Tropical Cyclone

Around ten o'clock, a slight wave had broken out from the direction of the Formosa Channel, but it did not greatly alarm the passengers, for the Nan-Shan, with its flat bottom, the rotating wedges anchored to its hull, and its very wide beam, had earned the ship a reputation for its seaworthiness. Mr. Djoux, while on shore, would declare in a booming voice that "the old girl (the ship) was as good as she was beautiful." It would never have occurred to Captain MacQuir to express his positive opinion so loudly or with such extraordinary descriptions. She was undoubtedly a good ship, and not old either. She had been built in Dumbarton less than three years earlier for a company of merchants in Siam: Messrs. Sig & Son. When she first set sail, completed in every respect and ready to embark on her life's work, her builders gazed upon her with pride. "Sig asked us to find her a trustworthy captain," said one of the partners. "I think MacQuir is ashore right now," said the other after some thought. "Is he? Telegram him at once. He's the perfect man," declared the senior partner without a moment's hesitation. The next morning, MacQuir stood before them calmly, having traveled from London on the midnight express and having said a sudden, unfeeling goodbye to his wife. She was the daughter of a high-status couple who had known better days. "It would be best if we went aboard together, Captain," said the senior partner. And the three men set off to see every corner of the Khal in Nan-Shan, from the stern to the bow, from the keel to the heavy mast pulleys. Joseph Conrad was born Joseph Theodore Conrad Kozynowski on December 3, 1857, in Berdychów, in Polish Ukraine.