and now it has won further regard in my estimation by serving me as a foot-robe when turned in my bunk. So attached have I become to this pea-jacket that when its seams will no longer hold together, as indeed they show signs of gaping even now, I shall snip off the huge anchor-buttons and preserve them as mementos-a mute, uncomplaining and everready friend. During these weary weeks the grind was hard, and altho' the grub was coarse and of little variety, the labor exacted energy and appetites were keen, so that the crowd have become hard as bullocks. There being two factions in the forecastle, the Scandinavian lads from home and the English speaking gang shipped in South Australia, it is not to be wondered at that two cliques formed and there were bickerings and friction between the two. But the afterguard made no distinctions and saw to it that there was no hanging back and allowing one to bear the brunt and another to get off easily. Perhaps, I might add that this fairmindedness was characteristic of the Mate but the young Second Mate had his likes and dislikes and were it not that Chilano J ohn
often curbed and snubbed him the "English" lads of his watch would have fared badly. The passage itself, the running easting down and passage of Cape Horn, might be described as fair . True we had a beating up south of Tasmania and another below New Zealand. We had strong winds and long following seas that flooded our decks for better than a month not to mention the occasional "rinsing" out of the forecastle and galley . The sail drills were hard and often and it galled the mind and fatigued the body. All this was trying in the extreme, but it is typical of this slope of the earth and only what is to be expected when traversing the converging meridians. Ours was a staunch ship and we suffered little damage from the weather, unlike the beatings less fortunate ships get down these parts. So now that I'm about to close this chapter on "bad weather, oilskins & seaboots" and "all hands shorten sail" I must say that tho' I'm satisfied I've tried, and experienced the "run'', my first passage 'round the Horn, even tho' checkered by occasional bad spells, was on the whole a good one. This night a steady breeze saw the fore and main upper togallants 'ls on her.
Captain Horka pointing out part of the route of his early voyage. Captain Horka has devoted his life to the sea . A veteran of nearly 40 years under both sail and steam, he is a member of the Marine Society of New York, the Council of American Master Mariners and will be the recipient of the JAMES MONROE AWARD to be presented April 10 in New York. Now retired, he lives in Fair Lawn, New Jersey .
-30