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^ ^ THE
Merchant Vessel
A SAILOR BOY'S VOYAGES
AROUND THE WORLD
BY CHAS. NORDHOFF
AUTHOR OF "man OF WAK LIFE," " WHALING AND
FISHING."
M'lTJI ILLUSTRATloys BY \VM. 11. WALKER
NEW YORK
DODD, IMEAD & COMPANY
Pur.LISIIKRS
Copyright, 1895,
DoDD, Mead & Compant.
Of
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Jauk Asliore — Vic-tiinizcd l)y tlie Land Sharks — Off for
Boston — A Pleasure Trit) — Boston — Sailor's Home —
Ships and Shipjiing Offices 9
CHAPTER IT.
Sail for New Orleans — Going lo Sea with a Drunken
Crew — A Merchantman's Forecastle — "Man the
WimUass " — Choosing Watclies— Some Points of Dif-
ference between tlie Merchant Service and the Navy,
with a short Digression into the Philosophy of Sailor-
craft. . . 18
CHAPTER III.
Watcli-and-Watcli— Reefing Tojisails— Catching a Suck-
er — Tlie Berry's Keys, and the Deputy U. S. Consul
thereof — Turtle Eggs — Mobile Bay — Our Crew leave. 23
CHAPTER IV.
Taking in Cargo — Screwing Cotton — The Gangs and
their Chants — Dejiarture for Livei'pool — Discipline
on Board. 38
(V)
R^^y^^^
VI CONTENTS.
CHAPTER V.
Old Anton's Yarn — A Cruise in a Slaver. . . 47
CHAPTER VI.
A Gale off Cape Clear — Nearly Ashore — Liverpool —
What a Sailor sees of it 58
CHAPTER VII.
Departure from Liverpool — Passengers — Their Mode
of Life on board Ship — Philadelphia — Ship for Lon-
don — Seamen's Protection. ..... 69
CHAPTER VIII.
Sail for London — The Vessel — A Winter Passage across
the Atlantic— Its Hardships— The English Channel. 78
CHAPTER IX.
Arrival in London — The Docks — Sailors — The Califor-
nia Ship — Singular Instauce of Affection in a Ser-
pent — What Sailors see of London — Sail for Boston. 98
CHAPTER X.
Ship for Calcutta — My new Ship — Preparations for an
India Voyage — Sail from Boston — Points of Differ-
ence between Indiamen and otlier Ships — Discipline
— Work — Our Crew — A Character. . . . 110
CHAPTER XI.
A Yarn of Opium Smuggling — The Vessel — The Cap-
tain—Meet Mandarin Boats— The Fight— The Cook's
Scalding Water — Breeze springs up — The Repulse. 120
CONTEXTS. vii
CHAPTER XII.
The Merchant Seaman's SuiKhiy — CTi-owlintj Gedrsre and
I bet'onie Chums — Catching Fisli — Poi-poise Meat —
A Storm oflf the Cape— The Sand-Heads— The Iloog-
ley — George and 1 determine to leave tlie Shiji — The
Pilots— Calcutta 131
CHAPTER XIII.
Leave the Akliar — An English Vessel — Sail for Madras
— Some of the Peculiarities of British Ships — Arrive
at Madras — The Port — Manner of taking in Cargo
■ — How I got into the Sailmaker's Gang — -The Surf-
Boats — A Storm and its Consequences. . . . 145
CHAPTER XIV.
Sail for Sydney— Sydney Coves, or Colonials — Their
Peculiarities — Jim's Yarn — Life among the Savages
of New Guinea. 162
CHAPTER XV.
Sydney — Sailors' Amusements — Tired of the Shore —
Looking for a Voyage — Ship — Tlie Brig Ocean — Her
Crew — Description of the Vessel — Nearly a (Quarrel. 181
CHAPTER XVI.
A Yarn of Sandal W^iod Hunting — Arrival at Lombok
— The Natives — Chinese Residents — Manner of Life
of the People — Take in Cargo — The Country-Wallah
—Her Crew 190
viii CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XVII.
Leave Lombok — The Monkey — The Parrot — A long
Calm — George grumbles — Cattle-tending in New
South Wales — Whampoa — Discharge Cargo — Paid
off— Visit Canton 208
CHAPTER XVIII.
Ship in a Country-Wallah — Sail for Port Louis — Leave-
taking — The Lascar Crew — Manner of treating them
— Long Calm — Superstitions of the Lascars — Their
Desire to Revolt — Arrival at Port Louis. . . 232
CHAPTER XIX.
Difficulty of getting a Ship — Go on board an American
Vessel — Off for Rio — A Ya'rn from a Company Sailor
— Rio de Janeiro Harbor — For Boston — Cold Weather. 242
CHAPTER XX.
Hard Times for Sailors — Anxiety to escape the Winter
—Boston to Bangor — Sail for Demerara — A Down
East Banjuc— Her Cajitain and Mate — A Family Ar-
rangement — Arrival at Demerara — Discharge Cargo
— Sail for Buen Ayre 258
CHAPTER XXI.
Tlic Dragon's Mouth — Buen Ayre — Taking in Salt —
The Suit Pans — Beauty of the Island, and the Climate
— Misery of the Laborers — Off for New Orleans — Cap-
tain attempts to starve the Crew — Tedious Passage —
Arrival at Now Orleans — A Sailor's Law-Suit— Sail
foi- New Y(jrk — Conclusion. . . , . 278
CHAPTER I.
TuE tailors, boarding house keepers, and itinerant ven-
ders of jewelry, in port, have a busy time during the
week iu which a man-of-war's crew is discharged and
paid off. Jack can not see to the end of a hundred
dollars, and therefore pays royally for everything he
wants, and very many things he don't want,"~never stoop-
ing so low as to bargain with a tradesman — and getting
cheated on all hands, of course, by the land sharks.
Pinchbeck watches, and plated jewelry, and ill-fitting
shore clothes, soou transform the neat, trim man-of-war's-
inan, looking as though he had just stepped out of a
l>andbox, into an awkward, ungainly fellow as one would
l>e likely to meet with in a day's walk.
But never mind ; the clothes may not fit, but they cost
the money — the watch may be gilt, but its price was a
g<)lden one — and "what's the odds, so long as you're
(9)
10 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
happy," said a jolly topmate, as he introduced himself
to my uotice, in a suit of clothes big enough for the largest
man in all Ohio, a " long- faced hat," a watch in each
rest pocket, rings on every finger, including the thumbs,
and a breastpin almost large enough for a dinner plate.
* You know," said he, with the air of one having some
experience in such matters, " one must be in the fashion.
Now nobody would take me for an old salt ; they won't
say ' go away sailor, you smell of tar.' "
I thought perhaps they wouldn't, but respectfully
declined investing in a similar manner, to Jack's evi-
dent disgust. Not all, however, of our crew sported
their two watches, or dressed in style. I am sorry to
say that not a few commenced a spree on the first day
ashore, from which they only waked up to find them-
selves outward bound, and the landlord jn-cparcd to
ship them, and pocket no inconsiderable share of theii
advance money. There were yet others, and these were
principally the old merchant sailors, who were ofi^, as sof-n
as they received their pay, to one of the northern sea-
ports, with the intention of shipping for some foreign port,
Liverpool, London, Havre, or " up the straits," as the
Mediterranean is called, where, being old cruising gi-ounda
to them, they thought to have their spree out to greater
advantage than in the United States.
I fear but few, of the many who had talked so loudly
of going home, had the strength of purpose to carry their
resolution into efiect. Many were doubtless persuaded
off by their shipmates, and went "one more voyage" —
which is like the toper's "one more glass," something
w:e charter a schooner. ii
that upsets all plans for reform. Others intended only t
take a little preliminary spree, but spent too large a pro
portion of their savings in that, and then abandoned all
idea of seeing home till after another good voyage.
As for myself, it had been determined that the com-
pany which 1 had joined should go to Boston, from whence
I intended to make my first trip in a merchant vessel.
Our party consisted of five ; two seamen, old sea-dogs, one
of them a captain of the mi';zentop, two ordinary seamen,
and myself, a boy. The tnree last mentioned were steady,
temperance lads, but the old tars were confii-med topers,
who were conscious that they co\ild not resist the tempta-
tion to spreeing, and had made us youngsters promise,
while yet on board ship, that we would see to them.
Fearing the utter impossibility of keeping straight
ill the way from Norfolk to Boston, the luminous idea
struck Harry Hill, the captain of the top, to charter the
cabin of a little coasting schooner, about to proceed to
Boston.
" And then," said he, " if old Tommy Martin and I
get on our beam-ends, you boys can put us into our berths,
and there will be no bloody land sharks to pick oui
pockets."
This proposition was accordingly carried into effect
We paid fifty dollars for the use of the cabin, the captain
to " eat us," he agreeing, also, to start away the same
day we were paid off, which clause of the contract I
insisted on, fearing, were we detained any time in Nor-
folk, that my topmates would get on an interminable
«7ree. 1 had determined on canying them soberly to the
12 THE MERCHANT VE^^SEL.
Sailors' Home, in Boston, and there, placing them umiei
good influences, try to make them lay aside a portion of
their earnings.
Accordingly, we paid our board bill — three days, at
the rate of two dollars and a half per day; for sleeping
in a garret, furnishing our own bedding, and eating an
occasional meal in the house — but homeward bound sailors
don't dispute bills — and took ourselves and baggage down
to the schooner. On getting on board, I found in the
cabin lockers sundry jugs, labeled " brandy," " rum,"
and " wine," which our two old tars had smuggled oflf on
the day before, unknown to the sober portion of the party.
The wine, Hari'y Hill said he had gotten expressly for
us, as such a glorious time as we might now have, should
not be entirely thrown away. Procuring some oysters, on
our way down the bay, we were soon outside, making
good headway toward Boston.
Our two old topmates saw but little of the daylight
while the liquor lasted, but as a good deal of it leaked
out, they had abundant time to get sober before we
arrived in port. For myself, being my first trip on so
small a vessel, I enjoyed myself very much. By the time
we reached Boston I had learned to steer, which neces-
sary accomplishment no one has a chance of acquiring on
board a man-of-war, where only the most experienced
of the seamen are permitted to take the wheel.
Arrived at the wharf in Boston, we took a coach,
(Harry Hill insisting upon going on deck with the driver,
having had a surfeit of the cabin, coming from Norft Ik,)
and irovc up to the Sailors' Home, in Pui-chase street, ir
A SAILOR'S HOME. 13
a style calculated to let folks know that we were home-
ward bounders. Sailors' Homes, almost eveiy body knows,
have been established in nearly every large seaport in the
Union, for the purpose of providing seamen, while on
shore, with boarding houses conducted on honest prin-
eiplee, and mostly by religious people, and where they
will be removed as far as may be from the temptations
of the land. That in Purchase street, Boston, always
enjoyed a high reputation, being a very large and com-
modiously arranged building, where everything was quiet
and scrupulously neat, and where no efforts were spared
by the kind-hearted "landlord," Mr. Chancy, and his
excellent lady, to make the tars comfortable, and to aid
them in their efforts at keeping on the right track.
Entering our names, and the name of our last ship, on
the register, we were shown to nice, airy, rooms, where
matters looked more like comfort than anything I had
seen for the last three years. The regulations of the
house were suspended in each room, and from these I
gathered, among other matters, that there was in the
building a reading room and a smoking room, for the use
of all the boarders, that prayers were held in the former
apartment every morning, before breakfast, which all in
the house were invited to attend, and that on Sabbath
divine service was held in a chapel opposite the Home.
That night I enjoyed a glorious rest. For three long
years a narrow hammock, hung on a crowded deck, had
been my only sleeping place — aside from a still harder
deck plank — and to find myself once more in a good bed,
with nice, clean sheets and pillows, and surrounded by
14 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
all the comforts of home, comforts, by-the-way, whicli wc
don't know how to value till we are obliged to do without
them, was a most unmistakable pleasure. I had taken
HaiTy Hill as my room-mate.
•' Now, my boy," said he, as he " turned in," " there
will be no calling of all hands to-morrow, no turning out
in the cold to scrub decks, no getting down on your mar-
row-bones, with holy-stones and sand. So you can take
just as much comfort as you please. I'm only afraid I'll
sleep so sound I shan't enjoy it at all — so if you wake up
along in the mid-watch, give me a call, that I may
freshen my reckoning."
But there was no mid-watch in my dreams that night
The loud ringing of a bell called us down to prayers,
in the morning. I found a very good attendance in the
reading room. It was the first time I had attended
family worship since leaving home, and strange feelings
crept over me as I listened to the Word being read and
the prayer offered. And as the gi-ay-haired minister who
conducted the worship, asked God's blessing on those
there assembled, and on their friends, wherever they might
be, my heart was full, at the thought of the loved ones
at home, perhaps then, also, offering up their morning
service to the Lord.
But could I go home ? What had I to tell, what had
1 to show, after my long absence? No! I was deter-
mined to see a little more of the world before I showed
my face there.
After breakfast our party salliod out to take a look
%bcut the wharves, and pick out a ship, as none of iifl
THE SHIPPING OFFICE. 15
intended to stay ashore above a week or two. The spnng
time is always a busy season with shipping, and wc found
at the wharves ships, barques, brigs and schooners, load
ing for many different parts of the world. After raml>-
ling around the wharves awhile, we entered a shipping
office. It is to these places that the owners and masters
cf vessels, when in want of a crew, take their " articles,"
the obligations which each one on board must sign, before
sailing, and which contain an abstract of the general laws
of the merchant-marine, and whatever particular specifica-
tions are deeued necessary for the voyage the ship is tc
perform. These articles are spread out on desks, about
the office, that seamen may examine them and pick them-
selves out a voyage.
Ships were plenty at this time, and we entered an
office where two East Indiamen, a China ship, a Baltic
ship, and a vessel going round Cape Horn, had their
articles exposed — besides several small craft going to dif-
ferent parts of the West Indies, and a barque borund tc
a southern port, and thence to " some port or ports in
Europe, at the discretion of the captain."
" Here you are, now," said one of my old friends, "you
want to see somewhat of the world ; here ycu have your
pick, and can take a trip almost anywhere you want to."
As we stood there, two tars came in. They had evi
dently been down to look at some of the \esselfl.
" Well, Jack," said one, " which shall it be, Eussia oi
China?"
" What do you say to Bombay, Tcm ?" asked the
other.
16 THE 3IEBGUANT VESSEL.
" Well, I'm agreed."
And they signed the articles of a vessel bound to
" Bombay, and such other ports in the East Indies or
China, as the captain may detenniue, the voyage not tc
exceed two years."
It seemed strange to me to see men disposing so care
Icssly of their future, for the next year or two ; choosing
at hap-hazard, between the frosts of the Baltic sea, and
burning sun of the Indies ; the hardships of a Eussian
voyage, and the sickness incident to a trip to China. But
I soon found this was a mere matter of habit, and before
I was much older, learned, myself, to start to the utter-
most ends of the earth at five minutes notice, and per-
haps merely to oblige an old shipmate, or even from a
less reasonable caprice.
I desired much to go to the East Indies, but thought
best to make a short European voyage first, in order to
be inducted regularly into the life, and ways, and duties
of a merchant vessel, before going on a long trip in a
fancy Indiaman. So I one day shipped myself in a
barque, going to New Orleans, thence to Liverpool or
Havre. The rest of our party of five, all sailed before
me. Two went to Kussia, one to Buenos Ayres, and the
other to Curacoa, in the West Indies. When they weix
all gone I felt really lonesome ; but as the day drew near,
on which I too was to leave, to embark in a line of duty
entirely new to me, and in which I knew not what success
I should have, I must confess my heart sank within me.
However, the hour came at last. The shipping agent
sends word to tho places of residence of the various
SHIPPED. 17
members of tLe crew, of the precise day and hour of sailing,
which is generally determined on some days beforehand.
The crew of a merchant vessel do not go on board until
just as the ship is about to cast off from the wharf
And on returnin;^ home, they barely make fast the ship,
and then leave her. As crews are picked up at hap-haz-
ard, the different individuals are, in general, strangers to
each other, and it is some days before all hands become
acquainted and sociable. If now, in addition to being
strangers, one half of them arc drunk on their arrival in
the forecastle, and consequently unfit for duty, and ready
for a quarrel with the officers, (and this was precisely the
case on this occasion) it need not to be said that going
out to sea, under such circumstances, is not the mos*
pl'^asunt incideu* in one's life
CHAPTER II.
OuK crew numbered ten, before the mast, of whom
two, myself aud another, were boys, the rest l)eing able
bcamo.:. We came on board at nine, a. m.. but early
as it was, six of the men, taking time by the forel<x;k,
were already tipsy, and of course, as cross as bears.
They were brought on board by the boarding house
keepers, and stowed away in the forecastle, that they
might, by means of a nap, recover their sober t?enses
Meantime four of us cast off the lines, loosed the sails,
and sheeting home the foretopsail, dropped down the har-
bor a little way, and then came to anchor, the captain
determining to wait till the morrow, and go to sea with a
sober crew.
Our forecastle was a dirty little hole, into which
scarcely a glimmer of daylight could penetrate. Being
just in the bow of the vessel, its shape was triangular;
(18)
PROCEEDING TO SEA. 19
the space clear of the berths being about six feet in length
by five wide at the base, divided iu the middle by a large
staucheon, which formed, on deck, the pall-bit of the
wiudlxss. Into this little space, ten of us, drunk and
sober together, w.re c.owdjd, when evening set in, it
being yet too cold to stay out on dock.
After coming to an auchor, the first labor was to clear
up this place, which was to be oui* residence for some
time. The forecastle, being untenanted in harbor, ia
generally used by the mates or ship-keepers as a place of
deposit for old rigging, and we found our banks full of
all manner of odds and ends of rigging. Throwing this
stuff upon deck, we arranged our bedding, lashed and
cleated our chests, to prevent their fetching away, and
then, having taken supper, turned in, to keep warm. I
slept but little all night, feeling altogether out of place
among a lot of drunken men, who were turning uneasily
in their bunks, cursing and swearing, as they shivered in
the cold.
MoiTiing dawned at last, and with the earliest ray of
light, the second mate rapped over-head with a hand-
spike, calling all hands to up anchor. How different,
thought I, from the shrill pipes of the boatswain and
his mates, which I had been so long accustomed to. We
turned out and sat on our chests, waiting for the call to
" man the windlass." Several of the drunkards of the
previous day were grumbling about sore heads, and ran-
sacked the forecastle through for ?ome liquor. One at
last bethouiiht him to look into his chest, and took thcnc«
a large jug, at which all except myself took a long pull
20 THE 3IERCnANT VESSEL.
It was passed to mc too, but my refusal to paiticipate
seemed, ucvertheless, to please every one.
I'resently, '"man tho wiudlass, there," from thb mate,
oallcd us on deck.
" "jro aloft two hands, and loose the topsails and top-
gallantsails," sung out the captain, as we mustered on
the topgallant forecastle. 1 jumped aloft at the fore, let
fall the topsail, topgallantsail, and foresail, and over-
hauled the rigging, there being but little wind. We then
hove short on the anchor, sheeted home the foretopsail —
a few heaves, and — •' the anchor's away, sir," sung out
the mate.
" Heave him up, and come this way two hands — brace
1 p the foreyard."
To me, who had been accustomed to seeing two or three
hundred men pulling on a brace or halyards, it seemed
very strange to see two men called to brace up a yard, or
to see five or six men run up a topsail halyards, to a cheery
JO heave yoh, one man running up aloft to the fly block, and
then riding down on the fall. On board a vessel of war
no singing out at ropes is allowed, the call of the boat-
swain's mate giving the signal, to which all pull together .
The merchant sailor, on the contrary, delights in making
a noise when pulling on ropes, and getting up anchor or
hoisting topsails, with a good crew, is always enlivened
by various cheering songs, which serve the purpose of
keeping all hands in good humor, and lightening the
work. Our crew were yet too much stupefied with hard
drinking to be able to raise a song, and the anchor was
catted unl the topsails sheeted home, witl »'othing liveliei
OUR CREW. 21
than the ncvcr-failing " yolio, pull bojs." Wc stood out
past Bostuu Light House, with a light but fair breeze,
and were soon in the open Bay, with the highland of
Cape Cod ahead. The anchors were got on the bows, a
portion of the chain cable run down into the chaiu-lockcr,
the decks swept, and then " get your breakfasts."
Each one took his pot to the " galley," getting it
filled with coffee (sweetened with molasses), while I,
being the hoy, took the meat and the lobscouse down into
the forecastle, and got the bread-barge supplied with
bread. Lohscouse is the sea name for a species of hash
or stew, made of potatoes, bread, onions, and chopped
salt beef. It is a savory mess for hungry tars, and forms
a standard dish for breakfast on board all good ships.
The scoiise, the beef, and bread, being duly an-anged on
the forecastle deck, each one helped himself to what he
pleased, sitting on his chest, with the pot of coffee, and
his tin pan beside him. The old topera took a final swig
at their jug, and it being emptied, declared it a " dead
marine," and tossed it into the chain-locker. Then break-
fast began, amid a little cheerful conversation, every one
appearing glad at the thought that we were fairly undcr-
weigh. Presently, " one bell " was struck, and the man
at the wheel was relieved, to get his breakfast. At two
bells, we were again " turned to," and got to work to
put on chafing gear, lash water casks, and get all fast
about decks, ready for sea. In this duty the day wsi
spent, and by evening Cape Cod Light was well astern.
After supper, all hands were called aft, and the matca
choose watches for the voyage. All hands are ranged
22 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
along the quarter deck, and the mate and second mate
choose alternately, such men as they like best It is
generally thought preferable to be in the mate's watch,
as the second mate's is also the captain's, and has, there
fore, two heads, and often a consequent double allowance
of work. Watches are not chosen until the close of the
first day out, in order that the qualifications of different
individuals of the crew may be tested. Each mate has
thus a chance to settle in his mind what men he fancies,
while the men have likewise an opportunity of judging
as to the relative qualifications of the mates. I had
taken a fancy to the chief mate, who was a smart,
lively Yankee, and had done my best all day, in order to
attract his favorable notice, with the object of being
chosen by him. The seamen were of course picked first.
When only an ordinary seaman and myself were left to
chose from, the mates conferred together, and finally, tc
my great satisfaction, the mate said:
" Here, my lad, come over to my side — "
" Can you steer?" he asked me.
" Yes sir."
" What's your name?''
" Charles, sir."
" Well, Charles, you may go and take the wheel till
eight bells, as we have the first eight hours in. "
I had said that I could steer, but I now took the helm
with no little misgiving. I had done my best, while ou
board the schooner, from Norfolk to Boston, to make my-
self familiar with the mystery of guiding a vessel on her
course, but the little "experience gained there, did not
THE MERCHANT SERVICE. 23
suffice to give me any degree of expcrtness in the art.
Fortunately for me the breeze was light and steady,
and the ship steered well, and so I steered my first trick
'vithout being found fault with.
^^'ith a freshening breeze, by twelve o'clock the High
land light was out of sight, and the next morning w
were fairly out at sea, and the regular routine of sea-life
began. Our crew had by this time all gotten sober, and
with clearer heads there came merrier faces, the mutin-
ous and loafing wretch of the day before, being now trans-
formed into a smart, lively, and willing tar, able and
ready for any duty — to " hand, reef, or steer, or heave
the lead." Taking altogether, we found ourselves to be
about as good a crew — liquor aside — as could be gotten
together, for a vessel like ours. And when we got
ac(|uainted, got to know each one's caliber and capacities,
we jogged along very happily together.
[ found some very gi-eat difi'erences between life " in
the Sei-vice," and in a merchant vessel. In the first
place, our work here was infinitely harder. With only
five men in a watch, each individual must put out his
whole strength, in tightening a brace, swigging home a
sheet, or pulling up a halyard. As a consequence of this
by the time we were fairly out of the Bay, my hands
were full of blisters and cracks, a thing which had not
probably happened to any one on board a Naval vessel
once in three years. And the hard straining at ropes,
and often at the wheel, when the wind blew fresh, made
me for a while sore all over, as though 1 had been beaten
with a stick
24 THE 3IERCEANT VESSEL.
Next, there is very great difference between the treat
ment in the Navy and that in the merchant service. The
captain of a man-of-war has a power almost of life and
death over the sailors under his command. An act of
overt disobedience would be a piece of unheard of insanity
not even a muttered growl, or an angry look is tolerated.
Mutiny, that dread word to the man-of-war's-man, is sup-
posed to lurk under all such expressions of dislike. The
cat is ever in the foreground, a warning to all,
" You may thiuk what you please, so long as you dont
think aloud," this is about the amount of the Blue Jack-
et's liberty of speech — and liberty of action, he has none.
He eats, drinks, sleeps, and works, only at the beck and
nod of his superior. To be sure, this takes away from
him all sense of responsibility. Others do his thinking ;
a plan of his life, with specifications annexed, is ever
hanging above the desk of the captain's clerk. He has
not to provide for the morrow — and even if it is not at
all provided for, the responsibility is not with him.
Here is taught to its fullest perfection, that great secret
of all disciplined organizations, obey orders — "obev orders,
If you break owners," as Jack has significantly rendered
it Instant, unhesitating, unthinking obedience to the
order that is given — this is the one great rule, whivh ie
impressed upon the mind of the sailor, until it becomes
to him a second nature, and he rushes carelessly but con-
sciously, in the face of death, or on to certain destruction
at the word of his commanding officer, leaving all rcspon
sibility of the result with him.
" Jump !" shouted a captain to a cabin-boy who, in a fit
DISCIPLINE. 25
af foolisli bravado, had crawled out to the end of the
maiuroyal yard, aud uow clung there, between sky and
water, unable to get in, afraid to move for fear of falling
'Jump I you scoundrel, instantly!" and the boy unhesi-
tatingly leaped from the dizzy hight into the blue wave
beneath — and was saved. A landsman would have argued
the point — or at least have taken time to turn over in
his mind the expediency of obeying the order, and he
would have lost his hold, aud been dashed to pieces on
deck.
Now it is true, and this little story exemplifies it, that
this kind of discipline is necessary on board ship, and
particularly on board a Naval vessel, where a great num-
ber of bodies are placed under command of one mind — but
what kind of men docs it make of these bodies ? Plainly,
it takes away all the more valuable part of the indi-
vidual, his mind ; or rather, it accustoms him to lay it
aside as useless, and depend upon another for that which
God has given to all. It is this, to a great extent, which
makes the man-of-war's man unfit for any other phase of
life than th it to which he has been brel. And it ia
this, too, which makes him so very gcLcrally dissolute
when on shore, aud almost entirely incapacitates him for
taking care of himself His car of life requires a vigi-
lant conductor, to keep it from running off the track.
But in the merchant service this point of disciplim
although perfectly well understood, and enforced, iii emer-
gencies, where only it is necessary, does not enter intc
the daily life. The seaman there, assumes interests, and
26 TEE MERCEANT VESSEL.
feels consequent responsibilities, to which Blue Jacket is
1 stranger. He keeps a sharp look-out to see all secure
iloft — because, should anything give way, it would occa
sion him an unwelcome addition to labors already suffi-
ciently heavy. The work being divided among but few
tiands, each one feels interested in devising means to
■nake it as light as possible. In short, the safety, and
the comfort of all depend upon the thoughtfulness of
each. In this respect the merchant service is infinitely
preferable to the Navy, as a school for training. And,
is a consequence, the merchant sailor is valued, while
'he veteran man-of-war's-man is almost despised.
Begging the reader to have patience with this rather
prosy digression into the philosophy of sailorcraft, we will
go on. There is no one thing in which the merchant sea-
man is so far above Uncle Sam's man, than in this,
that he docs his duty without the fear of punishment
before his eyes. No one who has not experienced both
states can imagine the degradation of the one, or the honest
elevation of the other. Hard and disagree al ile his work
is, without doubt, but he knows his duty, and his rights,
and says, mentally, to his superior, "thus far, and no
farther can you go with me." And among every good
crew there exists an esjjrit de corps, which makes them
do their duty willingly, but present a front as of one
man to the officer who attempts to exact more.
It must not be imagined, however, from this, that the
life of a merchant sailor, aside from its hardships, is
necessarily a pleasant one. The captain and mates have
PRIVILEGES. 27
Xiways at their comraaiul an iuliiiity of means of annoy-
ance, which they may practice without transgressing any
law. There arc various little privileges of which a
crew may be deprived, numberless little unnecessary
jobs. whi(»i may be given them to do, which will put
additional i/urdens on a life already full enough of
haiiisLifo.
^^n «.•*<■ '^~.
CHAPTER III.
On board a good ship — aud the one 1 was now in was
to be reckoned in most things among that number — the
crew have watch-and-watch, that is to say, the regular
alternation of watches continues during the entire twenty-
four hours, day as well as night. On board many vessels
only i\ic forenoon watch below is granted, all hands being
kept up in the afternoon, in order to get more work done
But I have always found that a watch-and-watch crew
would do more, and do it with a heartier good will than
one that was kept up.
The starboard watch, being the second mate's, having
had eight hours on deck the preceding night, had the
forenoon watch below, and all turned in and slept till
seven bells, when tbcy were called up and got their din-
ners, prepared to relieve us at twelve. The afternoon
watch being ours, was spent in arranging our chests in
tlie forecastle, and mending or reading.
On board a merchant vessel, unlike a naval vessel,
the watch on deck is always kept busy. In the first part
(28)
REEFIJ^G TOPSAILS. 20
of a voyage th^rc is generally a sufficiency of work which
it is actually necessary to have done, but in the latter
part of a long voyage it is often difficult to find work,
and in such cases various unnecessary jobs arc rcsort( i)
to. such as plaiting sinnet for gaskets, twisting spun
yarn, making sword mats, etc. Anything to keep tlu
hands busy — ''keep them at work to keep mischief out
of their heads." as the saying is at sea.
We sailed on with a fair breeze, until we had crossed
the Gulf, and were about abreast of Charleston, when a
heavy head wind from the south-east forced us to reef
down. The vessel having ballast only in her hold, and
none too much of that, was inclimd to be crank, and we
could not therefore carry on sail, or make much way
against a head- wind. We reefed, of course, one topsail at
a time, and everything was done to make the work go as
easily as possible. The yard is laid just so as to keep
the topsail continually Hfting^ that is. fluttering in the
wind, neither full nor aback. And it is the special duty
of the helmsman, for the time being, to keep the sail in
precisely that condition. . Rceftackles being hauled out,
and buntlines tightened, all hands go aloft, the first one
up going out to the lee earing — tlie weather earing being
the second mate's place — and the balance stretching out
along the yard, the greater number, of course, to wii.d-
ward. '• Light up the sail, light up to windward," is
now shouted, and catching hold of the reef points, each
one drags the slack sail in the required direction. Presently
the second mate has his earing or corner secured, and
" haul out to leeward," is the cry. Those at the leeside
30 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
haul out until the reef-band is tightly stretched alonj;
the yard, when " knot away" is shouted, and the pcinti-
are fastened tightly around the yard. Reefing is lively
work — everything is done with a rush, and there is gen-
erally a race down the rigging, some slidiig down back-
stays, others catching on the halyards, and adding theii
weight to the pull of those on deck, who are hoisting
the reefed sail.
We were thirty-five days from Boston to Mobile. Our
original destination was New Orleans, but the owners had
changed their minds after the crew was shipped, and
concluded to send the vessel to Mobile Bay. This leaked
out before we were many days at sea, and the articles of
agreement being thus broken, our crew, with the way-
wardness of true sailors, at once determined to avail
themselves of the privilege thereby afibrded them, of
leaving the vessel on her arrival in port. The sailor is
essentially a bird of passage. His is a wandering, vaga-
bond existence, and so strong is his distaste for anything
resembling a steady pursuit, that it is a very rare thing
to find a man making two voyages in one ship. No mat-
ter how unexceptionable the vessel, or how kindly he has
been treated, there is no persuading him to stay.
" No, we had better not stay," once said a crew, in my
hearing, whom a captain was persuading to go with bin)
again.
"But why not? you have a first-rate ship, and you
were never better treated anywhere,"
"Tha;'s all true, sir," said an old salt, with a little
embarrassment, givin^ his trowsers a hitch at the same
THE BAHAMAS. 31
Lime, •' but thcu, you kuow, if wc go with you aucthcr
voyage, we'd be getting too well acquaiuted."
And this, although no reason at all. seemiugl} met the
ideas of every individual of the crew. NN'hatever may
be the true principle involved, certain it is. that 1 neve/
knew a man really worth having that would go in the
same vessel two voyages together.
The twentieth day out found us on the Bahama Banks,
becalmed and anchored in eight fathoms water, but out of
sight of any land. We had beaten with a stiff breeze
past the Hole-in-the-wall, on Abaco, a place widely known
as in days, or rather, nights, past, the scone of many
wrecks, vessels being led astray here by false lights, dis-
played by the wreckers who frequent these waters and
earn their bread by the misfortunes of their fellow-men
Abaco has a large revolving light, visible at from tju tj
fifteen miles distance, from a ship's deck, which is of great
benefit to vessels passing in or out of the Gulf of Mexico,
who take this channel. It is said that the wreckers,
knowing that vessels make a practice of steering safely
around the land, by it, at night, used to extinguish it ou
stormy nights, and exhibit a false light at some distance
farther up the coast, so situating it. that captains using
it as a guide, would not fail to find themselves upon a
leeshore, but only when too late to save thcii- vessels.
To counterfeit the revolutions of the light, which is only
visible for fifteen seconds in every minute, it is said that
they fastened a large, bright light to the tail of a horse,
and then drove the animal around iu a large circle, mak-
ing a revolution once a minute, when, of course, his body
32 • THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
would conceal tlie liglit for a large portion of the time
producing, at a distance, the precise effect of a revolving
light — an ingenious device, worthy of a better cause.
The third day after passing Abaco wc anchored on the
Banks, as the Bahamas are familiarly called. The watei
is here beautifully clear, the bottom, at a depth of from
fifty to eighty feet being clearly visible. 1 could not
look enough at the beauteous conch shells strewed along
on the bottom, near our vessel, where the depth was not
quite fifty feet, or at the fish, swimming about among great
lumps of sponge growing on the rocks. The steward soon
had a hook and line over the side, but caught only a good-
sized sucker, who in turn, as he was being hauled up,
caught the side of the vessel, and clinging, by means of
the flat plate of air-exhausters with which these fish are
furnished, and from which they take their name, his
captor, after pulling as hard as he could, was fain to
make fast his end, until it should suit the fish to let go
of his own accord, which did not occur for several hours.
We had a hearty laugh at the steward's fishing adven-
ture, which was cut short, however, by the mate, who, for
lack of something else to do, had gone into the hold to
have a look at the water-casks, and now came upon deck
with the information that a six gallon keg would contain
every drop of fresh water on board. This was bad news.
Wc found on examination, that it happened in this wise:
The water casks put on board in Boston, were in poo'
order, having lain on the wharf too long, and all but two
had leaked dry, ere we were two weeks out. Two full
casks were, however, left, which was abundant to carry
THE BERRY KEYS.
33
lis into Mobile Bay. Now the ship was iufested with
a horde of rats, aud these had, unkiiowu to us, gnawed
h lies ill both these casks, near the bottom. 'I'he coiisc-
1 leuee was, that we lost nearly every drop of drink iiijz
vva'-;er. The captain determined to run into the neart-t
K.ey and obtain a supply sufficient to last us to poi-t.
Accordingly, that evening, a light
breeze springing up, we got uudcr-
weigh, and the next afternoon an-
chored in one of the Berry Keys.
Scarcely was our anchor on the
bottom, before a canoe shot out
from a little jungle near the shore,
in the stern of which sat a portly
• geraman ob color," whose appear-
ance was certainly calculated to
excite attention. He was, as he
uiformed the s'.ipper as soon as he
got withi.i hail, the Deputy United
btatcs Consul for Berry's Keys, and
in virtue of his office, had rigged
himself out in an old blue dress
coat with two rows of resplendent
eagle buttons. But in the purchase
of this piece of finery, he had evi-
dently exhausted his exchequer, for
with the additioiL of a broad palmetto hat, probably nf
home manufacture, and a rag about his middle, tin
voat completed his costume.
*' 'Oh, what a fall was there, ray countrymen,' " sa.id
3
The DKPDTy U. S. CoNsri..
34 THE 31ERCHANT VESSEL.
the mate slily, as his sable excellency came ou board
Bestowing a look of supreme contempt upon us •' common
sailors," he at once marched up to the captain, and
inquired, with an air of authority, of our ports of depar-
ture and destination, and hinted his desire to see the
hip's papers.
" You'd rather see some good rum, old fellow," said the
skipper rather irreverently, "now, wouldn't you?"
The exhibition of a shining set of ivory, and an
almost indefinite extension of white about the eyes, were
sufiicient evidences of the favor with which this remark
was received.
The appearance of the steward, with a junk-bottle of
the article in question, caused the Deputy United States
Consul to declare himself at our service for anything in
his line, which proved to be a very short line, however,
as it included only an abundance of fresh water, and a
few fresh fish. Accordingly, we lowered a boat, and
placing in it a cask, pulled ashore, preceded by our friend,
who, depositing his coat-tails carefully on a board pro-
vided for that purpose, sat in the bottom of his canoe ana
paddled to the beach. Here we found little but a wilder-
ness of tangled brush, in the midst of which, was dis-
cernible the residence of the Deputy United States Consul
His lady, possessing, perhaps, a yet scantier wardrobt
than her liege lord, declined showing herself, even to the
mate, who had expressed a strong desire to make her
acquaintance. So we were obliged to fill our water-cask,
" uncheered," so said he, "b^ the smiles of beauty," and
returned on board, with rather a poor opini in of tl is one
MOBILE BAY. 35
of Berry's Kej^^s. Our Cuusul was monarch of all he
surveyed, and told us that he had doBe duty thei'e for
the Fnitcd States Government for fifteen years, making
)hly a semi-annual trip to New Providence, to relieve the
Kdium of his rather monotonous life.
Btsides the fish and water before mentioned, we were
fortunate enough to obtain a quantity of turtle eggs, that
genuine West Indian luxury, which, however, I did not
like, although cooked in the most approved style. I fan-
cied a fishy taste about them, somewhat as though one
had been cutting butter with a fish knife, and therefore
left the delicacy to my more fortunate, or less particular
shipmates.
Departing thence, we were yet an entire week detained
upon the Banks, anchoring and weighing anchor, making
and fui'ling sail, the tedious monotony of the long calm
relieved by the occasional sight of a wrecking schooner,
looking up her prey, or of a passing vessel, drifting in
sight and out of sight again on the far horizon.
The long expected "slant" at last came, and a few days'
sailing carried us into Mobile Bay. Here we found our
selves forming one of quite a considerable fleet of vessels
waiting for freights to rise, or cotton to come down, i*
order to take in their cargoes. The city of Mobile i
situated at some distance (nearly thirty miles) up tb -
Mobile Eiver, the termination of the Alabama and Ton.-
bigbee, and is accessible only to ships of light draught,
on account of Dofj River bar, which obstructs the navi
gation. The Bay is, however, perfectly safe, havini' a
good shelter, and the best of holding ground, and ve 5""^'^
36 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
often lie here ten, and even twelve months, waiting for
good freights.
Our crew had determined upon leaving, but at the
request of the mate, had consented to remain long enough
to unbend the sails, send down the topgallant and royal
yards, and paint the vessel inside. This done, the cap-
tain came down to pay off.
This being my first voyage, and not being yet so
strongly imbued with the vagabonding spirit, I had deter-
mined to accept the advice of the mate, who said " Stay,
and we'll have some fine times after all hands are gone."
I was partly persuaded to this by the crew, who, while
evidently desiring me to go with them, would not conceal
from me that Mobile was a poor place to get a ship, and
that a boy would, oi coarse, have a poorer chance than a
man.
We were heartily sorry to part, for although we had
been but a short time shipmates, all hands had worked
w thoroughly together, that we felt air ady toward onc-
another as brothers. Before leaving, there was a general
turn out of chests in the forecastle, and a division of
funds, "in order that all might start fair" — those who
had most money dividing eagerly with their poorer ship-
mates. I was happy in contributing a share to the gen-
eral stock, and so we bade good-by, with a hearty wring
of the hand, which I may as well say gratified me greatly.
as evidence that 1 had been able to get the real good-will
of these single-hearted follows. On getting up to the
city they sent me down a fiddle, wherewith to rehovc the
^irosomeness of our stay — a gift of which I nonW
LIFE IN FORT. 37
cmluckilj, make no use having none of that Aind of musio
in my soul.
There were now left only the two mates, the cook, one
seaman, a i myself. There being so few on board, of
course all discipline was considerably relaxed ; with the
exception of washing decks daily, and an occasional set-
ting up of backstays, there was little done. Tho fine
breeze almost always blowing in the Bay, makes boat-
sailing a favorite amusement. We soon rigged a sail,
and thereafter, every favorable day was spent in the boat,
ti.shiug, or racing, or making pic-nics ashore, in company
with the boats' crews and officers of other vessels. These
were fine times, and I enjoyed them hugely. In fact, my
xperience so far in a merchant ship, had pleased me very
much. The work, to be sure, was exceedingly hard, at
sea. My hands after we were three weeks out, resembled
more the claws of some animal than any portion of
humanity ; the fingers swollen and bent, the palms horny
and hard, and the joints cracked open, and bleeding.
And many a night when I got to my snug bunk, evciy
lione in my body ached with the exertion of turning the
huge wheel, or swigging home some sheet or halyard.
" But what's the odds, so long as you're happy," thought
[, and in the continual novelty I found sufficient to reT:ay
me for tho hardship.
CHAPTER IV.
Our boat-sailing and fishing lasted nearly a month ;
when one day returning on board from a race, a letter
from the captain informed us that the ship was " taken
up."
" Where for?" was, of course, a question eagerly put.
" For Livei-pool," was the answer, " and the cotton to
«omc down next week."
All was now bustle and preparation. Numberless mat^
ters were to be attended to before the ship was really ready
to take in cotton — the ballast was to be squared, ditnnaye
prepared, the water-casks, provisions and sails to be
lugged on deck, out of the way of cargo, the nicely
painted decks covered with planks, on which to roll cotton,
topgallant and royal yards crossed, and tackles prepared
for hoisting in our freight. We had scarcely gotten all
things in pre per trim, before a lighter-load of cotton came
down, and with it. a stevedore and several gangs of the
icrew men, whose business it is to load cotton-ships
(38)
SCREWING COTTON. 30
Screwing cotton is a regular business requirin ', besides
immense strength, considerable cxp Tience in the handling
of ball s, and the management of the jack-screws.
Several other ships had " taken up" cargo at the same
rime .-. V did, and the Bay soon began to wear an appear-
ance of life — li;:hters and steamboats bringing down cot-
ton, ajid the cheerful songs of the screw-gangs resounding
over the water, as the bales were driven tightly into the
hold. Freights had suddenly risen, and the ships now
^oading were g tting five-eighths of a penny per pound.
It was therefore an object to get into the ship as many
pounds as she could be made to hold. The huge, unwieldy
bales brought to Mobile from the plantations up the
country, are first compressed in the cotton presses, on
shore, which at once diminishes thtir size by half, squeez-
ing the soft fiber together, till a bale is as solid, and
almost as hard as a lump of iron. In this conditi«in they
are brought on board, and stowid in the hold, where the
stevedore makes a point of g tting three bales into a
space in which two could be barely put by hand. It is
for this purpose the jack-screws are used. A ground tier
is laid first ; upon this, beginning aft and forward, two
bales are placed with their inner corners projecting out.
and joining, leaving a triangular space vacant within
A hickory post is now placed against the nearest beam.
and with this for a fulcrum, the screw is appl ed to the
two bales at the point where the corners join, and little
by little they come together, are straightened up, and fil'.
up the triangular space. So great is the force applied,
that not unfrequently the shif 's decks are raised off the
40 TEE MERCEANT VESSEL.
stancheonj which support them, and the scams arc torn
violently asunder.
Five hands compose a gang, four to work the screws,
and one to do the headwork — for no little shrewd man
agemcnt is nee ssary to work in the variously sized bales.
When a lighter-load of cotton comes along side, all hands
turn to and hoist it in. It is piled on deck, until wanted
below. As soon as the lighter is empty, the gangs go down
to the work of stowing it. Two bales being placed and
the screws applied, the severe labor begins. The gang,
with their shirts off, and handkerchiefs tied about their
heads, take hold the handles of the screws, the foreman
begins the song, and at the end of every two lines the
worm of the screw is forced to make one revolution, thus
gaining perhaps two inches. Singing, or chanting as it
is called, is an invariable accompaniment to working
in cotton, and many of the screw-gangs have an endless
collection of songs, rough and uncouth, both in words and
melody, but answering well the purposes of making all
pull together, and enlivening the heavy toil. The fore-
man is the chanty-man. who sings the song, the gang
only joining in the chorus, which comes in at the end of
every line, and at the end of which again comes the pull
at the screw handles. One song generally suffices t(
bring home the screw, when a new set is got upon tli<
bale, and a fresh song is commenced.
The chants, as may be supposed, have more of rhyni(
than reason in them. The tunes are generally plaintive
and monotonous, as are most of the capstan tunes of
sailors, but resounding over the still waters of the Bay.
