The Project Gutenberg eBook of On Board the "Rocket", by Robert C. (Chamblet) Adams This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook. Title: On Board the "Rocket" Author: Robert C. (Chamblet) Adams Release Date: December 29, 2020 [eBook #64171] Language: English Character set encoding: UTF-8 Produced by: Richard Hulse, Graeme Mackreth and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) *** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ON BOARD THE "ROCKET" *** THE ROCKET. ON BOARD THE "ROCKET." BY ROBERT C. ADAMS. "——Ships are but boards, sailors but men: there be land-rats and water-rats, water-thieves and land-thieves." —Merchant of Venice. BOSTON: D. LOTHROP COMPANY, FRANKLIN ST., CORNER OF HAWLEY. COPYRIGHT BY ROBERT C. ADAMS, 1879. PREFACE. All the incidents of this book are facts, occurring in the writer's own experience. In a few cases names have been altered, in accordance with his desire, neither to give offence to the living, nor to cast discredit upon the dead. He makes no apology for its imperfections; for he issues it, not as a contribution to literature, but as a needed exposure of abuses on shipboard, which are too common, but too little known. He refers with diffidence to his own methods of discipline, believing that in the principles which prompted them, lie the means of promoting the interests and good repute of our Merchant Marine. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. The Rocket—The Cargo—Shipping the Crew—The Start—Rolling—Discomfort—Quiet—Gale—Storm Music— Discipline—Northeast Trades—Aye! Aye!—Doldrums—Sharks—A Shark Story—South-east Trades. CHAPTER II. A Saucy Sailor—Sailors' Treatment—An Easy Ship—Three Kinds of Discipline—A Good Run—Proving the Reckoning—Sea birds. CHAPTER III. The Voyage of the "Dublin"—Capt. Streeter—A Darkey Crew—No Profanity—The Mates—A Bully—A Tobacco Cargo—Owner's Instructions—A Blower—No Sitting Down—Pomposity—Brass Knuckles—Flogging—The Third Mate—Reefing Topsails—Mr. Jones—A Smart Officer—The Brick-wall Theory—Reflections—Good Advice—Land, ho!—Porpoises—Mother Carey's Chickens—Captain and Mate—Land In Sight—Overheard— Gibraltar—Information—Where Christ was born—In the Mediterranean—Jake—Gulf of Lyons—Genoa Bay— Quarantine—Discharging Cargo. CHAPTER IV. The Voyage of the "Dublin" concluded—Genova La Superba—Leave of Absence—On Shore in Italy—Loading Marble—Mates' Opinions about Driving Sailors Ashore—Women in Ships—Anchor at Gibraltar—Through the Straits—Pumps Choked—How to Clinch Buntlines—Cleaning the Spittoon—A Sleepy Officer's Danger— Holystones—Beating a Boy—Officers' Ambition—Eternal Vigilance—Old Jenkings—A Breeze Aloft—The Pilot's Rebuff—Blood Tubs—Paying Off—Promotion—The Mate and the Owner. CHAPTER V. John Shephard—My Model Sailor—Christmas—Ode to the Rocket—Grub—Doubtful Islands—Becalmed off Java —Officers' Yarns—Off Java Head—Narrow Escape—A Floating Light. CHAPTER VI. Life in the East Indies—Carimata Passage—Singapore—Three Months' Extra Pay. CHAPTER VII. Penang—Penang Hill—Nearly Wrecked—Deliverance—West Coast of Sumatra—Padang—Padang Thieves— Padang Church—Malay Ordination—Padang Drives—Natives—Captain Blowhard—Insolence. CHAPTER VIII. Another Voyage in the "Dublin"—Second Mate—Mr. Howard's Grievances—Mr. Howard Leaves—Leaking—The New Mate—Second Mates' Duties—Ships' Work—Squalls—Old Harry—At the Fore-truck—Amsterdam— Dutchmen—The Captain's Relapse—Worrying the Second Mate—Dreams—A Growl—A Cabin Conference— An Irish Sailor—Two Finnish Sailors. CHAPTER IX. Another Voyage in the "Dublin" concluded—A North Sea Gale—The Lee Shore—In Distress—Good-bye to Old Harry—Captain's Yarns—Bullies—Gothenburg—Another Start—Decks Swept—Stopping the Leak—Hurrying the Crew—A Hard Life—A Freezing Gale—A False Bearing—Weatherwise—Leaving the "Dublin"—Mr. Wright's Letter—Capt. Streeter's End. CHAPTER X. Land Again—The "Flying Dutchman"—A Cape of Good Hope Gale—Gales—Rolling Down to St. Helena—Watch and Watch—Tarring Down—Sailors' Growls—Sailors' Opinions—Discontent in the Cabin—Ills of Sea Life. CHAPTER XI. Sailors' Resources—The Tar Barrel—A Wild Ship—Boarding a Vessel—Ready for Port. CHAPTER XII. Sailors' Songs—Bully or Coax—Treatment of Sailors—Schooner "Jane"—A Mackerel Shower—Fog on the Coast— Taking a Pilot—Arrived—Paying off—Scraping Belaying Pins. "Once more upon the waters, yet once more! And the waves bound beneath me, as a steed That knows his rider." —Byron's Childe Harold. "Who would not sell a farm and go to sea?"—Sailor Proverb. ON BOARD THE "ROCKET." [Pg 13] CHAPTER I. IN Lloyds Register is recorded:—"Rocket, Bk. 384, 135, 25, 16.5, 1851, Medford, W.O., icf.," which being interpreted means, Bark Rocket, 384 tons, 135 feet long, 25 feet beam, 16½ feet depth of hold, built in 1851, at Medford, of white oak, with iron and copper fastenings. To which may be added, that she was a well known trader to the East Indies, being called in those ports "the green bark," on account of being painted a dark green, or what the painters style tea color. She was a good looking vessel, neatly finished about the decks, and the masts and yards were all scraped bright. The chief peculiarity was that she was narrow in proportion to her length, being compared by an old sailor to "a plank set on edge." This caused her to be reputed, and not undeservedly, a crank vessel, and many a gloomy croaker has uttered the foreboding that like her sister ship, the "Dauntless," she would go to sea sometime— never to return. Yet for many years she had gone and come, and though occasionally threatening to capsize, she had never really performed this undesirable manœuvre. The builder and the subsequent owner were two of the most practical merchants of Boston. She must therefore have been well put together and properly cared for, as there was truth in the remark made, that "what Nat G——, and Dick B—— didn't know about a ship wasn't worth knowing." The Rocket was lying at Central Wharf in Boston, loading a cargo for the East Indies. Barrels of beef, pork, tar and pitch were stowed in the bottom; then followed in miscellaneous order, lumber, sewing machines, kerosene oil, flour, biscuits, preserves, ice