f lighters, and the great amount of
freight, keep us through the day; and it is nearly sundown before we get
under way. All day the fruit boats are along-side, and passengers and
crew lay in stocks of oranges and bananas and sapotes, and little boxes
of sweetmeats. At length, the last barrel is on board, the permits and
passenger-lists are examined, the revenue officers leave us, and we
begin to heave up our anchor.

The harbor is very full of vessels, and the room for swinging is small.
A British mail-steamer, and a Spanish man-of-war, and several
merchantmen, are close upon us. Captain Bullock takes his second mate
aft and they have a conference, as quietly as if they were arranging a
funeral. He is explaining to him his plan for running the warps and
swinging the ship, and telling him beforehand what he is to do in this
case, and what in that, and how to understand his signs, so that no
orders, or as few as possible, need be given at the time of action. The
engine moves, the warp is hauled upon, the anchor tripped, and dropped
again, and tripped again, the ship takes the right sheer, clear of
everything, and goes handsomely out of the harbor, the stars and stripes
at her peak, with a waving of hats from friends on the Punta wharf. The
western sky is gorgeous with the setting sun, and the evening drums and
trumpets sound from the encircling fortifications, as we pass the Casa
Blanca, the Cabana, the Punta, and the Morro. The sky fades, the ship
rises and falls in the heave of the sea, the lantern of the Morro gleams
over the water, and the dim shores of Cuba are hidden from our sight.

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of To Cuba and Back, by Richard Henry Dana

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