6
09.05.1898
I have worked hard these many days to try and keep some sort of order in this
pestiferous place ;since we arrived at La Boca near half the crew are absent ,including our Captain ,who has spent a fortune in the seedier parts of the town. Were it not for our mate Mr Brewer, I feel that all would have fallen to pieces.
Since his arrival back on board , after a weekend spent with several Argentinian friends doing some genealogical research into the family tree of the President of Argentina ,Dr Jose Evaristo de Uriburu ,Mr Brewer has worked like a Trojan getting things back into order.
He was given an audience with El Presidente after the society had made its presentation of the findings ,and during the course of the audience ,the Presidente asked what Mr Brewer was doing in la Boca. Our mate informed his Excellency of the purpose of our voyage and the disasters that had befallen us ,hence our reason for being in his country. When the assembled company heard what cargo we were carrying they became very excited. They knew of the wonderful bricks that were produced with this product and became anxious to purchase it. There was a great deal of contruction afoot in Buenos Aires ,the Nuevo Puerto was arising out of the marshland to the east of LaBoca, this was to be for the berthing of the new steamships and the builders were hungry for bricks.
Mr Brewer opened tentative negotiations with the contractors that the Presidente had arranged to see him. I was despatched to find our Captain, because without him the negotiations could come to naught.
As I searched, I found a trail of mayhem that he had left in his wake, music halls trashed and bars that would never do business again. The Marineros were hot on his tail and Don Lorenzo ,the keeper of the Calabozo was seeking him to have him as a prized inmate. Old Rocko Fairley told me that our Captain had a fearsome reputation in these parts, not for nothing was he known to the denizens of La Boca as El Alehouse.
Mr Fairley espied our Captains somnolent form laying on the steps of the Sailors Home ,he was attempting to go back to his roots mayhap. With assistance of some brawny capatazes ,we were able to smuggle our captains comatose body back on board. These capatazes were hard men, of Welsh.extraction ,they manned the sheep stations on the Patagonian Pampas ,but could talk the sailor talk as many were deserters from the sailing ships before settling with their southern kin. We may have need of their services if we lose any more of our crew.
11.05.1898
It took near twenty four hours to bring our Captain back to sobriety, many cups of rich black Brazilian coffee were poured down his throat before he was compos mentis enow to assimilate the information Mr Brewer had for him.
To make an early sale of the cargo at a greater price than we would have achieved in Valparaiso,not to have to make that awful voyage around the Horn. We could seek a cargo here for a return to Garston ,Argentina was full of goods that would bring a good return on the home market. Thus it is that fortunes are made, and lost!
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20.05 1898
Our Supercargo Gedric was given the task of seeking the most lucrative cargo for our return while Mr Brewer used the good offices of one of El Presidentes friends to secure the best price for our Mud.
Deals were struck and the trabajadores were set to work discharging our cargo, the repairs were speeded up as the holds were emptied and our young Supercargo Gedric reported the news of the cargo he secured for home.
Rawhides, many tons of them. He reasoned that the newly formed Tannery in King Street would benefit from such a cargo and would pay a handsome price too.. It was a foul smelling cargo and brought with it swarms of bloated blow flies. They settled everywhere and we spent much time under cover trying to avoid the plague.
Soon the last hatches were battened ,the Shipwright reported that the masts and spars were ready for the worst of storms and that our hull was sound..
We would soon be ready for sea.
And what of our crew? We had only lost one member ,young Paddy had heard the siren song of the South Seas and had embarked with the whalermen to make some money. How he would fare in such rough company was anybodys guess, but I fear he would not have much time for his poetic endeavours on such a vessel.
With the loss of Paddy and the death of young Midshipman Seddon we needed to ship just two beachcombers, Clancy ,a midlander who had spent far to long in the sun, and Luggy ,a old Nor?easterman who had been left behind after a wild weekend as a guest of Don Lorenzo.
The pilot is booked for the morrow and we will sail down the Rio Plata to catch the Trade winds for a swift journey home.
I look forward to the clean stiff breezes that will rid us of this nauseous swarm, three days should do it and then I will set myself to the labours of recording the story of the Brotherhood.
Sadly,there were no letters from home.
20.05.1898
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