TEE SONGS OF THE GANGS. 41
they had a tiue eftuot. I litre was ouc, in which tiguved
that mythical personage "Oh I Stormy," the rising aud
lalling cadences of which, as they swept over the Bay on
the breeze, I was never tired of list niug to. It may
irause some cf my readers to give here a few stanzas ol
this and some other of these cIkiuIs. " Stoimy" ie sup
posed to have died, aud the first soug begins:
Old Stfjriny, he is dcail and gone,
Chortus — Carry Li in along, boys, carry him along,
Oh! carry him to his long home.
Chorus — Carry liini to the burying-ground.
Oh ! ye who dig Old Stormy's grave,
Chorui — Carry him along, boys, carry him along,
Dig it deep and bury iiim safe,
Chonu — Carry him to the burying-ground.
Lower him duwn with a golden chain,
Choriix — Carry him along, boys, carry him along,
Then he'll never rise again,
C'hr/ru.% — (Jarry him t<j the burying-ground.
(jfrand Chi/rwt — Way-oh-way-oh-way — storm along.
Way — yi)u rolling crew, storm along stormy.
And so on ad iiifinitum, or more properly speaking,
till the screw ia run out.
There was another in praise of Dollars, commencinf
thus:
Oh, we work for a Yankee Dollar.
Chorus — Hurrah, see— man — do,
Yankee dollar, bully dollar,
Chorus — Hurrah, see — man — flollar.
Silver dollar, pretty dollar.
Chorus — Hurrah, see — man — do,
I want your silver dollars,
Chortu — Oh, Captain, pay me dollar
42 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
Another, encouraging the gang :
Lift liim up and carry him along,
Fire, maringo, fire away,
Put him down where he belongs.
Fire, maringo, tire away.
Ease him down and let him lay.
Fire, maringo, fire away,
Screw him in, and there he'll stay,
Fire, maringo, fire away.
Stow him in his hole below,
Fire, maringo, fire away,
Say he must, and then he'll go,
Fire, maringo, fire away.
Yet another, calling to their minds the peculiarities of
many spots with which they have become familiar in theii
voyagiugs :
Were you ever in Quebec,
Chorus — Bonnie laddie, highl ind laddie,
Stowing timber on the deck,
Choi-US — My bonnie highland laddie, oh.
Were you ever in Dundee,
Chorus — Bonnie laddie, highland laddie,
There some pretty ships you'll see,
Choru6 — My bonnie highland laddie, oh.
Were you ever in Merrimashee,
Chorus — Bonnie laddie, highland laddie,
Where you make fast to a tree,
Chorus — My bonnie highland laddie, oh.
Were you ever in Mobile Bay,
Chorus — Bonnie laddie, highland laddie.
Screwing cotton by the day.
Chorus — My bonnie highland laddie, oh.
I'hese samples, which might be continued to an almost
lb leQnite extent, will give the reader an idea of what
THE GANGS. 43
japstan aud cotton songs, or riKints, arc. Tht tunes art
the Ixst portion, of course, in all such nule perforniancea
But these are only to be heard on board ship.
The men who yearly resort to Mobile Bay to screw
cotton, are, as may lie iraag'ncd, a rough set. Thoy arc
mostly English and Irish sailors who, leaving their ves-
sels here, remain until they have saveil a hundred or two
dollars, then ship for Liverpool, London, or wha+£vcr port
may be their f ivorite. there to spree it all away — and
return to woik out another supply. Screwing cotton is,
I think, fairly entitled to be called the most e hausting
labor that is done on ship b( ard. Cooped up in the dark
and confined hold of a vessel, the gangs tug from morn-
ing till night at the screws, the perspiration running off
them like water, every muscle strained to its utmost.
But the men who follow it prefer it to going to sea. They
have better pay, better living, and above all. are not
liable to be called out at any minute in the ni'jht, to fight
the storm, or worse yet, to work the ship against a head-
wind. Their pay is two tlollars per day, and their pro-
visions furnished. They sleep upon the cotton bales in
the hold, but few of them bringing beds aboard with
them. Those we had on board, drank more liquor and
chewed more toba co, than any set of men I ever saw
elsewhere, the severe lalx)r seeming to require an addi-
tional stimulus. Altogether, I thought theirs a ro'igh
life, not at all to be envied them.
Four weeks suffi etl to load our barque, and the last
key-bale was scarce down the hatchway, when " Loose the
topsails and heave short on the cabl " waa the word.
44 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
and we proeetled to get underwcigh for Liverpool. ( ..
new crew had come on hoard several days previously, aiid
proved to be much better than the average to be obtaiue
in cotton ports, places where sailors are generally scarce,
and the rough screw-gangs mostly fill their places.
The first thing to be done, in preparing for sea, in a
merchant vessel, is tn put on the hatches (the coverings
for the holes in the deck, where cargo is put down), and
tightly caulk ;:n 1 batten them, a tarpaulin being nailed
over all, for greater security from the ingress of water.
This done, and several bales which we were to carry upon
deck, placed up >n th ■ hatchways, we sailed out of har
bor with a fair wind, spreading our studding suils to
the breeze.
That evening wat hes were again chosen, and I found
myself, to my great pleasure, once more in the mate's
watch. As the ship was in excellent order, alow and
aloft, and as, too, there was some expectation of our meet-
ing with stormy weather during the litter part of our pas-
sage, watch-and-watch was given us from the first. With
this, good living, and kind officers, we had cause to con-
gratulate oui'sel^'es upon having a (jood ship, and after
the first few days of hurrying work was over, all went
pleasantly.
Our mates were strict disciplinarians, and although
we were allowed our regular watehes below, no one wa.s
permitted to be idle on deck. No sooner did the watch
come up from below, than each one had his ;oi given him
and not an idle moment was spent during the four hours
uf watch. Here, were two. drawing an 1 knotting ropo-
A GOOD SHIP. 45
yuni.s. There one, going aloft, nuirling-spike in hand, to
mend some defective piece of rigging, put on new chafii\g-
gear, or seize up ratlines. Yonder another, t\vi.tting
foxes, or thrumming a paunch-mat. In short, each one
must be doing something. This is the rule of the mcr
chant service — one that is carried out, whether there is
any necessary work on hand or not — and 1 have not
unfrequently plaited sinuet, or made spunyarn for an
entire passage, which would scarcely ever be used, and
was only made, '• to keep the men busy."
1 have often remarked that at sea, all kii.ds of labor,
except that which is actually necessary, is irksome — and
there is no greater, as there is no more unusual luxury to
the merchant sailor, than to pass a watch on deck with-
out being Of;cupied. This is a piece of good fortune which
only happens during a storm, when the violent motion of
the vessel precludes the possibility of setting men at any
of the usual employments, and whtu also, wise officers are
desirous of husbanding the energies of the crew, for the
performance of the more necessary duties of shortening
sail, and working ship. It sounds odd to a landsman to
wish for a storm, but give Jack a tight and good se<i-
biiut, and experienced officers, and he sees no more com-
fortable times than in a good, steady gale. On such au
Occasion, with the good ship hove-to under a close-reefed
maiuiopsail, or a storm-mizzen, the helm lashed down
hard ake, and everything snug, alow and aloft, the watch
gathc rs together under the topgallant forecastle, or on the
furehatch. spinning long yarns of past gaks, or sprees ou
^' -re, and the four hours slip away befoio onf knows it
46 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
Tt was oil sucli an occasion, duiiiij. this voyage t ■
Liverpool, that being one day snugly ensconced on soiuc
cotton bales lying upon the forchatchway, old Anton gave
us the following eN{)erience of a trip in a slaver. Anton
was a Spanish sailor, one of the olden kind, " first on the
yard, and last at the mess," a fellow who had literally
been everywhere, and had lived a long life of most singu-
lar vicissitudes and romantic adventures. The yarn
however, we will re-serv-c for another chapter
CHAPTER V.
"Well, boys," said Anton, "settle yourselves dc^n
here, and I'll spin you that yarn, as the mate seems quiet,
and there's no fear of making sail this watch, judging
from present appearances.
" I was in Havana, where I had left the ship Isidore,
of Barcelona, in order to take a little longer cruise on
shore than the captain seemed willing to allow us. I had
gotten nearly to the bottom of my pocket — it don't take
long to do that any where in Cuba — and was looking out
for a ship, when happening one evening into a little cigar
shop, on the Mole, a gentleman who had just purchased
a box of cigars, asked me if I did not want a ship. I
said yes. of course.
" ' Well, there's a brig in the harbor, bound to Tener-
ifie, for wine, which wants a hand or two. I'm the super-
cargo, and if you'll say you'll go, I'll pay you your
advance, go with you to your boarding house, and take
you on board with me. We sail to-night. '
" I had nothing to keep me in Havana, and embraced
the proposal In less than an hour I was on })oard, chest
(47)
48 ' THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
and hammock, and we slipped our moorings and ran out
past the Moro Castle, with a fine breeze. We were six
hands in the forecastle, two Portuguese, three Spaniards,
and an American. I had the mid- watch on deck. On
turniaa; out at seven bells the next morning, I went on
deck, to take a daylight look at the craft in which 1 had
shipped, as, it being a darl< night when I came on board
I had been able to see but little of her. 1 found her a
remarkably sharp, clipper-built vessel, evidently calcu-
lated to sail at a great rate, and a glance at the long,
tapering spars, and the immense spread of her topsails,
convinced me that she had never been built for a wine
drogher.
" The captain was an Englishman, the mate a Scotch-
ivan — which rather surprised me, as the vess-l showed
Spanish colors. They carried a press of canvas from
the first, and paid more attention to the steering than is
usual among that class of vessels. Altogether, t felt
as though, if she were a wine drogher, she had gotten
strangely out of place — but, of (iourse. I never suspected
what was her true business. Rut the third day out told
the whole story. On coming on deck that morning, I
found, to my great surprise, some sixteen or seventeiu
men besides our regular crew congregated on the topgal-
lant forecastle and about the foremast, among them !
recognized several Havana acquaintances, who seemed
Sf)mo\vhat surprised to see me there. From them I got
an inkling of what was in the wind; but the whole
matter was explained to rac after breakfast.
"'Sei.d Ant .11 to the wheel,' was the word passed to
A CRUISE IN A SLAVER. 40
the forecastle, and 1 proceeded aft. Arrived there, the
captain aud supercargo laid before me the real purpost
of the voyage — declared themselves sorry to have gotten
me on board under false pretenses, but made the wai.t of
hands their excuse, and then told me that 1 would now
have to go the voyage, and would receive the same pay
as the regularly shipped hands.
" It appeared that we were bound to the east coast of
Africa, up the Mozambique Channel, for a cargo of slaves.
Wc, the crew, were to receive one hundred dollars advaucc,
and two dollars per man for every slave landed, which,
as she had irons and cooking apparatus for eight hun-
dred, bade fair to bring in no inconsiderable sum. The
one hundred dollars advance were counted out to me, in
Spanish doubloons, when my trick at the wheel was out.
" Everything now took a different turn, as regarded
discipline on board. The officers assumed a sterner man-
ner, and kept the crew at regular man-of-war rules.
None of the dilatoriness of the merch:iut-man was
allowed. Sail was made aud taken in expeditiously, and
we — there were enough of us — could handle the craft
like a top. She was a beauty to sail, aud steeied like a
boat, and altogether, was the likeliest vessel 1 ever set
foot on.
" But I did not feel at home on her. 'I'hcrc was a
reckless spirit among the crew, which did not please
me, who was then yet a young man, and the impcrious-
ness of the officers suited me still less, ^^'c had been
but a few days out, wlien on occasion of a slight misunder-
standing between two of the hands, the captain suddenl"v
4
50 TEE MERCHANT VESSEL.
made his appearance in our midst, pistol in hand, and
gave the turbulently disposed to understand that he wa&
master of all there.
" ' No fighting, no quarreling, no knives, I wron't have
it,' said he, ' and the first one that gives me a word of
insolence, I'll shoot him as I would a dog.'
" The crew cowered beneath his glance — and he had
the victory. But not until he had carried his threat into
execution, did the unquiet spirits he had shipped entirely
give up. The occasion was not long in coming. We had
dowsed our topgaUantsails to a squall, off the Cape, and
when it was over, a hand had gone aloft to loose the
main. In letting fall the sail he neglected to overhaul
the gear, and was half way down the main rigging, when
the skipper ordered him aloft to do so. He replied sur-
lily, that he was no errand boy to run aloft, and was still
coming down, when, quick as a flash, the captain diew a
pistol from his bosom, fired, and the man fell dead upon
the deck.
" ' Sheet home that sail,' shouted the mate to the rest.
When it was hoisted, all hands were called aft.
"'I want you to know that 1 am master here, and will
Btand no nonsense. Not a whimper, not a surly look,
from one of you. If any of you don't feci perfectly satis-
fied at the fate of that dog, I've another ball, and the
will to let him have it. I ask no extraordinary service, but
when 1 say go, you must, if 1 shoot every mother's son of
you. Now go forward, and a couple of you throw that
oarcass overboard.'
" This was the address of the skipper, and I tell you
PROCURING A SLAVE CARGO. 51
lx»ys, there's very little comfort iu sailiug with a man
who cares as little about life as he did, or as the general
ruu of slaving captains do. You don't know what
luinut. jou re going to lose the number of your mess.
" Well, we rounded the Ca[)e, ran up the Mozambique,
aud made Delagoa Bay wl.erc was the factory to which
we were consigned. A fv_w days before making the laud,
we laid our slave deck, rigg.^d the irons, and fixed up the
cooking apparatus. The officers were now at the mast-
head continually, keeping a look-out for sails, as men-of
war are often cruising in those latitudes. We made
Delagoa Bay without an accident, ran up the river which
here empties its waters into the sea, and anchored. It
took two days and nights to get the negroes on board,
when word being brought by a look out stationed in the
offing, that the coast was clear, we spread every sail to
the breeze, and soon left the coast behind us. We had
now some disagreeable work to do. Eight hundred
slaves were to be taken care of and watched, and all our
force was needed to do the work thoroughly. Two men,
well armed, kept guard night and day, at each hatch
way, which we were obliged to keep open, to prevent the
miserable creatures iu the hold from being entirely suf-
fv)v:ated. The slaves were fed once a day, some of the
most quiet of them being cast loose at such times, and
employed to serve out the miserable pittance of boiled
rice, or beans, and water, on which they subsisted. Twice
daily, small portions of them were brought upon deck,
to get a swallow of the fresh air, being carefully guarded
meanwhile. Hut the hold, boys, oh, it was horrible. The
52 TEE MERCHANT VESSEL.
stench was enough to knock one down. And the constant
moa,ning, and the pitiful tooks of the poor wretches, ai-
tboj' reclined, one on the top of the other's legs,(soclosel}'
tbej were stowed), haunted me for manj a day after
wards.
" We had rounded the Cape once more, and were nearl
abreast of St. Helena, when one morning the second
mate, at the masthead, sung out suil-ho! We had, some
days before this, lashed our topsail-sheets to the yard-
arras, and racked the topsail halyards, to prevent the
possibility of shortening sail, should wc want to, and now
clapped on every additional rag that could help along the
least, as just here was the most dangerous spot in all the
passage, being a portion of the Atlantic very much fre-
ijucnted by English cruisers.
• The sail we had sighted had evidently also seen ua
and altered his course for us, as, although we had hauled
upon a wind as soon as wc saw him, he still continued in
sight, and, in fact, rather gained upon us. The captain
walked the deck uneasily, eve^y few minutes hailing the
masthead, to know if there was any alteration in his
appearance.
"• He holds a better breeze than we do, and we'll have
to try hira, upon another tack.'
" ^^'e did try him upon every tack — now going straight
before the wind, now with it abeam, and again close-
hauled. Still he gained upon us, slowly, but surely, and
by dark his topsails were visible off deck. A thorough
trial had convinced the captain, that with the wind about
two points free was our best chance, and accordingly we
THE CHASE 53
swept alonji aiulor a terrible press of canvas, the verj
best helmsmen, only, being allowed to take the wheel,
and the captain continually looking into the compass, to
see that she was kept straight. The wind was fresh, and
the little craft .staggered like a drunken man, under the
crowd of sail which was forcing her along. Everything
was new and good, and now, if ever, was the time to try
what virtue there was in hemp. Therefore, ' what she
can't carry let her drag,' was the word.
" All night we flew on, the wind roaring fiercely through
the rigging, while the timbers groaned in melancholy
cadence. ^^ c made good headway, and strong hopcg
were entertained that by daylight we should have left
the foe behind. Hopes which were, however, to be dis
appointed, for as soon as the sun rose above the horizon,
we saw the same topsails, no nearer, but no farther off
either. All day, all night, and alb next day, this tedious
chase continued, we straining every nerve to escape, but
seeming bound to the accursed vessel astern, whose posi-
tion we could not change the least. The captain had
been getting more and more impatient, at being thrown
so tar out of his direct track, and had we been thoroughly
armed, would, no doubt, have turned upnn our pursuer,
and then and there decided the fate of the vessel, by
force of arms.
"As it was. a bright idea struck him. We had sighted,
on the last evening, two other vessels, probably whale
ships, from their rigs, sailing leisurely along under short
canvas. The presence of these, it was determined to
bring in to our advantage. A large cask was fitted with
54 THE MERCEANT VESSEL.
some iron in the Ijottom and a. mast secured in the top
head. To the head of this mast was made fast a large
lantern, with reflectors, which would throw out a bright
light, visible at a great distance. The night proved
exceedingly darl<, which was favorable to the success of
our plan. About t n o'c'ock, every light in the ship was
carefully extinguished even the binnacle light, which
illuminates the face of the eompas«, being shaded. The
lantern being then lightL'd, ami securely closed, to keep
the water fmrn it, the cask and mast were carefully low-
ered over the side, when it nicely balanced. Having
watched it for a -while to see that it was perfectly safe,
Te quickly dowsed all the light sails, securing them, how-
ever, only temporarily, ready to be cast loose at a mo-
ment's warning, then double reefed the topsails, whaler
fashion, and putting her about, on the other tack, steered
boldly down upon our pursuer.
" Sailing toward him, it took us but a short time to
reach him. He was coming at a fearful rate ; every
stitch of canvas set, and the water rushing and roaring
alx)ut his bows like a young Niagara. As she pitched,
the great waves would make a clean breach over her head,
and we could hear them, as we got closer, sweeping fore
ind aft and pouring out at the stern ports. She was one
of the little ten gun brigs, of which Britishers are so
fond, and which they have expressively named ' bathing
machines,' on account of their wetness.
"As the two vessels neared each other, all hands were
ordered to kc p perfect silence and to stow themselves
away out of sight, but ready for any emergency. It was
THE TRICK. 55
au anxious time, boys, as we lay under the guns of oui
enemy, neaiing licr, until she was not more than Iralf
pi.stol-shot oif. 'i'he brig had yawed a little off her
regular course as we approached her, with the evid ut
intention of speaking us. We favored the movement
by making two or three broad sheers toward her. (^ur
ckipper leaned carelessly against the mainshrouds, speak-
ing-trumpet in hand, ready to answer his hail. The
hathes had been carefully closed over the poor darkies,
in order that no chance cry or groan should awaken the
suspicions o;" the enemy. On, on, we came, until just as
the bows of the two ships were in line.
" • Ship a-hoy I' was hailed from the brig. It was so
dark that they could not distinguish even the rig of our
vessel.
••'Hillo!'
" • Did you pass a vessel in the early part of the niglit.
going along under a press of canvas?'
" • Ya-as I' was answered, with an unmistakable Yan-
kee drawl, by our skipper. ' Yunder's ber light, a little
on your starboard bow, I reckon,' added he.
■• • Yes, I know, we've been in chase of her for three
days, and, blast her. we're too much fur her — we 'i
gaining on her rapidl/ — she 's a slaver.'
' ' Du tell — a slaver ! well, captain, she "s an almighty
smart craft. Eeckon you '11 have to look sharp to catch
ner.'
"By this time she was already beyond speaking-dis-
lance, the last words we hf^ird being, infernal laz^
Yankee,' in answer, probably, to our skipper's last speech
56 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
and under the supposition that ours was one '' the Yan
kee whale ships.
" All this passed much quicker, boys, than I can telJ
t to jou. When wc could no longer hear the rush of
her bows through the water, we let our craft go a good
rapfull — anl standing on for half an hour longer, silently
set every stitch of canvas she could possibly bear, and
putting her square befo.e it, let her rip for the Brazils.
" Our scheme succeeded to admiration. When the sun
rose, the British brig was nowhere to be seen, and I
needn't say, that if carrying on sail would keep us clear
of him. that was not wanting. You talk about packet
ships, lads, but if you want your hair to stand on end,
take a slaver in a chase, or when she has just escaped
one. The little craft was fairly driven through the
waves. There was no living forward. Every sea she
took, came bodily over the bows, and went out at the
stern ports. She quivered like an aspen under the pres-
sure of her enormous topsails, and the tall masts leaned
away to leeward, as though every minute ready to go
over the side.
" Already before we sighted the Britisher, our cargo
had begun to die off, and now every morning wateh wc
were obliged to go below, and unlinking the dead from
the living, drag the emaciated corpses upon deck, and
toss them over to leeward. It's horrid work, this buryins
dead by the wholesale. Not all the money in the world
would hire me to take another turn at it.
" As we ncared the Brazilian coast, a sharper look-out
than common was kept by the ofifieers, who took regular
LANDING THE CARUO. 57
turns L,t he masthead. Two days before we made the
laud, a sail hove in sight. We stood toward it, and soon
made it out to be a little schooner-boat, sent out to waru
us of danger, and direct us to a part of the coast that
<vas clear. Taking on board one of the owners, who had
3ome out in this boat, wc altered our course a little, and
on the second morning thereafter, made the land, and ran
safely into a little inlet a few miles south of i'orto Seguro.
Dropping anchor close in shore, we were directly sur-
rounded by boats, and in five hours after coming in, had
landed sLx hundred and eighty-five negroes, all that were
left out of eight hundred and two, one hundred and
seventeen having died on the passage. No sooner was
the last slave out of the brig than we were called aft,
paid off, and the choice given us to have our passage paid
to liio or to be paid two dollars and a half per day, to
take the vessel around there, as soon as the slave gear
was taken out of her.
" For my part, I had had enough of slaving, and went
ashore, with one thousand three hundred and se\enty
dollars, in doubloons, in my belt, determined never to be
caught in a vessel out of Havana again."
Seven bells struck as old Anton finished his yarn, and
we started aft to pump ship, which being done, and eigh(
bells struck we wef. glad to turn into our warm bunks
CHAPTEK VI.
We had a tedious passage, and were already forty-
eight days out, when we sighted Cape Clear. It had
been blowing quite heavily for several days, but the wind
being only a little forward of the beam, we had made
good progress, even under the short canvas we dared to
show to it. For a cotton loaded ship is generally crank,
and will not bear much carrying on sail.
Our barque was stiffer than common, on account of
having an unusual quantity of ballast in, under the cot-
ton. And to this fortunate circumstance we, in all prob-
ability, now owed our lives and the safety of the ship.
We had been going along all day under close-reefed
topsails and reefed foresail, but as the wind fresliened
toward night, and as, besides, the old man had not had
an observation for some days, it was judged advisable to
take in the foretopsail and foresail, and lie to all night.
Before doing so, we got a cast of the deep sea lead, am]
found bottom in about one hundred fathoms, which tht
ekippcr thought would give us a good oflBng.
C68)
A QALE ON A LEE SHORE. 59
The foresail was furled first, and we were just coming
down oflF the foretopsail yard after having snuglj stowed
that sail, when casting a look around, at the soud flying
wildly past at the mercy of the gale, one of the seamen,
in unusually sharp-sighted fellow, descried a light upon
the lee bow.
The mate was aloft instantly, to convince himself that
we were not deceived. Sure enough, there was the light,
t'apc Clear Light, as we all knew it to be, plainly visible,
at a distance of not more than twelve or thirteen miles,
dead under our lee, too.
We had now the choice before us, either to turn about
befo.e the wind, and run around the southern point of
Ireland, with a prospect of having to beat all the way
back again, perhaps a two weeks' piece of work, or to
carry on sail, and force her past the point, when we
would have a fair wind into Liverpool, and be safely
moored in the Docks in thirty-six hours.
The captain and mate consulted for a few minutes,
when orders were given to loose the foretopsail and turn
a reef out, shake a rcif out of the maintopsail, set the
reefed mainsail, and foresail, and the storm mizzen.
" She must weather that light, boys," said the old
man, coming forward to give us a pull at the foretnpsail
sheets, " she must weather it, if we give her whole top-
sails."
We put the sail on her, and as she filled, and gathered
headway through the sea, it seemed as though every
stick must go out of her. so heavily did everything
appear strained. The vessel lay fairly over on her side,
GO THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
and the gale scarcely allowed her to lift her head at all.
Her motion was that of a continual sending plunge, as
though going deeper and deeper all the time. The vast
billows rolled under her, and as she slid down into the
trough of the seas, it seemed sometimes as though she
were never to stop.
The light, when we made it, was about four points on
the lee bow, that is to say, it bore from us in a direction
about forty-five degree s from the course the vessel was
lying. It was, at the same time, full twelve miles off,
and it was certain, that with the drift we would inevit^
ably make, in so crank a vessel, if we weathered it at all,
it would be rather close sailing.
The best helmsman was sent to the wheel, and all
hands remained upon deck during the dogwatch, keeping
the bearings of the light, and endeavoring to see if we
altered its place any. Our progress, owing to the exceed-
ingly heavy sta, was but slow, and seemed nearly as much
to leeward as ahead. After an hour's sailing the light
was a little farther aft, perhaps a point, but it was also
much nearer, showing that we were drifting very fast
down upon it.
At eight bells, we turned a reef out of the foresail,
and out of the foretopsuil, and under the additional impe-
tus given her by this increase of sail, she trembled in
every beam and timber, and in the forecastle the groan
ing and crecking of the poor hull, as she was tossed from
sea to sea, made an un arthly din, which rendered sleep
ing, and even talking out of the question. It seemed as
though the good ship knew her danger and feared it.
CARRYING ON SAIL. Gl
No one thought of turuiug iu. '1 he ( xcitemeut wati
too great — and even had it not lieeu so, the ship was
thrown about so violently, as to make lying down in a
bunk almost a matter of impossibility. We who had the
watch below, laid down on the chests, to leeward, and
talked over the chances, occasionally hearing from the
deck, how matters were going on.
At ten o'clock the light was still two points before the
beam, and now its glare seemed fearfully plain, almost
casting a shallow upon our deck. The gale seemed increas-
ing iu fury, the s.ud flew wildly across the moon, now
obscuiing, now revealing her disk ; and the storm-wind
shrieked through the strained cordage, while ever, as the
vessel rose upon a billow, the light looked down upon us,
cold and clear, a silent monitor of the danger which
darkness hid from our sight.
Eleven o'clock came, and the light, which, looked as
though it was suspended over our heads, seeming occa-
sionally to be almost within reach, as a passing cloud
reflected its glare, was still forward of the beam.
Even the captain and mate now seemed doubtful
of the result ; and we of the forecastle silently went
down and lashed up our chests, ready to go ashore. • it
was curious to observe the various ways iu which cur
position afibcted difiereiit individuals of the crew. Two
or three, before lashing up their chests, took out and put
on their best elothiug, looking strangely out of place, in
their white shirts and gay blue jackets, amid so wild s
scene. One old tar went about the forecastle, picking uc
pots and pans and other aiticles, which hail been throwr
62 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
down by the violent motion of the yhip, placing everythm^
snugly in the lockers, and making our rough home tid_y
[)crhaps, preparing thus for the long Sabbath wLicl
seemed about to dawn, thought I. Some looked them
selves out pieces uf heavy plank, to which they might
larli themselves, to encounter the coming struggle with
the breakers; while one or two sat apart, communing with
themselves or with their God.
Twelve o'clock came. The light was now almost abeam,
but we seemed to be di ifting upon it too fast for escape.
" Unless the wind favors us, lads, another half houi
will find us in the breakers," said the skippL-r who had
come forward, perhaps to take a last look at his crew.
" Well, sir, we've done all that in us lay — an; I the
rest is with God,"' said an old tar, resignedly. " It's a
windy night, and if the old craft once gets into the
breakers, a very few minutes will make an end of all.''
Now the wind favors us a little.
"Luff! luff! luff! you may!" shouts the captain,
cheerily, as a fresh blast strikes us from abeam.
" There she points her head to windward — full sails —
ke^p full — well, there's two whole points gained, and
another half point will clear us."
Hope once more revived in our bosoms. The wind was
evidently hauling, being probably influenced by the laud,
which could not now have been more than half a mile
distant.
We could distinguish the dull, deafening roai of the
surf, as it broke upon the crags which surround the little
islet upon which stands the lighthouse. We could already
THE ESCAPE. 63
I'oel the tiemcuJous sweep of the sea toward the rocka
We were ou the edge of the fatal grou-id-swell, from
which, if we once got in it, no power ou earth could briug
us out again. It was in our utmost need that this uuex-
pected favoring slant occurred. Tweuty minutes more
wuuld have carried us into the undertow, and then not
all the breezes in the world could have saved our gallant
ship or her crew. But
" There's a sweet little cherub that sits up aloft
That looks out for the life of poor Jack."
The wind continued hauling, and also moderated fast,
as we drew more under the land, until bj half past two
we were steering our course up chauml, with whole top-
sails set. The sun rose nest morning bright and ckai.
the gale of the preceding night had calmed down to a
gentle breeze, the sea had died away, and we were rolling
along quietly before the wind, with the " Ould Head ot
Kinsale" on our larboard bow.'"'
On the evening of the next day we came to anchor in
the Mersey, the river upon whirh laverjiool lies. Th •
tide runs very rapidly here, and it became necessary to
steer our vessel, even as she was lying at anchor, ti) keep
° .\ gale of wind, on soundings, that is, near the land, where
the water is from twenty to forty fathoms deep, raises verj-
quickly, an extremely disagreeable chop-sea, much worse than
would have happened on the broad ocean. But on the other
hand, in a very few hours after the gale has moderatdl, the
worst sea on soundings will smooth down, while upon the
wide Atlantic, the heavy ground-swell remains for days. \n'j
one who has ever smoothed the water in a tub by laying his
flat hands upon it, will know how to account for this
64 THE 3IERCHANT VES'SEL.
her from sheering about, and breaking licr ground. And
I could truly say that the very worst trick at the wheel
I had, the whole of that voyage, was while the oil craft
was safely moored in the Mersey.
The next morning at high tide we hauled into the
docks. These docks, which are the boast of J.iverpocl
arc enormous basins, capable, some of them, of holding
several hundred vessels, and constructed of solid masonry.
As an evidence of the triumph of human skill and enter-
prise, over the obstacles presented by nature, these mas-
sive works can not be too highly praised. Without them,
f.iverpool would be a third-rate shipping port. With
them, it is one of the principal commercial emporiums
0.' the world.
The docks arc rendered necessary here, by the fact
that the extraordinary rise and fall of the tide, (twenty-
seven feet being the mean hight) would make it impos
siblc for vessels to lie at wharves, as they do in all the
large American seaports. It becomes necessary, to facili-
tate the labor of loading and unloading, to secure the
vessels in such a manner that the tides shall not aftkt
them. This is done by the docks. These are fitted with
immense flood-gates, of massive strength, which arc
opened only at high tide, when the water is at its hi.he.st.
A.t this time, all vessels going out, haul out, and next,
vedsels inward bound, haul in, the gates are closed, and
the ships ride securely in a large artificial basin, the sur-
face of which is. at low tide, nearly thirty feet above the
siui-face of the river.
Of course, wh re a number of vessels are crowded
LIVERPOOL. 65
tfCgcther in a Joca tVum whicli llicrc can be no exit,
except at certain stated iiit i\als. it 1 ccomcs imjjeriously
necessary to take all proper precautious agaiust accidents
by fire Accordingly, the use of tire or light of any kind
is strictly prohibited within the dock walls. UiScers,
who search the ship thoroughly, take iuto their temporary
possession all matches and other inflammable material. 1 1
is a finable oficnse to be cauglit smoking on board ship.
and to do away with the necessity of cooking, all hands
are boarded ashore at the expense of the vessel.
Watchmen are at all tii..es, day and night, prowling
about to dt tcct any breaches of the rules regarding fire
or light, and a heavy fine to the ship, and imprisonment
to the individual, is the co.secjuence of dtection.
The day after our arrival, a gaig of stevedores came
on board to unload the cotton. To show how tightly it
hand been .screwed in at Mobile Bay, it is only necessary
to say that it took fifteen men and two tackles an entire
hour to break out six bales in the tier next the main
hatchway.
While the cotton was going out, we, the crew, were
engaged in painting the vessel outside, and refitting
sundry portions of her rigging,- which required it.
I do not know what impressions Liverpool may make
upon the landsman trave'er. A sailor, in describing it,
would most p obably say that the places most worthy of
a visit, or the lions, are the Docks, Nelson's Monument,
the Royal Exchange and the New Sailors' Home — that
its chief places of amusement are the singing houses and
the donkey races, and that th^ great bulk of the inhabi
66 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
tants is about equally divided into three classes, police-
men, tailors, and fishwomen.
This is, of course, what might be styled rather a salt
water view of England's great commercial emporium —
yet, what but a onesided view does the common sailoi
get of any strange place he may visit. He has no oppor-
tunity for seeing anything more than just that portion of
the out%\(jiQ which happens to be turned toward him.
Jack works hard all day, and after supper goes to a
singing house, where he may sit at one of a number o
tables, with a shipmate or two, smoke his penn'orth of
'backy, drink his pot of 'alf-and-'alf, and listen to som?
good, bad, and indifferent singing. These free concert
rooms, as they are called, are the principal charms of
Liverpool, to sailors. Here they congregate during the
long winter evenings, enjoying themselves, quietly, soberly,
and at but little expense.
The tailors' shops are the places of resort next in
importance to singing houses. No sooner has your ship
entered the dock gates, than she is besieged on all sid:s
by an army of tailors, each anxious to secure the custom
of the crew, and willing to propitiate the captain, by the
sacrifice of a pea-jacket or overcoat, or, if necessary, of
an entire suit.
And in truth, not a few captains of American mer
chant vessels find it to their interest to make their tailors
the bankers of the crew, thus forcing the men to trade
with a certain individual, and to take from him certain
amounts if his goods, in order to obtain certain othci
amounts of cash. Thus, a captain says tp b'e crew whc
TAILORS' SHOPS. 67
9jk him for a little iiiuncy on Satuidaj night — nh) to
Sir. Snip, 1 have Lft your money there."
Oflf post Tom, Dick, anJ Harry, to -Mr. Snip's estab-
iishracut, in Church street, or wherever it may he, where
:ney are informed that Captain has left no monev
for his crew, but simply opened a credit for them, for
clotltiiiy — bat if the men want to get a suit of clothes
ta.h, Mr. Snip has no objection in the world to putting
them into the bill at five dollars more than they will cost,
and paying the balance, minus a pci-centage, over to Tom,
Dick, or Hany.
And so Jack Tar is chiseled, and cams himself the
name of spendthrift, by paying for an accommodation,
while the gentlemanly c.ptain, by simply keeping his
hands in his pockets, has made a suit of clothes. This
is part uf a sea-side view of Liverpool.
•• Well, but," says the lamlsman, " 1 would take neither
clothes nor money, rather than be cheated so bare-
facedly." This is all very good, and resolutions to that
aflFect are made by nearly every American ship's cnw
that goes into Liverpool Docks; and broken as often as
made. One must have money in Liverpool, and the
number of sailors who take money there or, in fact, any-
where else, with them, is very small. And one must
have clothes. And Liverpool, with all the cheat and
cabbage of captain and tailor, is a place where seamen's
clothing can be obtained at fair rates, and of excellent
quality. So that Jack, after working himself up to a
state of most desperate stubbornness, and swearing fear-
ful oaths that he will not be cheated, quietly walVs 'ip,
68 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
and allows himself to be ma !o cabbage of in the most
approved style. An 1 then he is eallcd a spendthrift, and
a vagabond fellow, and the tailor, who pocketed a per-
centage on his hard-earned five dollars on Saturdav
night, on Sabbath morning pointa him out to his children
as an object of disgust and contempt. This it is to be a
sailor.
,,ji^ \~ iiVfi ./_—
CHAPTER VII.
American vessels generally carry away from Liverpool,
as return cargo, railroad iron, cotton prints, crockery,
soda, etc., and passengers. This was our cargo. No
sooner was our cotton and ballast out, than we began to
take in our return cargo of railroad iron, and crates of
crockery ware. With this, and a great number of water
casks, to supply the passengers with drinking water, the
lower hold was filled. The between decks, or steerage,
was then fitted up with two rows of hastily constructed
berths, and we were ready to take our departure.
We were to take one hundred and fifty passengers,
who came on board the morning on which we went out
of dock. They were all Irish, and a tolerably rough-
looking set. but withal, having about them that thorough-
going Irish characteristic of being ready to lend a helping
hand wherever there was work going on.
We lay over night in the river, as the wind was dead
ahead to go out. Next morning, when we were about to
(69)
70 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
weigh anchor, the windlass was manned for us by a j arty
of passengers, who made but one demand, viz.; to sing
for them some sailor songs. Accordingly our clunity
man was called for.
Said he, "now, just wait I'll set all the men and
ffomen crying before you know it."
He struck up to a rather slow and plaintive tunc, an
•Id capstan song, which begins as follows:
" We're going away from friends and borne.
Chorus — Oh sailors where are you bound to.
We're going away to hunt for gold.
Chorus — Across the briny ocean.
Father and mother say good-by,
Chorus — Sailors where are you bound to,
Oh sisters, brothers, don't you cry,
Chorus — Across the briny ocean."
They had come up on deck laughing and talking, but
' le first two stanzas of this plaintive old song had nut
been sung, when all the women had their aprons to their
eyes, and the men were not long in following suit, the
fellows who had manned the windlass, dropping the
brakes, and sobbing like children. It was rather cruel
sport, I thought, yet I would scarcely have believed that
they would have been so easily afiected.
We had to pay for our fun, by heaving the anchor up
ourselves, and were glad to start up a more cheerful tune,
to win Paddj lack to his usual bright spirits.
For the first week out, it being late in the fall, we
experienced rough weather, and our passengers suffered
dreadfully with sea-sickness. Living in a crowded and
miserably dirty hole, the stench a/ising from which was
PASSENGEBS. 71
enougli to make auy one sick, half frightened out of their
wits at what they supposed to be the immiueiitly dangerous
situation of the veriscl, it was a woudrr thi*t many of
thviu did not die.
For eijht or ten days th.y showed themselves but little
ju deck, but lay in their berths day and night, mutter-
ing prayers for a safe delivei ancc from the dangers of
the sea. But little cooking was done by them, and their
meager allowance was mostly wasted or thrown away.
And upon a return of fine weather, men who, when we
kft port, were stout and hearty, came up, looking as
though just arisen from a long sick bed.
Once cured of their sickness, they grew ravenously
hungry, and besieged their scantily furnished cooking-
1 ange night and day, to get a chance to make themselvra
a warm mess. Poor souls, many of them lived on hard
1 read and raw meat the greater part of the passage,
and paid dearly enough in the misery they suflPered, for
the riches which they all expected to gain, on this side
the Atlantic.
The greater portion of them entertained the wiklept
conceptions of the country they were about to make their
home. Few of them had any definite ideas of the rela-
tive situations of difi<;rent States. Some thought the
United States to be the name of a very large city in
Ameriky, and asked if it was as large as Liverpool or
London. Others had come on board firmly convinced
that our passage could not possibly last more than ten or
twelve days, .several asked if of a truth, there was
in Ameriky a Guld street ; and ju<lging from the igno
72 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
ranee they displayed, there is no good reason to doubt
the truth of the story told of a newly arrived Irishman,
who, going up the wharf saw a silver dollar lying in his
path, but spurning it contemptuously with his foot, refused
to pick it up, saying, " I'll wait till I get to Gold street,
and pick up none lut the yellow Joys."
I he accommodations for deck passengers, even on the
lirf^t packet ships, are of the poorest kind. There arc
110 rooms or divisions, the entire steerage being in one
large apartment. There can, therefore, be no privacy at
all. The bunks, or berths, are made very large, and
from six to ten p.rsons sleep in each, men, women, and
children pigging in together.
As accommodations for cooking purposes for one hun
drcd and fifty persons, we had two ranges, capable each
of holding not over four small kettles. Many, therefore,
never had a mouthful of warm victuals from day to day
All other accommodations are on the same scale.
I-ow as is the passage price, many find it beyond their
means, and s.arcely a vessel leaves Liverpool for the
L'nite I States that has not on bo.ird some stonutiraijs
Careful search is always made when about to sail but
there are many hiding-places where they cannot bo
readily found. With us. one man. who had only means
sufficient to pay his own passage, but had his wife to
take along, actually put her into a large chest, in which
she was lirought on board, remaining in this concealmcrt
till we were fairly out at sea.
Then the implicit confidence with which these people
venture upon a strange land, without means or frieuda
THE CLOSE OF THE VOYAOE.
I •)
alwu^d seemed to me -i matter fur t^urjuise. 'I'lioic were
some among our passengers, that had not aetuully enough
cash to support th.m the first week after their lauding.
1 overlooked one day five men, two of whom were married,
counting over their means, and among thj entire party
they could muster but twenty-six English shillings, a
littie over six dollars. But enough of passengers.
We arrived at Philadelphia, after a tedious passage of
fifty-four days. The snow was on the ground, and we
found the weather bitter culd, coming up the Delaware.
This was the fiist time lOr more than thr^e years, that I
had seen snow or felt cold like this, and 1 speedily deter
mined that an Indiamau would be my ship, could one be
found in I'hiladelphia.
As s.iou as the ship was made fast to the wharf we
left her. i was tlie only one of the crew who came out
in her from Boston, and found myself' i.ow feeling quite
sorrowful at leaving the < Id craft, in which I had spent
nine mouths, on the whole very pleasantly. Yet, thus goes
the sailor's life. He (.annot even center his affections
upon a vessel. A vagabond upon the fa«.€ ei the earth,
he is continually breaking off all tics which threaten to
bind him down to stead'.er habits.
So, even while 1 experienced most strongly the feeling
of reluctance at leaving the good old craft which hac
been so long my home, and the officers, whom long
cquaiutance. and brotherhool in many trials and dai.-
gers, had given a strong hold on my regards, tlic prcs.siiig
offer which 1 received to •' stay, and go another voyage '
74 THE 3IERCHANT VESSEL.
was unhesitatingly refused by me It w^uld not bt
seaman-like, 1 thouglit.
We, the crew, having been now some six months;
together, felt unwilling to part just hero, and had agreed
therefore to take the sauu boar.jng house. For a f.w
days we enjoyed a degree of comfort to which we had
long been strangers. Then came the search for ships,
the pressing need, accompanied by a dread of the suffer
ings which are the inevitable portion of poor Jack, when
he gets caught on thj American coast, in winter.
Now not a few wished that they could stay asha'c. to
escape the frozen fingers and toes, the ice and snow, an I
the keen north-westers which chill the very marrow in
one's bones, on a winter passage, that most terrible ordeal
the sailor passes through. But there is no esape. Ship,
you must, for they are already beginning to sing :
" So get up .Jack, let .John sit down.
For you know you're outward bounJ —
You know you're outward bound."
Coming in one day to dinner, 1 found that a shipmate of
mine had engaged in a little brigantiu;\ bound to London.
"Come, boys," said he, "she wants two more hands,
go down and take a look at her. and then sign the
articles."
'■ I wouldn't go into the British Channel, in winter, for
all the gold in California," said an old tar at th" head of
the table.
" She's a little craft, and yu'll not have to keep thf
blue pigeon going."
THE BRIG BELIZE. 75
' Don't juu bcli^VL- it; }uu'.l cast tlic lad cvcrj bit
of the way from the Downs to (iruvoscnJ, aud pcrhui'S
clear to Loudon."
"Well, who cares, it'a all in a voyage; and at aii}
rate she's a snug little craft, and her crew will be able to
handle her like a top."
Now, I had often heard of the sufieriugrf incidental
to a winter passage across the Atlautie. and knew the
British Channel to be one of the most trying and uucom-
Tortablc spots for winter navigation, that is to be found
within the temperate zone. 'I'hcre was, therefore, adven-
ture in the voyage, s me new e:;periences to make — and
as to sufiFcrings, 1 consoled myself with the reflection
that if my shipmates could stand them, 1 could do
as well. 1 therefore determined within my own mind, if
the vessel looked likely or comfortable, at once to ship
in her.
Going down to the wharf, 1 found her to Lc a diminu
tive brigantinc, of not above one hundred and sixty tuna
burden, a strango- looking vessel wherein to hazard a
winter voyage to Europe, ^he was to carry four hands
before the mast, the captain, mate, and cook — seven, all
old. The mate was sh( veling snow off the decks, as I
went on board. Said I to him, ' Do you *hink, sir, she'll
ever get to London?"
" 1 am going there in her, my lad," was the laconic
answer; and saying to my shipmate that I would also 1
got my protection, went to the shipping office and signed
the articles of the brigantinc Belize, " bound from Phila-
delphia to London, and such port or ports up the
76 THE 3IERCHANT VESSEL.
Mediterranean, as the captain may determine on, and bajk
to a port 0." discharge, in the United States."
