mm^^L^ ^ > r - --.--■ -<■* %0 o^ '-. -> ^ ° ^^° , , , ^^ * , , A -^ ' s\^^ , ., . "^ * K, ^ J,0 O c-* ,s)5DiQitizedby the Intern*^ Archive- J^ ,>j5 -n^ .^-'^' , in 2011 with funding from ' ^T.^^^ ^^' "^ ^.^ The Ubrar^of ^'^""'''^^^''' ° ' ■ '^ .^0 >^'" \ 'fttt^//w.yvw.^hi;ye.org?d^tails7^&rws^a^]fe6V00|ia^^^ ^ ■^ « .>. * A 'o, ^-'^ ., 3 - rool came down on the deck in big loose bales, which were compressed to about one-half their bulk, right alongside the ship, by a little portable engine and press. We had regular screwmen from shore to stow it, and one day a bale fell out of the sling, when up to the level of the main-yard, and, dropping down the hatch, struck the tier of stowed bales in the hatch just below the level of the 'tween-decks. Now wool is very elastic, so when this bale dropped so far, and onto other bales of the same kind, it naturally bounded high in the air. There were four screwmen standing together just abaft the hatch, and, as the bale fell again from the rebound, it landed in the 'tween-decks on one corner and gave another bound directly at them. They turned to jump out of the way, and, looking back, saw the big, heavy bale of wool still bounding along towards them, so they broke into a run aft, and none too soon either, for it was following them and gaining on them too ; so the leader in this gro- tesque race darted across the deck to the other side, and the others, realizing the good judgment of the manoeuvre, " COUNTRY- WAULING " 6/ followed, so as to let the bale pass by them and roll aft as far as it had a mind to. Imagine, then, their amazement and fear when they saw this frisky bale knock up against one of the knees in the ship's side, which deflected it from its course, so that it turned and followed them across the deck, passing between the very same two stanchions through which they themselves had just come. Again they fled, but forward this time, and the bale, as if bewitched, in passing the stanchions got another slight knock on one corner, which caused it to partly turn forward on its course. The hindmost screwman, glancing back over his shoulder and seeing that the bale had apparently turned all the cor- ners and was still in pursuit, let a terrified yell out of him . to the others to " 'urry up " as the "bloody" bale was " 'oodooed " ; and so they all sprinted for the fore hatch, where there was a ladder, and up the ladder went the four worst scared Englishmen it has ever been my good fortune to see ; while the poor innocent bale, having expended its momentum shortly after crossing to the other side of the deck, fell on its side and lay waiting for the cotton hooks to be stuck into its fat sides ; but it was some time before the bold Britons could be persuaded to go below and tackle it. There were lying in port at this time three old American extreme clipper ships, — the Red Jacket, the Gamecock, and the Champion of the Sea. They were all big, handsome ships, but were now to all intents and purposes English, as during the war, like thousands of others, they had taken an English register for the sake of the protection which the flag afforded them from the Alabama. So that the Tanjore was the only genuine American ship in port ; and in contrast to these big, two and three thousand ton fellows, she did look rather insignificant, although in all other respects she was the equal of any of them. The English sailors had chris- tened our ship the Boston Box, and this was how we found 68 ON MANY SEAS it out. There was, not very far from the wharf, a "free and easy " ; that is, a place, part saloon and part concert hall, where it was expected that members of the audience would volunteer to sing, dance, spar, or do anything to help out the evening's entertainment. The seats were straight- backed settees arranged like the pews in a church. Natu- rally it was quite a popular resort with the sailors. So one Saturday night a delegation of us went ashore, and drifted into the " free and easy," where we all filed into one seat ; the post of honour — the seat next the aisle — being kept by " Russian Finn Jake," a big, heavy fellow who was as strong as an ox, and prided himself on being Irish, and although he could hardly make himself understood in English, he would take serious offence if anybody expressed a doubt of the truth of his assertion that he was Irish. He was one of the few who had stuck to the ship all through, and he had got to feel a little sailorly pride in her. He had on one of those tall soft hats which were common enough in those days in the States, and known as " Kossuth." While the boatswain of the Champion of the Sea was on the stage giving us a song about the " Lass that loves a sailor," one of the other Britons ranged up alongside of Jake and, in a voice that could have been heard half a mile away, roared out as he slapped him heavily on the shoulder : " Ship ahoy ; what ship. Matey ? " Jake looked up innocently, and answered in his broken English : " Tanjore, of Boston." "Oho, the Boston Box, hey?" says the Englishman, and at the same time he caught hold of the brim of Jake's tall hat with both hands and attempted to jam it down over his head, but the hat was getting old I suppose ; at any rate, instead of slipping down over his face, the brim parted company with the crown all round and went down around « COUNTRY- WAULING " 69 his neck, leaving the crown, now apparently twice as tall as before, standing up like a joint of stovepipe. Up jumped Jake, boiling over with twofold rage. His hat was ruined, and his ship had been insulted by a "lime- juice sailor." "You call mine skip de Boston Box? you lemon-pelting son of a sea cook," said Jake, as he grabbed the Englishman by the throat. Instantly the place was in an uproar. We all jumped up, capsizing our seat. The lights went out as if by magic, and there was a general scrimmage right away. I managed to get out of doors, and made my way to a pile of brick which I had noticed in front of a new building across the street, and as our fellows came out, or were thrown out, I called them over until we were all together again, when, arming ourselves with half a dozen bricks apiece, we recrossed the street. The Enghshmen were apparently enjoying themselves within ; so we drew up our forces on the outside. There were three windows on that side, and there were just six of us ; so we stationed ourselves two to a window, and at a signal we commenced firing our bricks just as fast as we could, demolishing the windows, of course, at the very first round, and doing glorious execution among the enemy. As soon as our ammunition was gone, we turned tail and headed for the Boston Box under a heavy press of sail, with a hooting, cursing crowd in our wake ; but a stern chase is proverbially a long chase, and they never caught us, and it's lucky they didn't, for they outnumbered us five or six to one. But that was about the last of our going ashore at Sandridge. The next day the landlord of the concert hall came aboard with a warrant for the arrest of the entire crew, captain, officers, and all, and as we acknowledged ourselves guilty of destroying his property and he had an officer with him, the old man " paid the shot," and it was afterwards taken out of our wages. CHAPTER VIII Bound for London. — A Dutch-Irish Crew. — Mike Cregan spins a Yarn. Some more of our men left us here, wages being good on the coast, and about this time there came saihng up the bay another American ship, the General Berry of Thomaston, Maine, from Dundee, Scotland. Her two mates were both great big Swedes, and they had abused and hcked the crew so that the very first night they all left her. She got her cargo out in a hurry, and took in ballast for Callao. The captain left word to have a crew of Dutchmen ready for him by the time he got in the stream, and the shipping master agreed to fill the order, which he did by picking up twenty-two Londonderry Irishmen. The first job they had to do was to send up the royal yards, and all hands tailed onto the main royal yard rope, which was passed through a lead block in the deck, and stood and pulled away in silence, like the veriest "sojers." " Come, sing out there, some of you," roars the big Swedish mate ; for without somebody to give the time for pulling together, getting up a royal yard is but a slow job. Nobody made any answer ; and still they pulled away in silence, giving little short jerks to the rope that would not have mastheaded that yard in a week. So the mate went over, and he poked the big, six-foot, red-headed, freckle- faced "Derry " Dutchman who was at the head of the rope 70 MIKE CREGAN'S YARN 7 1 in the ribs with his list, saying, " Hey, dere, sing out, vill you I " " I didn't come here to sing, sorr," says Derry. "What did you come here for?" "To Uck a Dutchman, begorr." And witli that every man Jack of them dropped the rope, and down came the yard, and through the deck, afterward falUng over and breaking off the yard-arm, while the Derry men swabbed the decks with tlie two Swedisli mates. I guess there is no doubt that before tlie General Berry left Melbourne the wrongs of her outward-bound crew had been avenged ; for she had the police flag at her main truck daily. But the captain didn't dare to discharge his crew, for men were scarce, and he was ready for sea ; so finally one day they picked up their mud-hook, and away they went for Callao ; and bets were easy that those mates had a lively passage of it. Our cargo being now in, Captain Hurlburt shipped what men were necessary to make up our complement of hands, and one bright clear morning, in company with six other big ships, and to the tune of " Homeward Bound," which was sung by the Red Jacket's boatswain sitting on the heel of the jib-boom, all the crews of the other five ships joining in the chorus, " Hooraw, me boys, we're homeward bound ! " we got under way for London. One of the men who joined us in Melbourne was an Irishman by the name of Mike Cregan, and he was the life of the ship all the passage home. As soon as we got sail on her, the pilot called out, "A hand in the chains," which means that he wants a man to heave the hand-lead, which is a mighty disagreeable job, especially in cold weather, as it then was, for it is a continuous job of handling a wet line ; but as it is the rule in American ships for the nearest man to jump when an order is given, and as Mike happened to 72 ON MANY SEAS be right there coiKng up a rope, he had to go, and I guess his head didn't feel any too " good," either, after his last night on shore. So of course it was pretty tough medicine, but he kept the lead going all right, singing out the sound- ings as sailormen do. By and bye Mike spied the captain and his wife as they came on deck to take a walk, and when they reached the break of the poop, he took a cast of the lead and sang out, " Oh, I'd rather be a-coortin' the captain's daughter nor havein' the lead in this cowld frosty wather. By the mark seven ! " Mrs. Hurlburt said something to her husband, and he asked Mr. Davis to send somebody in the chains that knew how to handle a lead-hne, to the great dehght of Mike, who, however, got in on deck with a face as long as a fiddle, pretending to' feel the disgrace of being relieved from the lead-line. All the voyage home, he used to tell us regular serial stories in the dog-watch ; and one man kept himself in tobacco all the way, by taking wheels and lookouts for men who did not want to miss a chapter of Mike's story. I remember one yarn which he told of an adventure of his own. He was in the ship BalJ Eagle, of New York, when she was burned by Chinese coohes, five hundred miles east of Manilla, on their way to Callao, Peru. It was blow- ing a good, stiff breeze, but the sea hadn't got up much yet, and she was reeling off her ten knots easy enough. About five bells in the afternoon watch, the Chinamen, who had been as still as mice, suddenly broke out in a simultaneous shout, rose up as one man and pulled down their bunk boards, and made a rush for the hatchway ladders. Fortunately, the yell they gave warned the crew, and they slapped the hatch gratings on, and fastened them down. Evidently, now, the proper thing to do was to starve them into submission or death, if they wouldn't submit ; for, no matter what their MIKE CREGAN'S YARN 73 grievance might be, the time for considering that had passed, and forcible subjugation was the only remedy for them. But the captain was a Portuguese, and he brought out his revolvers and began shooting them down, through the gratings ; and the mates got theirs out, too, and took a hand. The Chinamen were so frenzied that they would stand out in the open hatchway, apparently cursing and defying the officers to do their worst, until there was a pile of dead bodies under the hatch four or five deep, and somehow, during the fusillade, a spark from a revolver ignited the clothing of one of the dead coolies. The rest saw it, and fell over one another and suffered themselves to be shot, in their mad desire to get hold of the burning cloth. One fellow grabbed the smouldering part and tore it from the garment, and was about to blow it to keep it alive, when he was shot dead from above ; but almost before he fell, another had grabbed the burning rag from his hand, only to be shot down in his turn. But there were plenty more; and, shoot as fast and as accurately as they might, the bit of burning cloth at last disappeared from the hatch- way altogether. It had gone forward to the Chinamen's quarters ; and in the course of half an hour smoke was reported as coming out of the fofe and main hatches. They didn't dare to lift a hatch, nor would any one have dared to go down there, if they had ; so they got the car- penter to chop small holes in the deck, and they put the wash-deck hose through them, connected it to the force- pump, and pumped for dear life. Now, chopping holes in the deck is a desperate remedy, when there is nothing but fire to fight ; but when, in addition, there were hundreds of maddened Chinamen down there, determined to burn the ship, it was merely wasting time and strength pumping water in anions them. 74 ON MANY SEAS By this time, the Chinamen themselves were suffocating with the smoke and heat. It would seem they had expected that the crew would open the hatches, to get down and put out the fire, and that would be their chance to get on deck and take charge of the ship. No doubt, that was their idea in setting her on fire ; and when it first dawned on them that their plan had miscarried, and they were to be left to roast in their own fire, then there was pandemonium. The spaces under the hatches were packed soUd with writhing, shrieking humanity ; for the others, who were directly exposed to the smoke and flames, pressed in upon them from all sides, until they could hardly have been rammed in tighter with cotton-screws, and the faces of the miserable wretches who were visible in the hatchway were a nightmare. Their dirty, yellow complexions turned a sickly green ; their eyeballs almost burst from their sockets, as they glared up at the fast waning daylight which was to be the last they were ever to see ; and their big, ugly mouths were stretched in a continuous yell, or, rather, screech, as they squirmed like a nest of eels. Even the Portuguese captain hadn't the heart to shoot any more of them, but left them to stew in their own juice, while he and his officers gave their attention to saving their own lives. After a great deal of trouble they got the ship hove to, for it was now getting quite dark, and the dense smoke which was pouring out of the hatches and the holes cut by the carpenter made it impossible to see a thing, and hardly possible to breathe. To make matters worse, it now began to rain in torrents ; and the cries of the imprisoned China- men made it impossible to hear an order five feet from the person giving it. However, about eight o'clock in the evening they got their boats over, — the long-boat, and three quarter-boats, one of which was stove in in the launch- ing. That left them rather short for boat room. MIKE CREGAN'S YARN 75 The ship was now a roaring furnace, and the last wail of the last dying Chinaman had gone up in smoke. The stench was horrible, and they naturally got away from the wreck as fast as possible. A little water and some hardtack was stowed in each boat, about enough for one square meal for the crowd there was to go, — twenty-two able seamen, six apprentices, the captain and four mates, cook and steward, boatswain, carpenter and sailmaker, thirty-eight souls all told, to sail five hundred miles through stormy seas in three small open boats. The quarter-boats could take but ten apiece, consequently the long-boat must take eighteen, and when they were all in her the gunwales were almost awash ; and the other boats were not much better off. The long-boat was rigged with two masts and big sails. The other boats had no sails or masts, so the captain took command of the long-boat and put a compass in her, also a track chart. A topmast stunsail tack was thrown into one of the quarter-boats for a tow-line, as it was decided to tow them astern of the long-boat. The wind and sea were nearly dead aft, and the captain having taken his departure from the ship's position, they squared away for Manilla. They were in great danger of being pooped by the heavy seas before they could get headway on the two boats in tow. After a while, however, a couple of the men stood up and held their coats open in the other boats, and these acting as sails got them going so that they had reasonable hopes of keeping ahead of the heavy sea that was running. When the long-boat pitched into the trough, she was becalmed, and the other boats, being on the crest where they received the full force of the wind, seemed to be in imminent danger of running her down, and then again when she rose on the next one until her sail caught the wind it seemed as if she would tear the whole stern out of her- self as the tow-line whipped out of the water as taut as a •J^ ON MANY SEAS bar of steel. And so they kept on all night long, all hands taking turns at baiUng the water out, which came in in a con- tinuous flood over both gunwales. Once the sheet parted, but fortunately it was just as she took a plunge into the hollow, so that by quick work they were able to get the sail set again before she was swamped by the heavy sea, or the mast taken out of her by the flapping of the sail. At last morning dawned on them, wet, cold, and hungry, and their small stock of hardtack was served out to all hands equally, the captain remarking that they had better eat it while it was in pretty fair condition, as it might be wet with salt water at any time. Mike, not being altogether starved yet, put his inside his blue shirt without tasting it ; and it was well he did so, for they were three nights and two days in the boats before they were picked up, and Mike would put his biscuit in his mouth and nibble off little bits surreptitiously in the night, holding them in his mouth until they dissolved, and then slowly swallowing them, and he said he never knew until then the deliciousness of ship's hardtack. Although the Bald Eagle was an American ship, she had been in the coolie trade so long that all her original crew had gradually left her, and the captain, being a Portuguese, had gradually filled their places with his own countrymen ; so that, although there were many other foreigners in the crew, it so happened that Mike was the only one in the long-boat not a Portuguese, and although he had always been on the most friendly terms with them, yet, now, in their perilous situation it seemed to him that they regarded him with anything but pleasant looks, and as they confined their conversation entirely to their own language, of which he understood not a word, his imagination had fuU play. His seat was in the bow, he was the farthest forward of any, and as he faced aft he could see the immense combers MIKE CREGAN'S YARN 7/ as they reared their massive heads high over the boat, till apparently no power on earth could prevent them breaking directly into her, in which case she must have swamped in- evitably, and yet she rose each time safely to the crest, although she almost stood on her head to do it. At night, when the only light was that furnished by the phosphorescence of the breaking seas, it was even more terrible ; for, being unable to judge distance in the dark, the sudden appearance apparently direcdy overhead of a break- ing sea would bring his heart into the mouth of the stoutest of them. No wonder that they hailed with delight the dis- mal dawn ; but if it relieved their fears in some degree, it brought to the superstitious Portuguese sailors a new and perhaps greater dread, for not twenty feet to starboard of the boat and directly abeam was the dorsal fin of a huge shark, and this disagreeable escort never left them while they remained in the boat. He did not always keep the same relative position ; for two or three times a day he would drop slowly in alongside, and after casting up his evil eye at them, apparently counting them to see if any had got away, he would sink slowly until almost out of sight, gradually reappearing on the other side. When he made these transits, the Portuguese would turn their faces from him, cross themselves piously, and call on San Antonio as devoutly as though they thought he was in the shark-fishing industry, and would be only too glad to rid them of their convoy. So passed two nights and a day. At dawn of the second day the men could hardly recognize each other, for although they were not very badly off for water, there being a half pannikin served out to each man twice a day, yet they had no food, and the mental strain was terrible ; the exposure to the cold and wet, their cramped positions in the crowded boat, and the grisly suggestion of the shark's continual presence, all tended to wear them out. y^ ON MANY SEAS It was during this day that Mike noticed the suggestive glances of the Portuguese in his direction when talking in low tones among themselves, and the horrible thought en- tered his mind that they were consulting over eating him, and he quietly drew his sheath-knife and kept it in readi- ness, determined that he would not furnish the first nor the only contribution to the ship's stores. After that he never slept a wink on board the boat. The weather did not vary in the slightest degree all the time they were in the open sea. The compass was useful only to note the direction of their course, for all they could do was to keep the wind enough on the quarter to keep both the lines drawing. By constant care and watchfulness on the part of the other two boats' crews as well as their own, the tow-hnes were kept from parting. The captain and the boatswain alternately did the steering of the long-boat, and there was some satisfaction in knowing they were making good headway, and in the right direction too. And so the third night shut down on them. But by this time they had become so accustomed to their situation that they didn't expect to be swamped every minute, and besides they had learned how to trim the boat so that she made better weather of it, and did not ship so much water. Once during the night Mike, who remained awake clutching his knife and watching the Portuguese, thought he heard a faint cry astern, but as no one else seemed to notice it he said nothing. The captain just before dark gave the crew some orders in Portuguese, and noticing Mike away forward told him to keep a good lookout, as he expected to raise the land at any time now ; but Mike was so busy watching the " Dagos " that he didn't bother much about the land. Towards morning, however, he espied a fog bank ahead and notified the boat- swain, who was steering, telling him he had better call the MIKE CREGAN'S YARN /9 captain, as perhaps that fog bank might be on the coast, and although the wind had moderated a httle, still it was blow- ing hard enough yet, should they run suddenly on the land, to wreck them badly. The boatswain said he didn't fear wrecking on the beach, but rather hankered for it ; all he was afraid of was that the wind would haul off-shore before they could get there, and then it would be a hopeless case of beating. While talking they entered the fog, which was so dense they could hardly see their own boat's length, but at the same time both the wind and sea moderated very considerably, so much so that for the first time the jerking of the tow-line ceased, and she was able to keep a tolerably steady strain on it ; and as the dull gray began to show in the east the wind died away altogether, and the rising sun hfted the fog and showed them the green fields and hills of Manilla. They were already in the harbour, but as they looked round to congratulate their shipmates, they saw to their dis- may that the second mate's boat was missing. It was prob- ably a shout from her crew that Mike heard in the night when they found their tow-line parted ; for now that she was gone, several others spoke of having heard it. They got out their oars and pulled up to an English gun- boat, the Rattlesnake, and told their story. They were taken on board, the anchor was raised, and the gunboat went out with them on board looking for the second mate's boat, which they found about eleven o'clock, bottom up, and the whole port side stove in. Not a living soul, however, was to be found, nor even a dead body ; and then the men remembered with a queer feehng the " shovel-nose " that had convoyed them for hundreds of miles, and evidently not for nothing. As to what stove the boat in, whether she was run down by some native vessel carrying no lights or by a whale or something of the kind, will never be known ; 8o ON MANY SEAS although some of the Portuguese insisted that the shark, reahzing that they were nearing the land and fearing that they should escape him altogether, breached into the boat for a victim, wrecking her in the act. This, of course, is an open question. I noticed that whenever Mike talked to us about the burn- ing of the Bald Eagle, although it had happened years before, he would dream of it that night, and sometimes jump out of his bunk and run on deck yelling that they were after him or something to that effect, from which 1 judged that the yarn was at least based upon truth, and that perhaps he hadn't told us all of the part that he took in the affair. I once asked him if, during those three, long, terrible nights, especially the last one that was so full of horror to him, he never prayed. He told me that he tried to, tried hard, but that he could think of nothing but the line of a song which he heard an EngUsh sailor sing just before he left Manilla : " And she winked at Jack with her funny eye." CHAPTER IX " Southing and Easting " — Almost a Collision. — Antarc- tic Ice. — The Crash of Bergs. As soon as we were clear of Tasmania, Captain Hurlburt hauled his wind, and headed her well up for the Cape Horn latitudes. If you will look at a globe, you will notice that all the meridians of longitude meet at either pole, so that if you have to go as we had, south to get around a corner, and then away north again, you might as well sail directly south on your meridian, then sail east until you have passed your corner and reached a meridian which will take you where you want to go, so that as the meridians are close together in these high latitudes, you can, by making very little easting, arrive at the meridian you want ; when by saihng due north without any easting in your course, the natural spread of the meridians as they approach the equator will give you easting without your having sailed it. Also, the higher you go in latitude, the stronger and steadier are the winds, and, as the prevailing winds around the Horn are westerly, of course that was just what we wanted, and lots of it. Daily, yes, and hourly, the weather grew worse, and still the Tanjore's jib-boom was pointed for the Antarctic pole. After several days of this kind of thing, our watch was called one morning, and, as the weather was now too bad to do any work on deck except take care of the ship, the man who called us stepped inside the door a minute, out of the con- G 8i 82 ON MANY SEAS tinual smother that was coming over the weather cathead. Old Ned asked him if the old man had kept her off any. " No," said Pete ; " he is still poking her to the south'ard." "Well, blast him," said Ned. "I see what I shall have to do." We all wondered what that would be, and Johnson, the Dutch ordinary seaman, remarked timidly that he wondered what the old man was keeping her so far south for. "Don't yer know d— d well?" says Old Ned. "It's so he can sell out his d — d old slop chest. I'll go aft after breakfast and buy a couple of pairs of stockings and a monkey jacket from him, and that d — d old Queen of Sheba of his, and see if he won't keep her off a point or two for the Horn and not bury us down here in the ice and snow." So after breakfast Ned went aft and bought some " slops," and, sure enough, as he came out of the forward cabin door with his purchase, the captain came up the after companion- way, told the man at the wheel to keep her off a couple of points, and word was passed along to take a pull at the weather braces and loose the main topgallant sail, and we afterwards set the mainsail and upper foresail, and I presume that to this day, if he is alive, Old Ned firmly believes that ■ Captain Hurlburt kept her off because he made a purchase from the slop chest, and would have kept on shoving her south until the present time if somebody hadn't gone aft and broken the spell. We now began to get into regular Cape Horn weather ; it wasn't but a little time till he had her dead before it, and oh ! how it did blow ! but we had bent all brand-new storm-sails on leaving Melbourne. All three of the topsails, foresail, fore topmast staysail, jib, and main topgallant sail were all new, or nearly new, sails ; and they needed to be ; for although we were driving dead before it, and, of course, didn't realize anything like the THE CRASH OF ICEBERGS 8^ full strength of the wind, still it was easy to understand that a fearful gale was blowing, and it was bitterly cold, with squalls of snow and hail which blew almost horizontally, and it seemed as if it might cut holes in the heavy topsails it was so sharp, and flew with such terrific force. We now had a pretty steady job at the main topgallant halyards, for nearly every time a squall would strike her it would be " clew down," and before the squall would be half over, " hoist up," until it seemed as if we would wear the halyards out. Finally, the weather got so bad that we clewed it up altogether, one night, and called the watch to reef the main topsail. We were congratulating ourselves that we had got rid of that old topgallant sail at last, when, as we were hauhng out the weather topsail reef tackle, we heard Mr. Oliver ask the old man if he should send the hands up to farl the topgallant sail. "No," said the old man; "what do you want to furl that for? Reef your tops'l and set the to'gallants'l over it." So we hadn't got rid of it yet. Up to this time, since leaving New York over a year ago, no such thing as grog had ever been known on board the Tanjore ; but this was a pretty tough night. A man couldn't possibly get out of the forecastle and come aft without get- ting a dousing ; and as all our clothes, including oilskins, were soaking, you can imagine how pleasant it was to go up on a yard in the icy gale and stay there perhaps an hour or more, reefing. So I suppose the old man must have pitied our misery that night, for he called the steward and told him to bring out a bottle and glass and give the men a glass of grog when they came from aloft. The men were straggling along down the rigging then. Somebody heard the order, and like lightning the word was passed along : "We're going to get a glass of grog." Mike was in the top when the word reached him ; and Old Ned, who had 84 ON MANY SEAS been to the weather earing, was crawh'ng in along the yard. Mike and Ned were old cronies, being both shellbacks from the olden time, so in the excitement of such unexpected good news Mike roared out to Ned, loud enough to be heard above the gale, " Hey, Ned? Hello ! Hurry down ! The old man's heart is open. He's going to give us a glass of grog. Hurry ! or it's liable to close again." "You're dead right," says Old Ned. " What in h is going to happen, I wonder?" So down they hurried to the deck. Just then the man at the weather helm struck eight bells, and the mate ordered all hands aft to " splice the main brace," — the first time 1 ever heard that order given on board the Tanjore. Now, unfortunately for all hands, the captain had heard the little pleasantry that passed between Mike and Ned up aloft, and didn't Hke it. So when we all got ranged along in front of the cabin, with our mouths all made up for the unexpected treat, he called out " Steward ! " "Yes, sir." "You needn't mind giving any grog to the watch that's just going below ; they're going to their warm beds and don't need it." " All right, sir." " And say, Steward ! " "Yes, sir." "You needn't mind giving any to the watch that's just come on deck, because they only just came from their warm beds, and they don't need any. Give me a glass, and put the bottle away again ; the old man's heart is closed. Man the topsail halyards there ! " If the topsail tie had been fast to the old man's neck then, and his feet lashed to the slings of the yard, we would have pulled with a mighty sight better will than we did as we set the reefed topsail and the topgallant sail over it. THE CRASH OF ICEBERGS 85 During all this period two men were kept constantly at the wheel, and all the rest were supposed to be on lookout on various parts of the ship ; for we were going so fast that in order to avoid a collision with anything that might be in our path it would be necessary to see it at the earhest possible moment. On account of the almost continuous snow-squalls it was impossible to see much of anything ; but one day, as we went flying over the top of one of the huge Cape Horn seas, the like of which are not to be seen anywhere else in the world, what should we see in the hol- low, and not a quarter of a mile away, but a great big iron ship, evidently English — lead-coloured topsides, painted ports, and red bottom. She had all three of her topgallant masts housed and was " lying to " under a tarpaulin in the mizzen rigging ; not another stitch was she showing to it. She appeared to be making good weather from what little we could see of her as we shot past ; for, having put a single sea between us, we saw no more of her. I can imagine their sensations when they saw us come out of the snow like a phantom, stand out sharp and clear for an instant, and quietly and swiftly disappear into the blurry again. It must have left a feeling of thankfulness with them, as it did with us, that we passed clear, for had the iron monster lain in our path, no human power could have saved either of us ; we would surely have cut her clean in two, and would both have sunk. And they must have thought the Yankee was carrying sail, for of course they, being "hove to," felt the full force of the gale; while we, who were flying before it, were relieved of a great deal of its weight. We had on at the time, fore topmast staysail, lower fore topsail, reefed main topsail, and main topgallant sail, and that was enough, I assure you. At this time we got strict orders to keep a sharp lookout for ice. Icebergs carry no lights and no fog horns. Still, 86 ON MANY SEAS they have a way of letting you know when they are in your neighbourhood, especially if they are to windward. You can feel a decided drop in temperature ; but of course windward ice could do us no harm, as we were coming from the windward ourselves. But even to leeward, ice in large quantities will give some warning ; so the thermome- ter was kept hanging alongside the binnacle, and the mates watched it sharply for a sudden drop. But we ploughed along day after day without seeing any, until finally the ice scare began to wear out. One night it had been snowing hard and blowing very heavy, with the regulation Cape Horn seas running. All hands had been keeping the best lookout possible, which wasn't much, however, for it was impossible, of course, to see through the blinding snow. But about five o'clock in the morning the downfall suddenly eased off", and as it did so an excited chorus came from forward : " Ice ! Ice ! Ice on the starboard bow ! Ice on the port bow ! " At the very first alarm, Mr. Oliver yelled " Ice ! " down the after companion as loud as he could. This brought up the captain and all the after guards. He then hurried for- ward to see what could be done to avoid colhsion ; for, as ice had been reported on both bows, and yet nobody had re- ported ice dead ahead, I suppose he thought he might find a way through the difficulty, if he got where he could see. Well, it wasn't a very encouraging prospect. Away on the starboard bow there seemed to be a huge floe or ice island, reaching far out of sight to the southward, its northern ex- tremity ending in an immense bluff, standing up apparently three hundred feet out of the water, and almost directly in our path, while on our port bow a great berg, nearly half as big as Staten Island, and many feet higher than the other, made it absolutely necessary for us to go between them ; for with the gale which was blowing and the mountainous seas THE CRASH OF ICEBERGS 8/ which were running, and considering the rate at which the old girl was flying before it, any attempt to haul her up to weather the berg when first seen would have almost cer- tainly resulted in foundering, and every second of time since had made it more sure, so that, as I have said, it was ab- solutely necessary for us to pass between them if we could, for it having stopped snowing and being broad daylight we could see with dismay that the apparently ample space which we had at first noted between them was fast narrowing, show- ing that the berg was closing in on the floe ; so that it was merely a question of time whether there would be room for us to pass when we got there ; if not, the old Taujore and I would end our rambles there together. The old man had jumped out in response to Mr. Oliver's call and ordered the watch called at once, so that now all hands were on deck, even including the cook and steward and the latter's wife, who was stewardess. Mr. Davis went forward and kept the captain posted as to the situation, while Mr. Ohver stood near the cross-jack jack-pin ready to execute any orders the captain had to give. The men were about equally divided at the braces, so that in case of a hurried order there would be somebody to begin pulling at once. When Mr. Davis reported that the passage between the ice was closing up, the old man gave orders to loose the foresail. Half a dozen men sprang aloft and threw off the gaskets. Both sheets were taken to the main capstan, and I don't believe a foresail was ever set under more trying cir- cumstances. The old man now called to his wife to come on deck, and I knew then that he thought our chances were slim. I saw her when she first stepped out of the com- panionway ; she looked up in his face and asked him some- thing, to which he merely nodded in reply, and, old sailor as she was, I could see from where I stood, under the weather bulwarks, that her face became pale as death. The 88 ON MANY SEAS captain led her to the lee side of the mizzenmast, passed the bight of a spanker brail about her, inclined his head suspiciously near to hers for an instant, and then, remember- ing himself, strode back to the weather quarter-deck, and was once more the alert commander. "Starboard ! Steady ! " came from Mr. Davis on the fore- castle, repeated by the captain to the men at the wheel, and now we were into it. The ice mountains towered up on each side of us, almost, it seemed, out of sight. "Port!" came the word from forward, and before she could answer to her helm the main-yard scraped against the side of the berg, and for an instant it seemed as if all the top hamper would be down about our ears. But as she felt her helm she sheered off and cleared herself, only to give another but lighter rub on the other side before the helmsman could meet her, so narrow had the channel already become. The foresail gave an ominous flap, showing that we had got under the lee of the ice and were becoming becalmed, and not yet through the rapidly narrowing channel which was shutting in on us like a mammoth vise. Once more came the word from forward. " Starboard ! Steady ! " and with the little way remaining on her the old ship glided into open water, and, looking back, we saw, not five minutes after clearing the berg, the most grand and awful sight it has ever been my fortune to wit- ness. Drawn irresistibly together by the same force of attraction that causes ships to approach each other in a calm, these two great ice islands coUided, not with a rapid onrush, to be sure, but with a slow, dignified, hardly per- ceptible motion that was the very ideal of majestic power. Being now becalmed under their lee, we were unable to get out of the way, and as the great ice monsters began to grind and tear each other, our position was not much more enviable than it had been ; for in the general destruc- THE CRASH OF ICEBERGS 89 tion taking place so close to us, we were liable to come to grief yet. As they came in contact, the smaller but higher berg seemed to rise several feet out of water and, slowly rolling itself backwards, it gave a forward lurch as if to annihilate its opponent with one grand rush. In vain ; the larger island was too solid and too extensive to be affected in any way ; but the smaller, amid the thundering crash of collision, must have broken off a considerable portion of itself under water : for on recovering from the shock of the first onset, it took a heavy roll to the westward, and we began to fear that on the return roll it would crush us out of existence, or at least dismast us ; but it never rolled back, it went clean over, " turned turtle " completely, and as that part which had been submerged came to the surface, it rose right along- side, barely missing us, and although I dare say that to any one at a distance of a couple of miles it would have pre- sented the appearance of a slow and stately summersault, to us, within a few feet of it, it seemed as if that huge mass swept up out of the depths of the sea with meteoric swift- ness. It raised with it tons and tons of salt water, which came down again on us, drenching every living thing on board, and filling our decks to the monkey rails. I think it will be admitted that we had passed a pretty exciting morning ; so our pleasure may be imagined on dis- covering that the new formation presented by the capsizing of the berg enabled us to catch some of the air which was blowing so furiously the other side of it, and so gradually draw away from the unpleasant neighbourhood out into the open sea again. Captain Hurlburt took this opportunity to furl the foresail again while we were nearly becalmed, remark- ing that it was all that had saved us ; which was undoubtedly so, for even with its help we barely squeezed through in time. But now our troubles were over for a while. As we 90 ON MANY SEAS gradually drew away from the ice, the breeze strengthened every minute, so that by eight bells all that was left to remind us of our early morning peril was the white gleam of ice far astern. Old Ned's comment on the morning's adventure was : " Nobody but a d fool would drive a ship dead before a live gale in a blinding snowstorm, when the wind's blow- ing and the sea's running so's you daresn't haul her up a p'int, no matter what in h is in your way." He further remarked that nobody but a d fool would have the good luck to get out of such a scrape as the old man had got us into. CHAPTER X Squaring Accounts with Johnson. — A Good Landfall. — Farewell Tanjore. — I become a " Lime-Juicer." Soon after this the captain hauled his wind a couple of points, and we knew that the world famous Horn was behind us. As we gradually crawled to the northward, the weather improved. The wind remaining fair, we " piled the muslin onto her," and, although we had been so long in tropical waters that the ship's bottom was half oyster bed and half hay-field, the old lady " did herself proud." She seemed to know that she was returning to the civilized half of the world again, and to be as anxious as anybody to get there ; for the log-line showed that she was reehng off nine and a half and ten knots night and day, and Old Ned felt con- strained to remark that the London "gals" had got hold of our tow-line at last. But there were still many miles of salt water between us and London, and lots and lots of work to do ; for it is on the homeward-bound passage that one has to hustle. The ship has to be painted inside and out, spars and all the bright work scraped and varnished, the decks holystoned until they are as white as a hound's tooth, the rigging rattled and tarred down, and, in fact, everything that the mate can think of is done to beautify the ship ; for it is he who gets the credit due to her condi- tion on arriving home from a voyage. There was an ordinary seaman on board by the name 91 92 ON MANY SEAS of Johnson, a German. He had been with us the whole voyage. He was a great, big, strapping Dutchman, as competent a seaman as we had, but he thought that by sacrificing five dollars per month and shipping as an ordinary instead of an able seaman, he would, to a certain extent, curry favour with the captain and officers and stand a better chance of completing the voyage, and so having a good pay- day ; and I don't doubt that he was right. From the very start Johnson had made himself particularly obnoxious to me, by ordering me and bossing me around, his favourite expression to me being : " Vat de h are you ? You are nothing else as a boy." This he would say with an intonation and an expression as scornful as though the epithet " boy " was synonymous with rattlesnake. Riley, although in the other watch, had not escaped Johnson's insolence altogether, and was about as fond of him as I. As we had now been on the old ship about eighteen months, we didn't consider ourselves to be so very far beneath Mr. Johnson himself in efficiency, whatever we might have been on leaving New York. So, after a council of war, it was finally concluded between Riley and me that we would give Johnson a chance the very next Sunday to apologize for his long months of abuse, and admit that, boys though we were, we were as good as he ; and if he declined to grasp the opportunity, vve'd Hck him until he'd wish that he had. Sunday was selected as a suitable day of retribution, because that is the sailorman's day of com- parative leisure. So, in our forenoon watch below, when I saw Johnson washing his clothes in a bucket under the fore- castle, I went under there as if to hunt for something, and accidently fell over against him, upsetting his bucket. He jumped up and began cursing me roundly, threatened to break my "yaw," and ordered me to go and get him another I BECOME A LIME-JUICER 93 bucket of water, adding that he had a good mind to make me finish washing his clothes. Without paying any atten- tion to his orders, I said to him : " See here, Johnson, the voyage is pretty nearly up now. For the last eighteen months you have bullied and insulted and bossed me just about as you pleased, and now, you Dutch son of a swab, if you're any good, come out on deck, and one or the other of us will take a good licking." Riley was close by, for of course we didn't intend to give Johnson the remotest chance of escape from the punishment we thought he so richly deserved. Out dashed Johnson, and as he emerged from under the forecastle, I caught him a " sockdologer " square between the eyes, and when you remember that I was a sturdy and muscular young fellow, eighteen years old, with eighteen months' accumulated inju- ries to avenge, you may be sure that I put all the vim I had into that one blow, with the result that Johnson went back in a heap under the forecastle. We soon saw that he was bleeding, and I began to be scared lest I had killed him ; but Riley, who was made of sterner stuff, said the Dutchman was only " faking " to avoid punishment. So he drew a bucket of salt water over the side, and threw it over him. This brought him. to, and out he came ; but he was perfectly harmless, and so quietly had the whole affair passed that not a soul on board, with the exception of us three immedi- ately interested, knew anything about it. Johnson went below, and presumably to sleep ; but when he turned out at eight bells to get his dinner, he was a " sight." His nose was broken and swelled as big as your fist. Both eyes were draped in a most beautiful black and were heavily bloodshot, his nose had been bleeding in his sleep, and altogether he was indeed lovely to look upon. Old Ned caught sight of him, and greeted him with " Hullo ! who in h is that ? Hey ! when did you 94 ON MANY SEAS come aboard?" To which Johnson merely answered with "Vat's der matter mit you, anyvay?" "Oh, Holy Moses," says Ned; "it's Johnson. Who's been doing you up? " But Johnson would give no informa- tion except that he fell and " hurted him." And I don't think that from that day to this the matter has ever been let out till now. As we approached the mouth of the Enghsh Channel, the weather came thick and foggy, but, the wind being fair, the old man ran altogether by deep-sea soundings. He kept full sail on her, and gave out the courses as con- fidently as though he had the whole Atlantic Ocean before him, and the mouth of the channel, with its treacherous currents and sunken reefs, had not yet been invented. And so he hung on to his canvas, much to the disapprobation of Old Ned, who swore that the "d old fool would pile her on the Irish coast and drown'd us all, jest so's to get rid of paying our wages." The first thing we knew, the water turned green, and by and bye we began to sight an occa- sional vessel through the fog ; for now we knew that if not in the channel we were pretty close to it. Suddenly, one forenoon, as we were sailing along about six or seven knots with the wind almost dead aft, there came a steam-whistle out of the fog, answered by our fog-horn. We heard it again, and in another minute a two-funnelled, side-wheel tugboat hove in sight through the fog. He hailed, found out who we w'ere, where from and bound, and offered to take us up to London for a certain sum ; but he had a Yankee to deal with, and the old man, although I dare say as anxious to get in as any of us, hung off; for he had a fair wind, though his position certainly must have been largely a matter of conjecture. Not a sign of land had we seen since the coast of Tasmania faded from our view nearly four months before. The Falklands, Azores, Scillys, and the I BECOME A LIME-JUICER 95 Lizard, all of these prominent points from which ships en- deavour to obtain a new departure, we had passed without sighting at all, and when the fog suddenly hfted a Httle on our port beam, and we caught a glimpse of green fields dotted with white houses, it was the first sight of God's green earth that we had seen in nearly four months. I think I never saw anything so beautiful as that one minute's glance ; for the fog closed right in again. I think the old man was rather startled to find the land so close aboard ; for he turned instantly to the man at the wheel and quietly told him to "keep her off" half a point, and then, turning to the tugboat captain, asked him w^hat land that was. '' Fair Lee," came the reply ; " Fair Lee." Reader, take your atlas and find Fair Lee in the English Channel, and then think from Tasmania to Fair Lee with- out a sight of land. It was the best landfall I ever saw, and showed what sort of a sailor Captain Hurlburt was. After a little dickering we passed the end of the tow-line to the big English sea-tug, and he took us to Gravesend, a few miles below London, and the next day the mud pilot took us up to the London docks ; and here the crew all left, except Riley and I. We stayed aboard and helped Mr. Oliver by day, and went ashore in the evenings, drift- ing naturally into Sailor Town. We didn't see very much of London on this trip, and what we did see was not par- ticularly praiseworthy ; in fact, it was rather the reverse. While cruising in the Ratchffe Highway one evening, who should we come across but Old Ned. He was in company with another old Yankee ''barnacle back" hke himself, and they were both in the condition in which sailors are apt to be when homeward bound, i.e. before their money is all spent ; for when their money is gone and they are looking for another ship, then they are said to be outward bound, and most English sailor boarding-houses and saloons. g6 ON MANY SEAS or " publics " as they are called, have a certain corner of the sitting-room which by common consent is relegated to the use of the impecunious "outward-bounders" and is dubbed the "outward-bound corner," and towards this corner and its unfortunate occupants the purse-proud " homeward- bounder " casts occasionally a contemptuous glance, al- though he knows full well that it will be only a matter of a week or ten days before he himself will be sitting there. But to resume. Old Ned was in that pecuhar stage of inebriety when all the world was his particular friend. He shook our hands and slapped us on our backs, and swore to the other old turtle that we were the two best and smartest boys he had ever seen. " None of your lubberly canvas-pants lemon-pelters," said he, " but good smart New York Yankee boys." To all of which the other old shell-back blinked his two little red eyes and answered, " Bet yer bloody life ! " as he reeled and teetered about, like a billy-goat in a short chopping head sea. Riley asked Ned if he had thought of shipping again yet, and he said he had a ship picked out, — the Hamlin, of fifteen hundred tons, for Cardiff, to take patent fuel to Bombay. After a little more talk we left them and started to go aboard, and on the way Riley pro- posed that we leave the Tatij'ore and join the Hamlin as ordinary seamen. I didn't exactly care to leave the old ship. It seemed like cutting the last tie that bound me to home and country ; for the Hamlin, though an American, had during the Civil War gone under the English flag for security from the Alabama and her sisters, as did hundreds of others at that time, so that she was, to all intents and purposes, a "lime-juicer." Riley pointed out to me that it was a shame for us to go to sea for five dollars a month, when as ordinary seamen we could get two pounds in English ships, or twenty dollars in I BECOME A LIME-JUICER 97 American. So we finally agreed on a compromise to this effect, — that to-morrow evening we would go aft and strike the old man for a raise of pay to ten dollars per month, and if he wouldn't give it, we would ask leave to go ashore the following day and look for a ship. This programme we carried out, and while the old man admitted that perhaps we might be worth more than five dollars a month now, yet when we first came on board we were not worth any- thing, so that he couldn't afford to pay us any more now ; but he gave us permission to go ashore the next day and look for a ship, thinking that all we wanted was a run around the city. But in that he was mistaken ; for the next morning we dressed up and went directly aboard the Hain- Im, which lay some distance off, in the Victoria docks ; and Captain Burbank, an old man about seventy, captain and owner, shipped us as " ordinary seamen at two pounds per month, from London to Cardiff (Wales), thence to Bom- bay, thence to such port or ports in India, China, Australia, Africa, North or South America as business may require, and back to a final port of discharge in the United Kingdom or on the Continent between Brest and the Elbe. Voyage not to exceed three years. Rations to consist of i^ lbs. beef and \ lb. flour, or | lb. of pork and \ pint of pease and I lb. of biscuit, and 3 quarts of water daily. Rice at the captain's option. Lime juice and vinegar according to the act. NO GROG ALLOWED." On signing these shipping articles, I became what is regarded by American sailors as about the most despicable being afloat, that is, a " British tar," or, as Yankees say, a "lime-juicer,"^ or "lemonader," or " lemon-pelter," or just 1 By act of Parliament, English ships are required to provide lime juice as a preventive of scurvy ; whence these nicknames. H 98 ON MANY SEAS simply a " pelter." On returning to the Tafijore that even- ing, we again went aft and notified Captain Hurlburt of our action, whereat he was very much surprised ; said he didn't think we meant to leave him, but if we were bound to go we should come aft in about an hour and he would have our accounts made up and pay us off. So, in due season, aft we went again, and were invited into the after cabin, the captain's private apartment, and his wife kindly expressed her regrets at our leaving them after having been so long shipmates, and presented each of us with a sovereign and a pair of woollen socks of her own knitting. The captain paid us what we had coming, — not much, for five dollars per month does not pile up very fast, especially if you have to clothe yourself and draw pocket money out of it. He then gave us some advice which I have no doubt was very good, as the advice which old fellows are so fond of giving to young fellows is always supposed to be, and, bidding him and his wife good-bye, we went forward and packed our clothes, and the next morning we bade good-bye to the old Tanjore for ever, and I have never laid eyes on her from that day to this. I turned back as I was leaving the dock, and took a part- ing look at the Hindoo figure-head, whose gorgeous robes of white and gold had captivated me nearly two years before in New York. A couple of years after this she returned to New York, and my father, seeing her reported, boarded her down the bay ; but all that Captain Hurlburt could tell him was that I had left him two years before in London. CHAPTER XI A Real " Old Man." — A Channel Pilot. — Wrecked on Land's End. — English Hospitality. Riley and I went aboard the Hamliji. She was an old ship, and her captain was an old man. As she was not quite ready to sail, we were allowed to go ashore, with orders to be aboard next morning at tide time ; but we made up our bunks in the forecastle and stayed aboard that night. Hav- ing some money, we went ashore next day and bought ourselves good sea outfits, — new sea-boots and oilskins, plenty of thick flannel underwear and stockings. I also bought me a new chest, — a fine one ! dark-blue body with black battens. I had never owned a chest before, and I now began to feel that I was indeed a sailor. By the time we had spent our money, we had each acquired a first-class outfit for a long voyage. The crew came aboard the next morning, and we hauled into the basin to be ready to go out at high tide. For the information of American readers, I may explain here that the rise and fall of the tide on the British coast is so great that it is necessary to build great docks where the water can be retained at high tide. All outgoing craft are hauled into a basin near the gates, which are opened at slack high water to let them out, and after they are gone inward- bound vessels are hauled in. In a great port like London, therefore, the brief period while the gates can be safely kept 99 lOO ON MANY SEAS open is a busy time for all hands. On the American coast the tidal movement is comparatively insignificant, and ves- sels are generally moored alongside the piers, where they rise and fall with the tide. The tug was ready for us, and away we went down the Thames in ballast, outward bound again. We soon found that the crew had shipped for three pounds a month, that they had received a month's wages in advance, and not a man of them intended to go any further than Cardiff in her. They had signed articles for the same voyage with Riley and me ; still it was understood that they were merely " run- ners," that is, shipped for the run to Cardiff; and they were a fine lot. Old Ned declared that they were " the Takings and scrapings of Hell, Hackney, and Newgate." We took with us from London a " channel pilot," who was to take her all the way round to Cardiff. A big, bluff, typical Briton he was ; and during the six weeks that he was aboard, I do not know when he slept, for I could never find any one who had seen the quarter-deck for a moment unoccupied by his burly form. Clad from head to foot in oilskins, — for it rained incessantly, — he tramped that quarter-deck night and day, apparently never tired. I never saw him so much as lean against the rail for a moment's rest. Always on the alert, he tacked that ship every four hours during the dreary six weeks' beat down channel against a southwest gale, which was as steady as the trade-wind itself. I do not remember a more miserable time in all my experi- ence than those six, long, cold, wet weeks, with never a full watch below ; for we could always count on at least half an hour lost every watch in tacking. Our hands became raw and bleeding from so much pull- ing on wet ropes. Our clothes all became soaked, for of course there was no chance to dry anything, and the fore- WRECKED ON LAND'S END lOI castle leaked so that our bedding was drenched, so that to use a nautical expression we turned in wet and turned out steaming ; and to make matters worse for some of us, the crew, who were all thieves and scalawags, had no clothes of their own and didn't hesitate a moment to help themselves to anything that they could get hold of. Riley and I, hav- ing a pretty good outfit, became lawful prey to them. Oil- skins and sea-boots were in great demand among these "bummers," and if when called to go on watch you found your clothes anywhere you were in luck. One night, during the middle watch, I was awakened by a man kicking the lid off my new chest. This was about the last straw, and grabbing my sheath-knife, I jumped from my bunk and started for him. " Hold on, young feller," said he ; " the ship's ashore and I might as well have some of these good clothes as to let them go drifting out into the western ocean." And sure enough, just then she came down with a solid thump that nearly threw us both to the deck. By this time all hands were out, and we found that the watch were getting yard-arm and stay-tackles aloft to hoist out the long-boat. All halyards had been let fly, sheets were let go, and not a brace having been touched, the yards were swinging wildly about, and the canvas was flapping hke broadsides from a man-of-war. All ropes were flying about the decks ; the officers were yelling themselves hoarse trying to get the boats out ; it was as dark as pitch, so foggy that, had it been daylight, you could hardly have seen the length of your nose. The rain was pouring in torrents and it was bitterly cold. What little semblance of authority the officers had been able to maintain up to this time now disappeared entirely, and with each heave of the sea the poor old ship came down with a bang on the rocks. It seemed as if the shocks 102 ON MANY SEAS must jerk the spars clean out of her and throw them over the bow. We finally got the long-boat hoisted high enough so that, by slacking away on the stay-tackle and hauling on the yard- arm, we could get her over the side. Some one thought to ask the boatswain if the plug was in her. " I don't know," said he ; "I sent the carpenter half an hour ago to make a plug for her and haven't seen him since. Where is he, anyway? Ca-r-p-e-n-ter! " he shouted. " Vat you vant? " said a voice from somewhere overhead. "Where are you? Bring me a plug for the long-boat !" shouted the boatswain. " Here I am in de boat, and de ploog is all right," said the carpenter. " Come out o' that boat, you Dutch son of a shark," said the boatswain, " and stay out till the white men get in," and with that he ran up the main rigging and grabbed the poor Dutchman by the shoulders and slatted him out of the boat and down on the deck, flat on his back, where he was received by a volunteer committee of the " runners," who thumped and cursed him to their heart's content. Pandemonium reigned supreme. I heard the second mate call for another hand to lay aft and help get the quarter-boat over, and extricating myself with some diffi- culty from the tangle of ropes, "runners," and carpenter on the main deck,' I scrambled aft. As I passed around abaft the house, she brought her stern down like a million-ton pile-driver. The wheel went hard a starboard with the velocity of a buzz-saw, and the sudden stoppage proving too much for it, it flew all to pieces. This incident impressed on my mind most emphatically the fact that the old ship was fast becoming a wreck. I jumped to leeward, where the second mate and a couple of hands were trying to get the quarter-boat out, and helped them. When we got her WRECKED ON LAND'S END I03 in the davits and swung outboard, the second mate told an- other man and me to get in and bear her off from the side as they lowered, and unhook the tackles. It was a mighty risky job getting that boat into the water in the dark ; for, besides the rolling and pitching of the old ship herself, there was quite a heavy sea running, and consequently before she was half lowered, and while we were doing our level best to keep her from being stove against the ship's sides by the heavy rolling, a big sea came up under her, raising her suddenly five or six feet in the air, and of course slacking the tackles to that extent, and then as suddenly dropped from under her, allowing her to fall a like distance until brought up standing by the tackles. It was a busy job. The first time she went down I nearly fell overboard. The next time she dropped, the hook of the block at my end broke and let her bow drop into the sea ; but as the wind and seas were aft, and as the stern was nearly lowered, no damage was done ; at the same time I heard my companion in the stern give an awful yell, then another, then silence. I shouted wildly for some one to throw me a rope's end, and soon down came the end of a topsail brace ; but it was short, so short that when she dropped into the trough of the sea, or when the old hooker rolled away from me, I was obliged to stand on her very nose and hang on to the bare end with my arm extended to its very utmost. I was scared, awfully scared ; for should the boat fall only an inch or two lower than usual, or should the combined roll of the ship and heave of the sea cause me to part com- pany with either the boat or the rope, what should I do? If I hung on to the rope and the boat went from under me, it vvould be but a minute or two until, exhausted, I would drop into the sea ; and should I let go the rope and take my chances in the boat, even if I escaped being crushed under the ship's counter, which was not very likely, I should 104 ON MANY SEAS most certainly be again shipwrecked, and this time fatally, on the neighbouring rocks. I shouted loudly to my com- panion in the stern to come forward and help me, but I got no answer ; for, poor fellow, he had made his last " run " and was never again seen. It was supposed that he fell over- board, as I came so near doing while bearing off from the ship's side. It seemed as if I hung on to that short rope for hours, shouting with all my might for more rope. At last a head and lantern appeared over the rail ; it seemed to me nearly half a mile above me. " Hey, boy, take this lantern ; look out for it," said the second mate's voice. " Gimme more slack on this rope ! " I yelled in despera- tion. "Hey?" " Gimme more slack on this rope ! I can't hang on any longer ! " "Oh, I can't hear what you say ; look out for this lantern, and I'll send you down a bag of bread, a breaker of water, and a compass," said he, as he began to lower the lantern down to me. " Come, git a holt o' that lantern, one of you ; what in h 's the matter with you? " By this time the lantern was low enough so that he caught sight of me and saw the pre- dicament that I was in, and then he went and slacked the rope for me. What a godsend that was ! I made it fast in the ring in her nose, and then went aft to see what had become of my shipmate, but there was no one there ; so I unhooked the stern tackle, and then gave my. attention to the stuff they sent down. After the boat was victualled and equipped, they sent the old man down in a bowline ; after him came the big English channel pilot, the man who was to blame for the whole thing, for it was he who kept her away too WRECKED ON LAND'S END 105 soon. Before she was clear of the Land's End, he checked in the yards, and gave the hehnsman a course that ran her plumb on the top of the reef that extends from one to the other of two massive rocks directly off the Land's End of England, called the Brisons. After the pilot came the second mate and two men, mak- ing six of us, all told. I reported my missing companion, but nobody knew whether he had returned to the deck and gone in the long-boat, or not ; but the question was settled next day, for he alone of all the crew failed to say " here " at muster roll-call. When all were aboard and seated, I let go the rope's end, and we shoved her off from the side of the wreck with our oars, noticing at the same time lots of pieces of planking and spHnters which had floated up from her bottom, which was being ground out of her on the rocks. And again I realized that, sure enough, the old ship was a hopeless wreck. We pulled around the stern to the other side, where the long-boat lay with all the rest of the crew in her. As soon as we came within ear-shot of her, it was evident that a row- was in progress ; for such a hullabaloo I never heard. It seems, as we found out afterwards, the cook had several pounds in gold and silver in a little bag round his neck. Some of the "runners" found it out and they "downed" him in the overcrowded boat, nearly upsetting her, and robbed him of it, and he, being about the same kind as themselves, produced a long carving knife, which he had evidently taken along for the purpose of defending his prop- erty, and swore he would cut every piratical throat among them. This led to further disturbance ; for whether these gentle mariners objected to being alluded to as pirates, or whether they disliked the prospect of having their throats cut, I don't know, but anyway they all piled on to the cook I06 ON MANY SEAS again, disarmed him, and were thumping the hfe out of him, when we came alongside. " Mr. Richards," said the pilot. " Sir," said the mate, who had charge of the long-boat, and was sitting unconcernedly in the stern-sheets while the " runners " were operating on the cook. " You'd best get away as soon as possible. Her spars are liable to go any minute, as her bottom must be pretty well ground out of her. We'll try and find a landing. We'll show this lantern so that you can follow us," said the pilot. "All right," said the mate; "but if you don't make any better fist piloting the boats than you did the ship, I don't care to follow you too close." To this left-handed compliment the pilot made no answer, but ordered us to give way ; the old man himself sitting perfectly silent in the stern-sheets, thinking no doubt of the fate of the ship which he had sailed so many years. Poor old man ! it was a sad blow to him. The next day I saw him standing looking at her from the top of a high bluff, and his poor old eyes filled with tears, as he remarked to the pilot, " She was a good ship and she's been my home for twenty-five years." We pulled slowly through the fog, the long-boat following. Every little while we stopped rowing to listen for breakers, or any sound that would indicate the direction of the land. During one of those intervals, the bow-oarsman said he heard a boat, evidently a man-of-war's by the stroke. " It's the long-boat you hear," said the second mate. " No, it ain't," said the pilot. " It's the coast-guards " ; and so it was ; for in another moment a dull glare of light in the fog, dead ahead, brought the warning hail from the pilot. " Boat ahoy ! " and we both backed water together as we ranged alongside of the Sennen Cove life-boat. ;; Information was exchanged ; and they told us that the WRECKED ON LAND'S END lO/ coast-guard on duty on a high bluff near where the wreck lay, in patrolling his post, glanced toward the Brisons every time he turned, at the end of his beat. Sometimes he could see them through the fog, and again he could not. Finally, shortly after twelve o'clock, as the fog thinned a bit, he noticed a something there that, to use his own words, " wasn't there before." He knew it couldn't possibly be anything but a big ship on the Brisons ; and away he went, post-haste, to the station, and gave the alarm. The coast-guard gave us our course to the landing, and then went on, to see if the long-boat needed any assistance, which, however, she did not ; for, the cook's business having been attended to, the crew had been carefully following our light. After leaving the life-boat, a short pull brought us to a small pier, in a landlocked cove. Here we landed, hauHng our boat v/ell up, and started to climb the precipitous path leading to the little, straggling, fishing village of Sennen Cove. The long-boat's crew soon joined us ; and I guess the little place never had so many people in it before. But alas, for EngUsh hospitality ! I had always supposed that shipwrecked seamen had a valid claim on the sympathies of all civihzed people. But although the inhabitants of the little village were all up and staring at us from their doorways, and could certainly see what a cold, wet, and forlorn lot we were, yet they never offered us the least shelter from the pitiless storm, but shut their doors in our faces, and went back to their warm beds, leaving us to stand about the deserted street, or shelter ourselves as best we might, under the lee of their miserable huts. The walls of these huts were about six feet high, built of stone, and over all a high, round roof of thatch, about two feet thick, which very much resembled a haystack, or the African huts that you see por- trayed in the magazines and illustrated papers. The natives were English, undoubtedly ; but we could no more under- I08 ON MANY SEAS stand them than we could Fiji islanders, and had to get the coast-guards, who were all ex-man-of-war's men, to interpret for us. Old Ned said that if he had some glass beads or red calico, he'd " buy the whole d — d outfit." The captain, mate, and pilot went up to the coast-guard station, where there was a good fire, and passed the night under cover. In the morning we were about played out, — tired, wet, cold, and, oh ! so hungry, for the salt air gives one a splendid appetite. Some of the boys went down to the boat and opened the bag of hard bread ; but although it was guar- anteed to be water, fire, and bomb proof, yet it got a pretty good soaking coming ashore, in the rain and salt sprays alternately, so that although the interior of each biscuit resembled in texture a thin disc of glass or