NEW SHIP AND SHIPMATES--MY WATCHMATE
Tuesday, Sept. 8th. This was my first day's duty on board the ship;
and though a sailor's life is a sailor's life wherever it may be, yet I
found everything very different here from the customs of the brig
Pilgrim. After all hands were called, at day-break, three minutes and
a half were allowed for every man to dress and come on deck, and if any
were longer than that, they were sure to be overhauled by the mate, who
was always on deck, and making himself heard all over the ship. The
head-pump was then rigged, and the decks washed down by the second and
third mates; the chief mate walking the quarter-deck and keeping a
general supervision, but not deigning to touch a bucket or a brush.
Inside and out, fore and aft, upper deck and between decks, steerage
and forecastle, rail, bulwarks, and water-ways, were washed, scrubbed
and scraped with brooms and canvas, and the decks were wet and sanded
all over, and then holystoned. The holystone is a large, soft stone,
smooth on the bottom, with long ropes attached to each end, by which
the crew keep it sliding fore and aft, over the wet, sanded decks.
Smaller hand-stones, which the sailors call "prayer-books," are used to
scrub in among the crevices and narrow places, where the large
holystone will not go. An hour or two, we were kept at this work, when
the head-pump was manned, and all the sand washed off the decks and
sides. Then came swabs and squilgees; and after the decks were dry,
each one went to his particular morning job. There were five boats
belonging to the ship,--launch, pinnace, jolly-boat, larboard
quarter-boat, and gig,--each of which had a coxswain, who had charge of
it, and was answerable for the order and cleanness of it. The rest of
the cleaning was divided among the crew; one having the brass and
composition work about the capstan; another the bell, which was of
brass, and kept as bright as a gilt button; a third, the harness-cask;
another, the man-rope stanchions; others, the steps of the forecastle
and hatchways, which were hauled up and holystoned. Each of these jobs
must be finished before breakfast; and, in the meantime, the rest of
the crew filled the scuttle-butt, and the cook scraped his kids (wooden
tubs out of which the sailors eat) and polished the hoops, and placed
them before the galley, to await inspection. When the decks were dry,
the lord paramount made his appearance on the quarter-deck, and took a
few turns, when eight bells were struck, and all hands went to
breakfast. Half an hour was allowed for breakfast, when all hands were
called again; the kids, pots, bread-bags, etc., stowed away; and, this
morning, preparations were made for getting under weigh. We paid out
on the chain by which we swung; hove in on the other; catted the
anchor; and hove short on the first. This work was done in shorter
time than was usual on board the brig; for though everything was more
than twice as large and heavy, the cat-block being as much as a man
could lift, and the chain as large as three of the Pilgrim's, yet there
was a plenty of room to move about in, more discipline and system, more
men, and more good will. Every one seemed ambitious to do his best:
officers and men knew their duty, and all went well. As soon as she was
hove short, the mate, on the forecastle, gave the order to loose the
sails, and, in an instant, every one sprung into the rigging, up the
shrouds, and out on the yards, scrambling by one another,--the first up
the best fellow,--cast off the yard-arm gaskets and bunt gaskets, and
one man remained on each yard, holding the bunt jigger with a turn
round the tye, all ready to let go, while the rest laid down to man the
sheets and halyards. The mate then hailed the yards--"All ready
forward?"--"All ready the cross-jack yards?" etc., etc., and "Aye, aye,
sir!" being returned from each, the word was given to let go; and in
the twinkling of an eye, the ship, which had shown nothing but her bare
yards, was covered with her loose canvas, from the royal-mast-heads to
the decks. Every one then laid down, except one man in each top, to
overhaul the rigging, and the topsails were hoisted and sheeted home;
all three yards going to the mast-head at once, the larboard watch
hoisting the fore, the starboard watch the main, and five light hands,
(of whom I was one,) picked from the two watches, the mizen. The yards
were then trimmed, the anchor weighed, the cat-block hooked on, the
fall stretched out, manned by "all hands and the cook," and the anchor
brought to the head with "cheerily men!" in full chorus. The ship
being now under weigh, the light sails were set, one after another, and
she was under full sail, before she had passed the sandy point. The
fore royal, which fell to my lot, (being in the mate's watch,) was more
than twice as large as that of the Pilgrim, and, though I could handle
the brig's easily, I found my hands full, with this, especially as
there were no jacks to the ship; everything being for neatness, and
nothing left for Jack to hold on by, but his eyelids.