An American vessel bound to a foreign port, is obliged
to earry a certain proportion (two thirds) of American
seamen. Every American seaman, in order to be entitled
to the rights and privileges peculiar to that class, must bo
furnished vpith a Protection, an iistruraent obtainable at
any of the United States Custom Houses, upon bi-inging
forward substantial evidence that the individual is an
American, either born or naturalized. Here is the form
of a Protection :
The United States of Avi erica.
No.
I , Collector of the District and Port of ,
do hereby certify that an American seaman.
aged — years, or thereabouts, of the hight of — - feet —
inches, complexion, hair, eyes, born in
, has this day produced to me proof in the manner
directed by the Act entitled " An Act for the Itelicf and
Protection of American Seamen," and pur.snant to said
Act, I do hereby certify that the said is a citizen
of the United States of America.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set ray hand and
seal of office, at this — day of ,
, Collector.
This Protection, for which the charge of twenty-five
cents \i made at the Custom House, is placed in the
oaptain's possession, on signing the articles, as he is
obliged to exhibit a certain number of them at the Cus-
tom HouFc before he can get his clearance. Protection's
SEAMEN'S PROTECTIONS. 77
arc very often manufactured, much as American citizens
are s .id to be made to order on the eve of an election,
and some shipping officers keep (juite an assortment on
hand in order that a ship may not be detained for the
want of American seamen. Thus, in emergencies, they
ire able to ship men of any nation, merely obliging them
to take the names which are on the Protections they hap-
pen to have on hanJ
An American Protection is of little value to the sea-
man, except in cas-S where he is wrecked, or left sick or
destitute in a foreign port, when it gives him a claim od
the American Consul, who is obliged to provide for him,
ind send him home if he desircG it
CHAPTEE VIII.
When I announced to my shipmates that I was going
in the little brigantine, they looked at me with dismay.
It then for the first time leaked out that there was a
general impression among them that she never would
reach London ; that being so small, and old. as well as
deeply laden, she was likely to founder in the tremen-
dous gales which sweep the Atlantic in the months of
January and February.
This was not pleasant news for me, but like much ill-
tidings, it came too late. I had signed the articles, and
a seaman's pride would have forbidden me to back out
from the danger now, even though she were sure to go
down. I took occasion, however, on my next visit trj the
brig, to mention to her imperturbable mate what was
oaid of the vessel.
Said he, " Are you married?"
" No sir."
" Well, I have a wife and three little ones, down OD
the ('ape, and 1 am going to lx»ndop in the Belize.'"
(78) f
OFF FOR LONDON. 7!»
There was no answering a clincher like that and 1
was content to take what comfort 1 could out of tlif
reflection that my loss would b^ ///// loss alone.
The second of January was appointed for our sailini;
(lay. It was an iritensily cold morning when 1 put my
chest and hammock into a wagon, to be taken to the
ship, and taking a last lingering look at the cozy fire,
walked down to the wharf, accompanied by several old
shipmates, whom i-egard prompted to see me oflF. It was
my first voyage as seaman. I had shipped the previous
voyage as boy, but had been allowed seaman's wages by
the captain for part of the time, and, what gratified me
far more than the additional salary, had received from
the mate, on leaving, a hearty written recommendation
as able seaman. As we v/alkcd down, 1 received some
good advice from one of my old shipmates, concluding
with :
" Now, Charley, this is your first voyage as seaman,
and you must not let any one go before you. \\ herever
there's duty, there's likely to be danger, boy, and where-
ever there's danger, there do you be first."
A tight grasp of the hand, and a hearty " God bless
you, and keep you, boy," from my shipmates, and 1 leajied
on board the vessel, she was cast ofi", and we slowly wound
down the river, before a light breeze.
1 do not remember ever to have felt it so terribly cold
as it was that morning. The Delaware was rapidly
freezing over, and we drifted down with the tide, through
cakes of ice every moment getting ^jarder and more
impenetrable. When a few miles below the •city, the
80 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
breeze freshened, and as the little craft danced over the
waves, every wave increased the mass ef ice that was
gathering about her head. The spray, which flew freely
in over the bows, froze hard before it reached the deck,
and we who were securing the anchors for sea, were soon
incased in ice, yet without being wet through, as we should
have been had it been less cold.
It was utterly impossible to keep any part of the body
even moderately warm, and feet and hands were shortly
quite numb and sensationless. It is always colder on
fresh water than on salt, and as we neared the bay, and
got into the sea tide, there was a slight, although quite
perceptible change in the temperature.
As we approached the ocean, the breeze freshened to a
gale, and we took occasion, on running in beliind the
break-water to land the pilot, to single reef our stiff and
all new cotton foretopsail, and also reef the foresail an 1
mainsail. For the latter sail, however, we had but little
use thereafter, as the gale, which blew from west-north-
west, was very nearly aft, and the foretopsail ami fore-
sail were the only sails we could carry under such
circumstances.
While ali)ft, reefing, we looked with sinking hearts
upon the mountain billows whose white heads were wildly
breaking upon the beach outside, and the sullen roar of
the sea seemed to warn us not to tempt its power.
The pilot landed (oh, how I envied him), the sails
reefed and hoisted, and everything double secured about
decks, we wore round and stood out past Cape Henlopeu.
Au we rounded the point of the break-water, which haJ
A wi:nter passage. 81
[iiotecti'd us, a huge wave struck the vessel, and came
LTasluKg over the bo.vs, deluging tli • deck, ami sweeping
all before it, until it found its way out at the stern.
With that wave went the last vestige of dryness, the
only kind of comfort there is on board ship in col
weatler, for the entire passage. From that time, for
thirty days and nights, not one of the crew had on a dry
stitc'h of clothing.
1 had heard before of bathing-tubs, had been told of
making an entire passage under water, but looked upon
such yarns as rather tough — somewhat highly colored.
But the experience of this passage left us no longer room
to doubt the possibility of a vessel making her way
through and under the water. From the time the first
wave struck till we entered the English Channel a con-
tinual succession of seas swept our decks, one following
upon the top of the other, until we have actually seen
waves come on board in a solid body over ten feet high,
-weep across the deck like a vast sea-green avalanche, and
roll out over the bow.
Fortunately our rail, or bulwark, was very low, and
the water had as free egress as ingress, else would all the
stancheons have been swept away by the fore of the
body of water which was continually washing from one
°ide to the other of the deck as she rolled.
It was just at one o'clock of the second day after leav-
ing rhiladelphia, that we took this launch into the
Btormy Atlantic. .Judging that we should experience
Borne rough wcatluir, everything about dcks. such as boat,
water-casks and ualley. had been doubly and even trebly
82 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
fastened. With the same view to security, we had i enl
new sails, with new rohands, liad doubly clinched tht
ackles, sheets, buntlines, and clewlines, that no piece of
ear might get ailrift pcrhap-; at the very time we should
need it mjst. We ha 1 furled the topgallantsail and
galFtopsail, and wound each sail about with gaskete
enough to make fast a seventy four's topsail. We had
even lashed the chain cable, a portion of which was
stowed upon (.'.eck.
But what can stand before the fury of such a blast
as that before which we were driving — what resist
the impetuous force of the mountains of water which
rolled, and tumbled, and broke over our decks con-
tinually.
On the very first night out, in the mid-wateh, while I
was at the helm, a sea crashed on deck, just forward of
the main rigging, and falling upon the large boat which
lay, bottom up, upon the main hatchway, crushed her as
completely as though men with axes had stove her to
pieces.
In the morning watch, our foresail split and blew from
the yard, not a si:n of it being left, even the reef which
was fast to the yard, gradually going, strip by strip.
On the sccon 1 morning, we found our topgallantsail
Mown out of the gaskets. On the next night an unusu-
ally large sea boarded us, tore two large water-cask?
from their lashings, and carried them clear over the rail
We had, ere this, made our little galley fast to every
bolt, stancheon, mast and rigging, that cou'd possibly be
connected with it by a rope, and this multiplied precaution
BATHI2iO TUBS. 83
was the only means of saving it. But with this ex
oeption, and two water casks lashed aft near tl.e tatt-
rail, where the seas did not come on ooard with s'.ich
fury, there was not left, when we were three days out, a
single movable object about decks, and everything that
could be blown away alo't, was likewise gone.
No one who has not seen ai.d felt it, can imagine the
searching power of the wind in a gale like this. It no
longer gives way, but carries all before it with resistless
sway. It becomes something tangible, a force which you
feel, as though a heavy budy struck you. It is even im-
possible to draw a breath when looking to windward, and
to make progress against it along decks, it is necessary to
draw one's self along by the bulwark, or life lines.
Of course the forecastle and cabin hatchways were
kept closed, as the least carelessness in that particular
might have filled these places with a sea, drowning the
inmates in their berths. When the watch came on deck
they were obliged to look out for a comparatively smooth
interval, and then darting i^uickly out of the little scuttle,
shut and bolt it down. Before they gut aft a sea would
overwhelm them, out of which they would emerge, gasp-
ing for breath, half drowned, and dripping. Not unfre-
^uently we were obliged to make ourselves fast to ropes
Btretched along from aft to the forecastle, and let those
abaft pull us along through the water.
The natural heat of the system drying on us the salt
^au-r, incased our bodies in a crust of salt, which rubbed
V and chafed, and eat into the tender skin, making us ail
over sores. The waves continually dashing into oui
84 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
faces, half blinded us, and the salt drying on around the
eyelids, made painful swellings about those susceptible
[arts.
To add to our troubles, already sufiBcieiitly great, on
the sec<Mid ni^ht out our vessel sprung a leak, and from
that time till we anchored in the Downs we never left tlie
pumps. The brig steered badly, and steering a vessel
under such circumstances is at best a most disagreeable
labor, since the lives of all on board, and the safety of
the vessel, depend in a great measure on the watchful
vigilance of the helmsman. A turn of the helm the
wrong way, or the neglect to meet her quickly, as some
vast wave swings the little craft half round, and she
broaches to the wind, and to broach to in such a gale at
8<.a is certain destruction.
Almost every minute a wave bounces over the rail, and
dashes the poor helmsman forcibly asainst the wheel, to
which he clings for dear life, until the green mass of
water passes and leaves him half drowned, to twist at
the stubborn helm, and keep the vessel in her course.
So severe was the toil of steering, that I have many a
time stood, on the cold January nights, in my shirt
sleeves, dripping with the sea water, and yet with the
perspiration breaking out on my face and arms, and all
the upper part of my body in a glow of heat.
Our hands, with the continual grasping of wheel oi
puiiif-break, or rope, and the constant wetness, were raw
inside and out. and left their marks in blood on every
thing they touched. Then, when the two hours trick at
the wheel was over, the worn-out helmsman must go to
JANUARY DISCOMFORTS. 8.5
the jiump, where lashiug liim^cU" to the muiumast to
keoj) from being borue o\ t rboard by the seas, he pumps
auother weary two hours, occasionally spelled, or relieved,
by the captain or mate.
But it was in our feet we suflFered most. Arms and
body though sore and suffering, received a sufficiency of
violent exercise to keep up a healthy circulation of the
blood, while our feet were moved but little, and after
being for four houi"S immersed in the ice cold water, were
entirely sensationless, mere appendages, without the
power of motion, and feeling as though tightly cased in
ice.
Many times have I on going below, seen my solitary
watch-mate (for there were only two in each watch.) pulling
off his boots in full confidence that he would find his fi et
enveloped in ice. And often was 1 myself certain, that
this time my poor feet must be solidly frozen.
This was our life on deck. Be'.ow it was but little
better, although we were glad enough to get to a shelter
from the sharp winds, which was the only way in which
the forecastle was of any benefit to us. Notwithstanding
our most ingenious devices to keep out the water, in order
that we might have at least one little dry spot left, it
poured in at every seam of the upper deck. On the flooi
the water stood (or rather rolled, for nothing stood) at
least six inches deep, continually. Our bunks were half
afloat, blankets were wrung out every watch, and mat-
tresses were mere moldy masses of wet and rotting straw.
Sitting in a little shower bath upon our chests, we
w juld first pull off" very carefully, and g'ngcrly. tlip boots
86 TEE 31ERCHANT VESSEL.
and stockings from our frozen feet. The operation of
gradually stripping off the stockings used to seem to me
like peeling off the skin, so tender were the benumLcd
limbs Stockings, wrung out, weio hung upon a nail in
readiness to be resumed at the end of the four hours.
Trowsers and shirts were now submitted to a similar pro-
cess of wringing out, and hanging up, and then ach
turned naked into his berth, to get warm, and doze off to
sleep.
But the getting a little warm was a torture. As the
blood returned to the long feelingless feet, it would seem
as though small veins or streams of hot lead were being
poured over various portions of the limbs. Amid groans
of pain, the sufferer puts his hands down to ascertain
whether the returning circulation has not bursted open
his foot, so acute are the sensations conseijuent upon a
renewal of feeling.
After a succession of attempts to make all snug, the
exhausted body at last sinks into a slumber, from which
it is awakened at the expiration of the watch, and called
to turn out of the now warm, and at last comfortable,
steaming bed-place, and relieve his shipmates at steering
and pumping.
On getting up, we would be steaming, literally, the
warmth of our bodies turning the moisture of the bedding
into vapor. The cold, wet clothing pulled off and wrung
out at the commencement of the watch, was now resumed,
the wet stockings were once more put inside of the wetter
boots, the sow-wester securely fastened unilcr the chiiL
and shivering and miserable we crawled iij tbiladde'
A LEAKY VESSEL. 87
to wait for a favorable moment when ti. issue on decfe
an J run aft.
To add still to our troubles, when it blew the hardest
it w.is found impossible to keep the vessel free by means
of constant pumping, and I yet recall the sinking of
despair with which, on some of the very worst days an
nights of the trip, we were wakened up long before the
expiration of our watch below, to aid in pumping, and
try to keep the water under. For throe long days and
nights, at one time, she was gradually sinking under us,
our most strenuous efforts at the pumps to the contrary
notwithstanding.
On sounding the pump-well, at the expiration of a
\ atch, we would find that in spite of our efforts, the
\ ater had gained upon us several inches. We fought it
h th by inch, hoping for more moderate weather, which
was the only thing that eould save us. Yet our labor
was performed not with the energy of persons working foi
( methiug they would like to save. It was more as a
matter of duty to the vessel and her owners. For so
much had we suffered with wet and cold, that we had
begun to look upon our now probable fate as, at any
rate a relief from misery too great to be borne much
longer. Any change was welcome.
Strange feelings come over one at such times. In our
dozing, down below, (for tj sleep had become impossible,
and one simply dozed off into a state of semi-unconscious-
ness,) we used to dream of home and of the old times
ong past when we were children there. Retiring to our
wet berths, unknowing whether we should e\ er rise fiorc
88 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
tliera a2;ain, we would return to full consciousness at the
calling of the watch, half surprised, half sorry that the
final catastrophe was not yct^that another four houre
of the battle must be waged before we finally succumbed.
We began to think it would be as well, and much more
comfortable, to remain in our berths and await the sure
fate. It would but hasten it a little. But duty forbade.
And there is, after all, a faint lingering spark of hope,
which seems never to leave man, or at any rate, the
sailor, until he is totally overwhelmed — and this too,
urged us to the pumps.
Yet we grew careless of the event. Day by day wo
went to our berths, not knowing but we were closing our
eyes for the last time — sleeping to wake no more. Watch
after watch we went on deck expecting each four hours
to be the last, until, ere long, we had grown used to the
feeling, and suffered silently on, thinking as little as
mieht be of that to which all had now resigned them-
selves.
Cooking, for a great part of the passage, was out of
the (juestion. A pot of hot coffee was a luxury not
attainable every day, and as for preparing anything else,
it was vain to think of it. So the cook took his turn at
the pumps with the rest, and nursed his cold toes the
balance of the time.
The water stood three feet deep in the hold, and was
still slowly gaining on us. when at last the weathei
moderated a little, and the wind gradually dying down,
gave us nearly an entire day, (a Sabbath) of calm. But
although the gale had gone down the sea was rolHng
A SQUALL. 89
Qiuuntains higl , a;id with tlio exception of being able, bj
pumping bar 1 all da}-, to free the vessel of water, we
wore but little better off than before.
•'We shall pay foi it before forty-eight hours," said
the mate, as we were congratulating ourselves on the
favorable change.
And sure enough before the night was over, we had
seen the wildest weather of all the passage.
About two in the afternoon, an intensely black cloud
b "gan to rise in the west, slowly spreading until it covered
all the western horizon, from north to south, with a pall
of inky darkness, it did not move — there seemed no life
in it. But it grew almost imperceptibly larger, until, at
sunset, the cnti.e firmament was one impenetrable black
mass, and the darkness seemed fairly tangible.
We had taken in the sails, loosed during the day
(having taken advantage of the calm to bend another
foresail) and were now, at Jark, lying under a single
reefed foretopsail waiting for the storm which we knew
was suspended over head.
The wind had entirely died away before dark, not a
breath of air being p rceptible, and except the dull roar
of the sea. a: id the heavy sug of our vessel as she pitched
into it, all was still. Every man was on deck, for we
felt there would soon he work enough for us to do.
In the pitchy darkness we could not see a rope, or dis
tin.iuish each other, although touching. The captain
had brought a large lantern on d .ck. and was slandiiiii
on the chain cable, near the helnisnian. ready to light us
should it be necv ssary to g t a pull at anything
90 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
Now there is a low sigh of wind over the water.
'• Put your helm hard to starboard," says the capti.iii,
and try to get her before it."
Now a louder blast, succeeded by one yet fiercer, and
then with an intensely brilliant flash of lightning, and a
burst of thunder as though the heavens were rent in
twain, the gale was upon us.
" Clew down your foretopsail. let go the halyards,"
Bhouted the captain.
But too late. The bellying sail would not come down.
and the brig fairly stood upon end for a moment as the
whole impetus of the gale struck her, then burying her
bows, clear to the foremast, in an immense sea. she forged
ahead, staggering like an animal that has been struck a
heavy blow upon the head. The wind shrieked wildly as
it rushed by us, the hail drove down upon us in torrents,
leaving its marks wherever it struck upon our persons.
While pulling at the foretopsail clewline, a hailstone
struck me on the hand and tore ofi" a piece of skin as
large as half a dollar. Several were wounded in the
same way.
The captain called to all to come aft. Suddenly we
noticed upon the masthead, and at each yard arm small
blue flames, dancing like evil spirits hither and thither
upon the wind. It was the " corposant," so called by
seamen, often the precursor, sometimes the accompani-
meat of a violent storm, an electrical appearance, gen-
erally attaching itself to the irons on the extremities of
the masts and yards the pale and ghastly light darting
about fitfully as the breeze catches it.
CORPOSANTS. 91
There is a superstitious belief among seamen that he
jpon whom a corposant has shone, will die before the
oxpiration of the voyage.
A still stranger phenomenon drew our attention fi dii
the appearances upon the yards. Our brig had duublt
mainstays, two large ropes running from the mainmast-
head to the deck at the foot of the foremast. Down
between these stays, which were some six inches apart
now rolled what appeared to us a ball of liquid fire,
somewhat resembling a red-hot sixty-eight pound shot
When yet some ten feet from the deck, the chain cable
stretched along under the stay, seemed to attract it. it
fell upon it, and with a sharp, hissing noise, flew into
hundreds of pieces, the greater portion running aft along
the line of chain.
The captain, who was standing with one foot upon this
cable, was struck by the electric current and transfixed,
immovable for a few minutes. Every pane of glass in
the large lantern he held in his hand was broken. The
man at the wheel was rendeicd entirely helpless for some
time, having to be carried from his post. Whether, as
some of the crew asserted, this appearance was accom-
panied by a loud clap of thunder, or not, I would not
dare to say, for so much was 1 taken up with the mete-
oric fire ball, that had the heavens burst with thunder I
should not have known it
ITie violent hail, which lasted perhaps three-quarter?
of an hour, had the effect of beating down the sea, so
that even at the hight of the sfiuall, we were sailino
through comparatively smooth water
92 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
The first blast over, and our old gale returned, with
the same rolling, the same continual shipping of seas, the
same tiresome labor at the pumps. We still ran before
it, although we overtook large ships hove-to. Our captain
would not heave-to — partly, as he was actually afraid
when the gale was at its hight, to bring so small a vessel
to the wind, and partly because he was anxious to get
across.
On the twentieth night out, she broached-to with ua.
This is a most dangerous accident, and not unfrequcntly
occasions the loss of a vessel. Fortunately, we had but
a rag of canvas, the close-reefed foretopsail, set, and in
the moment of her coming violently to the wind, the
braces were let go by the mate, so that the yards swung,
and did not allow the sail to get aback. (By broach-
ing-to is meant the act of a vessel which has been going
before the wind, turning violently about, and bringing
the sails aback. Many a good ship, running under a
press of canvas, has been sent down stern foremost by
broaching-te ) As our vessel lay in the trough of the
sea for a few minutes, the decks, fore and aft, were
entirely covered with an enormous wave, which boarded her
in a body, and threatened to send us all to the bottom.
Here our low rail was again useful, the brig being able
to clear herself much quicker of the body of water, than
had she had higher bulwarks. Yet it was for seme
minutes green all around and over us, and we k^gan '"o
think we were going under. The helm had been put
down, m the moment of her broaching- to, and she ba.d
sufficient headway to mind it, and gradually came up to
BROACH INO TO. 93
the wind, lyiug acruss the trough of the sea, ami clearing
her decks in a great measure of the watr. Having h; r
cooc hove-to, it was exceedingly dang.'ious to kLOp off
before it again, until it should moderate, as we would
once more be exposed to the danger of being boarded by
some mountain wave, and perhaps having our decks swept.
It was therefore determined to lie-to under a close-
reefed fore-spencer.
The topsail was clewed up, and after an hour's hard
tugging at it, we succeeded in furling it. AVe were now
relieved from the toil of st. ering, as the helm is lashed
down, and had consequently double force at the pumps.
But our troubles were soon to recommence. We had just
gone below to get some breakfast, after having been up
nearly all night, getting her snug, when the fore-spencer
blew away. As it was necessary to have some sail on
her, we set the storm forctojimast stay.«ail, and a little
corner of the mainsaih Before an hour, the foretopmast
staysail flew away, and the force of the mainsail sud-
denly brought to bear on the stern, brought her head to
the wind and sea. An immense billow lifted up her bow,
and for a moment she stood upon her stern, all hands
thinking she would go down stern foremost — in the next
she seemed to slide ofl" the mountain of water, and we
lay to on the other tack, having been thrown by the sea
from one tack to the other. We quickly hauled down
the mainsail, and set a small tarpaulin in the main rig-
ging, and under this, lay to securely until the gale had
abated somewnat.
Yet ten days of pumping and steering, and the numerous
94 TEE MERCHANT VESSEL.
vessels coming in view, as well as the dense fogs, prt
claimed the vicinity of land. As we entered the mouth
of the British Channel, the gale decreased, liut the
weather was much more uncomfortable, on account of its
dampness, and as we kept watch at night in our salt-
water soaked clothing I felt sometimes as though the
marrow was congealing in my bones. TVith a fair breeze,
on the next day after entering the Channel wc gcit up to
Beachy Head, where we lay becalmed for an afternoon,
anxiously peering through the fog for a pilot-boat. While
lying here, a steamer passed us on her way up. It
seemed hard to us as she paddled past, to think that
she would be in Ix>ndon probably that night yet. while
we might, should we take a headwind, beat about
there for a week, and after all go ashore on son^e of the
English clifFs. I never before so badly wished myself
out of any scrape, and determined, as indeed did all the
crew, that if we once got the crazy old brig safely to
London, incontinently to leave her there.
That night we got a little farther ahead, and in the
mid-watch fortunately got a Dungeness or deep-sea pilot
as these are called, in contradistinction to the river men,
who are known as mud pilots. This was an immense
relief to us, as our captain, who had never before made a
foreign voyage, was totally unacquainted with the Chan-
nel, and had. for the last two days, been chasing every
vessel that hove in sight, to find out our whereabouts, the
3onstant fogs preventing him from getting an observation.
We ran into the Downs and there anchored until the
ide should serve, as, when the breeze arose it was dead
THE BRITISH CHANNEL. 95
abcad, giving us a prospect of beating all the way up \c
Gravesend, tbe real cnti-ance to the river ThamCvSi, and
the port of the city of 1-ondon.
The deep-sea pilots iu the English Channel are a pc
oiiliar set. More thorough-going seamen, in all that per
tains to the management of a vessel, or more competent
and trustworthy men in their profession, are probably
nowhere to be found. They are under the control of a
naval board, called the Trinity Chapter, who appiar to
have under their charge the entire British Channel, or
at least all in and alout the English side of it, that
pertains to the safety of shipping.
Very strict rules are laid down for the pilots, in regard
to the management of the vessels placed untler thei
charge, such as placing a single reef in the topsails every
time a vessel comes to anchor, during the winter season,
paying out a certain amount of cable, keeping anchor-
watch, and various other matters. As vessels work tide
work in beating up channel, that is, get under weigh
with every favoring tide, and come to anchor when it
turns, this occasions no small addition to the labor, already
sufficiently great, of making short tacks, keeping the
lead constantly going, and the frequent weighing
anchor.
With our dull-sailing and deep-loaded craft, we wen
three days and nights beating up to Gravesend, a time
during which we got but little sleep, and although per-
haps, on the whole, less uncomfortaljle than during the
previous porti''ns of our passage, were almost continually
on deck, exposed to the damp air, and handling wet ropeg
96 THE 3IERCHANT VESSEL.
hcavino; the lead when the line froze as we hauled it in
and working with muddy chains and ai Abhors.
Passing the buoy at the Nore, whosj miserable fate has
ocen so comically lamented by Hood, and which marks
the scene of the groat mutiny, when England's wooden
walls had nearly been turned against her, we finally
reached Gravepcnd. Having brought us to anchor here,
our pilot's office ceased, and he went ashore.
The brig was now thoroughly searched by custom-house
officers, one of whom remained on board until the cargo
was out. We had been hailed times without number, on
Dur passage up, by tow-boats desirous to take us up to
London, which would have relieved the crew of an im-
mense deal of severe labor, besides materially expediting
I ur progress ; but our stingy Yankee skipper took counsc
with his pocket, and " having the men to feed and pay
at any rate," as he said, to the pilot's infinite disgust,
preferred to beat up.
We had now, however, arrived at the head of all sucli
navigation as that. The Thames, from Gravesend to
London, outdoes even the Mississippi in the number and
acuteness of its turns, or rea hes, as they are called, and
but one class of vessels pretend to sail up from heic.
These are the Colliers, the Jordies, who, in their dirty-
looking biigs (the briy is the favorite and only rig of a
tru< Jo. die col.icr-man) work up slowly from reach to
r-ach, taking perhaps a week to make the distance froiL
<Jravesend to the city
'I'hcsc collier men are a peculiar »«t. Familiar from
jhildhooil with all tlie intricacies of channel naviiratiori.
JORDIES. 97
m
they work their way with singular dexterity thr(.<ngh the
iiniuense fleet of shipping, of all nations, that at all times
congregates here, often nearly blocking up the upper por-
tion of the channel. They hold all raaniier of foreigt
.'easels, or " south Spainers."' in supreme contempt. Un-
derstanding perfectly their rights, and obstinately main-
taining them, woe betide the unfortunate craft that
misses stays, and hanging in irons, remains an unman-
ageable impediment in Jcrdie's lawful track. He will
unhesitatingly poke his short, stout jibboom through your
foresail, or into your cabin windows, and " out of the
way, you brass- bottomed booger," ■■' is all the apology you
get.
\Mthout the collier men, London's river would be be-
reft of half its life, and all its fun, for in return for his
■ rabbed spitefulncss, everybody has a fling at Jordie : and
hap;iy he who does not come out second best, for either
at b'llin ■• ga*^e ov fi=!h'cu/T's he is hard to boat.
Being finally persuaded of the utter impossibility of
oeating up to London, our captain had to engage a
steam-tug, which brought us up to our berth, in the
herring tier, on the Surry side, in a very short time.
Here we were hauled under an immense crane, and the
hatches being opened, ten tierces of beef were ludstcd out
at once, the entire cargo being landed in little more than
half a day.
*ln allusion to the copper on the bottoms of all foreign-aail-
mg vessels, but which is never seen on a collier.
CHAPTER IX.
With the next tide we hauled into the St. Katherine's
dock, where we were to take in our return cargo. The
docks of London are altogether differently arranged from
those in Liverpool. Here we were allowed to cook on board,
but a light after eight o'clock at night was strictly for-
Hdden. The gates close at seven, P. M.. and open at
seven. A. M., and every one going out is strictly searched
by the gate-keepers, not only to prevent the introduction
of contraband articles, but also to prevent thieving on
the part of the dock laborers and persons frequenting the
shipping. Xo bundle of any kind is allowed to be car-
ried out. vdthout a written permit from some person in
authority.
These strict regulations are rendered necessary on ac-
count of the vast quantities of merchandise of all kindg
stored up here. All around the docks are spacious ware-
houses from three to six stories high, where is deposited
a ])ortion of the goods brought here by shipping from all
party of the world There can be no more interesting
(98)
LONDON DOCKS. 0!)
siiilit in I. oil Ion tlian would be ubtaiuod by i walk
tlirouiiii tlioso waivbousos. lie wbo bas not visited tbeui
has no idea of tbo vast amount of wcaltb, from all parts
I the W'lr (1. wbieb is constantly aecumulating berc.
riie most |iroeious commodities, wbieb at bonie wo
,ee drilfbloil out by balf ounces and dracbms, arc tbciv
found by the bale and hogsbcad. and warcbouse-fuU.
Here in two vast buiblings is stored tea. In tbcse
vaults, extending for squares underground, are wines.
On tbis br. ad tjuay are piled immense tierces of tallow
from icy Ar.bangel, and by tbeir side lies a vessel fra-
grant witb all tbe spices of Araby tbe blest. Here is a
fuur-story buililing. filled to overflowing witb bales of
(nnnaiuon and saeks of nutmegs. Tbe next seems tbo
ilepository of all tbe indigo in the world. Here is bemp,
and tberc is cotton ; yonder, bales of costly silks, and
fartber on, iron. Tbcre is no end to eitber tbe variety
or "juantity of goods. All possible and impossible tbinga
seem berc brougbt in eonjnretion.
But let us take a look at tbe sbippinz. No nation
tbat bas a sbip is nnrcpresented bcre — no part of tbe eartb
tbat bas a seajiort but may be visited from beic at sbort
notice. Arebangel or tbe Cape of Good Hope, New York
or Calcutta, Cbina or California, St Poterslmrgb or tbo
Guinea Coast, Valparaiso or Constantinople, wbitber will
you go? Here are sbips for all and many more. And
tbis is only one of tbe smallest of ber docks. Truly,
he wbo visits London and does not see ber docks, misses
one of tbe most interesting and instru';ti' i of ber many
sigbta.
100 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
In a tew days after entering the docks, we l>cgan tf
take in cargo for Boston. We \ ad determined to leave
the vessel, but found many sailors ready to take our
places, and anxious for the chance even to work their
passage, without pay, and therefore wisely concluded to
hang on even to a sinking ship, as better than none at all.
In the winter season sailors have hard time? in Lon-
don. Shipping is dull and men plenty, and very fre-
quently large premiums are paid for chances to ship.
Woe to the poor sailor who then finds himself ashore,
without money or friends. The landlord turns hira out
to starve or beg, and he sleeps on the street, or worse yet,
in the straw-house provided fjr indigent sailors, where
they may l;e seen, on cold winter evenings, cowering
under the wretched litter, trying to forget their hunger
and misery in sleep. And at meal-times, guuut. wasted
forms hover about the forecastle, casting wishful glances
at the plenteous meal of the crew, or begging for pity's
i-ake for a morsel of bread and meat.
Such scenes are but too frequent in the large ports of
England, when commerce is not very Ijrisk. We therefore
gladly retained our places on board, hoping for better
weather on the homeward passage.
While we lay in the docks, a British veeael hauled in
and lay along side of us, to which a singular story of
Clime attached, which was at that time dinner* into every
one's ears in London by the ballad-mongers, who found
its horrors a fruitful source of pennies. Tb^ story, as
I obtained it from her mate, was this:
She had left San Fi-ancisco, bound for Londou, witxi no
TEE CALIFORNIA SHIP. 101
cargo, intending to procure a load of copper on tlic coast
Di' Chili, but with uearly seventy-five thousand dollars ii:
gold dust and bars, in the lazerrctc, under the cabin
The crew, unfortunately, knew of the presence of thi*-
treasure on board, and from this arose the Hubsctjuent
(;atastrophe.
On the vessel's first arrival at San Francisco, all her
own crew had left her, and when again about to sail, the
captain was obliged to take such hands as he could get,
principally coast-rangers, desperate characters, who per-
haps did not ship in her without a purpose.
All went on (juietly until the vessel had reached the
line, and was dista^nt only some two or three days sail
from the Gallapagos Islands. At this time the carpenter,
who was the only m ui of the crew wlio understood the
art of navigating the vessil. was approached by one of
the hands, with prop)sals to mutiny, kill the oflScers.
take possession of the v ssel and her treasure, and. scut-
tling the former when they got near land, leaving her for
the coast of Peru, there to enjoy in peace their ill-gotten
booty.
It appeared that they had doubted the carpenter, and
had left him out of their counsels while the arrangement
of the matter was pending. They now, only at the last
moment previous to the execution of their project, took
him into their confidence, and presented to him the alter-
native to partake of the fate of the ofiicers, or join theiu
in good faith. Overcome by surprise and terror, he re
luctantly submitted to become one of them. But they
did not trust him out of their sight again, and that vcrj"
102 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
night, in the mid-watch, while the ship was sailing along
with a gentle breeze, their fell purpose was carried into
effect.
It was the mate's watch on deck, and as he leaned
Irnwsily against the mizzen-mast, he was approached
tVom behind by one of the mutineers, who buried an^
ax in his head and left him for dead.
They now proceeded to get the captain out of his cabin.
Throwing a large coil of rigging forcibly down on the
poop deck, was the means resorted to, to gain their pur-
pose. It succeeded, for sc:arce a minute had elapsed
before the captain's head appeared above the companion
slide, as he asked what was meant by such noise. He
had hardly uttered the question, when a blow upon the
head with an iron belaying pin silenced him forever.
The second mate was in like manner enticed on deck and
murdered.
The mutineers had now possession of the vessel. The}
made haste to pitch overboard the bodies of the mur-
dered officers, and clear away the gore which stained the
deck, and then consulted as to what was next to be done.
They concluded to alter their original plan, sail for the
Gallapagos, and land there on one of the uninhabited
islands, setting the ship on fire before they left her, and
thus more securely destroy all trace of their crime,
rhey would then divide their booty, and burying it, go in
their boat to some one of the inhabited isles, in the guisr
of shipwrecked seamen, thus quieting all suspicions.
This plan decided upor, the carpenter, who had been
=;trictly guaixled in the 'brecastle while the scene of
THE MURDER. 103
fuurder was being acted, was called for On approaching,
he was sent to the wheel, with instructions to keep the
vessel for the Galla pages, and a threat of instant death in
^ase of disobedience.
The crew, consisting of ten hands, now proceeded iiiti3
the cabin to hunt up the gold, which, found, was placed
in convenient sacks for carrying off. By this time day-
light began to appear, and as the first excitement wore
off. their breasts filled with remorse at what they had
done.
" Liijuor, liquor, boys," said one, '• let's drink and be
merry; there's no one to forbid." The captain's rum
was produced, and ere noon, after a scene of uproarious
jollity, the mutineers lay upon the decks in drunken
stiipor.
All this time, it must be remembered, the poor carper/-
ter was steering the vessel. He had several times
shouted to one or other his desire to be relieved, but in
vain ; and when the drunken orgies began, he was not
sorry to be at the helm, as this was sufficient excuse for
not joining with them.
The ten wretched men, after much drunken revelry,
lay asleep upon the deck. Chips was alone on board, so
far as the possession of his powers was concerned. And
now a dreadful thought of vengeance for the fate of the
basely assassinated captain filled his soul. The muti-
neers were at his mercy — should he not in turn make
way with them ? There was not a little fear that, arri-
ving at their destination, and having no longer a neces-
sity for him they would make way with him, to prevent
104 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
one who had been an unwilling and inactive loolcei at
in the fray from bringing the affair before the world. A
f.roper reirard for his own safety, therefore, also prompted
the carpenter to take justice in his own hands.
His mind was soon made up. Lashing the wheel in
such manner that she would for some time guide herself,
he took a survey of those who in the last few hours had
sent their offic-ers to their last a counts.
" I'll do it — I must — I will." said Chips. He went
to his tool-chest standing on the half deck, and took
thence a large, sharp, glittering broad-ax. One after
another, with this ax, he cut off ten heads, not stopping
till the last headless trunk was struggling before him.
and he was left the sole living person on board.
. Now he in turn cleared away, dragging the bodies to
the gangway, and there threw them overboard — a tedious
task. This done, and the blood-stained deck once more
washed off, and he had time to think. He was alone on
board a large vessel — no one but he to steer, to make or
take in sail, or pei form the multifari(ius duties incident
to the sea, such as trimming the sails to the breeze, etc.
His determination was soon taken. He let the topsails
run down on the caps, clewed up, and furled as well as
he was able, the topg:illant-sail? and royals, and then
lashing the helm amidships, so trimmed the forward and
after sails, the jibs and spanker, as to make her move
along without yaAving too much. He had previously al-
tered her course for the coast of Peru, and as the craft
was in the track of vessels bound to the southward, and
at but small distance from the Peruvian shore, he felt
THE RETRIBUTION. 105
jonfideiit that the ship would be fallen in witli by somt
strange vessel, or he would be able hiiusclf to take the
?hip into Callao. and there deliver her into the hands
if the British Consul.
What may have been his feelings when he found him
self the sole occupant of the vessel, with every particulai
of the late tragedy fresh before him, the very blood-
stains not yet off the decks, it would be useless to at-
tempt to imagine.
On the fifth morning after the mutiny, the ship was
spoken by a British vessel just .-Bt of Callao, the captain
of which sent on board two men to assist in working the
craft, giving the carpenter likewise the course and dis-
tance to the harbor, in two days more he had the sat-
isfaction of bringing the vessel safely to anchor in Loren-
zo Bay, where she was immediately placed in charge of
the British Consul.
The carpenter went home to England as passenger in
another vessel, and was pr. bably amply rewarded by the
owners for his faithful services. The ship was sent to
London by the consul, and arrived there, as before said,
while we lay in the docks.
We witnessed on board her a most singular instance
of affection, in two snakes toward their master. An
\merican. whj had been connected with some of the
menageries traveling through Chili and Peru, and had
afterward owned a collection of animals himself, in Lima,
found the business not to pay, and determining to leave
the country, had engaged a cabin passage in the British
bliip.
106 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
He had sold out his animals, all but two large ana
coudas, one thirteen, the other seventeen feet long. For
these the British captain had agreed to give him a cabin
passage to London, and one hundred dollars, cash, on theii
arrival there, provided the snakes were then alive. Thej
arrived safe and sound, and were duly taken ashore by
the captain. When their former owner, however, askeu
for the hundred dollars, he was refused it, under various
pretenses, and it became e\ ident that the captain, having
the snakes in his possession, intended to keep our coun-
tryman out of the money justly due him.
The American was much distressed at this turn in his
aflFairs, as he had depend* d on this sum of money to bear
his expenses in getting back to the United States. He
consulted our o!hcers about the matter, but they could not
show him any way to help himself out of his difficulties.
This matter had been pendant nearly a week after the
ship entered the dock, when one morning the British cap-
tain was heard very anxiously inquiring as to the where-
abouts of Mr. Reynolds, his late passenger. It appeared
that the snakes would not eat. and showed other symp-
toms of being ill at ease under his care, and he enter-
tained fears that they would die before he could dispose
■f them. He therefore came in quest of their former
)wuer, to ask his advice and assistance in setting them
right again.
It now for the first time occurred to the latter that the
animals had nc\er been fed, or handled even, to any
extent, by any one but him, and that they might therc^
Core be shy of strangers. At our advice, he toi'i
A SNAKE STORY. 107
advantace of this state of affairs to secure for himself
the payment of the sum due him. raaldng it the condi-
tion of inducting the captain into tlio manner of taking
care of the snakes.
At his suigestion. the cli ist in which they were kept
was a;:ain brought on board the vessel, and there, in he
cabin, in the presence of part of our crew and a number
of other persons, the chest was opened, he remaining on
deck. The animals lay motionless in their coils, moving
their heads sluggishly once in a while, but making no
effort to raise thorns dvcs up, andexhil)iting but few signs
of active life.
Mr. Reynolds now came down. Hardly had he gotten
to the side of the chest when the snakes darted up,
and in a moment were hanging their huge folds ahout hi?
neck, and twisting in all imaginable ways about him
testifying as plainly as snakes could, their gi-eat joy at
seeing once more their old master. Before he left them,
they had swallowed a chicken each, and seemed asli\ely
as it was in their nature to be.
The American told us, by way of accounting for their
strange aflfe -tion, that he had caught theni when quite
young in the jungle in Ceylon, whither he had gone to
procure some animals, and they had ever since been under
his exclusive eare, a part of his daily business in Lima
being to exhibit them. He agreed with the cajtain, in
■jonsideration of being paid his hundred dollars, to remain
with them a sufficient length of time to accustom them
to their new owner, and this was done. This was a
remarkable proof of the fact that serpents have, although
108 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
in a minor degree, the feelings of aflfection common to am
mals of a higher lange in creation.
The reader will perhaps desire to know what we, the
sjiilors, saw Oi' I.ond m. As the dock -gates close at seven,
't is impossible to be out at evening without remaining
all night, which involved a serious expense, for our lim-
ited means. Then too after working hard all day, among
casks, bales, and boxes, we did not frcl in the mood foi
sight-seeing when evening came. So that our o-.ily oppor
tuuities of viewing the city were the Sundays, and the
solitary " liberty day " which was granted us. On these
occasions we saw St. Paul's, ascended the London monu-
ment, (whence we saw nothing but smoke,) and Hyde Park,
with a few of the S(iuares, and passed several times
through the tunnel. When I took in consideration the
vast number of noteworthy objects of which 1 saw no
more than though I had not been in London at all, I
was almost si rry that I had come, and had certainly to
admit to myself that I had gone a very hard voyage to
very little purpose so far as sight-seeing was concerned.
AVhen we found that we should have to make the re-
turn passage in our brig, we asked the aptain co have
her bottom caulked before taking in cargo, that she might
not leak wlien she got to sea. This he refusea to do,
because, in the first place, it would cost money, and next,
it would take time and he had neither to spare.
" Pi'sides," said he, " we shall have nothing in tht"
lower pait of the hold that will damage." In his sel-
fishness ho gave no thought to the wearisome hours thnt
OOOD-BY TO LONDON. 109
his men would have to spend at the jjumps, to keep the
crazy old wrcclc afloat.
We could have had a survey called upon her, in which
ase, should the surveyors decide her to need repairs, the
aptain would have been forced to make them. But 11
such cases the c:ew always labor under a serious disad-
vantage. If the survey is called for by them, and it
should be decided that no repairs are actually needed,
the whole expense falls upon them, making a far too
heavy draft upon purses by no means plethoric. And as
a captain's word and influence generally go pretty far
with the surveyors, all the chances are against the sailors.
We therefore chose rather to risk another laborious pas-
sage than venture to call a survey.
We sailed from London on the 2d of March, and ar-
rived in Boston on the 2d of April, our voyage lasting
iust three months. I had seen sufficien t of cdld weather,
had gratified a desire I had long entertained, to make,
myself the experience of a winter trip across the Atlan-
tic, and now firmly determined that uiy future life at sea
shouM be passed as much as possible in warm weather
CHAPTER X.
Kemaining in Boston two weeks, I sailed in a large,
comfortable ship, the Akbar, for Calcutta. The wages
were twelve dollars per month. We carried seventeen
hands before the mast, with a carpenter and sail-maker
in the steerage, besides chief, second, and third mates.
We had a splendid ship — neat, clean, and plentifully
supplied with stores of all kinds. Our forecastle, like
those of most Indiamen, was on deck — what is called a
topgallant-forecastle — airy, and tolerably roomy, althougli,
for the matter of room, all the forward deck was before us,
to eat, sleep, or play upon. It was understood that she
was to be a watch-and-watch ship, and we expected to
have a pleasant voyage — an expectation in which we wei"e
not disappointed.
In preparation for the warm weather in which I was to
live for the next year or two, I provided myself with an
abundance of blue dungaree, gave my ditty-box a thor-
ough replenishing — laying in a large supply of needles.
aio)
AN INDIA3IAN. HI
thread, tape, buttons, etc.. and procuring, in addition,
duplicates of pretty much all articles that a sailor needs
on board ship, such as knife, palm, sail-liook. marlin-
dpike, etc.
We sailed from Boston on a beautiful spiing morning,
with all sail, even to the diminutive skjnail, set — the
admiration of a crowd of tars who had congregated on the
wharf to bid good-by to their shipmates.