virgin flint, and might have proved to be very nutritious, it was disguised, or, if you please, upholstered, with pulp on each side, flav- oured with that peculiar, salt, bitter taste characteristic of sea-brine. We decided by a standingYO\.t to deny ourselves the luxury of soaked bread for breakfast. Time wore on, and as no breakfast bell rang for us, some of the fellows volunteered to act as spies and find out if the old man and his crowd were faring any better than we, and if so, to make a demand for something to eat. They came back and reported that the afterguards were living high, up at the coast-guard station ; so old Ned went up to see the captain, and told him we were hungry. He said he wouldn't mention the matter, only we were supposed to be in a civilized country. " If we were on a half-tide rock, out in the middle of the ocean," said he, " I'd scrape up a few barnacles and eat them ; but in England we must have grub, or we'll rake this blamed village fore and aft." The old man made some arrangements whereby, along in the afternoon, we were provided with some coffee and bread, WRECKED ON LAND'S END 109 about half enough. We got no more to eat that day ; but at night we were housed in various barns and empty build- ings, so that most of us got a little sleep. The gang who had robbed the cook of course managed to get liquor, and were drunk, and fighting and yelling about the place all day and late into the night. CHAPTER XII Britannia rules the Waves. — Wrecked again. — Jack ASHORE IN London. — Almena. The next day dawned bright and clear, but with a strong westerly wind blowing, which sent a pretty heavy sea into the bay. As we crawled out of the various holes and corners where we had found shelter, we naturally looked first toward the ship. There she lay, a mere hulk, pounding away on the rocks, not a stick standing in her. We got another ration of coffee and bread in the same place as before, and after breakfast, the wind having hauled off-shore and fallen comparatively light, the boatswain asked the captain to allow him to take the quarter-boat and go off to the wreck and save some of his effects. The captain gave him permission, and he called for a crew. Riley and I volunteered, as we hated to lose all our good clothes ; so did the Dutch car- penter, as he wanted to save his tools ; one more, and we had a full crew, four oars and the boatswain to steer. As we shoved off, they all shouted after us to bring off this and that which they wanted. "Oh, certainly," said the boatswain; "give your orders, gentlemen ; you were not so free, though, to volunteer for this three-mile pull ; we'll fetch off what we can get of our own, and then you can have the boat yourselves." So we pulled off alongside without any trouble ; but when we got out there the tide was so low and the sea ran so high no ALMENA'S BOARDING-HOUSE III over the reef, that the only place we could approach her was right under the stern, and as the stern was some thirty feet above the water's edge, we might as well have remained ashore for all the good we could do there. A couple of coast-guards who were aboard and saw us coming, came to the taffrail and told us it was impossible to get aboard. We asked them to lower down our clothes-bags to us ; but they said it was impossible, as the wreck of the mainmast lay on the deck-house and had smashed it in. The fact was that they wanted whatever could be saved for themselves ; for the Englishman is a born wrecker, and considers himself the lawful heir of the sea and its treasures. In vain the carpenter begged them to send down " mine toogle kist." They at last walked away from the taffrail altogether, and as there was no use in our staying there, we headed our boat for the cove again, as poor as when we set out. We now noticed that the wind had freshened a good bit, and the heavy westerly sea that was still running against it made hard work for such a poor crew as we had. Neither Riley nor I had seen much boat's service, although we could keep stroke fairly well. The other fellow was hardly any good at all, and as for the carpenter, he was a positive hindrance. He had the stroke-oar, as being the lightest, and was continually catching crabs, and slewing the boat off her course ; and then he would turn round and growl at me in his broken English, because, as the natural result of his own clumsiness, I would hit him a resounding bump in the back of the head with the butt of my oar. We pulled and tugged away for about an hour, until we were all pretty well tired out and wet through with the flying sprays ; but it became evident at last that we were not gain- ing an inch, so we held a council of war and agreed to head her for a little strip of sandy beach that we could see away 112 ON MANY SEAS down on the lee side of the bay. It was at the foot of what appeared to be a high, perpendicular cliff; but as there was no alternative, we were obliged to beach her there and trust to luck to find a way to scale the cliff afterwards. So the helm was put up, and we headed her for the beach. The boatswain did not like to trust the carpenter with an oar in the breakers, on account of his crab-catching pro- clivities, and asked him if he could steer. He said he could, and started on a long, rambling yarn in his broken English, about how he had steered boats in Batavia. " Well, never mind," said the boatswain ; " you can tell us that to-morrow. Here, take hold of this bat, and do you see that dark patch on the beach there?" " Sure," says the carpenter. " Well, you keep her right straight for that, and never mind looking over your shoulder," said he, as he saw the carpenter glancing apprehensively at the huge rollers that were coming for us ; for it was now blowing half a gale again. The boatswain took the carpenter's oar and told us all to be ready to pull with a will when he gave the word, and pull we did, for dear life. We were getting along finely until the sea, on whose crest we were riding at express-train speed, began to break, and considerable water slapped into the boat. At the critical moment the blasted Dutch carpen- ter failed us. With a yell of " Ow Yasus," he dropped the tiller for an instant and grabbed the gunwales of the boat with both hands, thinking, I suppose, that he was a "goner." The language which the boatswain used to that poor for- eigner, although highly appropriate to the occasion, I will omit. It had the desired effect, however, for he once more grasped the tiller ; but it was too late to avert the inevitable catastrophe. In a second the keel grazed the bottom, the boat whirled broadside on and rolled over quicker than light- ALMENA'S BOARDING-HOUSE 113 ning. Of course we were all thrown out sprawling and washed about by the surf like so many bundles of old clothes. Eventually we all scrambled ashore, and to our great sur- prise found the beach crowded with people, although there wasn't a human being in sight when we headed our boat for the surf, and I don't know where they all came from ; for when we afterwards arrived at the top of the bluff only one of the shanties pertaining to the country was in sight. It would seem as if, like marine vultures, scenting wreck and disaster, even on a small scale, they had swooped down on us out of a clear sky; and do you think they offered to help us? Not a bit of it. They just stood there stolidly, looking on as we barely saved ourselves from drowning, talking to each other in their unintelligible gibberish. After we had regained our senses somewhat, and all hands had taken turns cursing the carpenter as the cause of our trouble, we started to scale the bluff. " Hold on a minute, boys," said the boatswain; "let's fix the boat so she won't be any good to these hogs." So we got big rocks, and as she lay there bottom up we stove in her bottom and sides until, as the saying goes, " she wouldn't hold cordwood crossways." Then, wishing the " blarsted British wreckers " luck with their prize, which, however, as it was spoken in ordinary English, they could not possibly understand, we proceeded by a steep, zigzag path, which we found up the bluff, and so back to Sennen Cove, where, for a time, we were the butt of all hands. By and bye word began to float around that the " Fisher- men's Society," an organization that looks after the welfare of shipwrecked sailors in England, was going to send us back to London, and about two o'clock in the afternoon the captain sent us word to go with the bearer of the mes- sage, who would conduct us to a couple of wagons which I 114 ON MANY SEAS would take us to Penzance, on our way back to civilization. At the foot of the hill, we found a couple of open carts without any sideboards, seats, or even enough stakes to hold on by. However, we climbed in, or rather on, to them, and away we went. Before we got to the top of the first hill, the starboard after wheel of the cart on which, among others, Riley and the boatswain and I were passengers, collapsed, and we got off and got a fence rail and lashed it to her in such a way that the axle rested on it and the after end dragged on the ground. When we got it fixed and started again, the boatswain looked at Riley and me and asked, "Who is the Jonah? Is it one of you fellows, or is it me?" We told him we didn't think it could be either of us, as we had always had good luck before ; so he said he guessed it must be himself Arrived at Penzance, the treatment we received was the very opposite of that which the Sennen Cove savages had given us. Here we were lionized as we thought we ought to have been all along, for were we not shipwrecked mari- ners, entitled to be hailed as "poor fellows," and asked by a sympathizing community, "what we would have "? — cer- tainly ; and we told them what we would have, and we had it so plentifully that I dare say some of them look back to that evening in Penzance as an occasion to be marked with a white stone, even to this day. That evening a gentleman, representing the Fishermen's Society, took us in charge and got us beds in different parts of the town ; and that was the first time since leaving London that we had slept dry, warm, and as long as we wanted to. The next morning we were given our choice between Liverpool and London. Riley and I chose the latter ; I suppose for the simple reason that we had been there once before. Old Ned and the boatswain were of like mind. ALMENA'S BOARDING-HOUSE II5 with a few others ; most of the crew, however, preferred Liverpool. We took passage in a third-class English carriage, but the sympathetic residents of Penzance would not allow us to leave their truly hospitable town dry ; consequently the boys were in good humour and passed the time by singing sea- songs, " shanties," ^ and the popular ditties of the day. The boatswain, who had what all boatswains should have, a magnificent voice, led the singing most of the time ; and an old lady who sat in the seat behind him, leaned over and said with a pious smirk : " You men sing very nicely. Won't you please sing a hymn for me which I feel sure you all know, ' Nearer my God to thee ' ? " " Madam," said the boatswain, " I hope you will excuse us. We are shipwrecked mariners who have been drifting about in open boats in the Western Ocean for I don't know how long, without a drop of water to drink, or a mouthful of grub to eat. During that long and trying period, madam, I leave it to you, is it not likely that we should pass our time continually praying and singing hymns? Such being the case, madam, you will, I hope, excuse us from singing any more hymns just now." " Good gracious ! " exclaimed the old lady as the boat- swain struck up " John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the grave." The boatswain had been given a small sum of money to pay our cab hire in London ; so when we arrived at Padding- ton station we took two cabs, and as we were all consigned to the Wells Street Sailors' Home, our cab at least was ordered to drive there. During the trip up from Penzance Old Ned had agreed to take Riley to his boarding-house, which he said was a good one ; and one of the other fellows 1" Shanty" is the English-speaking sailor's rendering of the French ckante. Il6 • ON MANY SEAS had agreed to take me to his, for as Riley and I had gone directly from the Taiijore to the Hamliji we had not had any boarding-house in London, and boarding-house keepers are not looking for shipwrecked sailors with neither money nor clothes. And though we had an order from the Fisher- men's Society which entitled us all to admission to Wells Street Sailors' Home, yet the old-timers advised us not to go there. They said that what we wanted was a good boarding- house ; so when our driver got off and knocked at the door, for it was late at night, the night porter opened the door about an inch, took in the order, and after reading it opened the door again, a Httle bit wider this time, and said, '' Well, is anybody coming in here?" Nobody made any move- ment, so he slammed the door shut again, and as our " cabby " was cUmbing into his seat again the fellow who had promised to take me to his good boarding-house turned to me and said, "Why don't you go in here, boy? You haven't got any boarding-house, have you?" Thinking he must have repented of his offer, I said I guessed I would, and jumped out in the pouring rain. As I did so the cab drove off. I ran up the steps and pounded on the door. Again the porter opened it and said, " Well, what do you want?" I said I wanted to come in. "I s'pose so," said he. " Who might you be, anyway, me Lord?" I told him I was one of the shipwrecked crew who had just stopped at the door with an order for admis- sion from the Fishermen's Society. "That yarn won't do, my covey," said he. "It's too blooming thin ; go and try it somewhere else," and he slammed the door in my face. I went over to the other side of the street and stood in a doorway trying to get a Httle shelter from the pitiless rain. A policeman came along and ordered me to move on, and I moved out into ALMENA'S BOARDING-HOUSE 11/ the full downpour again ; and as I trudged along, drenched to the skin and half frozen, I remembered the question the boatswain had asked on the cart, "Who is the Jonah?" and I was forced to acknowledge to myself that I must be he ; for surely every man of that whole ship's company would consider himself most unfortunate, but I was more so than any of them. I was in the long six weeks' beat down channel ; I was in the wreck on the Brisons. Riley was the only other member of the crew whose loss was equal to mine on that occasion. I was wrecked the next day in the boat, and again the same day on the cart, and here I was now, after having been a participant in all the disasters that had befallen my shipmates, stranded at midnight in London without a cent of money, only the clothes that I stood in, — and they were of the poorest that my outfit contained, — and not knowing where I could obtain shelter from the storm, to say nothing of a place to lay my head. I tramped about in the rain and slush for a couple of hours, getting more and more desperate every minute. By and bye a couple of figures came shuffling along towards me with heads bowed to the storm and coat-collars turned up, and as they were passing me I thought one of them looked famihar, and in desperation I shouted, " Hey, fellers ! " The one nearest to me looked up sideways and remarked, "Why, it's the boy. Hey, boy, what are ye doin' 'ere?" I told them how I came to be adrift like that, and they said it was " a bloomin' shyme." Finally they agreed to take me down to their boarding- house and see if they could get me in there. And how gladly I went with them ! We went down to Ratchffe Highway and round the corner into Ship Alley, and there in a little dingy hole was the boarding-house, kept by a German lady, Almena by name. She was a partially reformed denizen of the Highway, who Il8 ON MANY SEAS had taken to herself a Norwegian sailor for a consort, and opened a sailors' boarding-house. When we entered she was entertaining a select party of sailors and their sweet- hearts with a loud-mouthed lecture in praise of her own good qualities, while her right hand grasped a quart pewter pot of 'arf an' 'arf. Catching sight of me, she screeched out, "Veil, who is dis ; vat blooming tramp are you bringing to me, hey?" The men explained that I was their shipmate and had no place to go to, so they brought me there. " I don't vant him ; I got bums enough now," said the virago. " Let him go to his own boardin'-'ouse. Vere dit you boarded ven you vas in London before, young feller?" I told her that I didn't board anywhere, but had gone directly from one ship to another. " Oh yes," said she, " you are von of dem schmard fellers vat don't shbend no money in a boardin'-'ouse ; and den ven you gits casted avay and don't got no money, and no clo's, and no blace to shtay, den you comes by Almena.. Almena shall keep you, hey? I dink not. I don't vant you. Go vere you belongs. Go on board anudder sheep ; den you don't got no more board to pay, ain't it? " "All right," I said ; " I'll go " ; and out I went into the storm again. While I stood at the corner of the Highway in the rain, chewing the cud of bitter fancies, one of my shipmates came out and called me back again. It seems that after I left they commenced to upbraid Almena for her meanness in turning me out in such a night, and she of course tried to justify herself on the score of business. As the discussion waxed warm, one of the sailors applied an epithet to her, which, however honestly earned, she dechned to accept ; and retorted by a knock-down argument with the pewter pot. Her consort took up the ALMENA'S BOARDING-HOUSE II9 fight, and my other shipmates also sailed in ; and the two sailors proving too much for the hotel firm, a truce was called, and Almena asked them, "Vat you vant anyvay?" " You turned our shipmate out in the storm, you flaming Dutch rip," said one of them. " Will you take him in now? " " Yes, yes, mine Gott ! Git off mine stomach and let me up," said Almena. And so it caaie about that at last I was housed. CHAPTER XIII A Welsh Brig. — St. Lucia. — Riley and I fight the Mate. — Blind Justice. — Sentenced for Mutiny. Next day I met Riley, and we started at once to look for a ship, with the result that in a few days we shipped as ordi- nary seamen in the Welsh brig Isabel, of New Quay, bound to St. Lucia in the West Indies. With the exception of the cook, who was a mulatto hailing from St. Kitts, and our- selves, the whole crew were Welsh. We soon found out that, not being Welshmen, we were " no good." The captain, a short, square-built fellow by the name of Jones, was a typical Welshman. Sundays, after we got into the fine weather, he was accus- tomed to sit in the cabin in plain sight of his telltale com- pass, with the skylight open and a glass of Jamaica rum at hand, and read the Welsh Bible in such a loud voice that he would keep the watch below awake for hours, stopping occasionally to curse the man at the wheel for being off his course. One of the crew, who was something of a joker, was at the wheel one day as we were running the trades down with topmast and lower stunsail set forward. Jack reported in a low tone, so as to be heard only by the old man in the cabin, " Sail on the weather bow." The old man ran up the companion stairs, asking before he reached the top, " What does she look like. Jack? " "A lower stuns'l, sir," says Jack. The old man stopped, 1 20 SENTENCED FOR MUTINY 121 gave him a quick look, and saying, " The hell it does ! " went below again. There are few things a sailor dislikes more than to be pre- vented from going below immediately at the end of his watch. The old man, knowing this, planned his revenge accordingly. At eight bells, just as the wheel was relieved, he came on deck bringing a needleful of sail twine. "Jack," said he, "go up and overhaul the main royal buntlines and put a stop on them," handing him the twine. It was a particu- larly disagreeable job, for the main royal is the loftiest yard of all, and from the topmast crosstrees up, there are no rat- lines, so it is a case of "shin." Besides, it is a boy's job, anyway, and one which an able seaman feels himself above doing. Then, when you consider that it was in his watch below that he had to do it, you can understand that it was with a very bad grace that he took the twine and started " up stairs." When he arrived on the yard, he hailed the deck and reported in a grieved tone, more in sorrow than in anger, that the buntlines were overhauled and stopped all right. "Are they?" says the old man. "Well, just take a look round before you come down, Jack, and see if you can see anything more of that sail on the weather bow." Jack said never a word, but slid down the royal backstay, and that was the last time he took any liberties with the old man. St. Lucia is a mountainous island in the Windward group, and the port to which we were bound being, as are all the ports in those islands, on the lee side, with an open bay and deep water right up to the beach, a ship has only to beat as far in as she can until becalmed under the high mountains, let go her anchor, get out her yawl, put the kedge anchor in her, bend on her longest line, and, having carried the kedge out as far as possible, proceed to warp her into the bay. 122 ON MANY SEAS You don't need a pilot any more than you do between Sandy Hook and Land's End ; for if you go about soon enough to prevent knocking your jib-boom off against the side of the mountain, you are all right and will never touch bottom. As we were beating slowly in with a very light breeze, a canoe containing an old darky and a coloured boy ranged alongside the lee waist ; and the old fellow, reaching up as far as he could, attracted the cook's atten- tion after this manner : " Hey, St, hi dere, you yaller nigger ! " " Wha' yo' warnt? " asked the cook. " Chain up de big darg," says the old fellow. " Don't got no darg." " Sure you don't got no darg? " " Ain' I done tole you so? " "All right, boy; gimme a han' till I git abode." The cook hauled him in over the rail, and he walked aft to the wheel, and told the helmsman to luff. " I can't luff any more ; the royals are half aback now." " Well, keep her so den, an' luff when you git a chance." Here the captain stepped up to him and asked him who he was. " I'se de pilot, sah ; haul down de flyin' jib." " The flying jib is down." " Well, den, hise it up agin." " Say," says the old man, " what are you trying to do, anyway? " " Tryin' to show my aufority." " If you are a pilot, where is your ' branch ' ? " (The pilot's license. ) " I'se de hull tree, honey, branches, roots, 'n all. Is you de captain, sah? " " Yes ; I'm the captain." SENTENCED FOR MUTINY 1 23 " Well, sah, why doan' you go down below an' order de pilot a glarse of grog, sah? " By this time we were well into the harbour, 'and had be- gun to get the sail off her ; so the pilot, seeing he was not going to make an impression, cleared out. In due time we got up to the quay and began to discharge our cargo, a large part of which was fire-brick, which we passed from one to another by hand, five bricks at a time, and it was killing work. The mate, a long, lanky, whiskered Welshman, was a horse. He worked with us, and set the pace. It was the rainy season ; one minute we would be deluged in a flood of warm rain, and the next the sun would be raising blisters on the backs of our necks; but nothing hindered our slave- driving mate, and he never seemed to be tired. After breakfast and after dinner his summons would be, " Now, then, wire in again," an expression which I learned to hate as heartily as I hated him who used it ; for Riley and I, not being Welsh, incurred his disapproval on that ground ; and, being Americans besides, merited, and received all the abuse of which a low, mean nature is capable. It is cus- tomary, when in port, to call the crew at half-past five in the morning. They then have coffee, and eat a hardtack or two, and wash decks. At eight o'clock half an hour is allowed for breakfast. Owing to the intense heat, it was impossible to sleep down in the brig's forepeak, so we used to lie around on the topgallant forecastle, or wherever we could find a place ; and, between the mosquitoes and being drowned out two or three times every night by showers, we did not get much sleep ; so that, once or twice, we had to be called the second time, and go without our coffee. One morning the cook overslept, so that we did not get our coffee until just as Mr. Williams, the mate, came forward to turn us to at six o'clock. Riley stood near the main hatch with 124 ON MANY SEAS his pot of coffee in his hand. " Put down that coffee-pot and get to work here ; none of your Yankee tricks," said the mate. " Can't you let us have a minute to drink our coffee?" said Riley. " We only just got it, and it ain't four bells, anyway." "What's that?" said Mr. Williams; "you talk back to me? " The mate stood on the main hatch, and Riley about a foot lower, on the deck. The mate, as he finished speak- ing, picked up a rough oak stave (part of the cargo), and, with a full-arm swing, he brought it squarely down on top of Riley's bare head. I thought it must surely kill him. It sounded like striking an empty barrel with a baseball bat, and the blood flew from his cut scalp, as if a ripe tomato had been mashed on top of his head. The blood also spurted from his nostrils and ears, but he didn't even stag- ger. His eyes filled with tears, and a smile of grim deter- mination spread over his face, as he said : " You Welsh hound, I'll have your fife for that," and draw- ing his sheath-knife, he started for him. The mate, having the advantage of the high ground, so to speak, from his position on the hatch, dropped the stave, and throwing his long arms about Riley, he picked him up bodily, and started for the off-shore rail, evidently with the intention of throwing him overboard. But an enraged and vigorous boy of seventeen or eigh- teen years of age is an inconvenient parcel to carry against his will ; and although Williams had Riley off his feet with his arms pinioned to his sides, still by his frantic struggles he greatly impeded the mate's progress, and twice he nearly threw him down. At length Williams, with his struggling and kicking victim, reached the port rail. The brig had a low rail like all vessels of her class, and as he was unable to lift Riley clear over, he leaned against him, pressing his SENTENCED FOR MUTINY 12$ whole weight with all his strength against hira, apparently in an effort to break the boy's back. It was then, as he felt himself giving way, that Jack called for me. I heard him almost gasp out " Fred," for Jack Riley was as plucky as they make them and would never "squeal" until he found himself in a hopeless extremity. When he called me I was already half-way across the hatch on the way to his assistance, and spurred on by his weak voice, my regard for my shipmate, and my hatred for the mate, I leaped from the hatch directly on to Wil- liams's back and seizing him by his long hair with my left hand, I yanked his head back with all my might. I should have thought the sudden jerk would have broken his neck, but I guess nothing but the hangman's noose will ever do that. Then I began raining blows on his upturned " mug." My fist was hard, my arm strong, and my heart gloried in the work. I can readily believe that WiUiams must have been a very surprised Welshman. At any rate, he relaxed his hold on Riley, who, regaining his senses and his feet, made a vicious jab at the mate with his sheath-knife ; but as Wil- liams and his rider had " sternway on," he escaped a fatal stab, but not a good long slash down his breast, his shirt being open at the time. His heels came in contact with the hatch-combings, and over he went backwards, on top of me, and Riley, in turn, on top of him. By this time quite a little excitement had begun to manifest itself on deck. The crew had gathered around, and yet though it was a fight between a Welshman and somebody else, they had so little love for the mate that they made no attempt to interfere in his behalf. But it was fortunate for all con- cerned that they were there, for as Riley leaped upon the mate, sure of his prey, and bent only on sweet revenge, he raised his knife high in the air for a sure and swift stab home ; but the nimble mulatto cook saw it just in time 126 ON MANY SEAS to catch hold of his wrist before he could strike, and he twisted the uplifted arm about until Riley was forced to drop the knife. All this time I had kept a continual tattoo on the mate's head and face, wherever I could get a lick ; with the very natural result that he was not nearly as frisky as he was when he hit poor Riley with the stave. This racket roused the captain, wlio came on deck and took a hand in the proceedings right away. He pulled Riley off the mate and then pulled the mate off me, and stood us all up on deck together. We were a fine sight ! All three of us were covered with blood, and what clothes we had on were torn to rags. The mate's face was pounded almost to a jelly ; both his eyes were so nearly closed that he had to grope his way aft. Riley was in pretty bad shape, but I was unhurt. Immedi- ately after this the captain brought two pairs of irons and, coming forward, called on Riley and me to surrender our- selves and go in irons. But as we were afraid that if he got us in his power he and the mate would revenge themselves to their hearts' content, we declined. We told him we would surrender to the shore authorities only, and would resist him and his mate to the end. "All right," said he; "I intended to put you in irons, maybe for a day or two, and then let you out and per- haps never mention the matter again [Oh yes, we knew all about that] ; but now I'll send you to jail and leave you to rot there." We told him we had about as hef rot on the island as under his hatches. So away he went ashore, and presently came back with a couple of policemen. These men were all old British soldiers who had served their time and were given these positions as a kind of pension ; and a fine lot of fellows they were too, as I found out afterwards when I became acquainted with them. They took us ashore to the SENTENCED FOR MUTINY 1 27 palace of justice, I suppose it should be called, for the best of all reasons that there was no justice in it. As we were going over the rail, up came the captain out of the cabin with a ham, which he held out to one of the policemen, tell- ing him to present it with his compliments to the judge. The policeman looked at the ham, and then at the cap- tain. "To the judge, is it?" said he. "Oh, thin, be the way ye stuck it out ter me I thought it was fer mesilf. Faith, thin, if ye have anny prisints or bribes, or annythin' to make to the judge, ye can carry thim yersilf, or hire a naygur ; sure I'm no porther for ye." " All right, Irish," said the captain. " I'll report you for that speech, slandering your superiors." " Shupariors, hey? Is that so? and whin, I'd like to know, did an owld man-of-war bos'n come to be the shuparior of an ex- member of the Enniskillen Rifles, honourably dis- charged from Her Majesty's service ? " And with his nose in the air he marched us ashore. It seems that the governor of the island was an old post-captain of the British navy, and for some unknown reason he had appointed an old boatswain to be justice of the little court held there, and as there is an "irrepressible conflict" between the two ser- vices, the very natural result was a clash between the judge and pohce. We were shoved into a sort of pen with half a dozen negroes who were up for drunkenness, steahng, and such petty misdemeanours, which afforded the bulk of the busi- ness for the court of this marine Dogberry ; and in due time we were ushered into the august presence. I should have known that the judge was an ex-boatswain if I had seen him milking Deacon Ben Russell's old brindle cow. He had all the earmarks, although he evidently tried hard to disguise them. His figure, though of medium height, was very broad and full-chested. He was a man of 128 ON MANY SEAS apparently sixty years, with curly, iron-gray hair, shaggy brows, and whiskers trimmed quite close, after the fashion known to British sailors as " bloody sojer's whiskers." This might have been a concession to the prejudices of the police ; but, if so, I never could discover that it produced any good effect, for they could not have hated him more heartily than they did. His voice had the deep, hoarse tones so familiar as the boatswain's trade-mark, and when he opened his mouth to speak you were surprised that he didn't sing out "All hands ahoy ! " As we entered, our captain was seated in a chair by his side, and between them on the magisterial desk and in plain sight, was the ham. They were conversing pleas- antly, these two nautical worthies, when we two boys were brought in. " Ah, captain, these are your mutineers, I beheve. Will you please state your case, sir? " said the judge. Hereupon the captain proceeded to state that we two were Yankee desperadoes ; that we had kept him, his mate and crew, in a turmoil ever since we came aboard the brig in London. That we had frequently threatened the lives of him and his mate, and that on this particular morning we had " laid " for the mate as he came up the companion steps before daylight ; that I had caught hold of him and held him, while Riley had tried to cut his throat. He said that while Riley had failed to carry out the programme in full, owing to the mate's sturdy resistance, he had nevertheless inflicted an apparently very dangerous stab wound, from which, he would not be surprised on returning aboard, to find that he had died. The captain added that being in a hurry to get his cargo out, and being now short-handed, he had not brought any witnesses, but could, if necessary, produce the whole crew. '■' Not necessary, captain," said the judge ; " your word is SENTENCED FOR MUTINY 1 29 satisfactory. We will now hear what these young criminals have to say for themselves. What is your name, my lad? " ''John Patrick Riley, sir." " Irish? I thought you said they were Yankees," said the judge to the captain. " Well," said the captain, " I never saw a Yankee that was anything else but an Irishman ; did you? " "True enough ; and your name? " turning to me. " Frederick Benton WiUiams, sir." " Now, my lads, you have heard your captain's story ; what have you to say to it?" "Well, sir — " said Riley. " Shut up, you young scoundrel; you have the audacity to contradict the statement of your own captain, right to his face and mine. I'll give you — When do you expect to sail for Castries, captain?" " In about three weeks, perhaps a little more." " Well, then, I'll give them three weeks, and if you want them before, you can take them out of jail. In the mean- time, you can hire as many negroes as you consider neces- sary to replace them in working the cargo, and take it out of their wages when you return to London." Then turning to us as if we had been stone-deaf during the preceding conversation, or didn't understand the language, he said : " I shall give you but three weeks at hard labour, unless the mate dies of his injuries in the meantime, which he is very likely to do. But should he survive the effects of your brutal assault, and your captain be wiUing to give you another trial, I will allow him to take you to sea with him again." Turning to the captain, Riley said, " If you'd given him a cheese along with that ham, he'd have hung us for you." While the captain had the grace to look a little confused, the ex-boatswain merely grinned as though he enjoyed the joke, which no doubt he did. So Riley and I went to jail. CHAPTER XIV Three Weeks in Jail. — West India Fever. — For Char- ity's Sake. — Death and Resurrection. — Short Al- lowance. We pounded stone and picked oakum, and fought mos- quitoes and fleas and other " critters " for tliree weeks, at the end of which time we were sent aboard, as the brig had discharged her cargo, taken in some sugar, and was now bound a few miles around the coast to a little port called Castries, for more sugar ; after which she would return again and finish loading. We couldn't observe any differ- ence in the mate's manner towards us from what it always had been ; he was just as overbearing and hateful as ever. He showed no signs of the licking he got, except the end of a freshly healed wound above his collar and dangerously near to his jugular ; so I told Riley that, after all, perhaps the captain and the judge were honest in their fears that he might die, although at the time we had regarded it as merely a bluff. While in Castries I contracted chills and fever, and I got so bad with them that my mind at last became a blank. Then I recovered a little, and every morning when the captain would come forward and ask me, " Well, will you turn to this morning?" I would answer that I was willing, but unable ; and I would then ask to be sent ashore to the hospital. It is one of the first things you learn on becom- 130 DEATH AND RESURRECTION 131 ing a "lime-juicer," — to never refuse duty. If you do, you play directly into the enemy's hands, and make yourself liable to imprisonment and loss of wages. But if you declare yourself willing, even anxious, to work, but unable, you take the wind out of his sails, and he must provide you medical attendance or send you to the hospital, or take the consequences if you die on his hands after having notified him over and over again that you were sick. The " lime- juice sailor " is a fine legal luminary. At last he could not help seeing that I was a very sick boy. He agreed to pay me off, and leave me in hospital. I haven't a very clear knowledge of the details of matters which occurred at that time, for my mind was hazy from the fever. I remember that he paid me in silver, in the cabin. How much he paid, or how much he robbed me of, I cannot say ; but I would not do such violence to my memory of the rum-drinking, pious har as to believe for a moment that he paid me anything like what was due. But I didn't care. If he had not given me a cent, but only just let me go to the hospital, I would have been satisfied ; for I expected nothing but that I should feed the land-crabs. I bade good-bye to Riley, and in doing so cut the last remaining tie that bound me to home. I hated to leave him among the Welshmen, with not a friendly soul aboard, and tried to persuade him to desert and join me on the island. " No, sir," said Jack. " I've earned my money mighty hard aboard of this old 'juicer,' and I'm going to have it, if I have to cut the heart out of every Welshman aboard of her and take her to London myself." So I packed my very, very few belongings in an old canvas bag, bid Jack good-bye, and went ashore, hardly knowing what I was about. How long I remained in hospital or on the island, I 132 ON MANY SEAS cannot say. I must have been delirious for a long time. When I came to myself again, I found that I had entrusted my little bag of dollars to an old darky, who seemed to take a most fatherly interest in me ; and after I was able to go out into the town for an hour or two and sit in the sun, or visit the policemen at the station, taking a few cents with me to buy a httle fruit or anything I might fancy, he would insist on my counting the money both before and after I had taken what I wanted, although I told him I trusted him implicitly. I found, on going down to the harbour, that there was but one vessel in port, — a brigantine belonging to Phila- delphia, called the James L. Baker. I was told she was the last vessel that would be in port until next season ; and as I didn't want to be left on St. Lucia until the darkies raised another crop of sugar, I went aboard, told my story to the captain, and asked him for a passage home. I told him I couldn't work, but showed him my little bag of money, and offered to give it to him if he would take me home. He said he was satisfied that I was an American boy, and he could see that I was sick and hard up, and he would give ine a passage to the States for charity. He told me when he was going to sail, and I got down to the quay just in time to get aboard with my empty clothes-bag. The brigantine was bound to Port au Spain, Trinidad, to discharge some horses and the remainder of her cargo. The mate, Mr. Thomas Nixon, managed to get out of me all there was to be had, which wasn't much ; and I imagine that, as part owner, he found fault with the captain for having given me my passage. At any rate, we touched at Port au Spain, and the next day after our arrival the old man called me aft and told me that I was apparently unable to do much useful work, and as " charity didn't go but DEATH AND RESURRECTION 1 33 mighty little ways " with him, he wished I would go ashore to the American consul and see if I couldn't get him to pay my fare. " If he won't," said the old man, '' I'll kerry ye, anyway; but it'll be a help to me if he will." I took my time, being sick and weak, but at last reached the consul's office, and it did me good to see the Ameri- can coat of arms again. It seemed to bring me nearer home. The consul, a young man about thirty, after hearing my tale, asked me why I came to him. I told him because the captain wanted to be paid for taking me home. " But," said he, " you have no claim on me. You should go to the British consul. You are a British subject." This I denied hotly. "I am an American," said I, "born in Ossipee, New Hampshire ; and I never was, and never will be, a British subject." He laughed, and said he knew well enough that I was an American boy, but that, by shipping in a British vessel, I had forfeited my right to American protection, and was entitled only to British protection. " However," said he, " I'll give the captain ten dollars to take you home." We stayed but a few days in Trinidad, taking in a Httle ballast, and then sailed for Orchilla, a guano island belong- ing to a Philadelphia firm. This island is shaped hke a horseshoe, the anchorage being in the bight of it. The guano comes off in lighters. There was absolutely nothing but guano, two white men, and a few blacks on the island. Not a blade of grass or a bush to break the monotony of colour of the low, dirty-brown hills of which it is composed. The white men were the superintendent and the cook. All the rest were negroes, shipped in the adjacent islands for terms of three months each. They quarried the guano and 134 ON iMANY SEAS piled it near highwater mark, and when the Philadelphia firm sent them a vessel they loaded her. There was never more than one vessel there at a time, and, as there was no diversion whatever, the superintendent, with the cook for company, put in most of his time drink- ing "old Tom" gin. They had got into a fight during one of their bouts, and the superintendent had decorated the cook's face until it looked like a tea-store chromo ; conse- quently, his time having expired, he returned with us to the States. While here I went through an experience that I shall never forget : not that it made any impression on my mind at the time, but it has come back to me since. As I re- ceived absolutely no medical attention of any kind, the fever simply took its course ; and while at times I could help a little about the decks, at others I was reduced almost to a state of idiocy. I can remember how I used to sit, I presume all day, — and yet it may have only been for a few minutes, — on a chest near the door of the forecastle, wish- ing somebody would come along, so that I could ask for a drink of water. All of a sudden, somebody would appear in front of me with a pot of water, and tell me it was not two minutes since I had asked him for it. He had gone at once ; but I had forgotten as entirely as though it never happened. One afternoon I woke up, or came to myself, whichever it may have been, to find myself lying in the starboard scuppers, with the captain and his wife and nearly all the crew gathered about me. Although I had not strength enough to move or speak, I could hear what was said about me. I found that I had just been brought out of the fore- castle by two of the sailors, as they objected to my dying there. So it was here in the scuppers of this old rattletrap brig that I was expected to pass in my checks. On regain- ing consciousness, although my mind was perfectly clear and DEATH AND RESURRECTION 1 35 I could understand every word spoken in my hearing, I was too weak to move so much as an eyelid. Nixon, the mate, said I was dead, and called to a couple of the sailors to heave me overboard ; but the captain's wife objected, and the old man sustained the objection. Nixon was told to give me a chance to get reasonably cold, and to try and spare enough old canvas to give me a half-Christian burial. The point to which I wish to call attention is this. I have heard of people in like condition who were filled with horror by the contemplation of an impending fate which they were powerless to avert. In my case there was no such feeUng. I felt, if anything, rather pleased at the pros- pect of having my troubles finally wound up. If my vote could have been taken on Nixon's proposition, I think I should have sent myself overboard ; and I know that I should not have voted in the negative. I was strictly brought up in a New England community, but in this extremity I had no more thought or care for my immortal soul than I had for my old empty clothes-bag in the forecastle. Years afterwards, at the other side of the world, I passed through a not dissimilar experience, and the two episodes have left the indelible conviction on my mind that man naturally dies as a dog dies. It is only when surrounded by friends and clergy who are anxious for the welfare of the passing soul that an unnatural excitement is awakened in the weak mind of the dying person, who then sees visions and hears voices. I have seen many men die on board ship and in hospital, and have yet to hear the first request for spiritual consola- tion or regrets expressed for sins committed, and I am sure the life of a sailor is far from spotless. As I was now pronounced dead, Nixon hunted up a piece of an old gaff-topsail that was so rotten and so thick with 136 ON MANY SEAS patch upon patch that he couldn't hope to make any use of it except to sell to the junkman when he got home ; this he threw over me, and I was left to get " reasonably cold " before burial, and everybody went about their business. In due time I began to feel unreasonably cold, and with the sense of feeling the power of locomotion returned ; so I crawled unnoticed from under my ragged shroud back into the forecastle. When Nixon got good and ready to have a funeral, he found himself minus a corpse, and he rather reluctantly consented to give me another chance for life. In due time we had our guano stored, but we had taken too much aboard, and had to unload nearly half of it. At last we were off with, at the very best, a dismal prospect before us, for we knew that even in fine weather we would have to pump nearly all the time, and what in the world should we do in bad weather? A long passage we were sure of, for though so lightly loaded, " she could not keep out of her own way," as the saying is, and as if to cast a ray of bright sunshine across the otherwise gloomy prospect, the steward hinted that we would be apt to go hungry, unless we made a remarkably short passage. Sure enough, the very first day out we were put on short allowance. Ever since my " resurrection," as Nixon called it, I had been improving, so that I was now able to potter round the decks nearly all day doing something or other. During the fine weather I steered a good deal of the time, and though I was kept on deck all day, and supposed to have all night in, Nixon would rout me out in his watch nights to hold turn when the men were pulling, and to coil up the ropes again, when through. So that I finally went to the captain and asked him to take me into his watch, that I could at least have as much rest as the regular crew. This he kindly did, and that cleared me of Nixon's clutches. So, after all, his charity was of the right sort as far as it went. DEATH AND RESURRECTION 1 37 As time wore on, the daily allowance of grub grew less and less, until at last it got to be one sandwich served out to each person three times a day ; then the sandwiches them- selves got smaller. The captain's wife, poor old lady, used to take her sandwich and retire to her stateroom. When I first saw her she was a big, fat woman, and mus*^^ have weighed over two hundred and fifty pounds, but on this passage she dwindled almost to a skeleton. Poor woman, and yet she was so patient ! The steward told me that she never once asked for even a crumb over her allowance, although she must have suffered intensely. CHAPTER XV The Last Sandwich. — A Philadelphia Pilot. — Destitu- tion. — I ship for Antwerp. — A Soft-hearted Mate. — All Hands Ashore. — Three Thomases. Although a bright lookout was kept in the hope of speak- ing a vessel and getting help, yet not a sail did we see, and this in a great marine thoroughfare. Luck was against us in this respect, though, thanks to "Old Nep," we were spared the great trial that we had dreaded all the time, — of bad weather. I don't think we .would ever have got the old hooker into port if just one little gale had caught us ; for we were worn out with constant pumping and hunger, and the day came when, as the steward handed out the phantom sandwich to each one, he said, " Make the most of it, boys, for it is the last." Well, we didn't care so very much ; for we had been hungry so long now that we could hardly conceive of any other condition. So we pumped silently and dejectedly ; and once in a while I could see that some of the men were getting light-headed. They would go to the forecastle for a biscuit, and come back grumbling that the bread barge was empty. The cook was roused out by one of the men to get breakfast before twelve o'clock at night. A committee of two went aft to the captain the next day and complained of the quality of the provisions. They said the bread was weevilly, the flour musty, and the beef so hard and salt that they couldn't 138 A SOFT-HEARTED MATE 1 39 eat it. Poor old man ! he wasn't very much better off than they ; for he told them they never had better or more plen- tiful grub than they were getting here in their lives, and that if he heard any more complaints he would put them on bare allowance and keep them on deck in their afternoon watch as well. After our last ration was served out to us, we got no more to eat until the afternoon of the next day, when we spoke a Philadelphia pilot-boat and got a pilot and all the provisions they could spare, both cooked and raw. How all hands did pitch into the splendid cold corned beef and cold boiled potatoes which they sent aboard ! Even the captain's wife came right down on the main deck among us, took her share in her hands from the steward, who had divided it equally, and ate it ravenously. There was not much ready cooked food, for the pilot-boat's crew was of course small, so that we only got a bite apiece ; but they sent a good big piece of beef and about half a bushel of potatoes and half a bag of hard bread aboard, and you may be sure that while the cook was boihng the beef and potatoes, you couldn't find a member of our crew without a biscuit in his hand, at which he gnawed continuously. Shortly after we got the pilot, the haze which had hung over the sea all day thinned out a bit and we made out the Delaware capes ; and I saw as slick a bit of piloting as I have ever seen. The pilot was an old fellow at least seventy years of age, and he knew his business thoroughly. You might have taken him for a travelling Methodist minister, rather than for a seafaring man. He had been very tall in his day, but now he was bowed with age. His hair and whiskers were white as snow, and he wore a shabby plug hat and dingy black suit of clothes, much more suitable for the pulpit of a country church than the quarter-deck of a ship. The night was pitch-dark and the captain wanted to anchor. I40 ON MANY SEAS " Not necessary, captain," said the old fellow. " I've been up and down this bay and river too often to mind the want of light." And so he had ; he kept the hand-lead lying handy in the lee gangway, and once in a while he would walk over there and drop it overboard ; then, noting the depth of water, he would carry it to the binnacle, and by the light of the binnacle lamp look at the "charge." A lead is "charged" by pushing a piece of soap or cold tallow into the cavity which is left in the bottom end for that purpose. The charge protrudes slightly, so as to make a good contact with the bottom, a sample of which it brings away with it. As the depth of water and kind of bottom are marked on the chart in small squares, it is easy to understand what a great help to the navigator the lead is. By its use alone, and of course with the knowledge which long years of experience had given him, the aged pilot literally felt his way up that bay and river all night long and never shortened sail a minute. We were soon out of provisions again, for what we got from the pilot-boat only gave us one meal ; so that, when we arrived in Philadelphia the next morning, we were nearly as hungry as we had been at any time on this exceedingly hungry passage ; and yet, such a second nature does disci- pline become to sailors, that although there was no breakfast for them, and it was twenty -four hours since they had tasted food, and knew they would have no more until they found their boarding-houses, still they hauled her to her berth, made her fast, coiled the ropes, furled the sails, and even gave her a final pump out, although they might just as well have jumped ashore as soon as they came within jumping distance. I, of course, had no pay coming, had only such clothes as I stood up in, and was very far from well. I shall never forget the figure that I cut when I walked ashore from the A SOFT-HEARTED MATE 141 James L. Baker, in Philadelphia. I had on a pair of dun- garee pants and a hickory shirt ; no underclothes of any kind ; no stockings ; and a pair of dry, hard, wrinkled, cowhide sea-boots, which had chafed my ankle-bones until I had to cut big holes in them for relief. I had an old fur cap on my head, and an empty canvas clothes-bag slung over my shoulder. Why I hung on to it, I don't know, unless it was because it was the only thing, outside of what I stood in, that was mine. It was the month of November when I arrived in my native land in this very airy costume. I was within an easy hundred miles of my father's dinner- table. I had been away from the States for about three years, and this was the way I came back. These were my three years' accumulations. I was sick, and yes, I may as well acknowledge that I was covered with vermin. I had collected them in the jail and hospital in St. Lucia and had never since had the means or even the life and vim to get rid of them. Of course, going home was out of the ques- tion. There were not locomotives enough on the Pennsyl- vania Railroad to haul me to New York ; so I travelled around until I found a low down disreputable sailors' board- ing-house keeper who would take me in for what he could get out of my month's advance. He kept me about a week, and then shipped me in the bark Cynthia -Palmer to Antwerp. She was one of those Nova Scotia vessels, built of spruce and hemlock, that you find all over the world. They build them by the mile down there, and will saw you off a piece as long as you want, turn in the ends for bow and a stern, and there you are ! The captain was built in the same place as the bark, of the same material, and in the same manner. The mate was a big Dutchman ; and the second mate, in whose watch I happened to be, was the best of the whole crowd aft. He was a Nova Scotian, but of strong American pro- 142 ON MANY SEAS clivities. There was nothing of the "lime-juicer" about him, not a bit. Of course, I was in awful hard luck. To cross the western ocean in November, in an old, Nova Scotia bark, is bad enough, in all conscience ; but when, in addition to that, I was to all intents and purposes naked, you must admit that my lot was not an enviable one. One night, in the middle watch, as I stood shivering at the wheel, almost dead with cold and misery, the second mate strolled over and looked into the binnacle for a min- ute, then looking up at me, in my dungaree pants, hickory shirt, sea-boots cut full of holes, and old fur cap, he said, " Why the h don't you put some clothes on to yourself, so you can keep warm enough to steer?" I told him I had no clothes, only what I had on. He wanted to know how that happened ; and I gave him a short history of my misfortunes since leaving the Tanjore. Glancing up at me quickly, he said, " You are an American ; where do you belong? " I told him. New York. " Got any people living there? " " Yes, sir ; my father lives there." "How long have you been away from home?" " About three years, sir." "And yet," said he, "after being away from home three years, you leave the broadside of America, within a hundred miles of your father's house, in such a condition as this? It serves you right. D you ! Freeze ! " He strode over to the weather side, and stood looking to windward for ten or fifteen minutes, when he came back, and, after taking another look at the compass, said to me : " I suppose you was ashamed to go home because you was hard up, hey?" "Yes, sir," said I. "Yes, I know," said he, and walking round the deck- A SOFT-HEARTED MATE 143 house, he disappeared down the companion ladder, and pretty soon came aft again, bringing an old monkey jacket and pair of thick pants. He took the wheel from me and ordered me to put them on ; and oh, how comfort- able and warm I felt after that ! If it had not been for him, I believe I should have died of exposure on that trip across ; for we had cold, stormy weather all the way. He lent a lot of things after that, and although there was no such thing as keeping dry, it makes a big difference how much there is between one's wet skin and the cold wind. I had no bed- ding except a so-called mattress filled with carpenter-shop shavings. For want of blankets, I used to lie on the bare bunk boards and pull my mattress over me; but, on account of its stiffness, it was little more effective as a covering than a board would have been. By the time the watch below expired, the natural heat of ray body began to warm my wet clothes so that I would be done shivering, and then I had to go on deck again to be received by a green sea, containing tons of Neptune's choicest and coldest brine, causing me to forget that I had ever enjoyed such a luxury as a stiff mattress for a covering. But if it was a tough passage for me, it at least took the last remnants of the West India fever out of me ; literally froze and drenched them out, and I was troubled no more with it. I wanted to stay with the bark long enough to have a pay-day, so that I could get some clothes. I was terribly destitute. I remember wondering to myself, when the men were getting ready to go ashore in Antwerp, how they man- aged to have coats, and wondering if I should ever be able to own such an article ; not having had one since the loss of the Hamlin, nor even the price of one, it certainly didn't look as if I ever should again. There was a boy in the forecastle by the name of "Johnny"; he had been with the bark several voyages, and I noticed that even the mates 144 ON MANY SEAS treated him with some httle deference, so I tried to cultivate Johnny's good-will, hoping that possibly some of the influ- ence which kept him in the -bark might be deflected in my direction, so as to enable me to stay in her too. But alas for vain hopes ; when we got our anchor down in the Scheldt, the mate came forward and asked who was going ashore. He said that if anybody wanted to leave, the captain would give him what money he had coming to him. This magnanimity is explained by the fact that wages are lower in Antwerp than in New York ; and I must say that it was a very creditable act on the part of the " blue nose," for many a skipper would simply have starved and worked and, if need be, licked his crew until they would have been glad to clear out, and let their wages go. One after another the men said they would go ashore ; but Johnny, who was behind some of the others, said he wouldn't. The mate heard it and asked, " Who is that ? " "Johnny," said one of the men. "Oh, no," said the mate; "Johnny can't go until the mainmast goes." How I envied Johnny ! but I said nothing, making up my mind that I would stay in her if I could. So when after breakfast the men mustered at the gangway with their bags and chests, I was not there, and the big Dutch mate, coming forward, asked if I was going ashore. " No, sir," said I. "Oh, you ain't, hey? Veil, git up dere and scrape de spanker-gaff." The spanker had a standing gaff, that is, it was never lowered, so I must needs shin out to the very peak and scrape it bright and clean. It was a bitter cold day ; the ice was driving past in great cakes. Anything exposed for a few minutes froze solid, and my outfit had relapsed ; for the second mate, thinking that I would surely go ashore with the rest, had called in his loans. A SOFT-HEARTED MATE 1 45 I was reduced to my original outfit with which I landed in Philadelphia ; only now, of course, it was a couple of months older, and, consequently, just so much nearer done for. Well, I mounted the gaff, and scraped as long as I could hang on with my benumbed fingers ; then I came down, pre- tending I wanted to sharpen my knife, and the mate chased me up again until I saw it was a game I was bound to lose, so I surrendered and went ashore too. I luckily came across one of the crew, a young English- man of about my own age, by the name of Tom. He invited me to go to his boarding-house, and I went, and re- mained there until one day as we were sitting around the bar-room wishing for something to turn up, in comes an old Enghshman looking for two men for his schooner. Tom and I presented ourselves, and after asking us, among other things, if we were used to small vessels, which, of course, we answered in the affirmative, he shipped us on board the top- sail schooner, John Francis Buller, of Looe, England, for Bilbao, Spain, in the Bay of Biscay, When we got aboard, we found the schooner to be one hundred and ten tons' register, the smallest vessel I have ever belonged to. We found, also, that he had a mate and cook, so that Tom and 1 formed the crew. The mate's name was "Tummus," the cook's name was Tom, and as my partner's was the same, the captain and I were the only ones who were not Toms. CHAPTER XVI Bilbao. — Spanish Methods. — Wrecked off Dunquerque. — French Seamanship. Bilbao is some little way up from the mouth of the river, which is, I think, about the worst place that I ever saw. The big Bay of Biscay seas roll directly in, and of course it is almost always stormy. The pilots do not pretend to board you. They simply go up on a hill at the entrance of the river with a flag, and motion to you to keep to port or starboard as is necessary. Holding the flag in a perpen- dicular position means " steady " ; and with such piloting as that you are indeed lucky if you get in, for there is a dangerous shifting bar of sand outside, and if your keel once grazes that you are gone, your ship and crew, too, for the Spaniards make not the slightest attempt to save any- body or anything. As this place is in the extreme lee corner of that stormy body, the Bay of Biscay, you can see that when a vessel gets as far as that into the bay, she must make a port or pile her bones on the sands. It seemed as if there were wrecks outside, almost every day while we were there ; but we were in luck this time, and got in safely. Once inside, a yoke of oxen was hitched to the schooner, and towed her up the river. The tow-line was taken from the mainmast head and had a running bowline on it, that led through a block on the flying jib-boom end. So that by hauling or slacking on that, we could either 146 FRENCH SEAMANSHIP I47 make her follow along after the ox team, or keep her abreast of them in the stream. Verily, the Spaniards are many centuries behind the age. There was a retaining wall for miles and miles along the river-bank to keep up the tow-path, and I wondered what former generation had had sprawl enough to build it ; for if they were the ancestors of the present incumbents, it must have been a good many ages before they degenerated to the present standard. Arriving at the place where we were to discharge, we soon put out the cargo, and Tom and I struck the old man for money. He gave us a couple of dollars apiece, and we started up to Bilbao. But we never got there, for Tom, spying a wine shop, proposed that we go in and have a glass of wine, and I, noways backward, agreed. We found several natives in the place. I suppose in this country we would have called them Bums or Rounders, but such a term would be very unsuitable to apply to the haughty Spaniard ; for no matter what his condition may be, he never loses his dignity, but will condescend to accept a real with such urbanity that you feel grateful to him for not being offended. Tom, with true sailorly freedom, asked the gentlemen what they would have. "Vino," of course; and Tom and I took the same; after which, it being my treat, we again had vino all round. By this time we had forgotten all about Bilbao and the black-eyed beauties that we came ashore to see ; but we swore eternal friendship to the hidalgos who condescend- ingly drank the wine we paid for. I have a dim remem- brance of the way they kept their heads and their dignity while Tom and I, full of red wine and cheap talk, made most egregious asses of ourselves. Finally, by the aid of that sixth sense which governs the affairs of the inebriated, we decided to go aboard, and 148 ON MANY SEAS Started, of course, wrong ; for we went out into the yard of the wine shop, and had to climb over a high board fence as a starter ; whereas if we had gone out of the front door as I wanted to, we would merely have had to walk down the street. We were all the rest of the afternoon getting over that fence, for I know it was bright sunshine when we first tackled the job, and pitch dark when we finally fell off it together on the outside. As the yard of the wine shop was on the river-bank, when we fell over, Tom fell partly in the water, while I, falling on dry land, wanted to go to sleep right where I was. But Tom wouldn't have that ; he said we must go aboard, and we began roaring out ^'■Joh7i Fnuicis B idler, ahoy ! " every few steps, although we were a couple of miles from her when we started. And what a time we had of it ! It seemed as if the whole blamed country was full of holes which we kept falling into. Three times did Tom, who was in the advance, fall into the river ; and in each instance I nearly drowned both him and myself in pulling him out. So we floundered and ploughed along in the dark, yelling the schooner's name every few minutes ; and what with hollering, laughing, yelling, and splashing into the river, and all the mud-holes within half a mile of the river, w-e finally stumbled over the boat, with Tom, the cook, standing in her like a cigar-store Indian, upright and silent. The captain took a coast pilot who could not speak a word of English, and a few tons of ballast, and went down the coast to load. Here our ballast was taken out and our cargo put in by women, while the men sat on the little dock smoking cigarettes and talking with the women and girls as they worked. I don't know whether the men we saw were any kin to the women, or not, but at any rate it looked queer. We loaded with a substance which they FRENCH SEAMANSHIP I49 called " mineral." I do not know what it was, but it was very heavy. They brought it in little baskets on their heads, and dumped it into the main hatch, and just where it fell there it stayed, and long before the httle pile in the hatch was up to the combings the schooner was loaded. It looked like a lot of old plaster and dirt from buildings in course of demolition. Whatever it may have been, it was bound for Antwerp, and so soon as we got it in it was "up mudhook " and away again. Everything progressed finely until we got down to the Straits of Dover. We had been on the lookout for a pilot for several days ; but not an Antwerp boat was to be seen until we got abreast of Deal, when we saw one, but he was in chase of a big American bark, and paid no heed to us until he had boarded her. Then he ran under our stern, and told us he had put his last pilot aboard the bark, but that if we wished we could follow him into Antwerp, as he was going home. The old man told him he could go on, he needn't mind us ; he said he could take her into Antwerp himself. When the pilot- boat left us without boarding, then the "hobblers " gathered round, all wanting to put an Antwerp pilot aboard of us ; but as their pilots, although quite competent, are not recog- nized by the board of underwriters, the old man wouldn't bother with them, but kept on his way. That night, in the middle watch, I was awakened by be- ing nearly thrown out of my hammock. As I lay half awake, wondering what was the matter, bang she came down again. I knew what that was ; I had experienced it before. Just as I was about to get out of my hammock, the scuttle was shoved back, and Tom roared out : "Come, what's the matter with ye? Are ye dead? The schooner's been pounding on this bar for half an hour, and you're asleep yet." " Oh," said I, " go and bag your head. What time is it? " 150 ON MANY SEAS " Time to come up out o' that, if you don't want to be drowned like a rat," said Tom. So I went on deck and found all hands standing about aft, doing nothing except watch the hand-lead Hne, which was overboard, to see which way she was drifting. There was a big bright light about a mile to windward, the light-ship off the Dunquerque shoal, placed there on purpose to warn off vessels like us ; but our skipper was drunk most of the time, and so he lost not only his vessel, but his insurance, too. We found by the trend of the lead-line that she was drift- ing lengthwise of the sand-bar, and it was easy to see that she could never hold together to pound all the way over it and still float ; so we concluded we had better get the boat over. We had but one boat, an old thing like herself. It lay on the main hatch, and we tackled her, but had worked at her but a few minutes when Tom the cook shoved a hand- spike through her, ripping a plank off nearly the whole length, which settled all chance of escape in that direction. I now bethought myself of two pairs of woollen stockings I had bought in Antwerp and wished to save. So I went for- ward, but the forecastle was already half full of water, and as she came down on the bottom she would churn it so violently that it would fly out of the scuttle with force enough to knock you off your feet. I went aft and told them she was filling forward, and the mate advised the old man, who was as usual about two-thirds drunk, to get any valuables he might have in the cabin as quick as he could, for she must surely go down soon. My chum Tom, and Tom the cook, were already on their way to the main topmast crosstrees. I glanced forward, and had a great mind to go out on the fly- ing jib-boom, but fortunately for me I didn't get a chance to do so. She seemed to have got into a kind of deep hole ; for she rose and fell sluggishly on the swell once or twice without hitting bottom, then the next swell went clean over FRENCH SEAMANSHIP 151 her. She was slowly smking under us, and never rode another sea after that. The mate shouted to the old man, " For God's sake, come up out of that ; she's going down ! " The cabin com- panionway faced to starboard and that was the lee side. I grabbed hold of the scuttle and swung myself round to lee- ward to see if he was coming. Yes, he was half-way up the stairs ; and the drunken old fool had risked his life to save three ragged old pairs of pants that a New York rag-picker would hardly have pulled out of an ash barrel. I was mad when I saw how he had been fooling away our time as well as his own. I reached out and, grasping him by the collar, said, " Come out o' that, you old fool ; you'll be drowned." He jerked himself free of my grasp and said, " Don't care if I be. Who be you callin' ' old fool,' you bloody Yankee?" Our dialogue was cut short right there ; for a little heavier sea than usual came along, and as she had lost about all her buoyancy by this time, it washed over her as if she had been a half- tide rock. The fore hatch blew off with a report like forty cannons, and down she went like the proverbial stone. I was washed away from the companionway, down which the water poured like a Niagara. The lee main rigging was all that saved me from going away off to sea clear of the schooner altogether. But as I could not get aloft on the lee side on account of the mainsail, it was necessary for me to get to windward. I found that the old man, strange to say, had been liter- ally blown out of the companionway when she went down by a similar blast to that which blew off the fore hatch, due to the compression of the air, produced by the water rush- ing in to fill the air space. And stranger still, I think I would be entitled to claim that a miracle was performed on behalf of that drunken, useless old skipper. 