As soon as we were beyond the point, and all sail out, the order was
given, "Go below the watch!" and the crew said that, ever since they
had been on the coast, they had had "watch and watch," while going from
port to port; and, in fact, everything showed that, though strict
discipline was kept, and the utmost was required of every man, in the
way of his duty, yet, on the whole, there was very good usage on board.
Each one knew that he must be a man, and show himself smart when at his
duty, yet every one was satisfied with the usage; and a contented crew,
agreeing with one another, and finding no fault, was a contrast indeed
with the small, hard-used, dissatisfied, grumbling, desponding crew of
the Pilgrim.
It being the turn of our watch to go below, the men went to work,
mending their clothes, and doing other little things for themselves;
and I, having got my wardrobe in complete order at San Diego, had
nothing to do but to read. I accordingly overhauled the chests of the
crew, but found nothing that suited me exactly, until one of the men
said he had a book which "told all about a great highway-man," at the
bottom of his chest, and producing it, I found, to my surprise and joy,
that it was nothing else than Bulwer's Paul Clifford. This, I seized
immediately, and going to my hammock, lay there, swinging and reading,
until the watch was out. The between-decks were clear, the hatchways
open, and a cool breeze blowing through them, the ship under easy way,
and everything comfortable. I had just got well into the story, when
eight bells were struck, and we were all ordered to dinner. After
dinner came our watch on deck for four hours, and, at four o'clock, I
went below again, turned into my hammock, and read until the dog watch.
As no lights were allowed after eight o'clock, there was no reading in
the night watch. Having light winds and calms, we were three days on
the passage, and each watch below, during the daytime, I spent in the
same manner, until I had finished my book. I shall never forget the
enjoyment I derived from it. To come across anything with the
slightest claims to literary merit, was so unusual, that this was a
perfect feast to me. The brilliancy of the book, the succession of
capital hits, lively and characteristic sketches, kept me in a constant
state of pleasing sensations. It was far too good for a sailor. I
could not expect such fine times to last long.
While on deck, the regular work of the ship went on. The sailmaker and
carpenter worked between decks, and the crew had their work to do upon
the rigging, drawing yarns, making spun-yarn, etc., as usual in
merchantmen. The night watches were much more pleasant than on board
the Pilgrim. There, there were so few in a watch, that, one being at
the wheel, and another on the look-out, there was no one left to talk
with; but here, we had seven in a watch, so that we had long yarns, in
abundance. After two or three night watches, I became quite well
acquainted with all the larboard watch. The sailmaker was the head man
of the watch, and was generally considered the most experienced seaman
on board. He was a thoroughbred old man-of-war's-man, had been to sea
twenty-two years, in all kinds of vessels--men-of-war, privateers,
slavers, and merchantmen;--everything except whalers, which a thorough
sailor despises, and will always steer clear of, if he can. He had, of
course, been in all parts of the world, and was remarkable for drawing
a long bow. His yarns frequently stretched through a watch, and kept
all hands awake. They were always amusing from their improbability,
and, indeed, he never expected to be believed, but spun them merely for
amusement; and as he had some humor and a good supply of man-of-war
slang and sailor's salt phrases, he always made fun. Next to him in
age and experience, and, of course, in standing in the watch, was an
Englishman, named Harris, of whom I shall have more to say hereafter.
Then, came two or three Americans, who had been the common run of
European and South American voyages, and one who had been in a
"spouter," and, of course, had all the whaling stories to himself.
Last of all, was a broad-backed, thick-headed boy from Cape Cod, who
had been in mackerel schooners, and was making his first voyage in a
square-rigged vessel. He was born in Hingham, and of course was called
"Bucketmaker." The other watch was composed of about the same number.
A tall, fine-looking Frenchman, with coal-black whiskers and curly
hair, a first-rate seaman, and named John, (one name is enough for a
sailor,) was the head man of the watch. Then came two Americans (one
of whom had been a dissipated young man of property and family, and was
reduced to duck trowsers and monthly wages,) a German, an English lad,
named Ben, who belonged on the mizen topsail yard with me, and was a
good sailor for his years, and two Boston boys just from the public
schools. The carpenter sometimes mustered in the starboard watch, and
was an old sea-dog, a Swede by birth, and accounted the best helmsman
in the ship. This was our ship's company, beside cook and steward, who
were blacks, three mates, and the captain.
