登陆注册
4128800000013

第13章 CHAPTER I DOMESTIC ANNALS(10)

War added fresh complications. In 1794 Smith came 'very near to be taken' by a French squadron. In 1813 Robert Stevenson was cruising about the neighbourhood of Cape Wrath in the immediate fear of Commodore Rogers. The men, and especially the sailors, of the lighthouse service must be protected by a medal and ticket from the brutal activity of the press-gang. And the zeal of volunteer patriots was at times embarrassing.

'I set off on foot,' writes my grandfather, 'for Marazion, a town at the head of Mount's Bay, where I was in hopes of getting a boat to freight. I had just got that length, and was making the necessary inquiry, when a young man, accompanied by several idle-looking fellows, came up to me, and in a hasty tone said, "Sir, in the king's name I seize your person and papers." To which I replied that I should be glad to see his authority, and know the reason of an address so abrupt. He told me the want of time prevented his taking regular steps, but that it would be necessary for me to return to Penzance, as I was suspected of being a French spy. I proposed to submit my papers to the nearest Justice of Peace, who was immediately applied to, and came to the inn where I was. He seemed to be greatly agitated, and quite at a loss how to proceed. The complaint preferred against me was "that I had examined the Longships Lighthouse with the most minute attention, and was no less particular in my inquiries at the keepers of the lighthouse regarding the sunk rocks lying off the Land's End, with the sets of the currents and tides along the coast: that I seemed particularly to regret the situation of the rocks called the Seven Stones, and the loss of a beacon which the Trinity Board had caused to be fixed on the Wolf Rock; that I had taken notes of the bearings of several sunk rocks, and a drawing of the lighthouse, and of Cape Cornwall.

Further, that I had refused the honour of Lord Edgecombe's invitation to dinner, offering as an apology that I had some particular business on hand." '

My grandfather produced in answer his credentials and letter of credit; but the justice, after perusing them, 'very gravely observed that they were "musty bits of paper," ' and proposed to maintain the arrest. Some more enlightened magistrates at Penzance relieved him of suspicion and left him at liberty to pursue his journey, - 'which I did with so much eagerness,' he adds, 'that I gave the two coal lights on the Lizard only a very transient look.'

Lighthouse operations in Scotland differed essentially in character from those in England. The English coast is in comparison a habitable, homely place, well supplied with towns; the Scottish presents hundreds of miles of savage islands and desolate moors. The Parliamentary committee of 1834, profoundly ignorant of this distinction, insisted with my grandfather that the work at the various stations should be let out on contract 'in the neighbourhood,' where sheep and deer, and gulls and cormorants, and a few ragged gillies, perhaps crouching in a bee-hive house, made up the only neighbours. In such situations repairs and improvements could only be overtaken by collecting (as my grandfather expressed it) a few 'lads,' placing them under charge of a foreman, and despatching them about the coast as occasion served. The particular danger of these seas increased the difficulty. The course of the lighthouse tender lies amid iron-bound coasts, among tide-races, the whirlpools of the Pentland Firth, flocks of islands, flocks of reefs, many of them uncharted. The aid of steam was not yet. At first in random coasting sloop, and afterwards in the cutter belonging to the service, the engineer must ply and run amongst these multiplied dangers, and sometimes late into the stormy autumn. For pages together my grandfather's diary preserves a record of these rude experiences; of hard winds and rough seas; and of 'the try-sail and storm-jib, those old friends which I never like to see.' They do not tempt to quotation, but it was the man's element, in which he lived, and delighted to live, and some specimen must be presented. On Friday, September 10th, 1830, the REGENT lying in Lerwick Bay, we have this entry: 'The gale increases, with continued rain.' On the morrow, Saturday, 11th, the weather appeared to moderate, and they put to sea, only to be driven by evening into Levenswick. There they lay, 'rolling much,' with both anchors ahead and the square yard on deck, till the morning of Saturday, 18th. Saturday and Sunday they were plying to the southward with a 'strong breeze and a heavy sea,' and on Sunday evening anchored in Otterswick.

