Research source

I very often sound sailors as to whether they have ever come across this ominous vessel, and sometimes hear…

Date of account: Published 1911
Source: Byways of Ghost-Land
Reference: Byways of Ghost-Land · selected passage 92
Rights: public_domain
Language: English
Record updated: 2026-08-24

Record summary

I very often sound sailors as to whether they have ever come across this ominous vessel, and sometimes hear very enthralling accounts of it

Published source text

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Source passage

Source text · mention only

I very often sound sailors as to whether they have ever come across this ominous vessel, and sometimes hear very enthralling accounts of it. An old sea captain whom I met on the pier at Southampton, in reply to my inquiry, said: "Yes! I have seen the phantom ship, or at any rate a phantom ship, once--but only once. It was one night in the fifties, and we were becalmed in the South Pacific about three hundred miles due west of Callao. It had been terrifically hot all day, and, only too thankful that it was now a little cooler, I was lolling over the bulwarks to get a few mouthfuls of fresh air before turning into my berth, when one of the crew touched me on the shoulder, and ejaculating, 'For God's sake----' abruptly left off. Following the direction of his glaring eyes, I saw to my amazement a large black brig bearing directly down on us. She was about a mile off, and, despite the intense calmness of the sea, was pitching and tossing as if in the roughest water. As she drew nearer I was able to make her out better, and from her build--she carried two masts and was square-rigged forward and schooner-rigged aft--as well as from her tawdry gilt figurehead, concluded she was a hermaphrodite brig of, very possibly, Dutch nationality.

Historical context

Contextual commentary · mention only

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Modern context

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