War diary and letters of Stephen Minot Weld.

Friday, November 1 . — There was a rainbow early this morning, and the old adage that “a rainbow in the morning is the sailor’s warning” was well carried out; for about ten o’clock it clouded up, and in an hour we had a strong breeze blowing, which soon turned into a gale. It blew hard all night, and I surely thought we were going to the bottom. One sea which broke over the ship killed one of Captain Hascall’s horses. I did not go below during the whole night. I am afraid the Governor and some other vessels are lost. We parted with our tow this evening. I never passed such a horrible night in my life. I had fully made up my mind to be drowned, but suspense was dreadful. The wind would blow and shriek through the rigging till it seemed as if it could blow no harder; and when I thought it was at its height, it would scream and whistle more than ever. There was something terrible to me in the waves, which were enormously high, and only rendered visible by the phosphorescent light on the tops of them. At times it would rain so that one could not see, and the gangways would be full of water dashing hither and thither with the motion of the ship, until it seemed as if we were full of water and were going to sink immediately. The drum-major of the regiment exhibited such cowardice that it was disgusting to see him. I was glad to see daylight as the sea grew calmer. We were in Long, 77° 53′ and Lat. 33° 01′ at noon.