The sea was very heavy, and the night was
very dark. I tried the heat of the water for the last time that evening,
and having bade good-night to the officer whose watch was just over, I
stayed for a few minutes to talk to the officer whose watch was just
beginning, before going below to go to bed. We were standing aft, and,
fortunately for us, near one of the masts, when through the darkness we
saw the sloping sides of a great South Sea wave coming at the fore part
of the ship, but sideways. 'The rigging!' shouted the officer of the
watch, and as we both clung to the ropes the wave broke on our bows,
smashed the jib-boom, and swept the decks from stem to stern."
"And if you hadn't held on by the rigging you would have been washed
away?"
"I am afraid we should, Fred, for every loose thing on deck was swept
off in less than a minute. The bull kept his feet, by the bye; but then
he had four, and I have only two."
"The bull! what bull?"
"We were taking some cattle out to Australia. There was a bull who lived
in a stable that had been made for him on deck. When this comber broke
over us it tore up the bull's house, and carried it overboard, but I met
the bull himself taking a walk at large as I went below to change my
clothes and get some sleep.
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