BAD PROSPECTS--FIRST TOUCH OF CAPE HORN--ICEBERGS--TEMPERANCE
SHIPS--LYING-UP--ICE--DIFFICULTY ON BOARD--CHANGE OF COURSE--STRAITS OF
MAGELLAN
There now began to be a decided change in the appearance of things. The
days became shorter and shorter; the sun running lower in its course
each day, and giving less and less heat; and the nights so cold as to
prevent our sleeping on deck; the Magellan Clouds in sight, of a clear
night; the skies looking cold and angry; and, at times, a long, heavy,
ugly sea, setting in from the southwards told us what we were coming
to. Still, however, we had a fine, strong breeze, and kept on our way,
under as much sail as our ship would bear. Toward the middle of the
week, the wind hauled to the southward, which brought us upon a taut
bowline, made the ship meet, nearly head on, the heavy swell which
rolled from that direction; and there was something not at all
encouraging in the manner in which she met it. Being so deep and
heavy, she wanted the buoyancy which should have carried her over the
seas, and she dropped heavily into them, the water washing over the
decks; and every now and then, when an unusually large sea met her
fairly upon the bows, she struck it with a sound as dead and heavy as
that with which a sledge-hammer falls upon the pile, and took the whole
of it in upon the forecastle, and rising, carried it aft in the
scuppers, washing the rigging off the pins, and carrying along with it
everything which was loose on deck. She had been acting in this way
all of our forenoon watch below; as we could tell by the washing of the
water over our heads, and the heavy breaking of the seas against her
bows, (with a sound as though she were striking against a rock,) only
the thickness of the plank from our heads, as we lay in our berths,
which are directly against the bows. At eight bells, the watch was
called, and we came on deck, one hand going aft to take the wheel, and
another going to the galley to get the grub for dinner. I stood on the
forecastle, looking at the seas, which were rolling high, as far as the
eye could reach, their tops white with foam, and the body of them of a
deep indigo blue, reflecting the bright rays of the sun. Our ship rose
slowly over a few of the largest of them, until one immense fellow came
rolling on, threatening to cover her, and which I was sailor enough to
know, by "the feeling of her" under my feet, she would not rise over.
I sprang upon the knight-heads, and seizing hold of the fore-stay with
my hands, drew myself upon it. My feet were just off the stanchion,
when she struck fairly into the middle of the sea, and it washed her
fore and aft, burying her in the water. As soon as she rose out of it,
I looked aft, and everything forward of the main-mast, except the
long-boat, which was griped and double-lashed down to the ring-bolts,
was swept off clear. The galley, the pig-sty, the hen-coop, and a
large sheep-pen which had been built upon the forehatch, were all gone,
in the twinkling of an eye--leaving the deck as clean as a chin
new-reaped--and not a stick left, to show where they had stood. In the
scuppers lay the galley, bottom up, and a few boards floating about,
the wreck of the sheep-pen,--and half a dozen miserable sheep floating
among them, wet through, and not a little frightened at the sudden
change that had come upon them. As soon as the sea had washed by, all
hands sprung out of the forecastle to see what had become of the ship
and in a few moments the cook and old Bill crawled out from under the
galley, where they had been lying in the water, nearly smothered, with
the galley over them. Fortunately, it rested against the bulwarks, or
it would have broken some of their bones. When the water ran off, we
picked the sheep up, and put them in the long-boat, got the galley back
in its place, and set things a little to rights; but, had not our ship
had uncommonly high bulwarks and rail, everything must have been washed
overboard, not excepting Old Bill and the cook.
Bill had been standing at the galley-door, with the kid of beef in his
hand for the forecastle mess, when, away he went, kid, beef, and all.
He held on to the kid till the last, like a good fellow, but the beef
was gone, and when the water had run off, we saw it lying high and dry,
like a rock at low tide--nothing could hurt that. We took the loss of
our beef very easily, consoling ourselves with the recollection that
the cabin had more to lose than we; and chuckled not a little at seeing
the remains of the chicken-pie and pan-cakes floating in the scuppers.
"This will never do!" was what some said, and every one felt. Here we
were, not yet within a thousand miles of the latitude of Cape Horn, and
our decks swept by a sea not one half so high as we must expect to find
there. Some blamed the captain for loading his ship so deep, when he
knew what he must expect; while others said that the wind was always
southwest, off the Cape, in the winter; and that, running before it, we
should not mind the seas so much. When we got down into the
forecastle, Old Bill, who was somewhat of a croaker,--having met with a
great many accidents at sea--said that if that was the way she was
going to act, we might as well make our wills, and balance the books at
once, and put on a clean shirt. "'Vast there, you bloody old owl!
