Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
the sea came pouring over the stern above Allnutt's head. The boy was
nearly washed overboard, but he managed to catch hold of the rail,
and, with great presence of mind stuck his knees into the bulwarks . . .
The coil of rope, on which Captain Lecky and Mabelle were seated, was
completely floated by the sea. Providentially, however, he had taken
a double turn round his wrist with a reefing point, and throwing his
other arm round Mabelle, held on like grim death; otherwise nothing
could have saved them. She was perfectly self-possessed, and only said
quietly, 'Hold on, Captain Lecky, hold on!' . . . Captain Lecky, being ac-
customed to very large ships, had not in the least realised how near we
were to the water in our little vessel, and was proportionately taken by
surprise. All the rest of the party were drenched, with the exception of
Muriel, whom Captain Brown held high above the water in his arms,
and who lost no time in remarking, in the midst of the general confu-
sion, 'I'm not at all wet, I'm not'. Happily, the children don't know what
fear is. The maids, however, were very frightened, as some of the sea
had got down into the nursery, and the skylights had to be screwed
down. Our studding-sail boom, too, broke with a loud crack when the
ship broached-to and the jaws of the foreboom gave way. Soon after
this adventure we all went to bed . . .'
9
Having learned a much-needed lesson in respect for the sea.
Sunbeam
entered the tropics. Annie suffered from sea sickness
whenever the weather was rough and from mild heat exhaustion
when the air was still. She never, of course, divested herself of her
enveloping garments even when the temperature rose into the
nineties Fahrenheit; the Victorians abhorred direct sunshine on the
skin. Yet, the moment the schooner dropped anchor, she was ready
for a shore excursion. She scrambled up the side of a volcano in Ten-
erife, went deer hunting in Patagonia and tramped into the Brazilian
rain forest. Her descriptions are colourful and detailed - at times al-
most too much so. Everything was 'interesting', whether flora, fauna
