The seventh installment of Annie’s diary…

From the 23^rd we had some nasty weather.  The waves would just come down on her decks with such force that she would shiver from end to end, the engines were only going just enough to keep her straight and we only went 50 miles one day.  One wave came with such force that it snapped the iron stanchion on the upper bridge in half.

Most of the time Harold and I had to be in the Chart room, and it was with great difficulty we could get aft to our meals – we are experiencing sea life in all its aspects, no mistake about that.  In crossing the Gulf Stream when the warm water comes in contact with the cold atmosphere it had the appearance of boiling water, huge volumes of vapour were coming up from it and it looked so strange.

The rough weather continued the whole of the way to New York where we arrived on the 30^th January, docking on the 1^st of February.  We now experienced dreadfully cold weather; the dock we were in was several miles from the city and in an out of the way place so we did not go on shore while discharging.  All the docks and the harbour and river were frozen over and it was with great difficulty they got the ship to Brooklyn to load.  Tugs had to go ahead to break a way through the ice for us, it was just like going through a ploughed field.

I took Harold on shore one morning but it was so difficult getting around the docks when covered with ice and snow that we concluded the best place for us was by the cabin fire.  We loaded here a cargo of grain for Lisbon leaving New York on the 11^th of February.  For five or six hours we were going through fields of ice and then after discharging the Pilot at Sandy Hook we are once more on our way.

The weather is always bad in the North Atlantic at this time of the year but we find it much milder when we get out at sea, the cold is not so bleak and bitter as it was in New York.  The wind is mostly in our favour, the sea is very rough and sometimes comes with great force down on the deck, one wave threw down one of the men cutting his head in several places and dislocating his collar bone.

Four days after leaving New York we are able to sit on the deck reading without jackets on.  The weather now is very enjoyable, neither too warm nor cold.  We had a nice run as far as St Michaels, Azores, which we passed on February 22^nd.  The remainder of the trip we had head winds and very heavy seas.

We arrived safely in the evening February 26^th and anchored outside in the bay until next morning when we proceeded to Lisbon.  The morning was rather misty but we had a view of the Portuguese men of war which are at anchor in the bay.  We also passed one of the King’s residences.  There is no wharf at Lisbon where we can get alongside, so we are moored to a buoy out in the bay and have to go on shore in small boats.

The town is fairly large but very much behind the times, especially as it is the Capital and the King spends a great deal of his time here; the streets are very narrow, the houses high without any pretence at architecture, mules are used for the tramcars and ox wagons for merchandise.  There are a few large buildings, a convent, cathedral, theatre and the Custom House but I did not go in either.  The majority of females still wear the mantilla or lace scarf instead of hats or bonnets.  There seemed to be a large number of carriage folk about and some were great swells.

The weather is very wet and stormy which prevents them from working cargo as it has to be put into lighters alongside.  We had no quiet Sundays here, the men were working cargo all the time.  One afternoon we went for a long drive right outside the city which is surrounded by a high wall, at every entrance there is a gendarme on sentry and he searches every vehicle and package that is brought into the city to see nothing comes in without paying duty.  I had a small handbag in my hand and had to open it for their inspection.  We saw some horse racing – lovely creatures some of them were – and we also saw the huge building where the bull fights are held.

The city improved as we drove around – there were some nice parks  and any number of statues.  All the sidewalks in the town are made of small stones, black and white made into mosaic patterns, one square was done in waves of black and white and it made one dizzy to walk across – you had the feeling of rolling about on shipboard.

The tide here runs very swiftly, sometimes the current is so strong that it is impossible to go off to some of the ships in a small boat.  We had quite an experience the day we went for the drive.  We started to row back to the ship but the tide carried us much quicker the way we didn’t want to go.  At last a tug boat came along and commenced to tow us.  We reached our ship to within a couple of lengths of the boat and then the tug boat’s steam gave out and we drifted away – so near and yet so far.  Away we went until the men of a steamer we were drifting by threw us a rope and there we had to stay until the tug made steam again and then after a great deal of labour and towing we finally reached the “Menantic” being a couple of hours going 2 or 300 yards.