The rigging-pen between decks was knocked down and two tiers of berths were built, one for each of the rescued men, from the lumber bought at Teneriffe. They were amply supplied with bedding, seats and tables were built, and a boy from the forecastle was assigned to attend the men.
The vessel was kept well to the northward, to take advantage of the southeast trade-winds, which were taken in lat. 24°. Then fresh and fair winds wafted the vessel across the Indian Ocean. At times the old Catalpa logged two hundred miles a day, although she was not regarded as a fast sailor.
The men were given the freedom of the ship and thoroughly enjoyed the liberty which had been restored to them. Mr. Breslin wrote a song which the men were wont to sing as they lay on the decks on warm evenings. These were the words:—
"Right across the Indian Ocean, while the trade-wind follows fast,
Speeds our ship with gentle motion; fear and chains behind us cast.
Rolling home! rolling home! rolling home across the sea;
Rolling home to bright Columbia; home to friends and liberty.
"Through the waters blue and bright, through dark wave and hissing foam,
Ever onward, with delight, we are sailing still for home.
O'er our pathway, in the sunshine, flies the wide-winged albatross,
O'er our topmast, in the moonlight, hangs the starry Southern Cross.
"By the stormy cape now flying, with a full and flowing sail,
See the daylight round us dying on the black breast of the gale!
See the lightning flash above us and the dark surge roll below!
Here's a health to those who love us! Here's defiance to the foe!
"Now the wide Atlantic clearing with our good ship speeding free,
The dull 'Cape of Storms' we're leaving far to eastward on our lee.
And as homeward through the waters the old Catalpa goes,
Ho! you fellows at the masthead, let us hear once more, "She blows."
"Next by lonely St. Helena, with a steady wind we glide
By the rock-built, sea-girt prison, where the gallant Frenchman died,
With the flying fish and porpoise sporting 'round us in the wave,
With the starry flag of freedom floating o'er us bright and brave.
"Past 'The Line,' and now the dipper hangs glittering in the sky.
Onward still! In the blue water, see, the gulf weed passing by.
Homeward! Homeward to Columbia, blow you, steady breezes, blow,
'Till we hear it, from the masthead, the joyful cry, "Land ho!"
Mr. Farnham, the second mate, died suddenly of heart disease on the 8th of May, and was buried at sea the following day. He had been a faithful man, and there was sincere sorrow throughout the ship's company.
THE CATALPA HOMEWARD BOUND
Running before a Gale
Captain Anthony made his course for the south end of Madagascar, and stood well inshore in rounding the cape, across the Agulhas Banks, to receive the advantage of the current which sets into the Atlantic Ocean. Here severe winter weather was encountered. Then the "trades" were welcomed once more, and the Catalpa sailed on with a fleet of twenty-one merchant vessels, all following the same course.
Naturally the bark gave St. Helena a wide berth, since the neighborhood of a British possession was to be avoided. Subsequently it was learned that an English warship awaited the Catalpa at this point. There is an English naval station at Ascension, and Captain Anthony was likewise shy of a near approach to the island.