For the next three days we went along merrily to the northward, the beginning of the southeast trade behind us, and our skysails drawing full overhead.
In all of the lore of cutting canvas for sails, and we made a set of skysails on the voyage, the mate was a past master.
They deemed the breaking of that slender, elevated, unbraced mast the natural result of the order which the commander gave to set the skysail, going as the vessel then was.
A slight dew began to settle as the watch wore on and presently a sound aloft of the flapping of a skysail started us to attention.
Thus, the lowest sail is the course, the next is the topsail, the next the topgallantsail, the next the royal and the highest of all is the skysail.
A sliding shutter overhead was thrown back, when on the wind, to allow the helmsman a sight of the weather cloth of the mizzen skysail.
She was two thousand tons, clipper, and with skysails.
We had run into the southeast trade and were reaching along to the southward under skysails.
