Lisgar Collegiate Institute - Vox Lycei Yearbook (Ottawa, Ontario Canada)

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VOX LYCEI 35 strange, exortic beauty of Gatun Lake, through which the ship steams at a level which is above the hilltops of adjacent valleys. Across Cwatun Lake lies the great Gatun Dam, and the Cratun locks beside it that drop the ship 85 feet to the level of the Atlantic. Six miles further, and the ship passes Colon the old Cristobal and the new. the towns at the Atlantic end of the canal. From the Panama Canal the ships of the Panama Pacific Line proceed direct to Havana, arriving there in four days. Here the stay is long enough to permit an automobile tour around the city, a most attractive place, with its houses of soft pink and blue, its narrow picturesque business streets. its venerable cathedral, its broad esplanades. its large hotels and its friendly cafes-and everywhere its laughing people: talking a patois of lisping Spanish that sounds strange to American ears. From Havana, the remainder of the voyage to New York seems short. The ship has the current of the Gulf Stream with her. Coastwise shipping is seen, and usually the New jersey beaches are in view for some time before the High- lands of Navesink and Sandy Hook are passed-guardians of the gateway to New York Harbour. Finally passing Ellis Isle Quarintine in the early morning of the eighteenth day of the voyage, you get a glimpse of the renowned statue of Liberty, through the mist and fog, and steam into harbour just a little unhappy that the entrancing sea voyage is over. ERIC BLACKBURN-III-H. lfwtfz a Lisgar Boy on Board a Destroyer A few years ago, when I was in the Navy, I had a very thrilling experience in a rough voyage across the Bay of Biscay, which is notorious for its terrible storms. The ship, on which I was a member of the crew, was a tiny destroyer, a lean greyhound of the sea, which was bound for Esquimalt via Africa, South America, and the Panama Canal. It was built very long and narrow, for speed, the upper deck being only eight feet above the water. lVe left Portsmouth one raw, cold day in March, steaming past huge battle- ships that towered over us, past the Royal Yacht and Nelson's old flagship Victory , saluting each in turn, and then out on the uneasy waters of the English Channel. Here we encountered the infamous Channel Chop, which materially decreased the number of those who were enjoying the view on deck. During my watch on the bridge from eight p.m. to midnight, we en- countered many ships of all sizes, from gargantuan liners. passing in a blaze of lights, to fu:-sy little tugs, blowing their whistles in imitation of their ponderous sisters, as well as a few belated fishing smacks, with their clumsy brown sails. tacking harbourward. We reached Eddystone lighthouse, the scene of Grace Darling's heroic exploit and here I was relieved from duty. VVhen I came on watch again at four a.m., we had entered the dread con- fines of the Bay of Biscay: the world was a vast heaving mass of grey-green water, each wave breaking over the ship, and 1naking it extremely dangerous to move about on deck. The ship was performing many queer gyrations. rolling over until it seemed she would surely capsize, and then lurching back on the other side she would bury her nose deep into the giant comber. coming up m a smother of foam. I struggled up the companion-ladder to the bridge, and arrived, gasping and half-blind from salt water. Our sister ship was faring as badly as we were, and very often all that could be seen of her was the mast-