pitchers, carriages, oars and many other articles. As the sailing day drew near, the important matter of choosing officers and crew had to be considered. The first person who applied was an aspirant to the mate's berth. "How long have you been to sea?" was asked. "Thirty years." "Why! how old are you?" "Twenty-nine." "How do you make that out?" "Oh, I was born and bred at sea." He was thought to be too old a sailor for a young captain to manage, and was not engaged. Soon a young man applied, with more modest demeanor, and he was secured. The rest of the crew were soon picked out. Wishing to choose for myself who should sail with me for so many months, the shipping master was told to send on board any good men who applied to him, giving the preference to Norwegians and Swedes, these being, in my opinion, both in seamanship and docility, the best class of sailors that man our vessels. Germans and Scotchmen he was told to favor next, then Englishmen, and lastly Irishmen, for these, though often capital seamen, do not as readily as some others endure privations without grumbling, and are too strong republicans to be always submissive subjects of a despotic government such as that of shipboard. American sailors unfortunately are not often in the choice. They are soon promoted from the forecastle, if they enter it, or else after short service find they can do better on shore, than by leading a dog's life at sea. One afternoon in September all the crew were mustered on board. Captain Jack Frost came alongside with his tug boat, and his cheery voice hailed, "Are you all ready, Cap.? Pass out your lines!" The owner said, "Good-by," and moving towards his yacht, added, "I'm going to give you a race down the harbor." The fasts were cast off, the bark was tugged out into the stream; then with topsails set before a strong nor'wester she showed the towboat the advisability of getting out of her way. We should have thought she was sailing fast, had not the yacht "Vesta" overtaken us, crossed our bow, and boomed away down Broad Sound, under jib and mainsail. Just inside of Boston light we rounded to and let the pilot get into the canoe from the station pilot boat; then, filling away, the course was shaped for Cape Cod and the voyage had begun. The anchors being secured, the top-gallantsails were loosed, and leaving all the accompanying fleet astern, away we sped, ten knots an hour, and in four hours passed the Race Light. The crew numbered eight men and two boys before the mast, a cook, cabin boy, two mates and captain, fifteen all told, besides one passenger, a young gentleman travelling for health. Owing to the late hour in the day at which we sailed, the men had taken several parting glasses with their friends, and some were inclined to be troublesome. The officers managed judiciously and kept them quiet, but the mate remarked, he thought we had "a pretty hard crew." The watches were chosen and the port watch sent below at eight o'clock, in accordance with the old maxim "the master takes her out and the mate brings her home." By this rule the watch variously known as the second mate's, starboard, or captain's watch, takes eight hours on deck the first night outward bound, and the mate's, or port watch, does the same the first night of the homeward bound passage. The wind had drawn more northerly, becoming rather "scant" for a course north of George's Shoal, so we squared away down South Channel. Being right before wind and sea, the bark, having a large proportion of her heavy cargo in the lower hold, began to roll most distressingly. She seemed to nearly dip each rail alternately in quick succession. As the night wore on it grew worse and worse, every drawer slid out in the state-rooms, the doors of lockers swung open, their contents got adrift, kegs of paint took to rolling, the turpentine-can upset, scenting the air, and the pantry floor showed a medley of tin ware, crockery, brooms, edibles and sundry "small stores" engaged in kaleidoscopic [Pg 14] [Pg 15] [Pg 16] [Pg 17] performances. After getting some of these things secured more firmly than had been possible in the haste of their reception, the weary skipper went to his bed, but not to sleep. The berth was fore-and-aft and he rolled from side to side with every motion. Then, in distraction, he removed to the transom sofa running 'thwartships across the cabin, and here he slipped up and down, standing now on his feet and then on his head. O, the miseries of that night! The close cabin, the smoky oil-lamp, the smell of turpentine and the quick, incessant motion created suggestions of sea sickness, even to a veteran mariner. The mind sympathized with the body, and thus the captain reflected:—"O, what a fool I am to go to sea, there are the beautiful home, the spacious rooms, the comfortable and steady bed, the beloved family circle. What have I done? Renounced them all for a year. For what? To be shut up in this dismal den, with a crowd of rude vagabonds, deprived of everything that makes life enjoyable, and visited with everything to make it miserable. Only let me set foot on shore again and you'll never catch me on board of a ship." The morning light was welcome and George's Shoals being well cleared, the vessel's course was altered to the eastward, bringing the wind more on the side and steadying her movements. This is one of the pleasures of sea life, the cessation of motion. "Then are they glad because they be quiet." But as sea-life originates the evil, it deserves no credit for the temporary relief. The breeze moderated and we made easy progress, while the crew were busily at work stowing anchors and chains, putting on chafing gear, and making the various preparations for a long voyage. A pilot boat came under our stern to satisfy her curiosity as to our identity. As she disappeared, we felt that our last friend on American shores had left us, and we set our faces resolutely towards the regions beyond. The next day the weather became threatening. Though October had set in, no gale had yet occurred fit to be named "the equinoctial storm," therefore, one was considered due by all who believed in that old-fashioned institution. A