'Monday, 20th, it blows so fresh that we have no communication with the shore. We see Mr. Rome on the beach, but we cannot communicate with him. It blows "mere fire," as the sailors express it.' And for three days more the diary goes on with tales of davits unshipped, high seas, strong gales from the southward, and the ship driven to refuge in Kirkwall or Deer Sound. I have many a passage before me to transcribe, in which my grandfather draws himself as a man of minute and anxious exactitude about details. It must not be forgotten that these voyages in the tender were the particular pleasure and reward of his existence; that he had in him a reserve of romance which carried him delightedly over these hardships and perils; that to him it was 'great gain' to be eight nights and seven days in the savage bay of Levenswick - to read a book in the much agitated cabin - to go on deck and hear the gale scream in his ears, and see the landscape dark with rain and the ship plunge at her two anchors - and to turn in at night and wake again at morning, in his narrow berth, to the glamorous and continued voices of the gale.

His perils and escapes were beyond counting. I shall only refer to two: the first, because of the impression made upon himself; the second, from the incidental picture it presents of the north islanders. On the 9th October 1794 he took passage from Orkney in the sloop ELIZABETH of Stromness.

同类推荐
  • Cy Whittaker's Place

    Cy Whittaker's Place

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • Wyoming

    Wyoming

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 念佛警策

    念佛警策

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 噩梦俟解思问录经义

    噩梦俟解思问录经义

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 父师善诱法

    父师善诱法

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 王者荣耀之一念成神

    王者荣耀之一念成神

    【2018王者荣耀文学大赛·征文参赛作品】江湖中流传着一段话:对于普通玩家来说,王者已经是大神;而对于职业选手来说,荣耀百星,不过是成神前的一场小测验。电子竞技的舞台异常残酷,究竟谁能在争锋中问鼎神座?
  • 异界修仙人

    异界修仙人

    太古神剑为何会出现在李逍遥手中?为何李逍遥会被奇异的闪电劈入武斗大陆?武斗大陆和灵界的联系为什么断开?麒麟、青龙、白虎、朱雀、玄武,五神兽为何被困灵界?是什么在冥冥之中牵引着李逍遥一步步的走入太古神界?
  • 重生之嫡女为妃

    重生之嫡女为妃

    “皇上有令,王妃安氏三年无所出,赐死!”新帝登基,一纸圣旨,一杯毒酒,一场大火,让她用不甘与屈辱的方式结束性命,她无法忘记临死前丈夫的无情,姐妹好友的背叛,情敌的陷害……她用灵魂发誓,要将所承受的一一回赠到他们身上……再次醒来,发现自己竟然重生到了新婚之夜……曾经心爱的男人,他依然丰神俊朗,意气风华,他说:这辈子,你将是我唯一的妻!只是,经历过一世的她,却已不再相信,所谓爱情,也不过是一场华丽的骗局,一场残忍的利用,一次刻骨铭心的背叛。★★★★★★★★★★★安乔,相府嫡女,拥有绝色之姿,倾城之貌,自小聪慧过人,智慧堪比男子,无数男人仰慕,她却独独钟情于这个她嫁的人。她用她的智慧,帮助他一步步的登上皇帝之位,到头来却落得被惨痛背叛的下场!面对同样的人和事,她笑了,既然老天给她重新活一次的机会,这一世,她定要活出另一番滋味,那些前世背叛过她的人,她一个都不会放过!凤凰浴火,魅世重生,风华依旧,只是谁人知道,她已经不再是以前的她!她不再掩饰自己的风华,翻云覆雨,谈笑风生,她以巾帼之姿大放异彩,那些对她忽略的人,会有怎样的痴迷?洞悉所有的她,那些背叛过伤害过她的人,又会得到怎样的下场?世间男儿,究竟谁才能打动那颗尘封的心?繁华落尽,谁又是她执手终生之人?
  • 你在高原3:海客谈瀛洲