The second day out, the wind drew ahead, and we had to beat up the
coast; so that, in tacking ship, I could see the regulations of the
vessel. Instead of going wherever was most convenient, and running
from place to place, wherever work was to be done, each man had his
station. A regular tacking and wearing bill was made out. The chief
mate commanded on the forecastle, and had charge of the head sails and
the forward part of the ship. Two of the best men in the ship--the
sailmaker from our watch, and John, the Frenchman, from the other,
worked the forecastle. The third mate commanded in the waist, and,
with the carpenter and one man, worked the main tack and bowlines; the
cook, ex-officio, the fore sheet, and the steward the main. The second
mate had charge of the after yards, and let go the lee fore and main
braces. I was stationed at the weather cross-jack braces; three other
light hands at the lee; one boy at the spanker-sheet and guy; a man and
a boy at the main topsail, top-gallant, and royal braces; and all the
rest of the crew--men and boys--tallied on to the main brace. Every
one here knew his station, must be there when all hands were called to
put the ship about, and was answerable for every rope committed to him.
Each man's rope must be let go and hauled in at the order, properly
made fast, and neatly coiled away when the ship was about. As soon as
all hands are at their stations, the captain, who stands on the weather
side of the quarter-deck, makes a sign to the man at the wheel to put
it down, and calls out "Helm's a lee'!" "Helm's a lee'!" answers the
mate on the forecastle, and the head sheets are let go. "Raise tacks
and sheets!" says the captain; "tacks and sheets!" is passed forward,
and the fore tack and main sheet are let go. The next thing is to haul
taut for a swing. The weather cross-jack braces and the lee main
braces are each belayed together upon two pins, and ready to be let go;
and the opposite braces hauled taut. "Main topsail haul!" shouts the
captain; the braces are let go; and if he has taken his time well, the
yards swing round like a top; but if he is too late, or too soon, it is
like drawing teeth. The after yards are then braced up and belayed,
the main sheet hauled aft, the spanker eased over to leeward, and the
men from the braces stand by the head yards. "Let go and haul!" says
the captain; the second mate lets go the weather fore braces, and the
men haul in to leeward. The mate, on the forecastle, looks out for the
head yards. "Well, the fore topsail yard!" "Top-gallant yard's well!"
"Royal yard too much! Haul into windward! So! well that!" "Well all!"
Then the starboard watch board the main tack, and the larboard watch
lay forward and board the fore tack and haul down the jib sheet,
clapping a tackle upon it, if it blows very fresh. The after yards are
then trimmed, the captain generally looking out for them himself.
"Well the cross-jack yard!" "Small pull the main top-gallant yard!"
"Well that!" "Well the mizen top-gallant yard!" "Cross-jack yards all
well!" "Well all aft!" "Haul taut to windward!" Everything being
now trimmed and in order, each man coils up the rigging at his own
station, and the order is given--"Go below the watch!"
During the last twenty-four hours of the passage, we beat off and on
the land, making a tack about once in four hours, so that I had a
sufficient opportunity to observe the working of the ship; and
certainly, it took no more men to brace about this ship's lower yards,
which were more than fifty feet square, than it did those of the
Pilgrim, which were not much more than half the size; so much depends
upon the manner in which the braces run, and the state of the blocks;
and Captain Wilson, of the Ayacucho, who was afterwards a passenger
with us, upon a trip to windward, said he had no doubt that our ship
worked two men lighter than his brig.
Friday, Sept. 11th. This morning, at four o'clock, went below, San
Pedro point being about two leagues ahead, and the ship going on under
studding-sails. In about an hour we were waked up by the hauling of
the chain about decks, and in a few minutes "All hands ahoy!" was
called; and we were all at work, hauling in and making up the
studding-sails, overhauling the chain forward, and getting the anchors
ready. "The Pilgrim is there at anchor," said some one, as we were
running about decks; and taking a moment's look over the rail, I saw my
old friend, deeply laden, lying at anchor inside of the kelp. In
coming to anchor, as well as in tacking, each one had his station and
duty. The light sails were clewed up and furled, the courses hauled up
and the jibs down; then came the topsails in the buntlines, and the
anchor let go. As soon as she was well at anchor, all hands lay aloft
to furl the topsails; and this, I soon found, was a great matter on
board this ship; for every sailor knows that a vessel is judged of, a
good deal, by the furl of her sails. The third mate, a sailmaker, and
the larboard watch went upon the fore topsail yard; the second mate,
carpenter, and the starboard watch upon the main; and myself and the
English lad, and the two Boston boys, and the young Cape-Cod man,
furled the mizen topsail. This sail belonged to us altogether, to reef
and to furl, and not a man was allowed to come upon our yard. The mate
took us under his special care, frequently making us furl the sail
over, three or four times, until we got the bunt up to a perfect cone,
and the whole sail without a wrinkle. As soon as each sail was hauled
up and the bunt made, the jigger was bent on to the slack of the
buntlines, and the bunt triced up, on deck. The mate then took his
place between the knightheads to "twig" the fore, on the windlass to
twig the main, and at the foot of the mainmast, for the mizen; and if
anything was wrong,--too much bunt on one side, clews too taut or too
slack, or any sail abaft the yard,--the whole must be dropped again.