gale did come, but its connection with the equinox was not clearly established. It blew fiercely enough, however, to deserve that respectable title, and forced the vessel to lie to under a close-reefed main-topsail, which finally had to be "goose-winged" (one side of it furled.) The mate went aloft himself to encourage the crew in braving the storm. For two hours it blew with almost hurricane violence, or as the mate expressed it, "a perfect screamer," and we began to fear we should not escape unharmed, as the seas were getting very "ugly." But the Rocket lay to safely and behaved splendidly. All night the wind held on with violence, but at day-break it began to moderate and we escaped with no other damage than splitting a jib and foretopmast staysail. A gale of wind at night is a sublime, though fearful, scene. The ship plunges wildly in the darkness, and skies and waters are equally black, only relieved by the foaming crests of the mountain waves. But perhaps the most impressive feature is the music of the gale, nature's grand organ, or, if any prefer the simile, its bagpipe. The sub-bass of the storm, as it sweeps over the waves against the hull and through the lower rigging of the ship, forms the great volume of sound, and above, in constantly changing variety, come shrieks, screams, wailings and whistlings of every pitch and intensity, sounding from aloft as the wind drives through sheave-holes, against the small rigging, and into cracks in the spars. Few listen to these sounds without an impression of awe or even dread, and many a brave heart, which scarcely knows the meaning of the word fear, has felt a thrill and shudder as the discordant screams and howlings of the midnight gale unite with the roaring and dashing of the breaking waves. For the next three days we tumbled about in the subsiding waves, and experienced the most unpleasant part of a storm, which is not positively dangerous. The excitement and touch of romance pertaining to the gale have gone. The disagreeable motion, as the ship, not steadied by the force of the wind, is tossed to and fro on the waves, which the gale leaves to testify of its vehemence, causes much discomfort. Then we "reel to and fro and stagger like a drunken man and are at our wits end" how to maintain composure of mind, amidst so much bodily disquietude. At the commencement of the voyage, I took the first opportunity to call the officers together on the poop-deck, and privately instruct them in my ideas of discipline. This was the drift of my remarks: For some years past I have made it a rule that there shall be no cursing or blows used or given on board of my ship. In saying this, I do not mean that I wish sailors to be allowed to do as they like, or that I do not wish good discipline maintained. I have sometimes had to reprove officers for cursing the men and throwing belaying pins at them, and they seemed to feel that I had curtailed their rights. With a vindictive spirit, disguised by an air of injured innocence, they then neglected their duty and made no effort to keep the crew in proper order, saying, "If the old man doesn't care, I'm sure I don't." Let me tell you my plan of keeping discipline. When we start on a voyage the crew generally come on board more or less under the influence of liquor. Some of them are all ready for a fight and do their best to bring it on. If you choose to have a row, it is the easiest thing in the world to find opportunity for it, and you know how frequently the occasion is seized, and the ship's deck is stained with blood before she is clear of the land. Now at the start, I say, Shut your eyes and ears to instances of personal disrespect, and do not use force to exact the performance of duty, unless as a last resort when the interests of the ship positively require it. As soon as you can spare men from work, get into their bunks those who are so drunk as to be troublesome and let them sleep themselves sober. You will often, or indeed generally, find that these are the best "sailor men" in the ship. It was the rum that made the trouble, and I believe the only successful way of fighting rum is to attack it before it gets inside of men. Drunken men are more easily controlled than we think, but it requires tact to deal with them, and, above all, kindness. I had a sailor last voyage who was roaring about the deck, brimful of fight, using his insolence to gain a chance to work it off. I stepped up to him, and he straightened back to return the expected blow. To his evident surprise I just laid my hand upon his shoulder, and in a kind but decided tone said, "My man, you go to your bunk." He fired up, and said in a saucy way, "Do you mean to say I can't do my duty?" I replied, "We don't need you just now, [Pg 18] [Pg 19] [Pg 20] [Pg 21] [Pg 22] you'll feel better after you've had a nap, and we will call you to turn to just as soon as we want you." "All right, sir," he growled, in a disappointed sort of way, and tumbled into the forecastle. The next morning he appeared on deck as quiet and civil as any body, and during the voyage, after he got over a touch of the horrors, he proved to be the best sailor- man on board, and was always as respectful as I could wish. There are many vessels where he would have been off duty a week with a broken head, and then have needed a second thrashing to take the ugliness out of him. After we are fairly at sea things generally go on smoothly for about a fortnight and then the sailors begin to try experiments, to feel their officers' disposition, test their strictness, and decide how much liberty they can take. The first sign of this is the neglect to give an answer to orders, or omitting the word "Sir" from their reply. They watch to see if this is noticed, and if it is not, they advance to other liberties, and the inch being granted they very soon take the ell. When you find this state of things beginning, and a man ceases to give a respectful answer, check him for it in a manly way, and give him to understand that such things will not be allowed on board of this vessel. Do not curse him, nor strike him, nor threaten him in a way to make him ugly, but