[Illustration: AN UNEXPECTED RENCONTRE.
MEISEL BRO^{S}. LITH]
WILD SPORTS
IN
The Far West.
BY FREDERICK GERSTAECKER.
Translated from the German.
WITH EIGHT CRAYON DRAWINGS,
EXECUTED IN OIL COLORS,
FROM DESIGNS BY HARRISON WEIR.
BOSTON:
CROSBY, NICHOLS AND COMPANY.
117 WASHINGTON STREET.
1859.
CAMBRIDGE:
ALLEN AND FARNHAM, ELECTROTYPERS AND PRINTERS.
PREFACE.
On my return, a short time since, to my native land, from the wilds of
America, it was not at first my intention to offer to the public the
contents of the diary I had kept during my travels, and written out in
detail as an employment for my leisure hours, for the exclusive use of
my family in Germany. Incited, however, by the interest awakened by the
publication of a few extracts in one of our periodicals, and yielding to
the wishes expressed by various friends who had read the remainder, I
undertook to correct and revise my notes, and to mould into a continuous
narrative a diary which I had only kept when circumstances worthy of
being chronicled arose,--for instance, on the voyage out, on my march
through the United States, during my sojourn among the swamps of
Arkansas, and finally during my hunting trip in the Ozark mountains.
I have endeavored faithfully to portray the social condition of the
Americans, in so far as it came under my observation, and many a reader,
while turning over the pages of this work, will seek in vain the wonted
glowing descriptions of the riches and plenty which the dwellers in the
West are reputed to enjoy. It is true that the American farmer
commencing operations with small means, may, by dint of _very_ strenuous
exertions, realize an independence in a shorter time than would suffice
for this object in our old fatherland; but, on the other hand, he must
be prepared to renounce every thing that gladdened his heart in his
native country--and only too quickly will he discover that to wean
himself from the comforts to which he has been from childhood
accustomed, to quit the society and intercourse of the civilized world,
and to seek in a far land a life of freedom indeed, but likewise of
solitude and privation, is a harder task than it at first appeared. And
not every man is sufficiently strong of heart to bear the emigrant’s lot
without a murmur.
But should any inveterate sportsman, with an imagination heated by the
description of these scenes, excited by the dangers and difficulties of
the enterprise, depart to the far West, to experience similar
adventures, let him remember, when wet, hungry, alone, and a prey to
mosquitoes, he lies stretched in the untrodden forest, longing in vain
for a fire, and for the society of men; or when he has been following
the tracks of the deer for days together, without the chance of a single
shot, until he can almost persuade himself that the tales he has read
of wild sports in the West are but myths existing only in the brains of
the Indians; let him, I say, remember that I have, so far as in me lay,
painted all this in its true colors, and that many an adventure which
reads admirably on paper, is in reality the reverse of romantic.
The chase in the United States is, moreover, rapidly on the decline; for
the American hunter spares nothing, and for some time, particularly
since the day when skins were first paid for in hard dollars, a war of
extermination has been waged against the poor stags and bears;--so that
the hunter who, some five years hence, shall visit these realms, will
scarcely find his expectations of sport realized, unless he is prepared
either to content himself with small game, or to penetrate to the Rocky
Mountains, and explore the territory of the Indians.
With the concluding request to my readers, to remember that these pages
are penned by a man who, so to speak, has but just emerged from the
forest, and who relates his experiences to his friends at home, not
caring for the fact that he might, perhaps, by adopting a different
method, have told his story with more effect, this diary is submitted to
the kind consideration of the public, by
THE AUTHOR.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
FROM BREMEN TO NEW YORK.
The Bremen Lighter--A Parting Jollification--The good Ship
“Constitution”--The Steerage--The Last of Germany--Sea-sickness--Life
on Board--The Channel--Sea Sights--A Shark--A Wreck--Bathing
at Sea--Dancing on Board--Stormy Weather--The Coast of
Newfoundland--Festivities on the 4th of July--Shark and
Pilot-Fish--Mother Carey’s Chickens--Land ho!--Staten Island--Our
Destination.....pp. 1--30
CHAPTER II.
NEW YORK TO BUFFALO.
Car-drivers--An Irish Funeral--German Boarding-House--A Pulpit
in a State of Siege--Negroes at New York--Shooting Excursion
near New York--Railway to Utica--American Canal Boat--My
Fat Fellow-passenger--Pennsylvanian smith--Hamilton--Wild
Duck-shooting--An Indian Hunter--Night in the Woods--A Yankee
Cattle-dealer--Buffalo Politicians.....31--60
CHAPTER III.
OHIO--INDIANA--ILLINOIS--MISSOURI.
Wet and Weary--Out in the Woods--The Forest Mill--A Raccoon--A
Pleasant Travelling Companion--My Israelite Fellow-lodgers--Fording
the Wabash--A Wet Road--Buck-shooting--Illinois and its Climate--I set
off for New Orleans--Lead Mines in Missouri.....61--82
CHAPTER IV.
ARKANSAS, AND “DOWN RIVER” TO NEW ORLEANS.
The Eagle--An Old Settler--My unsuccessful Hunting Dog--The Polish
Refugee’s Habitation--An Unnecessary Circuit--Indian Tribe--Little
Rock in Arkansas--My Engagement on board the “Fox”--Quarrel with the
Captain--An uncomfortable Night--Treatment of Slaves--A Woodland
Supper--A Panther--Bear-shooting--Life among the Indians--An Indian
Shooting Party--Wolf Traps--Narrow Escape for my Canoe--By Steamer to
New Orleans.....83--116
CHAPTER V.
CINCINNATI--A FARMER’S LIFE IN THE WOODS.
A Runaway Couple--Cincinnati and its Religious Sects--The Girl
“possessed with a Devil”--I start afresh for the Woods--Bad Sport and
bad Weather--Crawfish--Blackfish Lake--A Picnic in the Woods--Mule
Drivers from Texas--Strong’s Plantation--A Swimming-race with the
dogs--Saint Woodland’s Farm--Bee-hunting--Wild Honey--Searching
for Horses--Dancing for a Dinner--Backwoods Building--Ague--My
Methodist Friend--Duck-shooting--Snakes in the Swamps--Our Farming
Arrangements.....117--149
CHAPTER VI.
A FARMER’S LIFE IN THE WOODS (_continued_).
