Day Three
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"My next watch on deck 12 - 4 am was quite peaceful and nothing at all happened. At 8 am when I next appeared the breeze had moderated & the fore topsail and also the staysails were set. We then set the main topsail, lower and upper topga'n'sails and also the fore lower topga'n'sail and outer jib.
At 4 pm I spent three quarters of an hour sweeping the after-deck. I then finished W le Queux's "Room of Mystery". A good yarn, very tragic but extremely blood-curdling.
8 pm We spent the time discussing the good times we had in Sydney.
At 11 pm the Second mate and I proceeded to make tea on a patent stove he had bought in Sydney for the price of thirty shillings. We got it going but not as it should go and at 11.15 the cabin was filled with dense volumes of smoke and reeking of kerosene fumes. 11.30 The tea was made and it looked very strong so we looked at one another in a satisfied sort of way but on tasting it was more like flavoured water than tea.
There were now brilliant flashes of lightening on the horizon."