rather seek while maintaining your authority to give an impression of its justice. If he continues to repeat his offence after this, then punish him for it, by keeping him up in his watch below, by giving him disagreeable work, by stationing him aloft in the night, or by any little requirement, which will make him feel that he is controlled and compelled to do something against his will. If this fails to subdue him, after a patient trial of it, (for it is not to be supposed that every unruly spirit is to be conquered in a moment,) the thing to be done next is to report him to the captain. He is the only one to whom the law gives power to inflict punishment. If you undertake to use force you are in danger of prosecution when you arrive in port, and you are well aware that our courts are very jealous for the sailor's rights. The captain should then take the matter up and adopt such measures of correction as, in his judgment, the case requires. Very often a simple reproof from him will be all that is necessary, as showing his decided espousal of his officers' cause, and determination to stand by them. When this is proved, Jack will be apt to give in, but in an obstinate case irons may be the necessary resort. Of course I don't wish to be annoyed with the report of every little misdemeanor or sign of insubordination; but when you fail to suppress them by the means I have referred to, then let me know about it. If you will adopt this course, although at first it may be too slow a method for you, I will promise you that when we reach home you will say you never got more work out of a crew, and never made a passage in which you took so much comfort, or which you remembered with so great satisfaction. We gave the crew watch and watch, and Saturday afternoon was allowed them for mending and washing clothes. Sunday at 9 a.m. services were held in the cabin. Attendance was not compulsory, but as a rule all hands were present, except the man at the wheel and the officer of the deck. We made tolerable runs down to lat. 30° N., which we crossed in lon. 40° W., eleven days out; but here for a few days the "horse latitudes" assailed us with their calms. We whistled for the wind, wondered how Job would have acted if he had ever been becalmed, tried hard to be patient, and thought we were at the threshold of success, when at last the wind settled at the eastward. A steady freshening breeze proved we had got the north-east trades, and the log line, as it marked nine knots over the taffrail, enabled us to be patient without further effort. Running along by the wind at the rate of eight and nine knots an hour, with a regular sea that gave only a pleasing motion to the vessel, and a blue sky enlivened by the swiftly flying, fleecy trade-wind clouds, we understood the reality of "the romance of the sea." Flying-fish continually darted out from under the ship's bow, the beautiful fleet dolphins ran races, constantly beating us and coming back to try it again, the fat, puffing porpoises occasionally tumbled across our hawse and went snorting off to windward; the sea was strewn with patches of gulf-weed, and Mother Carey's chickens tripped about amongst it as though afraid of wetting their feet while searching for food. There was always something to see, and life was never monotonous. About this time I noticed that the first signs of the relaxing of discipline were beginning to appear, in the occasional neglect of the sailors to answer when spoken to. I watched to see if the mates attempted to correct it, as I desired they should control the men in minor matters, and I was relieved soon by hearing the mate call out, "Why don't you answer when I speak to you?" A brief "growl" followed, but the sailor, a Swede named Peterson gave in, declared he meant no disrespect and intended to do his duty. The next thing that occurred in the matter of discipline was, that one night I heard "Old Brown" reply, "Aye! aye!" to an order from the second mate, omitting the word "Sir." This is considered a great breach of ship etiquette; trivial as it seems, I was annoyed that the second mate took no notice of it. The next day I spoke to both parties separately about it, and the sailor professed to be utterly unconscious of his omission. He received a brief lecture and gave all desirable promises of respectful behavior, and "Sirs" were very clear and distinct for a while. The sailors seeing that they were kept up to the mark in these little matters, naturally concluded that they would not be allowed to do as they liked in greater concerns, and the routine of watch and watch went on harmoniously and efficiently. When twenty days out we found ourselves within seven degrees of the line, but here the trades left us, and for nearly a fortnight the "doldrums" raged. The bark drifted about with light airs from the southward, dead ahead, or else lay like a log on the glassy sea, rolling lazily with the swell, her sails slatting and spars creaking at every roll. Calm continues! Utter disgust!! Captain's growl:—"A sea life should be avoided and execrated by all sensible men. It is an utter stagnation of intellect and heart, and only develops hatred towards our fellow men and murmuring at God's Providence. I have tried it from beginning to end, and I solemnly and deliberately pronounce it—a dog's life." [Pg 23] [Pg 24] [Pg 25] [Pg 26] An officer of a ship must have good nerves to be able to endure with patience that dreadful slatting and creaking, even had he no interest in the progress of the vessel; but to one earnestly desirous of making a quick passage, as is usually the case with the captain, the doldrums are the severest test of disposition that can be applied. As he walks the quarter- deck, whistling through his teeth, searching in all corners of the horizon for signs of a breeze, he discovers in the distance a rippling of the water. It gradually comes nearer the vessel and greets her with a gentle air. The captain orders all sail to be set, and the canvas swells out to the wind; the rudder stops its thumping, the water begins to gurgle in the wake, and the captain, watching the rate of speed as he leans over the