| ⚪ | Sunday, llth | Hard gale from the N.N.W. Enormous sea running, but the old Princess is behaving well, and is keeping pretty dry, Noon set mainsail and topgallants. For the next two hours she was driven, if any ship ever has been. Everything quivering, rattling and straining, but the ship was burying herself in the huge sea. She look splendid, but pretty soon we were all washing about the decks. Then they had to shorten sail. The gale lasted about sixteen hours. I was enjoying a splendid laugh at the steward when suddenly I washed through the galley door, not of course through the wood, the door was open. The steward got caught half way aft with a pie in his hand by a huge “green” sea. He was washed under the quarterdeck ladder, and to save the pie had the presence of mind to hold the pie-dish at arms length above his head. But the sea washed the valuable pie clean out of the dish. He, of course, imagined it was saved, and after he succeeded in getting his bald head above the water, he surveyed the pie-dish. You should have seen his face, and he takes the pie-dish (it was an enameled one) and hoves it at tne second mate who had to sit down in about two feet of water to laugh at him. I saw no more. At this moment I had just started on my trip to the galley. Later: still enormous sea: no one can yet approach the steward. | |
| Monday, 12th | Fine weather again. Still of course the heavy swell. Past two homeward-bounders and have left them out of sight astern. Large tramp steamer also past, but she was too far away to signal to. It is now possible to speak to the steward, but not concerning pies. There are some awfully funny characters at sea. | ||
| Tuesday, l3th | 8 a.m. Furled royals, topgallantsails, mainsail, etc. The glass is falling like made, so we are in for another dusting up. Every one is puting extra lashings on everything. | ||
| Wednesday, 14th | We have been under topsails for twenty eight hours. A heavy gale from the N.E. blowing still with an enormous sea running. Taking your meals in a gale with the ship rolling Her rails under, is a fine art. The balancing of a soup plate in one hand, and a cup of tea in the other is a mere detail compared with keeping some half dozen cups, butter, spoons, knives, etc. in control with one foot while with the other stuck up against a bunk, board or chest you have to keep yourself from suddenly disappearing below a bund. The deck (floor you would call it) is of course the table. Thank goodness there are no table cloths. | ||
| Thursday, 15th | Still head wind, we are having awfully bad luck in this confounded N. Atlantic. The “pickle mystery” is now solved, and as I expected. The cook informed us this morning that the pease and beans were “done”, which means no more of these delicious soups. We saw the first sea gulls (Irish pilots as they are called) today. These are the first gulls I have seen for twenty months. They are the first signs of the old country, although it is still over a thousand miles ahead. | ||
| Friday, 16th | At last we have a fair wind, and we are off in proper style now. The fair wind has made all hands in a good mood. Ths tobacco famine is now serious. The officers are fast consuming our deck [- ? -]. Three men are chewing their old pipes and are asking everyone for old pipes, but old pipes are at a premium now. The rest are content with coffee, oakum, tea, paper, ropeyarns, and straw from their mattresses. | ||
| ⚪ | Saturday, 17th | Splendid strong winds, in fact it is almost half a gale. The reason of the sudden change here is that there are no more pens in the ship, and this is a “fountain”. Vessel averaged over eight knots for the last 24 hours. We all consider it very good as she is covered with sea weed and barnacles, but as the wind is from the westward the sea is rising very quickly. | |
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