "scientific and pleasure cruises to the West Indies." The ship is said to be soft aloft, but her hull is still in first-class condition. It would be good to see the ancient flyer in commission' once again. Some of her early passages were remarkable, and she could step it with tbe best until the end. In the old days 6he was a hard ship, and in Port Adelaide they still tell the story of her crew "jumping" her, after encircling the figure-head with a necklace of beef bones and painting "STARVATION" in big letters right along her side, a description which her afterguard did not discover until the whole port had enjoyed it to the full.