Voyage of the Liberdade

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Voyage of the Liberdade

Project Gutenberg's Voyage of the Liberdade, by Captain Joshua Slocum This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
Title: Voyage of the Liberdade
Author: Captain Joshua Slocum
Release Date: June 9, 2006 [EBook #18541]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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VOYAGE OF THE LIBERDADE
Captain Joshua Slocum

Robinson & Stephenson Boston 1890

CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
: PAGE 1
The ship--The crew--A hurricane--Cape Verde Islands--Frio--A pampeiro.
CHAPTER II
: PAGE 8
Montevideo--Beggars--Antonina for maté--Antonina to Buenos Aires--The bombelia.
CHAPTER III
: PAGE 11
Salvage of a cargo of wine--Sailors happy--Cholera in the Argentine--Death in the land--Dutch Harry--Pete the Greek--Noted crimps--Boat lost--Sail for Ilha Grande--Expelled from the port--Serious hardships.
CHAPTER IV
: PAGE 20
Ilha Grande decree--Return to Rosario--Waiting opening of the Brazilian ports--Scarcity of sailors--Buccaneers turned pilots--Sail down the river--Arrive at Ilha Grande the second time--Quarantined and fumigated--Admitted to pratique--Sail for Rio--Again challenged--Rio at last.
CHAPTER V
: PAGE 27
At Rio--Sail for Antonina with mixed cargo--A pampeiro--Ship on beam-ends--Cargo still more mixed--Topgallant-masts carried away--Arrive safely at Antonina.
CHAPTER VI
: PAGE 30
Mutiny--Attempt at robbery and murder--Four against one--Two go down before a rifle--Order restored.
CHAPTER VII
: PAGE 37
Join the bark at Montevideo--A good crew--Small-pox breaks out--Bear up for Maldonado and Floras--No aid--Death of sailors--To Montevideo in distress--Quarantine.
CHAPTER VIII
: PAGE 46
A new crew--Sail for Antonina--Load timber--Native canoes--Loss of the Aquidneck.
CHAPTER IX
: PAGE 51
The building of the Liberdade.
CHAPTER X
: PAGE 63
Across the bar--The run to Santos--Tow to Rio by the steamship--At Rio.
CHAPTER XI
: PAGE 70
Sail from Rio--Anchor at Cape Frio--Encounter with a whale--Sunken treasure--The schoolmaster--The merchant--The good people at the village--A pleasant visit.
CHAPTER XII
: PAGE 76
Sail from Frio--Round Cape St. Thorne--High seas and swift currents--In the "trades"--Dangerous reefs--Run into harbour unawares, on a dark and stormy night--At Garavellas--Fine weather--A gale--Port St. Paulo--Treacherous natives--Sail for Bahia.
CHAPTER XIII
: PAGE 81
At Bahia--Meditations on the discoverers--The Caribbees.
CHAPTER XIV
: PAGE 84
Bahia to Pernambuco--The meeting of the Finance at sea--At Pernambuco--Round Cape St. Roque--A gale--Breakers--The stretch to Barbadoes--Flying-fish alighting on deck--Dismasted--Arrive at Carlysle Bay.
CHAPTER XV
: PAGE 95
At Barbadoes--Mayaguez--Crossing the Bahama Banks--The Gulf Stream--Arrival on the coast of South Carolina.
CHAPTER XVI
: PAGE 107
Ocean Currents--Visit to South Santee--At the Typee River--Quarantined--South Port and Wilmington, N.C.--Inland sailing to Beaufort, Norfolk and Washington, D.C.--Voyage ended.
DISPOSAL OF THE LIBERDADE: PAGE 117

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Diagram of the Liberdade 52
The Liberdade 62
MAP
Course of the Liberdade from Paranagua to Barbadoes 69

GREETING
This literary craft of mine, in its native model and rig, goes out laden with the facts of the strange happenings on a home afloat. Her constructor, a sailor for many years, could have put a whole cargo of salt, so to speak, in the little packet; but would not so wantonly intrude on this domain of longshore navigators. Could the author and constructor but box-haul, club-haul, tops'l-haul, and catharpin like the briny sailors of the strand, ah me!--and hope to be forgiven!
Be the current against us, what matters it? Be it in our favour, we are carried hence, to what place or for what purpose? Our plan of the whole voyage is so insignificant that it matters little, maybe, whither we go, for the "grace of a day" is the same! Is it not a recognition of this which makes the old sailor happy, though in the storm; and hopeful even on a plank in mid-ocean? Surely it is this! for the spiritual beauty of the sea, absorbing man's soul, permits of no infidels on its boundless expanse.
THE AUTHOR
CHAPTER I
The ship--The crew--A hurricane--Cape Verde Islands--Frio--A pampeiro.
To get underweigh: It was on the 28th of February 1886, that the bark Aquidneck, laden with case-oil' sailed from New York for Montevideo, the capital o' Uruguay, the strip of land bounding the River Plate on the east, and called by the natives "Banda Oriental." The Aquidneck was a trim and tidy craft of 326 tons' register, hailing from Baltimore, the port noted for clippers, and being herself high famed above them all for swift sailing, she had won admiration on many seas.
Her crew mustered ten, all told; twelve had been the complement, when freights were good. There were, beside the crew with regular stations, a little lad, aged about six years, and his mamma (age immaterial), privileged above the rest, having "all nights in"--that is, not having to stand watch. The mate, Victor, who is to see many adventures before reaching New York again, was born and bred on shipboard. He was in perfect health, and as strong as a windlass. When he first saw the light and began to give orders, he was at San Francisco on the packet Constitution, the vessel lost in the tempest at Samoa, just before the great