They sailed up the beautiful coast of Andalusia and close in to the foot of the mountains that towered from the clear blue, waters of the Mediterranean far above the clouds, where their snow-white caps were cool and refreshing to look at from the burning deck below.

The bark was laden with coal consigned to a firm in Alameira and the captain's instructions were to bring back a cargo of Spanish grass and copper ore.
At Alameira they had to anchor in an open roadsted and the George's cargo was discharged into lighters.

The method of discharging coal where there are no steam engines or docks to run alongside, is rather primitive and is known as "jumping." An upright stairs or ladder is made on the deck by lashing spars together.

A block is fastened far above in the rigging over the hatch through which a rope is rove leading down into the hold.

The end of this rope is fastened to a long spar just the height of the ladder and terminating in a number of lines called whips.
These are grasped by six or eight sailors who climb the ladder, made of spars, that has been set over the hatch.