152 ON MANY SEAS There was but one place on deck where he could be safe from going overboard during the inrush of the great sea which finally swamped her ; that was in the booby hatch. This might be described as a great inverted box that covers the after hatch. It is lashed down to the deck, and is used as a handy storage place for articles likely to be wanted at any time. The only entrance to it is a small scuttle hole on top, large enough for a man to enter it easily. It stood about four and a half feet above the deck, and between it and the companionway, where the old man was, there was a narrow passage not more than two feet wide. He must have been shot straight up into the air, and then in descend- ing he must have turned half round, crossed the narrow passage, and dropped plumb through the little scuttle hole into the hatch ; for there we found him as the sea went by, like a parson in the pulpit, as the mate said, and hanging on to an old North Sea chart, which was all he had left of the precious salvage he brought up out of the cabin with him, the three old pairs of pants having got away and gone off to join the great fleet of flotsam and jetsam, ever drifting and eddying about the coasts of England and France. You may be sure I shouted lustily for help myself down there to leeward. In the icy water I was so nearly frozen that I could hardly hang on, and I was afraid the next sea would take me away altogether. Fortunately, the mate was only as high as the shear-pole in the weather rigging, and he threw me the end of the gaff-topsail halyards, and with that I drew myself up to the booby hatch and made it fast around the captain ; and the mate calHng the other two Toms down from the crosstrees, they yanked him up just as you'd whip a cask of beef up out of the hold with a burton. They then threw me the end of the halyards again, and by a little assistance from them I got into the weather rigging too. We were now all safe, for the present anyway ; for we could, FRENCH SEAMANSHIP I 53 and did, go up to the crosstrees. We were all well soaked, and it was bitterly cold. It was dark yet, but we could see less than a mile to windward of us the Dunquerque shoal light- ship, and away a long way to leeward Dunquerque light itself. We now began to canvass our prospects of escape. " If," said the mate, " we can only hang on here till daylight, the light-ship will see us, and being to windward, even if there is but one man aboard, which ain't likely, he can lower a boat and drop down to us afore the wind, and we can pull the boat back for him." I asked him if he didn't think there was danger of the mainmast going by the board, and of course carrying us with it, owing to the fact that she had been pounding her bottom to pieces for hours ; he said he hoped not. One thing in our favour was that the mast had shown no signs of going when she was pounding her life out ; and now that she was lying still on the bottom he guessed it would last our time, and besides all the ore in the hold was piled around the heel of the mainmast. " But," said he, " I'll tell you what we will do ; we'll cut the peak and foremast halyards and let the mainsail run down, and that'll ease her a bit" ; for the sail being set, the big channel seas ran into it, and it was enough to tear out several masts. This we accordingly did, and Liverpool Tom cut away the gaff-topsail altogether. Having now done all we could think of in the way of securing our position, we just hung on and froze and talked ; and we talked mighty Httle too ; for as the hours dragged slowly by, our hopes and our vitality gradually ebbed until neither stood very high. I was lowest in the rigging and the old man was next above me, and I stood with my arms round his legs and hanging on to the shrouds each side of him for fear that as the rum evaporated out of him he would fall overboard and be drowned right under our very noses. 154 ON MANY SEAS The mate hung on to the upper end of him some way, I don't just know how, and the time drearily dragged along. After a while we saw traces of the dawn, and at last daylight was with us, and then I saw what a good thing it was that I did not have a chance to go out on the jib-boom end; for the tide had risen until no part of her was above water, ex- cept the two masts, so if I had gone out there I would have been drowned long before daylight. We now strained our eyes toward the low, almost invisible French coast, and again to the light-ship to windward. But still no sign of help appeared, and it seemed as if we were to be left, within plain sight of land and of human beings, to slowly perish from hunger and exposure, and I would look down to the dark green seas rolUng within a very few feet of me and wonder if I would at last have to let go my hold and drop into their cold depths. The prospect was not pleasant ; but as the forenoon slowly wore away and no attempt was made by anybody to help us, and we were unable to help our- selves, what could a person think? I don't know how it was with the rest, but I acknowledge that I put up a silent petition to Him who holds the sea in the hollow of his hand, promising that if my life was spared this time, I would haul my wind and shape my course here- after by the chart and saihng directions laid down for us nearly two thousand years ago by the Carpenter's Son, the companion of the fishermen and sailors of his day ; but pshaw ! it was the same old story : "The devil was sick, the devil a saint would be; The devil was well, the devil a saint was he." Daylight came, and hour after hour passed and no sign of help appeared. We could plainly see a boat swinging in the davits on board the hght-ship. How easy it would be for them to send that boat to us ! Although we could not FRENCH SEAMANSHIP I 55 see any men on deck, yet they must surely have glasses, and could easily see us in the rigging. W/iy didn't they send us a boat? The national prejudices of our crew now showed them- selves, and they cursed the " bloody Frenchmen " as they told how quickly Enghshmen would have come to our rescue. Apparently we were to be left to our fate. There had been a time when it seemed as if I could hold on no longer, but now the reverse was true. I could hardly have let go if I had wanted to ; I had become so benumbed and stiffened in my position that I was almost frozen there. I hadn't heard a word from anybody for a long time when Liver- pool Tom said he could see black smoke in the direction of Dunquerque. We ail looked, and, sure enough, we could all see a steamer's smoke ; and it wasn't long before we could make out a small tug headed right for us, and coming like the wind. As they drove her full speed into the heavy channel seas, the solid sheets of green water would fly far above the top of her stack, completely burying her from sight for a bit. The Frenchmen had waited a good while, but they were doing their level best now. She had arrived within a quar- ter of a mile of us before we discovered, through the spray and smother, that she was followed by another just like her. The first one steamed around our stern, and the Frenchmen were all shouting and gesticulating to us as Frenchmen will ; but we could neither hear, nor understand if we had heard. So they unshipped the starboard gangway, and there they had a big white boat on deck, like a man-o'-war's pinnace. This they all grabbed hold of and shoved overboard, bows first, in their impetuous French way, with the very natural result that she half filled herself with water, and then being headed aft and the tug still slowly forging ahead, she worked her way under the paddle-box and the next lee roll of the 156 ON MANY SEAS tug smashed the boat to kindUngs, calling forth the remark from Tummus the mate that they " launched a boat like a bloody lot of shoemakers." By this time the other tug was rapidly nearing us, and she had the Hfe-boat in tow. She also rounded to under our stern, and the captain of the life-boat shouted an order to his bowman, throwing both hands high up over his head, and the bowman, with an equally dramatic flourish, chopped the tow-line with one blow of a big, bright broad-axe — he might just as well have cast it off. The crew dropped their oars into the water and pulled up under our lee, and the bowman, after a couple of misses, caught the ratlines of our lee main rigging. Liverpool Tom and Tom the cook, being in the crosstrees, now passed over to leeward and down the lee rigging and into the boat. Tummus the mate and I now began to pull and push at the old man to get him up ; for we, being below the crosstrees in the weather rigging, had to first go up, then cross over, and down again on the lee side. After almost superhuman efforts we got him up, and the mate started down the lee side. You must understand that all this time the Frenchmen in the life-boat were keep- ing up the awfuUest clatter that you ever heard, shouting and chattering like a colony of monkeys. After a time they got the mate and the old man into the boat, and then it came my turn. The next time she rose on the crest of the wave two of them caught me by the legs, and down we all went together in the bottom of the boat. The bowman then cut loose from his grapnel just as he had done from the tug, and in a minute more we were alongside. The gangway was unshipped, and although if let alone we could easily have climbed aboard, yet that was not the French fashion ; so we were boosted up with more speed than style, and tumbled in on deck like so many sacks of potatoes. The captain of the tug asked in broken Enghsh FRENCH SEAMANSHIP I 57 which was our " cappy," and on having him pointed out, put his arms around him and kissed him. I would not have kissed that dirty, bloated, stubbly-faced old Briton to have saved his life and my own too. But the Frenchman was so overjoyed that he did not mind it. They took us into the little cabin where there was a big, roaring fire, and it seemed as if I never before knew what warmth and comfort were. CHAPTER XVII Shipped to London by the Consul. — Bound for Cal- cutta. — Extra Work. — Reprisals. — Mutiny and its Result. We now learned why we had been left so long on the wreck. The boats were in the dock, and could not get out until the tide rose high enough for the gates to be opened. The tugboat captain asked us if we would have a glass of brandy ; and when all agreed, a search revealed the fact that there was only about a teaspoonful aboard, and that, of course, was given to the "marster"; and it must have seemed to him a mighty long time between drinks. Arrived at the consul's, we were left standing out in a cold, draughty courtyard, while the " marster " and the French captain went into the office. Having been once partially warmed on the tug, the re-cooling process was any- thing but pleasant. While we waited, a man came in, who, I felt sure from his magnificent appearance, must be the commander-in-chief of the French army, if not the Emperor himself. He was over six feet high, had on a cocked hat about two feet wide, and his breast was covered with brass buttons and white cords and tassels. He was armed with an immense sword, and was as handsome and gallant-look- ing a man as I have ever seen. Imagine my surprise when asking Liverpool Tom his opinion of the military officer's grade, to hear him laugh and say he was nothing but a 158 BLACK MARIA 1 59 policeman ; and he was right. The magnificent creature, whom I had surely thought must be at least a marshal of France, was nothing but a gendarme. By and bye, after we had become tolerably well frozen again, the old man and the consul came to the office door and took a look at us. The consul I should take to be a man at least eighty years of age. As he stood in the door looking at us through his gold-rimmed spectacles, his old head shook and his voice quavered with the palsy as he re- marked, " Why, those men don't need any clothes ; they're not wet." " Ain't we ? " says Tummus the mate. " Well, if we ain't, we've been under water long enough to be." "You have, hey?" said the old fellow, as he tottered back into his office. When the door was closed, the mate remarked that we had^ been hanging on by the mainmast, but that the old consul was hanging on by the mizzen, and just about ready to drop over the taffrail. Well, at last he concluded to give us a dry rig and something to eat. So we were fitted out with a bull's wool and oakum shirt each, and sent to a boarding-house, where at last we got warm, and filled ourselves with hot soup. Our troubles were now astern again, except that we were destitute of clothes ; but then I was getting pretty well used to that, for it was a long time since I had owned any clothes, and I was becoming more and more convinced that I was right when I adjudged myself to be the Jonah of the old Hamlin; for if any Jonah could have harder luck than I had been indulging in since I had left the Tanjore, he was welcome to it as far as I was concerned. The consul shipped us to London and here we were paid off what little we had coming to us, and I got a boarding- house by paying a week's board in advance ; and then I went out and spent every cent I had for clothes. I got a l60 ON MANY SEAS suit of oilskins, sea-boots, and some underclothing. The captain made us pay for the miserable rags that the consul furnished us in Dunquerque more than we could have got good articles for in London ; so I didn't have very much money to spend for clothes or anything else. I now deter- mined, if I could find a ship that could bear up against my accursed luck, to make a "tall water" voyage, so as to get some clothes again. So I took a daily stroll round the docks to see what I could find, and finally picked out a little twelve-hundred ton Scotch medium clipper. She was an iron ship called the Oriana, built in Greenock, Captain Russell, and bound for Calcutta. I had a talk with the mate, showed him my discharge, and he gave me an order to the shipping master at Greene's Home to ship me for the voyage as ordinary seaman, at two pounds per month. A couple of days after we got orders to go aboard, and I found myself once more en route for blue water and what- ever luck there might be in store for me. The captain and all the officers were Scotch, but the crew was the usual motley crowd picked up in any seaport. Nothing happened worth recording until we arrived at the Sand Heads at the mouth of the Hooghly and got our pilot and leadsman, when the pilot informed us that all the tow-boats were off to the Abyssinian War ; consequently we would have to beat the ship all the way up to Calcutta. Heavens ! it was enough to make us mutiny right there ; for it is a hard job to tack a square-rigged ship, a job that is always dreaded, and to think that we had got to work that ship all the way up that crooked river to Calcutta under canvas ! It was enough to break the heart of a right whale, for it is a hundred and ten miles from the Sand Heads to Calcutta. The weather of course was tropical, and there probably would hardly be a mile anywhere that we could sail without touchinsr the braces. It would be a case of BLACK MARIA l6l continual pull and haul ; and as we could only sail with the tide, we would have, after saihng just as long as she could make headway against the ebb-tide, to anchor, clew up and perhaps furl the sails, and then before the expiration of the ebb we would have to get out again, heave up the anchor and get sail on her in time to catch the very first of the flood-tide, or if the wind was fair and strong enough to stem the weak ebb-tide at near slack water, we would need to get out enough sooner to take advantage of that fact. This, of course, would be the programme night and day until we should arrive at Calcutta. Is it any wonder that we made up our minds that we had struck a big con- tract? Well, it turned out to be fully as bad as we had estimated it, and worse, if anything. There is a quicksand called the "James and Mary's" at the junction of the Hooghly and Ganges ; a very dangerous place, as the chan- nel is always shifting with the tide. The pilots are by no means certain as to where they will find it, and being a quicksand, if her keel barely grazes it the treacherous bottom will rise up hke a devil-fish and heel your ship over until she fills and sinks, not to the bottom, but away down into and below the bottom. None but big ships ever go to Calcutta, and I have been told that hundreds of them have gone down in that little, shallow, muddy channel at the "James and Mary's." And where do they go? Where now is that big fleet of India-men that have gone down in those sands? After two or three days and nights of almost uninter- rupted and killing work, we arrived at the " James and Mary's," and, the wind being fair, we started to run this dangerous place before the ebb had quite ceased flowing. The men were pretty well worn out with the previous days and nights of ceaseless toil, so that orders could not be obeyed as quickly as by a fresh crew. When we were right 1 62 ON MANY SEAS in the very worst place, whether he luffed her up or the wind headed her, I never knew ; but, at any rate, we heard him shout, "Lee braces ! brace up there lively now, my lads." " Lively ! " There wasn't a lively move in any of us. The consequence was that before we could get her braced up she caught aback, and swung over, not into the quick- sand, but on to the muddy bank that formed a tongue be- tween the two rivers. Hard and fast she went up into the soft mud ; but the pilot said that as she went on at low tide, there would be no trouble in getting her off at high water ; so we furled the sails, and got out a kedge ahead with a good stout line to it, and, by the time we were ready, it was nearly high water ; and, as she had now swung round so that our kedge was astern, we took the line to the main-deck capstan, and hove a strain on it ; but as she didn't offer to budge, we first let fall the mainsail, and then and there set the main topsail and topgallant sail to help back her off. By this time the tide was nearly high, so we hurried up and put luff tackles on our kedge warp, but only succeeded in fetching the anchor home without moving the ship an inch. Matters were beginning to look serious. Evidently the soft mud had filled in around her, and made a kind of a suction bed, from which we had not been able to drag her with a kedge anchor, even when assisted by the backing power of the sails. All that night we worked. We got out two boats, slung the big anchor off the port bow between them, bent the end of the tow-line to it, and carried it away out in the direction on which the pilot decided after carefully sounding from the boat. We let the anchor go, then came aboard again, put the fish tackle on the tow-line, and a luff upon that, and set- ting every sail that could help, we took the fall of our luff tackle to the windlass, and hove away on it ; and, after part- ing nearly every rope we had, at last, thank the good Lord, BLACK MARIA 1 63 she slowly and reluctantly slid out of her mud-hole, and was once more afloat. By the time we got our anchor again, it was breakfast time. We had been at work all night, all the day before, and now, in about an hour, it would be time to make sail on her again to take advantage of another flood- tide. Just time to get breakfast ; so the mate sent us to break- fast, but here a new comphcation arose : there was nothing to eat but hard bread and coffee ; for aboard of British ships the meat is served out but once a day, that is at dinner. Each watch then gets its day's allowance of beef or pork as the case may be, and the men divide it among themselves, each man saving enough of his piece to have some for tea, and also for breakfast next morning ; but, owing to the long hours we had been working ever since we entered the river, the men would become hungry between meals, and eat up their meat before meal-times ; so there had been a good deal of quiet grumbling about the extra allowance of work, but no extra allowance of grub. On this particular morning it was such an aggravated case that a committee was sent aft to ask the old man for something to eat, as we were about famished. They stated the case to him respectfully, saying that we had been hard at work for more than twenty-four consecutive hours; that we had not had anything to eat since six o'clock the night before, were very hungry, and would get nothing to eat before noon unless he would give us some- thing for breakfast, although we had got to work all day. The red-headed Scotch pirate listened patiently, and then asked the spokesman : " Do ye no get your whack? " (Allowance.) "Yes, sir," said he; "we don't deny that we get our whack." " Weel," said the old man, " ye'U get nae mair," and turning on his heel he walked aft. 1 64 ON MANY SEAS The committee came forward and reported, and it seemed to me, when I heard that, that it would not only be a justifi- able but a laudable act to go right down in the cabin and cut the throat of the inhuman brute who could return such an answer as that to a crew of hungry men who had been working like galley slaves to get his blasted old " tank " up that river. We held a council of war, and finally agreed among our- selves that we would work the ship as far as Garden Reach, twelve miles below Calcutta, and well within the boundaries of Oriental civilization. This we would do for our own con- venience, but nothing more. We wouldn't wash down or even sweep the decks, we would only coil the braces and halyards on deck, not on the pins, and we would do no more clewing up or furling of sails at anchor, unless it came on to blow or looked bad. We got the mate forward and informed him of our determination, told him nobody should be put in irons, as we were all ringleaders, and one was as deep in it as another. He advised us to be careful what we did, as refusing duty was a serious matter ; but we told him there wasn't a jail in the civilized world that would work us thirty or forty hours a day and then refuse to give us anything to eat. He went aft and reported to the old man, who appar- ently paid no attention to it ; but I noticed that although we did just as we agreed to, still the officers continued to order the work done the same as usual, and when we paid no attention to them they simply took no notice. I suppose as each of these cases represented a dumb refusal of duty, they were making out a case against us. But what did w^e care ? we might as well hang for a sheep as a lamb, and we knew we were in for it now anyhow. The ship not being quite full of cargo, the old man had bought a private venture of his own, consisting of cases of fine wines and liquors, cigars, cheeses, and such like luxuries. BLACK MARIA I 65 which he had stowed down in the forward 'tween-decks. During the course of the long outward passage, the existence and approximate locahty of the old man's venture had be- come an open secret, and we were resolved among our- selves that before we went to jail we'd have a taste of the good things the old man had down there, thereby killing two birds with one stone ; /. e. treating ourselves, and knocking the old man's profits " galley west " at the same time ; for- getting, simple mariners that we were, that he could not only take it out of our pay, but also that he could charge us any price he saw fit, and with any quantity of the goods. But bless you, Jack doesn't bother to go into such petty details as all that ; he wouldn't enjoy his vengeance if he did. On entering the river the hatches had been taken off to ventilate the hold, but down in the 'tween-decks the hatch- way was separated from the cargo-room by stout gratings, made close enough to preclude all possibility of a grown man getting through them, and so strong that there was not the slightest danger of their being broken. I was a thin wiry chap in those days, and I believed I could get through that grating. I measured the size of the open squares, and made one of the same size, which I tried to get through by taking off all my clothes. I got through it all right ; but as mine was not rigidly fastened together, it worked a little in passing over my shoulders and hips and so left an element of doubt in my mind as to how I would make out when I came to tackle the genuine grating, which wouldn't give any more than if it was built of iron. So, in order to eliminate, as far as possible, all elements of doubt, I resolved to tackle it fasting, and to grease myself well, as the East Indian thugs are said to do. There was no trouble about the fasting part ; for that was our normal condition, anyway. We arrived at Garden Reach, where the British government kept the Kingof Oude 1 66 ON MANY SEAS imprisoned in a magnificent palace, the water-front of which was said to be guarded by Hve Bengal tigers. Early in the morning, before da3dight, and while all hands were busy getting the sail off of her and getting her anchored, I slipped unperceived down the fore hatch, taking with me a slush bucket to grease myself. After an almost endless job of squirming and writhing, I found myself through the grating and in the old man's treasure-house. I reached out and got my sheath-knife and a marline- spike that I had laid within handy reach, and proceeded to quietly open such boxes as came to hand. The first, as I judged by the feeling, contained macaroni. This I of course rejected as unsuitable for our requirements. Then I opened a case of long sweet crackers ; these were very palatable, and being hungry I sampled them at once, and set the box down close to the grating for future delivery. Then came a nice cheese done up in tin-foil. This I also made sure of by the certain test of eating a big slice. I thought I needed something to wash down this dry proven- der, for though awfully good it stuck in my throat ; so I went to another part of the deck, and here, sure enough, the first box I opened was filled with bottled ale. Two bottles, one after the other, I immediately decapitated and absorbed their contents without a pang. I was now feehng quite chipper. Any quakings or misgivings that I might have felt at first disappeared entirely, and I went at my job with a good heart. I had now evidently struck the right spot; for I opened case after case of long slim-necked bottles, which I knew must contain fine wines, a rare tipple for a crew of " lime-juice " sailors. Others again, I judged by their shape, were brandy, and I even found a couple of cases of those short-necked, high-shouldered, square-faced fellows, known at sight the world over to contain Holland's gin. I piled my treasures handy to the grating, and was so BLACK MARIA I 6/ elated at my find, and so busy in accumulating, that I sup- pose I must have neglected the caution with which I com- menced the search ; for presently I heard a voice out in the hatch say, " Hey, Fred, don't make so much noise in there ; you'll 'ave hall the bloody hafterguards down on top of us. 'Ave you found hanythink yet?" " Have I found anything? Well, I should say so." And I began to pass the plunder out to him, and he to another on deck, until they cried, " Hold, enough." " We'll all be bloody well 'ung for this." But I told them they might as well take all I had ; there wasn't much more, anyway. So I passed it all out, and then asked the fellow outside the grating to hand me the slush pot and help me out. And it was well I did so ; for the bunch of samples I had taken had enlarged my diameter so much that what was a tight fit before became now almost a hopeless case. I couldn't get out alone, and he couldn't pull me out. So he went on deck and got more help. While he was gone, I again greased myself, and also the sides of the hole through which I must pass, and by the time he returned with another man I had wriggled my head and shoulders through, and they took hold of my two hands and braced themselves ready for a long pull, a strong pull, and a pull together. I admonished them to be a little careful, as there was nothing between my hide and the rough edges of the grating but a Httle cold slush. " But you know we've got to get you out, lad," said one of them, and I mentally cursed my folly for having so thoughtlessly indulged my appetite while still on the wrong side of that infernal grating. They must have had a previous understanding between themselves ; for without another word to me they settled back with a vim, and, heavens and earth ! I thought they would haul me apart. As I felt the skin scraping off my 1 68 ON MANY SEAS body and thighs, and my spinal column stretched to the breaking point, I let a yell out of me that would have knocked a geordie collier aback. This determined them, if anything more had been needed, and with one more mighty pull they yanked me through, and dropping me as limp as a wet swab they scrambled up on deck. From where I lay half dead I heard the second mate ask what all the row was about. Somebody told him that one of the boys had stubbed his bare toe into a link of the chain-cable, and " beefed out like a stuck pig." He was apparently satisfied, and went aft again ; and a bowhne was sent down to me, and I was pulled up on deck, about half dead. By this time all hands had sampled the results of my efforts, and were in a very pleasant and kindly frame of mind, especially towards me, who had suffered in the good cause ; so they gathered round me and consoled me with pannikins of choice spirits, until I presently felt myself to be a hero instead of a martyr, and " gloried in my shame." It was now daylight, and we were supposed to be at breakfast ; but salt beef and hard bread had no charms for us this particular morning, z^n Irishman, Paddy Byrnes, picked up the knotty, gnarly piece of mahogany that repre- sented our breakfast in the beef kid, and holding it aloft, apostrophized it in this manner : " ' Old horse, old horse, what brought you here?' ' After hauling stone this many a year, From Dubhn town to Ballyhack, 'Twas there, kind sir, I broke me back. Me master, when he heard the news, Said, " Salt him down for sailors' use." Between the mainmast and the pumps, They cut me up in four-pound junks. The sailors they do me despise, They heave me down, and damn me eyes.' " BLACK MARIA 1 69 And suiting the action to the word, Paddy fired the piece of beef out through the forecastle door, just in time to hit the second mate fair in the face, as he sung out, " Turn to there, men ! " This naturally exasperated the mate ; and, being a plucky httle fellow, he breached in through the forecastle door, and demanded to know who threw that piece of beef. " I did," said Paddy. And with that he hit him with his fist, and sent him fluking against the windlass bit. Half a dozen of them now jumped on to the poor mate, kicking and thumping him ; for you may be sure there were lots of old scores to be paid off, and when would such another opportunity occur? They were just primed enough to enjoy it immensely. After they had mauled him to their hearts' content, they picked him up by the legs and arras, and carrying him to the forecastle door, they swung him to the tune of one, two, three, and fired him bodily out on deck, just as the mate, who had been notified by one of the apprentices that the crew were murdering the second mate, came flying round the corner of the house, with a cocked revolver in each hand. The second mate, in his involuntary flight, knocked the mate down, and both his revolvers went off; but the only harm done was by one of the bullets entering the pig-pen and chipping a little piece out of poor Dennis's snout, who started round his pen, squeaking as if his heart was broken. The crew, hearing the fusillade, and imagining themselves attacked by the artillery, sallied forth, armed with handspikes, marlinespikes, old sea-boots, windlass norraans, and anything they could lay their hands on, and drove the two mates "aft where they belonged," and returning forward, celebrated their victory in fresh bumpers of the captain's liquor. As it was evident that the officers had lost all control of the crew, the old man hailed a dingy and went ashore ; and I/O ON MANY SEAS along towards evening he came aboard again, with a strong posse of poHce. In the meantime, the crew, throwing all pretence of secrecy to the winds, had gone below and smashed the grating and helped themselves to whatever they could find, breaking and destroying twice as much as they used, and getting themselves into a glorious state of helpless drunk- enness. The police rounded us up, and took us ashore in their boats, and there they had three carriages of the variety known as "Black Maria." Into these they hustled us, and that was the way I made my first triumphal entry into Calcutta. CHAPTER XVIII Six Weeks in Jail. — I fall sick but stay by the Ship AND sail for London. The next morning we were taken to court, charged with rank insubordination, refusing duty, and broaching cargo. The magistrate merely glanced at us, said, "Six weeks to jail with 'em," and leaned back in his seat, motioning the punkahwallah to pull the punkah. An Irish-American, one of our crew, by the name of Mike Dolan, said : " Hold on a bit, judge, you haven't heard our story. Do you call that British justice? " " No," said the judge ; " if I were to give you British justice or any other kind of justice, I'd hang the whole lot of you." And repeating " To jail with 'em," he waved us out of his presence. The Black Maria was again called into ser- vice, and took us to a building over the entrance to which were carved the words " Presidency Gaol." In the building I put in six weeks of almost uninterrupted comfort. The sailors, not being considered criminals, are treated with great leniency. At the time of which I write, our workshop was a large yard, part of which was covered by an iron shed raised some ten or a dozen feet from the ground, making as cool and airy a place as it was possible to have in such a hot country as India. We made " sword mats," which were about five feet wide, and as they were rolled up on a windlass as fast as woven, 171 172 ON MANY SEAS I do not know how long they were. Fifteen feet was a day's work for two men, and by hustUng we could do it in five or six hours. Our cell doors were opened as soon as it was daylight, and we would get to work in the cool of the morning and finish our task before it got too hot. Then we would have all the rest of the day to do what we chose ; and among so many sailors (there were over seventy of us) there was naturally a great diversity of talent. There would be singing and jig dancing, sparring, wrestling, foot races, cutlass drill with broomsticks, and all manner of sports and games, varied by an occasional fight ; for though the majority were genuine " hme-juicers," there were a few Yankee sailors who would once in a while take up the slurs that the Englishmen so freely distributed. One man was appointed by the turnkey boatswain of the yard, a Liverpool Irishman and a good-natured fellow enough generally, but with a great contempt for everything tainted in the slightest degree with Yankeeism ; and as he was not the least bit backward about expressing his opinion, he and Mike Dolan, who was making his first voyage in an English ship, frequently had some pretty warm arguments. A favourite saying of the big boatswain's was that the religion he had been brought up by taught him to buck and fight his own way ever since he was big enough to run alone. He made use of this expression one day during an argument between himself and Dolan. He had been find- ing fault with Dolan's work, saying he never saw a bloody Yankee yet that was any good at anything. Dolan dropped his end of the "sword" and, whirling round on his heel, said : "You weigh a hundred pounds more than I do; but you great, big, dirty, lemon-pelting sucker, if you'll come out behind the wash-house with me, I'll thump more common sense into you in five minutes than you ever had in your life before." PRESIDENCY GAOL 1 73 "You are just the man I'm looking for," said the boat- swain ; " I'd never forgive myself if I left this jail without licking a Yankee." So all hands adjourned to the back of the wash-house, where a ring was speedily formed, and the champions of England and America, puUing off their shirts, jumped in and faced each other. The boatswain was a good deal the larger, but he was rather fat and clumsy ; while Dolan, though several inches shorter and many pounds lighter, looked like a sculptor's model, and he danced round that big beef-eater like a cooper round a cask, putting in good, straight, quick punches until he had the boatswain so mixed up that before he could look round for him he would get a punch from somewhere else. The natural result was that almost before he knew it, the Briton was bhnded and his face and breast covered with blood. He finally sat down on the ground in a kind of a dazed way, and as he offered no resistance, Dolan quit punching him and asked him if he had got enough. The boatswain looked up at him through the blood and dirt, and out of his half-closed eyes, and said : " Don't I look as if I had enough? Do you think I'm a bloody 'og?" For a long time after that it was not nearly as fashionable to slur the Yankees as it had been ; but the boatswain be- came, if possible, more overbearing and mean in his manner towards us. He found fault with our work, and was continu- ally reporting us to the turnkey. I being somewhat boyish, and one of the accursed "Yanks," he pitched upon me more than on men like Dolan, whom he had found were good men to leave alone. I was getting pretty well exasperated myself, and some of the men had told me to hit him if I wanted to, and they would see that I didn't get hurt very much. I had several times dined on bread and water, as the result of his lying reports; so when one day he brought the turnkey over to where I was at work, and told him 174 ON MANY SEAS something would have to be done with me, as he couldn't get a proper day's work out of me, I spoke up and asked of what I was guilty. He reeled off a long string of petty and false charges until I could stand it no longer ; and, calling him an infernal Har, I gave him a good square bang right in the nose. As this was done in the presence of the turnkey, it could neither be overlooked nor denied ; so he reported me to the governor, and I was sentenced to solitary confinement and oakum picking for a week, with twenty minutes on the treadmill daily by way of exercise. I could no more pick the quan- tity of oakum allotted to me daily than I could take that big stone jail on my back and fly away with it. According to the rules, if I fliiled to pick my full daily allowance, I was obliged to spend another day in the oakum cell ; the pros- pect was that I should finish my term there. The treadmill exercise was not what I should have chosen, if the choice had been left to me, and presently I was down with dysen- tery, as the result of unwholesome diet, and I reported myself sick, and was transferred to the jail hospital. As my time expired before I got well, I never went back to the oakum cell. On returning to the ship, it was given out that any of us who wanted money and liberty could have it ; a gentle hint to draw all your wages and get out. I had undertaken the voyage on purpose to get myself clothed, and I didn't care to go ashore in Calcutta, spend what few dollars I had, and then shipping again arrive in England with only a couple of month's pay to take. So the rest of the crew bid me good-bye and went ashore. I promptly reported myself sick and declined to work. The ship's doctor, who comes aboard every morning in Calcutta, had to admit that I was sick, and prescribed for me the usual dose, — cunjee (or rice) water, and a pill as big as the end of your thumb. So I loafed around the forecastle, and was not PRESIDENCY GAOL 1 75 sorry when our homeward-bound crew came aboard, and leaving Calcutta astern we once more got under way for London town. Among our new crew was an old man not less than sixty years of age, who was sick with the same disease that I had. Of course he was unable to work and had to report himself sick at once. When the mate found out what was the matter with him he jawed him and asked him if he thought this was a hospital ship. The poor old man said he wanted to go home ; he was afraid he would die if he stayed out in India any longer. The mate said he had no business to saddle himself onto a ship's crew, when he knew he was unable to do duty. " Excuse me, sir," said the old man, " but perhaps I won't be in the way so very long ; " and the next afternoon he was seen to climb painfully upon the forecastle, and drop quietly off the cathead. A man who was at work on the fore topsail yard sang out " man overboard ! " The red-headed Scotch captain went to the lee rail, looked at the man floating by, and without a word resumed his walk on the weather side of the poop. The roll was called, and the name to which nobody an- swered was presumed to be his. His chest was brought aft, and the mate auctioned off the few poor things that he had. I myself bought the empty chest; and "finis" was written across the last page of the log-book of a British seaman. CHAPTER XIX Sick with Scurvy. — Brutal Treatment. — The Hospital Ship. — Discharged " Cured," and Paid off. Shortly after leaving Calcutta, and feeling somewhat restored by the pure sea air, I " turned to " of my own accord. I soon observed a slight soreness in the hollow of my right knee. I paid no attention to it ; but it gradually grew worse, and my leg began to draw up so that I had to walk on my toes. The second mate, in whose watch I was, noticed it and asked me what was the matter. I told him all I knew about it, and he advised me to go to the old man and get a dose of salts. So I went to him and asked for salts. He poked my legs, first one and then the other, and said : " I'll gie ye the salts, but it'll do ye na guid ; for it's the scurvy ye've got." I asked him to give me an extra allowance of lime juice then. He said he had only enough to give all hands their "whack," and he was not going to rob all hands for me. So I took my dose of salts and went forward with the ex- tremely comforting assurance that at the very beginning of a long passage — we had not yet reached Mauritius — I had got the scurvy. I had heard enough about the disease to know that it was as impossible to cure it at sea as it was to bale out the ocean with a crab-net. I knew that every day that I remained at sea I should be worse than I was the day 176 SCURVY 177 before. In other words, the disease is as surely progressive under favouring conditions as are the seasons of the year, and its only termination is death. The only cure is to get ashore and eat vegetables, especially potatoes, raw ones if you can. Consequently the problem resolves itself into this one question — Will you live to reach the land? If you do, and are not so far gone, so thoroughly rotten, that the reaction kills you at once, you will live. The fact of the disease having attacked me so early in the passage of course reduced my chances of survival to almost nothing. I was advised by the old sailors not to give up as long as I could keep my feet, for physical exercise, they said, was one of the best things in the world to fight scurvy with ; so I worked as long as I could, but my legs, feet, and whole body swelled up, and the flesh got dead and turned bluish. Big dark-red sores came out on me. My gums swelled up so that they almost covered my teeth, and they were black and soft and sore. My jaws were so swollen that they stuck out on each side of me hke the bilges of an old- fashioned man-of-war; and every joint in my body was racked with the most excruciating pains, like jumping toothache. As long as the weather remained fine, I kept the deck ; and after I got so that I couldn't walk, I would swing my- self from one belaying-pin to another, and shake my fist at the captain and yell insane curses at him, of which he took not the slightest notice. But I know he enjoyed my misery ; for he wouldn't allow me a single drop of hme juice except what I was entitled to by act of Parliament. When my mouth got so sore and swollen that I must have spoon victuals or nothing, the steward asked permission to cook me some sago and arrowroot. " Give him whatever is in the medicine chest," said the old man, " but none of the cabin stores." N 1/8 ON MANY SEAS He refused to allow me any potatoes, even while they were yet plentiful aft, saying there was nothing in the act that compelled him to. Of course I knew he hoped to see me linger out a few miserable weeks and then die. As we got down towards the latitude of the Cape, into the bad weather, I had to take to my bunk, and the men would block me off with blankets and clothes, so that the heave of the ship could not rack my poor joints ; for the disease had progressed to that stage now where I felt no pain if I kept perfectly still. I lay in a kind of half stupor for weeks. When the stew- ard had a chance he would bring me some of the leavings from the captain's table, — soups, puddings, and such things, which I could swallow ; and I believe to this day that I owe my life to the kindly interest taken in me by that Scotch steward. The day that we passed St. Helena, where Bonaparte died in exile, we discovered a sail astern, a very unusual place to raise a sail. All that day and night she gained on us, and the next afternoon she was abeam, and proved to be the ship Roxboroiigli Castle, of London, one of Dicky Greene's old frigate-built ships, bound from Bombay to Liverpool. As she was a passenger ship, she had a doctor, and Captain Russell asked her captain to let him come aboard and see me ; so she lowered a boat and sent her doctor to us. I was carried out on deck and propped up on the main hatch, while the doctor stared at me through his eyeglasses, and, by advice of our captain, poked deep holes in my swollen legs with his finger, which wouldn't fill up again for several minutes. He knew almost half as much of the science of medicine as our ship's pig ; for, after staring at me blankly for a while, he turned to the old man and said, " He has the gaoutr Even the grim Scotchman had to smile. I asked the learned physician if "gaout^'' was not the penalty paid SCURVY 179 for too much high Hving. He said it was, and I told him it was not exactly my case. Then the old man told him that I had the scurvy; that the only thing that would do me any good was raw potatoes, and if they had any to spare he would be obliged, etc. And this young doctor returned to his ship, and soon back came the boat with a two-bushel sack of potatoes. I saw them hauled in over the rail by the end of the topsail brace, and carried aft, and that was the last that I ever saw of them. Captain Russell took them into his own stateroom, and gave them out to the steward two and three at a time, to be cooked for his own private use, not even the first mate getting a smell ; and he had potatoes left yet when we hauled into the Victoria docks in London. Christmas Day we were running before a fine westerly gale for the mouth of the . channel. We had been hove to for forty-eight hours ; for, though we had sighted Fayal in the Azores, the Scotchman was afraid to run because the sun was obscured and he couldn't get an observation. So he lay to under lower main topsail and fore topmast staysail, and let the fine fair wind blow away while he waited for the sun to come out so he could find out where he was. Not much like Captain Hurlburt in the old Tanjore. Early Christmas morning, a little topsail schooner — one of the fleet of chppers known as " Western Island Fruiters " — came flying along before the w^ind like a little butterfly, and, seeing the big ship hove to, I suppose they thought there must be something the matter with her ; so they kindly ran under our stern and hailed. After finding out where we were from, and where bound, the skipper asked us what was the matter. " Nothing," said Russell. " Well," said the schooner skipper, " what are ye hove to for?" l8o ON MANY SEAS Russell told him he wanted to get a " sight " to find his position. " FoUer me, you blahsted fool," said the skipper, and put- ting up his helm he left us. It must have been the sight of that little schooner running so confidently that shamed him, for he squared away and made sail at once. The cook had killed the pig the day before, so we were to have fresh meat, that is, baked pork and plum duff, with sauce, for our Christ- mas dinner. Although I could not eat much of anything, I looked forward with great anticipations to the fresh meat which I was anxious to taste. When the watch was called at half-past eleven, she was running dead before it, and roll- ing both rails under ; for iron ships are proverbially wet. Some call them "diving bells." Three men went to the galley : one for the duff, one for the pork, and the other for the duff sauce. They got their grub and started forward. Just as they got nicely clear of the deck-house, where there was nothing to protect them, she gave a heavy roll to port, scooping up several tons of water over the rail ; then she rolled as far to starboard, doing the same trick again. And now the decks being full of water level with both rails, a big sea raised her stern high in air. The fellow who had the pork yelled for somebody to open the door, and somebody did, with the result that as her stern went up the three men with the grub and a tidal wave of salt water all came into the fore- castle together. Oh, what a merry Christmas that was ! The whole watch were sitting on their chests waiting for their dinner, or per- haps some were not entirely dressed when that green sea came in. It washed all the men and chests up into the eyes of her, and drowned out all the lower bunks. The pork and duff went somewhere. The sauce, of course, dis- appeared entirely. Every man was soaked, and so was SCURVY 1 8 I every rag of clothing belonging to the whole watch, except the bedding in the upper bunks, and that was pretty well wet from the splashing. Fortunately, I had the upper bunk next the door, so that it all went by me, and I escaped the splashing caused by the sudden stoppage of the water by the bows. After the flood had subsided, there came a jawing match. " Who hollered to open that door ? " " No." " But what bloody fool opened it?" So and so. " You're a liar ! " I thought there would be a general row, but they were too wet and too cold and disheartened to fight about any- thing. They pulled their chests out from under each other, satisfied themselves that they didn't own a dry stitch for a change, and then, fishing out the pork and duff from under the bunks, threw the latter overboard, and made a sorry Christmas dinner on semi-saturated fresh pork and hard- tack. As soon as we got on soundings, I began to suffer tortures. The pains which had heretofore only bothered me when the motion of the ship caused my body to move, now became continuous, and seemed to penetrate every joint in my body. I got no relief as long as I remained on board. Arrived in the Victoria dock, two of the men promised to send their boarding-house master down to take me ashore the next morning, and I was locked up in the forecastle all alone that night. And a long night it was. I suffered with cold, scurvy pains, and hunger. But even the longest night must end sometime, and hours and hours after daylight, as it seemed to me, somebody came pounding on the forecastle door, and a voice called out : " Hey, is there hany one in 'ere ? " It was some time before I could make myself heard, on account of the swollen condition of my mouth, as 1 82 ON MANY SEAS well as my weakness, and I was afraid he would go away and leave me. But at last I made him hear and understand that he could get the keys from the ship-keeper. When he came back, I saw he was a big, hearty, good-natured, one- armed man, and he had a cart-driver with him. He advised me to come home to his house ; but I pre- ferred to act on the advice of my shipmates, and go to the old Dreadnaiiglit free hospital ship at Deptford. He and the driver lifted me out of my bunk as carefully as they could, nearly killing me in the operation. They dressed me, after a fashion, and carried me ashore in their arms. On being brought into the air, I promptly fainted, and they laid me down on a bale of goods on the deck to bring me to again. Naturally, a crowd collected, and when I opened my eyes the first thing I saw was a gentleman standing by my side. "Do you belong to the Oriana, my lad?" said he. " Yes, sir," said I. " Can you tell me where Captain Russell is?" " No, sir ; but I hope he is in hell." "Ah," said he, and went to look for him. Having " come to," I was loaded into a wagon and cov- ered with a horse blanket, for it was a bitter cold day, and the driver started for the hospital ship. Having been paid in advance, he drove round to all the " Publics " where he was acquainted and stopped at every one to refresh, and as he found friends in each one, of course a series of treatings had to be gone through. When he reached the congenial and talkative stage, he would bring his friends, or any one else who chose to come, out to the wagon to see me, and he would deliver an entirely original lecture on scurvy, and how it was brought on by the poor sailors eating too much of the salt meat furnished by the " howners." " Why," said he, " you and me, mateys, thinks ourselves SCURVY 183 mighty lucky if we gets a bit o' saveloy once or twice a day to eat with our 'arf a quartern, loaf; but these sailors, they eats their five an' six pounds of the finest of corned beef, and bacon, and 'ams, hevery bloomink day, and then they does nothink but sit around in the warm sun hall day long singin' songs an' drinkin' of their grog. My heye ! no won- der they gets sick, that's wot I say ; an' then 'e comes ashore 'ere, an' I 'ave to drive 'im hall the way down to Deptford for 'arf a crown. I say, matey, 'ave you ary fourpenny bit about you? I'd like to treat a couple of my friends to a pot of hold hale." What with the jolting over the stones and the long-con- tinued freezing, I was about worn out when he finally reached the landing and transferred me to a boat which took me off to the old ex-man-of-war. I have heard that she was with Nelson at Trafalgar. If she was not there, at any rate she was no doubt some- where in those days ; for she was an old-timer. She stood up out of water like a block of houses, and was short and broad as though she had been built on the same lines as John Bull himself. She, with the old Victoij, Nelson's flagship lying in Portsmouth, were about the last remaining representatives of England's once famous " wooden walls." Our approach was seen ; so when we arrived at the land- ing stage alongside, we found two " convalescents " ready with a stretcher ; for I not being able to ascend the gang- way ladder, they carried me directly in through a false port cut in her side, and set me down under the main hatch, where there was a four-legged sling hooked to a tackle and hanging down from above. They shpped the eye that was in the end of each leg over each of the four handles of my stretcher. The word was given, and another crew of " con- valescents " hoisted me up to the medical deck. She was a " five-decker," and the different decks were known as the 184 ON MANY SEAS spar, berth, medical, surgical, and orlop decks. My stretcher was carried out in the wing and set down alongside the bed I was to occupy, and a couple of "convalescents" pro- ceeded to strip me, preparatory to putting me into hospital rig. I think I have already mentioned the fact that my jaws were swollen so that they stood out on each side of my head, and also that ever since we arrived on soundings I had been in continual pain, from the top of my head to the soles of my feet. Bearing these facts in mind, you can imagine my feelings when the fellow who was behind me, without unbuttoning my shirt at the collar, pulled it up over my head, and tried to get it off. At the first pull it nearly killed me ; and when it didn't come, instead of looking for the cause of trouble, he simply appealed to the English- man's " right bower " main strength and buU-headedness, and, slacking back, he gave three or four quick, hearty jerks, each one of which seemed to rend my entire system apart, and you may be sure I was not a bit mealy-mouthed in my expostulations. But being handicapped by my sore mouth, and also by the fact that I was muffled in the shirt which he had pulled up over my head, I was not able to make a very loud outcry, and besides, I suppose being a sailor himself, my language did not have much effect ; so he simply kept up the torture until the medical deck steward, in passing that way, accidently recognized the import of some of the muffled sounds proceeding from the interior of the shirt, and stop- ping in front of me he said sharply, " Pull down that shirt." The shirt being down, he then stooped over until he could look me in the face, and said, " Look here, young man, what kind of language is that you are using ? If you are not careful, you'll be expelled before you are fairly entered here." I told him I didn't care ; I had just as lief be expelled as to have my head pulled off by a d fool that hadn't sense enough to unbutton my shirt collar before SCURVY 185 he tried to pull my shirt off. Reahzing that I had good cause for complaint, the steward ordered them to be more careful, and passed on. I remained seven weeks aboard the old Dreadtiaught, and though it was a charity hospital, especially in my case, for I afterwards learned that all maritime nations except the United States contributed to its support, yet the service was as good as one could wish. The doctors and nurses were attentive and kindly, and it was the privilege of pa- tients to join the convalescent squad if they chose, on being discharged from the wards as cured. While in this squad, they were only required to do light, clean work, and as they got an abundance of food, it enabled them to regain their strength, so that on going ashore they were fit to go to sea at once. I did not join the convalescents, for having a pay-day coming I preferred to spend my convalescent period at large ; so when the doctor gave me permission to go, I walked up to the captain's office and got my discharge, for everything was done in a shipshape manner, the captain being an old naval officer. The boarding master, who had been very kind and atten- tive while I had been in hospital, lived in Poplar, and having his address I went directly there and found him and his family to be very pleasant people. The next thing was to get my money, and I went down to the shipping office ; but they told me I would have to bring an order from the mate or captain to prove my identity. So I hunted up the ship and found the mate aboard, who said certainly he would give me an order, and he brought me out an order requesting the paymaster to pay to the bearer any wages that might be due to Edward B. Williams. I told him I couldn't get my money on that, as my name was not Ed- ward, but Frederick. " No," said he, " your name is not 1 86 ON MANY SEAS Frederick, it is Edward, and I have got it so in the log. All that trouble in Calcutta is logged to Edward B. Williams, and that's your name." I told him I guessed I knew my own name, and I also told him how the mistake came to be made. The first day out from London, the second mate asked me my name. I was putting the lee main tack in the beckets and he was on deck, and I answered, " Fred, sir." "Ned? "said he. "Yes, sir," said I, and all the voyage after that I was known as " Ned." Although I couldn't persuade the thick-headed Scotch mate that I knew my own name better than he did, yet I finally coaxed him to make out the order to the name I wanted. And so I got my money, minus a good big slice which I had to pay for the Calcutta "jamboree" but, at all events, it was the biggest and almost the only pay-day I had ever had. First of all, I fitted myself out with a good lot of clothes once more, and the Lord knows my experience had been such that I ought to have known a sailor's needs. Then I took in some of the sights of London. CHAPTER XX I SHIP FOR Another Long Voyage. — The Stormy Cape. — A Big Sea. — Broken Ribs and Rude Surgery. I determined to go " tall water " again, in hope of another pay-day ; but, alas ! it was destined to be a good while between pay-days with me again. During my perambula- tions about the docks, I came across a Uttle brig called the Coquette, of Bristol. She was bound to Victoria, Van- couver's Island ; and, as that was about the longest voyage possible from London, I shipped in her, and, bidding my boarding-house friends, including the daughter of the house, a tearful adieu, I sailed from London, expecting to be gone a year or fifteen months ; but this old world rolled round the sun half a dozen times before I came back to London, and the friends bade good-bye to then, I never saw or heard of more. The brig's crew consisted of captain, mate, second mate, cook, and five men before the mast. The old man had never been farther than the West Indies before. The mate and two of the foremast hands belonged to Plymouth, and I heard lots of west country yarns while aboard the brig. We sauntered along to the southward, and all went well. We had our allowance of grub, which was all we had any occasion to expect ; it was edible. The officers did not ill- use us. The old man was afraid of the Horn ; so, instead of scraping along the eastern coast of Patagonia and taking the 187 1 88 ON MANY SEAS first fair slant of wind to slip around the most difficult corner, and then bear away into the Pacific, as an old Cape Horner would have done, he kept away off to the southward, and hundreds of miles to the eastward, until we found ourselves in a good place for a long Cape Horn fight. And here we had it with a vengeance. It was two solid months from the time he attempted to make westing before we were able to keep away for the Pacific. Two months off the Horn ! Can you realize what that means? Two months of cold and wet and discomfort. Living almost entirely on hard bread and water; for the cook's galley went by the board almost the first gale we got into, taking with it all the cooking utensils. So that all the cooked food we got after that was once in a while a little lukewarm coffee made on the cabin stove. What with the pitching and pounding, the deck took to leaking over the forecastle, so that we did not even have a dry place to crawl into when our four hours on deck expired. As a result of being continually wet night and day, we broke out in sores and boils all over our bodies, and our hands and fingers became covered with deep and sore cracks known to sailors as " sea- cuts." These will remain open as long as you are at sea, handling salt-water-soaked ropes ; and, as the edges heal, and only the bottom of the cut remains open, it gradually deepens, until it gets to the bone, and they are very painful. We were "hove to " most of the time, with a tarpauhn in the weather main rigging, and the helm lashed a-lee. The watch would stay aft all the four hours; for it was impossi- ble to do anything except keep a lookout ; and even if we had seen anything that it was necessary to avoid, I doubt if we could have done it ; for by the time we could have got sail on her, and got her off the wind, if she was not pooped by the terrible seas that were running, whatever was the danger necessitating the change, we should probably have THE STORMY CAPE 1 89 fouled it. All the sails were frozen to the spars, and, al- though we had strong life-lines along the weather stanchions (for the bulwarks were long since gone), still it was a life and death matter to attempt to do anything about the decks ; for almost every other one of the big Cape Horn seas went clean over her as though she were but a log. Once in a while the weather would moderate so that we could set the lower topsails for a day or two, and perhaps a reefed topsail ; and during the twenty-four hours we might be able to scratch ten or a dozen miles to the westward. Then it would come on to blow again as if all the old sailors and boatswains, whose souls are supposed to be drifting about off the Horn in the shape of albatrosses and cape hens, had gone to the bellows, and were doing their level best to blow the Httle brig clear out of water. Then it would be a case of all hands again to get in the " muslin." Many a four hours did we put in on a topsail yard, in the rain or snow as the case might be, fighting with the sail, which would belly away up over our heads, and be as round, and stiff, and hard as the bilge of an iron ship. We would pound it with our fists, and watch for her to drop into an extra deep trough of the sea, so that the sail might lose even a little of its wind. Then, as we felt it waver the least little bit softer, there would be a chorus of " Now ! Now ! Now ! Boys ! " and we would all try to make a wrinkle in the hard distended canvas so that we could get hold of it. Perhaps, after hours of this, she would drop into an extra deep trough, and, with a great shouting and hurrahing, we would manage to get a grip on the momentarily flapping sail, and pulUng altogether we would be highly gratified to find ourselves able to pull in perhaps a foot of canvas, which we would hastily crowd between our bodies and the yard, so as to be able to exert all our strength to hold it I go ON MANY SEAS there. Vain hope ! the instant she rose on the next sea, it would be whipped away from us in the twinkUng of an eye ; we couldn't hold it any more than a three-year-old boy could hold the recoil of a ten-inch gun. So we would be just where we started perhaps an hour or two before. All this time we were freezing ; our clothes would become so stiff in a few minutes, after leaving the deck and getting out of reach of the seas and drenching spray, that it would be almost impossible to handle ourselves; and several times we took turns going down into the top and, after pounding each other so as to get the use of our limbs, we returned to the yard and broke loose our less fortunate shipmates, who were frozen fast to it. At last, after having tried all the tricks known to Jack, we would finally get the sail furled after a fashion ; and on returning to the deck the first salute would be from a green sea which, though composed of icy water, would most effectually and instantly thaw out our sheet-iron clothes. Before the brine has run out of your eyes enough for you to realize that you are still on board, and not half a mile to leeward, you hear the mate sing out in the most cheery manner, " Now then, boys, jump up there and roll up the main topsail." " Why, certainly." It's only a few hours' work, just like the job already described, and when at last you have got the sails all in, and she is again hove to under the tarpaulin, comes the question, " Whose watch on deck is it? " and after finding out the time of night, — for these little diversions almost invariably occur in the night, — the lucky ones go below, to what? — only a temporary shelter from the fury of the wind and sea, for below everything is wet ; there are no dry clothes to put on, and no dry bed to get into ; everything is wet, cold, and miserable. There is not a match to be had that will burn ; consequently, as the scut- THE STORMY CAPE 191 tie is kept on all the time to prevent flooding the place altogether, it is pitch-dark all the time. But what's the odds? There are no clothes to change, no grub to eat, nothing to do but tumble into your wet and soggy bunk all standing " like a trooper's horse," as the saying goes, and pulling your wet bedclothes over your other wet clothes, lie there, and steam, and shiver, and sleep, and dread to move because there is a slight sensation of, I had almost said, warmth, acquired by remaining in one position. When you think that you have been below about an hour, the scuttle fe shoved back with a bang and, with a noisy pounding on the roof of the companion, a voice roars out : " Sta-a-a-rboard watch, ahoy ! There's eight bells. Now then, my bullies, show a leg there. What's the matter with you, hey? Are ye all dead ? " After the disturber has been roundly cursed, and told to " Close that scuttle and git ter h out er there," he, sat- isfied that the watch are awake, obeys. And then the " jolly sailors " ( ?) slowly, painfiilly, and regretfully tumble out, while some sage repeats the old chestnut, " Who wouldn't sell a farm and go to sea?" Oh! there are many and charming varieties in life to be experienced in a little brig away to the southward and eastward of the Horn. One day, after about six weeks of this kind of thing, I was going aft to stay with the old second mate by the lashed helm ; for we relieved the wheel just the same as though we were steering her. The second mate had come on deck and relieved the mate and his man before I got aft, and as the mate's watch had all gone below, and my watch mates had not yet come on deck, as there was no occasion to hurry, there was nothing to do. The second mate and I were the only men on deck. As I was pulling myself along aft by the life-line, I saw the old second mate waving his arms and apparently shout- 192 ON MANY SEAS ing to me ; for it was impossible to hear on account of the roaring of the wind. At the same time he grabbed one of the buhvark stanchions, twining both arms about it. I knew instinctively that a big sea was about to board us, but as I was facing aft I had not seen it. I got a good hold of the life-line and turned my head. That was years ago, and I have ploughed through thousands of miles of Old Ocean since then, and in some notoriously bad places too ; but I have never seen such a sight as for one single instant met my frightened gaze. The brig was in the trough of the sea, and the next on- coming billow had reached the breaking point. I hastily turned to windward and looked into the hollow of the big- gest wave I have ever seen. It stood up far above the fore- topsail yard, and the oncoming wall of sea was so curved, that, before it struck our bows at all, it broke half-way up the foretopmast, and the whole immense body of water, like a mountain, literally fell down upon the little brig. Why it didn't burst in her deck like so much wet paper and send her to the bottom, I do not know ; she must have been a stanch httle hooker. The second mate's head was bumped against the end of the stanchion with such force that, besides cutting his forehead severely, his left eye dropped out on his cheek, and after the sea had passed he went below, and the mate and captain, being like himself both west country men and accustomed to the emergencies of brutal fights and wrest- lings, soon shoved his eye back again. I was where I got the full force of the big sea, and I could no more hang onto that life-hne than if forty locomotives had me by the legs. I held on as long as I could, though I never expected to see daylight again ; for I supposed the brig was on her way to the bottom. Finally, with the terrific force of the THE STORMY CAPE 1 93 water, the life-line was torn from my grasp and away I went, but, strange to say, not overboard. I was hurled along the deck aft, and must have passed the second mate, although he never saw me nor I him. I brought up with my left side against the edge of an oak grating that extended across the stern abaft the wheel and about three feet above the deck. I heard a crash as if some one had stove in an old packing- case with an axe, caused, as I afterwards found out, by the smashing of three of my own ribs. This, naturally, knocked the wind out of me, and I remained where I had fallen in the water on deck. The instinct of self-preservation caused me to seize hold of the relieving tackle on the tiller, and to this I hung I do not know how long, until the brig returned to the surface, and my watch mates and also the captain and mate came on deck to see what there was left of her. They found that there was nothing standing above the deck but the two masts, the windlass, forecastle scuttle, cabin, companion, and skyhght, and the wheel, with here and there a stanchion where the bulwarks had once been. Incidentally, I was dis- covered among the tiller ropes and relieving tackles, and picked up. It was found that I could not stand without help ; so it was decided to send me below, which was no small job, for I couldn't go myself, and no one else could very well help me, as it was about all they could do to get along themselves. However, after about half an hour's manoeuvring, they man- aged to get me forward, and we nearly all got washed over- board in doing it. I was lowered down into the forecastle, and perhaps I wasn't glad when at last they got me into my bunk ; for it seemed as if the broken ends of my ribs were punching out through the flesh, and they pricked Hke thou- sands of needles and took my breath away with every move- ment they made. The mate came forward and bandaged o 194 ON MANY SEAS me tightly, so as to bring the ends of my ribs together and give them a chance to heal, and there I lay in my bunk for a week or ten days. And as of course it was impossible to keep myself motionless when the brig was tossing about, I suffered greatly. CHAPTER XXI Northward Bound. — Fine Weather, but Short of Water. — Viva Chile! — Arrest by Lariat. — A Good Riddance for the Brig. — New Names for a Dol- lar. — On the Tramp. An inspection of the brig, after the heavy sea had boarded her, showed that she had some water in her, and the pumps were started. It took a couple of hours' pumping to get it out of her, and ever afterward there was a steady increase in the amount of water she made. At last it got so that the men hardly left the pumps at all, and I being laid up, of course my watch was short-handed ; so, as soon as I could get out of my bunk, I went on watch again ; but I wasn't much use, for every move that I made it seemed as if the ends of my broken ribs were coming out through the skin. We now began to get short of fresh water ; but as we were in cold weather, it was not such a great trial as it would have been in the tropics. At last came a day when, after observing the sun's altitude at noon, and bringing up the longitude from the morning's observation, the mate came on deck and sung out the more "than welcome order, " Weather main brace ! " This told us that we were far enough west of the Horn to square away for the Pacific run of thousands of miles to Vancouver's Island. It was a great relief to get some sail on her and see her start to move once more through the water, and on her course. 195 196 ON MANY SEAS The day we squared away was a memorable one to me, for it was my twenty-first birthday. I had now been five years at sea, and so far from being captain of a big American ship, I was nothing but a common "lime-juice" sailor in a little bit of a brig. If I could have foreseen, when I started to go to sea, that after five years of such tough experience as I had been through, I would still be on the lowest rung of the ladder, with not the slightest prospect of ever getting any higher, I believe I would have stayed ashore. The day when for the first time a dry place appeared on the deck, it seemed as if all our troubles were over for ever, and when we once more got our clothing and bedding dried out, we forgot our Cape Horn sorrows ; for Jack is a care- free lad, and does not fool away his time mourning for what can't be helped. Every day's sail brought us into pleasanter weather, and the brig being off the wind and running easy and steady, she didn't make water enough to bother, and my ribs got rapidly better now that they were not racked from morning till night. We were now on a very short allowance of water, and as we were out of the cold weather, we missed the privilege of an occasional drink. The old man said he would go into Valparaiso and get water and do a little repairing. But we had not water enough to get to Valparaiso ; for though we quit cooking anything in fresh water, and only got two half- pint drinks per man per day, our water gave out entirely when thirty miles south of Concepcion Bay, on the coast of Chile. But fortunately we had a good breeze and fair wind, so we ran in there, let go the "mud-hook," furled the sails, and then, being warm from exercise and nearly choked with thirst, how glad we were to see the steward come along with a bucket two-thirds full of a thick, reddish liquid, which turned out to be the very last of our water. He had been down in the big iron tank with the bucket and a small cotton VIVA CHILE! 