I had only time to
observe this much, when I received a severe kick on the side from one
of the men, who ordered me, in a rough voice, to jump aboard. Rising
hastily, I clambered up the side. In a few minutes the boat was hoisted
on deck, the vessel's head put close to the wind, and the Coral Island
dropped slowly astern as we beat up against a head sea.
Immediately after coming aboard, the crew were too busily engaged in
working the ship and getting in the boat to attend to me, so I remained
leaning against the bulwarks close to the gangway, watching their
operations. I was surprised to find that there were no guns or
carronades of any kind in the vessel, which had more the appearance of
a fast-sailing trader than a pirate. But I was struck with the neatness
of everything. The brass work of the binnacle and about the tiller, as
well as the copper belaying-pins, were as brightly polished as if they
had just come from the foundry. The decks were pure white, and smooth.
The masts were clean-scraped and varnished except at the cross-trees
and truck, which were painted black. The standing and running rigging
was in the most perfect order, and the sails white as snow. In short,
everything, from the single narrow red stripe on her low, black hull to
the trucks on her tapering masts, evinced an amount of care and strict
discipline that would have done credit to a ship of the Royal Navy.
There was nothing lumbering or unseemly about the vessel, excepting,
perhaps, a boat, which lay on the deck with its keel up between the
fore and main masts.
Pages:
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222