and clung closely to the side of the mountain. Amidst all this Jack had his jokes, you may be sure. You might hear one sing out, "I say, old gruffy, my lad, did you ever fall in with anything like this off Cape Cod?" "No, my hearty, it even beats Cape Horn." Another would shout, "I’ve seen it blowing like blue blazes, but this is a regular old blow-hard, hard enough to blow Yankee Doodle on a frying-pan."
"Silence fore and aft!" sings out old Tom Piner, "you never knew anything about its blowing above the mast-heads. Just heave to until all hands are called up higher; then you will find that you cannot weather the gale even by lying down to it."
At two o’clock the gale abated; at daylight everything was as serene as a morning in the tropics.
At sunrise we were astonished to behold the Star, Spangled Banner still proudly waving far above this scene of desolation, on the brim of one of the craters.
I feel proud to know that my country’s flag, the broad stripes and bright stars, has been borne by brave men, north, south, east, and west, and waved to the breeze in as high an altitude as the flag of any other nation.
The words, "Pendulum Peak, January, 1841, U. S. Ex. Ex.," having been cut in the lava within our village, we picked up the remnants of the camp, and were all glad to bid adieu to the bleak and dreary summit of Mauna Loa.
On our return we made the first station about eleven o’clock, when we "spliced the mainbrace" for the first time since we had left the ship. At noon we dined on a good hot soup, and after a short rest went on our way