197 swab, used for wiping paint-work, and swabbed up the very last drop of moisture there was in the tank, wringing his swab out in the bucket. It was a filthy mess, containing, besides a great amount of iron rust, all the settlings of the three thousand gallons of water that had originally been in the tank. But to us it was nectar. It was the biggest and wettest drink that we had had for weeks, and as for the taste — well ! on long voyages you don't taste the water any more than you are obliged to. I have seen water that you can get on end out of the scuttle butt, and pull the entire con- tents out on deck as though it were a lot of jelly. When you drink that kind of water, you are very careful to hold your nose. We anchored off a httle village called Tome, near the entrance to Concepcion Bay ; at the upper end of which is another small port, Talcahuano, a great place for whalers to refit, and is known to the New Bedford and Nan- tucket natives as "Turkey Warner." Of course we got water the first thing, and after having drunk our fill we forgot another of our trials. The old man found that in order to get his repairs done, he would have to give a bottomry bond, which is a terribly expensive thing to do. We asked him to give us liberty and money ; so he made his bottomry bond big enough to enable him to give us twenty dollars apiece, and we went ashore and had a high old time. We fell in with an old Yankee, who had been in the country for years and years, and kept a little grog-shop on the principal street, if you chose to call it that. I should rather call it a gully, for it was a watercourse in the rainy season and remained through- out the dry season in whatever condition the brook left it ; for as there were no wheeled vehicles at all in town, where would be the use in fixing up the street just for the people and a few jackasses? This old fellow was an intensely patriotic Chileno, and 198 ON MANY SEAS the more anisado and aguardiente he drank, the more his patriotism blazed forth, and so did ours, for it seemed to be infectious ; and before we had been an hour ashore, we were waving our hats in the calle, and shouting "Viva Chile ! " with all the enthusiasm of brand-new citizens. The taste that we got of shore after being so long at sea, and especially after such a hard passage, together with the brill- iant accounts of this wonderful country, which the blamed old Yankee rum-seller stuffed us with, sickened us of the brig and her voyage, and we determined to remain and become Chilenos. So we didn't go aboard that night, and the next morning the mate came ashore after us, saying the old man wanted to get under way. We told him we were going no farther in her, and he got a couple of policemen to arrest us. There were three of us, two little Enghshmen and myself. We resolved to die hard ; so we stood back to back with drawn sheath-knives, defying the whole population of South America to put us aboard. A fellow came trotting down the side of the hill on a small pony and passed us unnoticed. But as he got well by he checked his pony and, turning in his saddle, cast his lariat over our little group just as we stood back to back, pinion- ing us just above the elbows, and all in a bunch. Then he started off at a gentle canter, and of course the instant the lariat became taut, we fell over, and he dragged us after him through the dirt as remorselessly as though we had been so many sheaves of straw. What a ride that was ! or shall I call it a slide ? Call it what you will, it was tough, almighty tough ! The vaquero had no more mercy for us than a hungry dog has for a bone. We learned afterwards that he had taken a contract to land us in the brig's boat for five dollars, and there was no stipu- lation that we were to be delivered alive, and so he dragged us through the dirt and stones ; we rolled and flapped over VIVA CHILE! 199 one another ; almost every rag was torn off us, our hands and faces were scratched and scraped and bleeding. Those of us whose mouths were not entirely filled with sand and gravel, kept yelling alternate threats of vengeance on our captor, and pleas for mercy at his hands. But we wasted our breath ; for in the first place he could not understand us, and in the next he would not have cared if he had. And the natives of course jeered and hooted at the " Gringo marineros " who were being sacrificed to make a Chilian holiday. Fortunately, we hadn't far to go in this fashion. It was near the head of the wharf that we fell a prey to this, to us, new style of warfare. Arriving opposite the boat, he shouted something in Spanish to the crowd, and they gladly pitched us over the string piece into the boat, a good six feet below, without breaking a bone, but not without bruising what few places on us remained unbruised. Our captor wanted his lariat ; but the mate simplified matters with his knife, thereby severing his connection with the republic of Chile, and at the same time leaving us tied in the bottom of the boat. But bless you, we could have been tied with one turn of silk thread. They took us aboard, and we went aft and reviled that poor old captain shamefully. We swore we'd burn his brig, and himself in her, right where she lay at anchor. We alarmed the poor old man so that he begged the mate to take us ashore again ; but the mate said it was only the remains of the shore fever, and we would be all right after we had had a sleep. So we raved about the decks awhile, and one after another lay down and had a nap. But we got up more determined than ever to stay in Chile. What ! leave a country where splendid wine was so abundant and so cheap, where every woman you saw was a black-eyed beauty, where wages were high and board cheap, to go the long weary round that brig 200 ON MANY SEAS was going, only to bring up in London or Liverpool at last ? No, never. The upshot of it all was that the old man told the mate to let us go, as he was satisfied we would be no more use to him. So the mate told us to keep quiet until the old man turned in and got to sleep, and then he would make no fuss if we left her. So, late in the evening, we landed on the beach near where an old EngUshman had a shanty with a native wife and a whole raft of young ones. He was an ex-sailor, who sympathized with us, having run away himself, years before ; and to use his own words, he hadn't been two miles from the spot he first landed on. He made a lazy kind of living by fishing in the bay. It would certainly have served us right if we had got six months in jail for the way we abused that good old man. Is it any wonder that captains and officers are sometimes accused of abusing sailors ? A little wholesome abuse would not have been thrown away on us three young scalawags at that time. As our money was not yet all spent, we, of course, could not think of leaving Tome where we had friends (?). We found that our friends were not so elated to see us as we had expected them to be ; for of course they knew we had not much money left by this time and would soon be "broke " altogether, when our acquaintance would be of no value to anybody, as we should have many needs and no money. Our rum-selling Yankee friend asked us what we intended to do. Oh ! we hadn't thought so far as that yet; we were enjoying ourselves all right. " But," said he, " I suppose you know you can't get a vessel from here, as no vessels come here except once in a while a small coaster, manned with natives." We had not given the matter any thought, and did not care very much, anyway. We were ashore, and that was the main thing. He then informed us that, according to the law of the VIVA CHILE! 201 country, any sailor who could not show a discharge from his last vessel was presumed to be a runaway, and not only could not get another ship, but was liable to be arrested and jailed by any policeman, at any time. Of course it never occurred to us to ask him what they would gain by jailing us after our vessel had gone ; but he casually remarked that there were two or three discharges upstairs belonging to some native sailors, which he could let us have for a dollar apiece, and then we could go on to Lota or Coronel, and pass ourselves off as the persons whose names were on the papers, and get ships ; and this we did. My discharge was made out to Miguel Arteagas, and I was said to have been discharged from the bark Nuestra Senora. The others having also provided themselves with the necessary documents, we slung our bags on our backs, and, bidding Tom^ farewell, started overland for a seaport. We found the land wild, barren, and exceedingly unin- teresting. Once in a great while we would meet a native driving or tending sheep ; and they were about as ignorant as their own flocks. As far as we could find out, their staple article of food seemed to be roasted and pounded, or ground, corn. They take a small handful of this, put it in a horn, and stirring it up with a sufficient quantity of water to form a thin porridge, drink it down ; and while it does not make a very hearty meal, it has a palatable flavour, and certainly does appease, in a slight degree, the pangs of hun- ger. I have frequently seen two Chilenos talking together, and one would casually remark that he had been fasting since yesterday ; whereupon the other would fetch out, from some place under his " manta," a rag containing per- haps half a teacupful of parched corn, in the kernel, not pounded at all, just shelled off the ear and roasted. After much eloquent persuasion on the part of the one, and pro- fuse declinations and assurances that he is not a bit hungry. 202 ON MANY SEAS and did not mean it, on the part of the other, he is at last overpersuaded to accept of his friend's bounty, and at least half of the chicken feed is poured into his willing palm. And the other, who has, perhaps, been hoarding this small store against a possible case of absolute starvation, and has gone hungry for days rather than break in on his reserve, will now, in order to put his friend at ease, pour the remainder out in his own hand, and eat it with an air of the utmost nonchalance, as if it were not a matter of the slightest importance. And to see them partake of this lunch is as good as a show. They will pick out a kernel at a time and, holding it up, comment on its quality, where it was raised, and so forth ; and then, bowing, smiling, and complimenting each other as though, instead of a couple of poor Chileno mule-drivers, they were grandees of Spain discussing some rare delicacy, they crunch it down imtil the very last kernel is gone ; and then, declaring, with all seriousness, that they have dined sumptuously, each will go his way rejoicing. CHAPTER XXII Stranded at Coronel. — I study Spanish. — Ship for Valparaiso. — In the "Dago" Navy. We were only one night on the road from Tome to Coronel, and that night we slept in a native " casa." We were feasted on half a pint of the corn-meal soup I have mentioned, and then the man brought us out a sheepskin apiece, and with much bowing and scraping indicated that we were to lie on the ground, for that was all the floor there was ; and as he and his wife and children, and a couple of wolfish-looking dogs, all slept in the same bed with us, we certainly could not complain that we had been discriminated against. At first we were somewhat suspi- cious of their intentions towards us ; as we could not under- stand the language, and they, being simple, ignorant people, would not only talk about us, but look right at us, and even point at us while talking. We feared all sorts of horrible things, and resolved to take turns on watch ; but we soon had reason to believe that they had gone to bed for all night, and we did the same. In the morning we were again treated to what seemed to us to be an awfully meagre allowance of the cold corn porridge, and leaving a couple of reales with our enter- tainer, who at first stoutly refused to accept anything, and finally sent us off amid a shower of blessings, we took the road again and that afternoon arrived in Coronel. Here 203 204 ON MANY SEAS we were accosted by a native boarding-house keeper, after showing our discharges to prove that we were not runaway sailors. While here I first began to learn Spanish, or, as it is called there, the " Castellano " language, and I well remem- ber my first lesson. There were quite a number of foreign- ers in the place, and, as nearly all sailors can speak English, it was easy to find out from them the meaning of words which caught my notice. We remained several weeks in Coronel, as there didn't seem to be any demand for sailors; but, as we were enjoy- ing ourselves, we did not care. At length one day the boarding master came to where we three were standing, and asked which of us would go to Valparaiso in an English bark. I volunteered, and went at once to the English consul's and signed articles. He looked at my discharge and asked me if I was a native. I told him no. " Well," said he, " how is it you have a Chileno name?" I told him that my name was Michael Artagas, but that the agent in Tome, being a native, had spelled it to suit himself. That satisfied him and he shipped me ; but one very undesirable effect remained : I was known on board the bark as Mike, which, seeing that I was a some- what patriotic and aggressive American, did not suit me at all. The bark had a cargo of Coronel coal, and this we dis- charged in Valparaiso, and by the time the coal was out I had worked up the month's advance that the boarding master got for me in Coronel, and I worked another day to pay for a pound of tobacco that I had drawn from the slop chest ; then I went aft and told the captain I was sick and would like to leave. He looked over my account, saw I didn't owe him anything, and agreed. Now I dare say, dear reader, that you wonder at my being so conscientious IN THE "DAGO" NAVY 205 in this case, not to cheat the ship ; but there was a very good reason for it. We lay at anchor over on the northern side of the bay, out of everybody's way ; so there was no earthly chance of going ashore except in the bark's own boat, and as she was used for the sole purpose of putting the captain ashore after breakfast, dinner, and supper, and bringing him aboard before dinner, supper, and bedtime, I had to go with him if I went at all. So, packing my bag, I went ashore with him the next morning, and stepped ashore on the Mole in Valparaiso, as poor as thousands of other Gringos who have landed on this coast, and I sup- pose will keep on landing there for many a long year. I had heard of a boarding-house keeper in Valparaiso by the name of George Thomas, and to him I went. He took me in ; and, not being a deserter this time, I was not obliged to remain in hiding, but travelled about the city. One day while standing on the Mole watching the busy scene around me, — for Valparaiso, being a port of call for men-of-war of all nations, you can nearly always see repre- sentatives of two or three of the great maritime powers of the earth, — a young fellow in the uniform of the Chileno navy ranged alongside and asked me if I had seen the Aranco's boat. I told him I had not, and we gradually fell into conversation, and he advised me, if I intended to stay on the coast and wanted to learn the language, to ship in the navy. I rather liked the idea and told George Thomas of my wishes in the matter, and he took me down the next day to the place where they shipped for the navy, and I signed articles as an able seaman at twenty dollars per month for five years. The reason I signed for five years was because they paid more wages for the long term, and I would have signed for twenty years, ay, for fifty, if they would have given me a dollar a month more for doing so. I was sent 206 ON MANY SEAS at once on board the flagship Esmeralda, an old wooden corvette, which for all I know may be hanging on to the ring of her anchor in Valparaiso yet ; for during all my time in the navy she never had it off the bottom, and I don't know how long she had been there before I saw her. Arrived on board, I found the crew a queer medley. There was a large sprinkling of natives, who knew as much about seamanship as a goat knows about cutlass drill. Neverthe- less, they swaggered about, and when half or wholly. full of aguardiente remarked in dramatic tones and with a blow on the breast, "Soy marinero carrajo ! " (I am a sailor, d you !) ; and turned up their noses in supreme contempt at the Gringos, who were the only real sailors aboard. We had representatives of nearly all the maritime nations of Europe in our crew ; for it was a lazy life with plenty of good fresh grub, and, for several days after pay-day, plenty to drink. The officers were natives, and shared with the native element of the crew the national contempt for Gringos. I shipped by the name of James Jackson, that being the first that came to my mind when signing articles. And as I was informed by " Dublin," the chief gunner's mate, that James was Santiago in Spanish, I went during my entire stay by the name of " Santiago Yackson." We had very little active duty except to keep the ship clean and pull the boat to and from shore, and wait for pay- day, which arrived somewhere about once a month, but with no regularity whatever. Sometimes, when it was delayed longer than usual, a committee of the " ladies " from Main Top Hill would surround the naval officers ashore and make a " demonstration." Whether their interest in our behalf — and their own — had any effect or not, I cannot say ; but certain it is that it would be invariably followed at no great distance of time by a visit from the paymaster. Probably he IN THE "DAGO" NAVY 20/ was about ready to come, anyway ; but be that as it may, they certainly took great credit to themselves for hurrying him up, and they knew too when we were to be paid before we did. The first notice we would get of the proximity of that very important event would be the approach of a whole fleet of shore boats, "bumboats," loaded with fruit, tobacco pipes, and all sorts of contrivances for smuggling anisado and aguardiente ; visitors' boats containing Jack's wives and sweethearts, who remember him on this day of all days, even though they had been flirting with the soldiers and vigilantes during the entire month past. There was great rivalry to see who should be first alongside, and send up for the dear boy to come down in the boat to his own Dolores or Juanita, and if her unlucky star was in the ascendant to such an extent that she found him already appropriated by some other charmer, why, what harm ? The world is wide, and there's room for all. It was only necessary to nod and smile to the first blue-capped head that appeared above the rail ; for with all Jack's faults, he never shghts the ladies. And oh my ! what a drunken crew that would be before night. As they began to get noisy, the natives would stride about the decks, shouting " Viva Chile mi^rcoles," scowling savagely at the Gringos, who would be apt to reply in terms more expressive than polite ; but though the natives' will was good enough, they had too wholesome a regard for the boxing abilities of the average English and American sailor to let their patriotism very often carry them to the extent of actual blows. It was during these times that the boats' crews made money, for those who did not belong to a boat had to deal with those who did ; and as a bottle of aguardiente only cost a"chaouch" — twenty cents — on shore, and as no man would undertake to bring one off unless a dollar was put in 208 ON MANY SEAS his hand before he started, it was evident, when you take into consideration the mighty and overvvhehning thirst of a whole ship's company, with their pockets full of dollars, that the successful smuggler was in a fair way to become a bloated aristocrat. But there were obstacles in his way. In the first place, the officers were " onto " them, and on pay-day, and for several days afterwards, no boat would be sent ashore with- out, if not an officer, at least a marine in it, to prevent the blue-jackets from leaving the boat. When an officer was sent, it was nearly a hopeless case ; but when a marine was sent, he would need to be a Puritan if the Jacks could not corrupt him, for though the sailors and marines hate each other with a great and noble hatred and contempt, still, is not even a marine half human? and has not his Creator endowed him with the same overpowering, pay-day thirst as other folks? Verily the records prove that it is so. It is a well-known fact, or was to us at that time, that a gentle hint to the marine that if he would be conveniently preoccupied for a moment, he should have the first pull at the " tripa," was sufficient to overcome his allegiance. Of course a solemn promise would be given to get but one tripa, and all hands were to have just one sip, and not make fools of themselves. Oh yes, certainly ! As the result of a dicker of this kind, the captain's gig would have drifted out into the Pacific one pay-day, if the quartermaster on watch had not spied her and notified the " first luff," who sent another boat after her. Her crew had got so interested in a stump speech which the coxwain was making them on the relative bravery of the Chilians and Peruvians, as demonstrated in the recent war with Spain. In their excitement the bowman had dropped his boathook overboard, and as that was their only connec- tion with the Mole, they drifted out into the bay. IN THE "DAGO" NAVY 209 The marine, whose duty it was to keep the sailors in order, went peacefully to sleep in the stern sheets, and when the first cutter ranged alongside and took them in tow, it didn't disturb the meeting in the least. I don't think they even knew anything about it, for it is a fact that as they sheered up to the gangway, they gave a drunken cheer in response to some good point made by the orator of the day. There were several English and French men-of-war in the bay, and of course they had seen the show, and this no doubt made the lieutenant mad. He called the crew on deck, and it was surprising to see them straighten up when they heard the voice and caught the eye of that nautical despot, the "first luff." They came up the gang ladder and, by his order, " toed pitch" as straight as so many ramrods. The only sign of the disease about them just at that moment was a sort of unsteady leer in their eyes ; but they didn't even waver on the line. They threw their shoulders back and stuck out their chests so that he could see how sober they were. But alas ! it was all in vain. He called them a lot of drunken scoundrels and sent them below in irons for thirty days. It was comical to see the instantaneous change in their manner when they realized that their attempt to appear sober was a failure. They seemed to collapse all at once, and reeled off down to the " brig," drunk and happy. CHAPTER XXIII A Mystery of the "Trip as." — Caught Smuggling. — Pay-day Drunkenness. — Flogging. — Prize-Money and Punishment. Some of the devices for smuggling liquor aboard were quite amusing. It was always put up in " tripas " for the men-of-war. A tripa (pronounced " treepa," and by the Gringos "tripper") is a long skin like a sausage. There are one and two bottle tripas, and the possessor of a two- bottle tripa is a man to be friendly with. The method of drinking out of it is to put the open end in the mouth, sup- porting the bottom by the right hand, then, closing the finger and thumb of the other hand tightly about the tripa at the distance below the lips of one drink, — an action which always calls for vociferous expostulation on the part of the other interested members who are waiting for their turn, — raise the closed thumb and finger slowly towards the mouth, at the same time absorbing the expelled Hquor into the system. It is a rather difficult knack to acquire, but I never knew a Gringo fail to become an expert at it. On account of their flexibiUty, the tripas can be brought aboard in the slack bight of the blue shirt above the waistband, coiled in the cap, or suspended, either in the leg of the pants or in the sleeve of the shirt. It is the duty of either the marine at the gangway or the quartermaster of the watch to see that no liquor is brought on board ; but they are apt to be 2IO CAUGHT SMUGGLING 211 interested parties and, unless they have a grudge against a certain man, they seldom discover any in transit. Once when I was coxwain of the Cavadonga's dingy, I had been doing a rushing business in the retail hquor line, and decided to make a grand coup. So in the morning, while cleaning my boat in the davits, I took out the plug, shoved a piece of spun yarn down through the plug-hole, and drove the plug in again ; then, reaching over the side with the boat-hook, I caught the yarn that was hanging down from the plug-hole, and hauling it up made it fast to my rowlock. The dingy was the smallest boat in the ship, puUing only two oars. A native boy and myself constituted her crew ; he pulled the bow oar, and I the stroke. Our first duty was to go ashore in the morning with " Jack in the Dust " and get the day's provisions. After that the boat was cleaned up again at the swinging boom, and used as the heutenant's gig. On this particular morning while " Jack in the Dust " was up at the market purchasing his supplies, I went and bought two dollars' worth of tripas — ten. These I could readily dispose of on board for ten dol- lars. I cast off the end of the yarn from the rowlock, and making my bunch of tripas fast to it, threw them overboard, then pulling out the plug quickly, yanked the bunch of tripas up close to the hole under the boat's bottom and jammed in the plug again. I calculated that on arriving alongside I would myself haul the boat out to the boom, and watch my opportunity to get my merchandise aboard. But when we arrived alongside, the "first luff" stood looking over the side, and he must have " smelt a rat " when he saw me send the boy up the gangway with the rudder yoke and boat cloth ; for, as coxwain, that was my duty. So when I had hauled her half-way out to the swinging boom, he hailed me and told me to come alongside and hook her on ; at the same time he told the quartermaster to notify the boatswain 212 ON MANY SEAS to hoist the dingy, and now I was in a pucker. I slowly hauled her alongside, watching for a chance to stoop down and pull the plug for an instant and let the tripas go adrift ; but the lieutenant never took his eyes off me for an instant. Arrived alongside, I hooked her on, and tried my level best to kick the plug out without attracting attention ; but it was no use. I had put it in too solidly, for fear it might get kicked out and lose my valuable merchandise ; and now the men were walking away with the davit tackle falls, and it took me all my time to bear off and keep her clear of the side. The lieutenant never moved from the gangway ; and I had a vivid idea of how those tripas must look to him, as they rose dripping and swinging from side to side. I did not care to look round ; but I managed to steal a glance out of the tail of my eye, but his face showed no sign. As the boat rose to the davits, high above the rail, the men caught sight of them, and a loud shout of laughter told me the light in which they viewed my predicament ; and still the " first luff" never left his place. I was in no hurry to come on board, but busied myself arranging the oars and boat-hook, wishing to the Lord he would turn his back, if only for an instant, so I could pull the plug and drop my tormentors overboard, although, to be sure, it was too late now to be of any use. Finally he called me, told me to come in and come aft ; and when I had done so, he pointed to the bunch of tripas and asked me what that was. I looked round with the most innocent air that I could assume, and told him they looked like tripas. When I looked up again he was grinning in spite of himself, and told the boatswain to pipe all hands to splice the main brace (grog-ho). And I had to cut down my liquor store, and see the fellows I had intended to sell out to at such Shylock rates drink my rum free-gratis and for nothing. The lieutenant never said a word ; but I CAUGHT SMUGGLING 21 3 was mighty careful after that how I smuggled tripas aboard of the Cavadonga. Pay-day night was always circus night aboard the Esme- ralda. She had eight broadside guns on each side of the upper deck, and two big capstans, one forward and one aft. Before dark there would generally be a man lashed astride of each gun, and two embracing each capstan, with their feet and hands fastened together ; that is, the feet and hands of one stretched round the capstan until meeting those of his companero, to which they were lashed fast. They would all be gloriously drunk, shouting, singing, or cursing the captain and his officers. There would be as many different kinds of drunks as there were patients, and the rest of the crew would see that the martyrs to the good cause didn't suffer from want of that which had got them mto trouble ; for it was an unwritten law — and, like all unwritten laws, most rigidly observed — that whoever had a tripa should first offer it to whatever prisoners there were in the " brig." And on occasions like this, when the entire spar deck was transformed into a " brig," and every man was the possessor of one or more tripas, it may readily be supposed that the prisoners didn't go dry. I remember one pay-day that, rather earlier than usual, the guns and capstans had each been occupied, and still there was a surplus of noisy marineros about the deck, when a happy thought struck the first lieutenant. There were eight round holes in the deck for coaling ship — four on each side. Directly under these holes in the spar deck were others in the berth deck leading into the bunkers ; and to connect the two together we had sheet-iron pipes about two feet in diameter and nine or ten feet high. These, when not in use, were stored away down forrard. The "first luff" bethought himself of these coal-shutes, and directly he had them up and ranged four on a side, for- 214 ON MANY SEAS ward ; and each, standing on end, containing a drunken man-of-war's-man. Well, at first they kicked and yelled and tried to upset their prisons, but finding that no use, they gradually subsided. At last a happy thought struck me. My fi-iend " Dubhn," the chief gunner's mate, was one of the unfortunate tenants of the new style of round-house, and I kicked on the outside of his jail until I attracted his attention. I asked him if he was dry. Undoubtedly he was ; so I told him to look out and I would drop a deck broom down his chimney, and he could stand it on end, and by mounting it would be able to see out over the top. He agreed, and after one or two misses I managed to pitchpole a broom into his apartment ; that is, dart it up in the air and let it curve over so as to descend point first. Dublin soon scrambled up on his broom, and the first thing we knew, his head appeared over the top calling for something to drink, " for God's sake," and he looked as if he needed it ; for Dublin, the old man-of-war's-man, — Dub- lin, the immaculate, who always took such a justifiable pride in his personal appearance, — had become transformed into what might easily have been mistaken for the cook of a geordie collier. His demand was instantly more than complied with, and tripas enough were passed up to him on broomsticks to have caused a mutiny in any other navy. No sooner did the natives get on to the racket, than they had all the inmates of the " straight jackets " supplied with brooms,. and all appeared, one after the other, at the tops of their prisons, dirty, sweaty, and dry, but hopeful. And their hopes were not unfounded ; for shortly they were, each supplied with a tripa, and were alternately cheering the Republic and jeer- ing at the chief boatswain's mate, whom they supposed to be to blame for their imprisonment. It was extremely CAUGHT SMUGGLING 21 5 comical to watch them as they appeared, only their heads and shoulders showing, like so many Jacks-in-a-box. As the aguardiente began to work, some would wildly declaim against the barbarity of their treatment ; others, with no hard feelings against anybody, would perhaps break out in song ; while yet others would be engaged in a very quiet, important, and serious conversation with a particular " chum " ; when without an instant's warning the broom would go from under some unfortunate, and he would dis- appear with a celerity and completeness that was most astonishing. If you happened to be standing near the particular shute whose occupant had so suddenly gone "downstairs," you would hear, after the first rattle and bang attendant on his sudden return home, a smothered Ca-r-r-r-r-ajo, and he would either proceed to climb up again or drop into a peaceful slumber, according to the stage at which he had arrived in his cups. Drunkenness became so flagrant at last that the admiral resolved to break it up, and as it was apparently impossible to prevent the men bringing liquor aboard, he determined to invest the state of drunkenness with a dread which should deter the worst of them from indulging to excess. To this end he invented a punishment, which we called "dipping." The Esmeralda's main-yard was about sixty feet above the level of the bay ; a gant-line would be run through a quarter block and out through a yard-arm block, the end brought in on deck. A bowline is made in the end, and the culprit stands in this bowline. The line then passes up his back, his hands are tied down his sides, and the gant-line is stopped along up, so that when suspended he will stand in a perfectly upright position. A belaying- pin is seized fast to the gant-line about a foot above the man's head to act as a toggle and prevent his head coming in contact with the yard-arm block. A downhaul is put on 2l6 ON MANY SEAS to the bowline under his feet, the gant-Hne taken to a lead block in the deck, and all hands tail on. At the sound of the boatswain's pipe all hands walk away. A few tend the downhaul and slack him out over the rail, and away he goes with a graceful sweep, smoothly and rapidly out to the very extremity of the long main-yard, fathoms high above the water of the bay, and fathoms out from the ship's black side. If he never was alone before, he is now. The chief boatswain's mate keeps a vigilant eye on the belaying-pin above the man's head. With his pipe to his lips, he keeps the men stamping along the deck. Suddenly the shrill note, " Belay," rings out. We don't belay, but we stop ; and in another moment "Let go" comes from the pipes, and amid the shrill and continuous whistling of all the boatswain's mates together, down he comes ; down, down, like a deep- sea lead, as straight as a plummet, and as quick as a flash. Not the slightest check is given to his descent, and with almost no splash he bores a hole in the water as he strikes feet first, perfectly erect, and coming at lightning speed. He is allowed to continue on his way towards the earth's centre until the rope shows slack, when " Walk away " comes from the pipes, and, grabbing the rope again, we walk off, and our shipmate rises dripping from the sea, and up he goes again to the yard-arm for a repetition of the dose. Twice and three times they are " dipped," according to the gravity of the case, and on arriving at the yard-arm after the last dip I can imagine how welcome must be the sound of " Lower away," instead of " Let go," which assures the poor fellow that his punishment is over for this time ; and lowering gradually, the others haul in on the downhaul and he is brought in on deck more dead than alive. He is taken below, stripped and put in his hammock, where he is supposed to stay till noon ; but does he ? I never knew a case where he did ; for it being known beforehand that there CAUGHT SMUGGLING 2\J is to be a " dip," every man will do his utmost to get a tripa to cheer the victim or victims on their return from the " briny ; " the natural consequence being that before the man has been out of the bowhne half an hour, he climbs out of his hammock, goes aft, and defies the "first luff" to dip him, which the "first luff" accordingly does the very next morning. So that, taking the new cases and those that required re-treatment, the process of dipping got to be such an important part of the daily routine, and produced so little effect, that it was presently abandoned altogether. I remained in the Esmeralda about six months, and was then transferred to the Ancud. She was a little despatch- boat used principally to carry recruits and provisions down the coast. While aboard of her. I saw a good deal of flogging, and came within an ace of getting flogged myself. There was a hulk in Valparaiso called the TJial- aba, used as a store-ship. A few years before, when the Spanish fleet was on the coast, the Thalaba came around the Horn loaded with ammunition, stores, and a year's pay for the Spanish fleet. Her orders were to report to the Spanish admiral in Valparaiso ; but between the time that she got her orders and the time she arrived in Valparaiso, the Chilenos had driven the Spanish fleet out of Valparaiso and occupied it themselves. Consequently when the Thal- aba swung round Reef Topsail Point with the Spanish flag flying at the peak, imagine the surprise of her captain to be greeted by the sight of the single star of Chile floating over the forts and men-of-war in the harbour. Of course she was helpless, and the little Cavadonga, which had herself been recently captured from the Spanish, steamed up and put a prize crew on her and brought her in. Of course she was a valuable prize, and the Cavadonga' s crew were entitled to a share of her ; but being nearly all "beach- combers " and " bums " of all nations, they gradually de- 3l8 ON MANY SEAS serted and became scattered all over the coast. Some years afterwards the board having the matter in hand de- clared a dividend, and it became known that all men who could prove that they had been members of the Cava- do?iga's crew on that memorable occasion, were entitled to prize-money to the value of from $300 up. The news spread like wild-fire, and ex-Cavadongas began to arrive from all over the coast. Of course there were lots of fakes, and it was said that enough claimants arrived in Valparaiso at that time to man the whole navy. Those who had been honourably discharged, of course had merely to identify themselves and get their money ; but I fancy they were in an overwhelming minority, for it's seldom a Valparaiso beach-comber completes his time any- where ; so they were treated first as deserters and flogged for that, then their rights as veterans were acknowledged, their prize-money paid, and they were given liberty, when of course they never returned. Many an amusing tale have I heard, of how some poor fellow's courage would be screwed up for him to enable him to go aboard the old Esmeralda and give himself up, take his three dozen lashes of the cat, and get his prize-money. Of course the prospective rico (rich man) would have lots of friends who desired to show their good- will by helping him to spend his good Chileno pesos. But even a beach-comber, if sober, is apt to have an overweening respect for his hide, and he would glance longingly out to the fleet and say to himself, "There are ^300 there for me ; also three dozen of the cat," and a struggle would take place in his mind that would almost turn his hair gray. How, and when, would he ever have a chance at so much money again, while the flogging would only last a few minutes. About this time, when half converted, he would run across CAUGHT SMUGGLING 219 some fellow who had already been through the mill, and who swore he wouldn't go over it again for three times three hundred, no, nor three thousand. So, becoming dis- heartened, his interested friends would have to take him in hand again and fill him up once more with " Dutch courage," and while in that condition send him aboard drunk and boastful, swearing chat all the " Dago " boat- swains and their mates on earth can't deter him from getting his rights ; but unfortunately for him, he is put in the " brig " to sober off, before his case comes up for con- sideration at all ; so that by the time he is " married to the gunner's daughter," he is in condition to enjoy every stroke of the cat, and many of them would have given up the money gladly to be allowed to go ashore again. CHAPTER XXIV The Boatswains Mate. — Appointed " Bodeguero." — Wine below Hatches. — Punished if not convicted. Our chief boatswain's mate, Juan Angelino, was a big, coarse, rum-soaked, red-headed Austrian, who claimed to be fiercely patriotic, and professed to take great delight in administering the cat to the ' d — d deserters.' Certain it is that he gave it to them with a vim. And the most natural result was, that for several years afterwards, in fact, as long as I remained in the navy, Juan could seldom go ashore in Valparaiso without coming aboard again thoroughly well licked. For even if none of the unfortunates who had been favoured by his official attentions happened to be in port, he was a marked man, and every sailor on the coast con- sidered it to be his duty to have a go at Red Angehno whenever the opportunity offered. He it was who came near putting the marks of the cat's claws on my back. I had been transferred to the Ancud for some time, and Angelino had also been sent to her to act as boatswain ; for she was too small to rate either a cap- tain or a boatswain. Our employment was carrying recruits and stores down the coast to Cable Lota, and Chiloe, stop- ping incidentally at the other small ports as we went back and forth. Quite an important item of our supplies was the wine. It came in big hogsheads, and was always stowed down in the forehold in charge of the bodeguero, i. e. captain of the BUCKED AND GAGGED 221 hold, and there were always many complaints from the military ofificers that the casks were never delivered/////. So the " first luff," who had the honour and good name of his ship at heart, kept changing the bodeguero, but apparently without effect. At this time I was coxwain of his boat, the Dinky. I had become proficient in the language, so that I could speak it, if not grammatically, at least with perfect fluency, and I had an accent Hke a veritable " Cholo." The "first luff" was quite a hilarious chap when ashore, and I had been in some tolerably tough rackets with him. He would take me along in the guise of an attendant, but I knew that in reality it was as an escort ; for in some of his carryings on he outraged the feehngs of the natives almost beyond endurance, and at such times it was just as well to have a sturdy blue-jacket in his wake. And besides, I fre- quently had to convoy him back to the boat, and assist him up the ladder when we got alongside. But I was always discreet, and never overstepped the bounds of deference to my superior officer, or allowed myself to tattle of our adven- tures when on board. So, when he told me he was going to appoint me bodeguero, and would flog me if I didn't deliver all the cargo entrusted to me intact on arrival in the South, I was elated at the prospect of promotion, and had no fear whatever of consequences ; for I didn't beheve that " mi teniente " would flog me who had been with him and stayed by him through thick and thin. So I was appointed, and when the cargo was in, contain- ing, among other things, three huge casks of wine stowed directly under the hatch, he told me to lock the hatch and bring him the key. I was well pleased at that \ for I thought if he had the key he certainly would not have the face to hold me responsible for any losses which might occur while in transit ; but I didn't know him as well as I thought I did. 222 ON MANY SEAS I had several particular friends in the crew. There was old French Louis, the quartermaster, whose conversation was always a jumble of French, English, and Spanish, but who was as jovial an old soul as ever lived and liked good wine. Then there was red-headed Murphy, the fireman, and my immediate predecessor in office, an Englishman, who had been disrated on account of the mysterious shrink- age of the contents of the wine casks entrusted to his care ; of course, I couldn't afford to offend him, for he knew all the tricks of the trade. Angehno el Contramaestro I didn't particularly admire — nobody did ; but it was policy to keep on the right side of him, and he was as thirsty a mor- tal as I ever saw. When he couldn't get anything else to drink, he would beg a little spirits of wine from the car- penter's stores and drink that, very slightly diluted with water. A few hours after we left Valparaiso, Bill Jones, my prede- cessor, remarked that he supposed this would be a dry trip, with a meaning look at me. "Why?" said I. " Oh ! " said he ; " we've got a new bodeguero now, and the 'luff' has the key." "Why, Bill," said I, "you don't suppose that a Dago Ueutenant is a match for a Yankee sailor, do you ? Not at all, my boy ; wait till to-night and I'll show you a trick he never heard of." So about one o'clock that night there was a gathering of the clans in the fore hold. Louis was there. Bill Jones, Murphy, and myself, four Gringos, — no natives need apply, — and each man had a leather cartridge bucket that would hold about two gallons of anything he happened to have to put in it. I also had a marlinespike. When Bill saw that, he said : " For God's sake, man, don't break the lock. You'll get us all 'ung." BUCKED AND GAGGED 223 I told him not to worry ; I was not such a bungler as that. The hatch was in four sections, secured by two flat iron hatch-bars about an inch and a half wide by a quarter of an inch thick. One end was drawn out to a round point, and this passed through a hole in a short vertical iron strap, the lower end of which was bolted to the side of the hatch-combing. The other end of the bar was bent down like a hasp, and had a slotted hole in it which fitted over a staple on the other side of the combing, into which the padlock went. The bar being about twelve feet long and comparatively thin, I struck the point of the marline- spike under the centre of it, raising it up enough to get my fingers under it, when, giving it a quick jerk, up the straight, pointed end sprung out from the hole in the strap, and the hatch was open. To replace the bar, it was only necessary for two of us to hold up the middle of the bar, while the others bent the end down until the point was opposite the hole, when, by letting go, it went back into place again. After getting one of the hatches off, we sent Louis and Murphy down with the cartridge buckets and gimlets, and then put the hatch on again, laying the bar in its place. Jones sat down on the disconnected end, mending a pair of pants, while I went up and loafed around the berth-deck, watching for possible stragglers. By and bye I heard Bill cursing his broken needle, which was the sigrial agreed upon, and I came down, after seeing the coast all clear. We hfted off the hatch, received the four buckets of wine from our fellow-conspirators, and, pulling them up, replaced everything as it was. Then, stowing away three of the buckets for future emergencies, we ad- journed with the fourth to the fiddler, where we caroused to our hearts' content, passing meanwhile uncomplimentary remarks concerning the "first luff's" acuteness in dealing with Gringos. 224 O^ MANY SEAS Bill and Murphy wanted to broach another bucket, but I wouldn't have it ; for I was bound not to overdo it. I filled a quart tin pot and carried it down to the boatswain's quarters. Angelino was sound asleep. I shook him gently, and he finally rolled over and muttered, " Quien es? " (Who is it ?) " Yo, Santiago el Bodeguero," said I. "Que quieres hombre?" (What do you want?) I said no more, but sticking my finger in the wine, drew it across his nose. The effect was instantaneous. He was wide awake at once, and, starting up in his bunk, asked: " Adonde esta, da me lo pues?" and seizing the quart, he drained it at a gulp, remarking, " Carrajo ! esta bueno, tienes mas?" Telling him I had no more, I silently withdrew. We had agreed between ourselves that we would take no one into our confidence, and that the hatch should not be taken off except when all four were present and agreed. And one thing I insisted on was that all the rest should obey me strictly in everything. If all hands had stuck to this agreement, all might have been well. But alas ! sailors are unreliable in some things, and this was one of them. We were getting along finely, having wine enough to keep our spirits up, and no one was any the wiser, when one night Angelino shook me by the shoulder, as I lay asleep in my hammock, and asked me if I knew where Louis was. I told him no. " Well," said he, " it's his watch on deck, and he is nowhere about. You had better hunt him up," and, giving me a knowing look, he walked off. My heart misgave me at once, for I knew old Louis's weakness. I jumped out of my hammock and down into the fore hold, and, sure enough, the hatch was off, and from the depths below came a noise like the rumbling of an approaching earthquake. I hurriedly lit a battle lanthorn. BUCKED AND GAGGED 225 and looked down. Oh, dear ! Oh, dear ! there lay the old hunks flat on his back on a cask : his arms extended, his right hand grasping an empty tin pot, his old gray beard, the front of his shirt and pants, drenched with wine, his mouth wide open and emitting the most awful and varied snores I have ever heard. He had come down off his watch, got the hatch off" alone, and, tapping the cask, deliberately drunk himself into insensibility. Of course the spile-hole was open in the cask, and it had drained itself into the hold ; and the fumes of wine that came up that hatch were eno^igh to intoxicate the toughest Valparaiso beach-comber that ever slept outdoors. I went and got Bill Jones up, and we held a council of war. It would never do to pull him out of there the way he was, for his clothes, being saturated with wine, would smear the deck and everything he came in contact with ; so we got buckets, and quietly drew water through the bow- port, and brought it down and doused him with it where he lay. But he was so happy that he didn't even alter a note of the tune he was playing on his nasal bogoo. Then we got down in the hold, and stripped his clothes off, and wrung them out, and hauled his old carcass up, dressed him in some of our clothes, and put him in his hammock. Con- cluding we could never get the smell or the stain of the wine out of his clothes, we threw them overboard, put the hatch back on again, and I went on deck and stood the rest of his watch. The officer of the deck came along and asked where the quartermaster was, and I told him he had been taken suddenly sick, and I was standing the rest of his watch for him. I was in a quake for fear he should order me to send Louis to him ; but he was a young fellow who had a very in- definite idea of his duty, so I escaped that ordeal. I now had an opportunity to ponder over the fix in which I found Q 226 ON MANY SEAS myself. I was the man whom the Heutenant had appointed to see the cargo safely delivered, and how had I fulfilled the trust reposed in me? Heretofore there had been complaints that the wine had been tampered with, the measure had been short ; but it remained for me, the " re- form " bodeguero, to come into port short of an entire cask, for the old jay had tapped it close to the bottom chime. The lieutenant's threat that he would flog me if the wine was not all there at the end of the route flashed vividly across my mind, and it didn't seem half so idle a threat as it had that sunshiny afternoon in Valparaiso Bay. I knew I couldn't trust Angelino ; for though I had treated him generously to a good share of the spoils, yet Angelino dearly loved the cat. And when he had thai instrument of discipUne in his hand, I believe if it had been his own father that lay stretched over the breach of the gun before him, his professional pride would have overcome his filial respect to such an extent that he could have gloried in see- ing the alternate white and red streaks rise on the paternal back in response to "Pussy's" gentle caresses. The next day we arrived in Lebu, and the lighter coming alongside, the hatches were taken off, the Heutenant him- self opening the locks ; and two men jumped down to hook on the wine casks. In furabhng about to get the hooks on the first cask, they discovered that it was empty, and, swing- ing the hooks to one side, they caught hold of it by the chimes and tossed it out on deck. The lieutenant was standing by the hatchway, and saw the whole proceeding. He turned and looked at me, and never said a word. But the look he gave me froze my blood. I knew I was elected, and if I could have got ashore, even if it had not been too far to swim, I would have gladly taken my chances among the Indians and wild cats, rather than stay and face Angehno and his tame cat. BUCKED AND GAGGED 22/ But, as usual, luck was against me. He suspected Louis and Jones too ; and in a few minutes we three were below, ironed hand and foot. We tried to keep each other's courage up, but it was a tough job. We knew he had no right to flog us ; but we also knew he had the power, if he chose to exercise it, and we began to fear very much that he would. The next day the captain — or, rather, the lieutenant commanding, for she didn't rate a captain — went ashore to some kind of an entertainment, prepared by the mihtary commandant of the post. And the " first luff," after firing in a few rounds of aguardiente to strengthen his backbone, ordered all hands called to witness punishment ; and we poor culprits were paraded on deck in all our misery, to be flogged for a Chilian hoUday. Angelino and his cat were conspicuously present. The lieutenant made us an address, in which he recounted all the facts in the case, winding up with the statement that he purposed to make an example of the three Gringo thieves now in custody. With that, Bill Jones, who had, as well as the rest of us, been treated to a pull at a friend's tripa, protested, first, that the case had not been proven against us ; secondly, that the lieu- tenant was exceeding his authority in ordering us flogged, both of which arguments were undoubted facts ; and third, as he warmed to his work he swore that if the bloody Dago cat touched his back, he would appeal to the admiral com- manding the British Pacific Squadron, and have every one of their bloody Dago men-of-war blown clean out of water. To all of which the heutenant simply answered, in his haughty, Spanish manner, "Silencio Ladron ! " and he ordered Louis to be stripped and seized up. Poor old Louis, at this, began to blubber outright, and beg " mi teniente " to let him off just this once. What the poor old fellow really said on this occasion, one 228 ON MANY SEAS would have needed to understand English, French, and Spanish in order to comprehend, for he mixed his language worse than ever before; but the "luff" was obdurate, and meant business. So poor old Louis's shirt came off with a jerk, and he was married hard and fast to the gunner's daughter, with his bare back turned up to the wintry sun, and the big tears rolling down his cheeks from his bloodshot eyes, and soaking into his poor old beard that I had seen on that ever-memorable night soaked so full of red wine. " Boatswain, do your duty." — " Guardian a la porta." The first was the heutenant's voice, ordering Angehno to flog Louis. The second was the quartermaster of the watch, calling for the boatswain's mate (Angelino) to pipe the side. He had seen the commander approaching, and with him in the boat were the military staff and several ladies. The lieutenant saw his game .was blocked, and he ordered Louis released from the gun ; and in his flurry to obliterate all trace of what had been going on, he forgot to order us back in irons, so we were allowed to go free. And what a long breath of relief I took ! But he was not through with us yet. He was balked of the flogging, but not of his revenge. The following night we lay at anchor in Cable. It is an open bay, and there was a pretty rough sea running in, so that the little hooker rolled and tumbled about quite lively. I took the "luff" ashore in the evening, and waited at the little wharf until after twelve o'clock for him. When he came down to the boat, he had a pretty good load on, and his first salute was that I was drunk, which, as I was not a drinking man, was absurd. When we got aboard, he sent for the master-at- arms, and ordered him to bring up his assistant and two pairs of handcuffs and leg-irons. Old Louis was summoned from his hammock, and came up trembling, and all ready to burst into tears. We were both ironed, hand and foot, BUCKED AND GAGGED 229 while His Eminence strutted up and down the deck, cursing us for Gringo thieves and dogs, and everything else he could think of. "You escaped me once," said he. " But I have you now, you Gringo brutes, and I'll teach you to violate the laws of Chile ! " Here old Louis, catching at a straw, as the proverbial drowning man is said to do, and hoping, no doubt, to appease somewhat the wrath of the mighty lieutenant, shouted in a feeble and doleful manner, "Viva Chile." The only response which this patriotic outburst drew from the " teniente " was an order to the master-at-arms to "gag them both." Belaying-pins and spun yarn were soon forthcoming. Our jaws were forced open to their widest extent, the belaying- pins inserted and lashed fast around the backs of our heads. A belaying-pin is about an inch in diameter, and made of hard wood. In putting in the gags, both the master-at- arms and his assistant took particular pains to be as rough and brutal as they could, forcing them roughly into our mouths, cutting our lips, and nearly splitting us back to the ears. Then they lashed them good and tight. Inside of five minutes I thought I should certainly go mad. It didn't seem possible that any human being could inflict such tort- ure on another. But our tormentor simply walked the deck, cursing and reviling us as before. Poor old Louis staggered over to where the lieutenant was standing, and, falling on his knees, put up his manacled hands, and groaned as best he could behind his gag a dumb petition for mercy. A fierce gleam shot from the " lufPs " eyes, as, turning to the master-at-arms, he said, " Buck them." Capstan bars were brought. One after the other we were forced to a sitting position on the deck. Our handcuffed hands were forced down over our knees far enough so that the handspike could be shoved through under our knees, but above our arms. To force us into 230 ON MANY SEAS this position was all that the master-at-arms and his mate could do ; for it required that every joint and muscle should be stretched to its utmost. But once the handspike was in place, of course we were fast for good. A cold pouring rain came on, and we were, of course, drenched to the skin, and being absolutely helpless, the heavy pitching and rolhng of the vessel at her anchor caused us to tumble about the deck like a couple of empty barrels, bumping painfully against everything there was to bump against. I don't know 'how long Louis retained his senses ; for of course it was impossible to communicate with each other, being gagged as well as bucked, and it was only once in a while, during my helpless rolling about, that I even knew where he was. Once we collided, and I remember a faint feehng of thankfulness for having for once hit something soft. It is the greatest wonder in the world that our brains were not beaten out ; for I know that sometimes I brought up with such terrific force against a hatch-combing or a stanchion that if it had been my head that made the contact, it must surely have been stove in. Perhaps it was something of that kind that finally put the quietus on me ; at any rate, my remembrance of what occurred that night after I was bucked is very hazy ; it is like a horrible nightmare. Something that was too terrible to be true, and yet I know it was true ; for I have marks on my body to this day to prove it, and I have never since been free from the rheumatism contracted on that terrible night. I heard afterwards — long afterwards — that the lieutenant, leaving orders that we were not to be released except on an order from himself, went below to his drunken slumbers, and left us bucked and gagged on the rolling deck and in the deluge of cold rain, where the com- mander found us, when he came on deck in the morning, to BUCKED AND GAGGED 23 1 all appearance dead. He ordered us turned over to the ship's doctor, a young fellow who knew as much about medicine as the average downcast mooly cow knows about the problems of Euchd. It was some time in the afternoon that I regained con- sciousness, and, startled at the sight of broad daylight, attempted to jump out of my hammock, only to find, first, that I had no more power over my limbs than if they had been lead castings, and secondly, that every nerve in my body ached as though I had been run through a forty-horse- power threshing-machine. It was weeks before I left my hammock, and poor old Louis never recovered, never went on duty again. We buried him at sea a few months after- wards, a victim to supreme authority placed in the hands of an irresponsible drunkard. CHAPTER XXV The Peruvian Fleet. — A Free Fight on Shore. — The Police routed. — A Wholesale Jail Delivery. — Re- treat OF the Peruvian Fleet. On our return to Valparaiso from this trip, we found a Peruvian fleet in the bay. Now though Peru is a sister repubhc, there is no love lost between Chilian and Peru- vian men-of-war's-men. We soon saw liberty boats going ashore from the Peruvian fleet, and at once there was a spontaneous request for liberty aboard all the Chilian ships ; and whether our officers entered into the spirit of the thing or not, I don't know ; but certain it is that never before were so many liberty boats seen leaving the sides of all the ships at once as there were that day. When we got ashore, we found that the Peruvians had captured the town. All the dance-houses, grog-shops, and other places of amusement were full of them. We were not "in it." So we reassembled on the Mole and were organ- ized into squads of from six to ten by the Esmeralda's boat- swain, with orders to scout all over the place, lick all the Peruvians we could find, and drive them off the earth. The modus operandi was for one man to step inside the door of whatever house of entertainment was suspected of harbouring Peruvians, and shout " Viva Chile mi^rcoles ! " when, if any Peruvians were present, they were in duty bound to respond with "Viva Peru ! " It then became the 232 WHOLESALE Jx\IL DELIVERY 233 duty of the advance guard to step up to the offender, and, with a " toma carrajo ! " belt him one in the nose. The other Peruvians present, thinking that but one Chileno was running amuck among them, would pile on to him, and our reserve would then furnish the surprise party. The scheme worked beautifully, and in less than half an hour from the time we separated at the Mole, every Peru- vian in Valparaiso was on the run out towards the railroad. Our lady friends, seeing that we were likely to be the victors, now ranged themselves on our side, and did yeo- man's service in scaring the enemy out of unsuspected hiding-places. They also stood by us when the Peruvians made a short rally on the beach outside of town, under the leadership of a big negro, who, yelling "Viva Peru !" " Chile miercoles," called on his retreating shipmates to follow him to victory or death. Vain boast ! They were the invaders of our domestic peace. We were battling for our homes and hearthstones, and that, too, under the very eyes of our wives and sweethearts, and with the knowledge that if we permitted the barbarian hordes of the north to vanquish us, they would immediately usurp our places at the hearthstones, and also in the affections of our woman- kind. What wonder, then, that we fought like tigers? The Peruvians, arming themselves with the stones that lay abundantly around, closed up, and awaited the onslaught. And they hadn't long to wait, either ; for, arming ourselves with the same kind of ammunition, we came on at a wild charge, yelling "Viva Chile, muerte a los perros Peruvianos ! " and keeping up a continuous fusillade of stones as we came. There was no such thing as stop for us ; we im^st win. So, although they received us with a gaUing, point-blank broadside, and many of our gallant fellows bit the dust, we never slacked our pace for an instant. And now, as we neared the hostile forces, knives began to gleam here and 234 ON MANY SEAS there on "hoih sides, and things were assuming quite a serious aspect, when, suddenly, the Peruvians, their hearts faiUng them, broke and fled for dear Hfe ; but not until we had captured their leader, the big negro, and half a dozen others, whom we pommelled and kicked to our hearts' con- tent, then took them back to Valparaiso, filled them up with aguardiente and anisado, and finally shipped every man jack of them in the Chilian navy, where, for all that I know, they may be yet. On our way back to town we met a large squad of " vigi- lantes " — the native police — coming out to quell the dis- turbance. Now the vigilantes were our natural foes ; for as they represented the law and order element, just so cer- tainly Jack ashore represents the lawless and disorderly. And there was never a lack of old scores to be settled with those gentlemen. They wore a military uniform, and carried a great long cavalry sabre that dangled and clattered along behind them, and gave them quite a terrific and imposing appearance ; but they knew no more about handling it than they did about handling a typewriter, while we were all more or less expert at single-sticks — cutlass drill. A favourite sport with us was to congregate in one of the big dance- halls upon Main Top Hill, raise a ruction there, inviting the interference of the police, and there, arming ourselves with broomsticks or anything we could get hold of, give them battle. It was only fun to disarm them ; for they knew no better than to expose the elbow of the sword arm, when a sharp crack on the funny-bone would cause Mr. Vigilante to drop his sabre in spite of himself. It would then be seized by the victor, and in a few minutes we would have them on the run, chasing them through the streets, and whacking them mercilessly with the flats of their own swords. When we got tired, we would go down to the Mole, pitch WHOLESALE JAIL DELIVERY 235 the sabres overboard, and go back to our amusement. And as the alcaide would never fine or imprison a marinero who had the name of a Chileno man-of-war in his cap, the only revenge they could get was when they were able to surround one or more of us by overwhelming numbers ; and then, indeed, we tasted the flat of the sabre ourselves, and also had a chance to acquire a choice lot of up-country epithets expressive of supreme hatred and contempt. You can imagine, then, the thrill of joy that pervaded our hearts as, returning flushed with victory, we espied our foe approaching and in force ; for if there was any one thing that we desired then, it was fresh worlds to conquer, and here they came. The ladies, too, were as bitterly opposed to the police as ourselves, and they joined in right manfully w'ith us, as, taking the initiative, we charged them with a wild hurrah and a broadside of stones. They didn't even make as good a stand as the Peruvians ; for they fled without firing a shot, and encumbered as they were with their unwieldy sabres, they tripped and fell over them by dozens. We would give the prostrate ones a passing kick and leave them to the tender mercies of the viragoes who brought up our rear, and they lit on them like buzzards on a dead mule. They kicked them, tore their clothes, and reviled and abused them in a most scandalous manner. In the meantime, having disposed of the police force, we returned to Valparaiso, monarchs of all we surveyed. The citizens, who hated the Peruvians with a cordial and brotherly hatred, gave us an ovation. Nothing was good enough for us. We could go anywhere, call for anything we wanted, and our uniform paid the bill. We would also receive " mil gracias " — a thousand thanks — for having bestowed the honour of our attention on the humble citizen. Things were coming our way gloriously, when, at about eight o'clock in the evening, blue-jackets could be seen 236 ON MANY SEAS hurrying about the streets, notifying all stragglers to assem- ble on the Mole at once. What could the matter be? Had the Peruvians obtained reinforcements and returned, or had the pohce procured cannon from the forts and come back prepared to uphold the majesty of the law? Neither one. But the police had stolen a march on us, and while we had been complacently accepting the adulations of the populace, they had quietly rounded up some fifty or sixty of our lady friends, and had them hard and fast in the "jug." Word had somehow been received of this coup on the part of the police, and it was at once decided that they must be released; but how? A council of war was called, and as a result of about five minutes' confab, two shore-boats put off, containing com- mittees of sailors. One went under the bows of the Chaca- biico and one to the Esmeralda. The forecastle sentries were quieted, — by means of tripas, — and the two boats shortly returned, each with a brand-new coil of ratline in her. Four men were told off, who, dividing themselves into pairs, shoved a stick through each coil of ratline, and, shouldering their burdens, followed the big German chief boatswain's mate of the Esmeralda up towards Main Top Hill, while the rest wandered off to the rear of the city. The Valparaiso calaboose, a wooden structure, stood quite near to the edge of the cliff which surrounds the rear of the city, the city itself being built between this chff and the beach. Probably the cliff at this place was a hun- dred feet or more in height. All hands, with the exception of the boatswain's mate and his committee, gathered silently in the quiet streets at the foot of the chff, while tlie others went up above, passed an end of each coil of ratline around the jail and made it fast. Then came the deep voice of the boatswain's mate : " Guarda abajo " (Look out below), and the answer from below, " Larga," and down tumbled the WHOLESALE JAIL DELIVERY 23/ two coils among us. We stretched the two ends down two parallel streets, and dividing ourselves as nearly as possible into two equal gangs, manned them both. We took a strain on them, and then came a voice from above: " Estan listos abajo?" and the answer, " Todos listos." Then the pipe rang out merrily from the cHff, " Walk away," and we walked away. At the same instant the full moon broke through a cloud, as if to shed light on our dark deed, and looking back we could see the two parts of the rope, stretched like harpstrings through the air, and the silhouette of the big boatswain's mate on the edge of the cliff, with his pipe to his lips, giving us the music. There were nearly two hundred sturdy Jacks on each end of the line, and something would have to come pretty soon. Finally all hands, with one accord, shouted out, " Ahora, ahora, de la guasca, carrajo," and stamping along, the jail could be seen to rise slowly off the ground on the far side, and in less than a minute more it had turned over on its bilge, and as there was no bottom or floor of any kind, the imprisoned inmates were all out of doors. I don't believe there was ever such another jail delivery before or since. The pipe sang out " belay." We tied our ropes to con- venient trees, and sending up a shout of victory, went up to welcome the martyrs back to their homes and firesides. Oh ! there was fun in Valparaiso in those days. The next morning not a Peruvian ship was to be seen in the bay, and it was currently reported, and believed, too, that the Peruvian admiral, when he got outside, flogged nearly the whole fleet for allowing themselves to be licked and chased out of town by a mob of Chileno cholos^ Gringo beach-combers, and — ladies. CHAPTER XXVI Three Sailormen with Money. — I squander my Capital, DESERT THE NaVY, AND SHIP ON A WhALER. We were supposed to be paid monthly, but as the Ancud was mostly down the coast, and as Valparaiso was the only place where we could get paid, we frequently skipped a pay-day or two ; for if we were not there at the time, we didn't get any pay until next time. So it came about that after I had been about three years in the navy, I had $iio or so to draw ; and as that was the biggest pay I had ever had since I joined, and as of course the very fact of my having so much proved that I hadn't had any money at all for a good while before, I determined to have some fun. So I picked out two chums, each of whom had more money than I did ; we got forty-eight hours' leave and went ashore. I will not relate our adventures in detail ; suffice it to say that they were more or less discreditable, and I found myself, at the end of three days, without money, and in danger of a flogging for overstaying my leave. As I strolled about the town, considering the situation, I came across a fellow who introduced himself to me as George Davis, a New Yorker. How he came to be in Valparaiso, I don't know to this day, although we were intimate companions for over a year. During our conversation, he remarked that there was a Nantucket whaler in port, looking for men. She was going 238 SHIP ON A WHALER 239 to Callao to be sold, and he thought he would ship in her. He also asked me why I didn't go. I had not thought of leaving the navy, but when he spoke disparagingly of " that damned Dago navy which it was a disgrace to a white man to belong to," I thought perhaps he was right, and besides it was getting to be an old story. Ever since the affair of the wine, I had not stood as well in the lieutenant's estimation as I did before, and besides I had accomplished the principal object I had in view when I joined ; that is, I had learned to speak the language with such perfect ease and fluency that I rather preferred it to English. So with very little persuasion I went down to the shipping office with him, and we signed articles in the bark Bahio, of Nantucket, for Callao. The captain told us he was going to Callao to sell the bark, and that if any whales came alongside and tried to chmb up the chain-plates, he would take them in, but he was not going cruising. Oh, no ! The next morning we went aboard, and as I was walking across the Mole toward the whale boat, I saw "mi teniente," the one who nearly flogged me, and did buck and gag me, and who, four days before, had given me forty-eight hours' leave. He was waiting for his boat and talking to a citizen. I walked almost over his toes and looked him squarely in the eye ; but he didn't recognize me in my shore togs, and that was the best chance he ever had to do so. There went on board with us in the boat another new hand, " Billy," a little weazened Liverpool Englishman. He was a young fellow, but had a whisker like an old daddy. Billy was a first-class seaman in every respect, and he and I became firm friends. Arrived on board, I was very much surprised to find how clean the ship was ; for it is a popular belief among merchant seamen that " blubber hunters " are grease and soot from keel to truck. But the Bahio was as clean as a yacht. One reason was that she was 240 ON MANY SEAS engaged only in sperm-whaling, and another perhaps was that she hadn't had a " cut " for nearly a year when I joined her. And how strange it sounded to hear the genuine Yankee lingo after so many years away from it. There were only a few Scrap Islanders in