At Cape Verde, Gray
hired a valet, a colored boy, Marcus Lopez, destined to play an
important part later. Crossing the equator, the sailors became
hilarious, playing the usual pranks of ducking the men fresh to
equatorial waters. So long did the ships rest at the Verde Islands,
taking in fresh provisions, that it was January before the Falkland
Islands were reached. Here Kendrick's caution became almost fear. He
was averse to rounding the stormy Horn in winter. Roberts, the
surgeon, and Woodruff, who had been with Cook, had become disgusted
with Kendrick's indecision at Cape Verde, and left, presumably taking
passage back on some foreign cruiser. Haswell, then, went over as
first mate to Gray. Mountain seas and smashing gales assailed the
ships from the time they headed for the Horn in April of 1788. The
_Columbia_ was tossed clear up on her beam ends, and sea after sea
crashed over the little {217} _Lady Washington_, drenching everything
below decks like soap-suds in a rickety tub. Then came a hurricane of
cold winds coating the ship in ice like glass, till the yard-arms
looked like ghosts.
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