We pulled alongside of the Loriotte, put her skipper on
board, and found her making preparations for slipping, and then pulled
aboard our own ship. Here Mr. Brown, always "on hand," had got
everything ready, so that we had only to hook on the gig and hoist
it up, when the order was given to loose the sails. While we were on
the yards, we saw the Loriotte under weigh, and before our yards
were mast-headed, the Ayacucho had spread her wings, and, with yards
braced sharp up, was standing athwart our hawse. There is no
prettier sight in the world than a full-rigged, clipper-built brig,
sailing sharp on the wind. In a moment, our slip-rope was gone, the
head-yards filled away, and we were off. Next came the whaler; and
in a half an hour from the time when four vessels were lying quietly
at anchor, without a rag out, or a sign of motion, the bay was
deserted, and four white clouds were standing off to sea. Being sure
of clearing the point, we stood off with our yards a little braced in,
while the Ayacucho went off with a taught bowline, which brought her
to windward of us. During all this day, and the greater part of the
night, we had the usual south-easter entertainment, a gale of wind,
variegated and finally topped off with a drenching rain of three or
four hours.
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