the forecastle, and the remainder of the crew forward was composed of Kanakas and Western Island Portuguese. When a whaler is fitted out from home, she takes her officers, boatswains, and a few foremast hands and steers for the Western Islands (Azores). Arrived there, a boat is lowered and a box of new boots put in it. The crew pull ashore into some convenient little bay surrounded by woods, and, landing, they open the box of boots and stand them all along in a row. Then one man begins at one end of the row and pulls all the boots on and off again, one after the other. They then board their boat and pull off around the point out of sight, and the natives, who have been watching them from the woods, come down and try the boots on. When the officer in charge of the boat thinks they have had time enough to be fitted, he comes back, and the poor 'Gees, being unable to run with the boots on, are easily captured and carried off whaling. I know this to be a fact ; for the whalei^s told me of it themselves. The Kanakas, natives of the Sandwich Islands, are expert whalemen, and are usually to be found in the capacity of boat-steerers. We had two of them ; one, called Napoleon, died on board ; the other, with the less illustrious name of John and said to be his brother, looked like a veritable cannibal, for his face was tattooed in such a grotesque man- ner that if he had been clothed in an old pfug-hat and a string of glass beads round his waist, he would have only needed to be armed with a blackthorn shillalah to make a most formidable appearance. Yet they were two of the mildest-mannered men I ever saw. Neither could speak SHIP ON A WHALER 24 1 a word of English except to say "Yeth," and "Ah blow" on discovering whales from the masthead ; but they knew their trade and were valuable men. The old man headed her pretty well off-shore, and after we had been out a few days there came a ringing chorus from the lookout in the fore and main crow's-nests of " Ah blow, ah blow-blow-blow-blow-blo-o-o-o-o-o-o-w ! " We who were in the watch below tumbled up pell-mell, to find every- thing on deck in a great flurry. The watch were getting the line-tubs into the boats, and the old man was running up the fore rigging with his spyglass slung around his neck. A large sperm-whale had been raised a couple of points on the lee bow, rolling leisurely along ; and as the Bahio had not had a "cut" in over fifteen months, all hands were intensely interested. We pitched in and helped the watch get the boats ready, which only took a few minutes, for everything pertaining to the business was in the most perfect order ; and then, as in addition to being placed in watches we had also been assigned to boats, we took our stations ready to lower at the word, " Let fall ! " Two men in each boat to bear her off from the ship's side and unhook the tackles ; the rest at the falls to lower. We were nearing the whale rapidly and watching the old man anxiously, when what was our surprise to see him slowly close his glass, sling it around his neck again, and come deliberately down from the fore-topsail yard, where he had been carefully watching the whale. He never opened his head until he arrived on the quarter-deck, and then he told the man at the wheel to keep her on her course again, and ordered to " belay all," and take the line-tubs out of the boats again, and go below the watch. Here was mystery with a vengeance, — a professional whaler declining to go down after a big sperm-whale. But the mystery was soon cleared up by the third mate coming 242 ON MANY SEAS forward and telling us that the whale we saw taking it so comfortably not half a mile on our lee beam was none other than the notorious " Callao Tom," the only whale in the whole world that nobody ever molests. He had been too long at the business to be caught by whalemen's tricks, which he knew just as well as they did, and had made a record for himself by chewing up all the boats that had ever been sent after him and killing many a sturdy whaleman. He had made himself known to generations of whalers before us, and, as he was distinctly marked by well-defined and peculiar white patches on his sides, he roamed the ocean at his own sweet will, and had done so for years before any of us were born, and is probably doing it yet. He was an unsociable old curmudgeon, for he was never seen in com- pany with any of his species ; and, in fact, it was well known to be a useless waste of time to cruise in his neighbourhood ; for Callao Tom is monarch of all he surveys, and the sim- ple fact of his presence was proof positive that no other whales were on that cruising-ground. So the old man kept her off a little more, and we then learned that our objective point, instead of Callao, was the Galapagos Islands, a nota- ble sperm-whale ground in years gone by ; but now the whales have been pretty well exterminated, and are very scarce everywhere. I took a lively interest in the business, for to me it had a peculiar charm. The idea of going down in those frail boats to capture and kill the mighty sperm-whale in his own element, fascinated me, and I could listen to the third mate's yarns by the hour, and never get enough. He was a 'Gee ; as young and handsome a man as you would find in a day's sail anywhere, spoke English like a native Scrap Islander, and was a genial, pleasant, and companionable man. And yet every Islander on board, although he could SHIP ON A WHALER 243 easily have taken any four of them and knocked their heads together, despised him because he was a d 'Gee. I once spoke to the second mate on the subject of this apparently unreasonable dislike, and cited the instance of the third mate, who, although a 'Gee, was a mighty fine man. "Yes," said he, "as 'Gees go he is a pretty good one, but, I tell ye, you don't know 'em. My old uncle, who was captain of a whaler for forty years, used to say that you couldn't trust the best of 'em. He said you might pick out the very best 'Gee you ever saw, run him through the mincing machine, and mince him fine ; then put him in the try pot and try him out for forty-eight hours, and strain him through a fine linen rag, and d him, he was nothing but a 'Gee after all. And," added the second mate, "you can bet your life the old man knew what he was talking about." I found from conversation with the old whalers, that it was their belief that, with the exception of " Callao Tom " and all whales who, like him, were marked with white patches, the sperm-whale never shows fight, nor intentionally damages either boats or men ; for they are a timid and cowardly lot. So that, in dealing with them, the whaleman's greatest care is not to frighten them, but to keep out of the way of acci- dental injury from their immense and powerful bodies. One great and important part of the business is in knowing how to go up to them, and get "fast" without "galleying" (scaring) them; for nothing can be done with "gallied" whales. They will scoot off dead in the wind's eye, and you will never see them again. Consequently, the officer or boatswain who, by his awkwardness or mismanagement, " galleys " a school of whales is a lucky man if he escapes being disrated and sent before the mast. So, too, with the boat-steerer. No man, not even the captain himself, will tell him when to dart. He may take his own time, and some boat-steerers will never dart until 244 ON MANY SEAS they are at "wood and blackskin," — that is, until the boat actually touches the whale, — and the officer in charge of the boat, and who steers her until the irons are in the whale, must put her in that position for him. Then again, there are some few experts who won't allow the boat to come nearer than two or three seas from the whale, before darting. These men, however, are not numerous, and are usually Kanakas. Their method is to pitchpole the harpoon ; that is, dart it up in the air, and let it curve over and fall with great force, point downwards, into the whale. To do this, he must be not only a good judge of distance, but a power- ful man, for a harpoon is very heavy ; and he must also be as quick as a flash, in order to pick up the second iron, and have it entered before the whale can sound on feehng the first. On leaving the ship's side, the officer in charge steers the boat on to the whale, the boat-steerer pulls the bow-oar until he gets the order to stand up, when he peaks his oar, stands up and grasps the iron that is fast on the end of the line ; this is the first iron. The second is bent on a short warp, the other end of which runs on the main line with a loop or bowline, so that should the first iron miss, or afterwards pull out, it will toggle in the bowline of the short warp, and you hang on by the second. The two irons lie in forks diagonally across the boat's bows ready to his hand, so that, after darting the first, he need not take his eye off the whale, but instantly seizing the other, send it home to the hitches if possible ; although some old hands, seeing their first iron soHdly home, do not bother with the second. CHAPTER XXVII Whaling and Whaling Gear. — My Private Harpoon. — I STRIKE A Porpoise. — A Lively Rock. It is in getting on to the whale that the experienced officer shows his knowledge of the business. A sperm- whale, on account of his huge square head, can see neither before nor behind him, but only off on each beam ; and since they travel across the wind, when not gallied, the boats steer end on to them, one boat keeping just alongside on their weather beam. This boat they can see, and as they go lazily along, if you are in the weather boat you will see them roll up their little eyes at you, evidently wonder- ing what you are doing there ; but, not seeing the other boats, they have no fear. The others now select the biggest whales in the school and fasten to them, when instantly the whole school will sound — dive, that is — as if they had all been struck at once. From the masthead I have seen the ocean dotted thickly with whales as far as the boundaries of the horizon, and instantly one was struck every tail went up, and they dis- appeared as if by magic. While the officer in charge of the weather boat is amus- ing the whales so that the others can get fast, he is also sheering up gradually alongside the one he has selected for his own, and if he fails to get fast to him before they all turn flukes, he watches for their return to the surface, when, 245 246 ON MANY SEAS if they are not yet gallied, he too will get fast. Sometimes they work it so quietly and so slick that the foolish whales will stay right there and let the boats fasten to, and kill sev- eral of them, before they find out what is going on. But when they do, their big, square heads come up out of water, their tails go under, and the way that school of whales scull themselves to windward is a caution to ocean greyhounds. The boat-steerer, having "fastened," goes aft and takes the steering oar from the officer, who goes forward and kills the whale. Under the port gunwale of the boat three lances are hung in brackets. A sperm-whale lance has a head shaped like the ace of spades, with a thin razor-like edge all around, so that it can cut its way both in and out. It is about five feet long, and is fast to a wooden lance pole considerably longer, so that the whole thing is about twelve feet long. This he darts into the whale the whole length of the iron shank, a little behind the fin, and away deep down under water, untilthe poor animal, spouting up huge chunks of his sHced-up vitals, finally gives up the ghost. I begged an old harpoon from the third mate, ground and oilstoned it up until it would cUp a hair, strapped it and rigged it to a wooden shank like the regular irons belonging to the boats. I then made a wooden sheath to save the edge from injury, and hung it out on the dolphin striker under the bows, in readiness for porpoises, albacores, or any unlucky fish that should come that way. I had shipped in the whaler by the same name as I bore in the Chihan navy, — James Jackson. Consequently I was known on board as Jimmy, also as the man-o'-war's-man, also as the blue-shirt feller. I kept a sharp lookout for days without avail, until just before we arrived on the Galapagos ground, as I came on deck at four o'clock in the afternoon, and took my usual GAMMING 247 peep over the bows, I almost fell overboard with joy to see half a dozen big, fat porpoises gliding smoothly and swiftly along right under the dolphin striker. I quietly shpped down to the boatswain's locker and got a single block and strap which I carried out and made fast to the bowsprit shroud, then I rove the end of the flying jib downhaul through it, and leaving myself slack enough to strike the porpoise, made it solidly fast. I then went out and bent the other end on to my harpoon, and watched my chance. You see I didn't expect to strike any of them, and didn't want a jeering, snickering lot of smarties passing remarks on my dexterity ; that was why I was so quiet about it. Everybody, even the old man, knew that I had the iron out there ; so I preferred to miss, if miss I must, by myself. My heart kept coming up into my mouth as the old girl gracefully bowed her head to the gentle swells that were run- ning, thereby bringing me almost within touching distance of the glossy black backs of the porpoises right under my feet. I would grasp the iron with a grip that was almost enough to crack the tough hickory shank ; but, fearing that I might miss, I would allow the opportunity to pass, and in another second it would be too late ; for, rising on the next sea, she would lift me fathoms above them. But there was nothing lost by that ; for, true to their natures, they would maintain their positions for hours, merely swerving a little to the right and left once in a while. I feared that if I darted and missed, they would clear out altogether. And so I let my opportunities, like sunbeams, pass me by, until, happening to look up, I saw the old Portuguese second mate, Mr. Silva, looking at me from the topgallant forecastle. Mr. Fisher, to whom I have previously alluded as second mate, was third mate at this time. Old Silva was as homely and savage a looking old 'Gee as I ever saw. His eyes were as black as coal-tar, and both 248 ON MANY SEAS of them looked directly at the bridge of his nose. His heavy old gray moustache was cut square off and stuck straight out. As I looked up, his eyes were flashing, and he was rapidly chewing tobacco in suppressed excitement. I never expect to see such another homely-looking man as he was at that minute. " Why in h don't ye strike ? " said he. It was all I needed to spur me on ; and as the old barkey kindly brought me down close to my prey just at that mo- ment, I gave a mighty lunge and sent the old harpoon clean through the unfortunate porpoise who happened to be directly under me at the time. Away he went Hke a streak of blue fire ; but the Hne was well fast in on deck, and the iron tog- gled under his belly and brought him up all standing. He was as fast as though he had been bolted to the mainmast. I nearly fell overboard with the momentum of the blow. Old Silva roared out an unintelligible order, but it brought all hands up on the forecastle in a hurry ; and the way they toiled on that dovvnhaul and yanked Mr. Porpoise out of water was beautiful to see. A rope's end was thrown to me, and I quickly slipped a running bowline over his quiv- ering tail, and they had him in on deck. When old Silva saw that the iron had gone clean through him, he clapped me on the shoulder, nearly breaking my back, and roared out, "Well done, boy!" The old man heard the racket, and, coming up out of the cabin and seeing the crowd on the forecastle, called out : "What's the matter? Has the blue-shirt feller tumbled overboard? " " No, sirree," said Silva. " That blue-shirt feller has struck a porpoise, and done it as handsome as I ever seed it done, tiew ! " After that I was the white-headed boy for a good while. When we came to open the porpoise, we found that GAMMING 249 the iron had split his heart as fairly in two equal halves as the cook could have done it with a knife if he had had it lying on the table before him ; and old Silva went into more ecstasies over that fact. We had porpoise steak that night for supper ; and I towed the head overboard until the flesh was all off of it, and it was a snow-white and beautiful rehc, which I intended to take home with me as a trophy of my skill. But alas ! few of my projects were ever realized, and this was no exception to the rule. When we arrived at the Galapagos, we found a consider- able fleet of whalers there, standing off and on, waiting for the whales, the whales that never came. As we were the latest arrivals from the coast, visiting was in order, " gamming " whalers call it. For the next two or three days there was nearly always a boat alongside from some vessel or other in quest of the latest news, and to see if there were any letters from home. This colony, if so I may call it, of whalers was very friendly, and the insti- tution of gamming was in high favour ; for they were all acquaintances and neighbours at home, and as they spent most of their lives here, gamming was equivalent to the gos- sipy visits of people on shore. The boats' crews all came aboard and brought with them articles of " scrimshaw " ^ to exchange for others, or trade for such scrimshaw stock as they needed for some job they had on hand. Stories were told and songs sung, and a gen- eral jollification was in order. The Galapagos are a group of volcanic islands situated directly on the equator. Where we were stationed there was one called La Roca Redonda — the Roundback. It is an immense rock, looking from a litde distance like a huge cheese floating on the water. Its sides rise vertically 1 A " scrimshaw " is any fancy article made by sailors in their leisure hours ; engraved whales' teeth, baskets, fancy ropework, and the like, all are scrimshaws. The term is also used as a verb, as " to scrimshaw," etc. 250 ON MANY SEAS three hundred feet or more above the surface of the sea, and its top is perfectly flat, and as far as can be seen, entirely devoid of verdure of any kind. It is simply a naked rock on whose summit no man has ever been. The trade-wind blows constantly here, but the cur- rent changes twice with every moon ; and as the whalers are going nowhere, but merely wish to retain their positions on the ground, they stand off and on under fore topsail, fore topgallant sail and spanker, wearing ship every noon. I never saw a whaler tack. For two weeks the tide will be with the wind, and then, if the wind is light, you have to put on more sail, and perhaps wear at midnight as well as at noon. To keep near the rock is what whalers call " chasing the rock " ; but sometimes when the current is extra strong, or the wind extra hght, the rock will get away from you in spite of all you can do, and the fleet will be strung away out to leeward, some of the poorest sailers hull down, or even out of sight alto- gether. Then when the current turns and comes up against the wind, you are apt to be carried away to windward of the rock, so you square away and run from it. Then they say " the rock is chasing us." Every Saturday Captain Davis allowed two boats to go fishing — a great concession, I assure you; for had whales been raised when boats were off fishing, there would have been a fuss right away. But apparently there was little danger of that ; for not a whale had been seen on the Gala- pagos grounds for nearly two years. These weekly fishing excursions were very enjoyable, and we appreciated the old man's kindness ; for there was not in the whole fleet of fif- teen or twenty ships another that would allow a boat to be dropped in the water a minute for any purpose, except, per- haps, when her captain took a notion to go gamming of an afternoon, and that was very seldom. CHAPTER XXVIII Hunting Turtles. — Promotion. — Napoleon dies in the Crow's-Nest. — Whales at Last. ^ Fast to a "Big Un." While off the Galapagos, we feasted on turtle soup. There was hardly a time when half a dozen or more logger- head turtles could not be found strolling about the decks. We got them when out fishing. They sleep on the surface of the water ; so we always kept a lookout for them, and when one was sighted we would get the boat astern of him, and sail up to him quietly, so as not to disturb his slumbers, the boat-steerer standing ready in the bow with the boat- hook. As soon as he is near enough, he reaches carefully over and hooks on to Mr. Turtle under the projecting front end of his shell, and quickly raises his head and flippers out of the water, thereby depriving him of his motive power. The bow oarsman then catches hold, and together they pull him into the boat. One day, on account of the sun being directly in his eyes. Napoleon missed his aim with the hook, and instead hit the turtle a resounding whack on what you might call his coat collar. This, of course, woke him up, and without stopping to see who called him, he plunged his head under water, threw his stern high in air, and started for the coral beds. Napoleon, seeing his prey escaping him, made a frantic jab with the boat-hook, and caught him by the tail at the same time that I, becoming equally excited, grabbed one of his 251 252 ON MANY SEAS hind flippers. But he had his executive end under water, where he could use it, and a Yankee sailor and a Kanaka boat-steerer went out of that boat like dolphins after a fly- ing fish. Down we went. I hung on spasmodically until my wind gave out, and then I let go and struck out for daylight. We must have gone down to an awful depth ; for it seemed as if I should never reach the surface, although I was put- ting in my biggest hcks. But I did at last, and came up with a rush, shooting out of water to my waist. When I got the sea- water out of my eyes so I could see, I looked about, and found I was not ten feet from the boat. The turtle must have gone down nearly plumb. " Whar's Napoleon? " asked the third mate. Before I could get breath enough to answer — bang ! up came Napoleon directly under the boat, nearly staving a hole in her. We were both pulled in, and the third mate reviled Napoleon for losing the boat-hook, which I dare say that turtle is towing about in the Pacific to this day. The water was so clear that you could pay out thirty fathoms of line, and leaning over the boat's side watch the big rock-cod swim lazily up to your hook, and without any preliminary foolishness in the way of nibbling, the bait would disappear in his cavernous jaws like a freight train going into a tunnel ; then all you had to do was to haul line. There was no danger of his becoming unhooked, for he took that bait because he wanted it. The only danger was that a thievish seal, noticing the preoccupied manner of the cod as he ascended on the end of your line gently flapping his tail in mild surprise, would grab the tail end, and give you a tussle to decide whose fish it was. Sometimes the seal would succeed in biting him in two, so that you would haul in only half a fish. Several times I have seen the seals hang on to a fish until it was close up to AH! BLOW! BLOW! ^53 the gunwale, when some one would have to take a stretcher and hit him over the head to make him let go. Quite an annoyance in our fishing excursions was caused by birds. In order to have room in the boat, we wouldn't take the oars in, but would peak them, and leave them stick- ing out in their places, but high up out of water ; and the frigate birds, boobies, and lots of other great homely, awk- ward creatures as big as geese would alight on the oars, and sit there balancing and teetering with the roll of the boat, and stare at us with their great stupid eyes, and squawk. Scaly Neptune ! how they would squawk ; enough to make a crazy man sane. We would strike at them with the stretchers and shake the oars, but all the good it would do would be to dislodge them for a moment, when they would settle right back in their old places without losing a single note of the serenade. One of our Kanaka boat-steerers got sick, and, as a result of my success in striking the porpoise, I was sent to stand lookout in his place at the main crow's-nest, thereby consti- tuting me a candidate for any vacant boat-steerer's place that might occur. Of course it didn't set very well on the stomachs of the Scrap Islanders, who had been in her for three years, to see a green hand preferred to themselves, and I didn't blame them. Neither did I care for the posi- tion, for I had no intention of becoming a whaler ; whereas it would have been a great feather in the cap of any of them to return home as a boat-steerer. I was now brought in direct contact with the officers, although I didn't live aft ; for the outlook at the main top- mast crosstrees is kept by an officer and a boat-steerer and two sailors forward, making four men who are continually on the lookout for whales from sunrise. One day Napoleon came on deck after dinner, and started up the rigging to relieve the masthead. The old man told 254 ON MANY SEAS him to come down and let me go up. " No," said Napoleon, " me go," and up he went. He hadn't been up there more than half an hour before the third mate, who was in the crow's-nest with him, began shouting frantically and incohe- rently to the deck. Looking up, we saw that he had hold of Napoleon, who was hanging limp and all doubled up over the iron ring of the crow's-nest. I was standing near, and jumping into the rigging, ran aloft to help the third mate, who was nearly scared out of his wits. Napoleon was stone- dead, and I hailed the deck for a block and gant-line and we sent the body down. The carpenter made a rough coffin, and the old man said we would take him ashore to-morrow and bury him. We were too far off-shore to make it that day, so we stood on all night and all the next forenoon with a hght breeze ; but as it was evident we couldn't make it, the captain concluded to bury him at sea. So the carpenter opened the box again, and ballasted it with old iron and holystone at the foot, and bored a lot of auger holes at the head for vent, and we carried him to the lee gangway, putting the foot of the coffin on the rail, while four men held up the head. The main topsail was backed, and the old man came down off the quarter-deck and said : " Well, boys, thar's Napoleon. Yisterday he was jist as well as any of ye [which wasn't so, for he had been sick a week]. Ye see whar he is now. That's what we've all got ter come to, sooner or later. Let 'im go." And we slid him over, with a splash, and looking over the side saw him bobbing up and down, perfectly erect, like a half-filled bot- tle. Immediately the breeze freshened, and in less than an hour we were so close in-shore that we had to wear ship and stand off again. On the outward bound tack we again sighted Napoleon. He had settled about a foot in the water, but the top of his box was still dry, and he bobbed AH! BLOW! BLOW! 255 a friendly recognition to the old barkey as she passed a little to windward of him. But that was the last we ever saw of him. I was struck with the absolute indifference with which his supposed brother regarded his death. For even if they were not brothers, they were friends, and when Napoleon died, there was not left a single soul on board with whom he could converse, and yet he didn't seem to care the least bit. The next morning at sunrise the sea, from horizon to horizon, was alive with sperm-whales, big and little, and the old man said he guessed Napoleon must have sent them up to us. There was great hustling and rattling of davit tackle falls then, for every ship in the fleet was anxious to get her boats among them and make fast before they should get gallied. I'll bet that every captain in the fleet wished then that he had his blamed old bark hung with boats from stern to stern ; for it had been years and years since any of them had been in such a school of whales as that. But three boats were a full complement, and they could only hope that some of their boats might be lucky enough to get more than one whale. As I had never yet been alongside a whale, it was not considered safe to let me head the boat ; so the cook, a veteran spouter, took the bow-oar in our boat. The whales were breaching ; that is, instead of just poking their noses out of water to blow, they would shoot two-thirds of their enormous length into the air, falling on their bellies and sometimes on their sides with a mighty splash that kept the sea churned into froth, so that it looked like a snow-covered prairie, with a great herd of black buffaloes plunging about in it. This action denoted that they were playing and, if carefully handled, would not be easily gaUied. But it also 256 ON MANY SEAS called for rare skill on the part of the officers in charge of the boats to avoid getting stove. Mr. Silva got his eye on a big hundred-barrel bull, and was urging on his crew, using both oars and sails to get fast to him, ahead of a couple of other boats that he believed were after the same whale. For it is the unwritten law of whalers that whatever ship's boat puts the first iron into a whale, owns that whale, no matter who may be the actual captor ; and as each vessel has her name stamped on all her harpoons, it is only necessary to discover one of her irons in a dead whale to estabUsh her claim, no matter if months or years have elapsed since the harpoon was put into him. I believe it is a fact that no whaler has ever disputed that law, although it must bear pretty hard on them in some cases ; so it follows that if the boats of the whole fleet were down after one whale, and one boat got fast to him, and by any means he got away, none of the others would bother him, even though he swam right up alongside of them. That was why Mr. Silva was so anxious to get an iron into the big fellow, the only real big one there appeared to be in the whole school. So away he went with the utmost reck- lessness right across the course of the breaching whales, as regardless of them as though they were only a lot of kit- tens, calling to his men to give way cheerily, and they did bend their backs too, when suddenly a small thirty-barrel cow breached right across the boat. Her head came up right by the bow-oar, and as she rose sixteen feet in the air the boys gave an extra tug at the oars to try to get out of the way ; but they hadn't time. She dropped right across between Mr. Silva, who was steering, and the stroke oarsman, who leaped backwards just in time to save himself. She cut the boat as squarely in two as if it had been sawed. Of course the two parts rolled over and the men clambered up on top of their pieces. Old cross-eyed Silva, after lots of spluttering AH! BLOW! BLOW! 25/ and shouting, got on top of the httle end that he had. We came saihng along just as he secured a seat on the keel, and he hailed Mr. Fisher to come and get him ; but Mr. Fisher only- laughed at him, for if Silva had got into our boat, he would have taken charge of her by right of seniority, and that Mr. Fisher didn't propose to let him do. So poor old Silva was out of it very early in the race, and his crew said that until the two pieces of the boat drifted so far apart that they couldn't hear him, he was cursing like seventeen pirates rolled into one. We kept on the even tenor of our way, looking out for a good-sized whale ; for Silva's choice had been fastened to by one of the other ship's boats before we could get up to it. Finally, Mr. Fisher gave orders to take in the sail, and get out the oars. We were now right in the thickest part of the school, and in danger, every second, of ex- periencing the same kind of a mishap as had the second mate. I had been to sea a good while, and thought I had seen several whales ; but I now found it was true, what the islanders had told me all along, that you don't see a whale until you get alongside of him in a boat. All that you see of him from the ship's deck, as he goes rolling along, is just the least bit of his back. And I had always thought that a whale was as round and slick as a porpoise, and as black and shiny as a patent-leather shoe. But now that I was right among them, and they were breaching, some of them their whole length out of water, I found, to my surprise, that their ribs stuck out like those of an old, broken-down horse, and their backs, instead of being round and glossy, were all wrinkled up and covered with barnacles and dirt. Pretty soon Mr. Fisher told the cook to " Stan' up ! " and I wanted to look over my shoulder, awfully ; but that is s 258 ON MANY SEAS one of the things you mustn't do. In another moment, I heard the cook grunt, as, with ail his force, he drove the heavy, razor-edged irons into the whale's back. Zip, zip, the line whizzed out of the tub at my side, and " Starn all ! " shouted Mr. Fisher. We all backed water hard, but the whale had sounded ; and as he threw his broad flukes high in the air, and dived plumb down, he raised wagon- loads of salt water with his great tail, which came down on us in a drenching, drowning shower, filling the boat half full of water. But Mr. Fisher knew his business, and had laid the boat alongside in such a way that the cook had a fine chance to get in both irons well ahead on him, and at the same time the boat was clear of the mighty flukes, which he knew would go up in just that way. We now laid in our oars, and prepared to haul line, but not yet. He was still sounding, and taking the line out of the boat at such terrific speed that one man had to keep throwing water on the bow-chock to keep it from getting a-fire ; and I realized then what a fine thing it was that those whale-lines were of the finest and softest manilla obtainable, like silken cord. How absolutely necessary it was that they should be coiled as they were, so accurately in the tubs, and so carefully kept dry ! For, the way that line was whizzing out of the boat, if it had got the least bit foul in the chock, before a man could have brought the sharp axe down on it, which he held raised ready in his hand, she would have been fathoms deep in blue water, almost before we could have reahzed that we were fast. . One tub of line was gone, and Mr. Fisher said he must get a turn round the loggerhead mighty soon. After two or three ineffectual attempts, he finally succeeded ; and now the loggerhead had to be bathed too. By and bye we could perceive that he was not taking it quite so fast, and we got a round turn on the loggerhead. AH! BLOW! BLOW! 259 Mr. Fisher said the whale had now turned, and was coming to the surface ; but would take as much or more line than he did going down, if we should give it to him, because the long bight of line sagging through this deep water kept up a tremendous strain. We had only about three-quarters of a tub left. So it became necessary to hang on to that as much as possible ; and, instead of letting it fly out of the boat, he hung on to it, and only slacked it when her nose would dip under water, and then only just enough to keep her from going under altogether. Still he was taking line, — too much of it. So all hands went aft, to keep her stern down and bow up ; and then we were in danger of swamping altogether, for, with all hands aft, by the time the bow dipped, she was nearly under water altogether. At last Mr. Fisher got the bare end of the Hne in his hand, and made it fast, saying he'd be d d if he was going to lose that whale, if he had to go half-way to the bottom after him. But Mr. Whale was nearing the surface now, and. Oh ! how his poor back must have hurt ! Pres- ently the cook shouted, " Ah ! Blow ! Blow ! " And, sure enough, he had come up. Mr. Fisher expressed the hope that he wouldn't take a notion to sound again. "For," said he, " if he does, we are done for, with all this line out." But he didn't ; he turned to windward, and began to scull himself along at a rate that was a caution to snakes. The cook came aft and took the steering oar, and Mr. Fisher went forward. We all faced forward, and, each man bracing his feet against the thwart ahead of him, began to haul line ; and how that boat went through the water ! We all kept as far aft as possible, to keep her bow up, and she went so fast that there was a ridge of water a foot high on each side of her. In other words, the whole after half of the boat was a good foot lower than the surrounding 26o ON MANY SEAS water ; yet not a drop came in. The two ridges drew together, conforming to the shape of the boat, and, meeting, flowed out over the stern-post. Of course we couldn't haul line very fast, while going at this rate, but it was noble sport ! CHAPTER XXIX Hauling in Line. — The Fatal Lance. — Towing Home. — CuTTiNG-iN. — George Davis deserts. Far ahead of us we could see the old whale thrashing along, making a wake like a Sound steamer, and every little while blowing up a great white cloud of fine spray, as he puffed and tugged at his job. But we were gaining on him. The pile of hne in the tub was growing, and we could see him a little plainer every time we rose on a sea. But there was no hope of his slacking up ; he could keep on for weeks. So we pulled away till our arms and backs ached, and our hands were sore from handling the wet hne. Oh, but that was an awful long line ! and I thanked my stars that I was whaling in the tropics and not " up in the Ar'tic with two suits of dongaree," as the song says. At last we got up with him ; he never slowed down, and we were still tearing through the water at the apparent rate of seventy or eighty miles an hour when we hauled along- side of him, just as you would alongside a canal-boat. Then I saw why they are so particular to get the irons in well ahead on him. It is so that you can haul far enough ahead to give the officer a chance to reach his vitals with the lance. When we got near enough to see the harpoon, my heart almost misgave me. It didn't seem possible that such a little bit of wire as it looked to be could possibly hold that 261 262 ON MANY SEAS heavily loaded boat at the rate she was going through the water. The strain had stretched the harpoon-strap so that the wooden staff had pulled out of the socket and was danghng on the hne, and of course the iron shank had bent over so that it lay flat down on his back, and with the motion of the whale and the boat it slapped about on his back and looked as if at any moment it must break where the short bend was as it entered the blubber. But harpoon-shanks are made of the very finest, strongest, and softest of Swedish iron, and do not break. An iron has fulfilled its destiny when it captures one whale — it is never used again. Arrived alongside, Mr. Fisher told the cook to lay her off about four feet, and to my surprise, instead of jabbing the lance right into the whale as I expected him to do, he darted it down into the water at the boat's side. But I noticed that the monster squirmed almost double, showing that he had got his medicine all right. I noticed a great difference between harpooning and lancing. The harpoon is driven sohdly into his back and sticks there, giving you the idea of the tough impenetrable nature of the beast, and he takes no particular notice of it, except to dart away as if scared. The lance is very differ- ent. The lance-staff did not disappear entirely under water, and I could not see that it had hit anything ; it simply glided smoothly down until it came to rest as if from mere inertia, and when Mr. Fisher gave a slight jerk on the line, it returned readily, as though it had only been in the water, whereas it had in reality entered a good five feet into the whale's body. And what a difference in the way he received it ! You could see, as he twisted himself sideways, that it had given him a mortal pang, and you almost expected to hear him groan. Mr. Fisher did not entirely withdraw the lance, being satisfied that he had made a good thrust by the whale's CUTTING-IN 263 actions ; but resting the pole on the gunwale of the boat, he turned and twisted and thrust with it, slicing and mincing the heart and lungs to pieces inside of him. This is called " poking the fire," and soon the spray from his blow-hole began to be tinged with crimson, and then they said " his chimney was a-fire." He now began to show signs of distress, and to slack up in his headlong gait ; and it was not very long before he quit it altogether, and simply swam round and round, slowly pumping up a stream of thick blood, until at last, poor fellow, he gave one great expiring blow, and died with his head to the sun. It seemed wicked, cruel, to take advantage of the igno- rance of the poor, harmless monster, and chase him up and slaughter him as though he was some terrible man- eater. The enormous quantity of blood spouted up by a whale is surprising. It seems impossible to believe that it could have all been contained in that body, large as it is. The boat and the whale appeared to float in pure blood, and for yards and yards around in all directions nothing else could be seen. It was a sickening sight to me ; but the old whalers did not mind it. Mr. Fisher said, if he thought there was any chance of getting another fast, he would stick a white flag on him, and go back to the ship. But we had been gone so long that there was no doubt the school had been gallied long ago and gone off; so we set our sail and got out our oars, and proceeded to tow our prize aboard. As he had taken us to windward, our course was before it, and we took a leisurely stroke and did not kill ourselves at the oars. But we got awfully hungry, and Mr. Fisher opened the keg of provisions that is always headed up in a whale- boat, and gave us all the hardtack we wanted. And as 264 ON MANY SEAS there was tobacco in the keg, too, we took some of that, because we got it gratis. We arrived alongside about five o'clock in the afternoon, and found that Mr. Eastern, the mate, had got a fifty-barrel cow floating away to windward, with a flag on her, and had gone out of sight in tow of another. We made ours fast by the fluke-chains alongside, and then went and got his. By the time we got her fast, it was eight o'clock in the evening, and we went out and picked up Mr. Silva and his crew, who had put in an almighty long day on the bottom of their boat. " D him ! " said the old man ; " if he hain't got no better sense than ter go'n git stove the fust thing, when we hain't had a whale in nigh on ter two year, let him stay thar till the work's done." And " stay thar " he did ; and when we brought him and his crew and the two pieces of their boat aboard, Mr. Silva never said a word to the old man, nor the old man to him. But Silva did not forget how he had been left to drift around on the bottom of his boat for hours, when it was not necessary, and months afterwards, when the old man made a shghting remark to him one day, he replied that if he had put his money into some other vessel than the Bahio, per- haps he would not need to go to the poorhouse when he got back home ; a slur on the old man's abilities as a whaler, which he resented by shutting up and going below. Mr. Eastern came alongside at daylight with another little forty-barrel cow in tow. These little cows the old man called snuff-boxes. But if he had only got enough of them, he would have been well satisfied. We at once got up our " cutting-in " gear, and before noon were hard at work stripping off" the blubber, and prepar- ing to try out the oil. CUTTING-IN . 265 After all is done, the carcass, what there is left of it, belongs to the sharks, who are busy steahng all the blubber they can during the cutting-in. It is wonderful to see them tear it off; for blubber is not, as I had always supposed, a soft, mushy, fat mess, but is as hard as an oak plank, and all the tools used about a whale — harpoons, lances, spades, and knives — must be as sharp as razors. They very soon lose their edges, too, requiring constant whetting Uke a farmer's scythe. But Johnnie shark turns on his back, runs his shovel- shaped nose up against the whale, and then, throwing his whole body up in the air and getting a good hold, brings his tail down again with a whip-lash jerk that is bound to start something, and it won't be his teeth either. Some- times, though, he gets a surprise ; for if any of the cutting-in gang see him in time and can reach him with the spade, they will cut him partly in two ; so that when he brings his accustomed pry to bear, there is an unfamiliar joint in him, which spoils his leverage, and must be very disappointing. A favourite amusement of the whalers is " spritsail-yard- ing " sharks. They make a slit either in his nose or tail, and shove a small spar through it, which interferes with his navigation ; for, if it is in his tail, it makes him resemble the kind of dog political orators tell us about, where the tail wags the dog, and if in his nose, it keeps his head afloat and prevents his turning over, thereby ensuring his eventual death by starvation, as he cannot seize his prey except on his back. It seems wicked ; but a shark cares for nobody, and nobody cares for him. The work of trying out is carried on night and day, until completed, and, although it is somewhat hard and very dirty work, still we managed to get a little fun out of it. After " striking the oil below," the old man concluded to go in and get wood and water. So we went into a httle hole in 266 ON MANY SEAS Ecuador. If it had any name, I never heard it, and all hands took axes and went ashore to chop wood. While here, George Davis deserted. He went ashore with us to cut wood, but didn't show up again to go aboard, al- though we scouted after him for some time. The old man was mad to think George carried off the axe with him ; but we all understood that. It was the rubber country, and there was lots of money to be made there if you didn't die of the fever ; for everything that was done to the rubber was paid for at astonishing rates, and, as the natives and niggers would only work about one day a week, any man who cared to work, and was able to, could make his fortune in short order. But George didn't go there to hire out as a labourer ; he went as a prospector to go up country on his own hook and get rubber, or, as the natives call it, caout- chouc. CHAPTER XXX Stealing Soldiers from Ecuador. — A Try for Fresh Beef. — Repulse of the Expedition. — The First Mate retires. The lot of the Gringo recruit is pretty nearly hopeless ; so it came to pass that the last day that we were taking water, two about as tough-looking specimens as I ever saw came down to the boat and begged to be taken off. They had been " sojering " for nearly a year and were homesick, and as a whaler is always in want of men, Mr. Silva told them to get into the boat. Whether they were seen or not, at any rare they were missed and the whaler was suspected. But the old man had stolen soldiers before, and knew how to hide them. There was always a cask of water kept lashed on its bed, right opposite the galley door, for the conven- ience of the cook, who had a bunghole pump to draw water with. As the old man had got two men for nothing, he didn't propose to lose them. The cook's cask was bunged up and rolled away, and an empty one put in its place. One head was taken out and one of the deserters crept in. A tub of water was shoved in after him, which he placed directly under the bunghole, and his partner then crawled in and the cask was headed up. Sure enough, before we could get under way, off came a dugout containing two negro officers, who climbed nimbly on deck and began to make a great clatter. 267 268 ON MANY SEAS I was called aft to interpret, and they told me in a very highfalutin manner that we had stolen two of the soldiers of La Republica de Ecuador, and must not leave port until they were surrendered, or there would be trouble. They would send a man-of-war after us and burn our ship. I translated, and the captain said, " You tell 'em that if they think I've got any of their Dago soldiers aboard here, they can search until I get my anchor, and then I'm going to leave town." I repeated this to the officers, and they were furious, but helpless. So they started on their search, and I was ordered to go with them to see that they didn't steal anything. I purposely took them away forward, and the cook came out of his galley with his water-pail and bung pump, stuck the pump down the bunghole of the cask, gave it a shake to charge it, pumped up a bucket of water, and disappeared in his hole again. Of course they never thought of looking there for their lost darlings. Then they wanted to go below. A ladder was put down the main hatch, and as I followed them down, Mr. Eastern, the mate, told me to keep them down there as long as I could, and he would give them a good long pull back to shore. So I got them away aft into the run and kept them interested until the unmistakable heeling of the bark warned even them that she was under way. And away they rushed to the main hatch, shouting and cursing and threatening, and lo ! the ladder had been hauled up. Then indeed there was the Old Harry to pay. They commanded me to have a ladder put down instantly, and I shouted all kinds of nonsense up the hatch with a grave face, and after a while Mr. Eastern poked his nose over the combings and wanted to know if the niggers had found their men yet. When I told them what he said, they hopped right up and down with rage. Finally the ladder was shoved down, and up we all went. They both rushed HUNTING FRESH MEAT 269 up on the poop, gesticulating and shouting at the old man. We were five miles off-shore, and they demanded that he put back and land them under pain of their dire displeasure. The old man walked to the side and, pointing to the canoe, asked : " Is that your boat ? " " Si mi bote," said he who appeared to be in command of the expedition. "Wall, git into it and git aout;" and, putting his big, powerful hand in the back of the officer's neck, he tipped him over the low poop rail, and dumped him overboard. The other fellow stepped back in surprise and alarm, and, clapping his hand on his sword hilt, snarled out, " Car-r-r-r-r-ajo " ; but Mr. Eastern was behind him, and, clasping his arms round his waist, he hfted him, kicking, squirming, and cursing, clear of the rail and threw him after his partner. The canoe was cast adrift, and we saw them get into her before they were out of sight, and start pad- dling towards the land. We now returned to the Galapagos and went cruising again. It was a lazy, easy, pleasant life for a man that had no ambition ; and that's a quality that doesn't worry sailors much. With them it is " Come day, go day, and Lord send duff day." During an extra-strong set of current we lost sight of the Rock altogether, and came in view of another of the Galapagos that I had never seen before. It was a beautiful island, fertile as the Garden of Eden. Some years before, a stock company had rented it from the government of Ecuador and established a colony ; but for some reason it was not a success, and they cleared out. But they left several head of cattle behind them, and these had gone wild and increased, until the island was pretty well stocked with prime, grass-fed beeves. As the old Bahio slowly wore round on her heel close in-shore, we could sometimes catch 270 ON MANY SEAS a glimpse of them. Fine, fat, sleek-looking fellows they were, and looked as if they might make a very pleasant diversion from our fresh fish diet, which was the only kind of fresh meat we had known for long months. Mr. Fisher at last persuaded the old man to let him go ashore and get some beef, and of course I managed to be of the party. We sailed ashore into a little cove fringed with bushes to shield us from the impertinent gaze of the cattle, and landed our forces in good order. Mr. Fisher was armed with the bomb-gun, a miniature cast-iron cannon with a stock like a shot-gun, but all of the same solid casting. It fires a cast-iron bomb about a foot long and an inch in diameter, filled with dynamite. The butt-end of the bomb is fitted with three sheet-rubber wings to make it go straight. In loading it into the gun these are wrapped around it, and make it fit tight in the barrel. There is a httle projecting trigger at the butt-end that catches on the blubber as it enters the whale, and fires the charge, stirring up the interior department in great shape. It has a three- cornered point, and the wings are set to give it a spinning motion. I should think it might be a very effective weapon ; but never saw one used on a whale, the old whalers pre- ferring to trust to the old-fashioned lance. The rest of us were armed with lances, axes, long sword- like blubber knives, and spades, and, as we stood there on, the beach in battle array, it looked pretty blue for the unfort- unate beef that should come our way. Our instructions were to follow Mr. Fisher in twos, in open order, through the bushes. He was to lead off with a broadside from the bomb-gun, and, in case he didn't kill the game outright and it should charge, the rest were to cause it to run the gaunt- let of our variegated but certainly effective armament ; and to deliver all manner of vicious jabs and thrusts as the doomed critters flew past us. HUNTING FRESH MEAT 2/1 "Although," said Mr. Fisher, "probably there'll be no need of it; for if this old bomb-lance lands right, you'll have to pick up your beef and carry it aboard in pieces." So we took up our line of march as directed, and silently stole upon the unsuspecting game. The fringe of bushes that I spoke of before enclosed a beautiful pasture a mile or more across, and in this there were several small herds grazing, each under the care of a bull. As we approached the pasture, the bushes thinned out, and we could see them quite plainly. The wind was from them to us ; so we were able, by being very careful, to approach quite near the edge of the clearing without being seen. Mr. Fisher soon gave a back-handed sign for us to stop, and passing the signal along to the rear, we halted and drew up in two parallel lines, according to the orders, and I couldn't help thinking what a slim chance it would be for the luckless critter that should undertake to charge between our lines, so well armed we were, and with such deadly weapons. I was one of those next to our gallant leader, and could watch every move he made. There was a magnificent black bull grazing within ten yards of where he stood, and, facing him, I could see the thick curly hair on his forehead, that nearly covered his two fierce, twinkling, little eyes. He was very busy cropping the short grass, and looked neither to the right nor to the left. This, of course, was Mr. Fisher's meat, and I saw him carefully rest the bomb-gun on the branch of a httle tree, and I watched with hardly suppressed excitement as he " drawed a bead on him." Just as he was in the act of drawing the trigger, some jay in the rear sneezed. (Several of them said it was me, but they lied abominably.) The bull threw up his head and tail. He was the picture of alertness in an instant. Bang ! went the bomb-gun, with a report that waked the echoes all over the island, and the bomb sped 2/2 ON MANY SEAS true ; for it was fired by a master, directly between his fore- feet, where his head had been but half a second before, then along under his belly, making the grass and dust fly like smoke, and exploding just in his rear. I'll bet that bull broke all previous high-jumping records on the island. Four good feet he went, straight up in the air, and landing in his tracks again he caught sight of Mr. Fisher's old blue jumper. Down went his head, and with a bellow, like an approaching avalanche he came for us. One quick glance, and we saw there was to be a gathering of the clans. From all parts of the big field they were coming, anxious to have some of the pie. Mr. Fisher dropped his bomb-gun and started towards the boat. As he passed me he yelled out " Run, ye d fool. What are ye stannin' there for? Don't ye see 'em comin'? " I had thought we were posted on purpose to receive them when they came. But he was my superior officer ; so I took the order in the spirit in which it was given, and ran. Oh ! how I ran ! There was a trampling of many hoofs, and a crashing of bushes, and a snorting and bellowing in my immediate rear, that cheered me on to do my best. I don't believe that a whole gallery full of the most beautiful ladies, waving their handkerchiefs and clapping their hands, could have enthused me any more than did the patter of those cloven hoofs in the rear. I threw away my offensive weapon, and so did the rest. I would have been glad if I could have dropped off my flesh and run in my bones, so ambi- tious was I to make a good second at the finish. Mr. Fisher was the first to reach the boat, and he piled in, heels over head, yelling frantically, before he was half in, " Shove her off"! " But nobody had any time. All were as anxious as he to get aboard ; and for once discipline was waived. The first on board seized oars, and began to shove off; so HUNTING FRESH MEAT 2/3 that the last arrivals nearly had to swim for it. In the end we all got safely away and a couple of fathoms off-shore before the vanguard of our pursuers appeared on the beach. Then we could laugh at them, although a couple of min- utes before it was the last thing we should have thought of. We set sail and started for the bark, as dejected a lot of returning Nimrods as you would care to see. We had not only failed to get any beef, but had also left our arms in possession of the enemy, and we dreaded to meet our ship- mates, especially the old man. When we ran under her lee, he stood looking at us, and asked, " Whar's yer beef?" then, "Whar's yer bum gun?" and finally, seeing that we had been totally disarmed, how he did kick ! He didn't swear ; but he read the riot act to us rather forcibly, and said he would charge each one with the implement he had lost. However, as we were not likely ever to have any wages coming to us, that didn't bother us much ; for whalemen are paid in shares of the oil taken, and according to the luck the Bahio had been having, nobody would ever get a cent out of it. Shortly after this the mate, Mr. Eastern, had a needless quarrel with Silva, who was promoted to be mate, Fisher to be second mate, and the boat-steerer, who had been the innocent cause of the whole fracas, was made third, Mr. Eastern being set ashore at the first opportunity. CHAPTER XXXI Hunting Blackfish. — To Peru for Potatoes. — Billy AND I ASK for MoNEY AND LIBERTY. — We ARE JAILED FOR Mutiny. — One-armed Bill. We returned to the Galapagos again and cruised for a couple of months, but caught nothing but blackfish. This animal is, to all appearance, a miniature sperm-whale. He is shaped just like his big brother, and spouts like him, fre- quently deceiving the oldest whalers at a little distance. When blackfish come up, they are usually in large numbers, and we would put down one or two boats for them. Mr. Fisher used to let me — for I was boat-steerer now — fasten to five or six, one after the other ; and they would all travel off abreast like a rank of cavalry, coming up and blowing exactly together. Then if they were taking us towards the bark, he would cock one leg over the other, sing out, " Gee up, Dobbin," and let them tow us nearly alongside before he came forward and killed them, one at a time. It was great sport, but not very profitable. None of the other ships would bother with them at all. Our supply of sweet potatoes giving out about this time, the old man concluded to go in and get more before the scurvy should break out among us ; and, accordingly, once more we headed for the mainland. Payta, on the coast of Peru, was now an objective point ; and as this was a some- what civilized place, and we had now been on board the old 274 BILLY AND I MUTINY 2/5 spouter for eleven months, I proposed that we all demand liberty and money on arrival. It was uphill work prosely- tizing among the Scrap Islanders. They were timid. Cap- tain Davis was a great man in Nantucket. They would Hke the liberty and money, but didn't want to give offence. Billy, of course, voted in the affirmative at once ; for we two had not the fear of Captain Davis's social prestige before us, and besides, he had about the same as kidnapped us, anyway. So we did missionary work among the faint- hearted brethren, and got them to agree to countenance our conspiracy, provided we did all the talking, which we were perfectly willing to do. So that by the time we arrived in Payta Bay we had them pretty well braced up. The Portu- guese and one Chileno in the crew were easily persuaded that they were being imposed upon, and readily consented to fall in line. When we got there, contrary to our expectations, we did not anchor. The old man went ashore ; and the bark stood off and on, with orders to be on hand at sunrise the following morning and get in the potatoes, and so off to cruise again. Thus we were confronted with a new compli- cation ; but that wasn't much to veterans like Billy and me. We called a council of war in the forecastle, as the bark was standing easily off-shore under her two topsails and foretop- mast staysail. We decided that it would be too late if we waited for the old man's return in the morning, as all he would have to do then would be to put his helm up and run off to the Galapagos with us. Now, therefore, was our time. So, cheering the faint-hearted with the prospect of a twenty- four hours' run on shore, we marched up the ladder, I at the head, Billy next, — little but guilty, — the rest taihng along behind. Mr. Silva stood on the lee rail, with a lance in his hands, trying to get a shot at some blackfish that were playing 276 ON MANY SEAS around near the bark. I marched my cohorts up to him, and said, " Mr. Silva, we would like to speak to you a mo- ment, if you please." He glanced around in surprise to see us all drawn up there, and said, " Wal, what do ye want? " " If you'll come down off the rail, sir, so we can speak to you, we will tell you what we want," said I. He leaped lightly to the deck. He was as active as a cat, although nearly seventy years old. " Wal, what is it? " said he. " Mr. Silva," said I, " we have been out in this vessel, as you know, eleven months, without liberty. Billy and I here only shipped to go to Callao, and are entitled to our dis- charge. But all hands want a twenty-four hours' run on shore and a few dollars to spend. If we can have that, we are satisfied to stay and finish the cruise." " I've got nothing to do with that, boys," said he. " You'll have to see the captain." " Yes, sir," said I. " But by the time the captain comes aboard again it will be too late ; he won't listen to us." "I can't help that," said he. "You'll have to see him," and he turned to walk away. " Hold on a bit, Mr. Silva," said I. " I'm not done yet." " Wal, what else yer get ter say? " " I've got this to say : We don't propose to sail this bark on any more cruise until we get liberty and money. We will wear ship, take her back to Payta, and anchor her there ; but anything else you want done you'll have to do yourself." His black eyes shot fire, his gray moustache bristled up, and he raised the lance as he roared out, " You d d mutineers ! " " 'Old 'ard," said Billy, as he sprang in front of me and seized the lance. " That's murder ; and you can't kill us all at one thrust, either. We're all in this, and it's just as BILLY AND I MUTINY 2// Jimmy says. We'll take this bark back to Payta and nowhere else ; so be careful what you do." The old fellow lowered his hand, and giving us a look that might have scared a school of porpoises out of water, walked aft to consult with the other officers, while we congregated about the windlass forward, and watched them. The die was cast. The gauntlet had been thrown down to the afterguards, and every passing moment now was big with possibilities. They might give us a tussle for it. We hoped not ; but if they did, we were bound to see it through. In about ten minutes, old Silva turned round our way, and bawled out, " Wear ship ! " That settled it. We had won the first heat, anyway. We wore her round and went back into Payta with the police flag flying. We stood well into the bay, and laid the main topsail to the mast. Soon we saw a boat coming off, which proved to be the old man. He came aboard, and Mr. Silva told his story. The old man ordered Billy and me put in irons, with our hands behind us, and lowered down the main hatch until he went ashore again. Accordingly this was done, and we were lowered down the main hatch by a rope, like a couple of sacks of potatoes. Being young and nimble, we both soon had our hands before us, and we then held consultation. We concluded that he was going to take us to sea in irons, and that probably our diet would consist of the far-famed bread and water. So, as the crew's dinner had just been carried into the forecastle before the old man came aft, and we could now hear all hands on deck wearing ship, we con- cluded it would be a good time to lay in some provisions ; and we crawled over the oil casks forward, and soon ripped off a board in the forecastle bulkhead ; and Billy, being the smaller, crept in and passed me out the two big duffs and the two chunks of beef that constituted the crew's 2/8 ON MANY SEAS dinner. These we hid away among the casks, — I wonder if they ever found them, — and then, being provisioned for an emergency, Billy remarked sententiously, " Now let them do their damnedest." The bark made a short tack off, and, standing in again, picked up the old man's boat, containing the consul and a file of native soldiers, half Indian, half nigger, and half Spanish, — a barefooted, ignorant lot of cholos that knew almost half as much as the burros they had driven for a living before they enlisted. These the consul had brought along as a bodyguard or boarding party, or forlorn hope, to quell the mutiny — Billy and me. The old man arrived first (the consul's soldiers had so many crabs to catch that they arrived later on), and ordered the prisoners brought on deck. So a boat-steerer came below and bent a rope's end on to us one after the other, and we were bowsed up the hatchway again. We were ordered to range ourselves in the starboard gangway, and the rest of the crew fell in alongside of us, the only Chileno in the crew next to Billy. By a mutual understanding all around, the post of honour fell to me. The consul, a young man with an empty sleeve, indicating that for services to his country during the recent unpleasantness he had been re- warded by being deported to this outlandish strip of sand and fleas, having drifted alongside in spite of his military crew, now came over the gangway. He stumbled slightly, and a bright new revolver flew out of his inside coat-pocket and clattered along the deck. If this was done for effect, it was a success ; for, as I glanced down the line, I could see that the other mutineers weakened visibly. They evi- dently thought they were all to be shot at once. "Thar," said the old man, pointing to me, " thar's the ringleader, and the next one hain't no better. Naow, caounsel, I want ye ter jist see what them two fellers has BILLY AND I MUTINY 2/9 done ter my crew. I got a good crew, but they corrupted 'em." Then, stepping up to the last man in the line, he said : " Naow, Rawley Eastern, hain't yer ashamed of yerself ? What'll yer folks say, I wonder, when I go home and tell 'em that I had ter put ye in jail for mutiny aout in South Ameriky. What yer got ter say for yerself, hey? Be ye goin' ter go tu jail jist 'cos them two Valperaiser beach- combers does?" Rawley looked sheepish, but mustered courage to remark that he'd " kinder like ter have a little liberty." "Liberty!" said the old man, with a scornful accent. " Do I git any liberty ? or do ye hear the officers of this vessel askin' for liberty ? Who be ye, I sh'd like ter know, ter be askin' for liberty before the officers does ? Naow I want ye ter decide right off whether yer goin' ter jail or goin' abaout yer duty." " Wal, I don't wanter go ter jail," said Rawley. "Wal, then," said the old man, "if I overlook this mis- behavier on your part, do ye think ye can go ter yer duty, and behave yerself, and be a good boy for the rest of the voyage ? " "Yes, sir, I think I kin," said Rawley. " Wal, then, git over on the other side of the deck there." And Rawley left the disreputable crowd and passed over to the side of the good boys. Now that the ice was broken, the rest were only too glad to pass over to the good side, until there were only Billy and me and the Chileno left. The Chileno, through me as interpreter, expressed his deter- mination to go wherever Billy and I went. Then Billy and I stated our grievance to the consul, and he, turning to the captain, said : " I'll take these two fellows ashore. You don't want them, anyway ; and, as for that Chileno, send him to his duty and make him do it. Get m the boat there, you two fellows." 28o ON MANY SEAS " I won't get in the boat with irons on," said I ; and Billy echoed the sentiment. " Oh, yes, that's so, captain ; have those men released from their irons, please," said the consul ; and, the irons having been removed and our dunnage brought up, we entered the boat and bade good-bye to the whaling industry forever. The consul's soldier crew accidentally got us ashore, and we were marched with all the pomp and circumstance of glorious war to the calaboose. Our escort were as proud of their prisoners as though they had been the spoils of a charge through the valley of the shadow of death. The jail, a simple bamboo affair, was situated on and formed one side of the public square or plaza, and Billy, being a European, nicknamed it the Place de la Bastille. The calaboose was a one-roomed affair about twelve feet square, with one window near the door. A sentinel was kept at the door while we were there, and we spent about all our time looking out of the window, an unglazed opening crossed with four iron bars. As we had not had any dinner, I asked the sentry to get me something to eat. But he said we were prisoners of the American consul, and must look to him for our meals. Nevertheless, he sent a boy to the bar- racks and procured us a messenger to the consul. We didn't get anything to eat, though, until the next morn- ing ; and if you have any idea of what good feeders sail- ors are, you can realize that we passed an awfully hungry day and night. We had to sleep on the bare ground, as there were no sleeping accommodations of any kind. The weather was fearfully hot, and there was no ventilation ex- cept by the window. Added to this, the sanitary condition of the prison was simply unspeakable. The next morning at eight o'clock we got our break- fasts and, in spite of our surroundings, ate heartily. The BILLY AND I MUTINY 28 1 grub was good, consisting principally of a stew which both- ered Billy somewhat on account of the liberality with which it had been seasoned with Chile peppers. But I had long since been used to that, and he had to follow suit. The day passed slowly and wearily. There were few people passing in the plaza until the cool of the evening, so we sat and sweltered and looked out of our little window. At length Billy remarked that we were bloody fools to stay in such a place. This led us to consider the chances of breaking jail. From the slack manner in which the day sentry guarded us, we assumed that the night relief would not keep much watch at all ; and we laid our plans on that basis. That night we sat up and watched him, and, sure enough, before nine o'clock he was stretched out in front of our door, snoring like a seal. There was a stout bamboo set diagonally across the corner of the room, with both ends framed into the wall. I, being the biggest, and presumably the strongest, got down and put my back under the stick so that I had all the purchase of my muscles. I slowly straight- ened myself, and was surprised to find how easily the whole shebang rose up off the ground. When high enough, Billy shoved a tub under to hold it up, and we crawled out. After we got two or three whiffs of fresh air, Billy turned to me and said : " What bloody chumps we were to stay in that bloody 'ole all last night." We made up our minds to go northward to the next sea- port, whatever that might be, and started accordingly. It was early in the evening yet, the wine-shops were open, and we could hear the natives carousing in them ; but we had no money and could take no part in the fun. What was our surprise on turning the corner to hear the words of an American song, roared out lustily in good United States, from a saloon just ahead. All I can remember of it is that 282 ON MANY SEAS the chorus was something about Burnside and the coloured volunteers. We determined to go in, as there must be friends there. So in we went and found a lot of natives, black, white, and all the varying shades between, seated at tables, drinking and enjoying the song which was being sung by a strapping big nigger. When he had finished his chorus, I sang out, " Ship ahoy ! " " Hullo," answered the singer, and whirling round he saw us for the first time, and asked in Spanish who we were and where we came from. Not caring to let the rest know our business, I told him in English, when, to my surprise, he got up and beckoned me outside. He then asked me if I could speak Castel- lano ; and on my answering in the affirmative, he told me he had been for three months once on board of a Ballenero Americano (American whaler), and had learnt the song I heard him singing, but that was all the English he knew, and on the strength of that he had built himself a reputa- tion among his fellows of being a great English scholar, although he could only sing one verse and the chorus. I was surprised ; for his accent was splendid, and I certainly thought it was a New York or Philadelphia darky that I heard singing. I now told him who we were, but did not tell him we were fugitives from justice, and we struck a bargain at once. He was to entertain Billy and me during the evening, and we were to boost his reputation as a linguist. So on re- turning, he introduced us to two of his shipmates on the ballenero, and we sat down and joined the company. As the evening wore on and the wine cup circulated, I declared to the assembled company that Juanito could speak better English than my shipmate and myself put together ; and Juanito swore eternal friendship. Billy said nothing, but took his grog like what he was, a thorough British tar. The time eventually arrived when the pro- BILLY AND I MUTINY 283 prietor insisted on closing, and heartlessly refused to serve "just one more," and we found ourselves in the open air again. After many maudlin reiterations of regard, Billy and I were once more alone in the wide, wide world. The first thing we knew, we were on the little wharf where we had landed the day before, and so we sat down on a couple of old spars that were there, to think. In a few minutes more, as it seemed to me, I realized that somebody was shaking me by the shoulder and calling me to get up. I opened my eyes with an indefinite idea that it was eight bells, and my wheel, to find the day breaking in the east, and a short, burly, one-armed man with a red nose and a bushy red beard calling me in English, with a strong Scotch accent, to " get up and get back where ye kern from, before they find ye're oot." Explanations followed of course, and I found out that he was One-armed Bill. He came to Payta twelve years before that, as mate of an American vessel ; came ashore to celebrate the Fourth of July, and shot himself in the arm so badly that he had to have it amputated, and his ship went off" and left him in hospital ; and he had been beach- combing in Payta ever since, drinking aguardiente, and sleeping on the wharf. During those twelve years, not a drop of rain had fallen, unless it was when Bill was so drunk he didn't know anything about it. I can hardly conceive of such a condition of things ; for Bill was copper-plated in- wardly, if anybody ever was. He explained that, as water was a rare commodity in Payta, the entire supply being brought in Httle kegs, on donkeys' backs, across a sandy desert thirty-five miles wide, and as they had to depend entirely on chance for that, no one being regularly engaged in the traffic, he did not think it would be right for him, who subsisted entirely on the charity of the community, to consume any portion of the precious fluid. Consequently, 284 ON MANY SEAS he restricted himself to aguardiente entirely. Bill said he knew of our arrival in town, and apologized for not having sent his card up to our hotel. He said we were not the first, by any means, to leave the jail in that manner. In fact, it was expected that prisoners would enjoy themselves, within reasonable bounds. He advised us not to leave Payta, as it was the best place in the whole coast ; but to return to our apartment, so as not to get the sentry into trouble. He would wake presently, and be disturbed to find us not yet returned. He also promised to call, during the day, with cigars, — if he could get any, — and to become our friend, counsellor, and guide on our release, which he assured us would be speedy. So, with Bill for our pilot, we returned, and, crawling again into limbo, dropped the corner of our mansion back to mother earth, and wearily fell asleep. CHAPTER XXXII Released by the Consul. — George Davis again. — A West-coast Desperado. — Across the Isthmus. Nearly a week had passed in this manner, carousing nights in company with One-arraed Bill and his friends, who were legion, and sleeping the greater part of the day, when one afternoon I was awakened by Billy calling excitedly : '• Jimmy, Jimmy, come 'ere quick ! " He was looking out of the window, and asked me if that wasn't George. I looked, and answered : " It certainly is. Hey, George ! George Davis ! " He was on the opposite side of the plaza, and looked all around in wonder to hear his name called. I hailed him again ; and he came directly over to us, and, seeing us looking through the bars, he sung out : " HuUy Gee ! How did yes fellers git in there? Have yes got anything ter eat?" Yes, we told him, lots of it ; and handed him out a big chunk of bread and jerked beef. Although he appeared to be famished, he didn't offer to eat it, but stood and talked a few minutes, and then said he must go down to the beach and have a bath. He was the neatest man I ever saw. I have known him to be in terribly destitute circumstances, but never saw him without a razor and a piece of soap. He was always cleanly shaved, and was for ever washing and scrubbing himself. 