Paddling under Palmettos — page 136: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Paddling Under Palmettos. 129 the old gentleman, with a smile upon his face, leaned back in his chair and began: ‘Some ten years ago I was aboard a vessel that sailed from New York for Havana. I was her cap- tain, to tell you the truth. “We had fair weather for quite a time after leaving New York, and soon rounded Hatteras without much trouble. “This unusual good luck we paid up for later on, as you will see. “One night it came on a hurricane, blowing great guns. It was sucha storm as | had seldom met with in my twenty years of service along the coast, and came from the direction of the Windward Islands, that breeding place for cyclones and howlers. “Our vessel was stanch but old, and we drove be- fore the gale. Generally, these real cyclones sel- dom reach the Florida coast, it being about the ex- treme line of their circuit, as Captain Richards here can tell you, for he is on the lookout for them about August, and has a chart of their usual course. “T soon learned that we were in a bad place, and there was a strong chance of our striking some one Gomichboo Ss) (G(0)