When all was right, the bunts were triced well up, the yard-arm gaskets
passed, so as not to leave a wrinkle forward of the yard--short gaskets
with turns close together.
From the moment of letting go the anchor, when the captain ceases his
care of things, the chief mate is the great man. With a voice like a
young lion, he was hallooing and bawling, in all directions, making
everything fly, and, at the same time, doing everything well. He was
quite a contrast to the worthy, quiet, unobtrusive mate of the Pilgrim;
not so estimable a man, perhaps, but a far better mate of a vessel; and
the entire change in Captain T----'s conduct, since he took command of
the ship, was owing, no doubt, in a great measure, to this fact. If
the chief officer wants force, discipline slackens, everything gets out
of joint, the captain interferes continually; that makes a difficulty
between them, which encourages the crew, and the whole ends in a
three-sided quarrel. But Mr. Brown (the mate of the Alert) wanted no
help from anybody; took everything into his own hands; and was more
likely to encroach upon the authority of the master, than to need any
spurring. Captain T---- gave his directions to the mate in private,
and, except in coming to anchor, getting under weigh, tacking, reefing
topsails, and other "all-hands-work," seldom appeared in person. This
is the proper state of things, and while this lasts, and there is a
good understanding aft, everything will go on well.
Having furled all the sails, the royal yards were next to be sent down.
The English lad and myself sent down the main, which was larger than
the Pilgrim's main top-gallant yard; two more light hands, the fore;
and one boy, the mizen. This order, we always kept while on the coast;
sending them up and down every time we came in and went out of port.
They were all tripped and lowered together, the main on the starboard
side, and the fore and mizen, to port. No sooner was she all snug,
than tackles were got up on the yards and stays, and the long-boat and
pinnace hove out. The swinging booms were then guyed out, and the boats
made fast by geswarps, and everything in harbor style. After
breakfast, the hatches were taken off, and all got ready to receive
hides from the Pilgrim. All day, boats were passing and repassing,
until we had taken her hides from her, and left her in ballast trim.
These hides made but little show in our hold, though they had loaded
the Pilgrim down to the water's edge. This changing of the hides
settled the question of the destination of the two vessels, which had
been one of some speculation to us. We were to remain in the leeward
ports, while the Pilgrim was to sail, the next morning, for San
Francisco. After we had knocked off work, and cleared up decks for the
night, my friend S---- came on board, and spent an hour with me in our
berth between decks. The Pilgrim's crew envied me my place on board the
ship, and seemed to think that I had got a little to windward of them;
especially in the matter of going home first. S---- was determined to
go home on the Alert, by begging or buying; if Captain T---- would not
let him come on other terms, he would purchase an exchange with some
one of the crew. The prospect of another year after the Alert should
sail, was rather "too much of the monkey." About seven o'clock, the
mate came down into the steerage, in fine trim for fun, roused the boys
out of the berth, turned up the carpenter with his fiddle, sent the
steward with lights to put in the between-decks, and set all hands to
dancing. The between-decks were high enough to allow of jumping; and
being clear, and white, from holystoning, made a fine dancing-hall.
Some of the Pilgrim's crew were in the forecastle, and we all turned-to
and had a regular sailor's shuffle, till eight bells. The Cape-Cod boy
could dance the true fisherman's jig, barefooted, knocking with his
heels, and slapping the decks with his bare feet, in time with the
music. This was a favorite amusement of the mate's, who always stood
at the steerage door, looking on, and if the boys would not dance, he
hazed them round with a rope's end, much to the amusement of the men.