A Wolf--We shift our Quarters--False Alarm--Squirrel for
Breakfast--Primitive Mode of Winnowing Corn--“Oiltrove Bottom”--Pawpaw
Trees--“Not at home”--Hard Fare--A Panther--Visit to Hilger--A Great
Political Discussion--Clearing Land for Fields--Ague--Prompt Burial
in the Swamps--A Backwoods Family--Swindlers in Arkansas--White River
and its Neighborhood--Magnus, the Great Buffalo Hunter--A Patient
with the Ague--Swamps--Hunting with an unloaded Gun--Death of the
Bear.....150--181
CHAPTER VII.
WOODLAND SPORTS--CANE-BRAKES--MY EXAMINATION BY THE SCHOOL COMMISSION.
Turkey-shooting with Dogs--Forest Travel--Scarcity of
Provisions--Overcup Oak--Buck-hunting--Buffalo-hunting--Return
to the Haunts of Men--Bear-hunting with dogs--The Falling
Tree--“Shocking bad Dreams”--Ladies in the Forest--Unemployed Hands
in Cincinnati--Card-playing in the Cane-brake--German Settlers down
South--The Great School Examination--Speculation in Canes.....182-209
CHAPTER VIII.
FARMING AT FOURCHE LE FAVE--A BACKWOODS “FROLIC”--RESIDENCE AT
KELFER’S FARM--SCHOOLS--HUNTING EXCURSION.
Partnership with Rutkin--Removing Goods by Canoe--Scalding Pigs
“Arkansas Fashion”--Shooting Deer by Night--Disagreement with
Rutkin--A Backwoods “Frolic”--Relays of Fiddlers--Chasing a Wolf
with a Canoe--Another Shooting Excursion--The Sessions in the
Backwoods--An inconvenient Court-house--Departure from Kelfer’s
Farm--Road-making in the Backwoods--Visit to Bahrens--Habitual
Reserve of the Americans--Mechanical Ingenuity of Backwoodsmen--An
Indian Adventure--Raccoon-shooting--Bee-hunting in the
Backwoods--Duck-shooting--Curly the Settler--A Prize--Curly’s
Mishap--An Unpleasant Nocturnal Visitor--Shooting a Panther--Return to
Slowtrap’s.....210--257
CHAPTER IX.
HUNTING ANECDOTES AND EXPERIENCES--CHRISTMAS--CONWELL AND HIS
REMINISCENCES.
Surprised by a Panther--A New Hunting Excursion--The
Fox--“Stole Away”--The Two old Cattle-dealers--Bear-hunting
Extraordinary--Deer-stalking by Night--Duck-shooting--Thunderstorms
in Arkansas--Our Nocturnal Encampment--Indian Migration--A
Bootless Chase--Lost in the Forest--Mr. Davis’s Farm--Conwell and
his Family--Slowtrap’s Adventure with the Cow--Terrace-hills--A
Prize--A Sumptuous Breakfast--A Two-year-old Bruin--A
Comfortable Evening--Indian Stratagem--Simplicity of the
Backwoodsmen--Bivouac--Story of the Moccasins--Almost surprised by
a Panther--A Novel Sleeping-room--Struggle with a Buck--Story of a
Buffalo Hunt--Books in Wet Weather--Manna in the Desert--Marauding
Wolves--Bruin in his Nest--Honey-laden Home.....258--311
CHAPTER X.
A PERILOUS BEAR-HUNT--A DEBATING SOCIETY--PANTHER HUNT--DISASTROUS
EVENTS--DEATH OF ERSKINE--DEPARTURE.
Bears in their Winter Quarters--Bruin’s Cave--Our Adventure in the
Cave--Attack and Retreat--Pursued by a Wounded Bear--Victory at
last--Another Bruin in his Lair--Backwoods Debating Society--Knotty
Points of Debate--A Panther in a Cave--Watchfire and Wounds--Off
again after Game--Hunting with the Indians--Skeletons--Narrow
Quarters--Wachiga--Our Fatal Temerity--Erskine’s Death--A
Terrible Night--A Primitive Operation--I decline taking a Farm--A
Rencontre.....312--349
CHAPTER XI.
A FATAL BRAWL--RETURN TO LITTLE ROCK--SUMMARY JUSTICE--DOWN SOUTH.
Whiskey and Bloodshed--Wounded and Alone--A Prize--Return to
Slowtrap’s--Little Rock--Deer-shooting at the “Salt Lick”--Logwood
Trees in Arkansas--Summary Judicial Proceedings--Calls for
attracting Deer--Indian Method of Dressing Skins--A Matrimonial
Difficulty--Buck-shooting--Letters at Little Rock--Canoe Voyage down
the Arkansas--Celebration of the 4th of July.....350--373
CHAPTER XII.
LOUISIANA--NEW ORLEANS, AND HOME.
Mosquitoes--Meeting with Kean--The Hotel at Point Coupée--Slaves and
their Condition--Snipe-shooting--Vegetation of Louisiana--Shooting
Alligators by Torchlight--Their Antipathy to Dogs and Negroes--New
Orleans--The “Olbers” for Bremen--Mouth of the Mississippi--The
Gulf of Mexico--Fever--The Lübecker and his Wife--The
Channel--Quarantine.....374--396
WILD SPORTS
AND
ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST.
CHAPTER I.
FROM BREMEN TO NEW YORK.
A Bremen lighter, and its capacity for holding passengers--An
unexpected meeting--Scene on board the lighter--The captain--First
night on board--A parting dance on shore--Our new passengers and
their mishaps--The “Constitution”--Steerage arrangements--Sleeping
berths--Scenes between decks--Departure--Sea-sickness--Our Jewish
passengers--The French and English Coasts--The Atlantic--Jelly-fish
and “Portuguese men-of-war”--Small-pox on
board--Dancing--Phosphorescence of the sea--Fricandeau-days--Stormy
weather--Meeting of ships at sea--The 4th of July and its
festivities--The shark and pilot-fish--Projects to pass the
time--“Land ho!”--Arrival, harbor, quarantine, and examination of
luggage--We take leave of the “Constitution.”
“Does the boat start at nine _exactly_?” “Yes, do not be later.” Such
was the notice I received as I spoke with the master of the lighter,
which in the spring of 1837 was to take me with bag and baggage on board
the “Constitution,” bound to New York, then lying in Bremen Roads, about
forty miles from the town, and only waiting for the two lighters, which
were to take on board the steerage passengers with their effects.