285 286 ON MANY SEAS He walked off through the plaza with the bread and meat openly in his hand, although there were now plenty of people about. And when I told him afterwards that I should have thought he would have put it out of sight somewhere, he said : " Gripes ! what would have been the use ? They all seen me cadging it from a couple of jail-birds, didn't they? " George was a man that nobody ever took to very much, and he didn't care whether they did or not. He was suffi- cient unto himself, and went his own way. Although he and I and Billy shipped in the whaler together in Valparaiso, and were the only merchant seamen in her, he never hinted to us that he was going to run away, but went off entirely alone in the tropical forest with his axe, to seek his fortune. So we were not surprised that he didn't come back again, although he had promised to do so. But he said afterwards that he didn't care to be seen fraternizing with the inmates of the common jail. A day or two after this a messenger came down from the consul's office, and took us up there. The consul received us kindly, and asked if we had enjoyed ourselves. We told him we had made out pretty fair. He said he didn't sup- pose it was worth while to keep us shut up any longer, as we were not so very much to blame anyway. He told us he would furnish us a boarding-house, and lend us papers to read if we wanted them. He said of course he expected us to ship as soon as we could, and make over our advance wages to him, to enable him to partly reimburse the United States government for the expense he had incurred on our behalf. We now took things easy for weeks and weeks, eating in the boarding-house, and sleeping on the dock with Old Bill and George Davis. One day there came into Payta the largest coasting schooner I had yet seen. She was about sixty tons' bur- NICOLO 287 then, painted green, and only lower masts in her. The captain, a swarthy, piratical-looking fellow, came ashore, and seeing us three whalers loafing on the Mole, said to us in English : " Wot you fellers doin' 'ere ; wy don you sheep and go ter sea?" We told him there was no ship to go in. "Wy, dere's my schooner; wat better sheep you wan as dat?" " All right," said we ; " do you want any hands ? " " Yes, certainly ; I wan tree jes sush feller like you. I give you sixteen dollar de mon, and a mon's avance. I guess dat's all right, ain't it ? " " Why, sure." It was more than right. So we all three adjourned to the store and signed an agreement to sail with Nicolo in his schooner, the Saiita Maria, anywhere that he wanted to go to, for sixteen dollars a month, one month's pay in advance. The agreement was on a piece of brown wrapping-paper, that Nicolo folded up and put in his pocket; and he then counted out forty-eight great big Peruvian silver " soles." Heavens, what wealth ! Having wound up our affairs in Payta, we boarded the schooner, and that evening set sail for a little bay a few miles to the southward, where we went to get a load of salt ; but on arriving in the bay, we found that there was too much surf running to bring it off; so we put in the time catching; and salting mackerel, on the understanding with Nicolo- that we were to divide the proceeds with him. Nicolo knew absolutely nothing of navigation ; but he had the whole coast by heart, and sailed from headland to headland perfectly happy and contented. Hjs was a densely ignorant man as far as education was concerned, but had an abiding faith in himself. He flew the Austrian flag on bi!= ^-^^cjoner, 288 ON MANY SEAS with a small green patch in the lower corner, and pointing to that patch one day, he said : " You see dat pash ? Dat's all de dam Austriaco he give me for represent my contree." One night while I was at the wheel, he told me his his- tory. He landed in Panama when he was a boy sixteen years of age, and obtained employment in the lighters of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company ; for Panama is situated on a large shallow bay, and all freight has to be lightered to and from the ships. He worked for the com- pany sixteen years, becoming in due time captain of a lighter. The Isthmus in those days was an exceedingly turbulent territory, and when a revolution was on, mob law prevailed, and property of all kinds was stolen or destroyed with per- fect impartiality. During his sixteen years' service, Nicolo had gained the confidence of his superiors to such a degree that, on the breaking out of one of the usual revolutions, he was chosen to take charge of a lighter containing a large and valuable consignment of silver bullion, and his orders were to get it out of Panama as quickly as possible, and take it up the coast to a little port called Chiriqui, and deliver it to the first north-bound steamer that should arrive there. He had two negroes for a crew, and left Panama that night. Towards iBorning Nicolo relieved the man who was steering, and told him he might lie down ; and when he was satisfied that they were both sound asleep, he knocked them on the head, cut their throats, and threw their bodies overboard. Then he ran the lighter in near the beach, scuttled her, and swam ashore. He tramped back to Panama, arriving there all ragged and scf?tched, and reported that a big steamer had run him down andTefused to stop to pick any of them up, and his crew had both dfowned. He himself, being a famous swimmer, had managed to reach- shore, and that was all. He reiuiixv-J t.o work for the c-ompany and stayed with them NICOLO 289 five years longer, and then, taking a holiday, he went to Malme and raised a little of the treasure, and a month afterwards bought a little old sloop, paying only part of the price down, and saying it was all that he had been able to save out of his wages. He sailed the old sloop for a year, occasionally visiting his cache, and then traded her off for a schooner. This, in time, he finally traded for the one we were now in, the largest and finest vessel in the coasting trade. ■ "You tink," said he, "I make money wid dis schooner? No ; I no care for what leedle money I make here, but I mus git reesh slow, don you see?" I told him I shouldn't think he would talk about it. How did he know but I might go and give him away in Panama? He laughed and said he was too well and favourably known in Panama for any one to believe such a yarn about him, and warned me that if I tried such a game as that, he had lots of friends who would not give him the chance to shoot me, as they would do it for him, and advised me if I had any doubts about it to try it on when we got there. ■ We put into a little port called Esmeralda, and here Nicolo sold some of his salt and nearly all the mackerel for ten cents apiece, the negroes almost falling over each other in their eagerness to get them. We stayed here over Sunday, and George and Billy and I shaved and washed up in expectation of getting liberty, and some money to spend. Old Nick, as he called hitnself, was sitting under the awning aft, smoking his pipe and doing rifle practice on the sea birds. It was agreed among us that I should go and brace him; so I went aft and respectfully notified Captain Nicolo that we would be glad to have a few dollars. "Wat," said he, "money? Didn't I give you a month's advance in Payta?" u V 2gO ON MANY SEAS " Yes," said I, " but what about the fish money you prom- ised us?" " I no promise nothin' and I no givee nothin' ; you can go to h ," said he, and his eyes snapped viciously. I went forward again and reported, and after a short con- fab we determined not to submit to any of his dago tricks. So aft we went in a body, we three. He saw us coming, and we saw him sHp an empty shell out of his breech-loader, and shove in a cartridge. We gathered pretty close round him, and George acted as spokesman. Nick listened till he had finished, and then said : " I sheep you for seestin dollar de mont. I geevy you one mont avance. You no worka dat up yit. I sheep you for work. Wen I want you for feesh, you gotter feesh. Dats de kine er work I want you for. ... I don't givee you a d cent. Go forward or I shoot de d head offer de whole lot o' ye " ; and he picked his rifle up off the skyhght as he said it. George grabbed the muzzle, and Billy and I drawing our sheath-knives, stepped, one to each side of him. " None o' that, Nick, we're no Panama niggers," said George. ' Nick burst into a loud, mirthless guffaw, and said, " Wy certainly, fellers, I goin' givee you money. Did'n I tell you I would wen we wuz feeshin'. I go down in de cabin an' git him for you now." "Better leave your gun up 'ere," said Billy, "you don't need that in the cabin. It might go off while you are 'unt- ing for the money, and kill some of us through the skyhght." " No fear ; I know how for handle a gun." " Yes, you know too well. Leave the gun here, we'll take care of it fOr yon," said George. So, being over-persuaded, he laid the gun down again, NICOLO 29 1 after drawing the charge, and went down and brought us up five dollars apiece, requesting us to be back in time to get under way in the morning. Six dollars was all that was coming to us when we landed in Panama, so we stayed in town that night, and the next morning, with all our worldly possessions slung on our backs, we bade good-bye to George, and turned our backs on the Pacific coast, its black-eyed senoritas, beach-combers, and cheap rum, and started bright and early to count the ties on the railroad to Aspinwall. We each had a canvas clothes-bag with what few traps we owned strapped across our backs, and our sea-boots hung about our necks, a bottle of water in one, and a bottle of rum in the other ; for we had been warned by a friendly Jamaica darky that water on the Isthmus was scarce and bad, and that if w^e drank any of it without a dash of spirits in it, we were goners. So we looked out for that part of it. It is forty-eight miles across the Isthmus, and we heard that it had often been done in one day, but Billy and I made a three days' walk of it ; for we were in no hurry, and the weather was terribly hot. Sometimes we would hear a locomotive whistle and would step out of the way to let a train of flat cars go by, the nigger brakemen sitting comfortably on their brakes, and their broad straw hats flapping coolly in the breeze caused by the motion of the train, and Billy, wiping the beaded perspiration from his brow, would say : " It's a mighty tough country, Jimmy, where white men hoof it and niggers ride." And so it was tough enough ; but then, we were quite as tough as the country. Tramps like us were so numerous that engineers were prohibited under heavy penalties from carrying them even in empty trains ; but stations were only four miles apart, and we were so well treated that I remem- ber the Isthmus as a tramp's paradise. 292 ON MANY SEAS When we got half-way across, we came to a turnout where the trains all passed each other, and found the three trains from Panama in the siding waiting for the arrival of the Aspinwall trains, and a big high iron bridge over the Chagres River right in front of us. The bridge was, I should think, at least seventy feet high above the river, and though we were sailors, we were not used to that kind of business, and it was pretty " scary " work. I told Billy that I would go ahead and, said I, "Don't look anywhere, Billy, only right at my heels, and try to step on them " ; for the ties were a long way apart on the bridge. Billy looked dubiously at the bridge, and said he wished he was across it. "Never mind, Billy," said I ; "we're cheating the Horn." "Ay," said Billy, "that's so; go ahead." When we got about half-way across, we heard the whistle of a train com- ing from Aspinwall. Without looking round, — I didn't dare to take my eye off the next tie, — I told Billy to stop at the next low place in the rail, and work his way out over the girder to it. " 'Oly Moses, Jimmy, I can't," said he. "You've got to," said I, "and be almighty careful you don't fall overboard; and sing out when you get stopped, so I can take the next one." In a moment he sung out. And I shut my teeth hard, as, by a desperate effort, I man- aged to step with both feet on one tie. Then I carefully turned myself half round and slowly, with my hair rising on my head, worked my way along the dizzy girder, and franti- cally clutched the notch in the rail as the train thundered by me, scaring me almost to death with the vibration and the wind it made. When it got by, I looked for Billy. He was clutching the next notch for dear Ufe. His face was as white as the pro- verbial sheet, and his eyes as big as two silver dollars. NICOLO 293 " How ye making out, Billy?" "All right, Jimmy; I've a good mind to 'eave this bloody clothes-bag overboard ; it makes me top 'eavy." " Don't ye do it ; hang on ter ye dunnage. Ye don't know when ye'll ever git any more." "That's so; but I'm jiggered if I'll pull out o' this till every bloody train's passed both ways, and we 'ave a clear track over this bloody bridge." " Never mind, Billy ; we're cheating the Horn, anyway." " That's so ; but I wish I was off the bloody 'Orn now, in the worst bloody gale as hever blowed." So we hung on and waited for the trains, until we came to the conclusion there were no more coming from Aspinwall that day ; and at last Billy agreed to let go his hold and try for the other side once more ; but we had hardly got strad- dled out on the ties when we heard the whistle of the last train, and back we scurried as fast as we could, — which wasn't very fast, — and there we stayed until everything had passed. And when at last we set foot on the sacred soil of Columbia, Billy looked back and said, he'd " rather double forty bloody 'orns than cross that bloody bridge again," and I don't know but that I agreed with him just then; for it was a " corker " and no mistake. CHAPTER XXXIII Colon. — Uncle Sam's Consul. — Jailed again. — The virginius. We arrived in Colon, or Aspinwall, without any further mishaps, and determined to ship and get away from the place as soon as we could. So after sleeping on a pile of timber on one of the docks, we started out early in the morning to look for a ship. There were always several vessels in port at that time, laden with coal for the railroad, and we had the good luck to board a three-masted Yankee schooner that was about to sail, and wanted a couple of hands. The captain said we could come right aboard and go to work. We were overjoyed at our good luck. She was bound to Boston, and it would seem so good to me once more to see the broadside of America, after so many years among the Dagos on the west coast. We started work just about eleven o'clock, in good time to get our dinners, which was no small object to us; but the Yankee first and the German second mate got into a fight over the proper way to make up a flying jib, and we were haled before the consul, and locked up as witnesses. This was the worst jail I ever got into. We were all, the cook, second mate, and four sea- men, put into one little cell that hardly afforded standing room. The only lighting or ventilating aperture was the grated door that looked out upon a sort of hallway, the 294 COLON 295 opposite of which was occupied by cells similar to our own, and apparently all well filled. This was a veritable " stone jug," and could neither be upset nor raised off the ground, so we had to stay in it. All we got to eat was one green boiled, or rather half-boiled, plantain, and a piece of half- boiled salt cod, twice a day. The fish was as salt as Turk's Island ; but we, being famished, ate it, and then nearly died of thirst all the rest of the day ; for water, being an expensive commodity, of course was not lavished on us. We put in ten days of this kind of amusement, and then the captain and the consul came to the jail and asked all hands, one after another, if they were ready to go aboard and do their duty. As nobody had at any time "refused duty," or done anything else out of the way, except the second mate, and we were heartily sick of our present quarters, we all agreed. So they let us out, and with the captain and the consul at our head, we marched down to the dock, where the schooner's boat lay in charge of the mate. As the men were getting into her, the captain, looking at Billy and me, said, " Caounsel, I don't think I'll take those two fellows. I picked them up here, and I suspect they are at the bottom of this whole thing." "Which two, captain?" He pointed us out, and the consul said : " Well, I should say not. How fortunate that you pointed them out ! I hadn't noticed them ; they are the two worst cases on the Isthmus. I've had them in jail half a dozen times already." "What," said I, "you've had us in jail? I guess you're mistaken, consul. We hadn't been twenty-four hours in the place when the captain agreed to ship us for the passage home." " Shut up, sir. If you give me any more of your insolence, I'll lock you up again." 296 ON MANY SEAS "You won't lock me up," said Billy. "I'm a British subject, and I'll appeal to the British consul." "Appeal, sir, and be d — d. I took you out of an x'^meri- can vessel, and you have forfeited your right as a British subject." "You're a bloody liar; I 'aven't," said Billy. By this time the boat was shoving off. The captain bade the con- sul good-bye, and he, stroking his beard with both hands and bowing almost to the ground, said, " Good-bye, captain ; may )'ou have a pleasant voyage, captain. I respect you, captain ; good-bye, sir." And then, turning, he straightened up as stiff as if he had swallowed a ramrod, and stalked by us without looking our way at all. I ran after him, and ranging alongside, I said : " Consul, I am an American citizen. You took me out of an American vessel that I could have gone home in, and now I am destitute, you'll have to provide for me and get me a ship." He gave me a magnificent wave of his hand and said : " You claimed just now to be a British subject ; go and appeal to the British consul. I'll have no more to do with you." After knocking about Aspinwall for a few days, Billy went to the British consul and sang his httle song, and was given a chance to work his passage home on an English steamer bound for Liverpool by way of some of the West India Islands ; so I bade him good-bye, and never saw him again. One of my chance acquaintances, a disreputable old Irishman, who called himself the " bumadier general," and declared he was too strong to work, took me out to Fox River, where a Cuban blockade runner, called the Virginius, lay half her length up in the bushes. She had a couple of lines out ahead merely as a matter of form, and a long plank over the bows. She had been chased into Aspinwall by a Spanish man-of-war, and came in with her COLON 297 fire-room half full of water, from a hole knocked in her bow by the peak of her own anchor ; and to keep her from sinking her captain ran her at full speed up into the bushes on the bank of Fox River, and she was now being over- hauled and refitted. CHAPTER XXXIV A Narrow Escape. — The Midas. — A Short and Nasty Voyage. — South Carolina Justices. — For Liverpool again. I SHIPPED in the Virginius, but one Sunday, when ashore, I saw a Bath bark, called the Midas, lying at the coal dock. She was rather a neat little bark, and, as I stood looking her over, the cook came out of the galley with a pan of hot biscuit, and set them on the water-cask to cool a bit, while he went aft. 'Twas years and years since I had eaten a hot biscuit, and I determined to have that whole panful, or die in the attempt. There wasn't a soul to be seen anywhere, and I leaped lightly down on deck and was about to pick up the pan, when who should come round the corner of the deck-house but Mr. Oliver, who was second mate of the old Tanjo7-e, in which I left home when a boy. I spoke to him, and he remembered me at once. He was mate of the bark, and promised to intercede with the cap- tain to take me home. I felt so sure of going in her that I didn't go back to the Virginius at all ; and it was just as well I didn't ; for the following night she sailed, was capt- ured, and all hands were shot in the public square in Havana. The captain of the Midas agreed to take me, and I went to work at once helping discharge the cargo of coal. Then we took in ballast, and sailed for Bull River, South SAWIN' 'EM OFF 299 Carolina ; but not until the consul had recognized me, and repeated his pleasant little formula to the captain, who, however, paid not the slightest attention to him. The wind always blows right into the bay at Aspinwall, so it is a dead beat to get out. In order to secure all the advantage possible, we got our anchor up the night before sailing, and hauled into the lee side of a long wharf near the mouth of the bay, and made her fast with slip-hnes. Next morning we set every stitch of sail, and let go the slip-lines, and away she went on the first tack. It was only a few weeks' sail to Bull River ; and, when we got there, I thought surely we had arrived at the last place that was ever made. There was nothing in sight but a muddy river, flowing sluggishly through flat banks of mud, partly covered by bulrushes. The sand-flies I believe would eat the paint off an iron ship. They were so thick that we breathed them, and bite ! O Lord, I can feel them yet ! Two hands were not enough to slap one's self with. It seemed that we must all go crazy. In the morning a scow came alongside, and we were ordered to turn to and discharge the ballast, which we promptly declined to do, claiming that our voyage had ex- pired on arrival at a United States port. This the old man denied, as the articles read: "and back to a port of final discharge in the United States." He claimed that Bull River was not a " port of final discharge." However, we knew what his little game was. The bark was chartered to take a cargo of phosphate from there to Liverpool. All the crew but myself had been in her since she left New York, and had some pay due them. By the time they got to Liverpool they would have some more, and he would then run us out ; that is, starve, overwork, and otherwise ill-treat us until we couldn't stand it any longer, and would desert, leaving our pay behind us, which would be quite a plum for 300 ON MANY SEAS him. But we were all old birds, and not to be caught with chaff; so we steadfastly refused to do another tap, and de- manded our money. For answer, he ordered Mr. Ohver to bring out the irons. We protested it was brutal to iron men among such a pest of stinging insects. " I can't help it," he said ; " if you will refuse duty, it's your own fault. Go to work if you don't want to be ironed." Such is the force of discipline that we six great sturdy men, any one of whom could have taken him and his mate and knocked their heads together, allowed them to iron our hands behind our backs. And then we went down in the 'tween-decks and stood close to each other, continually rub- bing our faces on each other's shoulders to get a little relief from the intolerable itching due to the bites of the sand- flies. Another young fellow and I succeeded in getting our hands before us, and, after a while, took each other, and then the rest, out of irons by means of a piece of common sail twine. We were kept in this condition for three days. Then he had us up on deck, one at a time, and urged us to go to work, and not stay down there to be eaten alive by sand-flies. We declined. When it came to my turn, he said : "You want to be paid off, hey? " "Yes, sir." " All right. I'll pay you off, but how will you get ashore? As soon as you are paid, you don't belong to this vessel, and I want you to get right out of her." I told him I would go in the Pilot Boy, a small steamer that plied from Charleston around through the bayous. "The Pilot Boy ain't due here till to-morrow," said he, " and I won't have you aboard here a minute after you're paid off"." I told him I did not see what I could do ; so he said : SAWIN' 'EM OFF 3OI " You go forrard and get your clothes, and I'll pay you off and land you." I went and got my clothes — and the Lord knows I didn't have much to get — and came aft again. He pointed over the side to a little island of mud about as big as a ship's main hatch, and said : "There's where I'm going to land you, on that mud-bank. Is that where you want to go ? " " No, sir," said I ; " I don't want to go there ; but if you put me there, I don't suppose I can help it." " Hadn't you rather go to work than be landed there?" " No, sir." He turned on his heel and walked aft a little way, and returning, said to me : " Now lookee here ; you're on a little different lay out from these other fellows. I'm going to Charleston to find out if they are entitled to their pay here, and if they are, I'll pay them ; but if they ain't, I'll take 'em to Liverpool, d 'em, if I have to take 'em every inch of the way in irons and work the vessel myself. But if you'll turn to and help Mr. Oliver with the ballast, I'll pay you off anyway when I get back, and send you to Charleston in the Pilot BoyT "All right, sir," said I ; " I'll do that." So Mr. Oliver and I went at the ballast with a crew of negroes, and a couple of days afterwards the captain re- turned, called all hands up, took off the irons, and we boarded the Pilot Boy, which waited alongside for us. But we left her at Beaufort, South Carolina, and stayed there over night, going on by train in the morning. On our way we concluded to sue the captain for damages, and went at once to a trial justice, and told our story. He was highly indignant ; said it was the most outrageous thing he had ever heard of, putting American citizens in irons for simply demanding their pay, when the voyage was completed according to all the laws that were ever framed. 302 ON MANY SEAS He said the captain was guilty of assault and battery and false imprisonment. We explained that we hadn't been licked nor imprisoned, except in the 'tween-decks. But he told us that if he only stepped outside his office door and put his hand on a man's shoulder and required him to step aside against his will, he would be guilty of both these offences. " So you see that yours is a very aggravated case ; the worst I think I ever heard of — shocking, shocking." He took a deposition from each of us, and sent after the captain. He told us our case was safe in his hands, and that he would procure us heavy damages. We needn't bother our heads until we heard from him. So, leaving him our ad- dresses, we bade him good-day, and went away highly pleased to think that at last we were to get justice, and estimating what amount of damages we were to get. Two or three days afterwards we all received notices to be at the trial justice's office at two p.m. On arriving there, we found the captain not in irons, as we had fondly hoped, but sitting behind the railing with the justice, talking and laughing as if they were old friends. When we were all seated, the justice cleared his throat and said : " Ahem ! I have your late captain here, men, as you see. I have carefully looked through this matter, and I iind that my impressions, hastily formed, were erro- neous. The captain's affidavit differs from yours entirely and throws new light on the subject, and, after careful consideration of all the different statements, I find that you have no case." Charley Summers rose in his place and asked, " How much did he give ye, judge?" " Young man," said the justice, severely, " if you're not very careful, I shall fine you for contempt of court." SAWIN' 'EM OFF 303 Ned Haly asked the justice if he might ask a question. " Yes, sir ; if it's a proper question, you may." "Our case ain't es shockin' es it was; is it, jedge?" asked Ned. "You have no case, no case at all." So we walked out and left the immaculate judge and the cnptain laughing at us. The street was full of trial justice signs, and Summers proposed that we should not give it up, but try another; "for," said he, "if we can't get anything out of it ourselves, we can make him sick buying those d — d sharks of judges." So we went into another of them and told him the whole rigmarole. He asked us whom we went to with our case. We told him. " Ah ! " said he, " that's where you made a mistake. He's a carpet-bagger. If you had come to me in the first place, I would have got damages for you, — heavy damages." VVe told him the case was just as good now as it ever was. "No doubt, no doubt!" said he; "but it wouldn't be courtesy for one trial justice to review the act of another." Ned Haly and I lived in the same boarding-house ; and after about a week ashore we joined a Nova Scotia bark that was bound to Liverpool with a cargo of pitch-pine lum- ber, resin, and turpentine. She was down the bay, and we went down on a tugboat. When we got there, we found out that she was going to sea two men short, and refused to heave up the anchor. The mate and second mate — two young boys — undertook to bully us ; but we intimated a readiness to fight, so they left us alone, and the captain went back to town and got two more men. Ned was a rank Yankee sailor, and was by no means pleased to find himself aboard a Hme-juicer. I didn't mind that part of it so much, if we had only got decent grub ; but all that we had to eat was a kind of bean soup, flavoured 304 ON MANY SEAS some days with mackerel heads, and others with codfish-skin, or tallow. One morning — after we had got tired of jawing at the cook, and Ned had resented being told by him to go to h — 1 by hauling him up on top of the deck-load and kicking the stuffing out of him — we took the basin containing our swill and carried it aft to the companion-way, and hollered to the captain to come up and look at our breakfast. He came to the foot of the stairs and asked us what was the matter with it. Ned asked him, respectfully, if he would please to come up and see what the cook was feeding us on. " I know what it is ; it's bean soup, and what's the matter with it? " "Well, all the matter is that it ain't fit to eat. A hog wouldn't eat it." " It is fit to eat. I can eat it." "Can you eat it?" " Yes." " Well, then, here it is ; eat it." And he threw the soup basin and all down on top of him, and went forward and gnawed hardtack for breakfast. The captain never changed his shirt from the time we first saw him in Charleston until the day before we got the Liverpool pilot. One day I remarked to Ned, that I should think it was about time he changed himself. "Why," said Ned, "don't you know the reason of that?" I told him, "No." " Well, I can tell you. These Nova Scotiamen are brought up on gaspereau, a small and very bony fish, and they eat so many of them before they leave home that the bones stick out through their backs, so that they can't pull a shirt off without tearing it all to pieces.. Consequently, they never take one off until it is worn out. So when you see a Nova Scotiaman with a clean shirt on, you go up to him, and, SAWIN' 'EM OFF 305 rubbing your hand up and down his backbone, say to him, ' Why, h ! you've been sawin' 'em off, hain't ye? ' " We had received forty dollars apiece in Charleston, sup- posed to be advance wages at thirty dollars a month, but understood by everybody concerned to be the price of the run across, as no vessel ever keeps a crew aboard in Liver- pool. As soon as we got within jumping distance of the pier head, Ned and I collared our clothes-bags and sprang ashore, and the mate after us, shouting to us to come back, as he had a couple of miles to haul through the dock to get the bark to her berth. We told him to go somewhere, I don't just remember where, and he started for help to make us go aboard again. Before we got out of the dock we met him coming with a poUceman, and telling him that we had not yet worked up our advance wages, he demanded that he either arrest us or send us back aboard again. "'Ave ye ever a bit o' 'ard about ye, lads?" said the officer. We each produced a small plug of 'ard tobacco, — a very popular currency in Britain, — and pressed them upon him. Turning to the mate, he said, " Wy do you bother the lads ? It's only natural they should want to get ashore after their voyage. Go on, lads ; you are all right." Ned went to board down among the tough packet-ship element; but as I had made up my mind to make another deep-water voyage, I went to a respectable boarding-house. I didn't see very much of Liverpool, not having any money to spare, and what I did see didn't impress me very favour- ably. I went down to the neighbourhood where the Ameri- can sailors hung out, — at Denison Street I think it was ; but they were a low down, ragged, drunken-looking lot of hoodlums, whom I dechned to associate with. You may think that I was rather fine haired after my experience on the west coast. But there is as much difference between the 306 ON MANY SEAS rollicking, devil-may-care beach-comber of the Pacific coast and the dirty, ragged, rum-soaked " packet rat," as there is between reckless decency and thorough ingrained black- guardism anywhere. So I chose the society of "juicers," who were good fellows and clean. CHAPTER XXXV An Iron Lime-Juicer. — Sick in Calcutta. — A Fight for Water. — Back to London. — New Orleans Cotton Wagons. After a fortnight's rest ashore, I shipped — as Ned had sneeringly predicted I would — in a big iron ship, named the Brompton Town, bound for Calcutta, with over three thousand tons of salt. She belonged to a large fleet of ships owned by a company in Liverpool, which also ran a line of passenger steamers to New York ; and it was said that our captain was the commodore of the sailing fleet, and expected next month to get a steamer. The previous voyage she had been to San Francisco, and the apprentices told us that both the skipper and his ship had been greatly lionized there. It was also said that when a young man he" had sailed for some years in American ves- sels. Whether this was so or not, of course I can't say ; but he certainly did put on some of the lugs that are more characteristic of American than of English shipmasters. He made not the slightest familiarity with any one, not even the first mate. On the contrary, he had that poor man so gallied that, to use a popular expression, he " didn't know which end his head was on." When we got to Calcutta, and began to discharge the salt, one of our crew died. He had been there the voyage before, and contracted chronic dysentery. 307 308 ON MANY SEAS It was on Sunday that we buried him, and all hands washed up, shaved, cut their hair, and went ashore to the funeral. There were six native bearers to carry the body. They had on their national costume, which consisted of a clout about the waist, and, in addition, each one wore a plug hat of ancient fashion and a long piece of black mosquito net tied just above the elbow. They shouldered the corpse and started off at the regular jog trot of the palanquin bearers, chanting their droning refrain : " Curry and rice, two rupee ; Heavy beggar, let him drop." We started after them in the broiling sun, to march to the cemetery, but as we were in danger of losing sight of the bearers, our only pilots, we were forced to break into a run, too. Some of the boys gave it up altogether, and returned to town to drown sorrow in Old London Dock gin. A few of us stuck to it, and arrived in time to see the bearers pass on each side of the open grave, and, at a given signal from their leader, cant their shoulders enough to allow the coffin to drop kerplunk to the bottom of the hole, when it was speedily covered up. I got the dysentery, too, before long, and came near dying in the College Hospital. This is the case I referred to when relating my experience in the James L. Baker in the West Indies. I had been in the hospital a couple of weeks, and was getting weaker and weaker, when one day I heard the nurse ask the house doctor what she had better do for me. " Nothing," said he. " Nothing ; he's as dead now as if his head was cut off. He'll go about sundown." But though I knew he was speaking of me, and believed what he said myself, I didn't care any more than if he had been talking about a coolie in Bombay. A CALCUTTA FUNERAL 309 When the cargo was in, and the ship ready for sea, I was able to go aboard, and soon after getting out in blue water I turned to. Nothing worth mentioning occurred on the homeward-bound passage, if I except a little clash that I had with the mate one day. He accused me of " sojering " on the fore topsail halyards. It was a hot day, and we had been shifting sails, unbending the good sails we had used off the Cape of Good Hope, and bending the old rags for the fine weather. We had been at it all day, and were all pretty well tired and played out, and although the ship carried an abundant supply of water in a big iron tank down below, under no circumstances would they give us one drop over our allowance of three quarts per man, per day of twenty- four hours. And out of that the cook had to take what he needed to do our cooking. So that about all that was left for us was a couple of good drinks of warm water, and after that we could go dry until the next afternoon. We afterwards, on nearing the English Channel, pumped this fresh water out of the tank, and used it to scrub the paintwork with. But, on the occasion of which I write, we were all hot and tired, and nearly dead with thirst. There had been considerable quiet grumbling already about the unlimited allowance of work, and the very strict observance of the Act of Parliament in regard to the allowance of water. So when the mate jumped on me for sojering in the halyards, I told him that perhaps all hands would be able to do better if they had a drink of water. "Don't you get your allowance of water?" said he. I told him I supposed I did, but that I was getting more than my allowance of work. "You get more than you're worth, you bloody, 'ungry Yankee," said he ; and he made a dab at me. I dropped the halyards and grabbed his long whiskers with one hand, and punched him with the other. We 310 ON MANY SEAS clinched, and down we went. But the third mate and a couple of apprentices pulled us apart. The mate had a bloody nose, and a black eye, and a few less whiskers than he had on the start. My share was a bloody nose, a swelled lip, and ten days in irons in a spare stateroom in the cabin ; also honourable mention in the official log. The imprisonment was hardly of a nature to be considered as a hardship. For the steward, being, as all stewards are, a left-handed friend of the mate, kept me supplied with delicacies from the cabin table. And my incarceration also occurred at a time when all hands were being worked to death. So that it was with some hesitation that I answered the captain in the affirmative, when I was brought up before him and asked if I thought I could behave myself now, if he let me out of irons. I knew pretty near how the land lay thereabouts ; for, in the first place, the captain was no admirer of the mate, and then again there was plenty of work for all hands to do ; and of course my offence was not a very grave one, as I had only defended myself when at- tacked, which almost any one would do, and it was generally understood that the old man was in favour of " bucko " officers, and therefore could hardly be expected to approve of the mate for not giving a better account of himself in the scrap. At any rate, I noticed that no deduction was made from my pay, when we got to London, on account of my enforced holiday. Again I was in London, and *' well-heeled " financially once more. I fitted myself out with both shore and sea togs, and was having a good time, having, as usual, fallen in love with the landlord's daughter, to whom I presented an old, half-blind, rock parrot that I bought of a coolie in Cal- cutta for a blanket. All the old parrot had ever been known to say up to that time was " squawk," but on being addressed by a female A CALCUTTA FUNERAL 31I voice, he cocked his head to one side for a minute, and sud- denly broke out with a remark that I will not record here, but which showed his bringing up before he came into my possession, and cost me the young lady's regards, as she promptly wrung his neck, and transferred her affections to a coloured cook, who had just returned from Australia, and outbid me with a great white cockatoo, who could sing " Rule Britannia" and " Not for Joe." One day I fell in with an American sailor, who told me that an American shipping-master had come over from Havre, and was trying to get crews for two New Orleans " cotton wagons," and asked me why I didn't ship and get away from the lime-juicers. I thought I would, and he and I hunted up Mr. Lynch, and agreed to go with him to Havre, and ship in the American ship Aden for Southwest Pass at three pounds fifteen shillings per month, with one month's advance, — two pounds in London, and one pound fifteen shillings on arrival at Havre, — our passage from London to be paid by him. The next day we left London by train, and arrived the following morning by boat at Havre. It was the first time I had ever been in the place, and it seemed strange that it could be so F)-e7ich, for, in my mind, it had always been associated with American commerce to such an extent that it almost seemed like a home port. The first thing to do was, of course, to get the rest of our advance. So all hands hung round Mr. Lynch's office, until at last, he came leisurely down the street, and walk- ing up to the crowd told the partner I had picked out and myself and two others to come upstairs. We went up, and he said to us : " You four are good men, and I'm going to give you your money, as I agreed to, but them other d raynecks won't get but ten francs apiece ; so when you go downstairs, if they ask any questions, you tell 'em that's all 312 ON MANY SEAS you got, d'ye hear?" He had his partner with him, big Mike Donovan. Both of them had world-wide reputations among American sailors as being experts in the art offen- sive. Many an unruly sailor have they sent to hospital for objecting to their business methods. So we told them we heard ; and took our money and went down, to be greeted outside the door by an anxious crowd, all eagerly inquiring, " Wha' d'e give ye? Wha' d'ye git?" We told them we got what was coming to us, of course, and showed them the money. They wanted to know what he said. We assumed an air of importance, and told them he said something about ten francs, but that we wouldn't have it that way. They ap- plauded us, and said they wouldn't either. No funny busi- ness for them; no, sir! Just then the door at the head, of the stairs opened, and Lynch called out for two or three to come up. "Two's enough at a time," said he, as several of them made a break for the stairs. They had hardly got inside when we heard loud talking, and presently the door was swung violently open from the inside, and down came the two unfortunates on their heads, while Mr. Lynch called out cheerily from above, " Come up here, a couple more of ye ; " and caUing my partner by name, he remarked that he would see us four in Havre again some time, and make it pleasant for us. What he ever did for the others I can't say ; but he certainly kept his word to me. We sported a bit that night, with the last of our money, and the next day we went to sea. The Aden was an old-fashioned New Orleans and Havre packet-ship, and the captain was an old packet captain. His pleasantest word was an oath. The mates were not such bad fellows, but then they had a much better crew than such ships usually get ; for the kind of rabble that were in the habit of following up that business were about A CALCUTTA FUNERAL 313 the poorest truck that go afloat anywhere. Packet rats they are called, and are well named. The captains and officers are so accustomed to being obliged to curse and thump them to get anything out of them, that they seem to forget that there are sailo?-s anywhere. We had one regular packet rat in our watch. His name was Tommy Cotter. He had sailed in the Aden several times before, and de- clared that he never saw her so quiet Sometimes he would say, when the bell struck, " H ! four bells and nobody hurted yet. What's de matter I guess?" One day Tommy was coiling down the ropes on the poop, left-handed, and the old man cursed him, and asked him, " What the devil are ye, anyway?" " I'm a paper-hanger, sir. When you git ready to paper de cabin, if you'll just let me know, sir, I'll take de dimen- sions for ye, sir, an' do it right. De principal ting is to git de dimensions right, sir." The old man here punctuated Tommy's remarks with his toe several times, kicking and cursing him all the way down on the main deck. But Tommy didn't mind that ; it was what he was used to, and had missed, so far, on the present voyage. It seemed to break the dull monotony and cheer him up. He had been at sea for over twenty years, always in the New Orleans packets, and was as worthless a man as I ever saw aboard ship. It didn't seem as if there was a single thing that he knew. But when he got ashore, and got half full of New Orleans Tanglefoot, he would hardly have con- descended to shake hands with Admiral Farragut himself. And it is such cattle that represent themselves as Yankee sailors. After the usual buffeting and battling with the head gales and seas of the western ocean, we arrived at Southwest Pass, and got orders to proceed to New Orleans ; and giving 314 ON MANY SEAS the end of our rope to one of the giant tugs that wait there, we were dragged up the muddy Father of Waters, past the forts, where, a few years before, Farragut performed a naval feat that will be memorable while history endures ; and we tied the old girl up to the levee, and walked ashore in this American French city. CHAPTER XXXVI French Louis' Boarding House. — Bucko Officers. — Slaughter from the Word Go. — I Meditate Murder AND Keep My Knife Sharp. Of course we had no money, but sailors are not supposed to have money in New Orleans. They get a month's ad- vance that pays for their board and rum while ashore, go to Liverpool or Havre, and do the same thing there, returning as rich as when they left. My chum, George Englebert, an Australian, and I went to board with French Louis. He claimed to have been a quartermaster in the ship that brought Napoleon's remains from St. Helena. He was also a brother-in-law of Madame John, the American boarding- mistress " par excellence " in Havre. He gave us diluted, very much diluted, claret instead of tea and coffee, and when we kicked about his frequent fiUing of the decanter at the faucet, he repHed : " Odtherr boardin'-'ouse givee you tea an' coffee mix wid waterr, / givee you wine mix wid waterr. Dat is betterr." He was very Frenchy and important, and when he came up to Jackson Square police court one morning, and whispered in the ear of the presiding magistrate a magic syllable that rescued George and me from the prospect of making an involuntary trip to the prison at Baton Rouge, New Orleans was hardly big enough to hold him for a week after, and we had to verify his account of the transaction to 315 3l6 ON MANY SEAS everybody that he could get to listen to it. I must not omit to say that Louis did not forget to "set 'em up " on all such occasions. The ground floor was divided into two rooms. The front was the bar-room and sitting-, or, rather, lodging- room, and the back one was our dining-room, from which the stairs went up to the dormitory. There was a door between the two, which Louis religiously locked every night. But there was a hole in the partition between the two rooms about two feet square, containing a model of a full-rigged ship. And at night, after Louis and Blanche had retired, if we happened to be dry or sleepless, — and we usually did, — a couple of us would slip downstairs, and re- moving the model, one would go through into the bar-room and hand out such refreshment as seemed desirable ; and these we would take upstairs to wile away the time until either daylight or sleep overtook us. Louis knew that we were poaching on his preserves, but couldn't find out how it was done, as the door was always securely locked as he left it. So, to get square as far as possible, he watered our wine more than ever. I had no ambition to become a " packet rat," so I told him that he would have to get me something else than a Liverpool or Havre voyage. He asked me if I would go to Genoa, and I told him yes. So he shipped George and me in the ship Westhampton, with tobacco for Genoa. And here I wish to call attention to what was at that time a time-honoured custom in New Orleans. That was for each boarding- master to furnish every man, on leaving his house, with at least a gallon of liquid known as Old Levee Tanglefoot. The man who sent his boarders to sea the best equipped in this manner, could refer to it with pride on board of incoming ships, and thereby secure more custom than the mean man, who let his boarders go with only a quart or so BUCKO OFFICERS 317 of that very powerful stimulant. The result of this very laudable emulation on the part of these worthies was, that on the long tow down from New Orleans to the bar, the crews were in a state of riotous and insubordinate drunkenness ; and as there is lots of work to be done at this time to get ready for sea, the officers have their hands full. And if you take into consideration that every man aboard, from the captain down, prides himself on being a "bucko," — a fighter, that is to say, — you can easily realize that there is not much monotony at the start. On the contrary, to use a favourite expression of the packet rats, it's "Slaughter from the word go " j for the officers stake their reputation on their ability to lick the crew into shape, and get the work done. While the crew, on the other hand, have their own reputations as bad men to uphold, and it was not at all uncommon in those days for lives to be sacrificed in the general melee, towing down the river. The officers of the Westhampton were no slouches by any means, and the crew were of the average New Orleans type. The captain had the credit of having shot three men off the topsail yard the voyage before ; but while I can't vouch for the truth of that, I know he had a playful habit of throwing a two-foot piece of deck-plank down on the heads of the men at the weather main-braces. The lucky man — he who was hit — then had the privilege of carrying the bouquet, as it was called, back to him ready for next time. The mate was a big, brawny, Boston Scotchman, with a record, and a full beard in which he seemed to take great pride. The second mate was a long, bony Nova Scotia- man, by name McDonald. The second mate of a packet- ship is supposed to be a " horse," and Mr. McDonald filled the bill to perfection. The man who would give him a fight was the man he loved. 3l8 ON MANY SEAS The third mate, Parker, was a Swede, and different from any Swede I ever saw ; for as a rule they are peaceable, nice fellows. But Parker was a terror. So when sailing-day came, we boarded the old hooker about sundown. Drunk? Certainly. The man who would board an outward-bound ship in those days and in those latitudes, otherwise, didn't know his business, and would lead a dog's Hfe both fore and aft for the whole voyage. Besides, he needed some kind of stimulant to carry him through the ordeal of " towing down." Before we had time to stow our dunnage in the fore- castle and compare the size of our whiskey bottles, Parker was at one door and McDonald at the other, with belaying pins in their hands, yeUing at us to come out for a lot of d sojers and shoemakers, or they'd see what we were made of. And they punctuated their remarks by hitting the first and the last man with their pins, — a good old fashion which ordinarily tends to hasten the exit, after the first man gets out. It was soon dark, and then the circus began in earnest. The cuss word and the crunch of the belaying pin were con- tinually in our ears and on our heads. Every little while, one of the mates would be overpowered and go down under a yelling and kicking crowd ; but only for a moment, when the others would come to his rescue, and, as they were sober, it was easy to pull off the sailors and club and kick them out of the way. I got away from the crowd, and started to lash a water-cask that I saw was adrift, thinking to save my bacon in that way. Vain hope ! The big mate came along, and seeing what I was doing, he said, " What in h are you doin'? skulkin', hey? Git forward there'n help overhaul that starboard chain, d you ! " And he gave me a belt on the side of the head that sent me sprawling ; but before I touched the deck he hoisted me with his toe, so that I BUCKO OFFICERS 319 landed some four or five feet farther ahead than I would have done under the impetus of the blow alone. I have said that the mate had a record. I gathered my- self up, looking apprehensively behind me ; but I had appar- ently got my allowance, for he had gone off again. So I started fo?"ward; and as I was limping by the forecastle door, an arm shot out of the darkness from within and caught me by the collar, dragging me inside, and a voice said, in a rich Irish brogue : " Where the divil are ye goin', ye bloody fool? Come in here before ye're murthered. Howly Moses, but this is a red- hot ship. Did ye get iver a welt from that bloody big brute of a mate ? Be me sowl, I'd rather I was kicked by a mule. Bad luck to him anyway, but he gev me the divil's own larrup just now. If I don't git square wid dat ladybuck before we get back from Genoa ye kin tell your folks that Dublin's an ould woman. Here, man, have a sup o' this new milk. It'll fix ye so ye won't moind thim ; " and he shoved a bottle under my nose in the darkness that smelt worse than a sugar droger's bilge-water. But I was desper- ate, and took a boatswain's slug out of it, and felt better right away ; so much better that I determined to go out and hunt up the mate and ask him what he meant by hit- ting me that way, and demand an apology at once ; but from certain unmistakable sounds that were wafted in through the open door, I knew that the carnage was still in progress. So I accepted the next proposition that came to my mind, and rolled into the nearest bunk, and dropped instantly into a peaceful and dreamless slumber. How long I slept I have not the shghtest idea, but I was rudely awak- ened by being dragged out of the bunk by the hair of the head. McDonald was holding a lantern, and it was the mate — sweet bad luck to him ! — who had come across my hawse 320 ON MANY SEAS again. Amid a volley of curses he kicked, thumped, and flung me out of the door on deck ; and, following me out, picked me up by the hair again, and standing me up against the rail, he grasped me by the throat, and, with my head jammed solidly against a dead-eye, he hit me as hard as he could right on the eye, laying my cheek open to the bone, and giving me a mark I shall carry to the grave. Up went his fist again, and, believing my life to be in danger, I tried to get out my knife, but my arms were jammed in such a way that I could not reach it ; but just as I was scringing for the second blow I felt his grasp on my throat relax, and he fell back away from me to the tune of a wild Irish yell : " Ho, ye blackguard, I have ye now ! and be the powers I'll pay ye for some o' the work you've done this night, ye murtherin' baste ye ! " and all the time the good solid blows were being rained down on the mate, who was on his knees on the deck, trying to rise, and cursing and yelling for McDonald and Parker. The blood was pouring down my face in a perfect torrent, and I felt weak and dizzy, but I got in a good kick on his jaw, and another in his ribs, besides a couple of punches, which, though weak, I found highly gratifying. All this time Dublin was working away like a pile-driver with something, I couldn't see what, and yelling and curs- ing like a madman ; and the mate, who must have had a head of iron to stand the terrific blows he was getting, now began to shout that he was being murdered. As I was shifting round him to get in another kick, somebody caught me by the neck and threw me down on my back on the deck, and a heavy foot was planted on my chest, while I heard a strange voice say, " Here, stop that ; let up, do you hear, or I'll blow the d head off of you ! " "Who in hell are_}'^z/?" said Dublin, who had just been grabbed about the waist by Parker. BUCKO OFFICERS 32 1 " I'm captain of this ship, and I want this thing stopped ; it's gone far enough." " Well, then, call off your dogs. They're killing an' mur- therin' all hands." By this time the mate had got to his feet, and made a staggering rush at Dublin. But the cap- tain interfered, and told him he'd shoot him if he didn't keep quiet. " What's that you have there?" said the cap- tain, pointing to Dublin's weapon. " That's the bread barge, and it makes a foine boxin' glove to dale with these sports of yours," said Dublin. The captain told him to put it away, and asked where McDonald was. Nobody knew, but Dublin vouchsafed the information that the last he knew he was lying on his long back in the forecastle. It seems that Dublin had turned in and gone to sleep the same time that I did, but the noise of my awakening roused him, and he saw McDonald going round the forecastle looking for more skulkers. So he kept shady until the mate came within reach, when he shot out his right foot, taking him square in the face, and knocking him down. He then jumped out of his bunk, and, as he said afterwards, " gev him a couple of bars of a Dublin quay jig, on his ugly mug, to aise him " ; and then hearing the mate amusing himself with me, and having already a score of his own to settle with that amiable gentleman, he, by the light of the second mate's lantern, spied the bread barge. This was a box made of inch- pine boards, about twenty inches long by eight inches square, and solid all round, with a round hole in one end of the top side, to reach in and get the hardtack out. He rove his arm into this, like a big wooden glove, and rushing out, dealt the mate a swinging blow with all his force, square on the top of the head. It was this blow which caused him to relax his hold on my throat, and fall backwards on deck. And it was with this same weapon that Dublin had since been Y 322 ON MANY SEAS beating him. A look in the forecastle failed to discover McDonald, and the mate insisted that Dublin had mur- dered him and thrown him overboard, and wanted the captain to shoot both Dublin and me, then and there. But while we were all wrangling over the matter, McDonald himself put in an appearance. He had, on coming to, gone aft to inspect himself and repair damages. The cap- tain ordered Dublin and me to go on deck to work, and told the mate to quit fighting, and get the ship ready for sea. Dublin turned to the mate and asked him if it was safe for us to go to work. " I'll tell you what I'll do," said he, glaring at us through blood and matted hair. " I'll run you two hounds over- board, before this ship's half-way to Key West." " All right," said Dublin ; and turning to the captain, he added, " You hear that, sir. We'll look out for ourselves the best way we kin. Come on, shipmate, lave us git out o' this ; " and we went out at one door, and they went at the other. I was about to go aft, where I heard some of the men pulling and hauling, when Dublin grasped my arm, and said, "Here, where are ye goin' ? Come in here." So back we went into the forecastle, and talked the situation over. We agreed that we had struck a pretty tough crowd, and that the mate would never forgive us, but would be as good as his word. We also had two or three nips out of Dublin's bottle, by way of a comforter, and the conclusion we finally arrived at was, that it was either the mate's life or ours ; and Dubhn swore that if he ever raised his hand to him again, he'd cut his heart out. The bottle being now empty, we went on deck. It was raining a light cold drizzle which was very dispiriting. My mind was full of the mate's threat to run me overboard, BUCKO OFFICERS 323 and I knew he was a man likely to keep his word in a case of that kind. The more I thought about it, the more en- raged I got, until at last I thought I would hunt him up, and knife him at once. But then I remembered what a powerful and tough man he was, and I concluded that the chances were against my succeeding, if I attacked him openly, and if I failed that would give him all the excuse he needed to finish me then and there. I was alongside the deck-house when this thought oc- curred to me. There were two water-casks lashed close up to the side of the house, with a space between their heads where a man could just stand. It was pitch dark in there. I knew that at any moment the mate was liable to pass that way, and I stepped in between the casks and drew my sheath knife. It was new and not very sharp, but I whetted it on the chime hoop of the cask until it had a saw- like edge upon it, and then I waited. I stood with my right foot slightly behind me and against the side of the house, so that I could give myself a good spring out. I would leap out on him with my arm extended to its full length, and plunge the knife into him, just below the ribs, to the hilt if I could, and then with all my strength I would cut him open as far as possible. Oh, how I ached to have him come along, and how strong I felt, and with what glee I would spring out and give him the fatal dig. Once I heard him just at the corner of the house, damning somebody, and I left my retreat to go for him there ; but just before I got to him I heard Mr. McDonald talking with him, so I slunk back to my place again, and waited. By this time I was getting pretty well drenched with the rain, and feeling uncomfortably cold. My teeth began to chatter. The effects of the benzine I had taken began to ooze away, and I began to realize what it was that I was standing there for, and to think how differently it would 324 ON MANY SEAS all seem the next day, a week, a month afterward. I realized that no jury on earth would ever justify such a deed as I had planned. Then my thoughts turned to home, and I wondered if it was possible that I, Fred Williams, could ever become a murderer. I remembered what my good old aunt, down in Maine, said to me once when lecturing me for some boyish prank. She solemnly told me that the way of the transgressor was hard, and said I would find it so, and also cheerfully predicted that if I didn't mend my ways I would eventually fetch up on the gallows. I began to be at first ashamed, and afterwards alarmed to think how near I had come to committing murder, I remembered a good many things in a very few minutes, that I had not thought of before in years. And while I stood there thinking, the mate went by, kicking and cursing one of the men, and I let him go, put up my knife, and followed on. But I did promise myself, that if at any time I really believed he was trying to kill me, I would defend my life at any cost, but under no other circumstances would I attempt his life. The day at last dawned, cold and drizzly. We hauled in the tow-line and got sail on her. And so, true to the traditions, the Westhampton towed down the river with the usual ^clat attending the sailing of a New Orleans packet. Daylight showed us up to be a handsome crowd. All hands, from the mate down, were more or less battle-scarred. Parker's big nose was twice as big as it was the day before, while McDonald's face looked as if he had fallen head first into a sausage machine, — the result, no doubt, of Dublin's terpsichorean exercises. One side of the mate's jaw, where I had kicked him, stuck out quite prominently ; but it was when he raised his hat to feel his head that one saw the strange criss-cross designs in court-plaster that proved that he had not shirked the responsibilities of his position. BUCKO OFFICERS 325 There were a few knock-downs during the day, but nothing that could be called a fight. We had been up all night ; and they kept us at it all day, until eight o'clock that night, when the watches were chosen, Dublin and I both being picked by the mate, which confirmed our suspicions that we were not through with him yet. The mate made a short speech, telling us that we were the most useless d — d lot of hounds he ever saw scraped together, and that, if we didn't show up any better than we had on the start, he'd make the ship so hot for us that we would wish ourselves in h , to cool off. " When I call a man," said he, " I want him to come ; but I don't want him to run. I don't want no man to run when I call him, but d him I want him tery?)'." When the watch was called, although we would turn in all standing Uke a trooper's horse, and jump for the door as soon as we heard the call, yet before we could get on deck he would be standing in the waist, yelling, " Come, git along here, scrapin's o' h ! " And it would be a wonder if somebody didn't get knocked down before the wheel was relieved. Then, before the watch was allowed to go below, he would have us pulling and hauUng for half or three- quarters of an hour on braces and halyards. One night when he was giving us a lot of dry pulling, we tried to tire him by not singing out. We were on the lee main topsail brace, and a steam-winch could not have got another inch on it ; but he wouldn't sing out. Belay ! so we simply jerked away on it in silence. But we couldn't fool him that way. He came quietly over to the lee side, and gave one of the men a kick in the ribs with his heavy sea-boot ; and when the fellow failed to stifle an exclama- tion of pain, the mate said, " Aha, dogonne ye ! I thought ye was dumb ! " There was a grindstone underneath the topgallant fore- 326 ON MANY SEAS castle, and I made a practice of sharpening my knife on it daily. Three times he came along and caught me at it. The third time, he asked me, in his surly way, " How the h is it you are always grinding that knife?" I looked him squarely in the eye, and told him I thought it was a good idea to always have a sharp knife. "You're one of them d fools," said he, "that don't know when it's time to let a thing drop." But I didn't trust him, and 1 kept my knife sharp. CHAPTER XXXVII A Peaceful Homeward Voyage. — Back to Havre. — A Guest of the City. — Mam'selle John. Dublin was never troubled again after that night on the river, but nearly everybody else got more or less licking. I got only one knock-down afterwards, and that was on the homeward-bound passage. By the time we got to Genoa all hands were more or less well licked into shape, and the captain was nursing a sore leg. He had made a kick in through the pilot-house window at the man at the wheel, one dog-watch, when the little Liverpool tough caught hold of his foot, and tried to saw his leg off with his sheath knife. Before McDonald, in response to the old man's yells for help, could get around and pull his leg out of the window, it had quite a gash in it. Nothing, however, was done to the man except to lick him when he came from the wheel. There are no wharves in Genoa. All vessels lie at anchor inside the breakwater, and discharge into lighters. It was hard work heaving up the big hogsheads of tobacco with the winch, and we worked long days. At last it was decided to ask for liberty, and Dublin, I, and another went aft one Saturday night, as a committee to prefer the request. We considered we were just about taking our lives in our hands in doing so, but nearly died of surprise when our request was granted without the slightest demur. 