The next morning, according to the orders of the agent, the Pilgrim set
sail for the windward, to be gone three or four months. She got under
weigh with very little fuss, and came so near us as to throw a letter
on board, Captain Faucon standing at the tiller himself, and steering
her as he would a mackerel smack. When Captain T---- was in command of
the Pilgrim, there was as much preparation and ceremony as there would
be in getting a seventy-four under weigh. Captain Faucon was a sailor,
every inch of him; he knew what a ship was, and was as much at home in
one, as a cobbler in his stall. I wanted no better proof of this than
the opinion of the ship's crew, for they had been six months under his
command, and knew what he was; and if sailors allow their captain to be
a good seaman, you may be sure he is one, for that is a thing they are
not always ready to say.
After the Pilgrim left us, we lay three weeks at San Pedro, from the
11th of September until the 2nd of October, engaged in the usual port
duties of landing cargo, taking off hides, etc., etc. These duties
were much easier, and went on much more agreeably, than on board the
Pilgrim. "The more, the merrier," is the sailor's maxim; and a boat's
crew of a dozen could take off all the hides brought down in a day,
without much trouble, by division of labor; and on shore, as well as on
board, a good will, and no discontent or grumbling, make everything go
well. The officer, too, who usually went with us, the third mate, was
a fine young fellow, and made no unnecessary trouble; so that we
generally had quite a sociable time, and were glad to be relieved from
the restraint of the ship. While here, I often thought of the
miserable, gloomy weeks we had spent in this dull place, in the brig;
discontent and hard usage on board, and four hands to do all the work
on shore. Give me a big ship. There is more room, more hands, better
outfit, better regulation, more life, and more company. Another thing
was better arranged here: we had a regular gig's crew. A light
whale-boat, handsomely painted, and fitted out with stern seats, yoke,
tiller-ropes, etc., hung on the starboard quarter, and was used as the
gig. The youngest lad in the ship, a Boston boy about thirteen years
old, was coxswain of this boat, and had the entire charge of her, to
keep her clean, and have her in readiness to go and come at any hour.
Four light hands, of about the same size and age, of whom I was one,
formed the crew. Each had his oar and seat numbered, and we were
obliged to be in our places, have our oars scraped white, our tholepins
in, and the fenders over the side. The bow-man had charge of the
boat-hook and painter, and the coxswain of the rudder, yoke, and
stern-sheets. Our duty was to carry the captain and agent about, and
passengers off and on; which last was no trifling duty, as the people
on shore have no boats, and every purchaser, from the boy who buys his
pair of shoes, to the trader who buys his casks and bales, were to be
taken off and on, in our boat. Some days, when people were coming and
going fast, we were in the boat, pulling off and on, all day long, with
hardly time for our meals; making, as we lay nearly three miles from
shore, from forty to fifty miles' rowing in a day. Still, we thought it
the best berth in the ship; for when the gig was employed, we had
nothing to do with the cargo, except small bundles which the passengers
carried with them, and no hides to carry, besides the opportunity of
seeing everybody, making acquaintances, hearing the news, etc. Unless
the captain or agent were in the boat, we had no officer with us, and
often had fine times with the passengers, who were always willing to
talk and joke with us. Frequently, too, we were obliged to wait
several hours on shore; when we would haul the boat up on the beach,
and leaving one to watch her, go up to the nearest house, or spend the
time in strolling about the beach, picking up shells, or playing
hopscotch, and other games, on the hard sand. The rest of the crew
never left the ship, except for bringing heavy goods and taking off
hides; and though we were always in the water, the surf hardly leaving
us a dry thread from morning till night, yet we were young, and the
climate was good, and we thought it much better than the quiet,
hum-drum drag and pull on board ship. We made the acquaintance of
nearly half of California; for, besides carrying everybody in our
boat,--men, women, and children,--all the messages, letters, and light
packages went by us, and being known by our dress, we found a ready
reception everywhere.
At San Pedro, we had none of this amusement, for, there being but one
house in the place, we, of course, had but little company. All the
variety that I had, was riding, once a week, to the nearest rancho, to
order a bullock down for the ship.
