FAIRLY AT SEA.--THE FIRST LOOKOUT.--INTRODUCTIONS.
By noon the ship had run the land nearly down to the horizon line,
and having sufficient offing, with the open sea before her, and all
being well satisfied with her performance, she was brought to the wind
with the maintopsail thrown aback for the pilot-boat; and after the
most affectionate leave-takings and handshakings, the owner and the
rest of our shore friends left us; many of them with, literally, very
_turbulent_ feelings. Mr. Richards was not so indisposed but that he
was able to take the hand of each of his young friends in turn, and bid
us godspeed, at the same time leaving in our hands copies of our outfit
bills (receipted in full by order on the owners), as a parting token
of his esteem. Three cheers were given as they shoved off from the
ship--or rather attempted, with but indifferent success, and somewhat
more feeble returned by the stay-at-homes; and in a few minutes we
again filled away on our course to the eastward. The anchors were
stowed and well secured, the chain cables run down into the lockers,
and the breeze freshening in the afternoon, the ship was brought down
to double-reefed topsails; an operation requiring considerable time for
its performance, with new sails and running gear, and a green crew; and
one adapted to develop not only our agility, but the power of grip in
our hands; while the rigging was embraced so affectionately that I had
no reason to wonder at the complaint of the second mate that we had
robbed all the tar from it, and transferred it to our clothes. Jeff
had his fill of growling at the "children," as if they were to blame
that they had not been born able seamen, or trained as "reefers" in
the district school; while Manoel was kind enough to undo all my part
of the work and do it over again, instructing me at the same time how
_not_ to tie a "gr-r-r-annee-knot," enunciating the r with a noise like
that made in tearing a strong rag.
At sundown, all hands were called aft, and requested to "spread"
ourselves in full view of the officers, and the process of choosing
watches was gone through with, the mate and second mate selecting a man
alternately, till all were disposed of except the "idlers," such as the
cook, steward, cooper, etc. As we were chosen, we were formed in two
divisions, one each side of the deck, according as we were billeted
in the starboard or larboard watch. Next came the choice of oarsmen
for the respective boats, a still more important matter in a whaler;
and here there was much competition among the officers, and evidently
some anxiety, with a little ill-concealed jealousy of feeling. I found
myself a member of the larboard watch, and also assigned to the bow
oar of the larboard, or chief mate's boat.
When we all understood our places, Captain Upton introduced his
officers in form, as Mr. Grafton, his mate, Mr. Dunham his second mate,
and Johnson, his third mate.
"These are my officers," said he, "and I look for you all to respect
and obey them as you do myself; and remember that when either of them
is on deck in charge of the ship, he represents _me_, and his orders
are _mine_."
He told us he should allow no fighting among ourselves, he wanted to
see no _sogering_, and, above all, to hear no "back answers." He wound
up with a peroration after the most approved and stereotyped form,
which has been handed down from ancient sea-captains; indeed, it is
supposed to date back to the patriarchal system of government, and to
have originated with Noah when he first closed the doors of the ark:
"All you've got to do is, go when you are sent, and come when you are
called; and if you don't have enough to eat, come aft and let me know.
Set the watch, Mr. Grafton."
The starboard watch had eight hours on deck, following the established
seaman's rule that the captain must take the ship out, and the mate
take her home. When our watch was summoned at eleven o'clock, the ship
was still under double reefs, but the wind had hauled round to the
northward-and-east-ward, causing an ugly cross sea, and she was braced
sharp on the port tack, and plunging into it smartly. The weather was
quite chilly, and as our end of the deck was "all afloat," we naturally
made our way aft to explore for drier quarters. Mr. Grafton was on hand
to meet and count us at the mainmast. Being satisfied the quota was
full:
"Now, boys," said he, "you will remember this. In your watch on deck,
you are expected to stay on deck; and so that you are all ready for
a call when I want you, you may pass the time about as you please,
and make yourselves as comfortable as you can--except one man at the
wheel and one looking out ahead. I shall want one of you always on the
lookout at night, and you must arrange the tricks among yourselves so
that I may always find one there. I want him mounted up somewhere where
he can see all around on both bows, and where I can see him if I come
forward. If I find him asleep, I'll--never mind--I'll fix him so that
he will keep his eyes open next time. Now go forward, one of you; and
mind, all the rest of you keep above deck. You understand the wheel and
lookout are to be relieved every two hours, and whoever has the next
trick, I expect him to be travelling along at once when the bell rings;
if he don't--he'll hear from me."