I found an Indiaman to diifer in many things from the
class of vessels in which 1 had been sailing since leaving
the Service. Neatness and cleanliness, as regarded both
vessel and crew, were much more looked after. The
decks were nicely painted, and no stain of tar or grease
was allowed to disfigure them. The rigging was fitted
with greater care than common, and abundance of turk's-
heads, and fancy seizings and lashings bore witness to
the sailorship of the mates and crew who last had it under
their charge. No clumsy patch-work was to bo seen on
any of the sails — nothing but cloths nefitly set in. to re-
pl:ice old ones.
The mates, too, were dressed much more tastefully than
is usual with officers of merchant-ships, and the captain
kept up a certiiin state in the cabin — having a boy to wait
upon him, and only showing himself upon deck at seven
bells, to take the sun or to get an observation, but never
interfering direetly with the working of the ship. In foct,
he appeared so much of a dandy that we were somewhat
inclined to doubt his seamanship until in the first gale
we experienced, he showed himself under entirely dificrent
oolors. and casting oflF the rather effeminate air comrinD
113 TEE MERCHANT VESSEL.
to him, took charge of the deck, and worked the \cssel u.
the admiration of all h:inds.
The helmsman was cxpocted to appear in iicat and clean
clothing, and had half an hour in his watch on deck
illowed him 'Therein to change his suit, and prepare hiir-
self for his trick at the wheel.
As the voyage was to last much longer than a mere
short trip to Europe, the discipline was somewhat stricter.
Several weeks elapsed before all was arr.mgcd for the long
passage to Calcutta, all port-gear, such as hawsers, fen-
ders, boat's awnings, etc.. duly repaired, refitted, and
stowed away below, and all the ne essary chafing-gear put
on. By this time the capabilities of the crew had been
pretty well ascertained, and henceforth each one was en.-
r^loyed in the department for which he was best qualified.
I was ohos n by the mate, in whose watch I was, as one
of the sailmaker's gang, and ray daily work was laid out
for me, on the ijuarter-deck, repairing old sails and awn-
ings, and making ntw ones. A facility in handling a
{)ahii and needle, and working about sails, is one of the
best recoiuniciidations a seaman can have to the good
graces of a mate. And as sewing on sails is the cleane.>t
and easiest work done on board ship, fortunate is he who,
when bound on a long voyage, is taken into the sailmaker's
gang. He is exempt from all tarring and slushing, except
on those general occasions when all hands tar down the
rigging. While others are working in the broiling sun,
on deck, or perched aloft, hanging cu by their eyelids, he
sits, in his clean white frw^k. under the (juarter-deck
awning, and «juietly plies his needle. If he is. besides, a
SAIL MAKING. 11 ;5
good helmsman, and a reliable man in a gale, he is likely
to h-e a general favorite, and to lead a very pleasant sort
of existence — for a sailor.
Every ship, bound on a voyage of any length, carries
at least three complete suits of sails — one a heavy suit,
to be donned when approaching the higher latitudes,
where rough winds prevail; a second, good, but lighter
than the former, which to cany when running down the
trades, or sailing in latitudes wlitic the breezes blow
steadily ; and, lastly, nn old suit, of little worth, which ia
bent on approaching tli Hue, the region of calms and
light winds, wher'S sails are more quickly worn out by
slatting again'^t masts and rigging, and the continual
hauling u . and down in working ship, than in twice the
■•iuie sailing in steady bicezes.
Such a multitude of canvas requires endless repairing,
altering, and sewing o\er. New sails aie to be middle-
stitched- -that is, sewed down the middle of each seam —
which u*aterially adds to their strength and durability.
Old ones need new cloths, or, perhaps, are rij)ped to
pieces, aud sewed together anew. Some are cut up, and
transforn.ed into awnings or lighter sails — and, altogethei-,
there is sufficient woik of the kind to keep a gang of four
or five busy the entire voyage.
As to the rigging, that needs never-ceasing attention
fo keep it in the perfect order required on board a fancy
East Indiaman. A large part of our outwiird passage
was consumed in making spun yarn and marline, for whi h
purpose a neat little iron winch had been provided, much
better than the rule wooden c.)ntrivancc fastened to a
114 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
bit-head and turned with a rope's end, which is UbUall)
seen on board ship. Tlien tlie spun yam was to be made
uj into sword-mats and paunch-mats, suitable for various
a rts of the rigging, where the yards are likely to chafe.
U hat with this, and re-fitti.ig and setting up various
parts of the rigging, our crew found plenty of work to
their hands. ai;d had no idle time when on deck.
In our watch below, tlieie were clothes to make, in pre-
paration for the warm weather of the Indies, and books
to read, of which our v row fortunately had a good sup-
ply — rathei better, in regard to (juality. too, than are
generally found in a fo.ecastlc. And when tired of
this, there was an infinity of fansry work, such as beci<ets
for chests, hammock lasiiiiigs and clews, and various other
contrivances, more for show than use, on which to employ
our spare time, and exert our skill at the numberless
knots and curious plaits in which your true East India
sailor takes so much delight.
ikisied thus, on deck and below, with a stanch ship
under us. kind offiL-ers. and good living, we were a tolera-
bly happy set. W'e were not either without matter for
amusement. An occasional _i:ame at checkers or back-
gammon, or a general gathe ing in the last dog-watch to
play •' I'riest of the Parish," served to enliven the time.
Some of our shipmates, too, wire characters — queer fel
lows — and of course were duly studied and commented
•n. Not the least among these oddities, who are to be
found in almost every vessel, was an old English sailor,
whose growling an! fault-finding spirit made us dislike
LIME- JUICERS. 115
iiim at first until wo round what a kind and genial heart
was hidden beneath the rough exterior.
The British s ilor is a <rrumbler by nature. Place him
where you will — or even where he himself most desiios tj
be — give him all that the heat can wish for, an*d he will
grumble. In fact, the only way to make him happy is to
give him plenty to eat and drink, plenty of hard work,
and an unlimited privilege of growling. This is his chief
hiippiness, and he is never so well pleased as when he has
made every one about him uncomfortable. Withal, there
is, it must be said, no better seaman to be found ; he de-
lights to be first in every place of duty ; there is no
more trustworthy fellow than he in a gale — no better
helmsman, nor more practiced leadsman, th;.n Johnny
lull.
Allow him only his darling privilege of giowling at
you, and he will do all that mortal man can tn seiTe you.
Cursing you for a worthless, shiftless fellow, he gladly
iiivides with you the last rag of his scanty waidrolx;
Ask him for a needleful of thread, and he fretfully flings
a whole skein at you, with an air under which not the
most practiced physiognomist could detect the pleasure
wliich it really gives him to be of any assistance.
So, too, on deck ; let him have the very best of the
work, and he will growl ; and should he — a most impioba
ble thing — have no fault to find on his own account, h'j
straightway takes up the cause of some one else, and
expends his powers on the imaginary grievance of a shij)-
mate. This petulant spirit is not liked in American
ships, and many captains will not have Britifh sailors a<
116 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
all. Tn fact, there is no reason in their grumLling, Half
starved and badly treated in their owu ships, they gl hUj
avail themselves of any chance to leave them, and cntei
jii board a " Yankee." But no sooner are they here than
they grumble at the very privileges they enjoy, and are
ceaseless in their regrets at having kft their own flag. To
such an extent is this carried, that " To growl like a
Lime-juicer, '■' has become a proverb among American
sailors.
The owntrs of the vessel, who had themselves made
choice of the crew, had used especial care to ship no
Englishmen ; but one had slipped himself in among us,
unknown to them, and we were not long out when his
constitutional infirmity broke out. A kinder- hearted or
more crabbed fellow than George never lived. No one
could have been readier to confer a favor, and truly, no
one could have done it with a worse g.ace.
The first head wind was a fit occasion for him to give
vent to the accumulated spkcn of several weeks. Coming
Oil deck and finding the yards braced sharp up, he solemnly
shook his fist to the windward, and apostrophized the
breeze somewhat as follows:
"Ay! I knew it; a ht ad wind, and here we'll be beat-
ing about for the next six months, without getting as fai
a« the lin(: — as though you couldn't blow from anywheres
•*" lAme-juicers" British sailors are called, from the fact that.
on board English vessels, the law requires that the crcwB Ix
furnished with a weekly allowance of the extract of Jinit'S oj
lemons, as a jucventive of scurvy.
'^-^^f:i:^^gm
ENGLISH OEORGE. n;
else but the south'ard. just because we want to steer that
way. But it's just my lu k ; it soivcs me right foi
coming on board a bloody Yankee."
It was not three days afterwards when, on the return
f a fair wind, and a consequent setting of studding-sails,
(Corge was heard to declare that he i.-ever saw such a
ship for fair winds in his life, and he made a solemn vow
— forgotten the next moment — that if she carried him
once to Calcutta, she might have fair winds forever, for
him — he'd leave her.
So it was with everything. Now he would lose his
t\nne in the folds of the sail upon which he was working,
and would grumble at it for ten minutes after finding it,
giving it an impatient kick with his foot at the close of
the haraniue, which sent it flying to the other side of the
deck, furnishing him occasion for another growl in getting
up to get it. Again, he could not find at hand some little
article for which he had looked in his chest, and he fret-
fully declared it was "like a Neapolitan box, eveiy thing
atop, and nothing at hand."
The lobscouse, which formed our morning meal, waa
always either underdone or burnt up, for George ; the
coffee was either too hot, or cold as dishwater ; the pork
all fat, and the beef all lean- in short, he had a singulai
and, to me, somewhat comic way of looking continually a(
the dark side of life.
Our crew, who could not, or would not, look beneath
the shell of ill-nature, with which he thus covered him-
self, took his mutterings as the real sentiments of the
man, and soon grew to dislike him to some extent
118 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
although his known qualities as a stanch seaman se uivd
nim their respect ; and many disagreeable altercatiout.
occurred in consequence. To me he -was a study, and as
serving to relieve the monotony of our every-day life, a
very interesting one.
Such being the case, wc soon became friends ana
chums, much to the surprise of our shipmates, who wtiv
at a loss to know what Charley could fancy in that "growl
ing old Lime-juicer." As his particular friend. I of course
came in for an extra share of his petulancy. He was by
many years my senior, and touk upon himself to regulate
all my conduct. He perseveringly found fault with all J
did and did not, and was continually endeavoring to cou
vince me that 1 was a mere boy — a know-nothing, so far
as sailor-craft was concerned. Yet let any one else pre-
sume to speak slightingly of me, and George would turn
upon him with a snarl, productive of speedy silence.
He was the oldest seaman on board, and had many, tc
me highly interesting, experiences to relate i f his roving
life. He had passed many years in the East Ii dies, sail-
ing out of Calcutta and Bombay, in the " country ships,"
and in the Company's service. In comuK n with most
Kast India sailors, he had been engaged in the opium
tr,;ffic, having been several times nearly captured by
the mandarin boats, which act as river police on Can ton
river. Like most of his class, he entertained a supreme
contempt for John Chinaman, believing hiit to be con
stitutionally a e'vindler and a cheat, for whom there was
DO redemption
OUR CHUMMYSHIP. 1]9
It was on a starlight raid watch, as wc were pacing the
deck together, that I bccarac the repository of a &tory of
opium smuggling, which 1 will here transcribe, although
not exactly in his own words.
I must pi'cmise tliat my chum h;id lieen in that busi-
ness previous to the British war in China. At that time
the Chinese revenue officers were much more strict than
they have dared to be since. Tlien they attacked the
vessels which brought the opium to the coast, while now
they confine their vigi.ance soLly to the wretched Chi
nese who smuggle the contraband article from the depot
ship to t .\€ shore.
CHAPTER XI.
" I HAD just returned," said George, " from a voyage
to Cocliin, on tlie Malabar coast, after cocoa-nut oil, when
a shipmate put it into my head to take another trip in an
opium- trader. There was just then lying in the river one
of the prettiest little craft that was ever in that business,
and you know they are all clippers. She was called the
A , and had only come out from Boston about six
months before. With her low black hull, tall rakish
masts, and square yards, she was a regu'ar beauty, just
such a vessel as it docs an old tar's heart g'od to set eyes
on — though for the ruatter of comfort, keep me out of
them, for what with their scrubbing and scouring in port,
and their carrying on sail at sea. to make a good pas-
sage, and half drowninii' the crew, there's very little peace
on bjard of them. After all." said George, abating a
little of his usual snarl, " it takes you Yankees to turn
out the clippers. Why, 1 never saw any Scotch clippci
that could begin to look up to that craft.
" We went aboard to take a look at the beauty, and
(120)
OPIUM SMUOOLINO. 121
bd^ore we left her had shipped for the vojage. The ^ap
tain was a lank West Indian, a nervous creature, -whi
lookod as though he never was quiet a moment, even in
hit sleep — and we afterwards found he didn't belie his
looks.
"After taking a cruise around Calcutta for a couple of
days, we went on board, bag and hammock (for no chests
were allowed in the forecastle) . Our pay was to be eighty
rupees per month, with half a month's advance. The
vessel was well armed, having two uuns on a side, besides
a long Tom amidships. Boarding pikes were arranged in
great plenty on the rack around the mainmast, and the
large arm-chest on the quarter deck was well supplied
with pistols and cutlasses. We were fully prepared for a
brush with the rascally Chinese, and determined not to
be put out of our course by one or two Mandarin boats.
" We sailed up the river some miles, to take in our
chests of opium, and having them safely stowed under
hatches, proceeded to sea. With a steady wind, we were
soon outside of the Sand-Heads, the pilot left us, and we
crowded on all sail, with favoring breezes, for the Straits
of Malacca. If ever a vessel had canvas piled on her,
it was the A . Our topsails were fully large ei.ough
for a vessel of double her tunnage. We carried about all
the flying-kites that a vessel of her rig has room for.
Skysails, royal-studdingsails, jibejib. staysails alow and
aloft, an 1 even watcrsails, and savc-alls, to fit beneath the
foot of the topsails. Altogether, we were prepared tc
=how a clean pair of heels to any craft that sailed those
waters.
122 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
" She steered like a top, but our nervous skipper, whc
was not for a moment, day nor night, at rest, but ever
driving the vessel, had one of those compasses in the
binnacle, the bottom of which being out, shows in the
cabin just how the vessel's head is at any moment. Under
this compass, on the transom, the old man used to lay
himself down, when he pretended to sleep (for we never
believed that he really slept a wink) ; and the vessel
could not deviate a quarter of a point of her course, or,
while we were on the wind, the royals could not lift
in the least, before he was upon the helmsman, cursing
and swearing like a trooper, and making as mu.h fuss as
though she had yawed a point each way.
" It was the season of the southwest monsoon, and of
course we had nearly a head wind down through the
Malacca Strait. But our little craft could go to windward,
making a long tack and a short one, nearly as fast as
many an old cotton tub can go before the wind.
" Our crew consisted of seventeen men — all stout, able
fellows. There were no boys to handle the light sails,
and it was somf. times neckbrcaking work to shin up the
tall royal mast when skysails were to be furled, or royal-
studd'nsail-gear rove. We had but little to do on board.
To mend a few sails and steer the vessel, was the sum
t<'tal of our duty, and as we had plenty of good books to
read, those who were inclined that way had fine times.
Ihe rest spent their time playing at backgammcn and
cards, in the forecastle On board these vessels the mer
are wanted mainly to work ship expeditiously, when ne-
cessary, and, in those days, to defend her against the
MANDARIN BOATS. 12B
Rttaoks of the Chinese dfficers, whose duty, but ill-
fulfilled, it was to prevent the smuggling of opium into the
country.
"Once past Singapore, and fairly in the China Sea, wc
had a fair wind, and, with all studdingsails set, made a
straight wake for the mouth of Canton river. As we
neared the Chinese coast preparations were made for
repelling any possible attacks. Cutlass s were placed on
the quarter-deck, ready for use. pistols loaded, and board
ing-nettings rigged, to trice up between the rigging, sonir
ten feet above the rail, thus materially obstructing any
attempts to board the ves.scl when they were triced up.
While not in use these nettings were of course lowered
down, out of the way of the sails.
" It did not take our little clipp r many days to cross
the China Sea. We had passed the Ass's Ears, the first
land-fall for China-bound vessels, approaching the >oast
by this way, and were ju.st among the Ladrone Islands, a
little group lying in front of Canton Bay, and which is
the great stronghold of the Chinese pirates — when we
beheld, starting out from under the land, two of the long
Mandarin boats. They appeared to know our craft.
or to suspect her business, for they steered straight
toward us.
" With the immense force they have at the oars, it did
not take them long to get within gun-shot range, which
was no sooner the case than our skipper, taking good aim.
let fly a shot from Long Tom in their midst. This evi-
dence of our reailiness for them took them all aback, and
after cons ilting together fr>r a little, they showed them
124 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
selves to be possessed of the better part of valoi — pru
lencc — by retreating to their lurking place, behind the
land.
" Our skipper heartily hated a Chinaman, and consid
cred it no more crime to shoot one than to kill a mad dog
He therefore had no compunctions of conscience about
firing into them whenever they showed themselves inclined
to molest him. He was an old cruiser in those waters,
having passed the greater part of his life in the Indies,
and knew that nothing was so apt to beat oflF the cowardly
Mandarins as a show of resolute resistance, and a full
state of preparation. We knew, therefore, that so long
as we were in clear water, and had a good breeze, there
was but little to be feared from them. The only danger
was, in case we should be becalmed when we got under
the lee of the land, as they would be keeping a constant
watch upon us, and in such a case would no doubt make
a desperate rush upon us, and perhaps capture us by mere
superiority of numbers.
" ' But you all know the penalty, boys, and it's better
to die at your guns, than be squeezed to death by those
fellows,' said the captain.
•'As may be imagined, we were all determined to defend
ourselves to the last; even the black cook kept his largest
boiler constantly on the galley stove, filled with boiling
water, wherewith to give the rascals a warm salute,
should they endeavor to board.
"Nowadays, since the Chinese war, the opium is in most
cases transferred from the smuggling vessels to large
ships which lie at the mouth of the river, princip illy
BECALMED. 125
Dedi Lintin Island, as depot vessels, whence again it is
smuggled on sho.e by the Chinese opium boats, whose
crews run the greatest risk of all, as the Mandarin
boats are at all times ^u watch for them. I'hcy are a
desperate set, and havj frequent encounters with the
Mandarins, when no mercy is shown on either side, the
smugglers, however, generally gaining the day.
" In the days of which 1 am telling you. however, there
were no depot ships, and every captain had to get rid of
his own cargo as best he could. 'I'hose were the times
in which opium smugglers scarcely expected to land a
cargo without a skirmish of some kind.
" What we had fearel, shortly came to pass. In less
than two hours after we had seen the boats, we lay
becalmed under the land. The little vessel was perfectly
unmanageable, drifting at the mercy of the current
Had we been far enough in shore, we should have anch-
ored. As it was, we could neither an -hor, nor could we
manage the vessel, to turn her broadside toward an ene-
my, should such appear. Luckily, long Tom could be
turned any way, and with his aid we thought to keep
off our assailants.
" It was not long before these made their appearance
They had in the meantime obtained reinforcements, and
four large boats, containing from sixty to a hundred men
each, now shot out from under the land, and came toward
ue with rapid sweeps. We did not wait for them to
come to close quarters, but sent some shots at them from
long Tom. These, however, did not deter them. 'I'ht
calm had given them courage, and after discharging
126 THE 31ERCHANT VESSEL.
their swivels at us. with the hope of crippling the vessel,
hy hitting some of our tophamper — an expectation in
which they were disappointed — they rushed to the
onslaught.
" We now rapidly triced up our boarding nettings, iu-i
lying down under shelter of the low rail, awaited tlie
atta-k. The boarding nets they were evidently uiipre
pared for, as at sight of them they made a short halt.
This the old man took advantage of and taking good
aim. let drive long Tom at them, and luckily this time
with good eifect, knocking a hole in one of the boats, and
evidently woundin^f some of her crew. Taking this as a
signal to advance, and leaving the disabled bo;it to shift
for itself, the remaining three now rapidly advanced to
board. The wise scoundrels, taking advantage of the
unmanageableness of our vessel, came down immediately
ahead, to board us over the bow, a position where, they
well knew, they were secure from the shot of our two
light guns, which could only be fired from the broadside.
Cocking uur pistols, and laying the boarding pikes down
at our siles, ready for instant use, we waited for them.
" Directly, twenty or thirty leaped upon t'le low bow-
sprit, some rushing to the nettings with knives to cut an
entrance. We took deliberate aim and fired, about a
lozcn falling back into the boats as the result of our first
uid only shot r)ropping the firearms we now took to
the pikes, and rushed to the bow. Here the battle wau
for some minutes pretty fier -c, and a rent having been
made in the boardiu"; net, the Chinamen rushed t<i it likf
THE FIGHT. 12?
rigers. But as fast as they came in tney were piked aud
Iriven back.
"Meantime, one of the boats had silently dropped along
side, and ere we were aware of it, her ciew were alH)ut
boarding us in the rear. But here the doctor (the pot
name for the cook) was prepared for them, and the first
that showed their heads above the rail, received half a
bucket full of s:alding water in their faces, which sent
them back to their boat, howling with pain.
'"That's it, doctor, give it to them,' shouted the old
man, who seemed to be quite in his element. And he
rushed down ofiP the poop, whither he had gone for a
moment to survey the contest, and taking a bucket full
of the boiling water forward, threw it in among the Chi-
namen who were there yet obstinately contesting the pos-
session of the bow. With a howl of mixed pain and
surprise, they retreated, and we succeeded in fairly driv-
ing them back into the boats.
" A portion of us had before this gone to the assistance
of the cook at the side, and had succeeded in keeping
them at bay there. To tell the truth, the hot water
frightened them more than anything else, and the boat's
crew along side required all the urging of their Manda-
rin ofBcer to make them charge at all.
" Luckily, at this moment a squall, which had been for
some tim'^ rising, broke upon us, and the brig began to
forge ahead through the water. A more fortunate thing
could not have occuiTcd. With a shout of victory, we
made a final rush at our assailants, and drove them back
to theii boats, which cutting adrift, and giving the one
128 THE MERCIIAXT VESSEL.
along side a parting salute ■ f lialf a dozen shot iu he>
bottom, thrown in by hand, we left thi m. Our captain
now strongly desired to turn aggressor, and at least run
down one or two of them, but prudential con^5ideration5
prevented him from coniuiitting the rather wantot.
destruction of life which tliis would have involved. Foi
there was danger that the breeze would again subside,
and we be exposed to a second attack of the Chinamen,
which was far from desirable. We thereft re made the
best of our way from the scene of action, steering toward
Lintin Bay, wh re wc were so fortunate as to meet a little
fleet of opium boats, who (jui kly relieved us of our carg',
and we were no farther molested by the Mandarins, who
had probably gotten a surfeit of fighting, an amusement
they are not very fond of.
" But the oM man vowed that the next time he was
attacked he would have no mercy ; a threat which he
fulfilled on his very next voyage, when he sailed into
Macao Roads with a Chinaman hanging at each yard-
arm, after having run down two mandarin bouts and
destroyed them, probably drowning most of the crew."
•' But what arras did the Chinamen use to attack you ?"
asked 1 of Georee.
" Principally long knives, with which they cut right
and left; but not the least effective of their weapcn^-
were large stones, of which their boats seemed to have an
almost inexhaustible supply, and which were handed u].
to those who had nbtained a footing upon the bowsprit,
and thence hurled in our midst. Several of our men
received severe ^ruises from these missiles. By keeping.'
THE SOUTHEAST TRADES ONCE 3I0RE. 129
them from close tightiug by lu aiis vt Air pikes, we pre-
vented them from doing much execution with their knives.
We had no less than seven men wounded in the encounter,
but fortunately no one was dangerously hurt. ^Ve freely
awarded the credit of our victory to the cook, whose hoi
water did more to discourage our assailants than either
our firearms or pikes.
"As soon as we disch:irg.d our cargo, we proceeded on
our return passage to Calcutta. It was on this trip that
we were dismasted in a typhoon, in the China sea. Of
this I will tell you some other time, for it's nearly eight
bells, and we'll heave the log directly and turn in."
AVe had again sailed through the pleasant south-east
tiades, again rounded the Cape, encountering there the
usual storm, and were well on our way to Calcutta when
the alove yarn was spun. I must say that 1 enjoyed
this trip much more than the one I had previously iiK.dt
through these waters in a vessel of war. A seventy foui
i^un i-hip is much too large to be made a home of. Orit
lives to much in public, as it were, and there are st
many hands that one uc^ver gets intimately aciiuainted
with a.l. In board the Akbar we were by this time
all perfectly at home with one another, and were indeed
like a band of brothers.
Then, the merchant vessel, with her smaller crew, has
many conveniences and comforts which the man-of-war
Ba'hr is forced to do without. And the very work which
he is obliged to perform, the being constantly busy when
upon decks, makes the luxury of a free watch below all
the more welcome
y
130 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
While beating up the southeast trades, we all used k.
sleep on deck. From six till eight, the last dog-wateh,
was generally devoted to singing and yarning, and aftci
that all hands brought out their pea-jackets, mats, ami
rugs, and gathering in a little knot, lay down and tal!:c«l
tlicmsclves to sleep. Secure that the wind would leithci
ii urease nor decrease, nor change, we slept soundly all
iii^ht, only roused by the mates, who were not unfrc-
quently obliged to wake up all hands, in order to find
out whose wheel it was. Happy he who had no trick at
the wheel all night. He could rest securely as though
in his bed at home. The landsman who has been all his life
aecustomed to his undisturbed night's rest after the day's
duties and fatigues, can form no idea of the feeling of
luxui'ious abandon with which a sailor closes his eyes on
such an occasion, when an uninterrupted sleep of six or
eight hours is almost a certainty, and his mind is boreft
af all fear of being called out to tack phip or reef oop-
ails.
CHAPTER XII.
To the merchant sailor, Sunday is a day of peculiar
enjoyment. After six days of unintermitti d labor,
working, too, among tar and slush, and all manner of
dirt, having no time fur shaving or washing, and no
chance to keep on clean clothes, the Sabbath comes in as
a day of rest, when the mind and body are both relieved,
and the human machine rests for a period. On this day
all hands may luxuriate safely in clean shirts and trow-
sers, and the entire forenoon is generally devoted to
shaving, washing, and renovating in various ways the
outer man.
On Saturday afternoons, the forecastle receives a thor-
ough scrubbing at the hands of the boys, and for that
and the next day every one is expected to take special
pains not to make any litter on the white floor or decks
Sunday morning the decks are scrubbed, and those who
have the morning watch have afterward time to make
(131)
13-> THE MERCIIAyT VESSEL.
their toilet before breakfast. After I reakfast, the othoi
watch go through this duty, and theu all hands may be
seen lyiug about decks, some with books others re-read-
ing oU letters, while others yet take what is called, jjur
eircllence, " sailor's i^leasure," in overhauling their chests,
bringing their best clothing on deck to air, and cointing
over their stock of tobacco and pipes.
As during the week all on deck are kept constantly at
work, and the watch below are expected to confine them-
sehes to the limits of the forecastle, that they may not
interfere with the labors of those on deck, it seems quite
a privilege, on Sabbath, to roam at will about the ship,
without fear of being set to work.
On board a vessel of war, where every day in the week
is a Sunday, so far as exemption from work is coiiceined,
the Sabbath itself is looked forward to with dread and
dislike, because of the mustering and inspecting set
apart for that day. But in the merchant service the
Sabbath is a much needed and welcome day of rest.
It may be asked, what manner of bo.iks are found in
the foiecastle ? To that I must answer, all kinds.
From the most abstruse metaphysical speculations to the
merest sixpenny ballad, or the trashiest yellow co\ er, 1
have seen lying on the lockers o'" a ships forecastle. Of
course tales of the sea, such as Cooper's and Maryatt's
levels, arc found in greatest abundanci', but it is not at
all rare to find amocg the tarry frocks and trowsers in
the sea-chest of an old sailor, such 1 ooks as Shakspearc
and IMilton, the Spectator, Washiigton Irving. Gold-
smith, and other standard authors. I have often
THE MERCHANT SEAMAN. 133
found a gray-beard old seaman as familiar with the
choicest authors in the English languAge, as the vt riiist
man of books and leisure ashore. And I have heavi
shrewd criticisms passed on books and authors, in a
lingj' forecastle, which would not have done dishonor tc
some occupants of chairs professorial.
The reason for this is o' ivious. The sailor, if on board
a good ship, has much spare timj in his watches below,
which he must while away in some manner : and books
are not only the most natural, but the most satisfactory
resort to relieve the mo.iotony of a tedious passage.
But there is very little intellectual aliment in the yellow
cover literature of the day, and the mind naturally flies
to something more solid. Aside from this, it is impossi-
ble that a man should travel all over the world, visit
most of the principal seaports, if nothing more, east,
west, north, and south, and not i)ick up in his percgi'i-
nations very many items if information, to which, had
he lived on shore he would have remained a stranger, and
which give to his mind an inquiring turn. And thus it
happens that there are few more interesting talkers than
an intelligent old seaman.
In nothing does a me.chant vessel differ more from a
man-of-war, than in the bond of unity which exists be-
tween the crew. Where six or seven hundred men are
crowded together in one vessel, it is natural that there
should spring up cliques and parties, (.reatlng walls of
separation between different members of the body. The
reverse of this is the case in the merchant-man, where
the forecastle, in general, is as one man, not only in
];!J: THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
sentiment, but also to a vciy groat cxtcit in worldly pos
sessions. 'I'hus. while each individual makes it a point
f duty to provide himself to the best of his ability with
everything necessarj to hira whatever one has is always
jt the service of the rest, and su -h a thing as bringing
aboard any delicacies from the shore, and not volunta-
rily dividing them in the foi-ccastle. is never seen. The
individual who would do so, would be looked down upon
as mean and selfish in the highest degi'ee. A complete
community of goods prevails, and what one has not, oth-
ers aie always ready to help him out in.
Besides this general brotherhood, a still closer bond of
friendship generally obtains in a forecastle, brtwccn indi-
viduals who are drawn together by congeniality of dispo-
sition, long ac(iuaintance, or other cause. Thus, two
men will hold their entire property together, owning
everything in common, looking out for one another's
interests, aiding each other in difficulties, and laying out
together their plans for the future. Such a connection is
known as chvmmysln'p, and to have a good chum is one
of the pleasantest parts of a voyage.
I had parted from my chum in Philadelphia, on my
return from Liverpool, and had not since then f:und any
one with whose ways and qualities I was suflBciently
pleased to form a new connection of the kind. The crew
of the Akbar were all strangers to me when we came on
b^ard in Boston, but most of them had been together
before, and fell thon.'fore naturally into little parties.
How it first came about I could not tell, but it so turned
tut that growling (leorgo and I were gradually drawn
OLD OEOROE AGAIN. 135
w)^ether, and before we were a month out, he aud I had
agreed to be chums. He was the oldest, while I wae
the youngest seaman in the ship ; he therefore claimeil
aui exercised, in virtue of his experience aud my yojth
a general oversight over me. which I was very willin_' to
allow, inasmuch as it evinced that he felt an interest in
my welfare, and also as in such an oversight I could
profit by his superior experience, while 1 in return was
glad to do for him any little services that lay in my
power.
I saw and felt too, what many of our fellows could not
perceive, that under a rough and unattractive outside,
old George hid a kind heart, and that his growling was
simply a matter of habit, and not the result of malice
We two had been very gradually becoming more and more
intimate for some time, ndther, however, making any
more than very general advances toward each other, until
on one rainy night I was about to go on deck without an
oil-jacket, havi-:g mislaid mine. George, who was in
the other watch at this time, called me back, and growl-
ing at me for a careless felloiv, threw his over my shoul-
ders, and bade me go on deck.
Now, if there is one thing that is never lent or bor-
rowed in a forecastle, it is an oil-jacket. Pea-jackets,
sea-boots, shirts, and even trowsers, are freely ofiijred
and aoiepted, but -an oil suit never, and he who has
none of his own considers himself in honor bound to do
without. It may be imagined, therefore, ch;it not only I,
but all who saw the action, con.'^ideied it a great favor,
aud betweei George and myself the matter was at once
136 THE MEJiCJIAXT VESSEL.
and tacitly understood as an offer and acceptance of
churarayship. Henceforth he too'< a mo.c lively interest
in me, and when, shortly after. I was overhauling my
chest, he very good-naturedly sat down to aid me ii;
arranging it to a little better advantage. Looking over
my clothes, he showed me where various improvements
might be made in them, commended mc for neatness,
and read me a lecture on having a place for every-
thing, where it could be found at a moment's notice, in
allusion to my having be '"ore mislaid my oi'. -jacket.
Shortly after, his thread, needles, and thimble found
their way into my ditty-box. and when oux I desired to
borrow a sail needle, of which he had a good supply, lie
told me to go to his chest and help myself. Thus, )iy
almost imperceptible degrees we became closer friend <.
and shortly we held our property in common, and it was
plainly understood, not only by our two selves, but by
all hands, that we two were chums. Still not a word of
such an arrangement had ever been spoken betwce i us.
It was well enough understood without. Henceforth I
came in for a special shire of his gru^.bling and fau t-
finding, which, however. I knew how to take, generally
laughing him out of his ill-humor.
T found George's friendship valuable to me in many
.'aspects. Co:;siderablc deference is p.iid on board ship,
to age, an 1 it was considered not more than right that
I who was the youngest, should be instructed in man}
things by my old chum. And a better instructor I could
not have hud. In his long life at sea, he had gathered
'^'a-loro wherever ho went, and uniting the knowledge of
FISHING. 137
the sailors of several nations, was at home in anjthin^'
that could be done with a ship. He was standanl
authority both in the forecastle ani aft, in all that per
lained to rigging or managing a vi^ssel, and hit su.'ycs-
tions as to alterations in the rig were always listened to
with deference by the mates, grumblingly as they were
ottered.
If a new purchase was to be rove, a fancy knot to be
tied, or any labor-saving tackle studied out, George was
the m ite"s right-hand man. and to him the work was
consigned, with the knowledge that in his hands it woul 1
be well done. To me his hints on steering, settin;
studding sails, and many other of the more laborious
duties of the sailor were invaluable, enabling me to bring
s\-ill to the aid of strength, and perform my work better
and with less exertion than otherwise I should have been
able to do.
While beating through the southeast trades, makin ;
our way toward the Cape, we frequently caught fish out
of the schools that constantly surrounded the ship,
affording an agreeable variety to our salt provisions.
Here aaiain the merchant sailor is favored far above the
man-of-war's man. The latter has no access to the gal-
loy, and though he may catch fish all day, would not It
able to get them cooked, there being no room for prepar
ing anything but the regular ship's allowance. But, iu
the merchant service, the cook is glad to have something
to provide, for a change, and. as our lines hung constantl)'
tc the jib-guys, we had fresh fish whenever we desired it
»oi a long time.
138 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
When off' the Cape, \vc one <lay liarpooued a porpoise,
aud I now for the tii'st time ate of this lish. The por-
[oise is a fish of the whale kind, from six to ten feet
long, and having a pointed nose or bill, giving the liea<J
some little resemblance to a bird s. The meat resjmUee
somewhat coarse beef, but is mu\;h darker — almost black.
The liver, which is the choicest part, and is considered
pite a delicacy, is hardly to be distinguished, when
r;o;.ked, from the liver of a hog.
Befo.e we fairly doubled the Cape, we experienced the
usual gale of wind, without which it seems almost im-
possible to get into the Indian Ocean, and although the
wind was fair, we were compelled to shorten sail.
"Ay, reef her down," growleil ray chum "just as
though you wanted her to lay here like an old hulk."
"But, Greorge," said one, "you would not want to
steer her to-night, with whole topsails?"
" Let him put topgallautsails on her, and I'll steer her
with one h;ind. Who wants to wallow about here just
like some old Dutch drogher? 1 want to get to Cal-
cutta."
Nevertheless, with all his grumbling, Geoigc was the
first man on the topsailyard, and took o -casio-.i while
he and I were securing the lee-eaiing. to prii])hesy that
wc would be at least six months on our passage. •' shoi-t-
^ning sail for every cap full of wind." in his heart th
)lil fellow wai^ glad of the comfortable night's rest whii h
)ur taking ir s:iil secured to all hands, but his growl
was as earnest and persistent as though he had beer
really an ill used man
THE GANGES. 130
We were but a few ilaj's off the Cape, and with a fair
A'ind soou regained a warmer hititudc. With the aid
of favoring breezes uc made a cjuick rim to the Saud-
heads, where receiving a pilot from one ot the pilot brigH
which have there their cruising ground, we were soon in
the Hoogly.
The Saud-heads are shoals formed by the deposits of
the Hoogly. They extend to some distance beyond the
mouth of the river, and their navigation is difficult and
often dangerous. None but the smaller country vcssila
venture upon the intricate channels without the aid of a
pilot. Sanger Point is the first laud made by vessels
approaching the mouth of the Hoogly.
No sooner were we in the river than everything at
ence assumed an East India air. The officers donned
jackets and trowsers of dazzling white, the crew wore
tlieir lightest clothing, the awnings were sprea'l, and as
we sailed up the broad stream leading to Calcutta, its
shores studded with vegetation in all the exuberance of a
tropical climate, I could almost fancy that we had all
been metamorphosed into East Indians, so complete wag
the change in appearance of the vessel and her crew.
The city of Calcutta lies about om hundred miles
from the junction of the Hoogly with the sea. The
river banks, for a portion of the way. are low and
marshy, forming a dense jungle, with here and there a
native hut peeping out from the mass of green foliage
Above Fort Diamond, however, about half way up, Euro-
pean and native residences b;gin to abound on the river
bank, and as these are laid out with all the magnificcncP
140 THE 3IERCIIANT VESSEL.
that art and money can produce, they make up j. inosl
enchanting scene.
My L-hum, George, who was a real vairabond, had
already wearied of the monotony of life on board the
Akbar, and longed for a change. He had determine<J
not to go home in the ship, but to take a chance in a
lime-juicer, or a country ship, where he could make a
short trip to some other East Indian port, and again try
a new vessol. He of course confided his wish to me, and
urged me to go with him. I readily entered into his
project, as it cnimed well with my own desire to see
somewhat more of the East Indies than 1 should be likely
to, did 1 remain in the Akbar. We had, therefore,
already before we made the land, picked out such of our
joint stock of clothes as we considered it best to take
along, when we should leave, and determined to avail
ourselves of the first suitable chance that ofi^cred, after
our arrival at Calcutta.
The pilots on the Hoogly are perhaps the greatest gen
tlemeu to be found in all their fraternity. Although
sterling sailors, and nxasters of their business (and their
dut} on the river is of the most arduous kind) , they bear
about them none of the rough looks or manners of the
sailor. They aie mostly men of education, not a few of
chcm dabbling in literature, and some of the most credit-
ible prose ;ind poetry in the (Oriental magazines is dal<^d
from the pilot brigs '■ off the Sand-heads."
The slender and rather effeminate gentleman who waf-
assisted up our gangway, and took charge of the vessel,
xith his jeweled fingers, aud dainty tread, sma<iked more
CALCUTTA HARBOR. 141
of the parlor or the counti ig -house than of the ship.
But he was not ten minutes on board before we knew
that we had a seaman to deal with.
He brought on board with him a leadsman and a pri
rate servant, two swarthy Hindoos, and sufficient baggage
to last him, so we thought, for a vojage round the world.
Navigation on the Hoogly is of the most difficult, as the
channel is almost constantly shifting, and the tides and
currents are extremL'ly rapid. It is necessary, therefore,
to keep the lead constantly going, and the line used by
the pilot's leadsman, a man of no little experience him-
self, is marked at every three inches, instead of every six
feet, as is the common lead line.
We had sailed but little ways up the river when we
were hailed by a steam-tug, and as our captain was anx-
ious to get up to the city, she was called alongside, and
took us in tow. This greatly lightened our labors, and
by the time we reached the anchorage abreast of Cal-
cutta, we had the topgallant and royal yards sent down.
the lighter sails unbent, and the ship all ready for a long
stay in port.
Most vessels coming to Calcutta are moored in tiers in
the river, opposite the city, and at but little distance
from the shore, where they discharge and take in cargo,
(rreat care is taken to preserve the health of the crew, as
the city is noted as a sickly place in the summer season.
Gang^ of Hindoos are employed to labor in the hold, at
discharging or stowing cargo, the ship's company l)eing
employed in fitting up the rigging, working under awn-
ings spread fore and af* over the upper deck These
142 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
awnings are kept u]i iiiirlit . s well as day. and under
them the men sleep at night, secure from the noxioas in-
flueuccs of the heavy dews.
The manner of working of the Hindoo stevedores
afforded me much anui-<emcnt. it is necessary, in the
first plai-e, to have double the number of them that
would be veijuired of lOuropeans (as all whitrs are called
in the Ind'es) . 'i'he gang is under the command of a
seranf/. whose o.ders are implicitly obeyed, and who if-
amenable to the captain for the good conduct of his men.
They make much noise, singing and shouting, but work
very slowly. Besides the tools for working, which thej
bring aboard, and their cooking utensils, each gang is
the possessor of a large pipe, with a long flexible tube,
called a hoo'.ah. and by the sailors denominated a hub-
ble-bubble, on account, 1 suppose, of the peculiar bub-
bling made by the water in the lower bowl, thrnugl
which the smoke is drawn into the tube. The hubble-
bubble is lit early in the morning, and does not again go
out duri ig the day. the gang relieving each other regu-
laily at it, one being always smoking. This is consid-
ered a nuxtt r of course, and no surprise is felt to see a
man break off in the mi Idle of a severe lift, to relieve
his comyianion at the pipe.
They hav ■ their own cook, their own galley, their own
utensils ;:nd provisions, and even have assigned to them
I special water-cask, from which none of the Europeans
are allowed to use. The law of caste enforces this up'D
them, and although they are the very lowest of the popu-
lation, thev have the utmost abhorrence to eating
THE NATIVE LABORERS.
143
anything which a white man has touched. The sailors
are strictly foi bidilcn from playing tricks upon them, as
Ihey would be too likely to do otherwise, praL-tical joke.^
(ting something that .lack is exceedingly fond of.
Hindoos, of Midrab.
To facilitate communication with the shore, the ships
aave native boatmen hired, who, for a certain sum, are
alw/ys, day and night, at hand to transport persons to
or fiom shore. These are called dingy xoallahs, wallah
being a term signifying merchant or trader, and of uni-
versal application to all manner of occupations.
Every kind of tropical fniit is to be had in abundance
in Calcutta. All the conveniences and comforts whicb
144 TILE MERCHANT \'E>SSEL.
heart can desire arc licrc at hand, ('lntliing is cheap and
jf good ((iiality. Ev'ry kind of fool is als i very cheap.
Tlie natives wcrk for the merest trifle, and one no so ner
sets his foot on shore, than he is besieged by numbers of
them, asking f )r i job, offering to procure him a palan-
kin, voluiitecring to show him about the town, begging
from him, or endeavoring by the performance of various
juggling feats to draw a little money out of your pocket.
With sailors, Calcutta is a favorite port There arc
few places even in India where their money will hold out
so well, and fewer still where they find united so many
of the concomitants which go to make up a good spree.
I was ashore but twice, both times in the evening after
the day's work was finished, but I saw that Jack cairiea
it there with a high hand. Rupees fly about as though
they grew on trees in the next jungle, and India Jack, in
his white su't, orders his servants about with the air of
Bj lord.
CHAPTER XIII.
We had been out a few days in port, and I had only
been twice on shore in the evening, of course seeing but
little of the town or the inhabitants, when my chum
came on board late one night and communicated to me
the fact that an English vessel about to sail for Madras
was in want of hands, and that the captain had offered
him and me a chance. I demurred somewhat at leaving
Calcutta, before I had taken a daylight look at it, but
was silenced by George saying that when we came back
we could stay a month ashore if we desired. I therefore
agreed to go with him, and it was arranged that the next
night we would go on board the barque, as she was to
sail early the succeeding morning.
That night we arranged into suitable bundles the
effects we intended to take with us. and the next even-
ing, bidding good-by to a few of our shipmates, but
without communicating to them our destination, we
10 (146)
146 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
called the dingy wallah and were set asnore. We
walked down the side of the river uutil we came abreast
of the English barque, and on hailing were quickly
taken on board, in her own boat.
Here we found all things ready for sea, an anchor
watch already set, windlass brakes shipped, and topsails
hanging by the bunt gaskets. Early next morning, we
got underweigh, and sailed down the river with a fair
•vind and tide.
When the topsails were sheeted home and hoisted up,
George, who had evidently not considered his escape as
made good until then, clapped me on the shoulder, and
said cheerfully:
"Now, boy, you're on board a lime-juicer; look aft
and see the red cross waving over your head."
It had not occurred to me before, but as 1 glanced in
that direction and saw the blood-red ensign of England
fluttering in the spot where until now 1 had been used
to see only the stars and stripes, I for the fiist time real-
ized that I was a stranger. For the moment I felt my
heart sink, and longed to be back in my old ship, with
the gridiron over head. But regrets were now useless,
ind the reflection that at any rate 1 was abo it to see
something new, to make myself acquainted with another
phase of sea life, made me contented with my position.
