Voyage of the Liberdade

to Santos-Tow to Rio

lace, we crossed the bar and stood out to sea, while six vessels lay inside "bar-bound," that is to say by their pilots it was thought too rough to venture out, and they, the pilots,

iro which had brought in a heavy swell from the ocean, that broke and thu

gh the breakers like a fish-as na

wept over or even boarded her, and she finally came through the storm of breakers in triumph.

er having been years in large ships; but it would have required more courage than was p

ut: and my crew with one voice said: "Go on." The heavy South Atlantic swell rolling in upon the coast, as we sped along, top

regular, and raced under our little craft that danced like a mite on the ocean as she drove forward. In

e swept round the Heads, tearing our sails into sh

nd we were towed by the stout steamer toward Rio, the next day, as fast as we could wish to go. My wife and youngest sailor took passage on the st

egan to move ahead, "look out that I don

t blow up your ship with my wife and son on board, and I w

o thirteen knots, but

a bight, under the forefoot, but only for a moment, however, when the steamer's next great plunge ahead would snap it taut again, pulling us along with a heavy, trembling jerk. Under the circumstances, straight steering was imperative, for a sheer to port or starboard would ha

y to cut the line which was so arranged that he could reach it from wi

ing" for a nap, would forget his post, but my frequent cry, "Stand by there, Vic

er, seeming to wash away the sulphur and brimstone sm

igh above the gunwale of the canoe-but her shapely curve

d beyond a doubt that we had in this little craft a most extraordi

iscomforts of taste to me at the helm, for much of the oil blew over me and in my face. Said the captain to one of his mates (an

ir," answere

, hoist ou

t it with alacrity, and in less than five minutes from the time the order wa

right now,"

wind, meanwhile, was in our teeth and before we crossed Rio ba

e canoe didn't sheer, and we arrived at Rio safe and sound after the most exciting boat-ride of my life. I was

ed for a pass of greater import. This document had to b

Dutch galliot in a head sea after the wind had subsided. Our worthy Consul, General H. Clay Armstrong, gave me a hint of what the difficulty was and how to obviate it. I then went

r American seamen," and when the new document came it was "Passe Especial," and had on it a seal as big as a soup plate. A port

papers enough for a man-o'-war. Rio being considered a healthy

iven me by the Brazilian officials), "you may get there all right"; adding, "well, if the boat ever reaches home she will be a great curiosity," the meaning of which, I could readily infer, was, "and your chances for a snap in a dime museum

nals of the Old and New World the safe arrival of this wonderful little craft at her destination, ourselves taking part in the glory. (Temos confianca na pericia e sangue frio do aud

all of our friends, we took leave of Rio,

erdade from Paran