I volunteered to take the first lookout, and my offer was accepted with
enthusiasm. I struggled forward, clutching at the weather-rail, and
finding some difficulty in keeping my equilibrium on the wet, slippery
deck, as the buoyant ship rose and fell, rolling at times heavily, and
righting with a sudden recoil. I looked at the station between the
knight-heads; but just at that moment she made a heavy pitch forward,
and meeting a head sea in full career, sent it flying high over the
bows, and rushing down the heel of the bowsprit, inboard; giving ocular
evidence that I should be more than half drowned as the reward of my
temerity, if I ventured up there. The foretopsail sheet bitts presented
the next eligible place, and here I "mounted guard." Planting myself
in a Colossus-of-Rhodes attitude, with my back against the foremast,
and one arm round each chain sheet for a firm hold, I stared intently
into the black void ahead of the ship, regardless of the drenching
sprays which every now and then flew over the weather bow upon my head,
rattling down my sou'wester, and penetrating my new monkey jacket,
which, so far from being water-proof, might have been aptly classified
with Mr. Weller's hat, as "wentilatin' gossamer." I was the possessor
of an oil-cloth suit, but it was below in the forecastle; and so
profoundly was I impressed with a sense of the responsibility resting
upon me, that I would not for an instant have stirred from my post
until relieved, for anything short of an earthquake; a contingency not
likely to occur so far out in the Atlantic Ocean, in this latitude. No
one came near me during the two hours, but I had been reconnoitred from
time to time by Mr. Johnson, who was skilled in working traverses round
the tryworks, and saw a great deal without being seen himself. At one
o'clock the relief bell struck, and soon after a voice issued from the
darkness:
"Hallo! Black_smith_, where you?"
"Here!" I answered, turning half round.
"Come down! I 'lieve you!" hailed Antone, from the fore-hatches.
"Leave me? what for? I've been left here two hours now."
"No, I _'lieve_ you! I take you place!" shouted the Portuguese. "You
_wet_, no?"
Just at the moment a gush of water came flying in over the galley, and
I jumped down on deck, gasping for breath, and streaming from every
thread. The Portuguese roared with laughter.
"What for you stop up dere? You no _sabe_ stand lookout. By'mby you
see me no all e' same," continued Antone, who was favoring himself
under the lee of the foremast, and all ready for a rapid retreat, if
necessary.
But this was my _first_ lookout. I proved myself, in time, an apt
scholar, and learned to "favor myself" in many particulars; and while
I obeyed orders, and gave satisfaction to my superiors, to leave
responsibility, like a true Jack, to those who were better paid for it,
and to cultivate close acquaintances with the softest planks about the
decks on all convenient occasions.
Those who predicted a good voyage for the Arethusa did not, in this
instance, as in many others, do so without reason; and they did no more
than justice to Captain Upton and his officers when they pronounced
her well appointed. The captain himself was a man of great energy and
undaunted courage, still in the prime of life, who always headed his
own boat, and took the initiative himself in whaling. He was rather
taciturn, saying little more than was really necessary on any occasion,
but possessed great firmness and an iron will. There was nothing of
the Tartar about him, and very little to justify Old Jeff's bugbear
statement as to his being "a hard one." He had his peculiarities,
however, not to say failings. No man could study more closely the
interest of his owners; and as he was now identified with them, being
a part owner himself in the new ship, we felt the effects of it in the
commissariat department. Moreover, he was very proud of his vessel;
so much so as to be old-maidish in regard to the neatness of her
appearance, and devoted more time and labor to this end than was at all
agreeable either to his crew or officers. On the whole, however, he was
justly regarded as a most efficient man for his station, and ranked A.
1. on the list of crack whaling captains.
His chief-executive and prime minister, Mr. Grafton, was a tall,
massive-looking man, of fine personal appearance, something older than
his superior. He had made three voyages in the same capacity, being
one of those choice mates, who, by some chance, never get command of
a ship, perhaps in virtue of a saying much in vogue among shipowners,
and in many instances acted upon, "that it is a pity to spoil a good
mate by making him master." A man of rather thoughtful cast of mind, of
much intelligence, and possessed of an extensive stock of information
upon many subjects, with a habit of generalizing and a clearness,
of expression which rendered him an agreeable companion to all with
whom he came in contact. Though a good whaleman, Grafton was not what
is known to the _connoisseur_ as a "fishy man;" he had no lungs to
blow his own trumpet, and sometimes distrusted his own powers, though
generally found equal to any emergency after it arose. This want of
confidence sometimes led him to hesitate, where a more impulsive or
less thoughtful man would act at once. In the course of his career he
had seen many "fishy" young men lifted over his head; but as he was
very highly esteemed in his station, and received nearly a captain's
pay, he was well contented as he was. He was devotedly attached to his
family at home, personated the gentleman in all he said and did, and
well sustained the character.
Dunham, the second officer, was a smart young fellow of two-and-twenty,
active, strong, and "fishy to the backbone." His chief fault, as an
officer, lay in his being an inveterate sleeper; he could never, upon
any consideration, keep awake a whole four-hour watch.
The mulatto Johnson had steered a boat with Captain Upton before in
the Colossus, and was well known in Nantucket as "a long-dart man."
