A Queer Race: The Story of a Strange People — page 42: what you’re looking at

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

A QUEER RACE. — 39 cabin and let us have a game of chess and a glass of grog. Hvyerything is going on smoothly, and it is the first offi- cer’s watch.” | I have aiready mentioned how we amused ourselves, and that as there was always something going on we never suffered from ennut. We had excitement, too, of a very miid sort, though often rather intense while it lasted; nothing more than exchanging numbers with passing ships, and so ascertaining their names—when they came near enough, which was not always. In point of fact, we had only exchanged numbers with four ships since we salled; we had, however, passed a good many in the early part of our voyage, and when a vessel was sighted, it was always «a matter of speculation and discussion whether she would come within signaling distance or not. ‘The further we got, however, the rarer these meetings became, and for several days past we had not seen a singie sail. So, when, on the morning after my talk with Captain Peyton, one of the mates (a man with wonderfully good eyes), sweeping the horizon with his glass, announced that he could just see the topmast of some ship away to windward, there was quite a flutter of excitement. We passengers had our binoculars out in a moment, though, as our eyes were not quite so keen as those of the second mate, it was some time before we could make out, in the far distance, acouple of sticks that seemed to be emerging from the water, which Bucklow (the mate), a few min- ‘utes later, declared to be the masts of a brig. Ye went on staring our hardest, and in the end were rewarded by seeing the hull of a large ship rise slowly from ‘‘the bosom of the deep.” ‘<A brig under bare poles!” exclaimed Captain Peyton, who was one of the gazers, ‘‘ No; she has her fore- course and fore-topmast-staysail set. But what on earth is she doing, and where steering?” | i had been asking myself the same questions, for the briz’s movements were most eccentric; she wobbled about in cvery direction, as if she could not make up her mind toward which point of the compass she wanted to sail. ‘«‘ Are the people aboard of her all asleep, I wonder?” asked the captain. ‘* Run up our number, Mr. Chance” (the third mate). ‘‘ We shall may be pass near enough a ‘ . 47 ‘ 9? to exchange signals. Eom boo A “S m (E(0)