The wrath of an angry Atlantic was directly upon us - the ship was in full storm! The Fair Lady pitched violently against the massive waves that thrashed the sides of the ship like rhythmic claps of thunder. Water filled every accessible space and everything that could be lashed was tightly secured lest it be lost at sea. All passengers were in fear of their lives and desperately praying for safe deliverance to the nearest land, wherever that might be. After several hours of sheer terror, the storm abated and an aerie calm came over the ship. Fortunately, the Fair Lady had survived the ravaging storm with minimal damage.

The Fair Lady had logged 53 sunrises since it left Glasgow and the 210 passengers and crew last saw land. As much time as possible was spent on deck where the air was much fresher than the stale fetid candlelit quarters below. Water was barely drinkable, the beer flat, and the rum was running low. The ship had been loaded with stable provisions such as salted meats, cheese, dried fish, hard tack, dried peas, oatmeal, raisins, and sauerkraut. Rats had gnawed into the oatmeal and the galley stores were running dreadfully low. Unfortunately, twelve passengers were lost in transit due to cholera and ship fever and one passenger was regrettably washed overboard. He could not be rescued despite our many valiant attempts.

As day was breaking, the ship made a wide gentle arc bearing northward to the port city of Wilmington in the Carolinas; the passengers became jubilant when they could just barely get a glimpse of church spires along the Cape Fear River. As the

Impressum

Verlag: BookRix GmbH & Co. KG

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 29.11.2012
ISBN: 978-3-7309-0016-1

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