I was true to my appointment at nine o’clock, but soon found that there
was no necessity to have hurried myself, as no preparations had been
made for starting; I took advantage of the time to look over all my
effects, to see if I had everything I thought necessary, and to procure
any thing that was wanting: in a large chest, that could easily be got
at, I had packed some bottles of red wine, a keg of sardines, another of
herrings, a Westphalian ham (oh, that there had been six!), some lemons,
a little rum, pepper, sugar, some tin vessels for the table and to keep
food in, knives, forks, and spoons. I found all right, and then lounged
along the banks of the Weser, so as not to lose the boat. I was
astonished at the number of passengers that arrived; and when I saw the
crowd of people to be stowed in the miserably small boat, it appeared to
me impossible that she could hold so many. While I was leaning against
the corner of a house and looking on, a young man approached, wrapped in
a blue cloak, with a foraging cap, spectacles, a long pipe in one hand,
and a knapsack in the other; he looked at me steadfastly for a moment,
and then accosted me with the intimate “Du” (Thou). His features were
familiar to me, but I did not remember him till he mentioned his name;
he was H., a former school-fellow, who was about to embark in the same
ship. The sight of him first recalled to mind, since I had taken leave
of all who were near and dear to me, that I was not quite alone in the
world, and that there was still some one who would interest himself for
me; of course we were now inseparable.
We lounged about together for some time in the town, and on returning to
the boat found for certain that it would not start till the following
morning. Most of the passengers went on shore in the evening. H. and I
remained on board with our baggage. Next morning we cast off from the
shore and made sail with the ebb; the wind was unfavorable. No one who
has not made such a passage, in a similar boat, with a like number of
passengers, can imagine the scene. It is necessary to give a short
description of it, as these boats are still in use, and may yet carry
thousands of emigrants from their native land. The lighter was
cutter-rigged, about forty-five feet long, and some fifteen broad, with
a little hole in the after part called a cabin, with two sleeping places
on one side and some rows of shelves on the other; it was about large
enough to contain six people closely packed. Imagine sixty passengers in
the other part of the boat! (for the cabin was only for the master, or
captain, as he liked to be called). Sixty live passengers, with their
chests, trunks, hat and other boxes, handkerchiefs of provisions,
cloaks, mattresses, coverlets, &c. &c.; and not young men only, but old
and young women, old men and boys, children and old maids, sitting,
lying, standing, and leaning about. If any one had told me beforehand
that such a number of people could have been packed in such a space, I
would not have believed him.
When all had settled themselves, and I was firmly persuaded that it was
quite impossible to find room for one more, without hanging him up under
the deck, a pair of legs poked themselves down the hatchway; over them
was a blue jacket, topped by the rubicund visage of our faithful
captain. After trying for some time with his feet to find a solid
foundation to stand on, he let go his hands, and lighted on the corns
of a lanky sailor, who had squeezed himself in between two chests, and
had fallen asleep standing; the pain made him draw up his long legs, and
he was so disconcerted, that, still half asleep, he courteously begged
pardon of the captain, or Tarpaulin, as we called him.
The captain now began to look about him, stepping over two and sometimes
three persons at a time. But what was his motive for taking all this
trouble? Merely to look at the pretty faces of the female passengers,
and to try to make himself agreeable to them--but time and place, wind
and weather were against him; he only received snappish words from some,
and derision from others; finding that nothing was to be gained from the
fair sex, he turned to the other, and began to ogle various
attractive-looking bottles, which were less coy towards him, for here
and there some of them were uncorked and their contents earnestly
inquired into.
At last he went on deck, and I followed, not without difficulty, to get
at least a breath of fresh air; the weather was bad, the sky cloudy,
with a sharp cutting wind, and occasionally rain: the dull
leather-colored banks of the Weser filled me with melancholy.
H. had followed me; so we lit a couple of cigars, and talked over old
stories. We anchored at dark, as the master was afraid of running
aground--the vessel swung round, the sails were lowered, and all was
quiet for the night. As the dew fell heavy and cold, we once more
descended through the dark abyss of the hatchway. Not a light was
burning, and all lay close packed together; how I managed to get through
the mass is still a mystery, but I remember that I passed the night,
sitting on the corner of a chest, leaning my head upon another with an
enormous padlock, against which I constantly knocked.
What a scene in the morning!--I was as hungry as a wolf--and no wonder,
for I had eaten nothing since the previous morning; I got on deck,
washed my face and hands in a bucket of Weser water, and greedily
devoured a morsel of bread and cheese which I had in my pocket. The
weather had improved, the boat dropped slowly down with the tide. About
eight o’clock we met a small fishing boat, from which I bought some
capital shell-fish; these our captain ordered to be cooked by his
ministering spirit, and of course came in for his share. When the flood
made, we anchored again; H. and I with the only sailor went on shore to
recruit our store of provisions, as our passage seemed likely to be a
long one.
In the afternoon we dropped down to a village called, I believe, Bracke,
where some merry music struck our ears. Our Tarpaulin would not have
passed it had the whole admiralty of Bremen been standing sentry on the
shore; although the wind was fair, and the ebb still running, the anchor
was dropped, the little boat hauled up, and all the younger members,
babies excepted, landed on the beach.
Dancing was carried on with vigor for a couple of hours, but I took no
part in it; I was in no humor for dancing. I was nevertheless amused;
the emigrants, in the costume of their different states, even in the
moment of bidding farewell to their native land, jumped and bounded to
the sound of a couple of fiddles and a horn, without a care for the
future. As it began to grow late, the not very tender lighterman’s
conscience of our captain began to reproach him. The wind was fair, and
he knew that the ship was only waiting for him; so he collected his
cargo, and we left the merry sounds behind us. We had had some fun at
any rate, and that made the time seem shorter.
At Vegesack, another village on the Weser, we received three more
passengers, also bound for our ship--a man of about five or six and
forty, his wife, some seven or eight years younger, and their hopeful
son, of about eighteen.
As it was a downright impossibility to squeeze in three more passengers
amongst us, Tarpaulin gave them up his cabin, as he called it. It cost
no little trouble to get the two rather helpless old folks stowed below.