The brig Catalina came in from San Diego, and being bound up to
windward, we both got under weigh at the same time, for a trial of
speed up to Santa Barbara, a distance of about eighty miles. We hove up
and got under sail about eleven o'clock at night, with a light
land-breeze, which died away toward morning, leaving us becalmed only a
few miles from our anchoring-place. The Catalina, being a small
vessel, of less than half our size, put out sweeps and got a boat
ahead, and pulled out to sea, during the night, so that she had the
sea-breeze earlier and stronger than we did, and we had the
mortification of seeing her standing up the coast, with a fine breeze,
the sea all ruffled about her, while we were becalmed, in-shore. When
the sea-breeze died away, she was nearly out of sight; and, toward the
latter part of the afternoon, the regular north-west wind set in fresh,
we braced sharp upon it, took a pull at every sheet, tack, and halyard,
and stood after her, in fine style, our ship being very good upon a
tautened bowline. We had nearly five hours of fine sailing, beating
up to windward, by long stretches in and off shore, and evidently
gaining upon the Catalina at every tack. When this breeze left us, we
were so near as to count the painted ports on her side. Fortunately,
the wind died away when we were on our inward tack, and she on her
outward, so we were in-shore, and caught the land-breeze first, which
came off upon our quarter, about the middle of the first watch. All
hands were turned-up, and we set all sail, to the skysails and the
royal studding-sails; and with these, we glided quietly through the
water, leaving the Catalina, which could not spread so much canvas as
we, gradually astern, and, by daylight, were off St. Buenaventura, and
our antagonist nearly out of sight. The sea-breeze, however, favored
her again, while we were becalmed under the headland, and laboring
slowly along, she was abreast of us by noon. Thus we continued, ahead,
astern, and abreast of one another, alternately; now, far out at sea,
and again, close in under the shore. On the third morning, we came
into the great bay of Santa Barbara, two hours behind the brig, and
thus lost the bet; though, if the race had been to the point, we should
have beaten her by five or six hours. This, however, settled the
relative sailing of the vessels, for it was admitted that although she,
being small and light, could gain upon us in very light winds, yet
whenever there was breeze enough to set us agoing, we walked away from
her like hauling in a line; and in beating to windward, which is the
best trial of a vessel, we had much the advantage of her.
Sunday, Oct. 4th. This was the day of our arrival; and somehow or
other, our captain always managed not only to sail, but to come into
port, on a Sunday. The main reason for sailing on the Sabbath is not,
as many people suppose, because Sunday is thought a lucky day, but
because it is a leisure day. During the six days, the crew are
employed upon the cargo and other ship's works, and the Sabbath, being
their only day of rest, whatever additional work can be thrown into
Sunday, is so much gain to the owners. This is the reason of our
coasters, packets, etc, sailing on the Sabbath. They get six good
days' work out of the crew, and then throw all the labor of sailing
into the Sabbath. Thus it was with us, nearly all the time we were on
the coast, and many of our Sabbaths were lost entirely to us. The
Catholics on shore have no trading and make no journeys on Sunday, but
the American has no national religion, and likes to show his
independence of priestcraft by doing as he chooses on the Lord's day.
Santa Barbara looked very much as it did when I left it five months
before: the long sand beach, with the heavy rollers, breaking upon it
in a continual roar, and the little town, imbedded on the plain, girt
by its amphitheatre of mountains. Day after day, the sun shone clear
and bright upon the wide bay and the red roofs of the houses;
everything being as still as death, the people really hardly seeming to
earn their sun-light. Daylight actually seemed thrown away upon them.
We had a few visitors, and collected about a hundred hides, and every
night, at sundown, the gig was sent ashore, to wait for the captain,
who spent his evenings in the town. We always took our monkey-jackets
with us, and flint and steel, and made a fire on the beach with the
driftwood and the bushes we pulled from the neighboring thickets, and
lay down by it, on the sand. Sometimes we would stray up to the town,
if the captain was likely to stay late, and pass the time at some of
the houses, in which we were almost always well received by the
inhabitants. Sometimes earlier and sometimes later, the captain came
down; when, after a good drenching in the surf, we went aboard, changed
our clothes, and turned in for the night--yet not for all the night,
for there was the anchor watch to stand.
This leads me to speak of my watchmate for nine months--and, taking him
all in all, the most remarkable man I have ever seen--Tom Harris. An
hour, every night, while lying in port, Harris and myself had the deck
to ourselves, and walking fore and aft, night after night, for months,
I learned his whole character and history, and more about foreign
nations, the habits of different people, and especially the secrets of
sailors' lives and hardships, and also of practical seamanship, (in
which he was abundantly capable of instructing me,) than I could ever
have learned elsewhere. But the most remarkable thing about him, was
the power of his mind. His memory was perfect; seeming to form a
regular chain, reaching from his earliest childhood up to the time I
knew him, without one link wanting. His power of calculation, too, was
remarkable. I called myself pretty quick at figures, and had been
through a course of mathematical studies; but, working by my head, I
was unable to keep within sight of this man, who had never been beyond
his arithmetic: so rapid was his calculation. He carried in his head
not only a log-book of the whole voyage, in which everything was
complete and accurate, and from which no one ever thought of appealing,
but also an accurate registry of all the cargo; knowing, precisely,
where each thing was, and how many hides we took in at every port.