And with that never-failing comforter of the sailor,
"What's the olds, so long as you're happy ?" 1 drove
away all feelings of regret, and went cheerfully to my
work.
The passage to Madras, although lasting but a fcv;
THE YANKEE VS. THE BRITOX. UT
days, was sufEcicut to j^ive me quite an insight into many
of the peculiar points of ilifFeicnce between English and
American ships and sailors. British ships partake
largely of that solidity which is a peculiar charactcristif
of John Bull. A spirit of utilitarianism pervades all.
Strength and durability are qualities much more looked
after than beauty. And while everything is neat and
seaman-like, there is none of that light, airy grace which
is noticeable in the Yankee.
The American sports an extravagant length of spars,
and seeks to give his vessel a rakish look, even if she ia
the dullest of cotton boxes. The Briton — so John Bull
delights to be called when away from his native isle — the
Briton saws off every superfluous inch of timber, scarcely
leaving enough to keep his rigging safely on the mast-
head. The American paints his masts and often hia
yards white, aiming to give to heavy spars a light and
graceful appearance. The Briton scrapes his mastheads
and blacks his yards, imparting to both an appearance
of massive strength and solidity. The American deco-
rates the hull of his ship with a shining coat of paint,
making her old and worn planks look as though just
from the builder's hands. The Briton coal-tars his ves-
sel's bends, that the water may not penetrate to and
injure the wood. The American uses Manilla rurning
rigging and patent sheaves, because they run better and
oa\e labor. The Briton persists in stiff hemp ropes, and
old-fashioned blocks with sheaves that make a revolution
perhaps once a voyage, because both last longer. So the
148 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
parallel might be carried out ad infnitinii.. but t woulti
scarce interest any ono except a sailor.
lu point of sp'xd tuere may be but little difference
between American and English vessels ; so far as dura-
bility is couserned, the Briton has undoubtedly the advan-
tage — if advantage it may be called iu these days of
progress iu all arts, to construct vessels which will last
until their models have been eclipsed, and they are only
noticeable as dull sailing remnants of othei- days.
But where grace and fancy are concerned, and more
particularly still, as regards devices for saving the heavy
labor in working ship, the Briton is at least a dozen years
behind the Yankee. Scarce an American vessel sails
that has not patent blocks, light, soft running rigging,
winches, cleats, and fifty other contrivances for facilitat-
ing work, while all such things are exticmely rare in
British vessels, and the Biitish sailor relies yd upon the
old-fashioned handy-lnUy tackle, and works ahead by
' main strength and stupidness," as they say at sea. The
consequence is, that Araeiican vessels can-y usually about
:)ne-third less hands than British, and get along equally
iS well, if not better.
British seamen arc, in everything, part and parcel of
their ships. The American seaman is quick and lively
The Briton is slow and sedate. The Yankee endeavors
to look at the pleasant side of life ; the lime-juicer's nnlj
pleasure is to growl. The former is careless and liglit-
hcarted; the latter gets diunk with the same sedate auJ
dogged perseverancf with which he combats and cvcrcom*'
BRITISH DISCIPLINE. 149
the elements. The one regards life from a busiuesfl
point of view, tlic othei' does his duty — and growls.
In pi'int of thorougli, old-fashioned f-eamanship the
Briton is ahead of the Yankee. He dips deep, while the
American sldms over the surface. But the day has gone
by when this old-fashioned seamanship was a necessary
qualification. And the proof of this lies in the fact that
American ships and officers, with half the prepaiation
and one quarter the sailor-craft, make as fortunate, if not
luckier voyages than British vessels.
During my stay in the Indies, 1 had often occasion to
wonder at the entire lack of preparation displayed on
board of American vessels, trading there from port to
port. A British Indiaman does not start on her voyage
without an ample supply of spare spars— almost sufficient
to re-spar her fore and aft. She carries out at least four
heavy anchors and cables, besides a number of stream
anchois and kedges. iVnd her captain and mates would
be thought little of were they not able to re-rig her from
deck to truck, should she be dismasted.
The Yankee sets sail on his long voyage with a couple
of spare topmasts, two ancho; s, and a kcdge, and a bound-
less trust in Providence and his own management for the
rest. The officers are good navigators, and as to replacing
a broken spar, they are prepared to study it out when it
is needed. But of the two, the Y'ankee mostly comes out
ahead.
1 found the discipline on board my new ship much
different from that 1 had been used to. I he men weij
ordered about less gently, and did their work more sul
150 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
lenly The line of separation between fore and aft v^'Zt
more strictly drawn. Each man was expected to kn^.'^^
his duty as a seaman, and do it, and woe to him who in
any particular fell short.
The British sailor — poor fellow — has rights. His ini
portance to the national welfare has had the eiFect of
hedging him about with a barrier of preventives, to such
an extent that he cannot turn around but what he steps
on one of the very laws enacted to secure him against
the imposition of his superiors. The law prescribes that
\w. shall have a certain allowance of provisions — barely
enough for a man of moderate appetite — and if it rained
victuals he could not get any more. The law provides
that he shall be allowed his forenoon watch below, and
therefore the captain takes care that he shall be kept on
deck all the afternoon. The law specifics certain duties,
which the seaman must be able to perform ; and however
unnecessary or uncalled for some of these may be, unless
he is entirely mi fait of them, the captain considerately
docks his wages. The law provides that the owner shall
pay off his men within a certain number of days after
the arrival of the ship at her port of discharge, and the
;aptain and owner take care not to do so a day before,
rhus Jack Tar, with bis rights securely protected, and
the law entirely on his side, finds himself almost alto
gethcr helpless, and without a single privilege.
'i'he allowance on our vessel was a pretty hard sample
of living. I do not now remember the (juantity, includ-
ing bone, of beef and porlc that was weighed out to eacu
man daily but I have not forgotten that it was generali)
banyan: 151
eateu up at diuner, and we were left for breakfast and
supper to subsist on dry bread and tea, or coifee.
Lobscouse, that savory mess, the almost invariable
bicakfast dish in an American ship is only trailitionallv
kr iwn in a lime-juicer, the law nut reaching to thot. 1
remember yet, with a feeling of inward shame, the greedy
eyes which used to watch the kid of thin pea sou}), to
see that no one got more than his lawful pint. And sc
diminutive was the duff'' that a facetious fellow desired
to ■' toss up for who should have it all."
"Good luck to you, Charley, and may you never see a
banyan tlay," was the last wish of an old shipmate, as
he bade me good-by, on T wharf at Boston.
As I laughed at the whimsical wish, I did not think
how soon I should experience all the barrenness of ban-
yan. The American sailor sees no banyan day. The
British sailor has one provided fo;- him by law. I do not
know where the expression originated, but it is reputed
very old. The sailor's bill of fare offers but three
changes — beans, or peas, rice and duff, 'i hese are alter-
nated, so that each occurs twice a week. Of course, in
this arrangement, one day, Saturday, is left unprovided
for. This, in American merchant vessels, is devoted to
codfish and potatoes; in men-of-war, beans supply the
vacancy. In most British ships it is left unsupplied, and
this makes a banyan day, of which I saw not a few
while sailing under the meteor flag.
" Dffis a mess composed of fluur, water, and fat, mixed it
proper proportions to make it indigestible, put in a little bag
and boiled for an hour or two before dinner.
152 THE 3IERCHANT VESSEL.
Madras on the Coromandel coast is one u' tlie most
important seaports in the Bi-itish possessions in the East
Those who first laid out the city must have had singular
ideas as to what makes an advantageous position for a
seaport. There is no harbor or bay to make safe anchor
age for shipping — scarcely an indentation in the land,
Vessels come to anchor at a distance of from a mile t<j
two miles from the shore, with the broad bay of Bengal ol
one side and the surf-bound beach on the other. There
is no shelter from storms, and the only way when one
comes on is to weigh anchor, or, in case of emergency,
slip the cable, and endeavor to make an offing, returning
when the weather moderates.
So strongly does the surf break on the shore, that it
is entirely unapproachable to ship's boats, and all com
munication with the city is held by means of surf boats,
manned by naked half-savage Hindoo fe'.lows, who seem
to delight in their rough busin ss. These boats discharge
3argo, and bring alongside freight from shore. In them,
passengers are taken ashore through the surf, thinking
themselves fortunate if they get safely to land without
a thorough drenching. It is only in fine weather that
even the surf boats can work, and on the leist sign of
the breeze setting on shore all c iramuni:ation is enti.ely
cut off. With all these disadvantages, Madras is a pla c
of much business, and the anchorage, or Roadstead as it is
styled by courtesy, is always studded with shipping.
In the season of the regular ilonsoons, the ahipp'ng
lie safe enough, as the wind may then be relied upon,
both as to strength and direction. But during tlie t\v(
MADRAS. 153
jr three months cacli year bctwecti th^ changes )f tbt
Monsoons, when the wind has th.own off its bonds, and
is so to say at liberty. Madras is a hazardous port.
In these times, cv ry precaution is tak n to prcvenl
being caught in one of the prevailing gales. Th? top
.sails are furled with a double reef in them, topgallant-
masts are sent down on deck, the anchor is .securely
buoyed, that the cable may be slipp :d without danger of
losing it, and everything is kept well secured about
decks, ready at any moment to run out to sea. The crew
are kept at regular sea watches, ar.d by the lules of the
port no one but the captain is permitted to leave the ves-
sel, and even he, I believe, is supposed to return on
board every evening. The anchorage is at no time very
quiet, and even with a s'ight breeze vess'ls ride bows
under, pitching, rolling, and tossing about, much more
than if under sail.
We remained in the Roads but two weeks merely long
enough to take in part of a cargo of ri e, with whi h
Wv were bound to Sydney, New South Wales. The rice
was brought alongside in surf boats of course, and
from them hoisted in and stowed in the hold by the crew.
A surf boat load is not a great deal and as on the mo.st
favorable days we did not receive more than five or six
boat loads, we were not fully occupied in receiving and
stowing cargo, and spent the intermediate time in work-
ing on sails.
If a knowledge of sailmaking is a good thing on board
an American vessel, it is thrice more valuable in a lime-
inicer. and I found on board my new .ship that a facility
154 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
in handling the pa.m and needle was the most valuable
recommendation I could have bi ought with me. My
chum, George, and I were almost from the first received
into the mate's favor, and spent the greater part of oui
voyage in the vessel, under the quarter-deck awning,
making and mending sails. George being an old man
was at once taken into the saiimaker's gang, on his say
ing that he understood the work ; but I, who was quite
a stripling, and looked even more boyish than my age
warranted, was subjected to a severe trial before I fairlj
won my way to the same place.
In British vessels, age is considered a necessary quali
fication for a seaman, and the principle seems to be, the
older man the better sailor. A boy remains a boy, and
must do a boy's duty, no matter what his strength or
knowledge of sailor craft may be. Woo to the unlucky
fellow who presumes to ship as seaman before he is able
to show a respectable bjard. He is viewed by his fortu-
Date older shipmates with a large degree of jealousy,
and is likely to have all his seamanship put to the test,
by the mate.
Besides my unlucky deficiency in years and whiskers, I
had the additional disadvantage of being a Yankee, and I
found very shortly after we left Calcutta that the mate had
determined to see if there was no flaw in me, while the
orew, though sufficiently friendly, watched me with jeal-
ous eyes, determined to hold aloof from any close com-
munion of friendship, before I had pioved myself "as
good a man as I had shipped for." All this was not
very agreeable, but T determined that the Yankee name
BRITISH SEAMANSHIP. 155
should not suifci iu my person, and with the aid ct' a
litUc neatness iu workmaushlp, which is easier acquired
iu a man-of-war than anywhere else, 1 left even the oate
no cause for fault-tiiidin^.
On board an American merchant vessel, the fact thai
X man is not familiar witli some piece of work on rigging
is not counted against him as a disgrace, provided he is
otherwise a good hand, one whose pull on a rope can be
felt, and who is not behindhand in a gale of wind. But
with British sailors, this matter is entirely different.
One may be able as possible, if there is found any flaw,
however slight, in his seamanship, i/ he is so unfortunate
as to get hold of work which he can nut do, or if he ap-
peals to a shipmate for information on any point of duty,
he is directly lo iked down upon as '■ no sailor." Thug
to have made a t.ip in a British vessel is considered no
bad test of an American sailor's merits, and to have
" weathered a voyage iu a lime-juicer," is something to
l>e mentioned with proper pride in the forecastle.
I was by this time tolerably au fail of most of the
work to be done on a vessel's rigging, could send down
or receive a topgallautmast, turn iu a dead eye, or crown
a hawser, in a seaman-like manner, and was conscious
of but one deficiency in my knowledge of sailor craft. I
tlid not know how to splice a hawser, a difficult piece of
work, requiring great neatness iu execution, and a jol
which is not often necessary to be done on board ship.
I was not without a theoretical knowledge of this, even,
growling deorge having taken great pains to post me up
tlioroughly in everything of the kind, but I had ucvci
15(3 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
seen it done, and fcarcl that something of the kind wouid
now be put in my hands, c.nd 1 should fail to a quit my-
self creditably, ^-o much did this trouble me, that 1
ilreamed onje of the mate having given me two pieces of
hawser, as large as the mainmast, to splice, and when 1
was done, and just cutting off the cuds, it seemed that
these ends were the mate's toes. As 1 clipped the first
one, he uttaed a dread.'ul howl, and he and the hawser
: omchow got mixed up and changed into an enormous
sorpent, which, with rage in every feature, was darting
tuwaid me, when i awoke, only to find that the watch
had been called, and it was high time to turn out.
.Mj fears were however nee doss ; nothing of the kind
was found necessary, and 1 passed safely the ordeal the
mate had set for me. The consequences werj that I was
much more thought of by the crew, and that one morn-
ing at Madras, when dividing out work, the mate said
to me:
" Here, ray lad, bring your sail bag aft, and I'll give
)0u something to do." And for the balance of the cruise
1 was of the sailmaker's gang.
Ten days were sufficient for us to take in all the rice
we were to obtain, and we then lost no time in getting
away from Madras. 'I'hj surf-boats, which, as befor(
mentioned, bring out cargo, are pulled out and back, be-
tween shore and ship, by means of ropes stretched along
in all parts of the roadstead, communicating with the
landing-place on shore. '1 h^sc ropes are buoyed in various
parts of the Roads, and the first thing necessary to be
done, after coming to anchor, is to pick up the nearest
A nURRICAXE. 157
oiJ<; of the buoys, and secure to the bows the big'nt of
rope attached. The surf broke on shore with great force,
aud we could sec the boatmen as they cautiously ap-
proached its bounds, and waited for a large wave, rising
m which, and exerting all their power to keep their boat
-traight, they were shot on shore, where a number of
men were always in readiness to run the boat up high
and dry, beyond the reach of the next sea. They arc
large, broad, heavily-built boits, sharp at each end, and
capable, if the water was smooth, of carrying a large
load, but on account of the surf they are in general but
lightly loaded. The boatmen, whom long experience has
taught every peculiarity of the weather here, can tell
the approach of a gale, it is said, even before the ba-
rometer gives notice of it, and at such times refuse to
venture out to the shipping.
One of our men, who had been in Madras Eoads a year
before, related to us his experience of a storm. They
had sent ashore about half their cargo, and received on
board a quantity of rice — for the boat that takes ashore
goods from the ship brings back the return freight, it
being important to keep enough cargo in the ship at all
times to enable her to stand up before a gale — when the
Semaphiire on shore displayed th ■ signals signifying the
approach of a storm. Everything was at once secured,
in the hold and on deck, and preparations made to get
up anchor and run out to sea.
Before however they could do this, so heavy a sea had set
in. that it was found impossible to bring the ship up tc
her anchor, and as the weather looked very threatening
158 THE 3IERCIIANT VESSEL.
they buoyed the chain took the bearings of their -inchoi
buoy, and slipped an I ran out to sea, under double-reefci
topsails, with the hope of mal;ing an offing.
" We knew," said I'cters, the man who gave us this?
narrative, " by the gray scud flying across all day. and
the sea, which was getting every moment higher, that
before night we would probably feel the full force of the
storm. And accordingly, we made the best of our way
out to sea, thinking ourselves safe could we only secure
an offing. But before such a storm as we this time saw.
nothing could stand. It gradually freshened until sun-
set, when we took in all sail but a close-reefed raaintop-
siil, reefed foresail, storm forestaysail. and storm mizzen.
We were obliged to keep this on her, in order if possible
to hold our own, (iff shore. As the sun sank yellow and
fiery beneath the waves, it became evident that there was
a fresh hand at the bellows, for the squalls were getting
harder and harder, until the wind fairly screamed as it
ruslu d through the tightened rigging.
" The watch had just come on deck, at eight bells, eight
oVlock, when with a burst of thunder, seeming to break
from all quarters at once, and a continual blaze of light-
ning, the real storm, of which the s(|ualls had i nly been
the precursors, was upon us. The old ship lay over to it,
and the stout topmasts buckled like whip-handles, as \\x
wallowed deeply through the mountain seas. The thun-
der was so incessant that we could not hear one another
speak, and the gale in reascd, puiF after puff, until it
seemed as though nothing would be able to stand bt;
fore it.
DIS3IASTED. 159
" ' Iwish we had the topsail and fo/e&ail iu now,' said
the captain, • it would save us some trouble.' But it wah
blowing too hard to take in any sail, without having it
blown to pieces, and it was better to let it fly away out
of the bolt-ropes, than slat to p'.eccs in clewing up.
'■The sea had increased so that the ship was neai I)
unmanageable, and as it occasionally broke over the
bow, all hands had been summoned aft, to be within call,
and in a sa'e place.
"We knew that if the wind did not suddenly change, as
is the way with these gales, we could weather it well
enough, for even if the topsail was blown away, it would
only be the trouble to bend another, when the gale
moderated. But the worst of these storms lies in the
fact that when the gale is at its hight, the wind usually
chops around suddenly, and blows as hard from the oppo-
site quarter, as from that in which it began. These
sudden alterations not only make the sea much worse,
but place the ship between wind and sea, making it
impossible to trim her close to either one.
" Axes had been brought on deck early in the evening,
and placed near the wheel, for use, in case, we should
want to cut away anything. The gale steadily increased
until twelve o'clock, when it seemed to be at its hight
Now came a little lull, and then with a crash of thun-
der louder than any before, the wind was upon us froir
the opposite quarter. All hands were on deck, awaiting
the shift, but it came so suddenly and violently that w<
could not do anything with the braces. The topsail and
foresail were caught aback, and the vessel lay down or
160 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
her K'ani-euds. until we feared sit would not right
again.
" 'Cut avay the mainmast and mizzcnmast,' shouted
the captain, through his speaking trumpet.
" Some of us weie let down to le.wa-.d with ropes
made fast a' out the middl •, to prevent our being swept
overboard while we cut away the lanyards of the lee
rigging, and this done the mate and se.ond mate touched
their knives to the weather lanyards. It required but a
touch, and the over-strained ropes gave way, and with a
crash the m sts swept over the side. All this was of
course the work of a minute, and did not last so long ae
I take in telling it.
"Eelieved of the weight of her two masts, she righted
a little, but the foresail and foremast, upon which we had
counted to pay her head oflF from the wind, seemed only
to have the effect of bearing her down in the water. She
was gathering stern-way, when the captain motioi.ed to
the foremast, and scrambling and climbling forward, along
the now almost perpendicular deck, we also cut that away.
This eased her, and she gradually righted, to an even
keel.
"As it was necessary to have something set to keep ner
bo the wind, we spread a hatch tarpaulin from the stump
of the mizzcnmast to a spar fastened at the break of the
poop, and with the aid of this little rag, about six feet
'.ong, by four wide, we managed to keep our hulk out of
the trough of the sea. No longer under the steadying
power of the masts, she rolled and pitched and tossed
ftbout, as T never thought a vessel could. It was like
RIGGING JURY MASTS. Ifil
being shaken about in a box. All hands had to fasten
themselves to the rail, to prevent being literally thrown
overboard, in her sudd n ro.ls
"The gale continued until next morning. Aloui
eight o'clock it began to mo .erate. and l)y twelve there
was but a gentle breeze, the sea being yet. however, quite
rough. That evening we began our preparations tor
rigging jury fore and main masts, and after two days of
incessant and severe labor, were able to set two topgal
lantsails on our new masts, by the aid of which, we
tilowly made our way toward Calcutta, to which pnrt it
was now necessary to go, in order to have the vessel
rehtted, as Madras Koads present no lacilities for such
work.
"We were thirty-five days beating and drifting up to
Sanger Point, and there we had to take a steamer up to
the city, as we had neither anchor nor cable to hold us,
should it fall calm. In Calcutta we were obliged to
have put in heavy teak masts, whi h made the old
craft so crank that she wDuid hardly stand up when full
loaded."
11
CHAPTER XIV.
We escaped from Madras without being caught in a
gale. It being a stormy season none of us got ashore to
have a look at the place. This was of a piece with my
usual luck, and I began to think that even in the mer-
chant service it was impossible to obtain more than a
distant glimpse at the strange places one visits. I deter-
mined, however, if we got to Sydney, that I would see as
much of that place as appeared desirable, and not allow
myself to be disappointed there.
We set sail from Madras with a fair wind, glad co
be rid of a place which presented to us all the evils of
harbor life on board ship, without any of its n^liefs. A
part of our crew were on this occasion in as nigh spirits
as British tars allow themselves to display on any account.
They were what is called " Sydney Coves," or " Colo-
nials," that is, old hands in the Colony of New South
Wales, who had sailed from there some years. These
all looked upon Sydney as the only place in tbc world
worth sailing from, or living in.
(162^
STDXEY COVES. 163
These Colonial;^ arc as rough a set of vagabonds as
mo meets with e\ cii iu a foreoastlc, but tirst-rate seaiucu.
and orderly, quiet fellows withal, if they are ucll treated.
They take especial pride in saying but litt'e. and some
of them rival in taciturnity all that is related of the
Americau Indians. A loud talker gains but little credit
with them, as they act upon the principle that talking
and doing are not only different, br.t entirely incompat-
able things. They are generally good boxers, masters of
the art of self-defense, and bear about them not a few
scars, reminiscences of past conflicts. They are very
much disliked by officers of vessels, becau.se, althouih as
good men as ever steered a trick or passed an earing,
they are quick to take offense, and obstinate as mules,
when once their ire is roused, and they imagine them-
selves badly used.
In the forecastle they a: c very quiet; I have known
one of them to be a week without saying a word to any
one on board. But woe to the unfortunate who gives
them offense. Then it is " a word and a blow, and the
blow comes first."
Their silent habit is a peculiarity not caused by a
lack of something to say, for he who can succeed in
drawing out an old Colonial will be amply rewarded by
gome as interesting yarns a?- ever were spun. Those
with us had followed, besides sea life, the business of
fiheep and cattle tending. I rarely knew a Colonial sea-
man who had not dipped into this business occasionally,
for a change, and often wondered whether it was not in
the utter loneliness of the wild wastes of Australia that
1G4 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
their singular taciturnity was tirst contracted. What
ever may have been the original moving cause, it is now
a peculiar fcatu.e of this class, and a lively Colonial
would be as great a singularity as an even moderately
quiet Frenchman.
'I'he samples we had among our crew were, to a man,
thorough-going seamen, and although the class bears
rather an ill name. I found them very agreeable com-
pani ms, after we ha I gotten pretty well acquainted. 1
do not know what was the reason, possibly because 1
myself am somewhat of a silent person, but they all
took a fanjy to mc, and I received, before we n ached
Sydney, more than one offer to take me into their frater-
nity, aud make me acquainted with Sydney and colonial
life. These flattering proposals I did not by any means
slight, for I must confess that their wandering, vagabond
mode of life, having about it much more of freedom than
there is found in general at sea, chined well with the
spirit of adventure whi -h had induced me to become a
sailor. And had it not been that my 6*^hting qualities
were immensely below par. and likely c ■.'•%• to remain so,
I might have been to this day a '■ Sydnoy < ove."
" Pity that that little Yankee don't It'^w how to use
his maulers — that's all he needs to make a I'p top chum
of him," I overheard one of them saying on*^ day.
They take great pride in interlarding their language
with various phrases of a slang peculiar to th-^ Austra-
lian dependency of Great Britain. A round as*v^ni >n is
genci-ally ba kcd by " My blov)dy colonial oath oi> 0>.it.
JIM'S YARN. 1G5
mate," as a sigu that its truth is cutiroly beyond ques-
tion.
By (lint of a gt»o 1 deal of management, and a persis
tent exercise of that Yankee faculty, asking questions, )
got out of two of my shipmates, before we reached Syd
ney, some of their singular e.\ perienccs. One of thcst
had been from the first an object "f great curiosity to
me. His back and breast, as well as the lack of his
neck, and his arms and logs, were entirely covered with
a mass of circles and other odd figures, pricked in with
India ink, or some other blue p'gmcnt. To see various
figures on a sailor's arms, or even on other portions of his
body, is too common to occasiim remark. But this was
plainly not the work of any sailor artist, but bore traces
of savage workmanship. We were but a few dayi aboard
when I learned incidentally that Jim had becu for five
years a prisoner among the savages on the Inland of
Papua or New Guinea. He was much more silfot than
any of his comrades, and it was only after mof't persis-
tent and repeated questioning that he at last told me the
story of his adventures there.
He had been cast away, or wrecked, upon the Island,
while in one of the little schoon rs which sail from Syd-
ney for the purpose of collecting sandal wood and tor-
toise shell, in search of whi h they visit all the unfre
qnonted isl"s in tl'.c vast Archipelago surrounding tlie
island o^ New Holland. According to hi-s story, vphich
I have no doubt was substantially true, as he bore about
him many corroborating marks, the little craft in vvhich
he saih'd went ashore on a small isle near the main coast
166
THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
of New Guinea in o .e of the gal ;s which often suddenly
spring up in thosj latituues without giving tht marinei
any notice of their approach.
They had made some
excellent bargains of
sandal wood, with th
natives on various islca
they had visit :d, and
had collected sufficient
tortoise shell to make
them a good voyage ;
consequently were near-
ly homeward bound.
when their schooner
was driven ashore, and
all hands fell into the
power of the natives.
These natives be-
lonsed to the main
island. New Guinea,
having only paid a
jhance visit in their canoes to this part of the Avon
group. After the gale subsided, and they had gathered
what few things were washed ashore from the wrerk of
the echo:;ner, they returned with the crew, now their
prison rs, to what may be called the main land. Here
my friend ami his shipmates were divided out among dif
fercnt parties, and he had reason to believe that most of
his companions were eaten wh n they 'vere surticioiitly
fattened to be suitable for tl at purpose.
Jim, tbb Captive.
THE WRECK. 167
Such nus also the fate in preparation for him, from
waich a mere accident saved him. He had belougLd
some years before to the armorer's gang on board a
British mau-of-war, and h .d there learut considerable of
the blacksmith's handicraft. Now, iron is the only pre-
cious metal of the natives of the South Sea Islands — for
it they will part with anything thiy have, and will even
peril life and limb to obtain sufficient lor a spear-head,
or a spike for one of their immense clubs. Quite a quan-
ii.;y had been gathered from the wrecked vessel, and the
party to whose lot Jim had fallen, had as their share
several large pieces, a chain plate, and a few spikes.
This th.y immediately set about getting into such shapes
as they desired. But with their lack of tools, and igno-
rance of the best way to work it, they made but pooi
headway.
Jim was one day looking on while the chief was vainly
attempting to break in two the chain plate, when the
idea struck him that he could be of material aid to them,
and thus perhaps save hims Jf from the fate which lay
l-efore him. He explained to his owners that fire was
necessary in order to effect their purpose with the bar of
iron. They acted upon his suggestion, and rubbing two
sticks of wojd rapidly together, soon had a bright blaze.
By means of this. Jit:: quickly brought thci iron to a red
heat, and then cut it in two with a chisel which happened
to be among the spikes in the possession of the natives.
This at once proclaimed him a valuable man to his
captors, and after a council held, it was resolved to adopt
him into iYsf. tribe, provide 1 he could bear the pain of
1G8 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
being tatoocd m like ruain.oi with themselves No time
was hist ill submitting him to tlie operation, and he, who
knew well enough that to exhi it anything but the most
■stoical indifference to the torture, wouhl seal his late, took
care not to give vent to a murmur, althuh the pain
must have been excrutiating. Practiced with fine nee-
dles, in the hand of a skillful mai.ipulatoi-, the tatooing
is sufficiently painful — how much more so nui.st it b«:
when the instruments used are naught but scraps )f
shells, sharpened, when necessary, by being broken off
afresh. With these and the litjuor obtained from the
cuttle fish, or rock squid, as it is called by sailors my
friend was covered from head to foot with a solid mass
of fanciful figures. The entire operation lasted some six
months, as one part was necessarily allowed to heal bcfoi'c
another was commenced.
During this time his party had moved a considerable
distance inland, stopping from time to time- to hunt the
kangaroo, upon which, and a speies of bread fiuit. with
?uch fish as they could catch when on the seacoast. th y
subsisted. During all this time he was kept busy at hi.-
Mon work. Using a stone for an anvil, and piece of iroi.
for sledge-hammer, he forged several arrow and spear-
heads, which gave immense satisfa tion. and raised him
to an enviable place in the good opinions of his can':i'ial
friends, who appear from henceforth to have given ovei
all ideas of making provender of him. He was shortly
initiated formally into their tribe and provided with a
wife, which was the only property not held entirely in
c<)mmon in the comii'unity. His tribe now windered
JIM IS ADOPTED. 100
about from one portion of the island to th( otlicr. nevei
departing far from the seacoast, for somewhat over a yoai
and a ha.f. By this time he had become quite expert in
their manner of throwing the spear, their piiucipai
weapon f offense and defense, and for the chase : and
being at active man, was equal to any of his masters in
all the artifices by which they gain their subsistenu;
from the wild beasts of the forests.
At this time the tribe of which he had become a mom
ber got into difficulties with one of the others relative ti
the owncrsliip of an iron spike, one of the relics of Jim's
schooner, i^nd a war was the consequence. In this Jim
was, of course, obliged to take part, and he so distin-
guished himself that, on the death of the old chief, he
was unanimously chosen to till his place.
This accession of dignity necessitate d the performance
of another small piece of tatooing. A collar, namely,
was to be plac d upon his neck, an I a few circles upon
his cheeks. But, to one whose entire body was only one
mass of scars, such trifles of torture were as nothing.
He entered upon his new office, and in two iiicigetic bat-
tles brought the war to a close, his ti ibe remaining in
undisputed possession of the iron treasure.
Jim had now arrived at the very pinnacle of gieatn(t^3.
He was master over some hundred naked savages, digni-
fied with a collar, tatooed into his neck, and was entitled
to the first mouthful of a mess of wood worms, 'a dainty
dish of these people, as well as of the natives of Aus-
tralia,) and the choicest piece of a roasted pi isoner of
war. "^'et he was fir from contented. He longed tc
170 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
return to a state of civilization, and the principal advan-
tage he toiik of the power placed in his hands was to
keep his subjects as near the seacoast as possible, in the
hope that some passing trader would stop to barter, and
he would thus be enabled to make his escape from thin
living tomb.
Being very illiterate, he had long ere this lost all
reckoning of time, all days being the same, and there not
being sufficient change in the seasons to enable him even
to guess at the months. Thus he lived on for five long
years, in all which time he saw but two vessels, neither
one passing sufficiently near to the land to enable him to
attract their notice by signals. These occasions proved
to him that his tribe were not disposed to let him go
without a struggle, and that they suspe^-ted his desire to
leave them ; for at sight of the ships they (juickly hurri d
him off into the woods.
When he had been about three years and a half upon
the island, according to his computation, the iron whi h
was obtained at the wreck had been in great part used
up or lost, and most of his tribe were reduced to the ne-
cessity of using sharp shells for heads to their long light
epears. -Tim now endeavored to stir their avarice, (for
iron is to these people like gold to their more civilized
brethien,) l)y telling them that if they could only epeak
a vessel, they could get in exchange for sandal wood,
with which the coast abounds, as muih of the precious
metal as their hearts could desire. This set them upou
the lookout; but no vessel appeared.
Poor Jim was almost in despair, and had nearly given
nE BECOMES CHIEF. 171
rip all hope of ever Itoiug so foi-tuiiatc as to return to the
so iety of white men, when meeting a strange tribe one
day, whom a s -arcity of kangaroos had driven down tc
the scacoast in scar h of shell-fish, he learned inciden-
tally that at a point some two hundred miles from thera,
as near as he could compute from the story, but certainly
cast of them, two strange vessels touched annually for
t fading purposes. The crews were not whites, and from the
description, he judged them to be Arabs or Malays ; but
there were vessels, and they traded, and this was sufficient
evi Icnce that the pvople were at least less savage than
tht; Papuans. Hope once more glowed in his bosom, and
he determined to make his way eastward until the desired
haven should be attained.
Making glowing representations to his subjects of the
riches they would obtain, could they reach the trading
station in time to meet one of the vessels, they were at
length induced to turn their tardy steps that way. Fish-
ing and Imnting, and remaining for days in one place,
when they found an abundance of food, it was yet a
year and a half before they at last rea hed a little bay.
where the glad sight of a Malay proa cheered his breast.
The tribe quickly gathered a quantity of sandal wood on
the neighboring hills, and with this they appioached the
vessel. Here they found the crew fully armed and pre-
pared to defend themselves against any assaults of the
treacherous natives. But one boat was allowed to ap-
proai h tb*; vessil at a time, and but one man from that
boat waf! permitted to come on board. This boat Jim
dcterrci'i'^d should lie his — this man would be himself
172 THE 31ERCI1ANT VESSEL.
And payiug no heed to snm;' objections urged by his jom
panions, he embarked a portion of sandal wood in an ok]
canoe which he found upon the shore, and started off fui
the proa.
Arriving along side, he clambered on deck with an
agility that somewhat surprised the Malays, who saw in
the wretched stark naked creature before them only a
native. Constant exposure to the sun and weather had
turned his skin to nearly the color of the islanders, and
the barljarous tatooing with which he was disfigured,
sufficiently completed the disguise.
Arrived on Itoard, he was only involved in a new
perplexity. How was he to make himself known to
the Malays as an Englishman ? He could nut speak
their tongue, and even if they understood a few
words of English, they would not believe a statement
which his appearance so strongly contradicted. As this
thought shot through his mind, poor fellow, his h; art
sank, and he was nearly giving up all hope. Neverthe-
less, he determined to try, and haulin : his sandal wood
on deck, to attract the attention of the (. r w, he advanced
to the captain and uttered the words, " Me iMiglish."
How strange they sounded to his cars — these words of
I'lnglish. The captain looked at him a moment, then
burst out in a loud laugh at the idea that one of the sav-
(ges had somehow gathered up two words of English
Poor Jim repeated his asseveration, with distressed earn-
estness, " Me English, captain, me English sailor."
Not a shadow of perplexity even darkened the cap
tain's countenance, as he turned to some of his men, and
THE MALAY TRADER. 173
i-emarlfed, (as Jim afterward learned.) upon the singn
larity of this native having taught up some words of
the English language
Jim was in despair ; but now an idea strutk him.
Kageily grasping the end of a pie. e of the coir rigging
iying upon deck, he formed upon his hand, and on the
standing rigging, several of the knots with which the sea-
men of all nations are familiar.
At this spectacle a light seemed to dawn upon the cap-
tain's face, and he looked inquiringly at him a few mo
ments. The susp nse w.s too great, and Jim, bursting
into tears, muttered beseechingly, " Me English, captain,
take me to Singapore."
The curiosity of the crew was now thoroughly aroused,
and they crowded about him, and examined him more
narrowly than they had before done. Trifling up his
arras, Jim showed them where two white spots were yet
left on him, and they were now speedily satisfied that he
was truly an English sailor.
In a few broken words of English, the captain asked
him how he came there, and Jim. part in his native
tongue, and part by lively pantomime, explained his his-
tory to them, and asked them to take him along with
them. This was, after consultation, agreed to, if Jim
could get a load of sandal wood for them.
Although reluctant to set foot on shore again, lie was
obliged to accede to the captain's proposal, and taking
.-ome old iron, beads, and looking-glasses ashore, in re-
turn for what he had brought on board he proceeded to
♦h': rather arduous task of getting the natives theiv
174 THE 3IERCHANT VESSEL.
assemlled, several tribes, to gather immediately a quan
tity of the required wuod.
The fact of h:s having come back to them, sppaiently
voluntarily, lulled to rest any suspicions of his fidelity to
them, which they might previously have entertained, and
this renewed confiden c gave the greater force to his com-
mands. 'I he siglit of the articles he had brought off,
especially the iron, stined up also their avarice, and
seeing what appeared to them vast riches, within their
grasp, they set to heartily, and in two days h;id sufficient
wood gathered to load the proa.
Meantime the crew of the vessel were keeping strict
watch on board, to provide against any hostile attempts
by the natives. The crews of the vessels, British as
well as Arab and iMa'ay, which cruise after sandal wood,
could oftentimes fill up their craft in a short time them-
selves, were it not that to go asho.e for that purpose,
would be to rush rashly on destruction, as the natives
au a. ways ready to attack a vessel which is not fully
guarded. 'I he prospect of S' curing the treasures of iron
and other material, to be found m such a prize, would
make th m brave e\ery danger, if there was the slightest
hope of their sue ess in an attack. It is therefore found
Jiecessary to ba: ter with the savages, and even then to
ise every precaution against tieachery.
On the th'rd day Jim had thu satisfaiticn to sec piled
upon the beach, a quantity of sandal wood suificient to
Gil the narrow hold of the little proa, and again he wont
along side in his canoe, to make the final arrangements
respecting its transfer to the vessel, and his deliverance
JUrS ESCAPE. 175
from captivity. It wao arranged that foi every canot
load of wood brought oft", he phi uM take ashore an
^^quivalent in iron, trinkets, an 1 bright colored cloth •
that meanwhile the vessel should he (juietly gotten ready
lor sailing at a moment's notice and wlun he was ncai
the end of his wood pile, the little kodgc which held the
proa was to be quickly weighed, the lug sail hoisted,
while he. staving the canoe, should jump aboard, as the
vessel stood seaward.
One of the peculiarly favoring circumstanceb for Jim
was, that the party, or tribe of natives to whom this
little harbor really belonged, had a few days before tho
arrival of the Malays, gone in their fleet of canoes, upon
a warlike expedition to another portion of the island,
caving but two or three rickety canoes in the entire
neighborhood. Had they all been there, his escape would
have been rendered almost hopeless, as in their exaspc
ration the natives would doubtless have attacked the
proa, and perhaps overcome her by dint of superior num-
bers. Supposing, which was not likely, that the Malay
captain would under such circumstances have consented
to receive him on board.
As the moment drew near which was to decide his fate
and either give him his freedom, or consign him to a
slavery more hopeless than ever before, it may be imagined
that poor Jim's heart grew faint with fear that some
unthought of accident might defeat his well-laid scheme.
Should the natives conclude to put some one else in the
boat, and retain him ashore, or should the wind fail, '>r
■"Si-
176 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
worse yet, the fleet of boats suddenly heave iu sight, ht
kui'W that his first, pcihaps his laily chance for deliver-
ance was gone. But luckily the breeze held, the boatt-
did not ma' e their app aranci', and the natives appeared
to think of an} thing else but his escape.
When yet full two canoe loads remained upon the
beach Jim determined that he would venture no more.
While ailing siile, and slowly passing- iu the wood, the
anchor was silently run up to the bows, and, overturning
the canoe with his foot, with a shout of exultation my
friend jumped aboard, and with hearty swigs pulled up
the mainsail, while the captain steered the vessel out of
the harbor.
For some moments the savages did not comprehend the
irift of the maneuver, so comp ctely had .lim's actio ,-:
^f the pr. vidus diiv \\<'ii upim their cimfide ce. but wluii
they saw him pulling lustily at the halyards, and the
vessel gathering headway toward the harbor's mouth,
they set up a roar of angry disappointment, and rushed
wildly up and down the beach, calling upon him to come
back.
Ha^ ing a fair wind, howcTer, they were soon out of
hearing and sight of Jim's ravage comrades, and next
morning no longer saw the land. The Malay captain
supplied him with some clothing, the first he had worn
since, five years before, his own had been taken from
him by the natives; and he began once more to assume
the form . of civilization. Twenty ilays brought the
vifisel to Singapore, where he was at length among hi&
PARTICULARS OF THE SAVAGES. 177
■'.ountiynien : Imt so iiii.ch altered and di-fac d that he
found it ilifficult to persuade any one of the fact thai he
vras an I'.nglishman.
During his long captivity he had forgotten many word?
of English, and at first expressed himself very awk
wardly ; but . a voyage in a British vessel to Calcutta,
made him once more at home among old scenes. Only
one thing he never more got accustomed to ; this was to
wear shoes. His feet, he complained, h:id gotten tender
by long tramping about among rocl<s and shells, and
shoes were a gi-eat inconvenience to him. On board ship
he never used them, and when ashore the softest pumps
were his only wear.
Of the manners of the savages he had but little to tell
me. The men wore no clothing whatever. The women
wore slight coverings of the large leaves of a species of
palm Being a wandering people, they had nc regularly
built habitations. In fine weather tluy slept under
shelter of the trees, and even often clindted up into them
to secure a more comfortable resting place. In wot
weather, during the perio lical rains, they chose a site
where to remain during their continuance, and then con-
structed rude liuts of sticl<s, roofed with leaves, and gen-
erally set up on posts, as the earth was too wet to rest
upon, and here they hovered in dismal discomfort, till tnc
return of the pleasant season.
Although apparently devoid of energy in most respects,
liiey were passionate, quickly roused to auger, and even
jealous. Although destitute to the last degree, they
were avaricious for the possession of .su li articles at thcj
12
178 THE 3IERCHANT VESSEL.
placed value upon, among which iron was evidently chief.
Hence arose frequent wars between different tribes, in
which the prisoners were in great part used to satisfy
tlv.0 hunger of their captors. The kangaroo and several
emaller animals, and numerous birds, together with such
shellfish as they could gather upon the beach, formed
their only subsistence, and when game was scarce they
o:'ten fared poorly enough.
One article of food, besides, Jim mentioned to me —
the worms found in decayed wood. A mess of these was
considered a great luxury, and he declared in telling me
the story, that after he got used to them, they really tasted
very well. They were roasted in large shells over a fire.
Of fruits, there appear to have been but few, com-
pared with the usual plenty of tropical countries, and
with these he was not familiar. Of }»irds, there was a
great variety, and they frequently caught parrots and
other birds, and used them for food.
Their dead they buried in a shallow hole dug in the
ground at s^me distance from their then abiding place.
He spoke highly of their dexterity in throwing their rude
spears, and of the ingenious artifices used to surprise
and capture the kangaroo.
The people he described as of rather short stature,
perfectly black, and with curly hair almost like a ne-
gro's.* Their features were thoroughly African, in
''Jim's hair was black, and curled very closely, a circum
etance which in all probability made his recognition is a white
man, by the Malay captain, more difficult than it othcrwi««^
would have been.
:n'ew guinea. 179
dome cases even exaggeratedly so. .Tim Becraed to have
fallen inte the hands of the very lowest class of the
natives of New Guinea. He said he was frequently told
by natives of tribes they met, of a people ocjupying the
inland portion of the island, who had houses, and culti-
vated the land, and who, from the rude descriptions
given of them, must have attained to a consiilerable
degree of civilization. But his tribe strenuously cbjected
to holding any intercourse with these, fearing that they
would be by them made to work, /. e. made slaves of.
Jim, indeed, was not himself very willing to leave the
coast, as there lay his only hope of ever being returned
to a civilized land. And he feared, should he once get
among tl.e more civilized natives, they would prevent
him from returning again to the sea shore.
So ended his story. Had he been a man of some de-
gree of education, and of an energetic and inquisitive
character, the civilized world might have been indebted
to him for a most interesting account of a land which is
as yet more thoroughly terra incognita than the heart of
Africa ; for no where on the entire island have whites
[jcnetrated more than a mile or two frou sho: e, and even
that only in a few spots, and in hasty incursions giving
no ti:ue for observation. As it was, Jim's only obje -t
seems to have been to watch for a vessel by which he
could make his escape. Said I to him one day,
"If 1 hud be u in your place, I should have struct
inland, and taken my chance of what might happen."
" But the tri'jc 1 was with would not go, even had 1
been desirous to do so, and what could I do, naked and
180 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
alone, in the vast woods, without even havin r any dis-
tinct idea of the course which would lead rae to a more
civilized place. And then, to turn myself away from
the only avenue foT- escape from a life -long bondage — 1
could not do it."
It must not 1)0 thought that this long story was told
me Ly Jim, just as I have written it. His habitual taci-
turnity would not have given way so ftir as to spin such
a yarn " right off the reel." It was only by dint of
most persistent and adroit questioning, taking him when
he was in his best humor, generally in the night watches,
when he had just complotcd his trick at the wheel — a sea-
son of goodhumo:- generally with sailors — that [obtained
it. Here a little and there a little, I pi -ke I up all his
experience, and had I not, by the practice of various
little arts, made myself a favorite with him, I should
never have gotten any of it. Although not adhering
strictly to the language of the narrator, I have taken
cave to give the facts just as they were stated to me.
«
CHAPTER XV.
