470 FEBBBAL BBPOBTER, �Havana about the same distance. In any of those ports the engines could have been repaired. Anchorage could bave been found at Watling's island, 248 miles distant, and at Little Bird rock, 326 miles distant. The Colon could have made any of those ports under sail. Aside from the brealdng of her machinery, she was entirely stout, staunch, and sea- worthy. About half an hour after the accident, the Colon was got under ail sail, and her master attempted to wear; but, her propeller not being disconnected, he was unable to do so, and she made headway to the southward about a knot and a half an hour, and drifted to the eastward at about the same rate. The prevailing winds at that season of the year, and in the vicinity where she was, were more favorable for her to proceed to New York, or to some northern port, than to a West India port. It would probably have taken her four- teen days to reach New York under sail alone. �The master of the Colon was exceptionably competent, and had had a wide experience in steam-vessels. For 27 yeara he had navigated that part of the ocean through which the Colon's route lay. He had frequently tested the ability of the Colon to make headway under sail, and had found she •was entirely manageable with the wind on her beam or abaft the beam. These tests were made while the screw was con- nected with the shaft. The screw of the Colon was attaehed to the shaft in such a manner that it could be disconnected in less than two hours, and, when disconnected, it would revolve freely and would not interfere with the steering of the vessel. With the screw disconnected the vessel could sail within six points of the wind. At the time of the accident the weather was pleasant and the sea smooth, and the wind light from west-south-west. The part of the ocean where the Colon lay disabled was much frequented by both steam and sail vessels. Steamers running to and fro between New York and Aspinwall passed in the immediate vicinity. So did steamers from the Spanish main, bound to Cadiz and ports in Spain and France. So did sailing vessels bound to and from New Orleans, Mobile, and Havana. The Colon had fresh ����
