Thursday, October 7, 1875

Oct. 7th. There is a gale or hurricane. The fore gallant sail was blown loose by a cable chain breaking. The main Royal sail was blown to ribbons. A sailor, reefing the main upper top, fell over 40 feet to the deck. A grand sea! Spray is blowing from the crest of the waves over the sea like a driving snow storm. The waves are so large that they are over 500 feet apart, the captain says, as large as they ever get anywhere in the ocean. When the ship is between two waves we look up at them, fore and aft several feet perhaps twenty or thirty, above our heads and the deck is thirty to forty feet above water when the sea is level. The next moment we are lifted on top of a wave, and, looking right and left, we see the waves extend as far as the eye can follow, like great mountain ridges while fore and aft the troughs look like canyons. The whole ocean is white as snow, so lashed with foam. We pass a large number of whales going with the wind. When on the crest of the wave their heads and tails are out of the water.