One night, he made a rough calculation of the number of hides that
could be stowed in the lower hold, between the fore and main masts,
taking the depth of hold and breadth of beam, (for he always knew the
dimension of every part of the ship, before he had been a month on
board,) and the average area and thickness of a hide; he came
surprisingly near the number, as it afterwards turned out. The mate
frequently came to him to know the capacity of different parts of the
vessel, so he could tell the sailmaker very nearly the amount of canvas
he would want for each sail in the ship; for he knew the hoist of every
mast, and spread of every sail, on the head and foot, in feet and
inches. When we were at sea, he kept a running account, in his head,
of the ship's way--the number of knots and the courses; and if the
courses did not vary much during the twenty-four hours, by taking the
whole progress, and allowing so many eighths southing or northing, to
so many easting or westing; he would make up his reckoning just before
the captain took the sun at noon, and often came wonderfully near the
mark. Calculation of all kinds was his delight. He had, in his chest,
several volumes giving accounts of inventions in mechanics, which he
read with great pleasure, and made himself master of. I doubt if he
ever forgot anything that he read. The only thing in the way of poetry
that he ever read was Falconer's Shipwreck, which he was delighted
with, and whole pages of which he could repeat. He knew the name of
every sailor that had ever been his shipmate, and also, of every
vessel, captain, and officer, and the principal dates of each voyage;
and a sailor whom he afterwards fell in with, who had been in a ship
with Harris nearly twelve years before, was very much surprised at
having Harris tell him things about himself which he had entirely
forgotten. His facts, whether dates or events, no one thought of
disputing; and his opinions, few of the sailors dared to oppose; for,
right or wrong, he always had the best of the argument with them. His
reasoning powers were remarkable. I have had harder work maintaining
an argument with him in a watch, even when I knew myself to be right,
and he was only doubting, than I ever had before; not from his
obstinacy, but from his acuteness. Give him only a little knowledge of
his subject, and, certainly among all the young men of my acquaintance
and standing at college, there was not one whom I had not rather meet,
than this man. I never answered a question from him, or advanced an
opinion to him, without thinking more than once. With an iron memory,
he seemed to have your whole past conversation at command, and if you
said a thing now which ill agreed with something said months before, he
was sure to have you on the hip. In fact, I always felt, when with
him, that I was with no common man. I had a positive respect for his
powers of mind, and felt often that if half the pains had been spent
upon his education which are thrown away, yearly, in our colleges, he
would have been a man of great weight in society. Like most
self-taught men, he over-estimated the value of an education; and this,
I often told him, though I profited by it myself; for he always treated
me with respect, and often unnecessarily gave way to me, from an
over-estimate of my knowledge. For the intellectual capacities of all
the rest of the crew, captain and all, he had the most sovereign
contempt. He was a far better sailor, and probably a better navigator,
than the captain, and had more brains than all the after part of the
ship put together. The sailors said, "Tom's got a head as long as the
bowsprit," and if any one got into an argument with him, they would
call out--"Ah, Jack! you'd better drop that, as you would a hot potato,
for Tom will turn you inside out before you know it."
I recollect his posing me once on the subject of the Corn Laws. I was
called to stand my watch, and, coming on deck, found him there before
me; and we began, as usual, to walk fore and aft, in the waist. He
talked about the Corn Laws; asked me my opinion about them, which I
gave him; and my reasons; my small stock of which I set forth to the
best advantage, supposing his knowledge on the subject must be less
than mine, if, indeed, he had any at all. When I had got through, he
took the liberty of differing from me, and, to my surprise, brought
arguments and facts connected with the subject which were new to me, to
which I was entirely unable to reply. I confessed that I knew almost
nothing of the subject, and expressed my surprise at the extent of his
information. He said that, a number of years before, while at a
boarding-house in Liverpool, he had fallen in with a pamphlet on the
subject, and, as it contained calculations, had read it very carefully,
and had ever since wished to find some one who could add to his stock
of knowledge on the question. Although it was many years since he had
seen the book, and it was a subject with which he had no previous
acquaintance, yet he had the chain of reasoning, founded upon
principles of political economy, perfect in his memory; and his facts,
so far as I could judge, were correct; at least, he stated them with
great precision. The principles of the steam engine, too, he was very
familiar with, having been several months on board of a steamboat, and
made himself master of its secrets. He knew every lunar star in both
hemispheres, and was a perfect master of his quadrant and sextant.