William, for that was hopeful’s name, managed it quicker, for his foot
slipped, and down he went, like a flash of lightning, between his
astonished parents, crushing his mother’s bonnet in his descent. Towards
evening our captain wanted some tar. It was stowed under a scuttle in
the floor of the cabin. The sailor, who had taken rather too much on
board at Bracke, and thereupon had totally forgotten the principles of
equilibrium, tumbled to the foot of the cabin ladder, and made the trio
understand that it was necessary to open the little hole in the floor,
and that therefore they must press themselves as close as possible
against the ship’s sides. This was easier said than done, because a
narrow seat ran along the sides. The scuttle was at last opened, the
iron pot lifted out, and set with its sharp edge on William’s toes,
causing him to draw back his foot and strike his heel forcibly against
the ship’s side. But his cup of sorrow was not exhausted yet. With
sublime patience he awaited the retreat of the sailor, who, with
unsteady hands, lifted the bucket towards the captain, who had stretched
out his hands to take it; but “there’s many a slip ’twixt the cup and
the lip.” The bucket turned over. William, poor innocent William,
received the whole of the contents, and the captain got nothing more
than his favorite perfume. He swore like a heathen. And what said
William, as he stood there like butter in the sun? If the saying is
true--“well greased goes easy,” it ought to have gone easy with him.
One more night had we to pass in this wretched boat. It would fill
volumes to relate all the occurrences, serious and comic. In the morning
we saw the object of our hopes--the barque “Constitution”--lying at
anchor, with flags flying. We were soon alongside and on board. The
confusion of this moment was indescribable. The second lighter had
arrived two days before us with the other passengers, who had secured
the most convenient bed-places, and arranged their packages to the best
advantage; no trifling matter in so small a space. The steerage was
about thirty-three feet long by twenty-seven wide, and eight high, with
posts, or stanchions, in the middle, to support the upper deck, to which
the chests, &c., were lashed. Imagine on each side two rows of
bed-places, one over the other, about six feet square, each wide enough,
or rather not wide enough, to contain five people. The chests, cases,
packages of all sorts with clothes and provisions, were stowed in the
intermediate spaces, and lashed to the posts, to keep them from
tumbling about with the motion of the ship, leaving a space on each side
of about twenty-two feet long, and from twelve to fourteen inches wide,
for 118 passengers. At first I could not believe that we were so many,
but by degrees became convinced of it. After for a short time viewing
the scene with its forms climbing and crawling about through the gloom,
I imagined to myself the motion of the ship, the lashings giving way,
the chests and boxes flying from side to side, and the advent of
sea-sickness, which the number of tin basins kept in readiness seemed
mournfully to forebode;--I hastily mounted to the deck, which seemed
spacious and well arranged.
Although lying at anchor, the “Constitution” appeared to one so
uninitiated as myself to roll considerably. Before dark, I crept below
again to take another look at my sleeping-place. There were five of us,
whom fate and our own volition had consigned to a space six feet square,
with the audacious idea of resigning ourselves to the arms of Morpheus;
but we were so squeezed together that the god could not have clasped an
individual; so he must either take all five at once, or leave us to our
fate. Our mattresses were spread (each had a mattress and coverlet), and
we crept in one after the other. When four had taken their places, two
of them being men of colossal bulk, the space was filled, and the
question arose--What was to become of the fifth? Lie across? That would
have been too uncomfortable for those below. Under our heads? That would
not have been agreeable for H., who was the fifth man; besides he was
so scraggy and bony, that I doubt if our heads would not have had the
worst of it. At last we all agreed to lie on our sides, and H. squeezed
in. Turning round was a thing not to be thought of; and thus we passed
our first night in our long-desired ship.
Next morning, when my left side awoke (my right lying fast asleep for
some time longer), all my limbs seemed bruised and broken; I almost felt
homesick. I crept out as well as I could, and went on deck to get a
wash, a bucket serving me for a basin. The wind blew cold and
comfortless through the rigging. All was soon in motion below, and as I
looked down the hatchway, I was forcibly reminded of Schiller’s
“Diver,”[A]
“Wie’s von Salamandern, Molchen, und Drachen
Sich regt in dem furchtbaren Höllenrachen.”[A]
[A]
Salamanders, and monsters, and dragons did go
Through the fearful jaws of the hell below.
Laughter, singing, roaring, cursing, the screams of children, crying,
and praying, resounded in a confused din up the hatchway. Presently, one
sleepy face after another crept up the ladder, with blinking eyes,
accustomed to the nether darkness, and looked towards the morning sun
just breaking through a bank of thin gray clouds. In about an hour’s
time, a talismanic word, pronounced in a loud voice in the forepart
of the ship, put life into the crew, who had been on board some days:
we soon found that this mysterious word meant, “breakfast”--“dinner”--“supper.”
We received coffee, biscuit, and brown bread, but every one had to find
his own can, and to fetch his portion himself.
I had now time to notice my bed-fellows: H., I have already described;
the other three were a joiner, a doctor, and an apothecary, the two
latter big enough to fill up one sleeping-place to themselves. As far as
I could judge on such short acquaintance, they seemed to promise
agreeable society.
Boundless disorder still reigned around. No one seemed to know where he
ought to be; everybody was asking for a chest, a box, a trunk: the fair
sex, of whom we had about twenty-five, had made no arrangements among
themselves, so that, instead of only eight, sixteen were speaking at the
same time. I sincerely pitied some among them, who seemed to have been
in better circumstances, but who, probably through insufficiency of
means, were obliged to choose the cheaper passage in the steerage, and
to forego all the comforts to which they had been accustomed from
childhood. A single man can rough it; indeed, it is highly interesting
to take part in all this life and bustle, and I would not on any account
have taken my passage in the cabin; but for a woman, it is quite another
thing; for what may serve as a joke and subject of conversation to a
man, alarms and hurts the feelings of a woman: it was, however, very
different with some Oldenburg lassies. They seemed as much at home as in
their ferry-boats; the greater the uproar and disorder, the more did
they laugh and enjoy it. The race of Israel had about sixty
representatives on board, among them some pretty Jewesses; had they all
been dirty peddlers, I must have jumped overboard.
After two days, the pilot came on board, the anchor was weighed, all was
life and mirth. None would remain below, and the deck was crowded; the
wind blew fair and we were soon in the North Sea. The strip of land
became smaller and smaller; the pilot left us; his boat lessened and
lessened; then there was only a thin, blue line with one dark point, the
steeple of Wangerode; this became more misty and indistinct; the last
trace of home disappeared in the blue distance. There, behind those thin
clouds that seemed to lie on the water, lived all those who were near
and dear to me in this world,--and yet I had no tears, for their source
seemed dried up. I stood for a long, long time scanning, with dry eyes,
that part of the heavens. I went early to bed to indulge my thoughts. I
had hardly turned in, when my comrades came, and the squeeze began
again. All was tolerably quiet in the steerage, most of the party being,
probably, affected by the disappearance of their mother country.