OcR passage to Sydney lasted forty-five days. Here,
after discharging our cargo, the crew were paid ofl, and
with six pounds sterling received as my wages, and some
money brought with me from the United States, I went
ashore. On uniting our funds, George and I found our-
selves the possessors of eighty dollars, quite a large sum
of money for two sailors. We determined to remain
on shore till we were heartily tired of it ; and to make
the cash hold out, I, who was the steadiest of the two,
was appointed keeper of the purse, with an agreement
that only a certa^ i sum per diem should be given out.
First we purchased a few necessary articles of clothiug,
and a chest for our joint use. Your true sailor will gen-
erally be found to have a good chest of sea cbthing. lu
this he takes much pride, and let him be as drunken
a fellow as may be, to replenish it he spends i large part
of the proceeds of every voyage. Kxporien c has taught
him that in this matter delay is dangerous, and his first
(ISl)
182 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
outlay, before he ventures on a spree, is with the tailoi
or slop-seller. Having filled his chest with the various
flan Dels, dungarees, oilcloths, efcc., needed, the balance he
considers himself at libeity to use as inclination promyts
him, leaving any defioicn ies in his board bill or grog
money to be settled for out of the never-failing month's
advance.
I had imagined Sydney to be a rather rambling and
ill-constructed, dirty c lonial town, such as one not un-
frequently meets with in tho British colonies. I was
therefore, agreeably astonished to find it, with the excep
tion of the more ancient portion of the city, a regularly
laid -out and well-built place, the streets and public
buildings of whi .h would have been no discredit to an
European seaport of its size. 'J'here was, too, a finished
appearance about it which I had hardly expected to see,
and many of the larger bull lings had quite an ancient
look. Everytliiiig a'niut the plac^ was peculiarly I'.ng-
lish," and when I got intn the quarter in which are lo a-
ted the sailor's boarding houses, had it not been for the
strong dash of colonial r> cklessn- ss and extravagance
everywhere perceptible. 1 could have easily imagined my-
self in some seaport of Kugl md — Eondon o:' Liverpool.
The English, particularly of the lower elasses. of which
almost the entire population of Sydney, rich and poor, at
that time was composed, are a people of peculiar habits
" This wa>! before he discovery of gold in the colony of New
South Wales. The Sydney of to-day is j^robably quHe adiffei
ei; t p ice.
SYDNEY. 183
and mafliiers, which they carry with them, and reyolutcly
introduce wherever they may wander. And I found here
all the prominent characteristics of the Englishman
fully perhaps a little extravagantly developed. It was
just as though a portion of London or Liverpool had
been by some magic power removed to this extreme end
of the world.
The city is very pleasantly situated a part on a rising
ground, a kind of promontory, and a part in the adjoin-
ing valley. It fronts on Sydney Cove, a secure harbor
about seven miles from tlic capes or headlands which form
Port Jackson Bay
One of the principal amusements here for sailors ia
horse-riding. As my chum, George, was fully intent
upon seeing all of " life " that was to be seen, he of course
must go horse-riding too, wliile I wandered about town to
get a look at the most note worthy places. The Parra-
Diatta Eoad is the theater of Ja'-k's horsemanship, and
thither George, in company with some of our late ship-
mates, proceeded one afternoun on a parcel of as hard-
mouthed beasts as even sailors usually get hold of. The
party did not return till late at night, when I was
already in dream-land and I saw nothing of George til
next morning, when he appeared before my bed with a?
rueful face as he could put on, and proposed to go dowij
after breakfast and hunt a ship.
" 1 want to get out of this confounded place. I rede
about yesterday till I'm as sore this morning as though
some one had beaten me with a stick, and now those fet
lowa wxnt me to go out again. It's an imposition. They
184 THE 3IERCHANT VESSEL.
call this a good port, but thej don't know what good is,'
growled he.
I suggested to him that there was no law compelling
him to ride on horseback.
" Well, but what is a poor fellow to do? I'm not
going to loaf about the town all day. And there's no-
thing else to see I'll have to get drunk to pass away
the time."
" Let's go cattle-tending, George."
" Mention cattle-tending again, and I'll use a cowhide
on you. Do you want to make a live mummy of } our
self? Let's go down and ship."
Thus it is with the sailor. He is all eagerness to gd
ashore, and is hardly there before he ie glad to get away
again. Having no friends, and debarred by his calling
and his dress, if not by lack of education, from inter-
course with any but those of his own class, a few days
sufiSce to tire him of the stupid amusements into which
he is dragged, often aga'ijst his will : he becomes thor-
oughly wearied, and is almost forced, if he can't get a ship,
to get drunk, ar my old chum proposed to do, in mere
elf-defense.
To me, too, the time would soon have begun to grow
tedious. A few days sufBced to let me see all that was ac-
cessil'le to me, a sailor. To take a trip into the country,
which I would have much liked, I lacked means, and
also friends to expedite me on my way. I therefore
agreed to George's p. oposal, putting off the execution of
it, however, to next day. For that day we hired a car-
riage, and made the driver take us through every street
OEORGE AXD I SHIP. 185
in the city accessible to a four wheeled vchiL-le, aid then
out ii-to the country, on the road loading to Botany Bay,
returning in time to g Jt our supper.
Next morning we proceeded to seek for a ship. 1
wished much to make a voyage in one of the sandal
wood hunters which sail from here — the kind of vessel
in which my friend Jim had been wrecked — but there
were just then none in port, and I was compelled to give
up my project, mentally determining to put it in execu-
tion at some future time. Sailors were in demand just
at that time in Sydney, and we did not lack oiFers of
voyages. But I was determined to be suited before I
shi]iped. and did not therefore allow George to engage
himself till we had taken a good look around.
We settled at length upon a colo:iial brig, which was
about to proceed to Lombok, there to tal<e in a cargo of
rice, to carry to iMacao or Whampoa. It promised to ba
a novel voyage, and the brig was a likely vessel. The
crew — she \\as to carry ten hands before the mast — were
good-looking men, and the officers had a good name.
Above all, we were promised our dis harge when we got
to China, and with this additional inducement George
and 1 were satisfied to put our names to the articles of
the good brig Ocean, of Sydney, at three pounds per
month, and small stores. By this latter clause is meant
tliat th vessel would furnish us with tea and sugar, it be-
ing the practice, with many Rnglish owners and caj tains,
to make their men furnish these essentials, and such othei
luxuries as come properly under the denomination of
18G THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
small stores, payinii them in suih cases a slight increase
on their regular wages.
The brig was to sail in a few days, but her crew
was wanted on board immediately, a circumstance al
which I heartily rejoiced, as it would save us money.
On counting up our balance of cash on hand, I found
that George and I had spent, including clothing and
boarding, fifty dollars in a little less than two weeks,
leaving us thirty. One month's advance to each of us, fif-
teen dollars, increased our store to sixty dollars, a vast deal
more than sailors generally take to sea with them. But
we were going to China, and I wanted every dollar we
could get.
Three days after shipping, we sailed for our first
port, Lombok. Our crew was composed entirely of " Syd
ney Coves," all lank, stout, silent fellows, who " did their
duty and asked odds of no man," as they significantly
said. The vessel was " colonial " too, as before mentioned,
and I found her discipline to differ greatly from that of
English vessels. A regular allowance of provisions was
served out, as in the latter, but these were of better
quality, and there was no banyan day. Everything was
of the best, and the ook, who received a severe adraoni
tion to do his duty, (from one of the crew,) on the first
day out, got up any kind of a mess that the forecastle
chose to suggest.
But the greatest difi^erence was in the treatment of the
raer, by the ofiicers. There was no haughty ordering
here and there, such as British mates and captains
deligh* in ; no unnecessary pulling and hauling, nc
THE COLONIAL BRIO. 187
making spun yarn, or other contrivances to keep the men
liusy. Eveijthing was conducted in a very (juiet way.
Orders were given, but tli • mode of fulfillment in general
intrusted to the men themselves, who, being thorough
-seamen, took proper pride in doing well what was given
them.
We had regular watch and watch, and no work waa
done after four o'clock in the afternoon. There was none
of the usual hurrying up. Each one, in consequence,
did his work with a will. When sail was to be short-
ened, or the topsails reefed, the laying of the yards, and
hauling up clewlines or reeftackles, was left in great
measure in the hands of the men themselves, and wc of
course took care to make the work as light as possible.
And among the crew there was no holding lack ; every
one knew his station, and jumped there when he was re-
quired. Altogether, we passed a very quiet and peace-
able life, and to me a very pleasant one.
How such discipline would work with any other than
Colonials, it would be difficult to say. Of course, unless
the crew were thorough seamen, it would lead in many
•ases to confusion. With such a rough and quick-tem-
pered set as we had, it was the only plan. They them-
selves made the rules by which their offiiers were forced
to abide. The captain knew tjuite well that to give them
just cause of offense, would be to provoke a retaliation
which would be far from pleasant. And the crew, with
a kind of feeling of honor, which I have often noticed in
TOch characters as theirs, abstained scrupulously from
188 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
talxing a :j u.mIuc lulvantiigc of the power which thcj
felt th rusclves p )sscsscd of.
Only once during oui- voyage did a misunderstanding
occur. It was before wc reached [.orabok, and while we
were sailing through the tra 'cs. We were about to paint
the brig inside It was int ndcd to commence the work
on Monday morning, and on the Sabbath evening before.
ti.<; mate, \\\\o had been taking a little more gr^g during
the day than was promotive of a clear understanding,
ordered the watch on deck to come aft and lift aside some
Sparc topsails, preparatory for the morrow's work, (^iic
of the men (juietly remarked that it was Sunday, and it
was not customary to work on that day.
" Come aft this instant, and d n't talk to me of Sun-
day, or I'll keep you at work every Sunday during thf
eruise," shouted the drunken mate, highly excited.
" You'd better come and take us aft," was the answc.i
to this.
All hands came up out of the forecastle, and it was at
once understood that the order was not to be obeyed.
The mate was by this time aware that he was ircttiu'
himself into tr.iublc, and when the sound of handspikes
tiemg gathered up. in readiness for a row, struck upon
liis car, he dove down into the cabin to ask the s':ippcr's
advice.
The latter immediately cirae upon deck, and gla-icinji
lor a moment over the crowd collected about the wi d-
i:iss. ailed the oldest of the seamen by name, desiring
him to come aft. This he did, and the captain, who !elL,
)i course, bound to support his mate, c\on if he w;:s
SYDNEY JOHN'S REPLY. 180
wrong, represented to John that the matter retji.ir d was
a mere trifle — that it would establish no precedent — that
fhe mate was anxious to get at the painting as early as
p'^'.siblc on the following day, and finally wound up by
reminding him that disobedience to orders was mutiny,
and that in sflch cases he, the captain, was empowered to
proceed to extreme measures.
John heard him through, then said very drily, " Cap
tain, if you knew how little 1 cured about you, you'd be
surprised," and walked forward to the fore astle.
How much the captain was surprised at this thor-
oughly characteristic remark, it would be hard to tell,
but there was no more said about moving the spars, and
TV'c were never after called upon for any Sunday work
CHAPTER XVI.
Setting aside the little inconveniences and crosses
which are unavoidable in every ship, and which merely
served the purpose of enabling my worthy chum, George,
to relieve himself of his superfluous bile, I think 1 never
enjoyed any voyage so much as this in the brig Ocean
Our course lay through a nearly uninterrupted succession
of fine wcat?lier, in which the dark little forecastle was
almost entirely deserted, and we all slept and lived on
deck. We were as nearly our own masters as it is gooG
for sailors to be. and with an experienced and thoroughly
united crew, we could scarcely fail of being tolerably
contented.
As for myself, I lived in an atmosphere of romance
The voyage was a novel one, and quite out of the usual
line of such sailors as I had been most among. And the
past experiences of my shipmates, as coiumunicatcd tc
one another and to me in the pleasant dog-watches, as we
lay on deck in the half light of the bright stars, with
YARNING. ] 91
soft zopbyis wafting us along, were an ineihaustible
soui'ce of interest to me.
Some of these men had not been the other sMc of the
( 'ape of Good Hope for many years. They had sailed
from Sydney, in every direction, to tlic mos-t out-of-the-
way places, and on the strangest errands. India, China,
the I.adroncs, the Thilippiucs, and the island world of the
South Pacific: with all th y were familiar, of each they
had something to relate. Hero 1 heard over again the
story of the Christian settlement on I'itcairn's Island,
which had formed one of our Sun lay School volumes at
home. But how much plcas.iuter to listen to the tale as
it had been told one of my shipmates by a descendant uf
Thursday October Christian himself. Numberless whal-
ing adventures, fights with savages, and incidents in the
strange voyages of th? country ship'', as well as one or
two experiences of life on the cattle and sheep farms —
the rel ition of these occupied our idle time, and afforded
me many pleasant hours.
I was the youngest seaman on hoard, and found nc
difficulty in making myself a favorite among my older
shipmates, by readiness in jumping aloft when light s.ils
were to be loosed or furled, and by general willingness to
do the duty of a ' light hmd." Then, too, my inexpe-
rience in th.' changeful life they had led, made them
feel a flattering superiority to me, which, as it was not
unpleasant. I did not seek to do awny with. And the con-
sequence was, that I was always called for when any
yarning was going on ; and often, when my trick at thf
wheel would oicur just as some one was in the midst of
192 THE 3IERCHANT VESSEL.
an interesting story, ore of tlie o'-lcr hands would bid me
fiit still, while he steered my trick for rue.
I said one day that if I ever got back to Sydney I
would mak( a voyage in a sandal wood hunter.
" Here's Long Tom, Charley," said one in answer,
" he's been in those craft for the last two years. You
had better get him to take you in tow. He can pick
you out the very boat for a good voyage."
" Tom promised us a yarn about his last trip," re-
marked one of the others.
" Come, a yarn, a yam, b^ys," sung out another, and
at the word we gathered upon the forecastle, with our
pea-jackets, and arranged ourselves in comfortalile posi-
tions to listen to the yarn.
" Who has the next helm T
" r do," answered one of the starboard watch.
" Then do you stow yourself outside, so that you
won't disturb any one when you get up to go aft."
This being done, ai:d all hands being arranged in
various positions about Long Tom, a lank, but by no
means slender six footir, he, after a little coijuetting,
declaring the yarn not worth relating, etc., finally bit oif
the customary quantity of pig tail, and clearing his
throat, began as follows:
" You know, shipmates, or most of you do, that on
Iward of those craft that go out upon the look for sandal
wood and tortoise shell, the crew are not shipped at set
wages, so much a month and small stores, but go upon
a regular lay like whalemen ; only, my word, it's a better
and more paying lav than any whaling that I ever saw.
SANDAL-WOOD ITUXTING. 193
rhc Elizu .lane — she was named after tin skipper's
wife — was a pretty little colonial Imilt e.aft biigantiue
rigged, steering and working easily, and sailii.g mueh
better than the generality of colony built vessels.
" We carried a stout crew, for so small a craft, tweh'O
men before the mast, captain, two mates, cook, and stew-
ard. We could man two whale boats, which hung at
davits upon the quarters, and yet leave on board as many
men to keep ship, as could have worked her any where
she could go. We shipped upon a lay of one ninety-
ninth. That is to say, one pound sterling out of every
ninety-nine of the proceeds of the cargo was each man's
share. This was a lay which gave us promise of a gool
voyage, and we sailed from Sydney in high spirits.
" We were all old shipmates, and a better crew I'll
venture to say m ver sailed out of Fort .Jackson Bay thau
that of the ITiza Jane. All of us had been whaling,
which the skipper made a necessary conuition to shipping
a man, as he intended to visit some islands which he
had found on his last voyage to le entirely deserted,
where he expected to pick up a large portion of his cargo.
He had the name of being a smart fellow in his chosen
business — for he had never followed any other — and waa
well known for the many narrow escapes he had had
from falling into the hands of the natives, and for his
readiness to venture anywhei'e and everywhere, where
sandal wood and tortoise shell were to be found.
'■ We expected to do a good deal of boating. This, as
it is generally done on a surf-bound beach, is wet work,
but after all, pleasanter and more CAcitirig than trading
13
104 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
with savages through the meshes ot a boarding netting,
and keeping au armed watch day and night, for fear of a
?urprisL'. Oar trading cargo consisted of au assortment
of old and new spikes, and variously sized scraps and
pieces of iron, scarlel-tolor. d cloth, beads, tobacco, look
ing-glasses, trinkets of various kinds, knives, hatchets,
and a large box full of old clothes, probably the stock
in trade of some second-hand clothing store in Sydney.
We had the forecastle to ourselves, and were allowed to
take out a small private venture of our own, with per-
mission to stow the proceeds in ( ur bunks.
"Our course was shap 'd for the islands known as Solo-
mon's Archipelago where we were to make some trade
with the natives. This extensive group was to be our
principal cruising ground, i.lthough the mate told us that
we should sail over toward the Louisiade gioup, should
we not do as well as the skipper desired. This is the
great cruising ground for sandal wood hunters, and among
these islands thi y not unfrequently meet with large
quantities of the pxejious wood.
"Sandal wood, you must know boys, is brought oif by
the natives in sticks of various shapes and sizes, suffici-
ently small to be hardily stowed in the hold. They are
glad to take in exchange, suih old clothes, trinkets, and
bits of iron as the captain lets them have. Thus for a
few dollars worth of trade you get several tuns of wood,
worth in Sydney twenty-five pounds sterling per tun, and
in China about fifty pounds. Turtle shell is generally
gathered ])y the crew, it was for this more especially
that we had our boats. (Considerable (juantities of ^he
THE NATIVE CAXoES. 195
shell arc washed up ou the shores of the islaiKls hy the
swell, and there it is picked up. It is but seldom that
you catch a live turtle, unlc&s you happen to come to an
island frequented by them, where one can watch foi
them, when they come up on shore at night t^/ deposi.
their eggs in the sand.
" Our first harbor for trailing was Joannettc, one of
the Solomon group. Here the natives were reputed
quite wild, and we took every preaution to preseivc our-
selves from an atta -k. No sooner were our sails lowered
than we triced up the boarding i.ettings. and loaded our
firearms, the watch ou djck bei.ig appointed to keep a
constant and watchful guard, while those of us whose
turn it was below, had leisure to observe the natives
launching their canoes preparatory to coming off.
" Soon quite a fleet of boats, some containing cocoa-
nuts and other fruits, ai:d cliickcns parrots, etc., were
paddled off toward us, looking, with their curious out-
riggers, like enormous lobsters skimming along the sur-
face."
" How are their outriggers fixed, Tom ?"
" The canoes are so narrow, that they would very
easily capsize, and it would 1x3 almost impossible even for
a native, to bring one safely through the surf. To
remedy this, they fasten to one si>'.e three arms, each per-
haps eight or ten feet lonu:. bow shapi d. that their middle
may not touch the water, but with tlieir other ends lying
on the surface. These outside ends are united by a fore
and aft piece, which rests on and skims along the water.
With this contrivan e, it is almost impossible to tura ovej
19G THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
a cante, as the buoyancy of the outiigger prevents il
dipping on that side, and its weight effectually keeps it
from capsizing on the opposite. With a good outrigger,
they not unfre(|ucntly put sail on a little canoe, ami
iance meirily over the water, the strange- looking arms
now lifted high up in the air, now plunged into the sea.
But let the outrigger give way, which sometimes occurs,
and the boat is almost helpless, and John Kanaka takes
the water for it.
" As soon as the natives got within hearing, the skip-
per, who spoke their language, warned them off, giving
permission for only two boats to come alongside at a
time, and threatening to fire into any that transgressed
the rule. Two chiefs, in large canoes, accordingly sailed
up to the starboard side, where was a small entoring-
place, and making fast their boats, came on board with
their crews. They first laid at the captain's feet an
offering of plantains, cocoanuts, chickens, and a beautiful
parrot, and then informed him that they had some sandal
wood for him. on shore, if he wanted it, desiring at the
same time to know what he had to trade.
" He informed them, and held some farther conversa-
tion with them, after which, they came forward to trade
with the c'.ew for some fruit. We had been before
warned not to make any display of our articles of trade,
nor to make any liberal offers for their fruit, as it is ion
sidered necessary to keep up the value of bartering goods
\\'hile the chiefs were aft, the crew had been looking
ab' ut the vessel, with such an air as a parcel of sailors
W(uld be likely to put on, weie they set on boarl a shijr
THE ISLAXDERS. 197
Ui wbii-h everything was made o!" gold ai^J precious
stones. In fact, to tliese people, who possess not evcu
the commouest articles Ibuud uii board ship, and who
value iron as we do gold, a \ essel must appear an almost
inexhaustible mine o.' riches.
" Knowing their thieving propensities, we had, directly
after coming to anchor, stowed down beljw decks every-
thing removable, or that could be conveniently carried
off. At this they were evidently disappointed. After
vainly looking about for s luething oa which he could lay
his thieving hands, a nativ-' came v\ith a begging
face, forward, and asked on; of us for a nai), pointing to
one which was sticking in an old board fo.ward of the
windlass 1 he gift of a small wrought nail made him a
rich man, for he danced aft to his companions in the
greatest glee, and we soon had the entire crowd (there
were six of them,) begging around us for a similar favor.
There were no more nails forthcoming, however.
" In their anxiety to obtain some iron, they now began
to entertain an idea of pulling one -'f the eyebolts out of
the deck. Forming a ring about one in the starboard
gangway, that their pro eedings might not be observed
by the crew, two of the stoutest now got down upon
deck, and catching hold of the securely fastened I >lt.
did their best to pull and jerk it loose, of course without
effect Nevertheless they tugged away manfully, until
the mate stepped toward them, when they immediately
walked )ff, apparently much disappointed. Had any
article of iron been lying about within reach, they would
ha- e spared no ingenuity or labor to make off wifli it
198 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
"The next morning was appointed to l^'gin the trade
Our visitors shortly to-^-k leave, and were succeeded -bj
others, who in turn, after gazin ; around the vessel, and
•ceing nothing to steal made room for their- companions.
We had a succession of canoes along side till sunset,
when all the boats were ordered away, and instructions
given to tire into the first canoe that came within gun-
shot.
" Next morning began the busy trade. Already, be-
fore breakfast, a number of canoes were launched from
shore and forced through the surf, coming to us laden
with rough -looking sticks of sandalwood, of various
shapes ai;d sizes. As on the previous day, only two boats
were allowed along side at once, and only one was traded
with at a time.
" Early in the morning, the captain had overhauled
his chest of old clothes in the hold, to familiarize him-
self with its contents, and he now stood at the gangway,
where the wood was passed in, to judge of its value, and
make such offers as he chose for it. For an old regi-
mental coat of red cloth, with a little tarnished gold
lace upon it, he got sandal wood which afterward brought
him in at least one hundred and fifty dollars. So, too,
knives, small mirrors, spike nails tobacco, and numerous
articles of old clothes, were disposed of on equally ad
vantagcous terras. Each Kanaka, when his trade was
finished, was sent away, to make room for more, until bj
tl.rec o'clock in the afternoon we had our entire deck and
portion of the hold filed with the curiously twisted
sticks of wood, whioh it was nccessar- to .stow down
PFRCITASrXO WOOD. 199
before we could trade mure. A stranger to the business
ivould have sai 1 that we had quite sufficient to load the
vessel, yet under the careful hands of our ex|jeiienco(l
mate, it was so snugly stowed that it occupied but a small
space in the hold.
By the following noon we had gotten all their wood,
while the natives could be seen stalking about, or squat
ting in their boats, an-ayed in the articles which they
had obtained from us. As they adorned themselves with
the various coats, vests, and trowsers, some of them pre-
sented most comical figures. One had nothing on but a
bright red military coat, while the only garment of
others was an old vest. Some had hung looking,
glasses about their necks, while many of the females,
vain creatures, had run nails and other bits of iron
through the large h;iles in their ears, and in some in-
stances even in their noses. All seemed highly delighted
at the change in their appearance.
" We took our departure amid many reg ets if the
nati\ es, who were loth to see such a prize go away from
th nr shores. Our next two or three stopping -places
were some deserted islets in the same group, with whidi
our captain was familiar from previous visits. There wo
went ashore in our whale boats, and S( arched about thf
beach for turtle shell. Sometimes we found quite a
quantity ; at others, half a day's diligent search would
not be repaid by a single piece of shell. The entire
beac'i wa& strewed thickly with the center bones of the
rock squid or cuttle fi.sh. which must have existed here
200 THE iVERCllAXT VESSEL.
5n great numbers. I he white, porous oblong lones fair!)
covered the beach, in spots
"On one of the desertcl islets we met with quite a
jj-ize, in the shape of a lump of Ambergris. It was a
yellow, tolerably solid substance, bearing, 1 thought
Bome res mblance ti> an ol 1 honeycomb. The mass we found
weigh :d, I believe, thiee pounds. It was carefully put
away by the captain, to be sold when we got to Sydney.
" Thus alternately trading and looking about ourselves,
we at length filled our vessel, and set sail on our return
to Sydney."
" How did the natives look, with whom you traded?"
I asked.
" There were various tribes, and I suppose races of
them. Some were dark brown, with long, glossy, black
hair, and the usual Kanaka features. Others were short
in stature, nearly black, with curling hair, and negro fea
tures. These last were much the most savage, and we
could do but little with them in the way of trade.
" On most of the islands we saw coeoanut trees : at
some the natives brought off bananas, and some few
other fruits. They appear also to raise chickens anJ
hogs. Of birds there seemed to be an abundance wbere-
ever we touched, and on them the ruder natives probably
subsist. Th'^ men all walked about in a state of nudity ;
the women wore the tapa, or waist cloth, made of the
fiber of th ocoaiiut tree, I suppose. They are a semi-
araphibious people, as are all the natives of the South
Sea Islands, appearing to be nearly as much at home in
the water a? on dry land- Their principal arms wep
TORRES' STRAITS. 201
huge cluDs, the heads of which were studded with sharp
pieces of shell.
' Oq arriving at Sydney, wc disposed of a portion of
cur sandal wood, and with the rest thj vessel sailed foi
I'hina. Previously to this, however, the crew wero paid
off. We were gone four months on our voyage. Oui
pay amounted to the snug sum of forty pounds sterling,
(.nearly two hundred dollars,) each. This was considered
.juite an extra voyage.
" In China, the sandal wood probably brought our cap-
tain double the price he would have obtainc 1 for it at
Sydney, and thus he and the owners must have made a
remunerative voyage."
The Chinese use the sandal wood in the manufacture
)f fans and other ornamental articles, and value it highly.
Iji fatt. sandal wood and shark's fins are at this day two
I'aluablc articles of export from British India to various
parts of China.
We passed safely through Torres' Straits, and in
(hirty-fi\e days from Sydney reached Lombok, or rather
the po.t of Ampanara, on the western coast of tlic
island. Lombok is a small but fertile island of the Ma-
lay Archipelago It lies between the isles of Bali, or
lially, and Surabawa, separated from each by a narrow
strait. Next west of Bally is the island of Java.
liOmbok itself is thickly inhabited. The people till the
laud, aiiJ export great quantities of ri^e, whicli is the
principh' product of the soil. It is said that not less
than from *wcnty to twenty-five thousand tuns of thii«
202 THE 3IERCHANT VESSEL.
grain are exported yearly to various parts of the Indie'*
much of it going to China.
The island is intc.sc t d by a mountainous ridge, and
:^n the north coast is an active volcano, ha-, inga pealx
which can be seen for many miles at sea. This was th':
first active volcano 1 had ever seen, and I wat(died the
thin smoke ever and anon curling above its top, with
much curiosity, almost wishing that an eruption might
take place while we were there ; although such an event
would doubtless have overwhelmed many families in
ruins.
The harbor of Ampanam is small, but has a goid an-
chorage. As this was the first Alalay place at which I had
ever been ashore, 1 saw mu h to amuse me. The people
live in long houses constructed of b.imboo, and perched
upon high posts, from ten to fifteen feet from the ground.
Seve; il families generally reside in one dwelling, their
stock of chickens anl ho:s abiding on the ground b 'ueath,
possildy acting as scavengers to remove the refuse of the
houses above. The dwellings are entered by means of
iad'lcrs and when these are hauled up all communication
from without is shut off. T'he groves of cocoanuts and
palm& imong which these houses stood made a b -autiful
shade for them, while bananas, pomegranates, shaddocks,
niangostecns and other fruits seemed to grow almost
■jpontar eously, in every cleared spot.
The groves were fi'.lcd with birds of beautiful plum
age, though it must be owned, many of them of discord
ant voices. Thes(> gave to the woods an appearance of
life and bus'"', which was as strange as pleasant. Hera
LOMBOK.
203
und there could lie seen a moiikey or a raanii'iset, leap-
ing from branch to lirauch amouz the luxuriant foliage,
ox swinging by his tail, and giving vent to a shrill >^,rcecb
which would startle the other inha^'itauts of the groves
Native* of Lombok.
We took great pleasure in rambling through these
groves, on the two Sundays which we spent ashore here.
The people, although not disposed to hold any more com-
munication with us than was actually necessary, were
kind and attentive. Fruits and provisions were remark-
ably cheap. We purchased twenty-five large fowls for
a dollar. Cocoanuts and bananas were to be had almost
for the asking, and other fruits cost but very little more.
I here purchased a monkey, as I wanted something with
204 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
which to aTOusesnyself when we should be again at scb
He was a wild litt c t'ellDW. and 1 got him a chain, with
which to keep him fast while lying in port, that he might
not slip off into s me of the .shore hoats fre ;u ntl}- along
side. His monheyship only co.st half a rupee (twenty
five cents), while parrots coul 1 be bought for from ct;L
cents to half a dollar, (if cours?, these birds werfr
freshly caught, and could net talk. Parrots which have
learned t"i talk Malay or Arabic are highly valued, and
are not sold under twenty-five or thirty dollars.
Besides the natives of the islands, who are Malays,
and of course partly Mohammedans, a portion of the
residents are ( hinese. 'I'hese filled here the line of busi-
ness which I have noticed they generally take to when
away from their homes. They are the small m?r_hants
of a place, and their shops answer to the " corner gro-
ceries" in the Ignited States. Meet them where you
will away from their home, and you will find the Chi
nese to be smart, thriving, and industrious people, living
frugally and keeping an eye to the main chanc ■ in bu.si-
ne.ss matters. Some of the Chinese who li\e in Lombok
are reputed to be very wealthy ; but most of them, when
they acquire a competency, return to their iiati",e places,
to settle down. They do not even intermarry with the
natives, but import their wives from the Celestial
Kmpire, or remain single until they return home.
The Chinaman dresses alike all the world over. His
thick-soled, clumsy shoes, petticoat trowsers, slouchy
jacket, and little round cap, reach from India to Ameri-
ca, from Shanghai to Sydney. The Malay natives driss
3IALAYS.
205
.-ariously. according t.o rank or means. The wealthier
wear tunics of fine material, woven in l>right figures
The men are distiii-
^'uishable by tho long
ircesc, and a short
dagger, stuck in their
lielt. These aims arc,
Qowover, at this tiTiie,
more for ornament than
use, and the natives of
this island seemed to
be a very harmless, in-
offensive people. The
males, among the labor-
ing classes wear noth-
ing but a waist-cloth
and turban, while the
women dress themselves
in long gowns, and not
unfrequently in a flow-
ing robe, formed by Malay seaman.
winding a bright-colored cotton shawl loosely and grace-
fully around the body.
The government of the island is administered by a
number of rajahs, whose jealousies frequently embroil
their subjects in quarrels and petty wars. These quar-
rels the Dutch on the neighlx»ring island of Java have
tnken advantage of at various times to introduce their
authority as arbitrators, and they wield at this time a
controllina influence in the government
206 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
We began to tukc iu our rice as soon as the ballasi
was sufficiently leveled and dunnage laid, on which tc
stow it. It was brought alongside by the natives in
large boats, and hoisted or rather tossed in on board, and
stowed iu the hold, by the crew. It was pretty severe
■abor to ;arry the sacks of rice through our low hold,
and stow them snugly in tiers fore and aft. The
weather was oppressively warm, and the hold was like an
oven. We worked from daylight till dark — that is from
six to six, with half an hour's intermission for break
fast, and an hour for dinner. We had a stout crew, and
therefore the work went cheerily on, and in less thin two
weeks we had the brig filled to the hatches with rice,
and were ready to sail for China.
While we lay at Ampanam, or Ix)mbok as everybody
persisted in calling the port, a large country ship eame
in to t>ie an horare, to obtain some provisions. Our cap-
tain paid her a visit, and 1 was luckily one of ohe b lat's
crew who took him on b >a:d, so that 1 too harl a look at
the stranger. We had lain at but a short dipiaucc f.om
a large country wallah, in iladras, but I had never had
a chance to board her. so that I now for the first time
stood on the de.-k of one of these singular craft.
She was a ship of about nine hundred tuns, and would
have been manned, if an American, by about sixteen or
seventeen hands, if a British vessel, by perhaps twenty-
two. But her Hindoo or Lascar crew numbered not less
than seventy. These had placed over them a serang. or
boatswain, and three boatswain's matc5, whose duty it
was to enforce the orders of the captain ar i mates. Tl ev
A COUNTRY WALLAH. 207
ased calls or pipes, precisely like that us d by tlie boat-
swain of a ship of war, and th^' loud " belay" which was
being piped just as we clara-bered up the side, put me
much in niin 1 of old times.
Besides her Lascar crew, whose duty it is to make and
Jake in sail, and work the vessel generally, there were
eix sea-conni'es, white men. or Enropeans, as they arc
called, who steered the vessel, and at reefing topsails
took the earings. These lived aft, in a steerage, while
the crew lived forward in a large forecastle. Steering
and sailmaking was the only work of the six sea-connies.
who, I thought, must have fine times.
The entire rigging of the ship was of coir rope, in-
stead of hemp, the kind most generally used. It was
beautit'ullv fitted, for the Lascar? are excellent sailors
A.ltogether. the vessel looked very neat and clean, and
their manner of coming to anchor and getting under
wciuli proved that they could handle her in a creditabl'
manner.
M \ TX^^^^^Tyxy \^_;
CHAPTER XVII.
Having taken in our cargo, we got underweigh, and
proceeded on our voyage to Whampoa, where we were
to discharge the rice, and be in turn ourselves dis-
charged. We passed through the little strait of Bally,
which divides Lorabok from the Island of Bally, and
thence emerged into the sea which separates the two
larger islands, Java and Borneo. This was real summer
sailing. As we slowly wound our way past the land,
which loomed up in the hazy distance, t called to mind
the last time I had sailed through these waters, and was
able to congratulate myself on now being much more
pleasantly situated, although a strange flag was flutter-
ing above my head. I was no longer cooped up, a pris-
oner, in a great ship. We were steering China-ward, I
with lively anticipations of what 1 should see in that
land of wonders.
My monkey gave me much pleasure on this trip. T
had, by uniformly kind treatment, in a great degree
(208)
A 310 JS KEY. 209
raracJ him ere we were many days out, an 1 he soon be^^an
to make himself quite at home with all that b longed to
me. George was his bitter enemy. He had strongly
opposed my getting him, prophesying that his mischievous
habits would create bad feeling in the forecastle, and that
1 would have more trouble than pleasure in keeping him.
He could not bear to have the animal about him, and as
the monkey and I eat together, George took his pan and
pot to the other end of the forecastle.
For my part, I could never see sufficient of Jocko'f
tricks, and delighted in making him swing by a line pen-
dant from the forescuttle, or in having a tussle with him
on the deck. But he was treacherous as well as mischiev-
ous, and would bite on the slightest pjrovocation. ,
In the dull monotony of life at sea, any strange object
serves to give an agreeal)le diversion to the mind, and it
is not, therefore, to be wondered at, that I found an almost
inexhaustible stock of amusement in my monkey. His
antics could always raise a laugh, even among my silent
shipmates, and he was indulged by them in many little
tricks, which I at first feared they would resent.
Before we got to China, he and I got to be on excellent
terms. We took our meals on the same chest — he having
his allowance in a little pan, but occasionally takiiig a
piece from mine. His tea was pour.d out fir him in a
howl, and in this he put bread to soak — a fashion learned
from some of our crew. Any deficiencies in his victuals
weie strongly resented, and once, when he had scaldel his
ti'jgcrs in the hot tej: be leaped upon me like a tiger, and
Lit Tie severely in the neck.
14
V
210 THE 31ERCHANT VESSEL.
Of I'ourse. su -h a companion was calculated tc make a
tedious passage pass much more pleasantly, and all of our
crew, except George, grew very fond of the little creature,
whose sprightly disposition was every day breaking out in
some new trick.
Of the parrot a much less favorable account must be
given. He was a large green bird, one of the speaking
kind, w e had been assured by the Malay who sold him to
us. His t mgue, or rather the little slender cord beneath
it, had be n cut by his Malay owner, before he came into
our possession — as this was considered necessary in order
to enable him to talk. He was placed in the darkest part
of the forecastle, chock forward, on one of the bri'ast-
hooks. and there secured. Here his food was brought to
him daily — he who fed him pronouncing to him the words,
"Pretty Polly." In a very few weeks we began to hear
faint mutterings from the dark corner, and one morning,
at the end of about the seventh week, were surprised to
hear from Polly's beak, the words " Polly, pretty Polly,"
spoken veiy plainly. The parrot now learned rapiilly, and
as we were going up Canton river, could ^alk tolerably
fluently. But he hail gotten to be a terrible reprobate,
and delighted in nothing so much as swearing. He was,
therefore, a nuisance even to the most profane of the crew,
for n one of them desired to hear a stupid bird mocking
him. At Whampoa he was sold to some American sailors,
and 01. parting from my shipmates there, I left them the
monkey as a keepsake.
Our passage to China was a tedious one. We were
detained by calms in the waters bounded by Java and
A LONG CALM. 211
Sumatra on one side, and BornLO on the other, and it took
as nearly sixty days to reach the mouth of Canton Bay.
It might he supposed that, as we had a good little vessel,
and were in other respects as happ'ly situated as sailor?
oould expect to be. we would not have cared how long the
passage lasted.
But, singularly enough, the exact reverse is invariably
the sentiment of the forecastle. Let the vessel and officers
be as unexceptionable as they may, Jack always wishes
for a short passage. It is not that he wants to get ashore
to spend his money. It is not, either, that he finds more
pli^asure in lying in port. On the contrary, he is almost
sure then to have much harder work than at sea. But
the sailor seems to be possessed of a restless sjjirit, a very
demon of inquietude, who gives him no peace except in
motion. He feels contented nowhere. When on shore,
he sighs for the ocean. No sooner is he there, than he as
ardently wishes himself back to port. The old saying.
" More days, more dolla; s," is oftener spoken in derision
than in earne.st, and is only taken as a comforter in the
last extremity, when all progress is barred by calms oi
head-winds, and a lengthened passage seems an unavoid
able fate.
Thus our fellows, though they had every reason to be
contented, were looking and whistling as anxiously for a
breeze, as though their fortunes depende<l upon a speed}
passage. I say our fellows — but I must own that I was
nc less impatient than the rest There was no lack of
b<ioks, nor of what was just then of more interest to me,
yams. But the general unrest had also fMw.scssion of me,
212 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
and 1 was as- cagrly \vishin<T; for the expce-ted breeze a 5
any one.
A calm at sea is, under any circumstancts, a vcr\
tedious matter. The smooth water, the sails drooping
listlessly against the mast, the awkward rull of the ves
iel, all betoken a breaking up of the usual routine of
sea-life. A feeling as though you were no longer at
home, seems to creep over every one. The watch below
no longer sleep, nor sew, nor read. Their enjoyment of
these usual time-killers seems to have flown with the
breeze, and they wander listlessly about the deck, calling
upon all the patron saints of wind and weather to extri-
cate them from this overpowering monotony. All steady
occupation of mind or body seems to become oppressive ;
and the sound of eiiht bells, wlii h sends them on deck,
is hailed with joy, as, at any rate a change.
As for the watch on deck, they gcuerally find enough to
do in a calm. This is an opportunity, iiover lost, to set
up rigging, put on new s iziugs and lashings where they
may be needed, and for attending to ail such work as is not
to bo done when the ship has headway on her. and her
rigging aud spars are strained by the breeze. I'niler the
oppressing influences of the calm, with the sun's lay.s
pouring down intense heat, melting the tar off the ropes,
and making the decks almost too hot to .stand upon, this
labor comes doubly heavy. If for no other rea.son. there-
fore, than to escape such work, a calm is an event much to
be deprecated by sailors.
Our long calm brought to every one's recollection Bome
HiniilJir circumstance in his previous experience, and we
GEORGE PROPHESIES. 213
entertained each other, in the dog-watches, w"Mi tongh
yarns of vessels that had lain on the line ahuost till they
had rotted — till the sails were dropping from the yards
and the grass had grown yards long upon the bottom of
the vessel.
As for my grumbling chum, the spirit of prophecy was
upon him again, and he foretold, with a kind of savage
satisfaction, that we were doomed to remain in that spot,
T am almost afraid to say how long, but at any rate until
we should have eaten up our provisions, and then be
obliged to take to our boats and make the best of our way
to Singapore. He rolled about in his berth, making grave
calculations as to how many days" water we had yet on
board, and how long our brea I could be made to last, and
had all arranged in his mind as to the course to be steered
for the nearest land, when we should abandon the vessel,
a consummation which he appeared to regard as a settled
fact. Indeed, so strongly h:id he persuaded himself that
this would be our fate, that I thought it was with a shade
of disappointment he at last witnessed the approach of a
breeze.
With one exception, I was, I think, the most patient
individual in the forecastle. 'I'his was a quiet old tar.
who had served an apprenticeship of two years to ennui.
on a sheep and cattle station in the wilds of New South
Wales. He had got to be resigned to almost anything,
and I am sure that no calm could overset his equanimity
of temper. As he himself expressed, " it was happy-go-
lacky with him." Two years of the desperate loneliness
and eameness of a hut-tender's life had so broken his
214 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
spirit a? to make him simply a listless looker-on in life
' He no longer lives, he only stays," s lid one "f our fcl
lows of him one day.
He was our quiet man, par excellence. For days he
Tould say nothing to any one, but wander up and down,
in a half-dreamy state. Not only did he not talk himself,
but he eluded all attempts on our part to talk to him, and
when addressed, would look up with a surprised stare, as
though just awakened out of a dream. He lived in a
world of his own. When lying in his berth, h • would
hold long conversations with himself, in which, from the
little we could occasionally gather, many characters
appeared upon the scene which his imagination had lai 1
out, and not a few abstruse metaphysical problems were
discussed ; for he was not by any means an unintelligent
man. He had read a good deal during his long stay in
the woods, and was evidently but now digesting portions
of his past reading.
He was an excellent poaman, thorough in all that be-
longed to his profession. But such an influence had his
taciturnity upon all with whom he came in contact, thai
even the mates only spoke to him when it was unavoida
ble, and many times when dividing out the work to th(
watch, the chief mate would put a marlin-spike or handy-
billy-tackle into old Bill's hands, and silently point out
the work he desired him to go to, instead of telling him
what it was he wished done.
He and I were watchmates. I left no moans untrie'^
to obtain from him some information concerning the life
he hnd led ujon the cattle station, but found it difficult
OLD BILL THE CATTLE-TENDER. ^i,-,
At last 1 strucTc ilic riglit key. A somewhat out of the
waj quotation IVom Shakspcare, in conversation witlj
another, caused him to look up with a pleased sparkle 11
his eye, which I had not be.'ore seen. This aiforded me
a little insight into his peculiarities, which I failed noi
to take advantage of. I talked books to him, and hei-c
^ound was his one vulnerable point. I loaned him a pci
copy of Goldsmith, which I usually kept at the bottom
of my chest, not for general circulation, and this gained
his heart. By degrees he became more communicative,
and I was greatly astonished at the mass of general in-
formation hoarded up in that dreamy brain of his
Having him once in the vein, I pestered him with ques-
tions until I managed to obtain from hiiu some details of
his bash life. All my eiforts failed in getting him to
f^'ve me any connected account of the mode of life which
lie had there led; but bit by bit, I obtained the infor
'nation which is given below.
Three men stay together on one part of the station.
'I he.se are, a hut-tender and two cattle -tenders. The hut-
tender, who cooks for himself and his mates, and per-
haps washes for them, if they ever find it desirable to
put on a clean shirt, is generally a green hand in the
woods — a new Chum he is called in Colonial lingo. He
receives from sixteen to eighteen pounds sterling (eighty
to ninety dollars), per annum, with his rations of tea,,
sugar and flour.
It is his duty to remain at the but, while his confreres
ar ; ofl" with the cattle. Here he stays, sometimes foi
iays without seeing a soul, when the others are away in
21 G THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
search of a lost herd, or bringing a drove back to the
pastures. Day in, day out, he sees naught but the
dreary plain undisturbed by aught of life, except an oc
casional bird, or a wapiti, or kangaroo. It is easy to
imagine how in this lonely state it after a while ceases
to be natural to speak, and a dreamy silence becoir.es the
habit of the man.
Sometimes the hut-keeper has a gun, and occasion-
ally shoots a little game. But even this is scarcely suflB
cient excitement to relieve the dreariness of the lift.
Besides, it is necessary to remain near the hut, in order
to keep safe wath and ward over the supplies there de-
posited, and to be in readiness to wait upon the horsemen
when they come in with their flocks.
