At daybreak, the clouds thinned off and rolled away, and
the sun came up clear. The wind, instead of coming out from the
northward, as is usual, blew steadily and freshly from the
anchoring-ground. This was bad for us, for, being "flying light," with
little more than ballast trim, we were in no condition for showing off
on a taught bowline, and had depended upon a fair wind, with which, by
the help of our light sails and studding-sails, we meant to have
been the first at the anchoring-ground; but the Ayacucho was a good
league to windward of us, and was standing in, in fine style. The
whaler, however, was as far to leeward of us, and the Loriotte was
nearly out of sight, among the islands, up the Canal. By hauling every
brace and bowline, and clapping watch-tackles upon all the sheets
and halyards, we managed to hold our own, and drop the leeward vessels
a little in every tack. When we reached the anchoring-ground, the
Ayacucho had got her anchor, furled her sails, squared her yards,
and was lying as quietly as if nothing had happened for the last
twenty-four hours.
We had our usual good luck in getting our anchor without letting
go another, and were all snug, with our boats at the boom-ends, in
half an hour.
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