Running with a fair wind, the ship soon became uneasy; I awoke in the
night with a very disagreeable sensation, to find that my head lay much
lower than my heels. Our berth was on the starboard or right side of the
ship, looking towards the head, and our feet were towards the ship’s
side, on account of the fresh wind; in the night the wind changed, and
the ship laid over on the port side; between laughing and swearing, and
not without considerable difficulty, we changed our position.
The next morning’s sun shone on many a pale and long face; the sea was
rough, the ship rolled and pitched fearfully, the effect was awful to
look upon. I have already stated that we had a number of Jews on board,
with few exceptions, from the lowest class; they were allowed by their
rabbins, at least so they avowed, to eat bacon during the voyage, and
most of them had so far availed themselves of the privilege, as, if not
to overload the stomach, at least to take in a very plentiful supply of
the beautiful sweet bacon that was served out to us. Punishment trod on
the heels of crime; there was not a corner of the ship unoccupied by a
sick Israelite with a tin basin, or one despairingly leaning over the
side and squaring accounts with Neptune.
H., the doctor, and myself were quite well, and not a little did we quiz
the poor wretches, who were already sufficiently tormented. The
following day it rained hard; the confined space, with all these
sufferers, was almost insupportable--yet it was very disagreeable to get
wet through on deck--I was wretched.
About noon on Sunday, some groups formed here and there; people began to
feel that it was a misery not to associate,--yet a sudden qualm would
often end a conversation begun in mirth. Some of the most resolute began
to creep on deck again, but often had to pay dearly for their temerity,
when a heavy sea broke over the ship, and wet to the skin all within its
course. I never before knew the real advantage of a cloak. In the
evening it cleared up, and I made my way forward amongst the crew to
listen to their songs and stories.
On the following day the sea was heavier, and sickness at its height. I
was quite disgusted, and climbed up the rigging to the top to get rid of
it, and remained there till the cook’s magic word announced something
warm for the inner man, though very few of the passengers responded to
the call.
I may as well take this opportunity to say something about the cooking
and manner of living. The kitchen is a small wooden house, well secured
by clamps to the deck, as a safeguard against the force of the seas that
break over the ship. It was divided into two parts; one for the cabin
passengers, the other for the steerage passengers and crew. The
provisions were good and plentiful. Coffee was served out every morning,
though, to be sure, one had to drink a great deal of water to get at the
coffee; but I had always been used to strong coffee, and future
experience in the back woods taught me that, when drunk scalding hot, it
requires a good palate to distinguish between strong and weak coffee.
It was evening when we approached the French coast, which first appeared
as a bluish line, that grew larger and larger: before dark, we came near
enough to Calais to distinguish the steeple and houses. Looking over
towards England, we could see nothing beyond the two lights near Dover.
On the following morning, we were nearer to the coast of England, whose
majestic chalky cliffs were tinged rose-color by the morning sun. In the
evening we passed the Isle of Wight, and the wind changing, we did not
clear the Channel till the 27th May.
We were now on the broad ocean; a number of fishing-boats enlivened the
prospect with their many-colored sails, sometimes white, sometimes
yellow, red, and even black. The sea was green, and the color especially
beautiful under the bows and stern; the picture was further animated by
a number of porpoises and albicores leaping from wave to wave. I saw
several strange substances floating on the sea, which I could not
observe more closely, for want of a net to catch them: I decided on
making one.
All went well for several days; the weather improved, sea-sickness
disappeared, and the fair sex began to show themselves on deck. I had
made a net, fastened it to a staff, and kept it in readiness for any
thing remarkable floating past; indeed, for me, every thing that floated
by was remarkable, or at least worth examination. I caught a number of
jelly-like creatures, which had the power of rising or sinking in the
water, and also that of motion; one kind being about five or six inches
long, and one and a half or two broad, hollow, and provided with a sort
of stomach marked by a dark spot, the only compact part of the animal.
If left on a dry board for a couple of hours, it resolved itself into
water, excepting the stomach and a slimy opaque mass with a very thin
fine skin. Sometimes we saw numbers of them linked together, and always
with the dark spot on one side. Some snails were caught resembling land
snails: their shells contained a blue liquid, which seemed adapted to
give a beautiful dye. I wrote a few lines with this dye to see how the
color lasted, and found that it did not change in the least. The most
beautiful of all this species is unquestionably the “Nautilus,” or, as
the English call it, “Portuguese man-of-war.” It can raise itself about
three inches above the surface, and steer its own course, but disappears
in a storm; numerous feelers of two, three, and four feet, serve to
provide nourishment. I caught one in my net, and happening to touch it
with the back of my hand, it made it smart as if stung by a nettle. At
night they give out a phosphoric light.
Now we were flying along with a fair wind and fine weather to our new
home; the ocean had that deep transparent blue which almost enticed one
to leap into it, to sleep in peace within its depths. My contemplations
were interrupted by a sight that made the peaceful sleep rather
doubtful--the dorsal fin of a shark peering above the surface as the
ship glided by. The idea of coming between the triple row of teeth of
such a monster was any thing but poetical. My attention was soon drawn
to another object, to which we came nearer and nearer, lying dark on the
water: at first I thought it must be a rock, and asked the mate, but he
said there was no rock in that direction, and that it must be something
floating--and so it was; as we passed it, it turned out to be a wreck.
Nothing is more adapted to damp the spirits on board a ship than the
sudden appearance of such a “memento mori,” to remind one of that
journey which awaits us all, in which a wreck may be our starting-point,
and a shark the first station.
On the 30th the wind was unfavorable, with a hollow sea; those good
people who had nothing to do, became, as usual, sea-sick; the others
managed better. Suddenly our messmate the doctor came with a pale and
alarmed countenance, to tell us that the smallpox had broken out on
board; a little girl had it very violently, and of a bad kind. The
carpenter had hastily to fit up a place used as a store-room for ropes;
she was removed thither, away from the other passengers, and the general
apprehension was somewhat allayed.
While standing quietly on deck, I heard a tremendous uproar in the
steerage; men swearing, women screaming, children crying, made a chorus
enough to split one’s ears. I jumped down for fear of missing some fun,
and was greeted by the most comical sight: every one had taken refuge on
the highest sleeping places, on the tops of chests, boxes, or any other
elevations, to be clear of the floor, which was taken possession of by a
little white spaniel, which snarled, and snapped, and foamed at the
mouth. All cried out as I came down the ladder, “A mad dog! a mad dog!”
