Voyage of the Liberdade | Page 5

boat, high above the gunwales, the hairy side out, they did look odd.
"Oh, papa," said he, "here comes a load of cows! Stand by, all hands,
and take them in."
CHAPTER III
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.
From Buenos Aires, we proceeded up the River Plate, near the
confluence of the Parana and Paraguay, to salve a cargo of wine from
the stranded brig Neovo San Pascual, from Marseilles.
The current of the great river at that point runs constantly seaward,
becoming almost a sea of itself, and a dangerous one to navigate; hence
the loss of the San Pascual, and many others before her.
If, like the "Ancient Mariner," we had, any of us, cried, "water, water
all around, and not a drop to drink," we forgot it now, in this bountiful
stream. Wine, too, we had without stint. The insurance agent, to leave
no excuse for tampering with the cargo, rolled out a cask of the best,
and, like a true Hans Breitmann, "knocked out der bung." Then, too,
cases were broken in the handling, the contents of which drenched their
clothes from top to toe, as the sailors carried them away on their heads.
The diversity of a sailor's life--ah me! The experience of Dana and his
shipmates, for instance, on a sun-burnt coast, carrying dry hides on
their heads, if not a worse one, may be in store for us, we cried, now
fairly swimming in luxuries--water and wine alike free. Although our
present good luck may be followed by times less cheerful, we preferred
to count this, we said, as compensation for past misfortunes, marking
well that "it never rains but it pours."
The cargo of wine in due course was landed at Rosario with but small
loss, the crew, except in one case, remaining sober enough to help
navigate even the difficult Parana. But one old sinner, the case I speak
of, an old Labrador fisherman, became a useless, drunken swab, in spite
of all we could do. I say "we" for most of the crew were on my side, in
favour of a fair deal and "regular supplies."
The hold was barred and locked, and every place we could think of, for
a time, was searched; still Dan kept terribly drunk. At last his mattress
was turned out, and from it rolled a dozen or more bottles of the best

liquor. Then there was a row, but all on the part of Dan, who swore
blue vengeance on the man, if he could but find him out, who had
stowed that grog in his bunk, "trying to get" him "into trouble"; some of
those "young fellows would rue it yet!"
The cargo of wine being discharged, I chartered to load alfalfa, packed
in bales, for Rio. Many deaths had occurred about this time, with
appalling suddenness; we soon learned that cholera was staring us all in
the face, and that it was fast spreading through the country, filling
towns and cities with sickness and death.
Approaching more frightfully near, it carried our pilot over the bar; his
wife was a widow the day after he brought our bark to the loading berth.
And the young man who commenced to deliver us the cargo was
himself measured the day after. His ship had come in!
Many stout men, and many, many women and children succumbed to
the scourge; yet it was our high privilege to come through the dark
cloud without losing a loved one, while thousands were cast down with
bereavements and grief. At one time it appeared that we were in the
centre of the cloud which zig-zagged its ugly body, serpent-like,
through districts, poisoning all that it touched, and leaving death in its
wake. This was indeed cholera in its most terrible form!
One poor fellow sat at the Widow Lacinas' hotel, bewildered.
"Forty-eight hours ago," said he, "I sat at my own hearth, with wife and
three children by my side. Now I am alone in the world! Even my poor
house, such as it was, is pulled down." This man, I say, had troubles;
surely was his "house pulled down!"
There was no escaping the poison or keeping it off, except by
disinfectants, and by keeping the system regular, for it soon spread over
all the land and the air was full of it. Remedies sold so high that many
must have perished without the test of medicinal aid to cure their
disease. A cry went up against unprincipled druggists who were
over-charging for their drugs, but nothing more was done to check their
greed. Camphor sold as high as four dollars a pound, and the druggist
with a few