After having served at this branch of the business a
}ear or two, the hut-keeper is supposed to have sufficient
experience to warrant his advancement to the post of cat-
tle-tender. He is now supplied with a horse, or perhaps
two, that he may be able to change animals in his long
rides. His salary is increased to from twenty-two to
twenty-fi\e pounds, and he assumes, with a comrade, the
responsibility of taking care of and leading about, a
flock of one thousand sheep, or six hundred cr seven hun-
dred cattle.
He must now have some knowledge of the woods, and
1)6 able to return to his hut after riding hard, perhaps in
a dozen directions, for two or three days. He rides
about the country, rain or shine, with his charge of
stock ; he sleeps near them at night, upon a blanket
spread upon the bare ground, his saddle for a pillow and
CA TTLE- TENDING. 2 1 7
his hcrse fastened to a stake driveu intc the ground
He must sleep lightly, in order that uo movcnient in the
hei'd or flock may escape him. A.il if. porchai.ce, after
liriiigiug the stock safely to at night, he veutuie^ to drop
into a sound slumber he is likely to awaken at daylight
with not a single head in sight, and find himself oWiged
to hunt for days before he recovers his charge.
In the rainy season he plashes on through mud leach-
ing up to the saddle girths, with the rain pouring down
in torrents. Often when sundown overtakes him in the
vast plain, during such a rain, he must sit in his saddle
the entire night, while the torrent is beating ;.gainst his
body, and he becomes chilled through, and faint and
weary.
This is cattle-tending. For one month in the year the
poor souls were allowed to leave the station ( taking turns)
and go down to some uf the outposts of colonial civiliza-
tion, there to recruit their energies by the absorption of
unlimited quantities of liquor, and a general spiee. But
Bill said that many of them got so used to the life on
the plains as not e\cn to desire this annual jollification.
They remained in quiet stupor at their huts, or followed
their stock. Some, he said, had supplies of books at the
huts. But they had not room for many, and the few
were read and re-read, until almost learned by heart.
Take it altogether. I was no longer sui prised that one
who had passed two or three years of such a life should
be almost speechless. It was only a cause for wonder
that the few ideas with which he entered upon his
218 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
hermit life had not entirely died out, and left him in a
state of irredeemable stupidity.
The breeze so lo;.g waited ibr came at last, and wc
ulad!j sc^uared the yards, and set the studdingsails to ex
J tdite the vess. 1 on her way. Our passage to Whampoa
was a long on \ lasting nearly sixty days. Luckily, wc
had an abundant supply of water and provisions, else
we should have been compelled to use the first fair wind
to make a port in order to refit.
We were favored with a fine breeze across the China
Sea, and that portion of the trip was passed pleasantly
enough. After the usual bending cables, and getting
anchors oft' the bows, preparatory to running into port,
was completed, we made the land, and were shortly
boarded by a Chinese pilot, who took us up to the anch-
orage at Whampoa. Here we immediately commenjed
discharging our cargo of rice into large Chinese boats,
which took it on shore.
One week sufiiced for this, and then George and 1
were free — our agreement on shipping having been that
we should be dis barged here. Wc found that wagea
were not so high here as they had been at Sydney, for
which reason the captain was quite willing to let us go.
lieing able to fill our places at a saving to himself.
As neither of us possessed English register tickets,
iliue were no formalities to be gone through, but we sim-
ply i'j'jli our money and a written recommendation, and
\v(!ut on shore. As there are but poor accommodations at
\\ hampoa for sailors, we left our chest and other cftlctE
aboard the brig until we phould ship in some other vessel
CAXTOy RIVER.
219
thus beiug able to take a careless cruise about the town,
and up to Canton, without being at the trouble of looking
(constantly after our effects.
From the anchorage below Whampoa to Canton the
distance is sixteea miles. From the same place to the
Bogue it is forty. On either side of the usual anchorage
are rice fields, with here and there, in the distance, a
ropshouse or Pagoda.
BiTKB BOBSB B»OV OAVTOB.
The river is a most interesting scene, enlivened as it is
with a vast number of boats of all shapes and sizes,
from the tiny sampan to the more important fast-boat.
Above the anchorage for foreign vessels are seen a num-
Ihjt of huge un wieldly junks. All is noise and confusion
220 THE 21ERC11ANT VESSEL.
fr )m morning till night — buats hailing one another as
tliej pass, sailors >>\h uting. and the Tartars in theii
tioatiijg dwcllii.gs singi. g as they sail up and down on
the tide.
i was dctc;mi;.ed to see Canton this time, and accord-
ingly on the next day after our discharge, George and 1
took passage on one of the last-boats, or passenger boats
wliich p'y between Macao and that city, and after pass-
ing, how we Loulil not tell, through the densest mass of
boats and junks of all sizes, all moving, at length ar-
rived abreast of the city. Here the surface of the river
WuS covered with thousands of Tartar boats, moored head
and stern, forming an aquatic town of no small dimen-
sions, the residents of which probably were born, lived,
and died upon the water, many of thorn doulitless never
setting their feet on shore.
Not ha\ ing any friends at the factories, we engaged
sleeping room on the fast-boat, and then went asho: e at
noon, to see what we could of the town, or rather of the
suburbs, which is the only portion accessible to for-
eigners.
Canton has been so often described that it is unneces-
sary here to give a detailed account of it. Neither did
I see sufficient of it during our necessarily short stay to
say much about it. (rcorge and 1 walked through the
naiTOW but densely crowded streets, looking into the
shops as we passed along, and occasionally stopping to
make a purchase of some curiosity, a fan, or box. or pic-
ture, which struck our fancy, until we were so incum-
bered with our newly actjuired property as tp make
CANTON. 221
farther progress inconvenient. We now retracal nur steps
to the landing, where we deposited our purchases and re
\ urncd for another exploration.
Thus we made the tour of the principal streets, or filthj
alleys, railed Old China st.ect. New China street, and
Hog Lane Of the latter, 1 will not say more here than
that it amply deserves its name.
We visited a Chinese market, where, besides various
fruits, such as delicious little mandarin oranges, lichi,
preserved ginger, etc., we found some articles displayed,
and meeting with a ready sale, which do not look so tempt-
ing to outside barbari;ins. These were cats, dogs, rat.s,
and even long worms preserved in sugar. The last take
rank as articles of luxury, and arc attainable only to the
more favored rich. We also took an outside look at a
large Chinese or Buddhist Temple, situated on the opposite
side of the river, which forms a very prominent object in
the landscape.
By this time, it was dark, and we hastened to take
possession of our sleeping apartment, where amid the
bustle and noise, which did not cease all night, we enjoy-
ed a good nights rest. On the next morning, we took a
\-\< ramble about the town, previous to leaving on the
fast boai, which was to sail at eleven o'clock. Many of
the booths < r huts on the narrow streets are occupied as
gambling saloons, where the wretched Chinese may be
seen playing at various games of chance and rascality.
I was much interested, of course, with all the novelties
of Canton ; yet my visit gave me far less satisfactiot
than ! anticipated from it. Such an assemblage of sconn-
222 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
lirels, of all grades and shades, as is rainp int iu that part
of Canton to which J^uropcans have access, is not, 1 ima-
gine, to be found any where else in the world. 1 firmlj
believe that, from the highest to the lowest, they are
thieves, to a man. If you go into a booth to make a
puichase, unless you keep your eyes and hands constantly
upon the article you desire to buy, it will be changed in
the twinkling of an eye, and an inferior imitation substi*
tuted in its pla.-e. This too, after asking you, at the
beginning of your trade, at least thrice the price they
intend to take, or expect to get. Aside from the grosser
forms of vice, there is no kind of low rascality which the
inhabitants are not perfect in — no species of deception or
trickery in which they are not adepts. It is no wonder
that sailors, who come in contact only with these lower
classes of Chinese, learn to h; artily hate and despise
them. Canton, 1 believe, bears an ill name, even among
the Chinese themselves, as being the general rendezvous
if all the bad characters in the Celestial Empire.
^skww.
CHAPTER XVIII.
Upon our return to Whampoa, we were informed by
our shipmates that the Captain of a Scotch barque desired
to ship two sea-connies. and having heard that George
and I were ashore, had oiFered us the vacant places. She
was bound to Port Louis, in the Isle of France, and the
wages he offered were twenty-five rupees per month.
I proposed, at once, to ship, as I had been wishing to
make a trip in a country-wallah. But George, who had
been in Port Louis, and knew somewhat of it, declared
that he was not going there, to remain ashore till half
Btarved, and then have to ship in a British vessel to go to
England. He would wait for a ship, in Macao or AVham
poa, even if he had to stop ashore there a month.
This did not suit rae. I agreed, however, to look for
another chance for us two, which would perhaps suit my
•hum better. But there was at that time no other
vacancy to be found, except in one or two vessels, bound
round the Cape, and in those neither of us desired to ga
(223)
224 THE 3IERGHANT VESSEL.
I scarcely kuew what to determine on. I did not want
to leave my old chum : but I was also de.idedly averse to
remaining any longer ashore, with a f.iir prospect of get-
Ung the dysentery, and being laid up for several montha
It was finally suggested by one of our shipmates that
Crcorge and I might decide the matter by tossing up
dollar. My chum declared, however, that he would not
go to the Isle of France under any circumstances.
" But, Charley, toss up, and if you get the best in ihre(
tosses, we'll consider it a sign that you ought to go in the
barque." said one of our fellows.
To this George demurred, saying that he wanted me tc
stay with him.
I submitted the matter, however, to the test proposed,
and Damo Fortune declared in favor of my going to Port
Louis. The next mornitig, I shipped with the captain of
the barque, and bought me a chest. That day Geoge
a-.d I divided our eflFects and money, and the followin r
day I went on board my new vessel.
Our parting was, as may be imagined, a sorrowful on ■.
Wc had been so Ion r together that we had become used
of each oth r's w lys. and each felt that a separation noxv
would leav ' (juite a void in his feelings. Vet each of us
persevered obstinately in his course, and there was, th '^re-
fore, no help for it.
On the morning on which I entered upon my new duties,
we ail assembled in the forecastle of the brig to say good
by. I divided out some keepsakes among my old ship-
mates — some small matters I had bought in Canton — and
•viocivcd from each something in return. While we wertj
OFF FOR PORT LOUIS. 225
ill ^lkil.g, jSy silent man came down with a (juavt cup
full '/ rum, \7hi.h he had bcg.ed of the sk-ward " to say
fart.: veil in."
1\, was knov.n that I did not imbibe : yet, for this time
only, it was dejlared, must I drink with them. And as
my silcrt friend be ame quite elo(juent on the suDJect, 1
was obliged to v*isent.
Accordingly, ..he cup was passed around, beginning
with me, who was going away. Then came a shaking
hands all roun 1. my non-talkative shipmate being the
last.
Said he: " Oharley. God bless you, boy; I'm sorry
yuu are leaving us. When you come to Sydney, don't
forget to hunt Uo all up."
And so I jumped into the sampan alongside, and went
aboard the barqu^. I had before made over the monkey
to those who remained in the brig, with the hope that if
ever I should return to Sydn-y. 1 should find .Jocko safely
housed ashore.
George and I did not take final leave of each other till
the barque sailed down the river. 1 had not been without
a secret hope that he would yet join me. But he would
not go to Port T>ouis. and we at last parted, with the
agreement to meet in Calcutta, if possible, during the year.
But we met no more.
My new vessel was very different from any I had eveu"
been aboard of before. 1 had. there ''ore, satisfaction in
thinking that even if l*ort f-ouis proved as poor a place
as George ha.J represented it to be, I should, at any rate,
upon my way thither, make a new experience.
1.0
226 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
My duties as sea-conii\ , or steersman, were very simple^
ilthjugh tolerably arduous an 1 wearisome, as I founo
oefore the passage was completed. 1 here were four of us
steer the vessel, and mend old ani make new fjails. Of
Lascars, we had twenty-five, with a scrancj and- one boat-
swain's mate.
The European portion of the crew, four steersmen and
two apprentices, lived in a little square cuddy, inserted in
the po.ip, just abaft the mainmast. '1 he Lascars nomi-
nally had the forecastle to themselves, but this was closed
as soon as we got to s.a, and the entire company of them
were made to remain upon deck, where they ate, drank
and slept, duiing the entire passage.
We sailed down Canton river on the IHth of April, at a
time when the climate of that part of China was pecu-
liarly pleasant — the torrid heats of summer not yet hav-
ing set in. I felt almost sorry to be going to sea, and
leaving the soft air of the land behind us. Yt t I had
nothing to keep me ashore, and was really glad to lie well
rid of China.
Our course lay through the China Sea, and into the
great Indian Ocean, by way of the Straits of Malacca.
We began nur voyage with a fair breeze, and consequently
entertained the hope that we should make a short pas-
.sage — a hope not destined to fulfillment.
Having the anchors secured upon the bows, and thf
chains unbent — a sign that the ship was n"W at sea — our
regular sea-life began. The steersmen relieved each other
at night, every three hours making twelve hours, from
six to six. one turn tn r:u-li When the trick at the L ;lr
A LASCAR CREW. 227
was over, each man rctiied to his berth, to sleep the oiher
tight hours.
During the day-time, we were generally all employed on
the sails, while the apprentices steered the vessel. TL'.
Iiarque had been some years from England, and her sail.-
were getting old. They there !'ore required constant re-
pairing, at which we worked from one day's end to the
other.
The ship was worked by the Las:-ars. When a brace
or halyards wanted a pull, or a sail was to be set or taken
in, the order was commuui ated to the serang, and by Idm
to the crew, who were nil required, night or day, to lend
a hand. 'J'his, of course, makes a great difference in
(lis ipline between these ships and such as are manned
entirely by •' Europeans."
The Lascar sailoi's receive from four to ten rupees per
month (from two to five dollars) . For this, they oblige
themselves to work the vessel, and to make such repairs
on the rigging as are actually necessary. 'J'hey aie very
active, and, in general, neat sailors, but are not very
strong, and have no powers of endurance at all. In fine
and warm weather they make the best of crews ; but in
a storm, and more especially when the weather is a little
raw and cold, thy are not to be depended on for anything
but skulking from their duty.
They never ship for voyages which would lead thera
into cold weather, and it is only in the greatest extremity
that they can be persuaded to go around the Cape.
Thoy are a vindictive set, when roused by any imligni-
fcies or wrongs, and do not stop sliort of the most extreme
228 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
measures ni gainiiig thoii- revenge. A great deal of oarc
is therefore necessary in managing them, and exti-a pre
■autions are taken in every ship that carries a Lascai
!rew, to forestall the consequences of a sulden revolt.
Our barque ha 1 a borrieade stn t.hing across from
(■.he mainmast to each rail, ten feet high, which was put
up every evening at sunset, and abaft which no Lascar
was allowed to come at night, while forward of it no
European ventured, except when the working of the ves
sel's sails required it. The orders of the mates were
communicated to the serang, or his assistant, who remain-
ed aft constantly to receive them, and who saw them
carried into effect.
I said peculiar care was required in their management.
This care, however, is rather of a negative than positive
kind. It consists more in submitting to their prejudices
in religious matters, than in actually treating them well.
The officers generally a^use them scandalously, upon the
slightest neglect or dilatoriness, thinking but little of
jumping into the midst of a crowd, and laying about
them, right and left, with a handspike or heaver. And,
in fact, I had occasion to see that this manner of treat-
ment produces much more respect and orderly obedience
in them, than kind words. They very quickly learn to
despise a mild or soft-hearted officer, while the man of the
strong hand, whose word is followed by a blow, is regarded
with respect — as one with whom they dare not trifle.
But while thus submitting with as good grace as may
be, to the most brutal treatment, so slight a misdemeanor
on the part of any of the Europeans as handling any nf
DISCIPLINE IN A COUNTRY WALLAH. 229
their cooking utensils, or drinking from their water cask,
would produce an instantaneous remonstrance, and a re-
petition of the oflFense would no doubt create a revolt. So,
also, any interference with their superstitious idol wor-
ship would provoke a most sanguinary return.
We were scarce fairly at sea, when orders were given
to fasten up the forecastle, in order that all hands of
the Lascars might be kept on deck. It has been found
necessary to adopt this course with such crews, that
they may have no chance to stow themselves away, in bad
weather or at night. Let them once get into the fore-
castle, and even were the vessel about to be dismasted in
a gale or squall, they would not come up to assist in tak-
ing in sail. It is not unfrequeutly necessary to beat
and whip them, to force them aloft to take in canvas.
A Lascar crew require a separate galley and cook.
Their religion teaches them that it is unclean to eat out
of any utensil which has been used by whites. Their
food is very plain, consisting only of a daily allowance of
rice, a small piece of salt fish, and ghee, a species of
liquid butter. They eat but two meals per day — break-
fast at nine, and dinner at three. Bread is to them un-
known. Rice, boiled and eaten simple, without sauce of
any kind, is their " staff of life." From this thej make
their morning meal. At dinner, a little fish and theii
quota of rice and ghee satisfies their wants.
They are consequently not very strong ; but their ao-
tivity is remarkable. They run aloft like cats, 'i'hey
disdain the use of ratlines — the small lines stretohf/1
230 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
across a ship's rigging, which form a rope ladder, used
by seamen to facilitate their passage to the mast-head.
The Lascar sailor takes hold of the nearly perpendio-
alar backstay with his hands places then his feet
against it, taking the rope between his great toe and the
next one, and in this manner deliberately, and yet very
rapidly walks aloft. In the performance of this feat,
European sailors can not approach them. In ships which
carry a Lascar crew, the ratlines are generally taken oflF
the rigging, except one narrow row, l ft for the convenience
of the sea-counies, who go aloft to assist in reefing, etc.
We retained our fair wind until we were nearly up
to the island of Banca. We were in fact already
congratulating ourselves on having sailed so speedily
through the most difficult part of our navigation, and
had set the day when we should have jiassed through the
straits of Sunda. Bu-t " man proposes, God disposes."
We were barely abreast of Banca when the wind hauled
dead in our teeth, and after vaiuly endeavoring to beat
ahead for a couple of days, the skipper, (as the captain is
familiarly called in British vessels — the Yankee sailor
speaks of him as " the old man,") got out of patience,
and put her off to run through the straits of ]\Ialacca.
This was making a considerable detour from our direct
course. But there was a prospect that the wind would
hold in the direction in which it had set in, and if it did
90, we could run round the longer way much quicker and
easier than we could beat through the shorter passage
Through the Malacca straits we therefore ran, under a
press of canvas with the wind a little abaft our larboard
BEFORE THE WIND. 231
beam. The barque was not by any means a poor sailer,
and with favoring breezes she made a ;;lorious run throujrh
the straits.
'Ihat is to say, so the captain considered it. Had wc
had passengers, they too would have so thought it, and
would probably have become enthusiastic on the subject.
But looking at the matter from the seaman's point of
view, it was anything but a glorious run.
To the denizens of the forecastle, the idea of such a
run brings with it thoughts of many evils to them, many
anxieties, much hard labor, which a less favorable wind
would have spared them. For the comfort of the crew,
a breeze about two points forward of the beam, just fair
enough to keep a foretopmast studd'nsuil set to advan-
tage, is l)y far the most desirable. Sailing along with
the wind this way, the vessel steers easily, the ship
moves along steadily, pressed down upon her side by the
breeze, and there are an abundance of snug places undei
the lee of the weather bulwarks, where the watch on
deck at night can caulk'' in peace, untroubled by hoist-
ing, shifting, and lowering studdingsails, or trimming
braces, and not haunted by the dread of an approaching
trick at the wheel.
When the wind is aft, and a glorious run is being
made, all comfort is lost sight of. What with swigging
at studd'nsail halyards, reeving preventer braces, trim
ming here a little and there a little, the watch on deck is
*• Caulking, so sleeping on deck at night, wLen there is no-
tMng for the watch to do is called.
232 THE 3IERCHANT VESSEL.
continually busy. The wiud, too, rakes the ship fore and
aft, leaving not tha smallest spot uninvaded, and for the
time being all the snug caulking places, under the
lee of the long boat or bulwark, are per force given up.
The vessel rolls from side to side, with a crazy motion
not at all comfortable ; she brings up with a sudden and
unexpected jerk which is apt to take one off his feet.
The sea, as it rushes past the side, has an altogether dif-
ferent and unnatural sound ; and the breeze, coming from
aft, is thrown duwn toward the deck by the reaction of the
sails, and makes every otherwise snug place unpleasant.
Lastly, at such a time, the ship steers wildly, and
that, too, just when the captain is most anxious to see
her go straight, in order to make all the headway possi-
ble. Steering is, under any circumstances, the most
wearisome of a sailor's multifarious duties.
To have the attention fixed for two weary hours upon
a single object, without permitting the mind or the eye
to wander for a moment, that object being, withal, a ves-
sel continually thrown off her proper course by the action
of the sails and the sea, is far more laborious than any
one can imagine who has not experienced it. But with a
roaring breeze aft, and all studd'nsails set, it sometimes
becomes a positive torture to steer.
I have noticed a general impression among landsmen,
that a ship must steer easiest when the wind is S'juare
astern. This seems, too, a natural supposition ; yet no-
thing is farther from the fact The sea follows the direc-
tion of the wind, and in a strong breeze aft, the waves,
which dash violently against the ship's counter, sway hei
STEERING. 233
iiictssantly, now to one side, now to the other. The sails,
also, bear an uneven pressure upon the hull while forcing
it through the wat<?r.
Now she is swept might and main to the starboard,
and the helmsman, who has foreseen the movement, rat-
tles the wheel down to meet her. But no sooner docs
she feel the helm, no sooner has the rudder, fixed for the
moment transversely across the stern, caused her to stop
in her deviation upon this side, than the obstinate craft
takes a mighty, almost resistless sweep to the other side,
and " meet her," is the cry, while poor Jack tugs desper-
ately at the heavy-moving wheel, to bring her back to
her course.
Thus, often the helm is not for one moment in the two
hours' " trick " held still, and the steersman lifts and
pulls at the wheel, in vain attempts to keep the vessel
on her course, great drops of perspiration rolling down
his face, and every muscle and tendon exerted to its
utmost.
There is much difference in steering. Some vessels
may be guided on their course with comparative ease,
under circumstances in which it would be vain to attempt
to keep others within three points either way. It is ob-
vious that as a bad steering ship makes an irregular, zig-
zag course, instead of going in a straight line, she does
not in such case make the real progress that her headway
through the water would lead one to believe. Thus, in
some vessels, to count two knots (two miles) out of ten,
for bad steering in strong breezes, is a very moderate
allowance
234 TEE MERCHANT VESSEL.
Of course, in such a time one does not look forward tc
a trick at the wheel with the most pleasant feelings is
the world. But Ja k is far from owning to any unea-
siness on the subject. Every one ppetends to look upon
the matter with the utmost imliflFerence, and a man goes
aft to take the helm, with a smile on his face, as though
it was the greatest pleasure, all the while quaking in his
biiots at the thought of what is before him.
When, at the expiration of two hours, he comes for-
war 1, and is asked, " how does she steer?" he does not
a'knowlcdge that it is the hardest work in the world,
and that he was very glad when his trick was out. This
would be out of order — a sacrifice of dignity.
He replies with the utmost sangfroid, " Oh, she steers
like a boat note ; I could steer her all day, as she goes
along with this breeze."
1 1 is one of the peculiarities of the sailor, that having
just escaped from any position of difficulty or danger, he
will not then own to it. Although it may have been an
extreme case, though he may have got safely out of the
most iiTiminent peril, he is expected to make light of the
circumstances, and any attempt to treat the matter seri-
ously would expose him to the ridicule of his shipmates
To have escaped is considered sufficient proof that the
peril was not great ; to have performed the duty is evi
lence that it was not difficult.
I lomember a circumstance which will bring this mat-
ter perhaps more clearly before the reader. Two men
went out to stow the flying jib There was a very
heavy head sea on, and the vessel was consequently
INSENSIBILITY TO DANGER. 235
f it-ohing hows under, rendering the service one of no lit-
tle difficulty. I hey had secured the sail, and were just
feturning on board, when the ship gave an unusuallj
violent pitch, and both men slid down the footrope, hos-
ing their hold of the slippery jibboom, and only saving
themselves by catching with their hands on the footropea,
where they hung on, between wind and water, and so
came in hand over hand, till they reached the bowsprit
shrouds, being in imminent danger of being washed off
by the seas, in which they were immersed up to their
middle. We who stood on deck watched them with
breathless attention, expecting momentarily to see them
go overboard, in which case no human power could have
saved them.
When they got safely in on deck, an old salt said,
" You two fellows want to show off some of your smart-
ness, cutting about on the footropes. A little more and
you would have gone to Davy Jones' locker."
" It takes more than that to ship me for Davy Jones',"
answered one, with a careless laiigh. The other, how-
ever, took the matter more to heart, and attempted to
describe to us his thoughts as he hung on the ropes, ex-
pecting to be washed away. He was met with a general
jeer of derision ; and for the balance of the voyage, he
and his adventure were the laughing stock of the fore-
castle.
This insensibility to danger grows naturally upon the
sailor. His life is one of continual exposure and peril,
and he soon learns to regard every danger escaped, or
236 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
difi5culty overcome, however great they may be, with
comparative indifference.
Besides this, such an accident as slipping one's hold on
a yard or boom, is considered lubberly, and he to whom it
happens, if a seaman, is too much ashamed of his care-
lessness to say much about it.
Until within the last three or four years, a life-buoy
was an article almost uknown on board American ves-
sels, except the packet ships. The boats, the only
hope of saving a man who has fallen overboard, are al-
ways secured with such a multiplicity of stout lashings
as to make it a work of at least fifteen or twenty minutes
to get one into the water. It is therefore evident
that to the merchant sailor, if he falls overboard, there
is small hope of rescue. He never goes aloft, but at the
risk of his life. But habit is everything, and no
one ever thinks of these things at sea, or if he does,
wisely keeps his thoughts to himself
To return to our voyage. AVe made a glorious run
through the straits of Malacca, and retained our fair
wind until we struck the line on the other side of the
island of Sumatra, in about longitude ninety, east. Here
our breeze left us, and we were becalmed.
This is a fated spot. It is a region of almost inter-
minable calms, and as such is avoided when possible by all
vessels sailing out of or approaching the Malacca Straits.
We were fairly caught, and lay under the sweltering
sun of the line until we almost gave up all hope of get-
ting away.
Oar japtain had reckoned upon a quick passage, and
SUPERSTITIONS OF THE LASCARS. 237
the vessel was in consequence but poorly supplied with
provisions. Before we got a breeze once more, we had
:ause to fear a famine. It became necessary to put ali
aauds on short allowance. This was particularly hard
on the poor Lascars, whose lawful allowance is small
enough. But to make matters worse for them, the rice
began to grow moldy, and was soon almost unfit to eat.
They used every species of incantation known to them,
to procure from the ir god the favor of a breeze. Day
and night they were praying to their idol, whose shrine,
under the top -gallant forecastle, was now adorned with
numerous votive oflPerings of his distressed worshipers.
They at last got an idea that the calm was sent upon
us to punish the wickedness of our captain, who, when
in liquor, was wont to make all manner of disparaging
remarks about the idol. They conceived that their pat-
ron saint was not able to see, through such a mass of
wickedness, the offerings made at his shrine, and on con-
sultation they determined to approach him nearer. Ac-
cordingly, they placed other tributes at the mainmast
head, and at the flying jibboom end.
I had the curiosity to examine, whUe they were
stretched on deck asleep, the sacrifice placed at the mast-
head. It consisted of a handful of rice, a rupee, and a
slip of paper with some Hindoo characters written upon
it — the whole wrapped up in a cotton cloth, and securely
fastened to the truck.
On inquiring of the serang, after the calm was over,
I learned that the rice was to show the god what his poor
followers were forced to eat, the rupee was a propitiatory
238 THE 3IERCHANT VESSEL.
offering, while the writing on the paper stated heir preg»
ing need, and conveyed a prayer and a promise of future
good behavior.
But something more serious now claimed our attention.
I have already mentioned that we had two white boys,
apprentices, on board. These lads had learned the Hin-
dostanee language, and were much among the Lascar por-
tion of the crew. The captain had instructed them already
that they were to be cautious in their intercourse with
these. He rather favored their intimacy with them, as
thereby he was more likely to learn of any plans of mu-
tiny that might be hatching out forward.
We had not long been on half allowance, when "ne
of the boys informed us that the Lascars had asked him,
apparently by chance, but evidently with a purpose;,
whether he understood navigation. The boy could navi-
gate, the captain having taught him. But he had th^
good sense to answer in the negative. His interrogator?
were evidently much disappointed. The other boy wa»
also questioned, but with a similar result.
By a little management, the lads obtained sufficient
information of their plans to show us that they had in-
tended, could either one of the boys navigate, to rise and
murder all the Europeans except that boy. They in-
tended to preserve him, and force him to take the vessel,
when a breeze came, into the neighborhood of some port
in the Bay of Bengal, where they would set fire to tlu
barque to conceal their crime, and go ashore in the boats.
The captain expressed but little surprise at the
discovery of their plan. He had been long enough
TREACHERY OF THE LASCARS. 239
,»raoiig the Lascars to know that such a purpose was not
unlikely to be entertained, it" the vessel got into any
'lifficulties, or thej were seriously dissatisfied with the
\nyage.
We took some extra precautious to guard against sur-
prise ; the arms in the armchest were loaded, and placed
ready for use ; but farther, nothing was done — no notice
taken of the design on foot.
( 'ur security lay in the fact that they had no one to
navigate the barque for them. Had either one of the
bovs been so imprudent as to own that he eould work the
vessel, there was no doubt that a desperate attempt
would have beeu made to carry into eflFect their plans.
We were eighteen days becalmed, in all which time wc
did not make sixty miles to the south. At last came
the breeze, and we joyfully ran up the studd'n-sails, and
stood on our course. The Lascars firmly believed that
their prayers and offerings had propitiated the ruler of
the winds in our favor, and triumphantly adduced this as
an evidence of the power of their idol, whose altar was
now decked with rib1)onsand bright-colored paper — tokens
of the gratitude of his worshipers.
The breeze continued with us until we reached the
Mauritius, as the Isle of France is commonly called. We
had a ninety-days' passage to Port Louis. Although not
actually out of provisions when we got there, common
prudence had forced the captain to keep us on short
allowance for nearly half that time. I was, ponsequently,
glad enough to get ashore, if it were only to eat once
more a good meal. Moldy rice and rusty pork, peas fuT
240 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
of bugs, and worm-eaten bread, had been our fare for a
large portion of the passage.
This is, however, sailor's luck. It is a great blessing
that the sea-air produces an appetite which enables one
to stomach almost anything bearing the semblance of
provisions.
We moored the vessel, head and stern, sent down the
top-gallant and royal yards and top-gallantmasts, and
prepared the top-masts and topsail-yards for being sent on
deck, precautions which are enforced by the authorities
of the port, to guard against accidents in time of hurri-
canes, which prevail in these latitudes during certain
seasons of the year. This done, I was free to go ashore.
I was paid off with fifty rupees (twenty-five dollars),
which was two months' wages, having received the usual
month's advance at Whampoa — and spent it, too.
On the day on which I left the vessel, the Lascars also
demanded their discharge. They would not sail any
longer with our captain, whom they regarded as a repro-
bate — one who was under the curse of their idol.
The captain cared but little about their leaving, but
was very desirous to retain the serang, who was an unu-
sually smart and trustworthy fellow. Here 1 learned
another of their peculiarities. The serang was desirous
to stay ; but the connection in which he stood to the crew
made it impossible. These men unite themselves in
gangs or companies, choose one of their number, generally
the eldest, for their serang or chief, and thus ship on a
vessel. During the voyage, any unusual action they con-
sider expedient to take, is referred to the entire body, and
TEE LASCARS LEAVE. 241
the determination of the majority settles the matter.
From this, no one of them dares depart, as he would be
regarded a traitor.
When we arrived at Port Louis, a council was held to
determine whether they should leave. Various arguments
were offered for and against such step, but finally, those
in favor of leaving prevaile<l ; and now the serang, who
had been in the minority, felt himself bound to go with
his companions. No offer of additional wages ooiild
prevail on him to staj
16
CHAPTER XIX. -
Taking my chest and hammock on shore, I first of all
hunted up a boarding-house. Boarding, I found, was at
the rate of ten rupees per week. There were but two
meals per day. East India fashion, and every man was
expected to furnish his own bedding, being provided with
enough floor to spread it on.
This was fully as bad as my chum had represented
matters to me. I saw that at such rates, fifty rupees
would last but a little while ; and lost no time in looking
up a ship.
But, unfortunately, ships were scarce just then. I
desired to go to some part of India, but so, it seemed, did
every other sailor on shore, and there were not a few of
them. I was without acquaintances, unused to the ways
of the port, and soon saw that if I wanted to escape be-
coming "hard up," as it is termed among sailors, 1
would have to spend all my time on the mole and among
the ships, to catch a chance.
(242)
PORT LOUIS. 243
" Hard up," is a dread word among seamen. Tew but
have experienced all its horrors. 'J'here are seasons in
every port when, from a stagnation in business, fewer
ships are fitted out than arrive, and consequently there
is a surplus of seamen on shore, for whom there Ls cf
course no employment.
These poor fellows are obliged to waste their time and
means in vain pursuit of a ship, and finally, when they
have no longer the money necessary to pay for their
boarding and lodging, must dispose of their clothing, that
which they need most, to pay the landlord, or in default —
or even after having done this — are turned into the street,
to shift for themselves, as best they may.
Then they may be seen — poor, half-starved fellows —
sneaking about the shipping, taking shelter for the night
under lee of boxes and bales on the quay, and begging a
crust from some compassionate cook, to keep them from
otter starvation.
In American ports, it does not often happen that sailors
are reduced to these extremities ; but in foreign parts,
and especially in the principal seaports of England, there
is no depth of misery which seamen do not sometimes
suffer.
I will relate here an incident, of which I was an eye-
witnesis, which will show to what extreme seamen are not
unfrequently reduced. We were in the King's Dock, in
Liverpool ; it was in November, and " times" were " poor "
ashore, so we heard. I he steward had, one afternoon,
brought up out of the bread-locker, a quantity of spoiled
bfead — sea-bread — which, having got wet, was all alive
244 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
with worms — a disgusting mess, which was intended foi
the pig.
Two sailors, who had been wandering forlornly about
the vessel and dock all day, looked at this bread with
eager eyes. At length, it seemed they could no longei
withstand the temptation, and both got on board an 1
walked up to the long-boat, where it was sitting. Turn
ing it over, they picked out a few of the least worm-eaten
biscuit, and asked the steward, who had been looking on,
for permission to take them.
He would not believe that the men were so hungry as
to desire to eat this stuff, and, suspecting some trick to
extort charity, told them coldly they might eat it if they
wished. They thanked him, took it on the quay, and
there, knocking the worms out of it. began to eat it.
Several of us who had watched their actions, now inter-
fered, called them on board, and gave them as much aa
they could eat of such as we had in the forecastle. They
told us that they were then tasting food for the first time
in forty-eight hours — a statement which their wan looks,
and voracious appetites showed to be too true.
They had been two months on shore, had sold ever;y
stitch of clothing they owned except the dungaree shirtt?
and trowsers they had on — had even disposed of their
shoes, and were walking the streets barefooted. They had
been turned out of their boarding-houses, and had, fa-
some weeks, slept on boxes and bales, in comers of the
docks, where a kind watchman would give them slx'iltcr
All this, too, in the month of November.
They were now entirely destitute, and would have to
" HARD UP. ' 245
suffer dreauiully for tho want of suitable ciotiiing, even
if they got a ship — of which, however, theie setmod but
little hope, for what captiiin would ship such worn, weak
fellows when he could have his choice of hundreds of
sailors. Yet I had one of these very men as a shipmate
afterward, and a steadier man or better sailor I nevei
knew. This is one of the dark sides of a sailor's life.
As before said, I was afraid of getting hard up, and
determiued to avail myself of the first chance of ship-
ping. I had been already near y three weeks ashore, and
was very nearly at the bottom of my purse, when, fortu-
nately, an American ship, about to sail for Rio de Janeiro
and Boston, needed a hand, and I obtained the chance.
The wages were very low — only ten dollars per month,
and no advance. To the latter circumstance I was
indebted for being chosen out of some ten or twelve who
desired to ship. All the rest were already in debt ashore,
beyond their means to pay, while I was. so far, square
with the landlord, and had ten rupees left wherewith tc
purchase myself a little warm clothing, of which I stood
Miuch in need.
I had now been so long in warm weather that I had
soarcely any woolen clothes, and dreaded doubling the
Cape with so poor a fit out as I was the possessor of. But
necessity knows no law. Whether I wanted to cr not, I
had to face the weather.
Although three weeks ashore in Port Louis, I saw
scarcely anything of the city, and nothing at all of the
suburl s and neighborhood, or of any other portion of the
island The city is situated at the bottom of a tolerably
246 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
roomy basin, which forms the anchorage. It is sur
rounded on all sides, but the north with high mountain!?,
the nigged volcanic peaks of which i ise in most singulai
shapes.
The population is composed of many different nations,
both Oriental and Occidental. Among Europeans, French
and English predominate. Of the Eastern races, the
Hindoos are in point of numbers the strongest, but there
are Parsees, Chine.-e. Malays, Africans, Madagascarenee
Arabs — in short, representatives of nearly every race and
nation of the Orient. The natives, who are mostly black,
the descendants of Madagascarenes, speak a barbarous
species of French, but generally understand English in
.addition.
The little I saw of the Mauritius pleased me much,
and I resolved if possible to return thither at some fu-
ture time, and make it my port of departure for a
while, sailing hence in the little traders which fre-
quent the bays of Madagascar, and explore the adjoining
African coast, and the islands of the Indian Ocean. As
this one of my day dreams was, singularly enough, real-
ized to some extent afterward, I will defer any farther
description of Port Louis and its environs until it turns
up again in the regular course of my narrative ; merely
saying here that it derived much of its interest to me
from the fact that here is laid the scene of Pierre St.
Bernard's beautifu" story of Paul and Virginia. Poor
Bailor that I was, I was deprived by my poverty of the
pleasure of making a pilgrimage to the graves of these
true lovers. I even got but a glimpse at the narrow aud
FOR AMERICA. 247
'hallow harbor, called to this day Tombo Bay (Bay of
Tombs), where Virginia's ship was cast ashore, and she
and Paul met so melancholy a fate.
Such is but too often the fortune of the seaman. He
visits places of the greatest interest, but finds the cir-
cumstances which control him such as to deprive him of
all the pleasure he had anticipated from his voyage.
As we sailed out of Port Louis harbor, I was forced to
tionfess to myself that the object I had had in view in
coming to the East Indies had been very poorly fulfilled.
I was bitterly disappointed when I thought that al-
though I had been to Calcutta and Madras, 1 knew but
little more of either place than if I had never seen them.
That though I had made another voyage to China, 1 was
but little wiser than before. That after all the hard-
ship and trouble seen and suffered since 1 left the Uni-
ted States, more than sixteen months before. I was no
more satisfied with the little I had seen than I was be-
fore 1 set out upon this voyage, from which I had antici-
pated so m'Tch. In truth I was learning by experience
that of all travelers the sailor sees the least, ami pays
most dearly for it.
I turned my face America-ward, with a mind ill con-
tented, a poorly provided chest, and a nearly empty
purse. But with an obstinacy worthy, perhaps, a better
cause, I determined to make one more trial. Using the
experience gained in the last year and a half, I thought
1 could perhaps make my way about the Indies a little
more to my satisfaction than I had succeeded in doing
this time
248 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
We left Port Louis in July. 'J he vessel in which \
was now, had brought a caigo of rice from Arracan to
the Mauritius. Her captain found freights in the latter
place rather dull, and determined to return to the United
States, stopping at Rio de Janeiro by the way, to procure
a cargo of coffee.
We had a singular crew. Among the twelve members
of the forecastle, at least seven different nations were rep
resented. There were two Americans, three Englishmen,
a native of St. Helena, two Manillamen, two Frenchmen,
one Spaniard, and one Swede.
Our vessel had been for some years sailing from port
to port in the Indies, and had gradually lost all her own
crew, and picked up at random the men who now manned
her. They were all good seamen ; but wc made a very
unsociable set in the forecastle. So many different na-
tions can not agree well together, when thrown into
such close connection as we were, in a narrow forecastle.
The English hated the Manillamen, as "conniving
fellows," because these would not get drunk with them ;
while the Spaniard made friends of them because they
spoke his language, 'i'he St. Helena man was ranged on
Johnny BuWs side, while the Swede rather inclined to
Yankecdom. The two Freni'hmen assumed an air of
the loftiest contempt for all our little cliques and parties,
declared John Bull a brute, snapped their lingers at the
American eagle, and sang " virr Ut bagatelle."
For myself, I had been so long a citizen of the world,
that it was not a matter of much difficulty to steer
my courst' safely between all parties, and make friends
OUR CREW. 249
if all. I had been hailed as a " lime-juicer," on first
joining on board, having, by sailing in British vessels for
the previous year, contracted many of the ways of British
pallors. I took care to proclaim myself an American,
however, and thus was naturally counted on the Yankee
:5idc in the forecastle — a side, by the way, which was very
poorly represented among us.
The only other American sailor on board was a poor,
sick fellow, who had broken down his constitution undei
the burning suns of India, and was now making his way
home to die. He hailed from the State of New York, but
had not been home for many years. No one would have
taken him for an American, so thoroughly had his long
service in British vessels changed him.
For three years previous to his shipping in the Ariadne
(the name of the vessel in which we now were) , he had
been in the East India Company's service, forming, the
greater part of that time, one of the crew of a small
steamer which plied on the Indus, bearing dispatches to
and from the then scene of war in Sinde and the Punjaub,
He had finally fallen sick, and was sent to Bombay, where
he partly recovered, was discharged from the hospital and
service, and shipped in the Ariadne, determined to go
home.
His disease, the dysentery, still hung upon him, and ho
was scarcely able to walk about when I came on board.
Although we were by this means one hand short, in
a crew that was small enough when complete, our sick
shipmate was carefully attended, and his condition made
as easy as possible in a dark and contracted forecastle.
250 THE 31ERCEANT VESSEL.
There is but little comfort for an invalid on board •>
merchant vess 1. So little space is provided for the crcv
that it is impossible to give to the sufferer a separate
apartment. Day after day, he must lie in his berth, in
the crowded forecastle, aroused at regular intervals by the
noise of the changing watches, listening languidly to the
gay and .careless laugh of his more fortunate shipmates,
and by the constant presence of their stalwart forms,
forced to feel with treble keenness the helplessness to which
he is reduced. He receives but little attendance, for his
fellows have but little time they can call their own ; and,
although all is meant kindly, no amount of good feeling
can make up to him the comforts which his fevered bo ly
misses.
Poor George, who was sick nearly all the way home,
seemed to care only to live to reach that home. To see
once more the spot whence he had started out, many years
ago — to die in the cottage where he first saw light, and
have his remains laid in the little church-yard where, in
childhood, he had played — this seemed now the only
desire of his heart. I trust it was granted him. We
saw him safely to the cars when we were discharged in
Boston — beyond that, I know naught of him.
He had made some singular experiences in his lifetime.
Most of his sailing had been in English vessels, in tlir
East Indies. There was scarce a port in the Indies which
he had not visited, and of which he had not some stm-y
to tell. He loved to beguile his loneliness by yarning
when he could get auditors ; and I spent many hours of
aiy watch below, sitting upon the edge of his berth
''OLD FRED." 251
listening to the experience of one who had started to sea
with just such ideas as 1 still entertained, and who wa8
now returning to probably a desolate h^nie, a wreck, fit
orly to (lie, and hoping for nothing b.tter than the privi-
lege of dying among his kindred.
There was but one man in the forecastle whose yams
could riwJ sick George's. This was a growling English-
man, who presumed on his white locks and wrinkled face,
to force upon us such unconscionable stories that he, in a
very short time, became the butt of every one's iokes.
(xcorge's yarns were listened to with interest and respect,
because we could dep nd on what he said. There was the
evidence of truth about him. But old Fred assumed
Buch a braggadojio air with his interminable tales that
no one would believe him
We could not mention a strange place, but Fred would
at once shout, " Yes, I know all about that ; I was th're,'
in such a ship, the Amelia, the Augusta, the Arabella,
or whatever name happened to be uppermost in his mind.
He pretended to know everything, about wind, weather,
and the world in general. He was, in short, a kind of
self-constituted Solomon-in-ordinary to the crew; a fel-
low of whose advice you could not rid yourself, be you
ever so uncommunicative.
By his undesired interference in everybody's stories, he
broke up all yarning in the forecastle. Not one of us lut
was afraid to mention an adventure, or speak of a foreign
place, knowing that master Fred would at once take the
wind out of our sails, by some tougher yarn than any one
else cared ab"»ut spinning.
353 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
At last several of us fell upon a plan to silence hiiu,
which proved as effectual as we hoped. He was evei
ready to yarn it. We therefore seated ourselves around
him one Sunday afternoon, and commenced catechising
him.
" Were you ever in Canton, Fred ?"