The poor beast seemed to me more sick than mad; it ran forward a couple
of paces, and got jammed between two chests, and before it could free
itself I had seized it by the back of the neck, while it snapped and
struggled in vain. I shall long remember the shrieks of the women, who
had mounted into the sleeping places, as I raised the dog, and thereby
brought it nearer to them than they thought consistent with their
safety. I kept fast hold of the poor thing, carried him up the ladder,
and threw him overboard. It was the only dog on board, and belonged to
poor William, who came in for the shower-bath of tar on board the
lighter. He took the affair very coolly, and said, “he was glad the
beast was gone, as he was always putting his paws into his food.” He and
his father had remained a long time on deck, and at last, when they had
descended, they did not meet with a very friendly reception from the old
lady, who was lying sick in her bed-place. “William--you--and--your--father-
-are--very--stupid--to--leave--me--a--poor--sick--woman--all--a--lone-
-while--you--are--a--mu--sing--your--selves--on--deck.”
William defended himself earnestly in Low Dutch, and thoughtlessly
seating himself on his mother’s cap-box, the lid gave way under his
weight; his ears were well boxed in consequence.
June 4th.--A calm, with the sea as smooth as a mirror, except
occasionally when a long swell disturbed the surface; the ship was
motionless. I felt a great inclination to bathe, but the captain had
forbidden it, on account of the sharks. Early in the morning, however,
H. and I sprang overboard before he was up, and felt as light as
feathers in the warm sea; I was much more fatigued than ever I had been
in river bathing, and I had swallowed no slight quantity of salt water.
I went to sleep after dinner, and as I came on deck again about two
o’clock, I found dancing going on. The ship was not motionless, though
without headway; the swell made her roll heavily at times, and
occasionally a party of dancers, five or six couple, would be carried
from one side to the other, and thereafter, for a moment attempting to
maintain the perpendicular, yield at last to the laws of gravity, and
fall together in a heap. Towards dark, dancing ceased; a light breeze
sprang up at sunset, driving us gently before it, the sea looking still
more beautiful with its little light foam-crested waves. At night it
appeared to be sown with myriads of stars and sparks, particularly where
the ship dashed through the waters, throwing off the spray: it shone as
if a fire was under the water--every wave that broke against the bows,
gave light enough to exhibit the letters in a book. Although it was
against rules for steerage passengers to pass abaft the capstan, our
kind-hearted captain was not very strict in enforcing this order, and
for hours together I have watched the sparkling foam under the stern.
Once while so occupied I was startled by a rushing, snorting noise, and
looking up, saw the dark form of a grampus from about eighteen to twenty
feet in length, rushing through the flashing waters as if swimming in
liquid fire; he disappeared close under the stern.
On the following day we fell in with another ship: on our hoisting our
Bremen colors, she showed an American ensign; we passed about fifty
yards from her. The captains exchanged their latitude and longitude, and
gave the name of the ports they came from and were bound to: her
destination was Oporto. A singular feeling is awakened by thus meeting
another ship on the immense ocean; to see another little world appear,
pass within hail, then diminish to a white point, and disappear, leaving
the poor emigrant more deserted than before on the waste of waters.
On the 7th June, we were running eleven knots an hour; there was not
much sea, so that very few were sea-sick, and most had appeared on deck
and collected into picturesque groups,--here a couple playing cards,
there one with a prayer-book, a couple of girls knitting and reading
together, and some with wrinkled brows, strange contortions of the
mouth, and uncouth sounds, industriously studying, and endeavoring to
pronounce, English. These quiet pleasant days were named by us fine
_fricandeau_ days, for the following reason. We could not eat all the
salt meat and bacon that was served out, so we mixed the remains, after
mincing it small, with bread crumbs and yolks of eggs, kneaded it
together, and fried it in butter; hence the name, for in bad weather we
could do nothing of the sort.
With so much fine weather I began to fear that we should miss seeing a
storm, and so lose the real delight of a sea voyage; but on the 16th it
began to blow, the sea got heavier and heavier, the faces longer and
longer--and by midnight old Boreas was in full bluster, the ship dashing
nobly through the brilliantly illuminated sea. I was delighted with the
war of the elements, and leaning over the side, watched for hours the
raging storm and restless waves. I did not go to bed till morning, when
I took my mattress out of the berth, and laid it on the deck, as it was
impossible for five to sleep below.
The next day’s sun lighted up a wild but glorious scene; immense dark
blue waves, with green ridges crested with foam, for a moment “towering
in pride of place,” then sinking to make room for others; a shoal of
large porpoises were leaping joyfully among the boisterous waves.
Sailors say that they can tell, by the course of these fish, the quarter
that the wind will blow from, only they are not agreed whether they go
against the wind or run before it;--merely a difference of diametrically
opposite directions. The gale was now so heavy that we were obliged to
lie to, with the helm lashed a-lee. In the midst of it we saw a ship
running before the wind; with very little sail: she was frequently
hidden by the intervening waves, shot quickly past, and was soon out of
sight.
On the 19th, the weather moderated in the morning, but the gale came on
again with greater force towards the evening. The scene in the steerage
was piteous in the extreme; sea-sickness at its height.--H. and I
attempted to joke with some, who were seated on the deck, deadly pale,
with tin basins between their knees, patiently awaiting the dreaded
paroxysms. We put a slice of nice fat bacon into a plate, covered it
over, then went to the sufferers and asked them how they felt. Instead
of answering, they mournfully shook their heads. “Won’t you take
something?” asked H., with a kind voice; the very idea occasioned
disgust, and with wry faces they motioned us not to speak of it; not yet
satisfied, I uncovered the plate, and H., holding up the slice before
them, asked in the most amiable, sympathizing voice, “Perhaps you could
eat a little bit of bacon?” This was like a watchword; it worked like
magic, and we were glad to fly on deck, almost alarmed at the success of
our plans.
At noon pease-soup was served out; I had taken a basinful down below, a
proceeding which required no little skill, and leaning against the
sleeping-place had almost finished it, when H. came cursing and swearing
down the ladder, and standing at the foot of it, showed us his coat,
telling us, fiery with rage, that one of the Oldenburghers had spilt all
his pease-soup over him. At this moment a tin dishful of the same came
flying down the hatchway, and emptied itself so completely over
ill-fated H. that his eyes were bunged up; nor was this all--the soup
was only the prologue to the play, for who should follow his soup,
head-foremost, but poor William, _in propriâ personâ_, who, but for
alighting on H.’s shoulders must have broken his neck. Both fell
together in the mess. It would be a vain attempt to describe H.’s rage;
had we not sprung to the rescue, poor William would have been strangled.