lee-quarter, exclaims, "That's the breeze! go it, old boat! good-by to the doldrums!" But the wind lessens; there comes an ominous slat of the spanker, and a jingling of the sheet blocks that strikes dismay to the "old man's" heart. He starts up to windward, looks for the breeze and finds it to be but a catspaw. After the sails have flapped about for a few minutes, if belonging to a certain class of men, the captain in savage tones orders the courses hauled up, the spanker lowered and jibs and staysails hauled down. Then he throws his hat on deck and jumps on top of it, cursing everything "from an inch high and a year old upwards." He now casts his eye aloft and snarls out at the mate, "Why don't you keep those gaskets made up; nobody seems to care anything for the ship, she would go to destruction if it wasn't for me." The mate gives an order to a sailor, and as in the heat and dullness of the time he is not disposed to move very briskly, the angered mate vents his spleen by a curse or opprobrious epithet. Perhaps a fight follows, or merely a war of words; the rest of the crew become disaffected; at dinnertime they go to the galley and growl at the cook for not giving them more or better grub; and so from stem to stern of the ship, bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, evil speaking, with all malice abound. In the centre of this doldrum region clouds and heavy rains prevail. Torrents sometimes fall so continuously that the surface water becomes sensibly freshened. The great "cloud belt" overhangs this region of gloom. The air is sultry and oppressive, making the body weary and the spirit depressed. I believe no region on the surface of the globe sends to the Ear above such a volume of murmurings, blasphemies and strife. Concerning this place Lieut. Maury quotes from the journal of Commodore Sinclair: "This is certainly one of the most unpleasant regions in our globe. A dense, close atmosphere, except for a few hours after a thunder-storm, during which time torrents of rain fall, when the air becomes a little refreshed; but a hot, glowing sun heats it again, and but for your awning and the little air put in circulation by the continual flapping of the ship's sails it would be almost insufferable. No person who has not crossed this region can form an adequate idea of its unpleasant effects. You feel a degree of lassitude unconquerable, which not even the sea-bathing which everywhere else proved so salutary and renovating can dispel. Except when in actual danger of shipwreck I never spent twelve more disagreeable days. "I crossed the line and soon found I had surmounted all the difficulties consequent to that event; that the breeze continued to freshen and draw round to the south south-east, bringing with it a clear sky and most heavenly temperature, renovating and refreshing beyond description. Nothing was now to be seen but cheerful countenances, exchanged as by enchantment from that sleepy sluggishness which had borne us all down for the last two weeks." Maury himself says of it: "Besides being a region of calms and baffling winds it is a region noted for its rains and clouds which make it one of the most oppressive and disagreeable places at sea. The emigrant ships from Europe to Australia have to cross it. They are often baffled in it for two or three weeks; then the children and the passengers who are of delicate health suffer most. It is a frightful graveyard on the wayside to that golden land." The memory of days, nights and weeks repeated at intervals through many years, when disappointment, depression, vexation and sadness have been my companions, impel me to heap up testimony against this dreadful place, the dark valley of the waters. Far more cheerful to the sailor are the roaring gales of Cape Horn than the sluggish, damp, provoking airs of the Doldrums. But there is sometimes mirth in the Doldrums, and one afternoon the capture of a shark gave us diversion and amusement. A dead calm prevailed; not a ripple stirred the water, and the dull, sluggish swells of the sea looked like furrows of polished steel. A sailor aloft spying a shark alongside gave the information to the deck. The shark moved slowly around the vessel, and as he passed under the stern, the second mate threw the harpoon from the taffrail and drove it right through his body. A vast amount of splashing ensued, and it was with great difficulty a slip-noose was thrown over his tail. This being jammed tight he was drawn on board, tail first, by the rope. His motions on deck were very violent, but a vigorous application of handspikes quieted him somewhat, and he was drawn forward to the main hatch and butchered. It seemed impossible to kill him. After his head and tail were cut off and all his entrails extracted, the body still thrashed about so as to make the sailors jump clear of it. I took his back bone for a cane, the carpenter appropriated the skin for sand paper, and the cook begged for a little ball in his head that he could "sell to the doctors on shore for a quarter, it being fust rate for medicine." Many were the theories, abusive remarks and jokes indulged in around this fallen enemy of the sailors. His long life was said to be owing to the fact that sharks never died till sunset. The best joke was Murphy's, who had been in the army, who said "He'd make a good Northern soldier, he's so long dying." The common theory, that a breeze always follows the killing of a shark, made everybody more light-hearted, and the expectation was fulfilled after awhile. A rain squall in the Doldrums. That evening the usual yarn-spinning went on around the booby-hatch, and among the shark-stories that were related was the following by the mate, given in his words as nearly as they can be remembered. It was intended especially for the passenger's enlightenment, but I overheard it: [Pg 29] [Pg 30] [Pg 31] [Pg 32] [Pg 35] "I once made a voyage in the ship "Laguna" from Boston to Cadiz and back with a cargo of salt. Coming home we had a Cuban planter and his son, a boy of nineteen, as passengers. The boy was always whistling, and our mate, who was a regular old sea-dog, who hated to hear