Such was the man, who, at forty, was still a dog before the mast, at
twelve dollars a month. The reason of this was to be found in his
whole past life, as I had it, at different times, from himself.
He was an Englishman, by birth, a native of Ilfracomb, in Devonshire.
His father was skipper of a small coaster, from Bristol, and dying,
left him, when quite young, to the care of his mother, by whose
exertions he received a common-school education, passing his winters at
school and his summers in the coasting trade, until his seventeenth
year, when he left home to go upon foreign voyages. Of his mother, he
often spoke with the greatest respect, and said that she was a
strong-minded woman, and had the best system of education he had ever
known; a system which had made respectable men of his three brothers,
and failed only in him, from his own indomitable obstinacy. One thing
he often mentioned, in which he said his mother differed from all other
mothers that he had ever seen disciplining their children; that was,
that when he was out of humor and refused to eat, instead of putting
his plate away, as most mothers would, and saying that his hunger would
bring him to it, in time, she would stand over him and oblige him to
eat it--every mouthful of it. It was no fault of hers that he was what
I saw him; and so great was his sense of gratitude for her efforts,
though unsuccessful, that he determined, at the close of the voyage, to
embark for home with all the wages he should get, to spend with and for
his mother, if perchance he should find her alive.
After leaving home, he had spent nearly twenty years, sailing upon all
sorts of voyages, generally out of the ports of New York and Boston.
Twenty years of vice! Every sin that a sailor knows, he had gone to
the bottom of. Several times he had been hauled up in the hospitals,
and as often, the great strength of his constitution had brought him
out again in health. Several times, too, from his known capacity, he
had been promoted to the office of chief mate, and as often, his
conduct when in port, especially his drunkenness, which neither fear
nor ambition could induce him to abandon, put him back into the
forecastle. One night, when giving me an account of his life, and
lamenting the years of manhood he had thrown away, he said that there,
in the forecastle, at the foot of the steps--a chest of old
clothes--was the result of twenty-two years of hard labor and
exposure--worked like a horse, and treated like a dog. As he grew
older, he began to feel the necessity of some provision for his later
years, and came gradually to the conviction that rum had been his worst
enemy. One night, in Havana, a young shipmate of his was brought
aboard drunk, with a dangerous gash in his head, and his money and new
clothes stripped from him. Harris had seen and been in hundreds of
such scenes as these, but in his then state of mind, it fixed his
determination, and he resolved never to taste another drop of strong
drink, of any kind. He signed no pledge, and made no vow, but relied
on his own strength of purpose. The first thing with him was a reason,
and then a resolution, and the thing was done. The date of his
resolution he knew, of course, to the very hour. It was three years
before I knew him, and during all that time, nothing stronger than
cider or coffee had passed his lips. The sailors never thought of
enticing Tom to take a glass, any more than they would of talking to
the ship's compass. He was now a temperate man for life, and capable
of filling any berth in a ship, and many a high station there is on
shore which is held by a meaner man.
He understood the management of a ship upon scientific principles, and
could give the reason for hauling every rope; and a long experience,
added to careful observation at the time, and a perfect memory, gave
him a knowledge of the expedients and resorts in times of hazard, which
was remarkable, and for which I became much indebted to him, as he took
the greatest pleasure in opening his stores of information to me, in
return for what I was able to do for him. Stories of tyranny and
hardship which had driven men to piracy;--of the incredible ignorance
of masters and mates, and of horrid brutality to the sick, dead, and
dying; as well as of the secret knavery and impositions practised upon
seamen by connivance of the owners, landlords, and officers; all these
he had, and I could not but believe them; for men who had known him for
fifteen years had never taken him even in an exaggeration, and, as I
have said, his statements were never disputed. I remember, among other
things, his speaking of a captain whom I had known by report, who never
handed a thing to a sailor, but put it on deck and kicked it to him;
and of another, who was of the best connections in Boston, who
absolutely murdered a lad from Boston that went out with him before the
mast to Sumatra, by keeping him hard at work while ill of the coast
fever, and obliging him to sleep in the close steerage. (The same
captain has since died of the same fever on the same coast.)
In fact, taking together all that I learned from him of seamanship, of
the history of sailors' lives, of practical wisdom, and of human nature
under new circumstances,--a great history from which many are shut
out,--I would not part with the hours I spent in the watch with that
man for any given hours of my life passed in study and social
intercourse.