" Oh, yes, I went there fifteen years ago in the Wind-
sor Castle, a Company vessel."
" How long were you on the voyage ?"
" We sailed from London to Canton, thence to Calcut-
ta, and back to Gravesend, in eighteen months."
One of the conspirators, with a piece of chalk, slily
marked on the back of a chest, " London to Canton and
Calcutta and back, eighteen months."
Another now said, " Where did you board when you
were in Sydney, Fred ?"
The old fellow went into a long dissertation on
Colonial life, spoke of having been cattle tending, hav-
ing sailed out of Sydney for a number of years, and at
last when pressed to mention the exact number, said,
after an effort at recollection, " about twelve years he
had spent in the colony of New South Wales."
In like manner we successively drew him out concern-
ing all the different parts of the world in which any of
us had ever been, leading him to give us the time spent
in each, or on each voyage thither and back.
Fred was in high spirits at such a chance to yarn it tc
ns youngsters, while we had difficulty in keeping our
faces straight enough to carry out the joke. Our exan-
imttion was continued nearly three hours, when Fred
RIO DE JAXEIRO. 253
having just been tempted into a most barefacea lie, one
of his persecutors broke out on him: •' Why, you old
swindler, you outrageous old heathen, just lock here."
pointing to his running account on the chest, " if all ym
buve told us were true, as you so solemnly swear, you
would be just one hundred and fifty-six years and t n
months old. Now go on deck, and be ashamed of yourself."
The old fellow looked daggers at us, who were enjoying
the scene hugely, and left us, muttering something abou*
'• a parcel of saucy boys, who had no respect for gray
hairs."
But from tKat time we were troubled no more with
Fred's yarns.
We had a fine passage to Rio de Janeiro; although we
passed thje Cape of Good Hope in the dead of winter, we
met with no very severe storm. This was the third time
1 had doubled the Cape, each time in the winter season,
or during the period of short days.
We arrived in due time, and without any noteworthy
occurrence, in the harbor of Rio. The tall sugar-loaf,
the many curiously shaped peaks, towering on all sides
toward the sky, and the two white forts at the harbor's
mouth, seemed to me like old acquaintances. As we
cast anjhor in the midst of a dense crowd of merchant
vessels, of all nations. I recollected how much, on my first
visit to this place. 1 had envied the merchant sailors
their comparative freedom. This time, 1 thought, I will
take a cruise on shore, long enough to make up for mj
former deprivations.
But this time, too, I was destined to disappointment
254 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
It happened to be a season when the Brazilian navy waa
in urgent need of men, and press-gangs were on the
watflh either to entice away, or, in default of that, to
carry off by main force, all sailors on whom they could
lay their clutches. I had then a shipmate in that ser-
vice, who had been carried off in such manner, and waa
not at all desirous of sharing his fate. I did not ven-
ture, therefore, any farther than the palace stairs, the
usual landing place for boats.
Neither had we much time to spend on shore. Al-
ready on the second day after our arrival in port, cargo
began to come along side. As we had nothing to dis-
charge, we began immediately to load the vessel, a ser-
vice in which all the crew were engaged. After carrying
heavy coffee bags all day, in a hot and confined hold, om
does not feel much like wandering about on shore al
night. The berth is the most tempting place after sup
per ; a quiet night's rest is much more welcome than a
ramble about a foreign place.
In a fortnight we had our cargo stowed, and were readj
to sail for Boston.
One day, while we were yet taking in cargo, the entire
harbor was thrown into excitement by the arrival of a
British vessel of war, having in tow a prize, taken but a
little way to the north, on the coast. She was a queer -
looking craft to have been fitted out for a slaver. She
looked for all the world like a genuine New Bedford
whaler. Boats on her quarters, little topgallant cross-
trees for the convenience of the lookouts, an oil s^^eak
A SLAVER'S THICKER Y. 255
in her starboard waist — everything proclaimed Ler a
" spouter."
We understood that she had been fitted out in this
way on purpose to deceive the cruisers. The story or
shore was that she had made several successful voya^v8.
00 one suspecting a sleepy old blubber-hunter of carrying
anything contraband of law. How suspicion was first
aroused against her, we did not hear. Trobably, how-
eTer, by some one in the confidence of the owners be-
traying the secret.
But we saw a more remarkable specimen of a slavci
than even this whaler. This was a Brazilian built craft
a polacca sloop, having only one huge mast, almost ad
large in circumference as a seventy-four's mainmast. She
had been chased by a British cruiser for six days and
nights, before she was caught. She was now a mere
wreck, no longer seaworthy.
Nothing that human ingenuity could invent to add
to the vessel's speed, had been spared during the long
chase. The rigging was all eased up, giving the mast
more play — every imaginable sail was crowded on — but
all in vain. At last they resorted to the desperate expe-
dient of sawing through the vessel's rail or bulwark, in
three places on each side. This had the effect of mak-
ing her hull as limber as an old basket, and the cruiser'a
men said it for a while increased her speed materially.
But the wind died away, and then the vessel of war
sent her boats after her, and to these they were obliged
to Burreuder, She lay now a hulk in the harbor^ and
was to be shortly broken up.
256 THE 3IERCHAXT VESSEL.
We an-ived in Eio de Janerio ou the loth of Septem
bcr. having been just sixty days in coming from th(
Isle of France. We lay eighteen days in the port of
Kio, and took our departure thence for Boston on the 3d
jf October.
Sailing for a northern port so late in the season, we
East Indiameu were considerably alarmed at the pros-
pect of meeting with cold weather on the American
coast. We industriously patched up old jackets, and
flannels, tarred our sea-boots, and darned up old stock-
ings, endeavoring to make as good provision as possible
for that which we knew was in store for us.
To one who hast been sailing for some years in a
warm climate, a sudden approach to the cold of north-
ern latitudes is as disagreeable an incident as can well
happen. My warm clothes had lain so long, unused, in
my chest, that half of them were no longer fit to wear,
and I had enough to do at tailoring, all the passage, in
order to fit myself out for cold weather, which we were
now approaching.
W^e had a pleasant passage, until we began to draw
near the American coast When about abreast of the
Island of Nantucket, but yet some distance from the
land, the wind hauled to the north-east, and we ran
into Boston Bay amid such a pelting storm of hail, yleet,
rain, and wind, as none of us had experienced for some
time. Happily, a north-easter is a fair wind for home-
ward-bounders, when they have got as far on theii
passage as had we, and we were not therefore exposed
for a long time to the storm. We arrived in Boston
BOSTON BAY. 257
harbor on the 18th of November. It was still storming
wildly outside, and no one could have felt more strongly
than ourselves the comfort of having brought our ship
safely into a haven. We made haste to secure her to thf
wharf; then took out our effects, and departed for our dil
ferent boarding houses.
17
\
CHAPTER XX.
I PROCEEDED to my former abiding place, the Sailor's
Home, -where I enjoyed that night the sweetest sleep
that had fallen to my experience for a long time. The
following day we were paid oflF. I had a little over forty
dollars due me. My first act was one which every sailor
makes a primary consideration, namely, to fill up my old
eeachest with good warm clothes, in preparation for the
inclement weather which was now to be encountered.
Common opinion ascribes to the sailor a careless, joy-
ous disposition. So far as my experience extends, it
seems to me there is nothing farther from the truth.
The man-of-war's man, to be sure, is burdened with no
cares, and he fills fully the idea formed of the genus by
the shoresman. His jovial good nature borrows no
trouble of the future. He is in a service where he can
rely upon being properly taken care of. He has no occa-
sion to take thought for the morrow. His labor is light,
(268)
HARD TIMES FOR SAILORS. 259
his pay sure and suflBcient, and Lis responsibility as tri-
fling as can be imagined.
Not so with the merchant seaman. His voyages are
shorter, aud he is therefore uftener under the necessity
3f looking out for a r.ew berth. His toil is severe, and
many parts of his duty throw wearying responsibilities
upon him. His pay is barely suflfieient to afford him ne-
cessary clothing, aud defray his expenses during his pe-
riodical loitering on land. And he is no sooner on shore
than he feels harassed by the necessity of hunting up a
new ship.
Withal, let him have as much foresight as ever falls
to the share of a sailor, yet he can not always choose such
voyages as he would like most, or as would make his life
easiest. In the majority of cases, he is forced to take up
with the first chance that offeis. And very often, all
precautions to the contrary notwithstanding, he finds him-
self caught in winter weather upon a northern coast, and
has before him a prospect of suffering which is enough
to make the stoutest heart quail.
So it was with me at this time. When I returned tc
Boston from London, 1 determined never again to be
caught upon the American coast in the winter. Yet here
I was now, the last of November already at hand, just
come ashore from an India vnyage, and poorly prepared
t«) face the storm which lay between me and a more gen-
ial sky.
1 will not say that my heart faLed me ; but I felt
much tioubled at the thoughts of another winter pas
sage.
2G0 THE 3IERCHANT VESSEL.
" The times " in Boston, were n-^ne too good. Although
sLipping was brisk, there were a great 'nany seamcD
ashore, all anxious to ship themselves and each lookinp
?xit for a southern voyage.
I had several offers to go to the Mediterranean. But,
with the prospect of returning to the United States in the
dead of winter, I would not go there. Some offers there
were, too, of voyages to the West Indies, but with a simi-
lar drawback, of being gone about three months, and
returning to the coast in February or March.
1 desired to escape the entire winter, and for this pur-
pose it wag necessary to go upon a voyage to last at least
six months. But no vessel was just then fitting out upon
such a trip ; or if there was, her crew was engaged several
months beforehand, and all chances in her long ago
filled up.
I wandered about the shipping ofl&ces for more than a
week, attempting to suit myself, but ineffectually. At
last, on walking into an office one morning, a gentleman
talking to the shipping-master, asked me if 1 would not
go " Down East"
" How far ?" asked 1.
" To Bangor."
" Where is the vessel to go, from there?"
"A fine voyage ; she goes to Demarara, thence to Buen
Ayre, and returns to New Orleans with a cargo of salt."
•' That will cheat the winter, my lad," remarked the
shipper.
•' She IS the finest craft that ever sailed from Down
East, and her captain and mate are gentlemen," adde
THE BARQUE SWAIN. 2G1
the one wbo had first spoken. " You will have fine
times."
I did not much like the idea of going to Bangor, where
winter had already set in in full force ; but on consideriuu
that so fair-looking a chance might not oflFer again, I con-
cludod to accept.
On signifying as much to the shipper, ne produced tht
shipping papers, and 1 signed my name to the articles oi
the good barque Swain, whereof John Cutter was master,
*' or whoever shall go master thereof," to proceed on a
voyage from Bangor to Georgetown, Demarara, thence to
the island of Buen Ayre, and return to New Orleans.
•' She's a chartered vessel, my lad, so you may rely upon
her going the voyage," said the shipper, as I hesitated to
write my name.
This additional security decided me fully, and I prom-
ised to be ready to go to Bangor by that evening's boat.
It not unfrequeutly happens that vessels going to a
port, or on a voyage, not liked by seamen, ship crews under
false pretenses — that is, the articles declare the ship to
De going to one place, when she is going to another. For
instance, I shipped once to go to New Orleans, when the
captain knew full well that he was about to proceed direct
to Mobile. So it happens in innumerable cases. It is,
therefore, counted a privilege when one can secure a berth
in a vessel that is chartered for the voyage, as there is
then a tolerable certainty that all the conditions of the
shipping agreement will be fulfilled.
Before I left the shipping office, I obtained from the
person who was so active in getting me to ship, a full and
262 THE 3IERCIIANT VESSEL.
particular account of the vessel in vliich 1 was to go, and
of her captain.
The barque was said to be about three years old, in
excellent order, alow and aloft, did not leak a drop, and
had a splendid fit out.
As her outward cargo was to be lumber, 1 was particu-
lar to inquire as to her carrying a decK-load, but was
assured thai she would not.
"All her cargo is in the hold."
The captain was said to be a fine, good-natured down-
easter, who would see that his crew were made comfort-
able.
Of all this, of course, I hoisted in only a very moderate
portion, leaving the balance as something to be " told to
the marines." Yet I was glad to revel, if in imagination
only, in the prospect of a comfortable ship and a good
voyage.
As our ship and voyage proved so decidedly the reverse
of what was described to me, it may be well here to state,
for the benefit of the uninitiated reader, that there are
good vessels " Down East " — in Maine — and that some
of the finest men that ever walked a (iuarter-deck hail
from there.
I was the last man that shipped. The vessel was to
carry six hands, three of whom, it was said, were already
iu Bangor, while the other three of us were going on b)
that evening's steamer. I was so fortuna**^ as to recognizt
in the other two, old shipmates, and we three whiled away
tht passage by reminiscences of past times, and plans for
the future.
A DOWN EAST BARQUE. 2fi3
Steaming all night, wc awoke next ninrniiig in the
f'ennbscot river, and by noon arrived at Frankfort, a place
about fifteen miles below Bangor. Here, our conductor —
who, by the way, was the Exp: ess agent, to whom we hud
been consigned, I suppose, as so many par.-els. •' contcLts
unknown " — was hailed by a raw-boned down-easter, who
proved to be our new captain.
He had brought his vessel down from Bangor, to prevent
her being frozen up. We therefore got on shore with our
baggage, and proceeded with our worthy captain, to take
a look at the ship. He pointed out to us her masts, aa
she lay, the outside vessel in a tier, and hastily giving us
directions how to get on board, left us, to hunt up the
balance of his men, being anxious to start out imme-
diately.
Leaving our baggage on the wharf, we proceeded on
board to make a preliminary inspection of the craft. She
proved to be a much older- looking vcssil than she had
been represented, and had on a deck lo id at least ten teet
high. So far, she was not at all satisfactory to us.
One of m}! shipmates proposed to refuse to go in her.
To this, I objected ; I had signed the articles, had takf n
my month's advance, and laid out a portion <if it. and
[ new felt that I ought to stick to my bargain at all
hazards.
My determination overruled the other two, and we
bi ought on board our chests and hammocks.
Having procured fi'om the second mate the key of the
fore:;astle, we proceeded to install ourselves in the dark
*> )le which was to be for some time our he me. I went
264 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
below to receive the luggage. Striking a light that .
might see where to place our chests, 1 found it w uld be
tirst necessary to remove on deck a mass of running lig-
giug, studd'n-sail gear, etc.. which had been thrown down
tliere for safe-keeping.
After getting rid of this, I found the deck or floor
covered with chips, sawdust, and ice, to the depth of
several inches. I began, by this time, to wish that I had
not come to Bangor.
But. what was n y astonishment when, on looking for-
ward, toward what are called the breast hooks, being the
most forward portion of the bows, inside, I beheld there
a solid mass of ice, which proved to be about three feet
thick, and extended from the deck to the ceiling overhead,
nearly five feet high.
" Send down your chests, boys," shouted I, in despera-
tion, fearing that if either of the others discovered the
ice before their ba;jgage came down, they would utterly
refuse to go in the vessel.
I placed the chests as best I could upon the dirt ant*
ice, flung the beddini:^ into the berths as it was handed
down, then replaced the forecastle ladder, and invited my
two friends to walk down and inspect the premises. With
curses both loud and deep, they beheld the dirty and
miserable hole which was to be our abode.
In ^.ruth, I was myself somewhat staggered in my re-
solution of going in the vessel, as I examined more closely
into the accommodations — or, it should be said, of lack
of accommodations. But a little calm consideration con
vinced me that there was no other course open to me.
THE FORECASTLE. 265
We had received sixteen dollars, advance, with the
nnderstanding that if we went to sea in *he ship it would
be due, but if we did not go, it would have to be refunded
tc the shipper by the people who had indorsed for us —
ll.e boarding-house keepers, namely. It would therefore
have been a species of dishonesty in us now to back out,
especially as we were not prepared to retuin the money.
Bill and Tom, my shipmates, spoke of immediately taking
their effects out of the vessel 1 hoy would stand nothing
of this kind.
I had nothing to urge against this course, and contented
myself with saying that I should feel bound to go in her,
if she was to sink the first night out. After endeavoring
in vain to shake my resolution, they at last concluded
also to remain, " as it would not do to leave an old ship-
mate in the lurch."
But we had not seen the worst even yet. I had simply
thrown the bundles of bedding into the berths. When
we began to spread out our beds, we found in the lower
berths, instead of berth-boards, solid blocks of ice, two
feet thick ; and upon one of these I spread out my bedding,
and here slept, or tried to sleep, until the warm weather
began to melt my resting place. By that time ray
mattress was just fit to throw overboard, and for .he
balance of the voyage I either slept upon deck, wrapped
up in a blanket, or made use of another's bed.
All this ice had come into the vessel in this' wise: As
before mentioned, she was lumber-loaded. The cargo had
been taken in through a bow-port, wh'ch opened into the
foKJcastle, just on a level with the water's edge. Thus
266 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
the boards and joists coraposing the loading were run ore
of the water alongside, through our miserable habitation,
into the hold, dripping all the way. The water froze
wherever it fell, ai.d the lumber-men no doubt threw more
down on top of it. to make themselves a convenient slide
for the heavier pieces of wood. Thus the entire forecastle
was full of ice.
The presence of such a mass of frozen water, with the
dampness arising from the wet lumber stowed in the hold,
made staying below almost unbearable. Yet it was a
little better than on deck, inasmuch as there was some
shelter from the rough winds.
When the captain came on board we demanded a stove.
He granted us one. but neglected to tell us, until we had
got some distance down the river, that there was no pipe
on board for it. The stove, therefore, was of no use. It
was altogether out of the (luestion to keep warm, or even
moderately comfortable. Our only consolation was, that
with a fair wind, a few days would see us in warm
weather.
Our crew was to have numbered six ; but on looking
for the remaining three, only one was forthcoming. The
other two had changed their mind, and found it more
comfortable to remain on shore.
" Never mind them, lads," said the captain, " I am
going to come to at Thnmaston, and there we can get two
■jthers without trouble."
I had myself refused to go to sea short-handed, which
Irew from him this remark.
Accordingly, we ag. ccd to take the vessel to Thoniastr n
SHORT-HANDED. 267
which lies at the mouth of the Penol)scot. Wo ca:ae U.
anchor at some distance from the land, took the captain
ishore, and returned on board. He was to come off next
morning, and promised faithfully to bring off two addi
tional men.
Next morning came, and so did our captain — but no
men. He talked very fairly, however ; said he could
find no one that would consent to go with him — they
knew his character too well, probably, as this was hie
native town — that he was willing to help, and would
flee that the mates did their share : and that when we
once got into warm weather we would get along finely.
Sailors are easily won over by fair words, and it did
not require much persuasion to make us get underweigh,
and put out to sea. The mate promised to hunt up the
missing stove-pipe when we got clear of the land ; and
with the hope of having a fire in our miserable forecastle,
we worked cheerfully. For my part, I was careless of
present suffering, while there was a prospect of running
into warm weather, and was eager to be underweigh,
decreasing the distance between ourselves and the West
Indiea
We set sail with a stiff northwester, before which the
old craft rolled off to the southward at no slow rate.
When watches were chosen, I was put with the second
mate's, and found my watehmate to be the young man
who had come on board at Frankfort — a fellow who waa
now making his first voyage to sea. He could not furl a
royal, could not steer, did not even know how to pull on
a rope proT^erly.
268 TSE MERCHANT VESSEL.
Such a fellow was worse than useless on toard an
ander-manned vessel like ours Of course he was not to
l>e trusted to steer the barque, in a breeze such as now
favored us. My first trick at the wheel lasted four hours
A.nd for many succeeding days and nights I was forced to
steer my entire watch on deck, while the ship was running
before a stiff gale.
But it was as well to be at the wheel as at the pumps,
which was now the alternative. The wretched old craft
had sprung a leak, the heavy deck-load straining her
timl>ers. This leak was not very serious, but unfortu-
nately both of our pumps were out of order, and the water
threatened to stand five or six feet deep in the hold before
we could get them to work. After trying in vain to make
use of them, we hauled one pump on deck, and with a
great deal of trouble and hard labor, repaired it.
Happily this one remained in tolerable order. Had it
not, we should have become water-logged in a short time,
as the other pump, while being hauled up for the purpose
of making repairs upon it, was thrown violently against
the mainmast, by a heavy lurch of the ship, and so mu' h
injured as to make it entirely useless.
In stowing the deck-load, no regard had been paid tc
future convenience. The space about the pumps was sc
much crowded, that pumping was made doubly laborious.
We would work there all night, and after breakfast i;ext
morning all hands would turn to, and by dint of the
severest labor, free her of water by perhaps ten o'clock
when the watch below were permitted to take thcii
needed rest. The entire afternoon watch was in like
SUFFERINGS OF THE CREW. 269
manner spent at the pumps, and by sunset we were tired
and worn out, and but ill prepared for another night's
suflFering, in wet and bitter eold.
The barque was so deeply laden that the seas broki'
even over her deck-load, and kept us continually wet.
A-nd worse yet, the usual shelter from wind and sea,
afforded by a ship's bulwarks, we were here entirely
deprived of. Perched high in mid-air, on top of the deck
load, the biting northwest wind blew through our wet
clothes, and threatened to congeal the very marrow in our
bones.
This state of things happily lasted only twelve days.
These days seemed of an almost interminable length.
There was no possibility of resting on dtck, and a four
hours' trick at the wheel wonderfully kngthens a watch,
in the imagination of the poor victim, as any one who
has experienced it will readily grant.
Below, I could not sleep. There was a chilling and
damp air in the forecastle, caused by the great lumps of
ice with which it was still incumbered, and by the wet
lumber in the hold, which made the stay below, if
possible, worse than the watch on deck. I still had my
hammock and bedding spread upon the mass of ice which
half filled the berth. Here I tumbled about during my
watch below, vainly endeavoring to sleep, and annoying
my watchmate by constant gi-umbling. For the first
three nights out, I was rot conscicis of having slept at
\\\. After that, tired nature succumbed, and I was able
tci sleep, but in gi eat misery.
Our living, meanwhile, was not of the best. Haooilv
270 THE 3IERCHANT VESSEL.
we had an excellent cook, who lost no opportuuitj to pro-
vide something good for us. But the captain and his brother,
the mate, kept a sharp eye upon the provision locker, and
took care that " the sailors should not live too well."
It was not until we got to sea, that we became aware
af the fact, that the vessel was a " family concern."
The captain and mate were brothers, and they had with
them a lad, another brother, who was now making his
nrst voyage, preparatory to taking the berth of second
'jiate, when he grew some years older and stouter. This
lad was " in everybody's mess, and nobody's watch." He
lived in the cabin, of course, but scent most of his time
in the cook's galley, finding that the most comfortable
place on board, during the cold weather.
The mate made several attempts to set " Bob " as a
spy upon the men and the cook, but the youngster
despised the meanness, and as he invariably told us of
the mate's designs, his worthy brother was forced to do
his own spying.
No ship is dreaded so much as one the officers of which
are relatives. Jack knows, that in such vessels the work
is always harder, and the treatment worse, than in any
other. Had I known that our chief officers were brothers,
I should not have gone in the vessel under any consid-
erations. It was a source of continual trouble and
difficulty to us. With a captain who was a knave and
a mate who was in everything his subservient tool, wc
could expect no peace. Happily, " Bob,'" the youngs r
brother, was an impracticable, and for very mischief
nnged himself on the side of " the men."
CLEARING UP THE FORECASTLE. 271
The vo&^jl was a lemarkabl}' dull sailer, and like &U
rach she steered badly. A fast -sailing ship almost
invariably steers well, while a slow-going old tub can
scarcely be kept within three points of her course.
From what 1 have said of our condition, on deck and
b^low, it may be imagined that we wished for nothing
bO much as warmer weather. I had thought that three
)r four days of such a breeze as we were favored with,
would bring us into a milder atmosphere. But it was
full a fortnight before we could take off our jackets, or
before the lumps of ice in the forecastle showed, by their
dripping, that we had reached a more temperate clime.
Words cannot describe how grateful to us felt the
warm beams of the summer sun, how delightful looked
the first dry spot upon the deck, and with what joy we
viewed the steam arising from the wet planks, an evidence
of the sun's power. One needs to suffer all the miserie?
which had fallen to our share since leaving Frankfort, to
appreciate the feelings with which relief from them is
hailed.
As soon as the weather was sufficiently moderate to
allow of such a thing, we took axes into the forecastle,
and chopped to pieces the ice still remaining there, as the
speediest means of ridding ourselves of it. My mattress
was thrown overboard, as was that of another. Ihc
remainder of my bedding — that is, the blankets— had
nearly followed, but a thorough washing and drying pre-
served them.
The sailor, of course, does not incumber himself with
sheets and pillows. His couch is composed generaUy of
272 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
a straw bed, and two or three thick blankets. His pea-
jacket serves him for a pillow, and if he desires to sleep
with his head high, he places his sea-boots under the
jacket At sea he rolls into his berth, at the expiration
of his watch on deck, without divesting himself of aught
except his huge overcoat, and his knife and belt, and
shoes. Ihus he is prepared to " turn out " at a moment's
notice — a thing he has frequent occasion to do.
All the scrubbing we could give our miserable forecastle,
would not make it habitable. When we got into warm
weather, the vapors arising from the lumber in the hold,
filled everything with mold. Our clothes were rotting
with moisture, which penetrated our chests. Matches
kept below could not be struck. On every fine day we
were obliged to take our effects upon deck, to keep all from
spoiling. Yet we had to sleep in this noisome hole, for
on deck there was no place fit to rest ; and besides, had
we slept upon deck, there was a strong probability that
we would be called to give a pull every time a brace or
halyard was to be stirred.
Much ice had been taken in with the lumber, and when
it now began to grow warm, this melted, and kept us
steadily at the pumps for an entire week, to free her of the
accumulation of water. By the time this was done, we
were in settled weather, running down the northeast
trades, and each day diminishing the distance between us
and our first port.
When we were no longer busied at the pumps, we
found sufficient to do about the rigging and sails. The
barque wa? old, and was, besides, so meanly kept, that
DEMARARA. 273
her top hamper and sails were a vast patch work. Ahnosl
every day something was giving way, and then, make a
splice, or patch it up in some way, was the woid. Any-
thing to prevent artual expenditure. By dint of continual
labor, however, we had her in toleralde condition by th
r,ime we got to Demarara.
It was on the thirty-second day out that we made the
land, ^^'e had been already for two days sailing over
the immense flats which extend to a distance of more
than a hundred miles seaward from this part of the
South American coast. On these flats the water is
nowhere more than ten fathoms (sixty feeti deep, altho'
the land is entirely out of sight, and one is as much at
sea as anywhere among the West India Islands.
We had been steering half a dozen different courses
during the day (it was a Sabbath), to oppo.se the \arious
currents which set here along shore, and change their
direction with the \ arying shapes of the land. The labor
of bending cables, getting the ancho.s off the bows, and
making ready for entering port, which in most ships
would have been done on the pieceding Saturday, had
been carefully preserved for a Sabbath afternoon's work
We were yet busied about the anchor, when the captain,
who was at the masthead with a spy-glass, raised 'ho
land.
The coast here is remarkably low and marshy, ami
visible at but little distance. We were only eight mWi
from the nearest point, when the captain first saw it. Wc
immediately shaped our course for the river's mouth, and
by dark were so foitunate as to receive oti board a pilot,
IS
274 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
a black follow, dressed in most appro^'u white duck. vnx\
barefooted. Under his guidance the vessel was taken to
the entrance of the river, and there anchored, ju.st o.itr
side of the bar, which we could only pass at high watti
A.t sunrise, when the tide permitted, we sailed up the
river, abreast of the town, and by night were lying along
side of a convenient wharf or pier.
Georgetown, or Stabrok, which last is its Dutch name,
is the capital and chief city of British Guiana. It lies
at the mouth of the river Demarary, and on its east
bank. It is a regularly laid out town. Lying upon a
marshy piece of ground, most of the streets are inter-
sected by canals, crossed by means of bridges. It was
founded by the Dutch, to whom this peculiarity is
owing. Many of the houses are finely built, and most
of the private dwellings are surrounded by fine gardens.
The merchants, who occupy the water-side, have in-
troduced here all the labor-saving improvements for
which Englishmen are noted. Little railways run from
nearly every warehouse, down the long piers to the ves-
sels, to facilitate the movement of the huge hogsheads
of sugar, rum, and molasses, which form the staple ex-
ports of the colony. These, with enoimous cranes for
hoisting and lowering, ease greatly the labors of the sea-
men in getting on board the cargoes. There is also a
line of railway running into the heart ot the sugar coun-
try some one hundred and twenty-five miles, on which is
transported that part of the produce which does not find
its way down the river in lighters.
The principal inhabitants are English. The most
THE TOWN AND COLONY. 275
numerous are the negroes, an idle and doless race as evei
was sten, but who live in this mild climate a happy, if
useless 3xistence. Those of them who live in the town,
wander about the wharves, taking occasionally a day'g
Tork when they need an article of clothing, but other-
wise utterly idle, and lost in vice. Of course there arc
some worthy exceptions, but such is their general condi-
tion. Fruits of all kinds are cheap, and the climate and
soil are so favorable that they can raise the little they
need with the smallest possible amount of work. And
as a class they seem to have but little ambition.
As the negroes will not work, the colonial government
imports laborers. Some of these are Portuguese, brought
from the Island of Madeira and the Canaries. But the
greater portion are Hindoos. These wretched people are
induced to apprentice themselves for a period of seven
years. They are brought by shiploads, annually, from
their native plains to this sickly country, and after suf-
fering all the horrors of a one hundred days' passage,
huddled together in a crowded hold, arc on their arrival
sent out to the plantations, where not a few of them die
from the exposure and severe toil, to which they are but
ittle used in their own countiy.
If their own tales may be believed, they are none too
well treated. The lash and cowhide arc not unknown,
and they are driven about more like cattle than human
oeings. Certain it is that not a tew of them, unable to
support their misery, commit suicide, and many run awaj
into the wild woods, where they probably perish of hun
ger and exposure.
276 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
From inquiries made among some of the mo&t inlelli
gent that I met with, I learned that they considered the
chances of ever getting back to their homes as being verj
small. Their wages are from two to five dollars per
oionth, and out of this they have to furnish themselves
clothing. Thus comparatively few of them are ever able
to get together a sufficient sum to carry them back —
although they set out from home with glowing hopes of
returning, at the expiration of their apprenticeship, in
bettered circumstances.
But few of the Hindoos are found in the town. Here
the Pc tuguesc perform most of the manual labor. They
are a turbulent set, and hard to manage. They form a
separate body, and have regulations among theciselves.
to which each one is forced to submit. They enjoy a
much larger share of liberty than the poor Hindoos, being
not apprentices, but emigrants. 1 was told by some of
them, that they frequently amass a considerable sum of
money — five or six hundred dollars being thought quite
a fortune — and return to their native isles, where, on
this amount, they can live in comfort the balance of
their days.
On the whole. I should consider Demarara a very
undesirable place for a permanent residence. Its marshy
situation makes it very sickly. The yellow fever pre-
vails all the year round, and in summer sometimes with
great violence. Centipedes, scorpions, lizards, and snakes
exist in tropical abundance ; and mosquitos darken the
air with their swarma and nearly hide the light of the
THE BENEFITS OF TEMPERANCE. 277
HUD. It is almost impossible for a European to exist
without mosquito bars, after nightfall.
On the next clay after our arrival, we began to dis-
charge the cargo. 1 here practically tested the efficacy of
strict abstinence from ardent spirits, in working under a
tropical sun. The heat was intense ; in fact, 1 think 1
never felt a more powerful sun. In discharging the lum-
ber, it was necessary for two men to work upon deck,
while the second mate, with the other two, and a couple
of negroes (when these could be gotten), shoved the
planks up out of the hold.
I was offered a plate in the hold, where there was
complete protection from the sun ; but as my shipmates
were less used to the tropics than myself I preferred to
take my place on deck. All the rest drank more or les-?
of rum, the prevailing liquor here. I was warned that,
unless I also imbibed to some extent. I should be taken
sick. But I had always before, when placed in similar
circumstances, adhered to fresh water, and determined,
althi>ugh the work bade fair to pro\e more exhausting
than I had before experienced, to stick to temperance.
And I found, that although 1 worked in the sun, while
my companions had a constant shade, I held cut much
better than they, feeling fresh and lively when they coQ
plained bitterly of exhaustion.
CHAPTER XXI.
OuB stay in Georgetown was only two weeks long.
The last plank was put ashore on a Monday, and next
day we took in a little sand ballast, in addition to that
we had already in, and set sail for the Island of Buen
Ayre, where we were to procure our cargo of salt.
Our passage thither would have been, in any other ves-
sel, a pleasure trip. We were six days underweigh, sail-
ing along all the while with soft and light breezes, now
on one quarter, now on the other, as we changed our
course, in rounding the various islands which lay on our
way.
On the second day out, we sailed through a beautiful
basin, called the Dragon's Mouth, which forms the pass-
age between the British Island of Trinidad and the
Peninsula of Paria, the last a portion of the luaiuland
of South America. It is interspersed with nuiuerouB
(278)
THE DRAGON'S MOUTE. 279
islets. which I suppose some poetical sailor has trans-
formed into the dragon's tet-th, in allusion to the dangers
encountered by the mariner who threads his way amon"
them.
Before we left Georgetown, we had spoken to the cap-
tai 1 about laying in some necessary provisions, which he
promised to do ; but he neglected the matter — purposely
or through drunkenness — and we were no sooner out of
sight of land than the mate informed the cook that a
very short allowance of beef, and no pork, with a sparing
use of bread, was necessary to bring us safely to Buen
Ayre. Hard work all day, with short allowance of
victuals, soon wears men down, and we consequently grew
careless at night. prefeiTiug sleep to the necessary look-
out Our captain had not yet gotten sufficiently over hia
late spree to keep a very correct reckoning. In conse-
quence, on the third night out, all hands were called, in a
hurry, to tack ship off shore. Coming on deck, we found
the vessel in close proximity to land. Fifteen minutes
longer on her prescribed course would have set her
■ashore. We were heartily sorry that the old tub had not
struck, as it would have released us from our unpleasant
situation. But, as the breeze was gentle, she was easily
worked off shore. On the sixth day, we reached Buen
Ayre, without meeting v.ith any farther noteworthy acci-
dent on our way.
Buon Ayre, or Bon Ayre as it is more generally called,
at least by seamen, is a beautiful little islet lying off the
coast of Venezuela and a few hours' sail east of the
inore important Island of Curacoa. It is about twenty
280 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
miles in length, the average breadth not being more than
four miles. 1 1 is intersected by a mountain range, of no
great bight however. Lying in the track of the north-
east trade winds it has a most charming climate. The
brilliant sky, pure and bracing air, and the clear and
beautiful waters oF the sea which surrounds it, all com-
bine to inspire one with new energies, and present a scene
of natural beauty which is unsurpassed in my expe-
rience.
The principal article of export (at least to the United
States) is salt. The island belongs to the crown of Hol-
land. I understood that the salt pans, together with the
slaves who work them, who are also the property of the
crown, are farmed out for a term of years to the highest
bidder, thus being in fact worked by private capital and
enterprise.
The other most valuable product of the island ie
cochineal. There are plantations of considerable extent
on the plains inland, where the bugs which when pro-
perly roasted and pulverized form the valualile cochineal
of commerce, are carefully tended by slaves. The little
animals feed upon the leaves of small trees, and are
shaken down at regular periods into sheets held below —
then prepared and sent to Holland, where they finally
come into the regular line of commerce.
The Dutch are proverbially hard masters. I could
scircely believe that human beings could so badly use
their fellow-creatures, as the overseers of the salt-works,
here, treat the poor slaves who are •' in the contract."
I'he tanks, or pans, occupy a pcrtion of the flat beach,
BUEN AYBE. 281
nbarlj a mile in extent. Thej are square, shallow exca
vatiuns iu the ground, their bottom lying below the sur-
face of the sea. Each large pan communicates with the
water by a trough or pipe, which being opened, it flows
iu until it tinds its level, it is then shut off, and the
evaporation begins. J he salt forms in beautiful crystals,
first along the sides, and as the water gets lower, along
the bottom. \Vhen a pan is ready for working, the
slaves are turned in, and gather the salt into sacks,
which they transport on their backs to a convenient place
near shore, where it is piled until quite a little mountain
is built up. This glistens in the bright sun-light like an
immense diamond.
We came to anchor at about quarter of a mile from
the beach, with the open sea behind us. There is no
danger of a storm, and but little surf — this being the
lee side — and consequently the anchorage is considered
very good. The isle has but one small harbor, which is
not used by ships coming hither for salt. Immediately
ahead of us, on the shore, lay a salt hill, as high as our
masthead, part of which was to be our cargo. The first
thing to be done was to take out ballast. This lasted
three days. It was dumped overboard alongside, we
slacking out cable, once in a while, in order that the
bowlders and sand should not fall all in one place, and
make an inconvenient little shoal.
The ballast out and the hold swept clean, the salt
came alongside. It was brought from shoi : in large
surl boats, by the slaves. When a boat came alongside,
tiie bags were thrown upon a stage, from the stage to the
282 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
deck, then a toss to the maiu-hatchway, where stood one
with a jackiilfc, to cut the string, empty the conttntg
Into the hold, and fling the sack back into the boat. Ir
this way we speedily got in as much as the barque would
carry The worst of the labor was the trimming, in the
hold, and the carrying sacks forward and aft to the
hatches, there to be emptied. Working among salt is
apt to produce sures upon the body. We had been
warned that it was necessary to bathe at least once a
day, and to put on clean clothing at the conclusion of the
day's work. Those of us who acted up to these rules,
were not troubled with salt boils ; but the .jecond mate,
who was an Englishman, and had all a Br'tish sailor's
aversion to water in any shape, thought it too much
trouble. He was punished for his heedlessness, by the
appearance of numerous painful swellings on different
portions of his body.
The salt intended for our ship was measured into
sacks, each holding a bushel. In these sacks it was car-
ried on the shoulders of men and women, from the de-
pository to the beach, where each in turn laid his or hei
load into the boat, brought up beyond the reach of the
surf for th-j.t purpose. When a boat was laden, all
hands took hold and ran her into the water, when her
regular crew hauled her alongside. A white overseer
superintended the operations of the shore gang. He
carried a .3ng and heavy rawhide whip, which he applied
mth no sparing or light hand to the naked backs of
women and men, if they did not trot off fast enougb
with their heavy burdens.
MISERY OF THE SLAVES. 283
The slaves work from six to six (which is here from
daylight to dark), having an intermission of two hours,
from twelve till two, wherein to eat the only moal they
get during the day. The state of semi-starvation in
which these poor creatures are kept, is cruel in the ex-
treme. The daily allowance of food to each working
person is one quart of tinyround corn, and nothing
besides. This allowanie I saw measured out to them
myself, ere I could believe that any one could be so nig-
gardly as to force working men and women to exist on such
a mere pittance. When their day's work is finished, they
retire to their camp, where for full an hour they are engaged
in pounding their corn in rude stone mortars, to reduce it
to the consistence of very coarse meal. This is the work
of the women. The men, meanwhile, gather a small
quantity of wood, and when ready the meal is mixed
with water, and boiled in a pot provided for the purpose,
until it is a quite solid mass. This mess is the next
day's allowance. Part of it is swallowed on rising in
the morning, the balance at noon. Supper they dare
not indulge in, as their portion would not hold out.
Of course, they know not what it is to have enough to
eat They are actually famished. Parties of them used
to fight f )r the leavings of our cabin table, and fisL-
bones, potato peelings, slop of all kinds, were voraciously
d'^voured by them. Poor souls, thry lost no occasion to
steal victuals that happened to be unwatcheti, and some
of them were always prowling about the galley, looking
for a prize. We often connived at their thefts ; but our
stingy captain was ever upon the walch to catch them ia
■284 THE MERCHANT VESSEL.
the act. He saw a poor fellow making off with a PiaalJ
piece of beef one day, and catching him, called the
overseer, who happened to be on board. The wretched
slave was at once ordered to lie down on deck. A rag
ged shirt was first stripped off his back, and then, witl
a heavy rope's-end, he received fifty lashes. So pleased
was our skipper at witnessing the flogging of which he
was the occasion, that in a fit of liberality, which I am
sure he regretted the next moment, he made his victim a
present of the beef.
The slaves are allowed by the king, their owner, two
suits — shirts and trowsers for the men, and gowns for
the females — per annum, but no bat to keep off the
8un, no shoes to protect the feet while carrying their loads
over the sharp coral of the beach. When a woman has
a child, she is allowed three months to nuise and take
care of it. At the expiration of that time, the little one
is consigned to the care of other, larger children, while the
mother goes to work in the gang, and is expected to do
as hard a day's work as any of the rest.
We left for New Orleans at the end of ten days, that
space of time having sufficed to take on board our cargo
of salt. The captain had neglected to take in a supply
of fresh water at Demarara — where he would have had
to pay for it. When we came here, we found the water
so brackish that it made us sick to drink it. Yet we took
on boavd two casks of it, which cost two dollars. One
cask of good water lasted us ten days, of the thirty occu-
pied by our passage to New Orleans. Then we were
reduced to drinking that last obtained.
ATTEMPT TO STARVE THE CREW. 285
No sooner had we left port than our misotahle life
recommenced. Once fairly clear of the land, the captain
informed all hands that there was naught left of our
^iupply of provisions, except some rice, a moderate <|uan-
tty of bread, and beef. On this, with a weekly raeal of
duff, we were expected to subsist to the end of the voy-
age. The vessel was a dull sailer under any circum
stances — but deeply laden with salt, she positively did
not seem to go ahead at all. Three or four knots per
hour was her highest speed. Happily she did not leak
sufficient to give us trouble with the pumps.
Our mate, who had never before been in a " scjuare-
rigger," had been told in Demarara. by some of his
acquaintance, that, in su h vessels, it was indispensable
to the dignity of the officers to keep the men constantly
at work.
" The worse you treat them, the smarter officer you
will be."
This advice he now put in practice. There was but
little necessary work to bo done, as on the outward pass-
age we had succeeded in patching the rigging and sails
wherever they needed it. So the poor fellow was kept
studying, night and day, what he should set " the men "
at next Before we were ten days out, he was com-
pletely at the end of his limited stock of sailorship, and,
as he had not sufficient Yankee ingenuity tn make a spun-
yart winch, all hands were kept up to braid sinnet. • To
have kept the watch on deck busy at this would have
°Sinnet is a small line, braided fi im rope-yarns, the minute
strands of vhicb a rope is formed
286 Tim 31ERCHANT VESSEL.
been not unusual, but to keep up all hands for fmvh
work, and that too when we were short of pre isions,
was tco bad. We remonstrated, but to no purpose. The
captain merely asked if we refused to obey orders. Bj
rashly doing so, wc should have forfeited our wages,
vvhich would have pleased him but too well, and benefit-
ed us naught, as we should have had to work the vessel
into port, at any rate. So we submitted. But by way
of satisfaction for this outrage on our privileges, we used
to throw overboard every night the product of our day's
labor, and the mate would sapiently " wonder " what
had become of all the sinnet.
Shortly after we left Buen Ayre, our supply of coffee
was consumed, and thenceforth we were compelled to
drink an infusion of burnt beans. Compel/ed to drink
this, because the water we obtained at the salt-works
was so brackish that it was impossible to swallow it,
without it having been previously cooked. The stomach
even of a sailor would not retain it; and several times.
when we had grown thirsty at some hard work, and were
tempted to lave our thirst from the water cask, all hands
were made sick, having to vomit up the miserable stuff.
Thus, with salt water, moldy biscuit, a small portion
of rice, and beef, we lingered out a long passage of thirty
days. And before we reached port, even this wretched
food grew very scarce, anl our allowance of bread wat^
reduced. We could not do aught to extricate ourselves
firoin our diflBculties. Ta have forced the captain to run
into a port by the way, would have been rank mutiny.
To refuse duty would not have bct^iCred matters. We
NEW ORLEANS. 287
tvcre therefore impelled to suffer. But we iletermine<l
that if there was a law ou our side, we would itst it
wheu we got to New Orleaus.
Sailors disUke to go to law. They have a dread of
" laud-sharks,"' and will suffer almost auything rather
thau place themselves in their hauds. But we thought
it a duty to show this man, and others of his kind, that
they could be held up to justice, and therefore determined
to risk all the unknown dangers of a court-room, to teach
him a lesson.
Arrived at New Orleans, we sought out a lawyer of
some eminence in cases of this kind, who took the
matter in hand for us. His conditions were, the pay-
jient of a fee of ten dollars, in hand, from each man,
and half the proceeds of the suit. We were detained in
the city for six long weeks, by various pretexts of the
captain's counsel, in this time the wages of our voyage
were spent, and my shipmates were all in debt to the
full amount of their advance-money, and all that they
could hope to obtain from the suit, iinally this was
decided. The captain was found guilty of gross mis-
conduct, and sentenced to pay hfty dollars to each of the
■jrew, and the expenses of the suit This, to so niggardly
a man as he, was a severe blow, and in so far was satis-
faxjtory to us, who desired to see him punished. But we
too were sufferers by the suit. We had been compelled
to remain six weeks idle. In this time, the best season
for shipping in New Orleans had passed away ; we had
been forced to spend more than the proceeds of the voy-
age, to keep us ashore, and had new some difficulty in
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