whistling, except in a calm when it would help to raise the wind, kept prophesying that the nightingale, as he called the boy, would be sure to bring some bad luck. One day, when a heavy swell was running, but the wind had nearly died away, a large shark came up in our wake and followed the ship. The boy was leaning over the taffrail watching the shark, and his father was walking up and down the poop deck with his pocket-knife in his hand, whittling a stick. The ship suddenly gave a heavy pitch and the boy lost his balance and tumbled overboard. He screamed as he fell, and the father gave another yell and jumped overboard after him. There was a pretty kettle of fish then. The main yard was thrown aback, though the ship wasn't making much headway, and everything handy about decks was tossed overboard—gratings, life-buoys, and planks. Most everybody threw something, and the carpenter, who was a stupid muff of a fellow, wanted to do his share towards the rescue, so he picked up his grindstone and threw that overboard. The passengers disappeared immediately, and as nothing could be seen of them from aloft it was useless to get out a boat. We filled away again with sad feelings, and the old mate said Nightingale might whistle the whole passage if he would only come back. In a little while the captain spied a shark under the stern. He got the shark-hook and put a big junk of salt pork on it, and soon the shark took hold. We slipped a running bow-line around his tail and hauled him on deck. After we had smashed his head with handspikes we cut him open, and there we found the man, the boy and the grindstone. The boy was turning the grindstone and his father was sharpening his knife in order to cut a hole in the shark to get out of. They were greatly astonished to find themselves on our deck again, and the father said it was little short of a miracle." It is hard to tell how a vessel ever escapes from this doldrum region; but by using her chances, constantly spreading her wings to every fitful breath and gaining a little day by day, she at last strikes an air that is not a catspaw. It gradually increases, and soon is pronounced to be the S.E. trades. Such was our lot when we reached lat. 3° N., and the day after, we sailed swiftly across the line in lon. 31° 30´, thirty-four days out. Passing to windward of the Island of Fernando Noronha, we sped along through the most charming region of the sea, that of the south-east trades in the South Atlantic. [Pg 36] [Pg 37] CHAPTER II. A SAUCY SAILOR. ONE night in the Trades, while the mate's watch were bracing the yards, I heard the sound of angry voices on deck. The next morning I asked the mate if he had any trouble with any one in the middle watch. He replied: "I had some words with Peterson, that's all, sir." "What was the matter?" The mate answered: "For some time back Peterson has been slack about giving an answer. I didn't want to check him before the men, for he has become religious this passage, and some of the men are down on him about it. If I growled at him, the men would have another handle on him; so, after we got through bracing, I called him one side and told him I wished he would be more particular about giving an answer. I thought that was treating him pretty kindly; I never condescended to do as much for a sailor before, but he got mad about it and was saucy. I gave him some strong talk, and it was all I could do to keep my hands off him. He says he is going to complain to you about my imposing on him. They say for'ard he is crazy, and I most thought so myself last night. I got excited and threatened to knock him down if he didn't shut up; but all the time he talked religion." Said he, "You can strike me if you like; I've got all over fighting now; if you hit me on one cheek I'll turn the other to you." Peterson had the wheel that forenoon from eight to ten o'clock, and when I went up on the poop-deck he said, "Will you allow me to speak to you, sir." "No," I replied, "I am going to speak to you," and I gave him a sharp reproof for giving the mate "back answers." His feelings were very much hurt. I perceived the cause of his behavior to be erroneous ideas upon religious matters. He had led a wild life and always sailed in rough ships, and at the commencement of the voyage he was greatly impressed by the treatment adopted, and by the instructions given at our Sunday service. He professed to have been converted when a fortnight out, and had ever since been very zealous in exhorting his shipmates. One remark showed the whole trouble. He said to me, "Now that we are Christian brethren we are all equal and we ought to get along easily together." He evidently thought this sentiment should level the inequality of our stations, and there should naturally follow a relaxing of discipline, and more familiar treatment. Afterwards I called him below. He dropped his cap outside the door, and we sat down at the cabin table. I spoke to him about our difference as fellow Christians, and as captain and sailor, saying, "If you should insult me on shore, I should take no notice of it whatever, but if you do so on board of my ship, while personally I forgive you, yet as master of the ship I am obliged to resent it, for the sake of discipline. Suppose a man struck me in the street, to throw contempt upon me as a religious man, why then I would turn the other cheek to him; but if, when I entered my house, my boy should strike me in the face, I would punish him for it, because I consider it a christian duty to rule my own house well and keep my children in subjection. Just so on board ship it is my duty to be faithful to the owner's interests, and to guard the trusts committed to me, subject of course to the spirit of Christ's teachings. These interests require that there should be good discipline in the ship, and therefore the mate does right to notice any disrespect that is shown him." A day or two after this, Peterson said to me at the wheel, "I've been thinking over what you said to me. I see that I was wrong, and it sha'n't happen again." For the remaining ten months of the voyage no one had a word of complaint against Peterson, and