327 328 ON MANY SEAS The port watch got ten dollars apiece, and liberty until sundown Sunday, the starboard watch to have the same the following week. We went ashore and had a glorious time, — got into a fight with the police and a lot of natives, and enjoyed our- selves royally. Genoa is the only place I was ever in where it was impossible to find a single soul that could speak Eng- lish. Genoa and Glasgow are the two cities containing the most universally handsome women that I have ever seen. The Genoese ladies are dark, and all wear mustachios ; but they are beauties nevertheless. The Glasgow lassies are all blondes, with lovely blue eyes, and the most magnificent complexions and abundant fluffy golden hair in the world. But I think the Scotch girls are the nicest. You don't feel like trusting the Italian. She has a vicious snap in her black eyes that portends evil to him who should be so unfortunate as to fall under her displeasure, and they are said to be a jealous and vixenish lot. Although we couldn't find any one who could speak Eng- lish, we did find an old boatman who made us understand that he would buy any tobacco that we might have to sell ; and as we had lots of it in the forecastle that we had picked up in the hold, it was agreed that he should come off under the bow Monday evening, and we would have it ready for him. The harbour was full of police boats pulling about day and night, but of course he knew all about that, and would look out for himself So after going aboard Sunday, we gathered all the tobacco we could, and filled two bedticks. We were bound to give the old fellow a good bargain, so he would want to come again. Monday night, at about eleven o'clock, the man who was keeping lookout on the forecastle-head reported that our naerchant was there, and two of us, after taking a look aft DROUTH IN HAVRE 329 to see that the coast was clear, shouldered the two mattresses and carried them up, and looking over the bow we could dimly see the old fellow in his boat hanging on to the anchor-chain ; so we hailed in a whisper, " All right, Johnny." " All righty Chonny," was whispered back ; and making the end of a chest-lashing fast around them both, we lifted and shoved them over, and then, as they were heavy, we hung back and lowered away carefully until we felt them land. On looking over to tell him to let go the lashing, what was our surprise to see by the lantern that we had lowered them into a police boat. They had come drifting quietly along, and the old fellow, catching sight of them, had let go the chain cable and dropped astern. But they, smelling a rat, instead of pursuing him, had dropped into his place in time to receive our contraband tobacco. Here was a fine how d'ye do. Well, there was only one thing for it. We threw our end of the chest-lashing into the boat, and, scurrying into the forecastle, turned in and snored hke grampuses. In the meantime, the boat dropped alongside the gang- way, and the officer in charge, who could speak no English, had his men bring up the mattresses, while he called the captain, and pretty soon we heard the whole lot of them coming forward. The mate called us out, but of course we knew nothing about it, and no more was ever said ; but our smuggling enterprise, which might have yielded us quite a fair revenue, was most ignominiously nipped in the bud. Nothing of any account happened on the passage home. The mates, to keep their hands in, did a little occasional thumping, but that had long ceased to excite any interest. After the usual short stay in New Orleans, I shipped in the bark Calcium, of Bath, for Havre, and in due time we dined at Madame John's boarding-house. We knocked about here for a couple of weeks. I saw 330 ON MANY SEAS Mr. Lynch once or twice, and was satisfied that he recog- nized me. He asked me one day where I belonged, and I told him New York. "You are a long way from home," said he. " I have been farther," said I, and that was all that passed between us ; but I knew he would do me a left- handed favour if he had a chance. One day a big ship came in from San Francisco, and the third mate proved to be an old shipmate of Englebert's, so the first night he came ashore he took George and me in tow. We acted as pilots, showing him the Havre elephants, and in return he paid the freight. Along towards morning we were attacked by a severe drouth, and everything being closed up, we made for the only light in view, which was shining through the glass in the upper half of a store door. We kicked and pounded on the door, and as no one came to let us in, the third mate wrapped a handkerchief about his hand, smashed the glass, and then reaching inside, turned the key. We walked in, to find ourselves confronted by a big, fat, and very irate Frenchman with nothing on but his reposing robe, and armed with a huge cheese knife with which he gesticulated in a very unfriendly manner. In vain did we try to pacify him. We could get nothing out of him but a long string of " sacr^s " and " cochons " ; and while we were still arguing for cognac, four gendarmes — those banes of the American sailor — marched in and made us prisoners. We were locked up, and the next morning we were fined fifteen francs and two sous each, — the regular fine always imposed on disorderly sailors who are arrested in Havre. Our friend, the third mate, was able to pay his own fine, and promised to get more money that night and pay ours. But alas for frail human friendship, we never saw him more. DROUTH IN HAVRE 33 I George and I, being penniless, were locked up in the little stone jug down on the dock. This is a building about fifteen feet square, the larger part of which is occupied as a guard-room by the gendarmes. One small room, about eight feet by ten, is set off for a lockup, and into this we were thrust. One side of it is occupied by an inclined plane of bare boards that will accommodate six or seven men. The head of this couch is against the wall, and the foot is about two feet from the other wall, and the same height above the floor, forming a narrow passage where we — if, as we usually were, were in the majority — forced the French prisoners to sleep. Sometimes in the night the door of our apartment would be suddenly opened, and amid the hurricane of volubility that always accompanies French transactions, a prisoner would be fired in amongst us and the door slammed to. His first act, on finding himself in the dark, would be to pound and kick on the door, calling the guard outside all sorts of pet names. After they had stood all they wanted of that, the little wicket would be shut back with a crack like a rifle, and the old grizzled villain, who seemed to be on duty all the time, would hold an extremely animated conversation with the prisoner for about two seconds, when bang the wicket would go shut again. Or if, as was fre- quently the case, the unfortunate demanded water, he would come back again in a minute, open the wicket, and when the fellow inside stepped up to get his water, would give it to him right in the face, caUing forth more Gallic profanity. After a while this prisoner would calm down a bit and begin to feel about for a place to sleep. During all this time we would remain perfectly quiet ; but we would have our legs pulled up, so he could find a place to lie down across the foot of the bed. This he would always do. I never knew one of them to fail in that respect. Then we 332 ON MANY SEAS would wait until he began to snore, when, all together, we would straighten out our legs, and Johnny Crapaud would slide off into the little alley-way at the foot of the divan, — more variegated French blasphemy. Madame John, our landlady, was too well pleased to have the state board us to pay our fines and get us out before she had a ship for us ; besides, if she did, we would very likely get nabbed again, necessitating another payment. But the second day of our incarceration, Annie John, her daughter, came down and took George out ; and the last I ever saw of him was when he went through the door. "I would take you out, too, Beel," said she, "but I got no more money now. I guess I goin' git you out to- rn orrer." To-morrow ! I stayed there three weeks. I became the father, the patron saint, of the blasted "Jug." Even old Bonaparte out in the guard-room got so that he treated me with half-way decency, as a tribute to my long and faithful service. Finally, one day, after I had about made up my mind that I was to become a second edition of the Man with the Iron Mask, Annie John came down and took me out. I knew, of course, they had got a ship for me ; and I soon found that there was but one other sailor in Havre, — old Jack Thompson, — and he was shipped. CHAPTER XXXVIII Madame John as a Shipping Agent. — The German Cap- tain. — Suicide at Sea. — An Old Acquaintance. When we got to the house, Madame John was profuse in her apologies for having allowed me to stay so long in re- tirement. She had been so poor. She had been obliged to pawn her wedding-ring at last to get me out at all. "That's all right," said I. " I suppose you've got a ship for me." " I geet you a goot sheep, Beel — a fine sheep — in a few days." After she left the room, old Jack told me I was already shipped in a German bark, bound for Sandy Hook for orders. She had shipped a Russian Finn in the bark, and afterwards sent him somewhere else ; and as old Jack re- fused to go, and there being nobody else in Havre, she was at last obliged to take me out of Hmbo to fill the bill. I was not very eager about going to Sandy Hook ; for it was more than probable the bark would get orders for New York, and I was in no shape to go home after all these years at sea. However, I remembered that Lynch had a score to settle with me, and I could escape his clutches by going in the Dutchman ; and besides, even if she did go to New York, I needn't go home. So when madame came in again, I asked her about the German bark, and she admitted that she would be obliged if I would take the berth ; and I 333 334 ON MANY SEAS agreed. But I soon found that the other inmates of the house had stolen all my clothes. However, Madame John had lots of second-hand clothes, and she made me up a pretty decent outfit ; and the next day I boarded the bark and went to sea. When the crew were mustered, there was one name to which nobody answered. The captain asked me what my name was, and I told him, so he said he would scratch off the other and I could sign in that place ; but I declined. I told him I had received no advance wages, that I didn't belong to his crew, that I was an American citizen, and demanded to be put ashore. But he said he couldn't put into port just to land me, and I would have to stay aboard until we got across. I submitted, of course, but under protest. When off the Western Islands, there was a great hubbub on deck one day just after twelve o'clock. All hands started running aft, and jabbering away like a colony of monkeys. I asked the fellow alongside of me what the row was about, and he told me, with his eyes as big as saucers : " Der captine shut 'emzelluf, shut 'emzelluf mit a re- volver !" So we all went aft, and piled down into the cabin, and there he lay flat on his back, with a thirty-two cahbre bullet hole clean through his head, and the handsome ivory-handled and silver-plated and engraved Colt's "Navy" alongside of him, where it had dropped from his hand. There were little fine spatters of blood on the mirror, showing that he had stood in front of the glass, and then taken a good aim at the centre of his forehead ; and the ball, after crashing through his skull, had indented the panel of one of the car- lines, and dropped on deck, rolling into a lee corner, where we found it all battered out of shape by the resistance it had met in passing through his head. SUICIDE AT SEA 335 Nobody heard the shot fired, although it was just after dinner, when every one was awake. But the mate, coming down to get a cigar, saw a black sluggish stream oozing slowly from under the door of his stateroom. If she had been on the other tack, he might have lain there many hours before being discovered. All hands stood around the body of the suicide for a while in awe-stricken silence, and then quietly withdrew, wondering what could have caused a young man, master of a fine ves- sel, in the employ of a big German corporation, to take his own life. He was left where he lay until after dark, when he was carried out into the forward cabin, a sort of vestibule, to be sewn up. The sailraaker asked for a helper, and as none of the Ger- mans cared to have anything to do with the job, I volunteered. It had come on to blow a bit, and the weather looked rather squally, with an occasional glimmer of hghtning to wind- ward. We laid the piece of old canvas that was to be his winding-sheet down in the middle of the room, and lifted him on to it. He had on four woollen shirts, a knitted guernsey, and a thick pilot-cloth vest and pants, and they were all saturated with blood. We turned the sides of the canvas up, and ran a seam down in front, and then setting the lantern on his breast, I, who was at his head and to windward, turned the flap up over his face and stitched it down, while the sailmaker did the same at his feet to leeward. Having stitched the flaps down all round, I said to the sailmaker, " I'll just take a final stitch through the end of his nose. Sails, and then I'm done." " No, don't do dat," said the sailmaker, and as he glanced up I saw by the light of the lantern that he looked white and nervous. " Why certainly," said I, " he'll feel slighted if we omit the final stitch" ; and as I said it I jabbed the needle 336 ON MANY SEAS Stoutly through his nasal organ, and at the same instant there came a crashing peal of thunder. The little forward cabin was brilliantly illuminated for an instant with the spectral bluish light of electricity, and at the same time the squall struck the bark, and she heeled away over. The deck under the body was shppery with blood, and away we went all together down to leeward. The lantern upset and went out, and we were all in a heap. " Sails " was the first to extricate himself, and, rushing wildly out on deck, he screamed : " Der captain ish nicht dode ! Der captain ish nicht dode ! " The crew were busy getting in the light sails. Sheets and halyards were flying, and canvas flapping and banging in the darkness aloft. Sailors were singing out on cle\ylines and buntlines. The wind was roaring through the rigging, and there was an almost continual broadside of celestial artil- lery. But through and above all the pandemonium could distinctly be heard the frenzied shrieks of the half-crazed sailmaker, as he rushed aft and harangued the mate in low Dutch, who looked at him stolidly for a moment, as he puffed at his cigar, and then walked aft to see how she headed. After we got the sail in, and everything snug, and not before, another lantern was lighted, and a committee of all hands went peering cautiously into the forward cabin to see what the old man was up to. There he lay as stiff and straight and quiet and dead as anybody could desire ; but, to prevent him sliding around and mussing up the deck, a reef earing was brought and tied around his neck, and he was dragged up into a half-reclining position and fastened to a door-knob. Verily it was a case of " dead lion," — the captain of yes- terday, whose slightest word was absolute law, tied by the neck to-night, with a reef earing, to the door-knob of his SUICIDE AT SEA 337 own cabin. Such is destiny ! He hung there until the next afternoon, when we buried him. The carpenter sawed off two pieces of board about eight feet long and nailed a batten across each end, thereby form- ing a rough substitute for a grating. The remains were brought out and laid on it. The carpenter and sailmaker took up the head, and a couple of sailors the feet, and the sailors laid their end on the lee rail. The carpenter took off his hat and looked into it. All hands stood around in silence. The mate stood on the main hatch puffing away at his cigar. The bark was shp- ping along at an eight-knot gait, with the wind a point abaft the beam. Everybody was waiting for the mate to perform the funeral ceremonies, and he, apparently, was waiting for everybody else ; for after a couple of minutes of silent expectancy, he looked at the carpenter and said, "Veil?" The carpenter put on his hat, spoke to the sailmaker, and they raised the head of the board as high as they could, but the body refused to shde off it. So they walked towards the rail shoving it ahead of them, and, finally, dumped the whole business overboard altogether. The main topsail was not even backed, and the captain's funeral ended then and there, and each one went about whatever job he had on hand. When we arrived at Sandy Hook we got orders to proceed to Philadelphia, and on the way up the river, as I was at the wheel, the mate said to me : "I suppose you will leave us here?" I told him yes, and reminded him that I expected to be paid for my services. But although he acknowledged that he knew I had entered a protest on leaving Havre, and demanded to be set ashore, still, he said, the ship had paid for a man, and couldn't afford to pay it over again. So when I got ashore I went to see a lawyer, and happened to have the good luck to strike the 338 ON MANY SEAS right one the first thing. He made the ship pay me my wages, and I was able to fit for sea in fairly good shape. I stayed a couple of weeks in Philadelphia — the most deuced slow place I ever got into. I heard that there was a Portland brigantine bound for Antwerp, with oil, so I went down and had a look at her. I rather liked her appearance ; and hearing that the captain wouldn't have anything but Dutchmen, I went aboard and introduced myself as Yan Yansen, a Dane, and he shipped me. This captain, whom I will call Tibbetts, was a thorough " dyed-in-the-wool " Yankee. He didn't know that there was anything else in the world but the almighty dollar. He could not, nor did he wish to, see anything beyond its circumfer- ence, and by it all his hopes, fears, and aspirations were cir- cumscribed. The mate was a great, long, round-shouldered, hook-nosed old fellow from Baltimore. The "second " was the captain's foster-brother, — a big, awkward, ungainly young cub, as igno- rant as a mule, and as dumb as an off ox. When it was time to go aboard, I hired Tom Nixon, who had been mate and part owner in iht James L. Baker, and abused me like a stepfather, years before, to take my dunnage down to the dock for a quarter. He didn't look now much like a chief oi^cer and part owner. He had an old shark-bait hitched into a vehicle which suggested the conundrum : " Will it last till we get there ? " Tom was now doing odd jobs for a quarter or fifty cents. I knew him instantly, but he did not know me, and I did not bother to renew the acquaintance. The brig was brand-new, a stanch little hooker, and a good sailer. She was built by her captain and owner, and built just as he wanted her. We made a fair passage to Antwerp, discharged our cargo, and took ballast from there to Glasgow, where we loaded iron raibvay ties and sleepers for Rosario on the Rio de la Plata. CHAPTER XXXIX A Sea Lawyer. — Dutch Jake goes down. — I become Second Mate. — A Good Sailor. — A Turn of Home- sickness. Having arrived in Rosario without any incident worthy of note, we anchored alongside a vertical cliff as high as the brig's trucks. We had to discharge our cargo here, so we dropped our starboard-bow anchor into the deep river, and, running a line from the port bow, we breasted her over towards the shore, slacking on the anchor-chain as we hove in on the line. When we got her in position, it became necessary to moor her stern, so that she would lie steady. So we took the boat under the bow, lowered the other anchor down until its ring was level with the boat's stern, and lashed it fast to her. Then they slacked away on deck until she had the weight of it, and we pulled thirty fathoms of chain into the boat. The chain was then unshackled on deck, and we proceeded round to the stern, and gave them up the end on the starboard quarter. The old man now told the second mate, who had charge of the boat, to pull away broad on the quarter, paying out chain carefully as he went, and drop the anchor as far out in the stream as possible. So we started, and the mate took long Dutch Jake to help him check the chain. 339 340 ON MANY SEAS We hadn't got half a dozen boat-lengths from the stern before it was easy to see that they would never be able to hold the chain, for of course the bight of it sagged away down in the water ; and I told the second mate he had better stand clear of it, as it was liable to take a run any minute. " You shet up yer d head ; I'll attend ter this chain," said he, and just as he said that, it got away from them. Zip ! zip ! it went out of the boat. I yelled to the others to look out and not get caught in it, and dropped my oar and jumped for the anchor lashing. But my knife was dull and there were a good many turns of the rope. So the first thing I knew, the chain had all gone out of the boat, and as it fetched up with a snap on the anchor her stern went under. I knew Dutch Jake couldn't swim, and I didn't know how many of the others could, so I breached out of her as fast as possible, and took two or three vigorous strokes, before I ventured to look back. When I did, I saw all hands swim- ming, except Jake. The boat's nose was about a foot out of water, sticking straight up in the air, and he stood on the very tip-top point of it, yelUng like a Comanche, as it slowly settled under him. Down it went, till Jake's chin was at the level of the muddy water, when, with one despairing cry, he made a desperate, but feeble, jump upwards, and then sank out of sight. The old man and the mate stood looking on, not thirty feet away, not knowing what to do. As they had no other boat, they could render no assistance. Finally the mate commenced to heave things overboard to us, to catch hold of, and an Italian bark sent a rescuing party after us in a little dingy that she had towing astern. I was the first one they came to, but I told them, in Spanish, to go after Jake, as he couldn't swim. He had come to the surface again, and was splashing and spluttering like a right whale on a BECOME SECOND MATE 34 1 sand-bar. So they got him first, and then gathered in the rest of us, and took us aboard. The old man was so pleased to think that none of us were drowned that he told the Italian mate he was " obleeged " to him. We now had to get tackles on the chain, and heave the anchor up again. Of course, it brought the boat with it, which wasn't hurt any ; and then, to prevent further acci- dents, the old man dropped the brig herself out in the stream, and dropped the anchor from her quarter. All this was a very convincing illustration of the old saying, "The more haste, the less speed." After the cargo was out, we all got a little money and liberty. The old mate, who had had several jawing matches with the captain lately, did not come back, so the second mate was promoted to be mate while Jake was made second mate. But Jake was not a success as an ofificer, for he hobnobbed with the crew, went ashore with them at night, and allowed them to call him Jake, and say " yes " and "no," and do pretty much as they liked. So after about a month of this kind of thing the old man told him he had better take his clothes-bag forward again, and promoted me to the vacancy. Finding myself thus unexpectedly transplanted aft, and seeing that there was nothing in the position that I was not perfectly familiar with, I began to think what an infernal jay I had been to go before the mast all these years, and allow Dutch and Irish mates to bulldoze me in my own country's ships ; and I swore by the main boom that I would never earn another dollar before the mast. And I never have. I took good care not to make the same mistake that Jake did ; and though I did not put on many frills, I gave the men to understand that when they spoke to me they must say "Mister," and "sir"; and when I said "Go," go 342 ON MANY SEAS it was, and no growling. Jake remarked one day that I was getting mighty stiff since I went aft ; but I shut him up most effectually, and that was the last I heard of that. The old man sold me an old ebony quadrant ; and I borrowed his " Bowditch " and " Nautical Almanac," and began to study navigation. I made two discoveries right away : first, that navigation was not nearly as mysterious as I had always supposed ; and second, that I had nearly forgotten all of my arithmetic. I soon brushed that up, however, and it was only a short time before the old man began to say, " I dunno," to my innumerable questions. I then made another discovery, which was that navigation practised aboard the brig was a very rudimentary science. I have since found that the brig was not by any means an exceptional case in this respect. Naturally I felt no little pride when I found myself in sole charge. During my watch at night I would sometimes sit on the weather rail, and glance aloft at the swaying spars, and then down at the stanch little hooker under them, and think to myself that, for the time being at any rate, and as long as the old man stayed below, I was monarch of all I surveyed. She was a smart httle sailer, but the old man was very careful of her. He had nearly made his pile once, and lost it again, in a furniture store which he bought in Portland. So he had drummed up all the influence he could get, and built this little vessel to retrieve his fortunes in. But I always wanted to see her go ; and one night in the middle watch I had my chance. When I came on deck the wind was a couple of points abaft the starboard beam, and was just a nice, stiff, whole-sail breeze. She was can- tering along about ten knots, and the mate told me that if it freshened any, I had better take in the jib topsail and call the old man. BECOME SECOND MATE 343 That was all right, but I had travelled more miles at sea than he had fathoms, and I made up my mind that if the old man would only stay below, and Boreas would puff his cheeks, I'd see what was in her before eight bells was struck again ; and I did, too. The breeze gradually freshened, but blew nice and steady, no puffs or jerks about it. The sea remained within due bounds. The night was as bright and beautiful as ever shone on land or sea. There was no moon, but the stars twinkled like millions of diamonds. Not even a light, fleecy cloud was to be seen, and how she did swing along, as steady as a church and as fleet as a deer. She steered beautifully, and I could see her broad white wake astern as straight as a Hne. Oh ! how proud and how grand I felt ; I wouldn't have shaken hands with any lesser nautical light than " Old Samuels," ^ just at that moment, and I imagined that I knew how he felt when he was driving the Dread- naught for the Western Islands, with the Alabama in hot pursuit. "See how she buries that lee cathead; Hold on, good Yankee pine " — says the song ; and I felt like shouting the words out to the gallant little brig, who was doing herself proud that night. I took a walk around, once in a while, and looked at the sails and gear. The big jib topsail was pulling Hke a thousand elephants ; it's sheet was like a bar of steel, but I knew that everything about her was new and strong, and I was bound that for once she should go ; and go she did. There came a time, at about three o'clock, when even I had wind enough for the sail I was carrying, and I had about 1 Captain Samuels, of the Dreadnaicgkt, one of the most famous of American clipper captains. 344 ON MANY SEAS made up my mind that I would take in the jib topsail, when I heard a voice say quietly, right behind me : " What ye trying ter do? " I turned; and there stood the old man in his shirt and drawers. Ignoring his question, I remarked that it was a fine night. " Yes," said he, " the night's all right ; " and as he looked over the side, I added : " The Boston girls have got our tow-line now all right, sir; she must be reeling off about twelve." " Nigher fourteen," said the old man. " Is the jib top- sail on her yet?" " Yes, sir." " Better git it in, or you won't have any." I heard him tell another captain afterwards in Boston, how he had got fifteen knots out of her, on the passage home. Our provisions began to run low again, and the old man put into that universal marine junk-shop, St. Thomas, for more grub. St. Thomas seems to have become, by mutual consent of all concerned, just what I have called it, a marine junk- shop. Here derelicts, wrecks, and all sorts of unseaworthy hulks, seem to arrive, as though it was the gateway to the " hereafter" of ships. Here they are condemned and sold for what they will bring, so that almost anything in the marine line can be got here at a bargain. Before we got to Boston, we had eaten up the few rations the old man had bought in St. Thomas with his usual econ- omy, and had to put in to Vineyard Haven for supplies enough to take us through. We did, however, reach Boston at last ; and when I found myself so near home and fairly well-heeled financially, I began to have a longing to see my father once more, if he was still alive. Of course, the crew BECOME SECOND MATE 345 all left, and the next day after in an angry discussion with the old man, I told him I guessed I would take my pay and go home too. "Yes," said he; "I guess you'd better. I've been mis- taken in you. You ain't the man I thought you was. Go up to the shipping office and get your money as soon as you like." So here I was at last, in reahty " homeward bound," — and just as I had always intended to be some time, with a pocketful of money. Now I would not be ashamed to face anybody. I was also an officer. Not a very high one to be sure, but still I was out of the forecastle, and bound to remain out of it. How many times during the past ten years had I roared out the chorus, in many a foreign port when heaving the anchor, " Hooraw, me boys, we're home- ward bound." And yet, this was my first home-coming. Of course I did a lot of thinking. Would father be alive yet? That was my principal worry. I had only heard from him once while away, and that was about nine years ago, in Melbourne ; and a great many things can happen in ten years. CHAPTER XL New York at Last. — A Fatherly Welcome. — To Sea Again. — Fore and Aft Seamanship. I WAS now travelling on part of the identical route I had gone over with my father when I was a little fellow, and he first took me to New York ; and it brought back many memories. I cannot say that I regretted having gone to sea, and wasted so many years of my life in cruising about the world to no purpose, for as yet I had only come in con- tact with sailors like myself, who had no object in view other than to make a voyage, spend their money, and ship again for anywhere. When we got to Fall River, I boarded the boat, ate my supper, and turned in and slept as calmly as if I had been off watch abreast the Horn. The next morning we were alongside the wharf, and, as I didn't know where to go, I took a cab and went to the Cherry Street Sailor's Home. I then went out to hunt up my father. When I left New York he had a small shop down near Roosevelt Street, on South, so down there I went ; but the place was occupied by another business. I didn't know what to do. Finally I tackled a gentleman on the sidewalk, and explained my dilemma to him. He advised me to look in the directory. So I entered an office and asked permission to look in their directory, which was readily granted ; when I had hunted up the firm's new 346 YANKEE SCHOONERS 34/ address, I found that my father was in charge of the Brooklyn end of the business, so I telegraphed to him and made my way over to him. I found him waiting for me in his office, and I was sur- prised and pleased to see how little he had aged in ten years ; and how he laughed when I told him I feared he might be dead. " Why," said he, " people don't grow old and die in ten years." I stayed with father that day and went with him in his buggy to his house, a Httle way out on Long Island. He had built himself a handsome house, some five years before, and there I was introduced to a young lady cousin from Portland, who was visiting. I had never seen her before, and was charmed, for of course I had grown up entirely ignorant of ladies' society. My stepmother seemed pleased to see me, and as I was now a man, I had resolved to forget all my boyish animosities towards her, so we got along very well together. I had considerable money left, and put in a good deal of my time escorting my cousin about, and enjoyed myself hugely. But of course this kind of thing, while it was, as the Frenchman said, " veree nice and veree pleasant," could not last for ever. I told my father of my promotion, and showed him my discharge to prove it. " Why, that's not you ; that's John Johnson's discharge." But I explained to him how that came about, and also how it was that when his partner was in San Francisco and telegraphed to every United States Consul, from Cape Horn to 'Frisco, that he was unable to get track of me, because I had never sailed under my own name out there. There was a three-masted schooner called the William L. Bradley lying in the Atlantic dock and bound for Glouces- ter, England. Father had done some work on her, and in 348 ON MANY SEAS conversation with the captain had spoken of me ; and the captain said he would Uke to have me go with him. So I went down to see him one day. I found him to be a tall, very good-looking man, black whiskers, and bright black eyes. I soon found he was very much like the captain I had just left, only more so if anything. He had the keen, Yankee skipper way with him. Having succeeded in busi- ness, I suppose he was entitled to approve of himself; and he most certainly did. I found out afterwards, that every time he left port he had to get out his books and study up before taking his first observation of the sun's altitude, and as for correcting the declination, that was entirely beyond him; he always got his declination from the mate. He had saved his money and worked hard for what he had, and his share in the schooner — a very fine vessel of her class — was all that he had in the world. He had never been anywhere except to the West Indies, and now that he was going across the pond, he wanted all the expe- rienced help he could get. He asked me if I had ever been in the Irish Channel, and I told him I had. He then got out his chart and commenced to catechise me on the lights. I told him nobody knew the lights by heart unless it was a coaster or Channel pilot. But he said he was going to get a mate who knew them. However, I was not applying for a mate's berth yet. I was willing to make another voyage as second mate. He said his owners didn't allow him to " kerry " a second mate, but if I would ship before the mast, he would give me five dollars a month, out of his own pocket, to stand his watch. I didn't exactly care about a schooner, nor about doing busi- ness that way, but my money was getting low, and second mates were more abundant than ships in New York, so I agreed to it, and went aboard. YANKEE SCHOONERS 349 A few days after that the mate came aboard, — a tall, finely built, and handsome young man, a German by birth, although he spoke English with less accent than any Ger- man I ever saw. Mr. Smith and I became firm friends at once, and remained so to the end of the voyage. After the schooner was loaded with wheat, the crew came aboard — three men — and we towed over to the Jersey flats and anchored, while the old man went ashore to clear. I had been living aft all this time, but when he came aboard he told me that in order to avoid any dissatisfaction among the crew as to going to sea shorthanded, I had better move my things forward. This I flatly refused to do, telling him that if I was to have charge of his watch I must live aft, and as far as any dissatisfaction of the crew was concerned, I believed that Mr. Smith and I would be able to attend to all that ; to which Mr. Smith cheerfully assented. So it was finally agreed that I should remain aft. Nothing worthy of note occurred on the passage over. As I had only one man in my watch, of course I had to stand wheels and lookouts the same as the other men. The old man was very timid about entering the Channel, but Mr. Smith and I braced him up as much as we could, and after he once got a sight of Cape Clear he felt a good deal easier. At that time there had been but a very few American schooners across the Atlantic, so that our rig created quite a sensation in the Bristol Channel ; and as we had to beat up against a head wind, our pilot went into ecstasies over the square corners cut by the big Yankee schooner in tack- ing. And it was a fact that we went to windward of the whole fleet, as if we had been a steamer ; for, while the old top- sail schooners, brigs and barks would be flapping around in stays, we would be off on the other tack, and away with a good full, scooting to windward like a gallied whale. The most interesting part of the whole voyage, to me, 350 ON MANY SEAS was towing up the Gloucester canal. Here I had a splendid chance to see rural England, and I was greatly surprised to see what a beautiful country it is. Although it was nothing but farm land, yet it was entirely different from farming country in America, resembling more nearly a continuous park. It looked to me as though, on account of the great age of the country, and the limited amount of real estate in comparison to the population, every blade of grass had been counted and cared for. It certainly was the most beautiful stretch of country I have ever seen. But what a contrast were the people to the land they live in ! I never thoroughly appreciated the meaning of the words, boor, chaw-bacon, clod-hopper, until I saw these Gloucestershire Britons. They did seem to be the least in- telligent white men I had ever seen. All their ideas, tastes, and ambitions seemed, by contrast with the country, to be low and brutish, and their language was about as intelligible as Choctaw. Well, we finally arrived at the little ancient city of Gloucester, and it took about three weeks to get the cargo out of her, working two hatches at a time. A gang of men went down in the hold, with half-bushel measures and wooden scoops, and filled the grain into two-bushel bags, which were then hove up, slowly and laboriously, by hand winches — not even a hoisting horse did these antediluvians use. I don't believe that Noah had any more primitive means for discharging the Ark on Mount Ararat. I was much interested in travelling about the old place on Sundays. There was a cathedral there, built I don't know how many hundred years before America was discovered, and still in use. I was told that the stone of which it was built was brought a long way over the hills, on men's shoul- ders, so long ago that the wages were only a penny a day. No wonder they could build cathedrals. YANKEE SCHOONERS 35 I Well, after the Johnny Bulls had hunted out the last grain of wheat from peak and run, we left Gloucester, and went across to Cardiff, in Wales, and got a load of coal for Havana. One of our men ran away here, and the old man shipped a Maltese named Charley in his place. Charley fell to me, my watchmate having been the one to desert. I didn't like the looks of him at all. He had that treacherous snaky look, characteristic of all these Mediterranean nations, known to Yankee sailors by the generic name of Dago. However, as long as he behaved, I used him well, but I didn't trust him. When we left Cardiff, we struck right into a spanking fair wind the first thing, and bowled along down channel, wing and wing, or, as sailors sometimes say, " with her book open"; for the two great fore and aft sails, with booms swung away out on each side, looked at a distance exactly like an open book. When I came on deck to relieve the mate, at twelve o'clock at night, she was still bowling along down channel, dead before it, and I told him I didn't hke the looks of things for a cent. The wind was now blowing half a gale. She was still wing and wing, and if my Dago on the lookout should report a light dead ahead, I wouldn't dare to budge from my course, for if I did the big mizzen would jibe with force enough probably to take the mast out of her. " Well," said he, " you'll have to do the best you can, that's all I know. D a schooner, anyway." To which latter sentiment I breathed a fervent Amen. So I stood at the wheel, and steered and fumed, expect- ing every minute to hear the dreaded report from forward, " Light dead ahead ! " for the Channel was full of all sorts of craft beating up. At last I could stand it no longer, and I kicked on the cabin. The old man came up and wanted to know what was the matter. I told him I wished he would 352 ON MANY SEAS get the watch out, and jibe the schooner, so I could handle her ; " for," said I, " we are liable at any minute to go plump into somebody, and if we do, we will take our cargo of coal to Davy Jones, in short order." " Oh, no," said he, " they won't let us run into 'em, they'll git outer the way ; they don't wanter git run into no more'n we do." In vain I explained to him that they, being close hauled, had no right to " git outer the way " • for if they undertook to do so, and then got hit, they would lose their insurance. But he pooh poohed my fears and went below. Again and again I d — d not only the schooner, but also her dunder-headed captain, who didn't know enough to know when he really was in danger. It wasn't twenty minutes after this before we ran across the stern of an old square-rigged brig hke a whirlwind. Five seconds' sooner and we would have gone clean over her. That settled it ; I kicked on the cabin, and brought the old man out again, and this time I told him very emphatically, that if he didn't jibe her he might expect to find the mizzen- mast towing alongside at any moment ; " for," said I, " I'm not going to the bottom in this blasted schooner, just for the sake of saving her spars." I said so much, and kicked so hard, that finally he con- sented to call the watch and jibe. So he got them out, and got a watch-tackle on the main sheet, and bowsed it in as short as they could get it ; and he stood alongside of me waiting for a lull in the breeze to jibe it over. By and bye, when he fancied the wind had hghtened a bit, he said, " Let her come to now, easy. Be almighty careful or you'll have the mainmast out of her." I let her come to slowly, and just as the big sail began to lift, he yelled, " Ho ! keep her off; keep her off! " He jumped up, and hollered so you might have heard YANKEE SCHOONERS 353 him half a mile to windward, hard as it was blowing. And I busted myself, heaving the wheel np to keep her off. Three times he did this, and, as I knew there were no lulls in that breeze, I made up my mind that she should come to next time, whether or no. So when he told me to luff again, I luffed, and when he began his war dance I pretended I couldn't get the wheel up, and he ran round to the lee side and grabbed the spokes to help me. But while pre- tending to be heaving up, I was all the time holding down, until I saw that she was bound to come to anyhow ; and then I let the wheel go, and the old man went sprawling away to leeward. The big mainsail gave one thunderous flap, the boom seemed to stand on end for a second, and bang she went over. By the Lord Harry, I was sure the whole business would go by the board ; but no, it was another case of " Hold on, good Yankee pine." The old man gathered himself up and came round to windward, took a look aloft and saw his mast still there, and then remarked : "There, d — — her j I've jibed her for ye; an' now I hope yer satisfied." I was. I could handle her now ; so he gave me a new course and went below, and I put in the rest of the watch, mentally cursing a rig that necessitated beating to leeward. 2A CHAPTER XLI Subduing a Desperado. Dago Charley had been gradually increasing in inso- lence as the voyage progressed. He had learned that I was shipped as a foremast hand ; and he, on that account, didn't consider it worth his while to be over and above respectful in his demeanour. I had stood about all of his sneering looks that I cared to, and was on the watch for an open act of disrespect, when I was determined to bring him to his bearings. There was a small vane seized fast to the mizzen pale, schooner fashion, and one morning as I stood at the wheel I noticed that the lower seizing was adrift ; so I told him to take a piece of spun yarn and go up and make it fast. He lazily obeyed, and stayed up there until just before eight bells. When he came down I told him he had not done the job right. He surhly replied that he had made it fast just as it was before, and that was good enough ; and he started to go forward. " Hold on a bit," said I ; and, handing him a piece of yarn, I told him to go up again and make it fast right. It was his watch below now, and he hated to go, but was not ready just yet to refuse duty. So up he went, growling that he would make it fast just as it was and no more. " You seize that vane fast the way it was before, and don't give me any more of your lip about it," said I. 354 DAGO CHARLEY 355 " You go to h ! You ain't no second mate, nor nothin' ; you ain't no more dan me," said he, as he slowly and unwillingly clambered aloft. " I'll attend to your case when you come down again," said I ; for I had made up my mind that the Dago needed a lesson. I had heard that a favourite story of his in the forecastle was about how he had knifed an English mate, and I knew well enough that he had an idea that I was afraid of him. This hallucination it was necessary to correct, and the opportunity had now arrived. But I didn't intend to set myself up as a target for any of his Dago knife-practice. So while he was aloft I went below. I had two revolvers, — one big Colt's "Navy," and one small English pocket pistol. At first I thought I would take the small one ; but I reflected that if he didn't scare, and it came to an actual life-and- death fight, I would not be very well heeled. So I got out the big "thirty-two," loaded it carefully, and stuck it down in my pants behind my right hip, and went on deck. The captain and mate were eating dinner, but I said nothing to them. I went along forward, on the lee side, just abaft the forward house, where I knew he would come when he got down on deck. Presently I saw him coming, and when he caught sight of me, he dropped his eyes and came slouching along, glancing up occasionally under his brows. When he got within a dozen paces, I said : "Charley, you told me to go to h just now, didn't you?" I never saw such a lightning change come over a man in my life. Up went his head. His eyes glared Uke a wild beast's. His mouth stretched in a fiendish grin, and his wiry black moustache stuck straight out, as, whipping out his sheath- knife and brandishing it aloft, he came for me in leaps, shouting : 356 ON MANY SEAS "Yes, you ! I keela you now." Before he had made three leaps in my direction, he was looking down the nickel-plated barrel of my colt, and under- went another lightning change. His hand dropped to his side, his jaw dropped, and his face turned a sickly greenish yellow, as he came to a dead stop. "Drop that knife," said I. But instead of doing so, he turned to windward and started to run round the deck- house. As he was about to pass the corner of the house, I fired over the main boom, and saw the dust ily out of the shoulder of his old blue shirt, as with a yell he disappeared. I started forward on the lee side to head him off, and we each turned the forward corner of the house together. I fired again, but missed, and he turned and ran aft, and I after him. I chased him twice round the house, getting one more shot, but without hitting, for he could run like a deer. By this time the old man and the mate had heard the fracas, and came rushing on deck ; and as Charley turned the cor- ner of the house on his third lap, sprinting like a thorough- bred, the mate met him and knocked him down with a handspike. My blood was up, and I jumped astride of him, and poked the muzzle of my gun in his ear, and if she had been a self-cocker, he would have most assuredly gone where all bad Dagos go. But before I could cock and fire, Mr. Smith pulled me off, saying, " Don't shoot the d fool, he ain't worth it." He began to rise, but I kicked him under the jaw and tumbled him over again, and then stood with one foot on his neck and the other on his wrist, while Mr. Smith got the knife away from him, and went down and got a pair of irons. All this time the old man was fluttering about, like a hen with her head off, asking what it was all about. I told him briefly how the Dago's continued insolence DAGO CHARLEY 357 had finally culminated in an attempt to cut my liver out, and he wanted to know what we proposed to do with him. "Break his heart," said I, ''Wal, ye know I'm marster here," said the old man, rather hesitatingly. " Well, do you want this cut-throat Dago let loose ? Be- cause if you do, say the word, and I'll let him up, but I'll shoot him before he can take one step," said I. "No, no ! no, no ! don't do that ! Put him in irons if ye want to, but don't you abuse him. Mind that ! I won't have nobody abused aboard o' my vessel." "All right, captain," said I. "I won't abuse him; but I'll either tame him or kill him before sundown." Mr. Smith now came along with the irons, and we flapped him over, and, pulling his arms round, ironed him with his hands behind his back ; and seeing his left sleeve soaked with blood, and his shirt torn on the shoulder, we cut it away to see if he was badly hurt, for he lay as if in a swoon. There was only a slight groove cut by my first shot, about four inches along the shoulder-blade. So we hunted him over for other wounds, but, not finding any, came to the conclusion that he was foxing, and I gave him a kick in the ribs and ordered him to get up ; but he never made a move, so I went to the side and drew a bucket of water. Mr. Smith turned him over on his back, and, holding the bucket up as high as I could, I poured it slowly in his face. That shut off his wind ; and when he had stood it as long as he could, he jerked himself erect like a suddenly released spring, and how he did rave ! I think it would have repaid any one to have learned the Maltese language just for the sake of understanding the re- marks that he made then. I know that they were lurid, and I dare say they were picturesque. Occasionally he would relapse into his pigeon Enghsh; and then I real- 358 ON MANY SEAS ized that he was talking about me. We got a piece of hambroline, and passing it through the irons, led him to the weather-main rigging, and rove it through a spare hole in a fairleader, and triced him up until his heels were clear of the deck, his toes just touching. I didn't want to disable him, or I would have taken all his weight on the irons. Here he hung, cursing and howling, for about ten minutes ; then he changed his tune, and began to beg the captain to cut him down. I went up to him and said : " Charley, you needn't call on the captain, for nobody will cut you down until I do ; and that will be just as soon as you promise to behave yourself, and treat me with the respect that is due me as your supe- rior officer. Are you ready to do that now?" " Oh, I keela you ! Goda damma ! I keela you ! " "All right," said I. "I guess I can stand it as long as you can." And I walked away. Presently I noticed that he had stopped his noise, and, on inspection, I found that the hambroline had stretched enough to let his heels down on deck, so that he was com- paratively comfortable ; so I cast him adrift and dragged him over to the mizzen mast. The wind was light, and as she rolled along over the Atlantic swells, the big mizzen would swing to windward and then slat back to leeward with a wrench that would almost tear the sheet from the traveller. I passed the end of the rope through one of the hoops of the sail and hauled him up again. At the very next roll she lifted him off his feet and banged him against the mast, accompanied by a wild yell from him, as his arms were nearly wrenched from their sockets. I thought that would convince him of the futihty of holding out any longer ; so I offered to take him down again on the same terms as before. But he was as stubborn as a mule ; and while he felt around with his toes for the deck, he cursed DAGO CHARLEY 359 and threatened me as furiously as ever. The old man now interfered. He said such treatment was barbarous, and he would not permit it. But Mr. Smith and I both told him that it lay in Charley's power to end it whenever he chose, by simply promising that he would do what every other man did. And we furthermore told him that if he insisted on stopping the punishment, we would both go to our rooms, and he could take the schooner to Havana himself, as we didn't consider our lives safe until the Dago was subdued. While we were talking, there was a sudden cessation of noise on the part of Charley ; and, glancing in his direction, we saw his head hanging down and his body swaying limply to the vessel's roll. " The man is dead. You've killed him. I know'd you'd do it," said the old man. And rushing over, he pulled out his knife and cut him down, and he fell in a heap on the deck. But he wasn't dead. He had only fainted. So we dragged him over to the lee scuppers, and sprinkled his face plentifully with salt water, which soon brought him to again. "Now, Charley," said the old man, "why don't you beg Mr. Williams's pardon, and go to work as you oughter? I never saw such works. I don't like it, and I won't hev it." "Oh, captain! Oh, captain!" was. all Charley had to say. I called the old man one side and told him if he would go below for a few minutes I would guarantee to get the required promise from Charley. "What ye goin' ter do ter him now?" he asked suspi- ciously. " Nothing. Only scare him a bit," said I. " Don't you torture him no more. You've done enough to him now. He'll be laid up all the rest of the passage. I never see nothin' like it, It's wuss'n a reg'lar packet-ship." 360 ON MANY SEAS But I promised that not a hair of the Dago's head should be harmed, and that he should not lay up a minute. So I finally persuaded him to go below. Then I went over to where Mr. Smith was talking to Charley and advising him that nobody but I could save him from further punishment. " Well," said I, winking to Mr. Smith, " I guess he's able to go on with it again, ain't he? " "I guess so," said Mr. Smith; and I ordered Charley to get up ; but he was so stiff and sore, he couldn't do it with- out help. So I pulled him to his feet and we started towards the mizzen mast again. " Wha' you goin' do?" said he, the most abject terror depicted in every feature. " Trice you up again. What d'you suppose ? " " Oh, don' do dat ! don' do dat ! Please, Mr. Williams, don' do dat ! " " Well, are you ready to promise what I asked you to at first?" " Oh, yes, sir. I promise anytin', everytin'. I be good ; ony don' trice me up no more." " Will you turn to right away, and do your duty, and be respectful like the rest of the men?" " I can't turn to right away. I sick. I sore." " Oh, well, then, if you are too sick and sore to turn to, I might as well hang you up again for another half-hour. You deserve it, anyhow, for trying to knife me." " Oh, don', don' ! I turn to. I do anytin' ; ony don' hang me up no more." " You will turn to at eight bells ? " " Yes, sir." "All right." So I unlocked his shackles and dressed his wounded shoulder and sent him below, as / thought, fairly well broken in. But I never trusted him, and I never again DAGO CHARLEY 36 I came on the schooner's deck without my httle revolver loaded and in a handy pocket ; and when he came to re- lieve me at the wheel I never allowed him to get behind me, but always stepped aside and made him go in front of me to take hold of her. And on many a dark night as I stood there, I fancied I saw a dark shadow creeping along the lee gangway, and I would cock my little gun and have it ready for the sudden spring I expected at any moment. I got an old tin pan from the cook, and with some nails and sail twine I rigged a burglar alarm at my room door, so that it could not be opened more than an inch without the old pan coming clattering and banging down, hitting the side of my bunk, and roUing on the floor. I kept my lamp burning all night, and rigged a shade to it out of an old soup can, so that, while my bunk was in shadow, the light was concentrated full on the door ; and then, with my big Colt loaded and ready to my hand, I felt able to repel boarders, should the emergency arise. The first night after I rigged my alarm, when Mr. Smith came down to call me, as he opened the door there was a racket like an earthquake in a tin factory ; and he asked me what in h that was. I explained ; and he said, " Well, then, I'm d — d if I'm going to come in here to call you any more. You're liable to have the nightmare and get to dreaming that Charley is after you, and bore me full of holes by mistake. So after that he stayed outside and kicked on the door until I woke up. After that Charley's manner was almost suspiciously civil ; but I was careful neither to do or to say anything to invite him or to give him reason to suppose that I had not the most perfect faith in his reformation. I noticed that when he was on the lookout he never reported any lights, although I frequently saw them from the wheel. I didn't say anything to him about it, but 362 ON MANY SEAS reported it to the mate. So one night, when we were on the Bahama banks, and he had seen several vessels' lights in the first watch, he said to me, " I'll stay on deck with you awhile and see if that Dago keeps a lookout." In about fifteen minutes he walked forward, and seeing nobody on the lookout, he looked down into the forecastle — she was a hurricane-decked vessel — and saw Charley sitting on a chest, filling his pipe, and talking to the watch below. "Who's on the lookout?" he asked. " I be," said Charley. " Well, that's a h of a place to keep lookout. What are you doing down there? Come up here, where you belong." " I come up so soon I Hght my pipe." And he leisurely filled and lighted his pipe, and then came up. The mate said he could hardly keep his hands off him, but he told him to keep a sharp lookout, as there were plenty of vessels about ; and then came aft and told me about it. He stood there by me, talking, for half an hour, when I asked him if that wasn't a light on the weather bow. He stepped out of the glare of the binnacle, and took a good look, and said it was. We then waited to hear from Charley, on the lookout, until the light was in such plain view that, as the saying goes, a blind man might have felt it with his stick. And then, as the mate could stand it no longer, he went down in the lazarette, and got an oak heaver about the size and shape of a policeman's night stick, and went forward. Charlie was sitting on the capstan head, facing to leeward, with his coat-collar turned up, both hands in his pockets, and a stream of fire from his pipe flying over the lee bow. " Don't you see that light? " asked the mate. DAGO CHARLEY 363 " I no see nuttin," said Charley, without even turning his head. But I'll bet a leather fourpence that he saw a million stars right after that ; for, with all the power at his command, the mate brought the heaver down on top of his head, — once, twice, three times, — and then threw it overboard, thinking, as he afterwards told me, that he had certainly- killed him, and wishing to destroy the evidence. But so far from having killed him, he didn't even knock him off the capstan. Charley came racing aft, shouting, " Captain ! Captain ! Dey keela me ! Day keela me ! " The old man, hearing the ruction; breached up the com- panion-way ; and there stood Charley at the door, looking down at him, with his face all covered with blood. And he nearly scared the old man out of his wits. He said he thought we had been run into, A short explanation ensued, and, while the old man ob- jected to our methods of maintaining discipline, he was unable to suggest any better ; so he shaved and plastered and tied up Charley's head, and sent him back on the lookout to muse over the brutality of American mates, who wouldn't allow a poor fellow to defy their authority with impunity. A few days after this we arrived in Havana, and Charley demanded to see the consul, — a privilege which was at once granted, — and he, Mr. Smith, and the old man went ashore together. Charley stated to the consul his grievance, and I will do him the justice to say that he stated the case truthfully. When he got as far as where he told the mate he would come on deck as soon as he lit his pipe, the consul said : " Hold on ; I've heard enough. You told the mate you would come on deck as soon as you lit your pipe, hey? " 364 ON MANY SEAS " Yes, sir." " Well, do you know what I would have done to you, if I had been the mate? " " No, sir." " I would have dragged you up out of that forecastle, and thrown you overboard. Now, you go back aboard of your vessel and go to work, and don't let me have any more complaints, or I'll use you worse than the mates have. And, Mr. Smith, don't fool with this fellow a bit. I see what he is. Don't put him in irons, — that would suit him too well, — but make him do his work that he is paid for, the same as the rest of the crew ; and don't be backward about using any means you see fit to accomplish that purpose." While they were ashore, I had been getting ready to dis- charge the coal. They got back at dinner time, and all during the meal the old man was worrying over Charley's case. He said he didn't believe we had got through with him yet, and he cautioned us not to abuse him. After dinner, Mr. Smith and I sat on top of the house, and smoked our pipes until one o'clock, when he told me to turn the men to, and get to work loading the lighter which lay alongside. I walked forward, and sung out " Turn to, there." Up came the two men belonging to the port watch, but no sign of Charley. I stepped to the rail and got a spare belaying pin, and peering down into the forecastle, I could dimly see him lying in his bunk. ''Come, turn to, there; do you hear? What's the matter with you?" " I can't turn to, sir. I sick." "You come up out o' that, or I'll make you sicker yet." No answer from Charley. I jumped down two steps at a time, and grabbed him by the collar, and yanked him out of his bunk. As he came floundering out on the deck, I saw he had his knife in his hand, and I gave him a sharp rap with the pin DAGO CHx\RLEY 365 on the knuckles, which made him drop the knife and grab his fingers with the other hand. I then belted him freely on his sore head with the pin, reopening his wounds, and causing them to bleed nicely. Howling and cursing, he started up the ladder on a jump. When Mr. Smith saw me dive below, he came forward, and as Charley emerged from the scuttle, he received him with all the honours of war, punching and kicking him all the way down in the hold, where he bent himself on to a shovel, and commenced to fill a tub like a good fellow ; and that was the last trouble we had with him. Ever after that he was the first man to jump when an order was given, and was as civil and respectful as one could wish ; and the old man acknowledged that we seemed to have effected a cure, and said he wished we had been with him last voyage, when two Englishmen nearly took charge of her, doing about as they liked, and terrorizing him and an old Yankee mate. CHAPTER XLII An Invitation. — Hatteras Weather. — A Bargain with Dago Charley. — My Friend Mr. Smith. — A Mean Old Man. — A Wreck. While in Havana, I received a letter from a young lady- cousin, on my mother's side, which afforded me more pleasure, I think, than any occurrence in my whole life, up to that time. I had never known any of my mother's rela- tions, didn't even know that I had any ; but it seems that the remembrance of my father and myself had been kept green in my mother's family, and handed down by her brothers and sisters to their children, but for twenty-five years they had lost all trace of us, until this young lady, by a wonderfully roundabout means, discovered my address. She introduced herself and all the others to me in the letter, and urgently requested me to visit them on my return to the States, assuring me of a hearty welcome and a good time, as long as I cared to stay. I answered the letter at once, accepting the invitation, and thanking her most sincerely for her kind efforts in hunting me out. It was a very agreeable surprise to me to find that, though I had always regarded my father as almost my sole relative, I now had a whole raft of uncles, aunts, and cousins, all anxious to welcome me to their homes. And many a pleasant dream did I dream, and many a beautiful castle did I build, in the night watches on the passage home. 366 STRAITS OF SUNDA 367 We got the usual gale off Hatteras, accompanied by such a display of celestial pyrotechnics as is entirely unknown to those who have never been down to the sea in ships. Where the fireballs hiss and whiz by your very ears, and strike the water with a great splash, and the zigzag flashes seem to be just above your head, and darting among the rigging. The almost continuous roar of the thunder is enough to start a butt, and the downpour of rain is like nothing less than a passage under Niagara itself, while the wind tears through the rigging like a charge of Hell's cavalry. Yes, there is some weather to be had off Hatteras. When we were paid, Mr. Smith and I called Charley to one side, and Mr. Smith said to him : " Well, Charley, I sup- pose you will have Mr. Williams and me arrested now, hey? " "Oh, I dunno," said he, avoiding our looks with his shifty snaky eyes. " Well, I know you will, but let me tell you something, if you do, we can easily settle it with your lawyer for ten dol- lars apiece, and you won't get anything. Now don't you think it would be better for you to deal directly with us, and so get whatever there is in it for yourself?" Yes, Charley thought that was good logic ; so, after a little haggling, he agreed to accept five dollars apiece from us, and a drink, and in return he signed an agreement certi- fying that all claims he had against us for damages were satisfied. We took him into a saloon, and of course he would not think of insulting two such fine gentlemen as we were by tak- ing anything less than fifteen-cent brandy, which was nothing but fusel oil, anyway. And so, declaring that he respected us more than any officers he had ever sailed under, the blasted hypocritical, lying Dago left us, and that was the last I saw of him ; sweet bad luck to him wherever he goes. Mr. Smith and I struck hands and parted, he to go to ^68 ON MANY SEAS England and marry a young lady whom he met in Cardiff, and I to continue my peregrinations elsewhere ; and I wish to say right here, that of all the men I had ever associated with on board ship, up to that time, he was the one who had earned my greatest regard and most profound and endur- ing respect. I liked him thoroughly. I hked all his ways. He was a very highly educated young man, and assisted me greatly to understand some of the mysteries of navigation, which, until I met him, had baffled me completely. He was generous, without ostentation, a whole-souled, true- hearted, good friend and shipmate, as courageous as a lion, but not in the least overbearing. His bright, brown eyes looked at you as honestly as daylight. God bless him, and may his career be as successful as he himself could most fervently wish. Of course, I was crazy to go down east and visit my newly found cousins ; but father said he would like to go with me when I went, and not having received sufficient notice, his business was not in such shape that he could leave it just now, but if I would delay my visit until I had made another voyage, he would endeavour to be ready to go with me. To this I readily agreed, and, in order to have the next voyage over as soon as possible, I began to hunt for a ship right away. I had determined to promote myself another step, for I was now a better navigator than either of the captains I had sailed with as second mate, having familiarized my- self with " Sumner's Method," and learned to find my posi- tion by lunar distance. I had also fitted myself out, while in England, with a new sextant, and bought several charts and books, such as Rosser's " Stars, Lights and Tides of the World," Bow- ditch's "Navigator," and many others. In fact, I knew my- self to be not only competent, but also well equipped, to take a ship to any port in navigable waters, and as for STRAITS OF SUNDA 369 seamanship — well, I certainly ought not to be deficient in that. So I resolved that when I went to sea again, it should be as first mate. I wasn't long in finding a berth. There was an old Bath bark called the Ellen Angeinan^ Captain Harry E. Stapleton, lymg on for Bristol. I had a talk with the captain, and convinced him that I was the man he was looking for, and he shipped me. This captain was a measly, long-legged, round-shouldered jay with a thin, stragghng red beard, which was Hke himself: too blasted mean to thrive. He was for ever parading his honesty and his smartness for my admiration, and they were both of a nature to call forth feelings of supreme contempt only. He had succeeded his brother in command of the bark. A younger brother of his, while acting as second mate on the previous voyage, had been killed by one of the forward hands, who was an old schoolmate of his, and whom he had driven to desperation by his insulting and abusive manner. They were within a couple of days' sail of Callao when they ran into a gale of wind, and had to reef her down. The young man went to the weather main topsail earing, and the second mate, seeing who was there, worked his way out on the yard, and, standing up, he hung on to the lift while he deliberately booted his old schoolmate in the face, cursing him all the time for not getting the dog's-ear up quick enough. After the sail was reefed, and the men lay down on deck again and manned the halyards, he resumed his abuse, kick- ing and thumping the young man, until, patience ceasing any longer to be a virtue, he drew his sheath-knife and with one slash disembowelled his tormentor. The body was picked up just as it was, in its oilskins, and laid on the bench in the carpenter's shop, and the 2B 3/0 ON MANY SEAS young fellow was ironed to it, one shackle on his and one on the dead man's hand, and locked in there all night while the gale raged without. Sometimes the men on watch would go to listen at the door, and fancy that they heard a moaning as of one in misery or terror, but the wind howled so that it was impos- sible to be sure, and the captain or mate, when they saw them loitering about the house, drove them away. The young fellow was left there all alone in the dark, with the bloody remains of his victim and his own thoughts for company. When morning came, they opened the door, expecting to find him, if not dead with fear, at least a gibbering maniac. Not at all ; he had pulled the corpse off the bench to the deck, and was himself stretched out on it, calmly sleeping the sleep of the avenger. We went under the elevator and filled the lower hold with bulk grain, and then went over to New York and filled up in the 'tween-decks with assorted cargo, and sailed for merry England. When we got in the chops of the Channel, a heavy fog closed in, and he promptly hove her to, although vessels of all sorts were continually passing us, bound in ; and here we lay for ten days. Every night, before eight o'clock, it would clear off as fine as could be, and during my watch on deck I would get her position by the altitudes of the stars ; and though my position agreed with that given by the deep- sea lead, yet, as the fog shut down again at daylight, he wouldn't run. He said he never heard of anybody getting their position by the stars, and he didn't believe in it. He wanted to see the sun, and then you knew what you'd got. We saw the sun, by and bye, and then he squared away, and at last this most dismal of passages came to an end by our arrival at Bristol. STRAITS OF SUNDA 37 1 The crew left us here, and he had to hire men to get the cargo out, and he grunted over that. I told him I didn't suppose he wanted a high-priced New York crew to stay by him in England ; that I had never heard of such a thing. He said he didn't want them to stay by altogether, but only until the cargo was out. Well, sailors may be fools, but I have yet to see a crew that would stay aboard and discharge cargo, when they know they won't get a cent for it, nor be allowed to make another passage in her because their wages are too high. While in Bristol, I took a trip to Stratford-on-Avon, and visited the birthplace and tomb of Shakespeare ; and I shall always be glad that I did so, for it was to me the most inter- esting trip that I ever made. The old lady in charge of Anne Hathaway's cottage gave me a sprig of lavender, and its descendants are growing in my father's garden to this day. We got our cargo out, and shipped a crew of riggers to take her to Newport in Wales, where we got a cargo of coal and shipped a crew, and set sail for Rio de Janeiro. The old man shipped a carpenter here, as there was lots of car- penter's work to do on the old ballahoo. He shipped as a sailor, but agreed to do the carpentering. He was a good carpenter and a nice fellow, — a great big Nova Scotiaman, over six feet high and built like an ox. One day in Rio the old man told him that he was not doing a certain job right, and the carpenter insisted that he was, and wouldn't do it any other way. The old man got mad, and, turning to me, said : " Mr. Williams, I want that man licked. Do you hear? I want him licked." I sized the carpenter up, and told him I had no objections to his licking him whenever he saw fit, and walked away. We had a cook on this voyage, who, hke all cooks, had an immense idea of his own importance. He was cook and 372 ON MANY SEAS steward both. I had occasion to speak to hun several times about throwing slops over the ship's side, and one forenoon he gave me a rather surly answer. I let it go at the time, but it rankled ; and as I was taking the sun's altitude that noon he passed me with the cabin dinner, and jostled me roughly, just as the lower limb was about to dip, thus causing me to lose the observation. As he came aft the next trip with a big meat pie in his bands, I said to him : " Say, steward, do you know that you ran into me and made me lose the observation? Where are your manners? You should have excused yourself." " Oh, don't talk to me," said he ; "you ain't got the fore- castle stink off of yourself yet." I landed him one plump on the eyebrow, and down went his house. As he fell, the pie went over his head, down the companion-way, and landed bottom up square on the cat, who was dozing in the sun at the foot of the steps. The cat went round the cabin, tail on end, like a streak of light- ning round a down-east farm, and put in the whole after- noon licking the pie and hair off herself, for it was steaming hot ; and when her toilet was completed, she was nearly naked, although she had enjoyed a good meal. The steward jumped up and came for me, but I had the weather gauge of him, and gave him a kick in the stomach and a lift under the jaw that tumbled him over the poop down on to the main deck, and that settled his hash. I never heard any more about forecastle stinks. In Rio, I saw negro slaves for the first time. The old man hired six of them from their owner to work in the coal, just as you would hire a man's horses. And it was sur- prising to me to see how hard and faithfully they worked, although there was nobody to oversee them. As they spoke only Portuguese, I could not tell them anything. At noon their dinners were sent off to them, great big kettles of STRAITS OF SUNDA 373 boiled rice, and nothing else ; and they yappled that down like hungry wolves, and pitched in again and worked like horses. They appeared to be cheerful and happy, due, I suppose, to their ignorance of any better condition. I did not go ashore at all in Rio. I had a new foretop- mast to send up, and as we could only work at that when there was no lighter alongside, it kept us hustling so that I was glad enough to stay aboard and rest nights and Sundays. The weather was terribly hot. Rio is situated in a land- locked bay, deep down among mountains, and we wouldn't get a breath of air from one week's end to another. As there were no satisfactory freights in Rio, after we got the coal out, the old man took in a lot of stone ballast, and we went to Java seeking a cargo. And what a job we had getting out of that pesky hole, Rio ! There are no tugs there, and we had to warp her all the way out to sea. But when we did get out, how good the breeze felt ! We were all glad enough to see Rio over the taffrail. And now came a long journey to the eastward. We took a strong breeze right off, and for weeks and weeks she reeled off her ten knots an hour, night and day. At the entrance to the straits of Sunda, we saw a large vessel ashore, with her sails in ribbons ; and, as the breeze was light, I asked the old man to bear down on her and see if we could not save her crew, and perhaps make a little salvage for ourselves. So he kept away, and by and bye we satisfied ourselves that there was nobody aboard, and we put out a boat, and I boarded her. I had long wanted a chronometer, and hoped to find one in her. I sailed the boat down under her stern, which was in deep water, and discovered by her appearance that she had evidently been there a good while, as the paint was pretty well all gone from her hull, and the iron rust had run down her sides in streaks. 