When the gale moderated, more sail was made, but the sea ran high, and
through the wind being north-west, we could not lay our course; still
way was made, and that was a comfort.
In the afternoon we saw another ship, and under Bremen colors. The
captains exchanged information through the speaking-trumpets; we
hastened towards the land of the stranger, while she was in full sail
towards home; with mournful thoughts, I watched the snowy sails, growing
less and less, until all traces of them were lost in the distant
horizon.
Time began to hang heavy on our hands, our wished-for port still
distant, and the wind unfavorable; we approached the banks of
Newfoundland, whose southern points we were rounding under a thick fog.
Towards evening another ship was seen; then the fog came on thicker, so
that the bell was frequently struck, or a horn sounded, to prevent our
running foul of other vessels. Our captain was also anxious on account
of icebergs, which the other ship had spoken of, and the thermometer was
often dipped overboard, to try the temperature of the sea, as it falls
considerably on the approach of icebergs.
The fog lay thick and damp, and the north-west wind blew very cold, so
that our cloaks came again into request. The smallpox did not seem
inclined to leave us, as one of the crew was now attacked, and confined
to the sick cabin. It was as cold as it is in Germany in December, and
if three fourths of the passengers had not been driven on deck by the
fumes of sulphur kindled in the steerage, they would not have ventured
out of the warm but foul air of their sleeping-places. It is surprising
that we had not more sickness on board, for pure air is one of the main
sources of health, and this was much wanted between decks.
At night the wind changed in our favor, and it began to rain. I had
placed my mattress near the hatchway, and was wet through before I
awoke.
The 4th of July approached,--the liberation-day of the Americans. The
captain said he should make it a holiday, and give us some punch, and we
decided on making preparations for it; a young man named Zellner, who
had already been in America, sketched the plan. First a transparency was
painted, with the American arms, the stripes and stars, and rising
eagle, with, as a motto, the names of the four heroes of the revolution,
Washington, La Fayette, Franklin, Kosciusko. It happened that one of the
passengers had some rockets and other fireworks, which he produced for
the occasion. At twelve at night, between the 3rd and 4th July, the
transparency was illuminated, and a song composed for the nonce, sung to
the tune of “God save the King.” The fireworks were let off, and the
rockets fired from our fowling-pieces. The lights were reflected from
the calm water. The captain now invited our party, and some other of the
steerage passengers into the cabin, where punch was handed round, while
the mate served it out on deck to the crew and the rest of the
passengers, pressing it particularly on the ladies. The consequences
soon became manifest. We had sat for about half an hour in the cabin,
laughing and drinking; but I took the precaution of drinking only one
glass, the punch appearing very strong, and much too sweet for my taste.
Observing that the eyes of the doctor and some others began to twinkle,
and that all were getting rather jovial, I rose, and the others
followed, and we came out on deck to see the fun, which every moment
became wilder and wilder. The sailors were aloft on the yards, letting
off squibs; the ship’s bell was being rung as if for fire, and rockets
and blank cartridges were fired out of every available musket. Zellner’s
double-barrelled gun burst, luckily without doing harm; but the
quarter-deck was the place where the “mirth and fun” was most “fast and
furious.” Ollman, an excellent violin player, had at first kindly
offered to play for the general amusement; but when the row got too wild
he withdrew, and another, burning with desire to show his skill, mounted
on the capstan, and began to wake such discordant sounds out of his
fiddle, that nothing but the general uproar prevented everybody’s teeth
from being set on edge; nevertheless they all waltzed away like mad,
caring nothing for the motion of the ship, which occasionally threw them
against the side in a confused heap. The man on the capstan continued
playing as if possessed, his face turned to the stem, and maintained his
place with great skill; and when the dancers were all thrown together by
the motion of the ship, he leant _towards_ them, playing away louder and
louder, but without showing the slightest change of countenance.
William’s mother threw her arms round my neck, begging me to dance with
her; next to her stood an old ropemaker, who had been ill all the
voyage; he tried to stand on one leg, whistling his own tune, while
turning on his axis; the lanky tailor lay on his back, with his arms
and legs working like a telegraph; in short, of the 118 passengers, not
more than six were quite sober. To have a better view I got into the
long boat, and laughed till the tears came; but as one can have too much
of a good thing, as I was tired with laughing, and although I had drank
very little, yet felt some bad effects, I crept down to my bed. As I
afterwards learnt, the mate, with the intention of making everybody
drunk, had heated the rum, put very little water, and plenty of sugar. I
was up again by daylight, and helped many of the victims to their beds.
None of the passengers excepting Vogel and H. showed themselves for a
long time, and when they did at last, what pale, dull faces
appeared--what hollow, heavy eyes--what universal complaints of headache
and wretchedness! William especially went about very chapfallen; in the
midst of the fun he had sat himself down, and remained in the cook’s
steep-tub, where the salt meat for the morrow was soaking.
We had a great deal of lightning in the evening, and about eleven
o’clock the heaviest thunderstorm I had ever experienced broke over us.
Flash after flash of lightning, peal on peal of thunder throughout the
whole vault of heaven. I went aloft to help the sailors; one moment it
was as light as day, with the black threatening sky above and beneath
us, like a dark stripe, the noble ship rushing through the glowing
foam-covered ocean. It was sublime--such moments are never to be
forgotten. The breeze lasted till the 10th July, when it again fell
calm. The ship lay almost motionless, and as all had recovered, alike
from sea-sickness and from the effects of the punch, the greater number
of the passengers showed themselves on deck forming various groups.
About noon a shark came towards us, the first we had seen for some days;
he swam quietly round the ship, and then disappeared, notwithstanding
all the temptations we offered in the shape of large pieces of meat, but
which concealed an enormous hook. He was accompanied by two pilot-fish,
whose attachment to the shark is wonderful. These pilot-fish are from
twelve to fourteen inches long, with stripes of blue and white of about
a finger’s breadth across their back. I shot one, but could not pick it
up. The shark is sometimes accompanied by five or six of these fish; he
never attacks them, and they probably point out his prey; for though we
saw nothing more of the shark, it was most likely under the ship, as the
pilot-fish played about under the bowsprit, a certain sign that he was
not far off. We also saw a sword-fish of twelve or fourteen feet long.
Several stormy petrels, or, as the English call them, “Mother Carey’s
chickens,” had followed us nearly all the voyage, and were now swimming
or flying about the ship; I shot one, and caught it in my net as it
floated past. They are about the size of swallows, and fly something
like them; they are web-footed, dive well, and have a large horny hole
in the beak.