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34 VOX LYCEI sit in glass bottomed boats and peer through at the various colours of coral and fish twenty feet below. The dockyards. the home of the British North Atlantic fieet, is also worth while. The Islands form the top of an oceanic mountain of coral. and the roads, cut through this coral rock. wind between cedar trees, or hedges of red and white oleander, while most flowers grow in profusion everywhere. The roads are white, the buildings are white. in fact, nearly everything is white, as all such arc made of coral. The climate is semi-tropical: no frost. no snow. It rains easily and sud- denly, but in half an hour everything is dry again. The temperature varies from fifty degrees to seventy-five degrees seldom going below sixty degrees. At noon on Christmas day it was seventy degrees. One might continue to write for hours of the beauty and the quiet. of the colour and the restfulness of such a gem, but time and space do not permit. so let me conclude with 'when shall we meet again?' G. E. ELLIS. B..-X. lfwtlz a Lisgar Boy on a Cruise from Los Angeles to New York via the Panama Canal Among all sea trips offered the public, the Coast to Coast voyages of the Panama Pacific Line. from one side of the American Continent to the other, may be considered most unique. They are carried out by ocean liners, and are wonder cruises from 2.000 to 5.000 miles longer than the voyage to Europe-filled with scenes of unusual charm to engage the interest of the traveller. Leaving Los Angeles, the voyage is for the most part in placid seas and under cloudless skies. The ship's course is always near land. The high, blue mountain ranges of the Pacific coastline, the palm fringed strands of coral islands and keyes tropic peaks. tipped in clouds, old Spanish cities. and finally the sandy beaches of the eastern seaboard, follow one another in dissolving scenes of an entrancing panorama. On every voyage the ship pierces the serried spine of the Continental Divide at the Isthmus and also calls at gay and colourful Havana. For days. one steams in brilliant sunshine over sparking waters of cerulean blue: for nights one is under the spell of the star-gemmed splendour of southern heavens. or of tropic moonlight. :Xpproaching the Canal from the Gulf of Panama. one sees a coast of hazy- blue and lofty mountains, sometimes hung with light. fieecy clouds. The ship turns at the Canal entrance and goes alongside a fine, large government dock at Balbow. the city built by Americans as their official headquarters in the Canal Zone. One strong impression of the Canal settlement is their distinctively Ameri- can character. Not only has a native been made the hand-maiden of the engineers, but the old careless. irresponsible standards of living that have hitherto existed in the towns of the Isthmus have given place to the manners and customs of the North. Yet the old style of life on the Isthmus exists still in Old Panama, which adjoins Balboa, and is immensely interesting to the tourist. It is a bit of the Old XYorld set down beside the sparkling blue waters of the Pacific. In the ship's passage through the Canal. the First striking feature. after passing through Mirafiores Locks across Miraflores Lakes and raised 85 feet above sea level by the Pedro Miguel Locks. is of course Gaillard or Culebra Cut, with its towering rock sides-the very backbone of the continent. Next is the

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36 VOX LYCEI head, showing over an intervening wave. The remainder of my watch is a painful memory I would rather overlook, as I began to feel a bit queer, and ceased to take an active interest in my surroundings. The sea was so violent, that the ship was obliged to slow down to six knots, and our speed through the water was barely three knots. Meals became very sketchy affairs, attended only by a few hardy souls. I had lost all interest in meals until supper, when, fortified by an afternoons siesta on the iron deck, I partook of a few sea biscuits and some cold ham. Dishes seemed to have sud- denly been imbued with life and had to be watched very closely to prevent brcakages, which would call down upon one the just wrath of one's shipmates. The washing up afterward was performed under the greatest difficulties, and was a triumph in the art of balance. That night was the worst of the storm: the wind was like the howling of a thousand demons. and blew the spray up into my face with great force-like shot thrown into it. My sea-sickness had left me, and I began to enjoy the grandeur and power of the storm, which was now at its height. At times the wind would drop to a calm, and then, seemingly, would blow with increased force. During one of these periods. a ball of St, Elmo's Fire, a curious manifestation of static electricity, perched on the mast-head for a moment and then vanished. This at one time was regarded with superstitious awe by sailors. Farly in the morning, a stupendous sea struck the ship, and the mast snapped off at the maintop, crashing down in a tangle of writhing stays and aerial wires. At each roll of the ship the mast swung around in a huge arc from its stump, a veritable scythe of destruction, threatening to wreck the bridge and the wireless cabin. The pipe of the bo'sun's mate shrilled out. Clear lower deck! All hand muster on the bridge! The watch came tumb- ling up from below in various stages of dress, wiping the sleep from their eyes and scrambling up to the bridge. Then began the dangerous task of securing the whipping mass of destructive wreckage. A half hour of terrific effort and we succeeded in lashing it safely down. The aerial was a hopeless tangle. I swarmed up the stump of the mast and rigged a temporary aerial. From my precarious perch it seemed as though I would be dipped under the water at each roll. - Early on the following morning we passed the Straits of Gibraltar. leaving the storm behind. H. Carstens, IIIA. lfwtfz a Lisgar Girl in England Land! At last after an uneventful voyage across the Atlantic, through the drizzly fog of a typical English rainy day could be seen the green cliffs of Land's End, visible a short time after passing Eddystone lighthouse. VVe continued sailing parallel with the South coast of England. Toward evening, lighthouses, one after the other along the coast, flashed out their messages of warning. At daybreak the next morning, the white cliffs of Dover with the sun streaming down on them, presented a beautiful sight. As we sailed along. these cliffs gradually lessened in height until they were very low. Groups of farm houses and cottages with whitewashed walls and thatched roofs dotted the landscape. During the afternoon of the following day, the mouthgiof the River Thames was reached. At Gravesend on the Thames, we saw several battleships and the Government dockyards. Farther on the river narrowed and the busy traffic of ships passing up and down announced the fact that we were nearing London.