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Article THE FIRST CRUISE OF THE " VIXEN." ← Page 14 of 23 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The First Cruise Of The " Vixen."
almost concealed from our viexv by the smoke of the salute fired , as we supposed , in honour of some event . A flash from seaxvard directed our attention to the presence of five vessels of xvar which had escaped our notice . " An English squadron for a hundred , " shouted Tom , " and a rear-admiral ; I can just see the flag on the mizen . "
The salute had been performed xvith due observance , ancl the five huge vessels xvere holding then * way grandly towards the still xvaters of the bay , when six little faint reports were heard , but folloxving so oddly after the thunder of the great guns , that xve all burst into a shout of laughter . Betxveen the castle and the men-of-wara cutter slipped in her puny formancl firing
, , her pop-guns right ancl left , seemed to accept in her own favour the salutes from the fleet and the fortress . " Why , confound that rascal Boom , " said Tom , " there he is with the Vixen . "
We were not surprised at the appearance of the yacht , as the xveather had abated with a change of wind to the north-xvest . We arrived in Lisbon at midnight ; and Tom , Avho knew everything , did not fail in conducting us to the best hotel . Scarcely had Ave established ourselves in the coffee-room around a table , smoking Avith an admirable supper , than Ave discovered that the
arrival of the fleet had brought appalling UCAVS . A piratical attack had been made upon an English schooner off the coast of Morocco , and every soul on board had been murdered . Finding that a party of naval officers had just come ashore , and were staying in the hotel , we despatched an invitation to then * room to join our table ; it Avas accepted , and the Freemasonry
instantly established between Englishmen abroad , as remarkable as the reserve which rules their chance intercourse at home , made us old friends before the cloth was removed . From our guests AVC learned , that an English schooner yacht had been Avaiting outside the Straits of Gibraltar for a fan * wmd ; a north-east gale had induced her to run down the coast of Morocco for shelter ,
where , by some accident , she ran upon a bank near Agadi , a Moorish seaport about a hundred miles beloxv Mogador . AVhen the natives discovered her distress , three armed galleys issued from the neighbouring river Sous , in trying to gam a refuge in which the schooner had met with her disaster . Until the sea had abatedthese ugllooking strangers continued to ply their
, y sweeps , and hovered round the fated yacht , over which the xvaves were making a clear breach . The strength and excellent braid of the vessel , hoxvever , held her together until the tide , which , fortunately , was at its spring , rose sufficiently to carry her into shoal water within the bar of the river . She was now
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The First Cruise Of The " Vixen."
almost concealed from our viexv by the smoke of the salute fired , as we supposed , in honour of some event . A flash from seaxvard directed our attention to the presence of five vessels of xvar which had escaped our notice . " An English squadron for a hundred , " shouted Tom , " and a rear-admiral ; I can just see the flag on the mizen . "
The salute had been performed xvith due observance , ancl the five huge vessels xvere holding then * way grandly towards the still xvaters of the bay , when six little faint reports were heard , but folloxving so oddly after the thunder of the great guns , that xve all burst into a shout of laughter . Betxveen the castle and the men-of-wara cutter slipped in her puny formancl firing
, , her pop-guns right ancl left , seemed to accept in her own favour the salutes from the fleet and the fortress . " Why , confound that rascal Boom , " said Tom , " there he is with the Vixen . "
We were not surprised at the appearance of the yacht , as the xveather had abated with a change of wind to the north-xvest . We arrived in Lisbon at midnight ; and Tom , Avho knew everything , did not fail in conducting us to the best hotel . Scarcely had Ave established ourselves in the coffee-room around a table , smoking Avith an admirable supper , than Ave discovered that the
arrival of the fleet had brought appalling UCAVS . A piratical attack had been made upon an English schooner off the coast of Morocco , and every soul on board had been murdered . Finding that a party of naval officers had just come ashore , and were staying in the hotel , we despatched an invitation to then * room to join our table ; it Avas accepted , and the Freemasonry
instantly established between Englishmen abroad , as remarkable as the reserve which rules their chance intercourse at home , made us old friends before the cloth was removed . From our guests AVC learned , that an English schooner yacht had been Avaiting outside the Straits of Gibraltar for a fan * wmd ; a north-east gale had induced her to run down the coast of Morocco for shelter ,
where , by some accident , she ran upon a bank near Agadi , a Moorish seaport about a hundred miles beloxv Mogador . AVhen the natives discovered her distress , three armed galleys issued from the neighbouring river Sous , in trying to gam a refuge in which the schooner had met with her disaster . Until the sea had abatedthese ugllooking strangers continued to ply their
, y sweeps , and hovered round the fated yacht , over which the xvaves were making a clear breach . The strength and excellent braid of the vessel , hoxvever , held her together until the tide , which , fortunately , was at its spring , rose sufficiently to carry her into shoal water within the bar of the river . She was now