his influence over his shipmates was most excellent. In the evening after this occurrence, when the mate came aft at eight o'clock to relieve the second officer, we began talking about the affair. "There is one thing," said the mate, "that I haven't quite settled yet, and that is whether you can treat sailors well or not. At any rate, if a man is a Christian he had better not go on board of a ship as officer. I feel so mad sometimes I'd like to slaughter the whole watch." I replied, "It's a matter that I settled a long time ago. You cannot treat a sailor well without his taking some advantage of it. Inferiors will presume upon a kind disposition in their superiors, all the world over. It is human nature. I made up my mind to that in the very beginning. But there is another question. Is it best to treat sailors well, all things considered? As a matter of principle there can of course be but one answer:—Christ's teachings entirely settle that. A divine precept must be of universal application; there can be no exceptions, and if sea life were proved to be a sphere where Christ's commands could not be obeyed, it would also be condemned as an occupation no one could follow guiltlessly. As a question of policy there seem to be different opinions, though whatever is good principle must be good policy. I say most decidedly it is best; best for the ship, for the owners, for the officers, and of course best for the men themselves. It is very poor policy to make sailors the enemies of the ship. How many vessels have been set fire to by an enraged crew! How many spars and sails have been lost, because, just out of spite, a sailor neglected to report the first stage of an accident which he alone observed in a dark night! How many ships have remained in port for weeks after they were loaded, because they had so bad a reputation no one would go in them, and they only sail at last with a kidnapped crew! How much running gear has been cut, and how many sails ripped with sheath knives on the night of arrival at the port of destination, by men thus taking revenge for harsh usage! How many refusals of duty, mutinies, murders, and lawsuits have their beginning in a foul word or blow! Just sum these up and look at the other side. I am no apologist for those who let sailors do as they like. The results of inefficiency do not belong to our side of the account. But take this vessel for an example. We are not treated with the strict deference the sailor gives to a severe ruler, but we secure his enduring respect and a good name on shore. We hear more growling about 'grub,' for if the cook doesn't make 'bread scouse' to suit them, the men are not afraid to come aft to the cabin to complain about it. In ordinary work we have not [Pg 38] [Pg 39] [Pg 40] [Pg 41] [Pg 42] [Pg 43] quite so much drive and smartness, but all important duties are done as well if not better. I think of no other disadvantages, and all that can be said of what I have named is, that our discipline is not as rigid as that of ships where men are abused; but no one can deny that we have good discipline. As to your remark about Christian officers, I must say I think it a very cowardly speech. If shipboard is a place of trial it is just the place for a Christian, for who has such resources as he?" The mate took exception to one part of my admissions and paid me the compliment of saying, "I never sailed with a captain that received as much respect from sailors as you do. I notice whenever you come for'ard how the men straighten themselves up to their work, and the respectful manner in which they step out of your way." One moonlight evening, when the trade-wind was driving us briskly along, we were sitting in our easy chairs on deck enjoying the romance of the sea, and the passenger asked me, if sailors always behaved well when they were well treated. In answer I told him the story of AN EASY SHIP. When a lad of nineteen years, in company with a friend of my own age, I made a voyage from Boston to Cronstadt and back to New York as passenger in the ship "Volant." She was a full-built vessel of about six hundred tons register and carried a crew of fourteen before the mast. The captain was a Swede named Nelson, a good natured, worthy man. Mr. Smith, the first mate, was an Englishman, a man with a very kind heart and easy disposition. The second mate, Mr. Kemp, was an old sea dog, hailing from New Hampshire. He was a hard drinker when on shore and appeared to be wholly destitute of ambition. His sea character depended entirely on that of his superiors. If they were severe he could be as great a tyrant as any one, and if they were inclined to take their ease he could be as quiet and unconcerned as though he had nothing to do with the ship. Of the sailors, five were Irish, three were "Dutchmen," two English, two American and two from Nova Scotia. They were of rather a low grade, but were for the most part a well disposed set of men, though half of them were very deficient in seamanship. For the first week of the passage they seemed very peaceable, with the exception of one man who called himself "Brock," and was one of the vilest sort of "Liverpool Packet Rats." He was always grumbling and cursing, no sailor, and a miserable shirk. His talk, by degrees, affected the others, the poison gradually spread and the rest of the crew became surly and discontented,—ready to join in with whatever "growl" Brock might start. It was hard to see what they could find fault with, for there was scarcely ever a "hurrah" or "bear a hand" uttered by the officers; the men took fifteen or twenty minutes to "turn out," and the mate had been forward the second night after leaving Boston, and had told the watch on deck that there was no need of more than one remaining on deck, and the rest might lie down on their chests in the forecastle and be ready for a call. The result was that the men usually stayed in their bunks all night. The captain hardly ever opened his mouth in hearing of the crew. At seven o'clock in the morning he got out of his berth and came to the breakfast table. After winding his chronometer and taking the usual observation for longitude, he