He was somewhat of the Shanghai build--tall and long-shanked, with
great strength of limb, and could plug a whale better if four fathoms
distant than he could "wood and blackskin." He had an eye like a hawk,
and could see a spout as far with his natural optics as most men could
through a telescope. He was ignorant of everything out of his own
immediate line, and sometimes rather overbearing. He was not disliked,
in the main, by the crew, if we except Jeff and the cook, who being
old shipmates of his, and themselves of the _pure blood_, were averse
to tolerating anything of a mongrel description, or "milk-and-molasses
color," as they termed it. "No compromise" was their platform, on this
particular issue.
The cooper of the Arethusa was an important personage, as, indeed,
the cooper always is in a whaler. The duties of this functionary are
of a peculiar character, and about as independent of all the rest as
those of a surgeon in a man-of-war. He is neither officer nor man,
strictly speaking, his lay or pay being nearly equal to that of a
second mate. He lives aft with the officers, but makes himself at home
in all parts of the ship, occupying a sort of neutral ground--a kind
of connecting link between republicanism and oligarchy, neither too
high nor too low to consort or joke with anybody and everybody. As a
general rule, he stands no watch, but does his day's work and sleeps
all night, and in many ways evinces consciousness of his own value,
and of the indispensable character of his services. For a whaler may,
and, in fact, often does, go to sea without a blacksmith or without
a carpenter; but the cooper is an essential part of her equipage. An
officer or a boatsteerer may, in case of emergency, be created at sea,
by promotion; but the cooper is not so easily replaced.
The cooper in question was a stout, grave-looking man of forty or
thereabouts, with a shaggy mass of grey hair, and a patriarchally long
beard. His mechanical work was of excellent quality, what little he
accomplished; for he always worked on the principle of the tortoise in
the race--"slow and sure." He scraped indifferently well on the violin,
but delighted especially in drawing a longer bow. In virtue of this
latter accomplishment, he might have claimed near relationship with
a certain gentleman known in classic lore as Thomas Pepper, without
having his title questioned for a moment. He always told his yarns as
gospel truth, and would back them with any oath, if required.
The two young boatsteerers, Bunker and Fisher, with the Portuguese
steward, completed the "afterguard." In the forecastle there was,
in addition to the personages already mentioned, the usual variety
of character and disposition to be found among a dozen young men,
recruited at random in this manner. Now that we were getting initiated
to a sea life, we were beginning to have opinions, and to express them,
no longer leaving the whole field to Jeff and the sea-lawyer. As for
the Nantucket boys, Kelly and Hoeg (or Obed B., as I still persisted in
calling him), they made rapid progress in knowledge and confidence. As
I have before intimated, these young "natives to the manor born" seemed
to look upon this life with the eye of fatalists. It was foreordained
that they should be sailors, and nothing in their new way of life
seemed to surprise or disturb them for a moment. Everything took place
as a matter of course with them. They never seemed to think they could,
by any possibility, have followed any other business for a livelihood;
and each new event or circumstance of the voyage was merely another
link in the chain of their inevitable destiny. They were born to go
whaling and a station on the quarterdeck was the goal of their ambition.
They had not been more than a week at sea before they had taken some
of the starch out of the sea-lawyer, who had attempted to assert his
"rights" by hazing them about, and calling upon them to perform various
menial services for him, which he said it was a "boy's place to do."
One morning he ordered Kelly, in a very arbitrary way, to go on deck
and bring him down some water, which Kelly flatly refused to do.
The sea-lawyer declared he would "make him do it;" and upon Kelly's
expressing a doubt as to his ability to perform that feat, he proceeded
to enforce his command, _vi et armis_. But he was met by the boy with
a spirit that he had not looked for, and before he could get a good
hold upon the youngster, so as to chastise him, as he expected easily
to do, he was attacked in the rear by Obed B., who arrived on the field
just in time to reinforce his chum and schoolmate. This gave Kelly a
chance to rally and assume the offensive; and Burley, who was a most
arrant coward, finding himself roughly handled between the two, was
fain to call for an armistice. A parley ensued, and the boys gave him
to understand that they did not come to sea to be boys, but to make
themselves men, and that they would not submit to be bullied by him.
And the upshot of the matter was, that the champion of "rights" made
rather an ignominious retreat from the field, as compared with the
vigor of his first attack. All this was nuts, of course, to the rest
of us youngsters, who desired nothing more earnestly than to see the
bully humbled a little; while the emotion of Manoel was too powerful to
find utterance--in intelligible English. He patted the two boys on the
shoulder, in the exuberance of his spirits, while his tongue rattled
until I thought all his teeth were loose in the jaws; but to save my
life, I could not have told what he was trying to say.
There was plenty of work for all hands on the passage out, as every one
will understand who has ever performed a voyage in a new ship. We found
our duties very fatiguing, as we were kept at work all day, and had a
watch to stand at night. There was all the new rigging to be stretched
and set up over and again, in addition to the thousand and one other
matters to be attended to, to put everything in trim for whaling
against the opening of the campaign. The old salts growled night and
day in the forecastle about having no "watch below;" but as we verdant
ones had but a vague idea of what they meant by it, we had but little
to say about this grievance.