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Wanderlust
His desire to see the world roused in him the spirit of wanderlust and
as no other opportunity presented itself, he shipped at Hamburg,
Germany, as a deck boy on bark "Mia und Kaethe." The bark was to
cross the Atlantic, sail around Cape Horn and up the Pacific to
Iquique, a small seaport town in South America, and return. This was
his initial experience on shipboard, and a boy less determined
character would have been displayed, as his daily experience brought
to light new and often distasteful duties and his ship companions
being of a class with which he had nothing in common. Nothing
extraordinary happened on board until the monotony was broken
when while a few days out from Iquique, they met a Pacific storm that
held the bark in its stern grip for successive days and nights, during
which time the ship sprung a leak, and the entire crew were called to
take turns at the pumps. As days and nights passed, the pumps
continued. The exhausting exercise demanded extra quantity of food
and the supply of meat, potatoes and zwieback was soon exhausted
and for four weeks they had recourse only to beans and bean soup.
Naturally this fare brought on scurvy among the crew and they,
through threats of mutiny, compelled the captain to put in to the
nearest port. This proved to be Ponta Delgada, the largest town in the
Azores Islands, and they there found anchorage in the road stead with
a bad bottom and much exposed to storm. As the harbor of the city
was shallow, they were obliged to carry provisions aboard with small
boats. After obtaining needed supplies of meat, fruit, vegetables and
medicines, and making absolutely needed repairs to the leaking ship,
they put to sea and reached Falmouth, England, after five weeks
voyage. Supplementing the crew with English sailors, they reached
Antwerp and there young Schneider was released from his contract as
an ordained seaman, and he at once journeyed to his home in
Breslau, where he was joyfully received by his family who listened to
his adventurous narratives with interest, trusting that his hardships
would cure him of his desire to travel, and break his spirit of
adventure. They were, however, doomed to disappointment, for in a
few weeks he again left home, sailing this time on a full rigged ship,
the "Lizzie Eugene," bound from the harbor of Hamburg for
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This proved to be a nine months' voyage
during which time he had only a peep of the land which was to be his
future home.
as no other opportunity presented itself, he shipped at Hamburg,
Germany, as a deck boy on bark "Mia und Kaethe." The bark was to
cross the Atlantic, sail around Cape Horn and up the Pacific to
Iquique, a small seaport town in South America, and return. This was
his initial experience on shipboard, and a boy less determined
character would have been displayed, as his daily experience brought
to light new and often distasteful duties and his ship companions
being of a class with which he had nothing in common. Nothing
extraordinary happened on board until the monotony was broken
when while a few days out from Iquique, they met a Pacific storm that
held the bark in its stern grip for successive days and nights, during
which time the ship sprung a leak, and the entire crew were called to
take turns at the pumps. As days and nights passed, the pumps
continued. The exhausting exercise demanded extra quantity of food
and the supply of meat, potatoes and zwieback was soon exhausted
and for four weeks they had recourse only to beans and bean soup.
Naturally this fare brought on scurvy among the crew and they,
through threats of mutiny, compelled the captain to put in to the
nearest port. This proved to be Ponta Delgada, the largest town in the
Azores Islands, and they there found anchorage in the road stead with
a bad bottom and much exposed to storm. As the harbor of the city
was shallow, they were obliged to carry provisions aboard with small
boats. After obtaining needed supplies of meat, fruit, vegetables and
medicines, and making absolutely needed repairs to the leaking ship,
they put to sea and reached Falmouth, England, after five weeks
voyage. Supplementing the crew with English sailors, they reached
Antwerp and there young Schneider was released from his contract as
an ordained seaman, and he at once journeyed to his home in
Breslau, where he was joyfully received by his family who listened to
his adventurous narratives with interest, trusting that his hardships
would cure him of his desire to travel, and break his spirit of
adventure. They were, however, doomed to disappointment, for in a
few weeks he again left home, sailing this time on a full rigged ship,
the "Lizzie Eugene," bound from the harbor of Hamburg for
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This proved to be a nine months' voyage
during which time he had only a peep of the land which was to be his
future home.