lighted his pipe and sat down to read the New York Herald, of which he had a large pile on the right hand side of his chair, and the voyage was principally devoted to building a pile on his left hand with the papers that had been read. The observation for latitude was taken at noon, then followed dinner, a smoke and a nap till about half-past four, and then came another smoke and supper. The evening was chiefly devoted to his pipe and the favorite newspaper, and if the weather was unsettled he sometimes appeared on deck once or twice in the night. It was seldom this routine was disturbed by anything more serious than an attack on him by his young passengers with boxing gloves or fencing foils. When half way across the Atlantic the captain went on deck one evening to take a look at the weather before "turning in." Casting his eye to windward he saw that a heavy squall was about to strike the ship, and looking around for the second mate, he discovered that worthy fast asleep on the after bitts wholly unconscious of the two squalls that threatened him. The captain showed the possession of some temper by catching the sleeping officer by the neck and sending him sprawling to the deck. "You good-for-nothing," said he, "I didn't think an old sailor like you would serve me such a trick. Call all hands to shorten sail!" The second mate picked himself up and got to the forecastle as quickly as his confused senses would allow him, and called to the men to "tumble out" as quickly as possible. His own watch were in there as well as the watch below, and all were soundly asleep. They had got so accustomed to slow movements that even a squall would not hurry them much, but a few got out on deck and had just let go the top-gallant halyards and hauled down the flying-jib, when the squall struck the ship and laid her almost on her beam-ends, for she had a cargo of cotton and was very crank. The topsail halyards were then let-go, the spanker lowered and the ship was got off before the wind. The rain poured in torrents and the work of shortening sail was certainly not very agreeable. Through all the work Brock's voice could be heard swearing and grumbling,—"If any one ever asks me to go another Russian voyage," said he, "if I've got money enough to buy an old rusty pistol I'll shoot him." Several of the sails were split and two hours of the passage were lost by the second mate's nap. The captain thought best to keep a stricter eye on him after this and ordered that the watch on deck should keep out of the forecastle. For a few days they did so, but one by one they tried the experiment of going in there, and finding it created no uproar, they soon got back to old habits. When four weeks out we passed the Orkney Islands and the same afternoon sighted Fair Island off the port bow. We passed within five miles of the Island, and two boats with six men in each pulled off to meet us. The men were small and thin and with only one exception had light complexions and sandy hair and beards. They came on board and begged, in whining tones, to be allowed to exchange their fish for bread and salt meat. After a trade, made very much in their favor, they produced woollen mittens and socks, knitted by the women of the island, and made another trade. These being exhausted they proceeded to beg, with a stock of appeals to charitable motives. When all the clothes had been obtained that seemed likely to be forthcoming, they asked for "rel-ee-gious books and tracts." Two days after this we [Pg 44] [Pg 45] [Pg 46] [Pg 47] made the Coast of Norway. Then beating against a head wind for two days more we got through the Skager Rack, passed the Scaw of Denmark, and steered through the Cattegat towards Elsinore. The cook of the ship was a negro—a lazy, dirty fellow he was! Neither the captain nor the officers paid any attention to the state of things in the galley, except that the "old man" gave an occasional admonition to be economical, and "Cuffey" lived in ease and slovenliness. The "grub" was poorly cooked, and scanty at that; and the tea was so weak that when one night "Doctor," as the cook is always called, forgot to put any tea into the coppers, the men drank the warm water and molasses without any idea of the omission. A barrel of beef was intended to last twelve days at least, but owing to the gifts to the Fair Islanders the barrel at this time was about exhausted on the tenth day. The cook thought he could eke it out one day longer, and the consequence was that in the evening, "Bill," a short, stout Nova Scotian, with a very lugubrious countenance, marched aft carrying a large tin pan, containing a very small piece of boiled salt beef. The mate was standing by the weather-rail, just forward of the poop. Bill deposited the pan at his feet. Folding his arms he exclaimed in a very meek and mournful tone, "Mr. Smith, I wish you'd take a belaying pin and beat my brains out." "What good would that do you?" said the mate. "I'd rather die at once than starve to death," the sailor answered. "Who's going to starve you to death?" "We don't get food enough for a dog, let alone a man," said Bill. The mate then endeavored to prove that Bill was not a man; the main point of his argument being that a few days before he had "made a splice in the foretopmost studding-sail tripping-line that would be a disgrace to a loblolly boy." This argument went on for a while, till the man became convinced that the mate was neither disposed to accept his polite invitation as to the disposition of his brains, nor to furnish any more beef that evening. So he thought it best to be contented with the promise of a larger allowance in the morning, and make use of the small supply at hand. The cook was sulky because the men had complained about him, and the next evening he made the tea with salt water. This imposition was more than they could swallow, and brought about another complaint, in consequence of which the captain summoned the "Doctor" aft, and in a great rage stuttered out a string of phrases, the burden of which seemed to be, "I—I'll swab the decks with you." We had a good passage up the Baltic and Gulf of Finland, and got...