374 ON MANY SEAS Her name had been on her stern in big black letters, but it had all fallen off except the letters — " terdam," indicat- ing to me that she was Dutch, and had hailed either from Amsterdam or Rotterdam. Not seeing any chance to board her on the weather side, we doused our mast and pulled round to leeward, and in- stantly became aware of a most horrible smell. We could hardly stand it at first, but got a little used to it after a bit ; and seeing the end of the fore brace towing overboard, we picked our way among the rocks and got hold of it. I told the bow oarsman to hang on while I scrambled up to the rail. As soon as I mounted the rail, there was a great whir of wings, and up flew from her deck hundreds of birds of all kinds, and then I found from whence came the terrible stench. All over her deck were strewn what was left of the bodies of her crew, and apparently of her passengers also, for I saw several women's dresses among them. There was little left but the skeletons, for the birds had picked them clean wherever they could get at them, tearing the clothing with their powerful beaks. And they now roosted on the yards and houses, and squawked at me for disturb- ing their feast. I was nearly overpowered by the smell ; but remembering my desire for a chronometer, I held my nose, and jumping down on the blood-stained deck, ran as quickly as I could into the cabin. A rapid glance there showed me that everything was in the most perfect order. Even a sewing-basket on the cabin table remained just as it had been left. I opened the door of the captain's room and glanced hurriedly about. No sign of a chronometer there. But stay, there was a little closet near the head of his bunk, which was locked. I gave the door a couple of kicks, but I might as well have hit it with a string of STRAITS OF SUNDA 375 sausages as to try to burst it open that way. I looked round for some kind of implement, and over my head I saw two axes witli red handles in brackets. I hastily snatched one of them down and stove in the door, and there right in front of me, on a small shelf, stood the chronometer. It was fast to the shelf with a couple of brass screws. But hastily breaking off the point of the large blade of my pocket knife, I soon had them out. There was a bag of charts and a iine Pillar sextant in the closet, and freezing on to the whole outfit I hastily made my way out, scaring the birds again, who had settled down to a renewal of their feast. I handed my prizes down into the boat, and followed after myself, nearly suffocated with the horrible stench ; and glad enough were we all to get to windward of the wreck again, where we could take a long breath. As we came alongside, I held up the chronometer and sang out to the old man : " I've got my chronometer at last." " Hah," said he ; ^"^ your chronometer, hey ? " Then I knew he didn't intend to let me keep it, but would claim it for the vessel, or, to put it in plain English, for himself. So when he passed me down a rope's end and told me to bend on that chronometer, I made the most natural stumble I could, and dropped it overboard. Oh, my ! wasn't he mad. He said it was mighty funny that I should drop it overboard just as I got alongside. And I told him I was awfully sorry, for I had always wanted a chronometer, and thought sure now that I had got one ; but he very quickly assuaged my grief by telling me that it wouldn't have been mine in any case, as he should have endeavoured to find the owners, and, failing that, it would naturally revert to the vessel, I having been an employee when I got it in the line of my duty. 3/6 ON MANY SEAS He made me give up the sextant and bag of charts ; and I never heard that he made any very strenuous efforts to discover their owner, either, although we found out in Batavia that the vessel was well known there. She be- longed to a regular trading firm which did business on the island, and had been reported by all incoming ships for some time ; but, apparently, nobody but myself had ever boarded her. • CHAPTER XLIII A Load of Javanese Sugar. — Running the Bali Strait. — Man and Monkey. — A Row with the Old Man. At Batavia we chartered to go down the coast a bit, to Sourabaya, and take in a cargo of sugar to Queenstown for " orders." The sugar came off slowly in lighters, and was stowed by nativ^es, assisted by the crew. It was in great baskets which, after having been stowed for a day and the sugar allowed to settle to the bottom, were then turned on edge, thereby making more room. As it came off so slowly, some of it got turned twice, so that by the time she was full we had several hundred baskets more than the old man had figured on in Batavia ; and as he paid the freight broker there his commission on the estimated number of baskets that she would carry, he pretended to be worried for fear he had done something not exactly honest. He made me sick with his everlasting hypocrisy about honesty. East of Java is Bali Island, said to be inhabited by canni- bals. The two islands are separated by a narrow passage called Bali Strait. It is a rather peculiar piece of water in some respects. It is very narrow in the middle, and opens out into a funnel-shaped mouth at either end. The tide flows through it each way alternately ; and, owing to its peculiar shape, when the large mass of water in the funnel crowds into the narrows, it rushes along like the rapids below Niagara. 377 $y8 ON MANY SEAS Fortunately the wind always blows with the tide, so that although you can't possibly go through except at tide time, yet when once entered, you are as sure of going through, if you keep clear of the rocks, as shot are sure to run out of an inverted bottle. The Dutch government furnishes native pilots, but the pilotage is exorbitant. The old man use.l t j tell me of the conversations the cap- tains had on shore about running Bah Strait. Some said they wouldn't risk their ships in such a hole at all. Others were satisfied to go through if they were sure of getting a pilot. But the pilot station is well within the mouth of the strait, and they are afraid if they get in there, and there is no pilot to be had, they may not be able to get out again ; and then what? Our old man said he would go through, and he wouldn't pay pilotage, either. No, sir; not he. Well, when we got there, the wind and tide were coming out, so we beat up as far as we could, to get a good start on the turn of the tide. We got in far enough so that we could see into the strait with the glass, and the sight was not encouraging to a timid man. We could see the trees bending before the blast, and the seas seemed to stand right up and down. A little country walla came scooting along through, and it looked as if she was skipping along from the crest of one sea to that of the next, like a flying-fish. I could see that the old man was getting fidgety. He told me to have both anchors clear, and seventy-five fathoms of chain overhauled on each. Anchors ! You might as well have tried to hold her with a needleful of sail twine as with anchors in that gut. As the tide and wind slacked, we were abreast of the pilot station, and finally the old man said : " You may as well hoist the pilot signal, Mr. Williams ; there's no use in taking chances on the insurance just for the sake of a pilot's A JAVANESE PILOT 379 fee. And soon after, a little canoe came skipping off from shore with a half-naked native in her. The most conspicu- ous article of clothing about him was a big tin medal, as big as a dinner-plate, hung round his neck by a leather string. We threw him a line, and he climbed up the side, using his toes like a monkey. He came aft, carrying a canvas bag about the size of a horse's nose-bag. This was to carry his money in. He stepped up to the captain, and holding out his bag, said : " You pay." " Are you a pilot ? " "You pay." " Wal, I want ter know first if you're a pilot." "You pay." The old man inspected his dinner-plate medal, and, as it had some untranslatable Dutch words on it, he concluded that this must indeed be the pilot, and went down and brought up a bag of dollars, from which he counted out into the native's bag the necessary fee, and then, as the breeze made in from the sea, the little old curio climbed on top of a quarter bitt, and squatted down on his hunkers, contentedly clutching his bag of money. We squared away now, and headed for the Strait, and at once the breeze picked up, and she began to fly along. The old man asked the pilot if she was heading all right, but he merely blinked his little black eyes, and didn't even grunt. " D that nigger ! " said the old man. " Go forward, Mr. Williams ; take the carpenter and two top mauls with you, and stand by both anchors, and if I sing out, let 'em both go at once." "Ay, ay, sir." By the time I got on the forecastle head, she was right into it, and Lord ! I never saw anything like the rate she was getting past the shore. It was as if she had been shot out of a cannon. The short, choppy seas were jumping straight up in the air, ten, fifteen, 38o ON MANY SEAS twenty feet high, and their heads were cut off by the gale which was blowing in that hell-hole, and went flying away ahead in solid sheets of spray. They flew all over the bark in all directions, and everybody and everything was drenched. The wind howled and roared under the foot of the foresail, in the most deafening manner, and the bark bobbed and pounded in the choppy sea, so that I could hardly keep my feet, and expected momentarily to be thrown off the bow, clean overboard. The high, rocky shores, which didn't look to be more than fifty feet apart, were shooting by us with more than railway speed. The least touch of her keel meant death and destruction. I own that I was scared. But that blasted pilot sat there on the bitt, hanging on to his bag of money, as calmly as if he had been under a cocoanut tree, and surrounded by his whole monkey family. Once the old man yelled at him and asked him why he didn't get up and take charge, if he was pilot, and he calmly answered, " Luffee." " 'Luffee,' you blasted idiot ! how can I luff? ain't I dead before it, and in this narrow hell? If I luff a quarter of a point, she'U be ashore before Hell could scorch a feather." But the pilot never opened his head again from that time forward. All at once I realized that the wind was falling off in its fury, and just as she seemed to be right in the centre of the boiling, frothing caldron, the sails gave a thunderous flap and fell to the masts. The wind had suddenly died out. But no ; a glance at the trees and bushes ashore showed that it was still blowing with all its fury, but the current had become so fearfully strong and rapid now, that she was actually outstripping the gale. In another moment she slewed athwart the stream and headed for the Bali shore, not thirty feet away. She had lost her steerage, and was simply drifting. A JAVANESE PILOT 38 1 I saw the old man jump up and down and yell at the two men at the wheel, but they were powerless. Then he ran down on deck and let fly the main topgallant halyards, and had the men clew it up. I called the carpenter to me, and we hauled the head sheets to windward. There was really no great danger of going ashore on Bali, for she had no way through the water, and was merely drifting broadside on ; and that blasted pilot sat there and blinked in the sun, the only happy man aboard. At the rate she was going, she must soon arrive some- where, if she could only keep water between the keel and the rocks. Presently we swept around a corner, the current carrying her in mid-stream. I heard the jib sheets snap taut, as the sails once more filled, and she got steerage way on her and swung her nose around again in the right direc- tion. We were through the worst of it, and in a few mo- ments more our valuable pilot left us, and we were again in blue and Christian water. We were now fairly started on our long voyage to Queens- town ; and a tedious and disagreeable passage it was. I was getting more and more disgusted with the old man every day, and although I never failed in outward signs of respect to him, yet I presume that he guessed what my feelings towards him were, and he never missed an opportunity to be ugly. Matters came to such a head at last that I avoided him as much as I could, and never spoke to him unless spoken to, or unless business required it. On the homeward-bound passage it is always customary to clean ship, scrape, paint, rattle, and tar down, and if I didn't admire my captain or love his old bark, I had pride enough in myself to desire to bring her into port looking as nice as she could be made to look. So I kept the men up afternoons, and gave her a thorough overhauHng, and got everything ship-shape : the rathnes like spider-lines ; the 382 ON MANY SEAS spars stayed to a nicety ; rigging as black and shiny as a crow's wing ; all the bright work scraped and varnished ; everything newly painted, and the decks holystoned until they were as white as the proverbial hound's-tooth. The cook had bought a monkey in Sourabaya, and al- though he was more or less of a nuisance, he still survived. One day, after everything was about done, I noticed a bare spot on the weather bumpkin where some one had stepped on it and rubbed off the new paint, so I went forwird and got a black paint pot and painted it over. Going forward again to put away the pot, I set it on the main hatch for a minute, while I went below to get my pipe. It seems that the monkey was tied to one of the ring-bolts of the hatch, but I did not see him. I suppose he must have been lying down in the sun behind the combing ; anyway, as I came up again I saw him on the hatch, straining every nerve to reach the lanyard of the paint pot. I hollered at him, but he had got it, and, jumping back in his fright he pulled it over, and upset about two quarts of black paint all over my nice clean deck, and right in front of the cabin. My ! but I was mad. I grabbed that monkey and wiped the paint up with him ; I rolled and soaked and sozzled him in black paint, until the veriest tramp monkey that ever existed would have dechned his acquaintance. And all the time the monkey was jabbering and swearing at me in Por- tuguese, or whatever language they use, and when I got him so thoroughly saturated with paint that he wouldn't take any more, I slammed him down on the hatch and went forward to the paint-locker for some turpentine. When I came back he was sitting on the hatch, scraping the paint off himself. He would reach down and scrape up a handful off his side, smell it, then taste it, and showing his teeth, he would say, . Well, you know what monkeys say as well as I do. Then he would wipe it off on the tarpaulin. And A JAVANESE PILOT 383 he looked so comical blearing at me through the paint, that, mad as I was, I could hardly keep from laughing. While I was trying to clean up the mess on deck, the old man came up from below, and seeing us down there he shouted out : " Mr. Wilhams, who has been abusing that poor animal like that?" I don't think he had ever looked at the blamed monkey before. I told him what had happened, and he said I ought to be ashamed of myself. He said I had no business to set the pot where he could get at it, and he told me, plump and plain, that he wanted me to clean that monkey. I had stood a good deal from him since leaving Sourabaya, but this was the last straw. I told him I had something else to do, and walked forward, totally ignoring his remark. Then the old man opened out on me, and we had it hot and heavy for a while ; but I gave him as good as he sent, and he at last retreated aft, while I, disgusted clear through, picked up my pots and went forward, leaving the big black stain on the deck ; and for all I know, or care, it is there yet. The breach was now opened between us, and we never made any pretence, after that, of being other than the worst of friends ; but, of course, he, being captain, could annoy me daily in thousands of ways, and I not only couldn't help myself, but neither could I get back at him ; and those were the conditions when we arrived in the harbour of Queens- town, and let go our killick on the bottom of Erin's green isle. It was Sunday morning ; and no sooner was the anchor down, than the old man got into a shore boat and cleared out. I knew well enough what was the matter : he wanted to get something fit to eat, for, lately, we had been living on pretty rotten provisions ; and I wondered if he would send anything off for the rest of us. Yes ; he did not forget us. A boat came alongside, within an hour, with beef and vegetables. 384 ON MANY SEAS I was sitting on top of the cabin, smoking and reading a paper which the boatman gave me, when the steward came up, and said : " There's the beef, Mr. WiUiams." I looked at it, and said : " For God's sake. Doctor, what is it?" " It's bull's neck, sir," said he. I asked him if he wanted any of it, or could use any of it for the men's dinner. He said yes, he could make soup out of it. " All right," said I. " Take what you want for soup, and bring the rest aft to me." I told the boatman not to go yet, as I wanted to send a message to the captain. Then I went below, tore a leaf out of the back of the log-book, and wrote on it, in large letters : " Comphments of Mr. Williams to Captain Staple- ton ; " and when the cook brought the beef aft again I skewered that into it, and told the boatswain to deliver it into the captain's own hands, no matter where he was. " I will, sorr," said the Irishman, his eyes twinkling. " And sure I don't blame ye, so I don't. That mate's not fit for a dog to ate. I'm a poor man meself, but divil d the wan o' me that would touch that ! " It didn't seem as if it was twenty minutes before the old man was aboard again ; and he was raving. What did I mean by sending him such a message as that? and what was the matter with that beef ? and who did I think I was, anyhow? He said that d — d Irishman brought that piece of beef up, and handed it to him just as he was being intro- duced to an Enghsh captain and his wife ; and he never was so ashamed in his life. I asked him what he was ashamed of. "Ashamed of you, sir ! Ashamed to have them see that I had a mate with so httle manners as to send his captain such a message as that ! " " Oh," said I, " I thought it couldn't be possible that you were ashamed to let the Englishman see what a choice piece A JAVANESE PILOT 385 of beef you sent off for your mate's Sunday dinner, the first day in port, after a four months' passage on rotten grub." And so we stormed at one another, like a couple of old fishwives, until he got tired and went off again, cautioning me not to allow any boats alongside. It is customary, when deep-water ships come to Queens- town for orders, for a tailor and a shoemaker to get permis- sion from the captain to supply the crew with clothing ; and thus when the ship arrives at her final port of discharge, and the captain gets his freight money, he forwards the amount of the bill, less, of course, a liberal discount to himself. The next day, in the dinner hour, a boat came alongside, and the passenger in her handed me an order from the cap- tain to allow the bearer to sell the crew what clothes they wanted. So I allowed him to come aboard. I think the old man must have seen the boat alongside, from the shore ; for before one o'clock, to my surprise, he came up the gangway, and, without stopping to catch his breath, he said : " Mr. Williams, I told you not to allow any boats along- side this vessel, and there's one been here ever since twelve o'clock." "Where?" said I, and looking over the rail I pretended that was the first I had seen of her ; and I went and cast off her painter, and told the Irish boy in her I'd drive an iron belaying-pin through her bottom, if he didn't clear out. He began to holler for Misther McCormick, arid the tailor came out of the forecastle and said, " Sure, I have your ordher, captain ; that's my boat, sir," and he waved the order excitedly above his head. "Oh, yes! that's all right, Mr. Williams; that's the tailor's boat. Leave him alone, but don't let any other boats come alongside. Why didn't you tell me that was the tailor's boat? " 386 ON MANY SEAS " You didn't ask me, sir." So away he went ashore again. The tailor got lots of orders from the crew, but he never filled them. I never allowed him alongside again. When the old man asked me why I didn't allow the tailor to fill his orders, I told him that every boat that came alongside claimed to have an order from him, and I couldn't distin- guish one from another, so I kept them all away, as those were my orders ; and by that means I did him out of his commissions, touching him on the only sensitive place — his pocket. CHAPTER XLIV I TAKE MY Discharge at Havre. — Home by Steamer. — French Discipline. — The Scenes of my Youth. — A German Captain. We soon got orders to deliver our cargo in Havre, which suited me first-rate, as I always liked Havre ; it is a gay town. When we got tied up in the basin by nine o'clock at night, I went ashore ; and of course, coming off a long voy- age, my credit was unlimited. So I stayed ashore three days and nights, and had a real good time. Then I wandered down aboard at about ten o'clock in the forenoon, and found the old man, the second mate, and the boy pumping the ship. I did not offer to help them, but went on the poop and watched them ; and when I saw the pump suck, I called out, "Avast pumping !" and in a few minutes, "Shake her up again!" And when she sucked again, I said, "That'll do the pump," and told the second mate and boy to get brooms and sweep the decks ; and I went below to get a clean shirt. While I was changing my shirt, the old man came to my door and said : "Well, Mr. Williams, I suppose now you've had a run ashore, you're going to attend to business again; hey?" " Well, no, captain ; I can't attend to much business in Havre. I've got too many friends here. It will take me about all the time we're here to see them all." 387 388 ON MANY SEAS " But I'm going to begin discharging cargo to-morrow, and I want a mate aboard then." " Sorry, captain ; but you never can depend on me in Havre." " Well, then, if that's the case, you'd better take your pay, and I'll get another man." "With pleasure, sir. When can I get it?" " About this time to-morrow. I'll be up at the consul's office, and if you come up, I'll pay you off then." So the next day I went up to the consul's office and got four hundred and sixty-five dollars' worth of French gold, — the biggest pay-day I had ever had so far. And perhaps I didn't make Havre pay up for all the long months of disheartening and miserable existence I had en- dured on board that old bark ! There was a young French lady in whose smiles I had basked before, so I hunted her up and found her to be the same vivacious, charming little girl that she had always been. She soon consoled me for my troubles and tribulations. When I was with her, I always learned French very rapidly ; only to forget it again as soon as I got outside Cape Gris Nez. But it was fun to learn it all over again the next time. I did not forget my father's promise to go down east visit- ing with me at the expiration of this voyage, and, as I was well heeled financially, I determined to go home as pas- senger on board a big steamship. But I did not want to pay all out for the privilege of crossing the Atlantic ; so I bought a second-class ticket in the Ville de Paris, one of the steamers of the " Campagnie General Transatlantique." One thing struck me as very strange on board, and that was the apparent absence of respect shown by the men to their officers. I was standing to leeward of the wheel-house one day, when the captain spoke to the helmsman, and his answer was " Qui." SCENES OF MY YOUTH 389 Why, great heavens ! the second mate of an old West India sugar-drogher or Philadelphia coal-schooner wouldn't allow a man to answer him without saying " sir." The French captain didn't mind it in the least. One day all hands were called to fire-quarters ; and of all the jabbering and wrangling and shouting to one another that I ever heard, that was the worst. It was like what sailors call a Portuguese Parliament. They got the hose all tangled up, and couldn't find half the fire-buckets and axes ; and by the time they could have got a stream of water on the fire, we would have needed to take to the boats. When we reached New York, the cockney steward held out his hand, as large as life, and we gave him half a dollar apiece, to pay for the luxurious rye bread and garlic upon which we had rioted all the way across. As we went over the gangway, I caught sight of the French captain, with his hat off, bowing and smiling to the cabin passengers, as they left the ship ; and, upon my word, he looked as if he were fishing for " tips." We, being second-class passengers, our baggage was taken away down to the further end of the pier, to await the Castle Garden tender. When we found that out, we went down after it. I had a trunk, but a friend of mine, an engineer, only had a small vahse. We found them after a while, and putting the vahse on top of the trunk, we each took a handle, and started up the pier, looking for a custom-house officer. When we got about half-way up the dock, along came a pompous little German officer, all arrayed in blue cloth and brass buttons, and sang out : " Here ! here ! vere you goin' mit dem baggage ? " " Going home," said I. " You mustn't take dem baggage avay from dere. Dat has to go to Castle Yarden; dat's emigrant's baggage." 390 ON MANY SEAS " What's emigrant's baggage ? What are you talking about? That's my baggage. Am I an emigrant ? " " Put down dat baggage, I tole you." And with that, the infernal Httle scamp jumped right on top of the trunk. We dropped it, and he rolled over on the dock, soiling his nice, clean clothes. He got up, sputtering and threatening, and a small crowd gathered round. I grabbed the Dutchman by the collar, and gave him a good shaking. " See here," said I, " you infernal Dutch- man, I'm a New York boy ; and do you mean to tell me that because I came over second-class in that steamer, a galoot like you will send me through Castle Garden as an emigrant? I'd hke to see myself! " Here a custom-house oflicer, a bright young fellow, stepped up, and asked what was the matter. We explained the case to him, told him we were American seamen return- ing home, and what the officer was trying to do to us. " You haven't got any dutiable goods in your trunk and valise, have you, boys? " " No, sir." "Well, all right. I'll pass them," said he; and he put his hieroglyphic on them, showing that they had been inspected, and said : "There you are, now. Take them where you like; and if Schwartz interferes with you again, punch him in the snout." I went directly to ray father's New York office, and found his partner sitting there, reading the morning paper. " Hello, Fred," said he, sticking out his fin. " Where in the deuce have you come from, now?" " Havre," said I. " Phew ! my Goddlemighty, what have you been eating? Frogs, rats, or what ? " " Nothing," I told him ; " only a httle garhc." SCENES OF MY YOUTH 39 1 "Well," said he, "stand a little further off, please. You smell Hke an Italian." I had dressed myself in a new suit of clothes that I had made according to the latest style just before I left Havre, and looking me over, he said, " Where in h did ye git them clothes?" "Where j'ou never drank tea," said I. " Well, I shouldn't want to, either, if you have to rig yourself up Hke that to do it." I asked him how father was, and he said, all right as far as he knew ; but he wouldn't vouch for him after he had seen me in " that rig." So after a little more chaff with him I went over to Brooklyn to see my daddy. He was very much surprised to see me, for the last that he had heard from me was that we were bound to Queenstown. I soon broached the subject of our visit to my mother's relatives, and to my great satisfaction found that he was as anxious as myself to be gone. He had not had a holiday for years, and the correspond- ence with my cousin had awakened memories which had long lain dormant. We soon made our preparations. He got a new suit of clothes, and I did the same, for I found that Mr. Gray was not the only one who made fun of my Parisian style. We took the Fall River boat to Boston, and thence went by rail to our destination. And for the next two months I enjoyed myself better than I ever did before, or since. It was indeed an epoch in my career, — a season to be marked with a whole shipload of white stones. I was the honoured guest in many homes. I found, besides uncles and aunts galore, of whose very existence I had never dreamed, whole rafts of cousins, young men and women, some of them married, but most of them single, and they coddled and lionized me to my heart's content ; for was not I their sailor cousin, who had voyaged to all parts of the known and unknown world? And had I not seen 392 ON MANY SEAS many of the strange peoples of the earth ? And wasn't I the second in command of ships? Well, I guess so. And what yarns I spun them, — regular fore hatch twisters, which would have put some of Captain Marryat's heroes to the blush. And what an unalloyed good time I had ! That was many years ago, but the memory of it will remain with me while reason lasts. It was a pleasure trip which, for me, can never be duplicated. Many of the old folks have since gone to their reward. Good, kind, and affectionate, honest souls they were, who would have been horrified had they once dreamed that I was the character which I knew myself to be, and I would not have undeceived them for worlds. The cousins are all married people now, with families, and some with grandchildren of their own. For years they have had their own joys, sorrows, troubles, and triumphs, and cousin Fred has, I fear, become a very ordinary per- sonage in their estimation. For with the youth went the romance that once threw a glamour over my very ordinary career. While I was about it, and not knowing when I might have such another opportunity, I extended my travels away up into that rocky httle town in Maine where I first introduced myself, and visited the dear old uncle and aunt who had put up with my deviltry for so many years, and stood loyally by me when there were few grown people in the neighbour- hood who could be reckoned among my admirers. I found none of the boys with whom I used to associate, for the down-east boy has a way of leaving the old farm and going out into the world. Many of them make their mark, too ; in fact few of them, I fancy, have made out as poorly as myself. I found that time had so softened their recollections of me that the old graybeards who once wanted to put me in SCENES OF MY YOUTH 393 the reform school could now laugh heartily as they recalled my boyish pranks. And here again I was a welcome guest. When I had no longer any excuse for staying, and not caring to make my relations twice glad, — once to see me come and again to see me go, — I packed my grip and pointed my nose once more for tide-water. There was a ship in New York, the last remnant of a once considerable line of Havre packets, called the James A. Stanton. Her owner was a friend of my father ; and his son, hearing that I was looking for a ship, offered to introduce me to the captain. "Although I'll tell 3'ou, Fred," said he, "no mate ever makes more than one voyage with him, and many only a passage ; but if 5'ou want to go, I guess my introduction will make it all right." I thanked him, and said I guessed I'd have a hack at the old ship if I could get it. So we went aboard. She was a small ship of only a thousand tons' register, and he introduced me to Captain Christopher and told him what I wanted. He said I could come aboard any time, so I went aboard the next day. Captain Christopher was a German, and before we got to Havre he had told me all about himself. He shipped in her first as carpenter, and, according to his " tell," that must have been in the year one, when Adam was oakum-boy in the Brooklyn navy-yard. And from carpenter he gradually worked his way up, although he admitted that the old cap- tain had driven him ashore times too numerous to mention. " But vat I care? I comes alvays beck agen," he would say. Finally he got to be mate ; and a few years before I joined her, the old captain dying at sea, he brought her in and succeeded to his place. "Und now I am keptin. ^dX you tink? " was the way he always wound up his stock yarn. He had been in her so long that he knew every bolt and rope-yarn and stitch in 394 ON MANY SEAS her, and their history, and all about them. But that wasn't the worst of it. He thought that because nobody else was so intimately acquainted with her as he was, that they were not competent to take care of her; consequently, he was always meddling, had his finger in everybody's pie ; and if there is any one thing which will make a ship's officer weary it is to have the captain for ever interfering with his business. He was one of those men who, when he discovered any- thing, thought that because he had not known it before, nobody else did, or ever would if he hadn't told them. So that he was for ever calling my attention to things which I knew all about and was caring for. And yet he was not by any means pompous or airy, but just a meddlesome old nuisance. I soon saw why no mate ever made the second voyage with him ; because no man but himself, in his estimation, was worth having. I had for second mate a young Irishman, Tom Donnelly. Tom was a corker. He would knock a man down just for fun, and then ask him for a chew of tobacco, and likely enough give him a kick when he gave it back to him. He had been married in New Orleans to a young girl who was to inherit twenty thousand dollars on her twenty- first birthday, but she died three months before that auspi- cious event, and Tom had to go to sea again. " But I guess I got square with her," said he, " for I never paid for her coffin." CHAPTER XLV I STAY BY THE ShIP FOR A RECORD. — SQUARING ACCOUNTS WITH Mr. Lynch. — Love at First Sight. — Captain HuRLBURT Again. — The Electric Age. The old man meddled so much, that finally Tom nick- named him " the boatswain " ; and one day, when he had irritated me almost beyond endurance, I told him that if he would leave my part of the business alone, I would attend to it all right. I told him he only made himself ridiculous by the way he acted. " Why," said I, " do you know what the second mate calls you? " "No; vat?" "He calls you 'the bos'n.' " " Veil, all right. Ven nobody else be bos'n, den I be bos'n. I don' care." And he didn't care, either. Noth- ing offended his dignity. I was anxious to break the record, and make another voyage in her; for I felt that it would be quite a feather in my cap if I could make two voyages with him, he was so well known both in New York and Havre. So I put up with everything, and smothered my righteous indignation until sometimes it nearly choked me. Of course, when we got to Havre, our crew all left ; but I told Donnelly that I wanted him to stay with me and go back to New York in her, and he said he would. And we worked together days, and went ashore together nights. 395 39^ ON Many seas One evening we stepped into a caf6, and who should be in there but Mr. Lynch, the shipping-master. As we passed his table, he leered up at me and said : " Hello ! young man. Seems to me I've seen you before. What ship?" " Siantofi,''^ said I. "Ah! yes. Where are you boarding ? " " Nowhere. I'm staying by the ship." " What ! are you second mate of her? " " No ; I'm mate. This is the second mate, Mr. Donnelly." " How do you do, Mr. Donnelly? I hope I see you." Then to me he said : " Haven't you been in Havre before? " " Yes ; several times." " Seems as if I'd seen you ; but I can't just place you." " Do you remember going to London several years ago, and shipping two crews for two New Orleans ships?" "Yes." "Well, I was one of the men you shipped and brought over here, and paid ail his advance / " " Oh, yes ; I remember you now. Good evening." "Ta, ta, Mr. Lynch." And as he went out I saw a wicked gleam in his eye, and wondered what he expected to do. Shortly before we were ready for sea, Donnelly said to me one day : "What's the trouble between you and Lynch, Mr. Wilhams?" "Why?" " Oh, nothing ! Only I hear he's picking out all the toughest characters in Havre for this ship's crew, and promising every man a bottle of rum coming aboard." ''Aha ! " said I. "That's his game, is it?" And I then told Tom of the episode in which I had won Mr. Lynch's SQUARE ACCOUNTS WITH LYNCH 397 ill will, several years before. And we put our heads together to defeat his purpose, which was to give me a crew of drunken toughs out of Havre. I couldn't help taking the crew ; but forewarned is forearmed, and Tom and I were both young fellows and didn't mind a little scrimmage, provided we didn't get the worst of it. Luckily the tide served at four in the morning, which was dark at that time of the year, and the evening before I got her hauled down into the basin, and breasted her off about ten feet from the quay. x\bout three o'clock in the morning Lynch hailed, and told me to get in alongside the dock, as the crew wanted to come aboard. Tom and I shoved the end of a plank ashore, and I told them to come aboard, and stood a lantern on the rail to illumine the way. Lynch said the men couldn't come aboard that way, as some of them were drunk. I told him I didn't want any drunks, and those who couldn't come aboard that way might either stay ashore or fall overboard, just as they chose. After a little more blarney, one big long fellow, with a cap made of an old trousers' leg and covered with about four dozen little white shirt-buttons, and carrying a small clothes-bag, said he could "walk over the bloody plank, and the bloody man who put it there, too." Tom and I stood down on deck, one on each side, so that he would have to land between us. When his foot struck the deck, I said to him : " Hand over that whiskey." "Wat wiskey? Wat are you wiskeyin' about, sonny? Are you de bucko mate of dis bloody hooker, hey?" For answer, Tom came down lustily on top of his orna- mental cap with a good locust belaying-pin, and I grabbed him by the throat, planting an upper cut under his jaw first, and down we went in a heap, he hanging on to his bag with 398 ON MANY SEAS a death grip. He was a tough cuss, and we both had quite a Hvely time pounding and kicking him to get the bag away. But we did, at last, and took two bottles of whiskey out of it. We then let him up, and warning him that we would knock his d head off if he didn't toe pitch, sent him forward. In the meantime two of them had essayed the plank and fallen overboard, and Lynch and the dock gang were fishing them out. " Come on now, me hearties ! Step lively there ! Who's next for a hair cut?" shouted Tom; and another one tried it. He managed to get aboard by crawling part of the way on his hands and knees, and to my demand for his whiskey, he wanted to argue the case confidentially ; but a crack from Tom's pin convinced him that time was precious, and he handed it over. Lynch was growling and swearing on the dock all the time, but we didn't care anything about him. It took over an hour to get them aboard, and not one escaped the initi- ating pin-crack. If a fellow gave up his rum, all right ; Tom would crack him one anyway, — "So I shall know him again," he said. But in spite of us they either managed to smuggle some whiskey forward, or else Lynch managed to get some to them, for they remained about half drunk and ugly all day. When I sent Tom to turn them to, I told him, if they showed fight, to make plenty of noise, and I would come to his assistance. " No fear, sir," said Tom, cheerily. " If any of them are fractious, I'll just give them a rub on their sore heads with my bone-softener, and they'll be all right." But they were not all right. They were full of cheap rum, and ugly, and didn't seem to mind the sore places much ; so that it kept us both pretty busy rubbing them down, and neither one of us left the pins out of our hands all day. SQUARE ACCOUNTS WITH LYNCH 399 As we passed the pier-head, Lynch sang out, " A pleasant passage to you, Mr. Williams ! " I took off my hat, and thanked him, and told him I guessed I was getting as much fun out of it as anybody." Just then I heard a rattle-te-bang down on deck, and rushing down there found four of them, with Donnelly on his back, underneath, and catching fits. I soon had him up again ; and the merry tattoo of the seductive pin was again heard on their good thick skulls. It took us all day long, driving them about like sheep, to get the sail on her, and get the decks cleared up. At eight o'clock in the evening, we called them aft and picked the watches. They were now pretty sober, and I judge fairly sore. It was reasonable to suppose that the starboard watch would be sent below now ; but we had other plans for their welfare. The wind was on the quarter, a nice, whole-sail breeze, and very steady. We had them get four topmast stunsail booms down off the top of the forward house, and sling them over the lee side, by reef earings, just so that they would dip in the water nicely with every lee roll. Then we gave them pieces of canvas, and made them get over and scrub the side, sitting down on the booms. And every time she would roll to leeward she would dip them in the nice, cool, salt water, and the booms would swing out from the side a bit, and on the weather roll it would come back again with a bang which would have sadly barked the paint, but for their knees being in the way. Tom paraded back and forth with a lantern, to see that they scrubbed heartily ; and if he caught one sojering, a friendly tap on the same spot reminded him that " There's a spirit sits up aloft, to watch o'er the fate of poor Jack." 400 ON MANY SEAS I got out a tub, and borrowed some sugar and lime-juice from the steward, and made a tub of tolerably strong grog, out of their own rum. At twelve o'clock, I told Tom to call the men to grog ; and you would not have believed that, after all they had been through, they could have scrambled in board as lively as they did. Tom formed them in line and marched them round the tub, keeping a sharp lookout to see that there was no double banking ; and I served out the grog, a pint pannikin to each one. After they had all been helped, there was con- siderable left ; so we walked them around again, and divided it up. " Now, boys, do you feel better? " said I. Chorus, sheepishly, " Yes, sir." I then made them a little speech. I told them I knew they had been shipped by Lynch to lick me, and so pay off an old grudge of his ; but I assured them that they had been misled, badly advised ; and I asked them if they thought that now they could go to their duty, and behave themselves. Chorus, heartily, " Yes, sir ! " " All right, boys ! Get over the side, and go on with your scrubbing again." At four o'clock we called them up, gave them what was left of their grog, and, after hauling up and storing away the booms, sent one watch below ; and a more docile crew than they were, I have never seen. There was no further trouble with them at all. To be sure, Tom would occasion- ally wallop one of them in his watch ; but they took it in the spirit in which it was sent, knowing that a second mate must keep his hand in ; but I never raised my hand to one of them, after that first day. Still, Lynch was not entirely deprived of his revenge, al- though perhaps he may never have known it. There was a SQUARE ACCOUNTS WITH LYNCH 4OI shyster lawyer in New York in those days, whom I will call Jones, because that was not his name. His only business was to interview sailors on incoming ships and get them to search their memories, to see if any one had been assaulted by the officers during the voyage, and if so, he would get the victim to swear out a warrant for the offender, and he himself would serve it, so as to get the fee. Being a lawyer, he could judge pretty nearly how much of a case the man had, and would settle for a little less than it would cost to go to court. I had already contributed to this gentleman's support, so that when I met him one day on South Street, and he raised his plug hat to me very politely, inquiring after my health, I knew what was coming, and asked him if a cigar would settle it. " Not this time, Mr. WiUiams," said he ; " for the whole crew have been horribly abused and mutilated. They all have scars on their persons which, if displayed and properly worked up before a jury, would, I have no doubt, send you up the river for a term of years." " Well, never mind all that. You're not addressing a jury now. How much will it take ? and don't fly too high, either, for I have only made a short voyage, and you can't get but mighty little out of me." At first he was inclined to be rather dignified, but finally we compromised on five dollars and a glass of South Street whiskey. I had not had a disagreeable word either with or from Captain Christopher during the voyage, and on the passage home he had treated me almost without contempt, so far forgetting himself once or twice as to actually approve of some things that I had done, so that I flattered myself that I should really accomplish my ambition and make a second voyage with him ; and after we got to our berth and father 402 ON MANY SEAS came aboard and asked me how I had made out with the Dutchman, I told him gleefully that I had broken the record and should make another voyage in her. " Has he told you so? " asked father. " Not in so many words, but I know by his actions that I suit him," said I. " Don't you be too sure of that ; he's a queer Dutchman, I tell you : and that is one of the things which he prides himself on ; that no mate is any good, and that he himself is the only man who can take care of this old ship." And sure enough. Shortly after father went ashore, the captain returned aboard, and I was of course very busy clearing up the decks when he called me aft, and said : "Veil, Mr. Veelyams, I shpose de voyage is up, ain'd it? " You bet your life I knew what that meant, so I said : "Why, yes, of course ; but I want to leave things a little ship-shape before I go ashore." " Veil, yes, of course dat's right ; I tought mebbe you expected to stay aboard ; but you know, Mr. Veelyams, you and I vas not brought up alike." " God forbid ! " said I. " If we were, I should be an old Dutchwoman like yourself." " Yes," said he, and went below, while I packed my dun- nage and went ashore, to be laughed at by my father for having so overestimated my ability to please. As we were towing up the bay, I saw the finest specimen of marine architecture I had ever laid eyes on in all my travels. She was a great big four-masted, four-skysail-yard ship, lying at anchor in the upper bay. She was entirely unlike all the four-masted monstrosities which I had ever seen before, in that her proportions were simply perfect. She was so splendidly sparred, that it was only at the second glance that you noticed that she was a four-master. And her masts were stayed and her yards squared geometrically SQUARE ACCOUNTS WITH LYNCH 403 true. The finely tapering point of her long flying jib boom had just the slight droop to it to give her a most finished and graceful appearance. Her black and shining hull, al- though of immense proportions, — she must have been a ship of between four and five thousand tons' register, — was built on the fine lines known to seamen as medium clipper, combining speed and carrying capacity and sea- worthiness in the highest degree. The gently flowing bows, graceful sheer of waist and half-elliptic stern, together with her long, slim skysail poles, surmounted by gilt balls, pro- claimed her nationality to the trained eye of the seaman. And it didn't need the stars and stripes floating from her monkey gaff to tell me that she was the product of a Maine shipyard. She was the beau ideal, the perfection, of the Yankee ship-builder's art. And riglit here I rise to remark that, while American style is aped by the Nova Scotiaman, and approached by the Norwegians, it is not, and I be- lieve never wiU be, equalled by any of the nations of the earth. A "homeward bound" pennant of more than her own length, and tipped with a silver ball, streamed gracefully far astern on the gentle breeze. On her cutwater stood a mammoth figure of a woman, robed in pure white drapery, one bare and beautifully rounded arm holding aloft a blazing star ; the other ex- tended the taper index finger, pointing ahead into the unknown — but who shall say unknowable ? This much I caught in a rapid glance ; but, before I could make out her name, I was obliged to attend to some duty on board the venerable woodpile, of which I had the honour to be chief mate under a Dutch captain. And the old Stanton never looked so much like a canal boat or a coal hulk as she did when I transferred my enraptured 404 ON MANY SEAS gaze from that magnificent queen of the seas to her own faded charms. Ah, well ! it is given to but few in this vale of disap- pointments to be intimately associated with the grand and the beautiful. The majority of us must plod along, thankful even to be alive. A very few years ago I would have been exceed- ingly proud of the idea of being first mate even of the old Stanton or, in fact, of anything ; and now here I was despising the poor old ship just because I had seen a finer. I stayed with my father and loafed around, taking it nice and easy for a couple of weeks ; and at last, one morning, as my funds were running low, I took a notion to go over to New York and look round a bit, to see what chance there was of getting a ship. As I stood on the bow of the ferry-boat, smoking, I became aware that the big ship I had seen down the bay was lying at a wharf near the Fulton ferry slip, and I gazed at and admired her aU over again. Oh ! I thought to my- self, what a sensation it must be to command such a ship as that. It almost seemed too much glory for one man. And yet I knew, of course, that some man did command her; and I believe that if he had appeared to me then I would have taken off my hat and paid him homage, as being the most fortunate and most to be envied of all the human race. As the ferry-boat passed near her stern I saw her name. I expected it would be Magnificent, — it didn't seem as if anything else would be appropriate, — but it wasn't. It was a name, however, well fitted to the times in which we live. She was called the Electric Age, of Thomaston, Maine. I mentally resolved that before I recrossed the East River I would go down to her wharf and look and look, and admire her, and hate myself until I couldn't stand it any longer ; but I didn't. I fell in with some old acquaint- SQUARE ACCOUNTS WITH L\T^CH 405 ance, and we stood around and chinned and lied about our various adventures since we had last met, until I had to hurry over to Brooklyn or miss my ride home with father. Other things occurred to occupy my mind for several days, and I had about recovered from my raptures over the big ship when, one day as I was walking along South Street, I caught a gUmpse ahead of me of a rather short and stocky figure clad in a long, handsome coat, and surmounted by a plug hat which, though not exactly immaculate, yet had the appearance of not having been worn every day, but rather of having been carefully preserved for perhaps a generation and only worn on state occasions, or at any rate at long intervals. Something about the back of the individual as he plodded leisurely along, jostled roughly by the crowd of longshore- men and sailors, seemed to strike me as being famihar, and yet it didn't resemble in the least anybody I knew. Still I couldn't help thinking that I had seen it somewhere. I increased my pace slightly, and, as he was taking it good and easy, I soon drew up on him. When I saw the grizzled hair under the hat, and the iron-gray whiskers protruding from each side of his face, I was still more sure that I had known him somewhere. As I passed him, I took a sidelong glance at a very round, rosy, and jolly face, almost covered by the luxuriant growth of curling gray whiskers, and brightened by a pair of twin- kling gray eyes, which seemed on the watch for something to laugh about. Such a profound sense of hearty good nature did the whole face convey that I could hardly refrain from slapping him on the back and singing out, " Hello, old fellow 1 How are you? " And I knew him, too. Yes ; but who on earth was he ? Where had I been acquainted with that rotund figure and jovial countenance? 406 ON MANY SEAS I passed him, and walked on a couple of blocks, cudgel- ling my brains to remember who he was, when like a flash it came to me — Captain Hurlburt of the old Tanjore, in which I had left home fifteen years before. I turned on my heel and hurried back to meet him. He was still rolling along at the same easy gait, and putting his big walking- stick down with a solid thud at every step. I touched my hat, and stuck out my flipper. "Captain Hurlburt, I beheve?" said I. His laughing eyes took on a stern look, and he raised his big stick as if to hit me. " Clear out, darn ye ! Sheer off ! I know ye ! Go on about your business now ; I ain't so green as I look ! I've been here before, and a good many times, too ! " I was thunderstruck. I didn't expect he would know me after so many years ; and if he did, I certainly didn't expect such a reception as that from my old commander. Then the thought occurred to me that he might have mistaken me for somebody else, so I said : " Captain, I don't think you know me, do you? " " I know ye well enough. I have seen just such fellers as you be before. Clear out, now, before I call a policeman and have ye locked up ! " "Why, captain," said I, "who do you think I am?" " I know who ye be, I tell ye ! You are one of these handshakers ; that's who you be !" " You're mistaken, captain. I was once a boy on board of the old Tajijo^'e. Don't you remember sailing from New York to Melbourne fifteen years ago, and from there on the way to Hong Kong we captured a Chinese pirate junk, and one of the ship's boys got his fingers chopped off? " said I, holding up my hand and showing the marks of that, my first and only naval battle. A look of surprised incredulity spread over his face. SQUARE ACCOUNTS WITH LYNCH 407 "Was that you?" said he. " Yes, sir ; that was me. And now, captain, that you know I am not a professional handshaker, how d'ye do?" The old, familiar, good-natured look returned to his face, as, shifting his cane to his left hand, he grasped my right, and shook it with a hearty vigour, which proved to me that the fifteen years which had elapsed since I last saw him had found in him a tough knot. " Why, my boy, how do you do ? How do you do ? You must excuse me for my mistake ; but I had been reading in the paper this morning, before I came ashore, about the tricks of the handshakers, as they call them, and was just thinking of them when you came up and hailed, and I says to myself, 'Well, I'll be hanged, here's one of 'em now.' Didn't remember ye, ye know. That was a good while ago • you was a boy then. Let's see. You left the ship in Lon- don, didn't you ? Yes, yes ; I remember now. I didn't come back to New York for two or three years after that. Went to Abyssinia, you know, with supplies from Calcutta to the British army, time of the Abyssinian war. When I did come back to New York, your father boarded me away down the bay ; came down to see you, you know. Was awfully cut up to find you wasn't aboard, and I hadn't seen nor heard of you for years. That was your father, wasn't it? That's the boy you was, hey ? " I told him yes, that was me. " Well, what ye doin' now ? In business in New York, hey? Want to sell me some stores, I suppose?" I told him no, I was still going to sea. Was in fact look- ing for a ship now. " Sho ! you don't say so? I don't suppose you go before the mast yet ; a bright young feller like you ought to have a vessel of his own before this time." I told him that I had not yet got a vessel of my own, but 408 ON MANY SEAS had got as far towards it as I could without money to buy a share. " So you go as mate now, hey? How long you been going as mate ? " I told him ; and we walked and talked along for a while, and finally he stopped in front ,of a freight broker's office, and said : " Excuse me Mr. — er, er — " " Williams, sir," said I. " Yes, yes, to be sure, — Mr. Williams ; strange how I for- get names." Not so strange either, when you remember that I was only a boy, and he probably never heard me addressed by any other name than Fred. " I must be getting old ; though I don't feel it a bit. No, sir, not a bit. Now, Mr. Williams, I've got to go in here a bit to attend to some business, but I'd like to have you come aboard and take dinner with me, for old sake's sake, if you can spare the time ; will you? " I told him I should be very much pleased indeed to do so. He said he dined at four o'clock sharp, and, telling me to be sure to be on time, was just passing in the door, when I called after him, saying : "Excuse me, captain, but where does the Tanjore lie?" "The Tanjore? Oh! I don't know; she is a 'country walla.' I sold her six years ago, out in Bombay, to a Port- uguese merchant. I've got a new ship. Built her myself, just exactly as I wanted her. She lies down near Fulton Ferry. You can't miss her ; for if I do say it, there isn't another one like her under the sun. She's the Electric Age. You'll find her all right. Excuse me, now ; business before pleasure, you know; " and in he went. CHAPTER XLVI I DINE WITH THE CAPTAIN, AND GET A SURPRISE. — MATE OF THE Electric Age. — Captain at last. — Good-bye. Well, here was luck. I was actually invited to dine aboard the ship which had almost thrown me into ecstasies at the first sight I had of her ; and with her captain too. I'd go right down and have a look at her. No, hanged if I would. I'd wait until I could march over the gangway with her captain, and, as I felt sure, her principal owner. I had a good three hours to wait ; and I went and wired to father not to wait for me, as I had an engagement to dine out. Then I went down to the Battery Park, and sat on a bench and built air-castles. I would strike the old man for the second mate's birth if it was vacant, or even the boat- swain's — anything to make even one voyage in such a ship as that. It seemed as if there never were such long hours as those two which I put in on that bench. Finally, at three o'clock, I got up and sauntered slowly up South Street. I wanted to be in time to intercept him on his return, and go aboard with him. So I hung around in sight of the pier, admiring my first love from afar, and kept a bright lookout for him. As it drew near four o'clock, I made up my mind that probably he had gone aboard some time before, and I should have to go alone ; but no, at ten minutes to four he appeared, hurrying this 409 4IO ON MANY SEAS time ; and I made sail to cross his bows just as he entered the pier. I could see that his brow was slightly clouded, and I almost felt like drawing back. It hardly seemed that he really could have wished me to dine with him ; and yet his manner had been so genial that I braced myself with the remembrance of it, and, stepping briskly forward, hailed him. His brow cleared instantly, and again he clasped my hand in his honest palm with a friendly grip, which was very reassuring, and congratulated me on my punctuality. If he had only known how I prized that invitation, he would not have seen anything remarkable in it. " Well, there she is, Mr. Williams. What do you think of her, hey?" I went into raptures at once, and told him I had seen her when I came up the bay. When I came to be alongside of her and looked along her magniiicent length ; then up to the towering bows which overhung the pier ; and up yet to the lofty skysail yards, — then indeed I appreciated what a grand ship she was. "What's her tonnage, captain?" " Forty-eight hundred and seventy-five tons' register, and I have taken nearly six thousand tons of wheat from San Francisco to Queenstown. But come aboard and let's have something to eat. I've only had a cup of coffee to-day." And aboard we went, and when I saw the breadth of beam I was astounded. Good heavens ! the ship had a deck as big as a down-east farm. " There, young man," said the captain, glancing aloft. "What do you think of them sticks, hey? Oregon pine, every one of 'em. Brought 'em round the Horn myself, in the old Tanjore. I tell you, when you get topmast, top- gallant, and royal stunsail, and all them staysails set on her, you've got some clothes hung out to dry. But come ; we'll CAPTAIN AT LAST 4II have the steward growhng if we keep his dinner waiting." And so into the cabin we went. And what a cabin it was ; as spacious as a town hall, and as richly furnished as a yacht. All hard wood. None of your pine and white paint. He told me that he had been ten years collecting the lumber for his cabin, so it was per- fectly seasoned when put up ; and looked, as indeed it was, the finest kind of cabinet work. Not a joint visible any- where, although she was nearly five years old, and had rounded the Horn three times. We had a fine dinner, and I soon found that the old man's weak point was his ship. And who could blame him? for certainly she was without a peer. It is a great thing to design, build, and command the finest ship in the world. After dinner he showed me about ; and at every turn I saw something to admire ; everything was so handy, so complete, showing that she had been indeed built and equipped under the master's eye, and, as he said, just exactly as he wanted her. She carried thirty-two able seamen before the mast, three mates and a boatswain, carpenter and mate, sailmaker and mate, steward, stewardess, and two cooks, — forty-five hands, all told. And in the after part of the house she had a forty- horse donkey-engine, to which, as he informed me, aU hal- yards, braces, clew-lines, and reef-tackles were taken which they could conveniently get to her, stationary lead blocks being placed in the deck for that purpose. " And now, Mr. Williams, you have seen her. What do you think of her? " I told him I thought she was perfection. During the three months that the Electric Age was at the dock I became a frequent visitor to Captain Hurlburt. He appeared to enjoy the mutual recollections of the voyages 412 ON MANY SEAS we had taken under such different circumstances, and never failed to give me or my father a hearty welcome. Not many days before he was to sail he invited me to dinner with him, and told me afterwards how he had been obliged to get rid of his chief mate. Then turning the con- versation to his never failing topic, the good points of his ship, he said : " So you like her, hey? " "Like her, captain?" said I; "I more than hke her! much more ! How much, I can't express." " Ha, ha ! I thought you would," said he. " Everybody does. I'm rather stuck on her myself. Well, now, if you like her so much, why not come along to sea with me in her, and see what she's good for in blue water? " I gasped out, " In what capacity?" " Mate, of course. You said you was a mate, didn't you." "But," said I, "I never was a mate of such a ship as this." " Ain't but four that ever have been ; and three of 'em was no good. The other one died at sea the first voyage." " Well, captain, if you are willing to trust me with your ship." " Trust you ! Why, certainly. You won't steal her, I guess." And he laughed heartily at the idea. "When can you come aboard? " "To-morrow," I told him. "All right; come along, then. The sooner, the better. Here, steward ! I have persuaded Mr. Williams to try a voyage as mate with me. He will be aboard to-morrow. See that his room is ready for him, and make him com- fortable. I don't ask you to stay aboard nights, Mr. Wil- liams, as I have a watchman whom I have employed for the last thirty years, when in New York. But be on hand during the day to receive the cargo as it comes alongside." CAPTAIN AT LAST 413 I went home that night and didn't sleep much. I lay awake planning and thinking", and hugging myself over my great good luck. Captain Hurlburt didn't interfere and meddle much with his mate's duties, and he was just the kind of man I had always wished to run across. And what a ship ! In the morning, I was over in good season, and started in. i found that he invariably picked out his crew himself, and would have none but such as suited him. He was partial to Swedes, as they were good seamen, hearty, robust, strong men, and good-natured fellows who don't growl and kick at every little thing. When the captain's wife came down from Maine she expressed herself as very much pleased to see me. She had aged much more than her husband, and looked rather feeble, but was still the same quiet, gentle, ladylike Ameri- can woman whom I had known so many years before. She was the only woman whom I have ever been ship- mates with whom the crew did not despise. Even Old Ned, away back in the Tanjore, admitted that there was nothing much the matter with her, and to me she was always a good friend, and so was her husband. Captain Hurlburt was by all odds the most agreeable man whom I ever sailed with in any capacity. He trusted his officers to attend to their duties without any interference from him. If he had any suggestions to make or any advice to offer, or any wish to make known, it was done to me privately in the cabin ; so that to all appearance I had entire charge of the work, for he never personally gave an order to any one else on board except the steward, carpenter, or second mate, when he himself was on deck, and then it was only to make, trim, or take in sail. I sailed with him five years, and learned to respect and admire him more and more every day. At last, on arrival 414 ON MANY SEAS in New York from Hong Kong, his wife, not feeling very well, he took her home. And when sailing time came, he handed over the charge of the ship to me. I went to Yokohama, and when the cargo was nearly out, I cabled to the captain, telling him how freights were, sug- gesting what I thought would be advisable to do, but asking for instructions. His answer was characteristic : " Do what you think best." Well, I kept the ship out over two years, and then, being in Liverpool, I brought her home to get her re-coppered and overhauled. I came to Boston with her, and as the tugboat was sheer- ing her into her berth, I spied a short, stout, rosy-cheeked figure on the string piece, and raised my hat to Captain Hurlburt. He took his off, and waving it over his head, shouted, " Hooray ! " As she neared the wharf, I told the mate to get a side lad- der over. " Never mind any side ladder, chuck me a rope's end," said the old captain. I threw him the end of a brace, and though he was nearly seventy years old, he swung him- self into the chains, and climbed aboard as spry as a kitten. He grasped my hand, and slapping me on the shoulder, shouted out : " How are ye, my boy ? You've done well, and I'm proud of you." I summoned all my modesty to my aid, and told him I was rather proud of myself. He insisted that I should come ashore at once, enter the ship at the Custom House, and drive out with him to his home to dinner. He said his orders were not to come home without me. " And you wouldn't keep an old feller away from his dinner, would you?" said he. This pro- gramme we carried out ; and how I enjoyed that drive out to Roxbury, behind his team of dapple grays, and how I admired the old man's skilful handling of the craft through the narrow and crowded channels in Boston. CAPTAIN AT LAST 415 When he had the right of way, he held his luff, and wouldn't keep off a point for anybody. I beUeve he would have allowed a locomotive to cut him down to the water's edge, before he would have shifted his helm a spoke. But on the other hand, when he was running free, he gave all the other craft the whole channel if they wanted it. He pointed with his whip to a splendid mansion built on a slight eminence, around a curve in the road, and told me that that was his house. He had built it himself. " None o' your contract jobs for me," said he. " I want a house which will carry me safe through all weathers, and not be starting a butt the first time she gets into a choppy sea ; so that you have to pump her all the way home. I wouldn't be a bit afraid to try a Cape Horner in that house, if she was caulked and coppered." By this time we had arrived at the gate. The old man jammed his helm down, let fly his head sheets, and shook her up in the wind ; and we jumped ashore before she had entirely lost her way. It was a neat manoeuvre ; but then he was always famous for neat manoeuvres. As we walked up the broad gravel path, he pointed out the peculiar beauties of the place to me, and they were legion. His long sea training manifested itself even here ; and it looked as if every blade of grass had been placed just where you saw it, with orders to stay there until re- lieved. We were met at the door by Mrs. Hurlburt, who greeted me very cordially, and welcomed me to her beautiful home. And how she had improved ! Life ashore evidently agreed with her. She had put on considerable flesh since I saw her last, and her cheeks were almost as rosy as the old captain's. We sat and talked a half-hour or so. I recounted the salient points of my voyages, and rendered an account of 41 6 ON MANY SEAS my stewardship. The captain expressed himself as highly satisfied. Presently a demure little maid appeared at the door and piped us to dinner ; and as I glanced round at the glittering crystal and brilliant silverware, I couldn't help thinking how good it was for this old, tempest-tossed mari- ner to find such a snug haven to end his days in, and how well he deserved all he had got. The dinner, which was superb, passed off pleasantly, and then the captain and I went out for a smoke and to inspect the premises. After we had finished our cigars, and I had duly admired all the beauties and conveniences of the place, he said : " Well now, let us go in. I want to talk business to you a bit." So we adjourned to the hbrary, and there in the presence of and with the consent of his wife, he formally made over the command of the ship to me, and on terms the liberality of which I will not state, lest I be deemed guilty of romancing. And now, dear reader, shipmate, friend, my tale is told ; my yarn is spun to the very last twist, and the ends knotted ; and whenever you see in the papers that the ship Electric Age, Captain Frederick B. Williams, is in port, come down and see me. The only introduction you will need, will be an assertion to the ship-keeper that you have bought and read my book. He has his orders to introduce you into the after cabin, the sanctum sanctorum of that nautical autocrat, " the old man," and I will guarantee you a hearty hand-grasp and a sailor's welcome ; and if you are a lady, you shall overhaul the voluminous collection of curios which I have gathered in many strange lands, and choose for yourself a souvenir of your visit to me and my gallant ship. And if you are a gen- tleman — there's a locker under my berth to which I alone have the key, and it shall be opened in honour of your visit ; CAPTAIN AT LAST 417 for though a temperate man, I trust I am not hidebound, and we'll drink a bumper to the prosperity of our friendship. And then I'll show you over my beautiful ship as she lies at her pier, the impersonation of dignified strength in re- pose. x\h, but you should see her in her glory, sweeping down the trades with thousands of yards of snow-white can- vas spreading far out over her sides, and towering to the very zenith, as she glides smoothly along sixteen and eighteen knots an hour — a vision of queenly beauty. Or, again, off the Horn, under her topsails, breasting gal- lantly the huge seas which roll continuously round the world. At such times my old heart throbs, and my cheeks flush with pride, for I love my ship more and more every day. Sometimes as I pace the deck in the brilliant tropical moonlight, or stand under the lee of the tarpaulin in the weather rigging watching the sprays fly over her fore topsail yard, — for I am a driver, — my memory goes back to the day, some thirty years ago, when a boy I stood on the deck of the old Wmdward, by my father's side, spellbound, in awe of her and her captain. The Windward ! pshaw ! I could almost hoist her in my quarter davits. Yes, I am a happy man ; for if I haven't quite made my pfle yet, at any rate it is accumulating in a satisfactory man- ner ; and as I pause occasionally in my tramp of the quar- ter-deck, and glance down through the cabin skylight, I can see seated at her sewing a dear little black-eyed woman, a native of the old Bay State, who — but this is a sea story. FINIS. THE MEN OF THE MOSS-HAGS. Being a history from the papers of William Gordon of Earlstoun in the Glenkens, and told over again BY S. R. CROCKETT, Author of " The Stickit Minister" " The Raiders" etc., etc. i2mo. Cloth. $1.50. " All the fascinating charm of Mr. Crockett greets the reader on every page of this book. It is history and story freely combined. Only a few lines of any of his sketches of scenery will set the sympathies in active motion, delighting the imagination and pleasing the taste. . . . The story itself cannot be ana- lyzed in a brief notice, it is so full of characters sprung right out of the soil, so vigorously active in its movements and motives, so actual in all that it depicts and describes." — ■ Bostoti Courier. "The subject is a grand one, grandly treated." — New York Observer. A SET OF ROGUES. To wit : Christopher Sutton, John Dawson, The Senor Don Sanchez Del Castillo de Castelane, and Moll Dawson. Their Wicked Conspiracy and a True Account of their Travels and Adventures. Together with Many Surprising Things, now Disclosed for the First Time as the Faithful Confession of Christopher Sutton. FRANK BARRETT, Author of " The Admirable Lady Biddy Fane" " The Great Hesper" etc. i2ino. Cloth. $1.50. " ' A Set of Rogues ' is a delight. ... It has humor, pathos, and incident. No jollier, honester rogues than his ever escaped hanging and proved them- selves worthy of good fortune. . . . Splendid. . . . most entertaining." " With the marked revival of interest at the present time in sixteenth and seventeenth century romance and adventure, the author has been fortunate in the selection of his scene, and his story is one of the most ingenious and attrac- tive ones of the season." — Boston Daily Advertiser. THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, 66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEVT^ YORK. IN THE SMOKE OF WAR. A STORY OF CIVIL STRIFE. By WALTER RAYHOND. i6mo. Cloth. $1.25. " A strong story dealing with the times of Cromwell and the Cavaliers and Roundheads. One gets as good a view of the lights and shades and the motives of country life from, it as perhaps from any late book of fiction." — Bosto?i Globe. " ' In the Smoke of War' is a brave, strong, good story, written with spirit and feeling, concerning the tragic events in Somersetshire immediately preceding Cromwell's deliverance of the people from the cruel tyranny of the king's troops. Its stirring incidents are narrated with simplicity, naturalness, and force, and the individualities of its characters are very strongly marked." — JVeiv York World. A PITILESS PASSION. By ELLA MACMAHON, Author of "A Nevo Note" "A Modern Afan.' i6mo. Cloth. $1.25. " It is a strong story, strongly told." — Boston Daily Advertiser. " A book well worth reading." — Boston Times. " The book is a capital piece of work, and is full of clever descriptions and dialogues." — Cinci//nati Tribime. " In ' A Pitiless Passion' there is undeniable and considerable power. It is also a book of no little literary ability." — Congregationalist. " It is almost with a feeling of admiration that one closes the book, so con- sistent and thorough has the author been." — Chicago Evening Jo2ir7ial. FREDERICK. By L. B. WALFORD, Author of "The Baby's Grandmother" "The Alischlef of Monica" etc, i2mo. Cloth. $1.25. " It is refreshing to take up such a novel as ' Frederick.' Mrs. Walford posse.sses to an eminent degree the knack of writing a wholly pleasing and entertaining story, without a particle of morbid sentiment, — a delightful picture of English family and village life. A book like ' Frederick ' is better than medi- cine to those who are ' low in their minds,' and it is a pity that such books are so rare." — The, Beacon. " The pleasantly wrought scenes of luxurious life in its many phases are an enticement not to be resisted. The reader will not be more seduced by the de- lightfully natural current of the story than by the entering page on which it is recorded. A nicer English tale for a sofa or easy-chair solace is not often to be had for the search." — Boston Cojtrier. THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, 66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEV^ YORK. 'O. fv . C *i ^