    你在高原3:海客谈瀛洲

    《你在高原(共10册)》为“茅盾文学奖获奖作品全集”系列之一。《你在高原(共10册)》是一批五十年代生人的故事,这一代人经历的是一段极为特殊的生命历程。无论是这之前还是这之后,在相当长的一个历史时期内,这些人都将是具有非凡意义的枢纽式人物。整个汴梁的政治、经济和文化等各种景致尽收眼底,气韵宏阔;而就局部细节上,哪怕是一个人物的眉眼表情,又都纤毫毕现。这特点在这部小说中也有鲜明的体现,错综复杂的历史、宏大的故事背景和众多的人物,展现了近百年来,特别是改革开放以来中国某一地域的面貌,而在具体的细节刻画和人物摹写上,又细致入微、生动感人。
  • 词旨

    词旨

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 大小姐驾到:Holle,顾少

    大小姐驾到:Holle,顾少

    【全文免费:爽宠一身,多宠少虐】无需重生,她就能虐渣所谓的“妹妹”。无需重生,她就是世人惧怕的皇阁首席“九”。她本是萧家万千宠爱的二小姐,一家四口幸福美满。不想母亲去世,莫氏母女来临,带走的不只是她的爱,更有姐姐的性命。一朝分别四年,她是萧家大小姐,更是黑暗的“九”。本以为回国只是单纯的虐渣,却不想误惹了他。他是她的未婚夫,也是被她遗忘的竹马。如果出现一下场景,请关上亮堂的灯泡离开,因为顾少要开始撩大小姐了!大小姐瞪他:“我告诉你离我远点!”他勾唇一笑:“亲一口就不会让我远了。”大小姐:“别烦我,我困了。”他翻身上床:“那我们一起睡吧。”
  • 攀龙化鸾

    攀龙化鸾

    一觉醒来,稀里糊涂地就魂穿到大汉朝,刚刚继位汉武帝我的大舅!攀龙附凤又如何?看一个民女小丫头如何麻雀变鸾凤!霍去病大胜归来,汉武帝一高兴,问道:“霍爱卿,这些田宅和美女,你可喜欢?”“匈奴未灭,何以家为?”霍去病拒绝道:“陛下,您将蝉儿赐给我进就行。”汉武帝怒哼一声:“哼!退朝!”
  • 辣妻乖乖,叫老公!

    辣妻乖乖,叫老公!

    男友变心了,变心的对象居然是她绝对意想不到的女人,理由是‘她不行’。喻小白冷冷笑开,她与他最亲热的行为就是额头吻,他如何知道她不行?既然他不仁,就别怪她无义,渣男与渣女结婚的当天,她手挽着渣男的小叔叔现身婚礼现场,这下子,渣男都要叫她婶婶了,爽。可为什么爽过了之后,原本答应她只是逢场作戏的男人却霸道的将她抵在了床上,一本正经的道:“我侄子叫你婶婶,那我们就是夫妻了,来,为夫的与你行夫妻礼……”喻小白仓皇后退,她真的不行,“你起开……”“起开再压下,好,为夫的遵命……”他说着,薄唇轻落,欺身而上……情节虚构,请勿模仿
  • 网游之天心落影

    网游之天心落影

    未来世界,人类在进化一途出现分歧,弱势的一方最终被迫流浪宇宙,为了重回故土,在领导者的领导下,开始艰难的探索。
  • 西方历史的瞬间

    西方历史的瞬间

    《西方历史的瞬间》篇章以时代排序,在西方历史中选取一百二十个题目,为每一个题目写一篇文章。对于文化、社会方面的情况谈得比较详尽,有助于读者认识、了解西方世界。此外,《西方历史的瞬间》特别重视15、16世纪西方世界向外求发展时代的状况,并借此说明“世界为什么变成今天这个样子”。文字明白易懂,具有历史与文学的双重阅读乐趣。