The breeze sprang up again next day, but so light, that the ship seemed
to be asleep,--fancy her in a night-cap and dressing-gown. Our dear
companions became day by day more insupportable; the liveliest, who were
always on deck, began to quarrel among themselves; the others merely
vegetated; they remained day and night in their sleeping-places,
without even taking the trouble to wash themselves; perhaps they were
afraid of taking too much water out of the sea, as the ship was near
sand-banks. We tried all sorts of amusements, such as reasonable
grown-up men would not be suspected of patronizing. Amongst others, we
played at soldiers; working men, shopkeepers, apothecaries, Jews,
Christians, sailors, old and young, all took part in it, with sticks,
brooms, harpoons, fish-grains, hunting knives, wind instruments (the
ship’s horn for fog-signals), flags, &c., just like little boys. The
whole play was carried out--rebellion, desertion (one of the Jews was
the deserter), court-martial, execution, and tocsin: the tocsin bell was
a shirt stretched over a hoop, and beaten with a broomstick. The best of
all was, that the doctor turned up his nose at us, and talked about our
being childish! Wasn’t he hooted?
July 18th.--Running merrily with a fair wind, our hearts swelling with
fresh hopes. We collected the Oldenburghers on deck to sing a song, the
chorus of which was, “Peasants ride in coaches in America.” I thought
the good people might be in error as to coaches, and that wheelbarrows
would be nearer the mark. But what should we be without hope? We were
near the land. At early dawn I sprang out of a hammock I had
manufactured, for I could not sleep in the narrow berth, and mounted
aloft. Placid, just crisped by a light south-east wind, lay the sea,
deep, deep beneath me, dandling the noble ship, playing with her,
yielding before her, and then following with a slight splash. I gained
the highest point, clasped the mast with my left arm, and delightedly
breathed the pure morning air. The horizon became lighter and lighter,
the view clearer and clearer--the mist vanished--a hollow sound like
distant thunder broke on the listening ear! It was surf,--there lay the
land, and plainer and plainer as the light increased appeared a blue
stripe above the dark waves of the horizon. “Land!” cried I from the
mast head, and “land!” “land!” resounded from one to another between
decks. As ants run out of their nest when it is disturbed, so rushed the
half-wakened passengers up the hatchway, hastened to the bows, and
opening their blinking eyes as wide as they could, repeated “land!”
although I am convinced that it was not possible to see it from the
deck, as the day did not get any clearer, and only the highest points
were visible. Our lanky friend the tailor came up among the rest,
holding a plate of butter in one hand, a ship’s biscuit in the other; as
he heard the word “land!” repeated, he set his provisions on one of the
hen-coops, and ran with the others to look at the land. William, who
probably thought that there would be plenty of time to contemplate it,
sat himself quietly down on the hen-coop, and of course on the butter,
which had become rather soft after a night spent between decks; there he
sat, kicking his heels against the rails, his hands comfortably stowed
in his pockets, and whistling to express his content. The tailor
returning, naturally anxious about his week’s allowance of butter, which
he, confiding in the general honesty, had, in a manner, left exposed in
the highway, stood immovable with astonishment, with eyes and mouth wide
open, looking at this picture of innocence and self-satisfaction sitting
in his butter. William, unconscious of evil, and amused at the tailor’s
astonishment, put on a broad grin, which stopped his whistling, but he
kept up the time with his heels. At last the astounded tailor found his
tongue, and calling out, “Oh the wretch!” he sprang on the unprepared
William, pulled him across his knee, and pointing out the butter to the
bystanders, exclaimed in a sorrowful voice, “There, there it is!”
As we came nearer to the long-desired land, we could distinguish woods,
fields, houses, farms, and single trees; a beautiful sight, but not to
be enjoyed long, for the captain not liking to approach too close, stood
off again, and in the evening it was hardly visible. Early on the 19th
we made all sail; about eleven a small vessel stood towards us under
American colors: we hoisted ours, and the pilot came on board. Now all
was fresh life among the passengers. So near the land, fresh water was
served out, and there was washing and splashing and smartening up going
on in every corner. Here a young Jewess adorned herself with earrings
containing false stones, there a man hastily washed a shirt; on one side
women combing and brushing children, there others, their toilet ended,
strutting about in their best;--and there lay the poor ropemaker face
downwards, across the capstan; he had but one pair of trowsers, which
the kind tailor was busily mending. The pilot, a fine-looking man, as
all these American pilots are, and dressed in the newest fashion, soon
carried us into the entrance of New York harbor, near Staten Island.
Where shall I find a pen that can paint what we saw, or describe our
feelings? The sight of this noble land, robed in the most beautiful
green, with luxuriant fields, fine houses, and here and there remains
of the original forests, forts on each side protecting the entrance, the
bright blue heavens above, and rustling waves beneath, melted my heart,
and made me long to be alone. I ran aloft, and looked with enchanted,
and, why should I deny it, with moistened eyes, on the beautiful country
which seemed opening her arms to receive us--and the question rose
unavoidably: “Why is not that my home, and why must I leave all my heart
holds dear to purchase such a sight?” The sailors, who came running up
the rigging like cats, disturbed my meditations. The anchor was dropped,
and the sails furled. A boat under a yellow flag came off from Staten
Island, to inquire after our healths. Luckily all our sick had
recovered, and all the party looked in good condition; so that the good
doctor, in spite of a pair of hexagonal spectacles, could not find a
trace of the late sickness, and left the ship with the words “All’s
well.” In the evening, H., the doctor, and I plunged overboard to bathe.
We were not allowed to leave the ship till the morrow, when a schooner
came to take us all with bag and baggage to a large square block house,
about a hundred yards from the shore, to undergo a short quarantine, and
to show whether our luggage contained any thing liable to duty, or
requiring washing. The customs’ examination was not severe, and nobody
had to pay; the dirty clothes were more strictly examined, and large
buckets were brought, that those who had neglected to wash their clothes
on the passage might do so now. As we quitted the “Constitution,” where
we had passed sixty-four days of mingled joy and sorrow, taking leave of
her crew was, to me at least, like taking leave of old friends, and as
the boat shoved off we gave them a loud cheer, which was answered by
the crew in English fashion with three hurrahs, preceded by “hip, hip,
hip.” This was not very well taken by our Jewish passengers, who could
not find “hip, hip, hip” in their dictionaries, and one of them remarked
that “he did not see why they should so laugh at us.”
[Illustration]