You're always hanging out blue lights! You're frightened by the
ducking you got in the scuppers, and can't take a joke! What's the use
in being always on the look-out for Davy Jones?" "Stand by!" says
another, "and we'll get an afternoon watch below, by this scrape;" but
in this they were disappointed, for at two bells, all hands were called
and set to work, getting lashings upon everything on deck; and the
captain talked of sending down the long top-gallant masts; but, as the
sea went down toward night, and the wind hauled abeam, we left them
standing, and set the studding-sails.
The next day, all hands were turned-to upon unbending the old sails,
and getting up the new ones; for a ship, unlike people on shore, puts
on her best suit in bad weather. The old sails were sent down, and
three new topsails, and new fore and main courses, jib, and
fore-topmast staysail, which were made on the coast, and never had been
used, were bent, with a complete set of new earings, robands and
reef-points; and reef-tackles were rove to the courses, and
spilling-lines to the top-sails. These, with new braces and clew-lines,
fore and aft, gave us a good suit of running rigging.
The wind continued westerly, and the weather and sea less rough since
the day on which we shipped the heavy sea, and we were making great
progress under studding-sails, with our light sails all set, keeping a
little to the eastward of south; for the captain, depending upon
westerly winds off the Cape, had kept so far to the westward, that
though we were within about five hundred miles of the latitude of Cape
Horn, we were nearly seventeen hundred miles to the westward of it.
Through the rest of the week, we continued on with a fair wind,
gradually, as we got more to the southward, keeping a more easterly
course, and bringing the wind on our larboard quarter, until--
Sunday, June 26th, when, having a fine, clear day, the captain got a
lunar observation, as well as his meridian altitude, which made us in
lat. 47° 50' S., long. 113° 49' W.; Cape Horn bearing, according to my
calculation, E. S. E. 1/2 E., and distant eighteen hundred miles.
Monday, June 27th. During the first part of this day, the wind
continued fair, and, as we were going before it, it did not feel very
cold, so that we kept at work on deck, in our common clothes and round
jackets. Our watch had an afternoon watch below, for the first time
since leaving San Diego, and having inquired of the third mate what the
latitude was at noon, and made our usual guesses as to the time she
would need, to be up with the Horn, we turned-in, for a nap. We were
sleeping away "at the rates of knots," when three knocks on the
scuttle, and "All hands ahoy!" started us from our berths. What could
be the matter? It did not appear to be blowing hard, and looking up
through the scuttle, we could see that it was a clear day, overhead;
yet the watch were taking in sail.
We thought there must be a sail in sight, and that we were about to
heave-to and speak her; and were just congratulating ourselves upon
it--for we had seen neither sail nor land since we had left port--when
we heard the mate's voice on deck, (he turned-in "all standing," and
was always on deck the moment he was called,) singing out to the men
who were taking in the studding-sails, and asking where his watch were.
We did not wait for a second call, but tumbled up the ladder; and
there, on the starboard bow, was a bank of mist, covering sea and sky,
and driving directly for us. I had seen the same before, in my passage
round in the Pilgrim, and knew what it meant, and that there was no
time to be lost. We had nothing on but thin clothes, yet there was not
a moment to spare, and at it we went.
The boys of the other watch were in the tops, taking in the top-gallant
studding-sails, and the lower and topmast studding-sails were coming
down by the run. It was nothing but "haul down and clew up," until we
got all the studding-sails in, and the royals, flying-jib, and mizen
top-gallant sail furled, and the ship kept off a little, to take the
squall. The fore and main top-gallant sails were still on her, for the
"old man" did not mean to be frightened in broad daylight, and was
determined to carry sail till the last minute.
We all stood waiting for its coming, when the first blast showed us
that it was not be trifled with. Rain, sleet, snow, and wind, enough
to take our breath from us, and make the toughest turn his back to
windward! The ship lay nearly over on her beam-ends; the spars and
rigging snapped and cracked; and her top-gallant masts bent like
whip-sticks. "Clew up the fore and main top-gallant sails!" shouted
the captain, and all hands sprang to the clewlines. The decks were
standing nearly at an angle of forty-five degrees, and the ship going
like a mad steed through the water, the whole forward part of her in a
smother of foam. The halyards were let go and the yard clewed down,
and the sheets started, and in a few minutes the sails smothered and
kept in by clewlines and buntlines.--"Furl 'em, sir?" asked the
mate.--"Let go the topsail halyards, fore and aft!" shouted the
captain, in answer, at the top of his voice. Down came the topsail
yards, the reef-tackles were manned and hauled out, and we climbed up
to windward, and sprang into the weather rigging. The violence of the
wind, and the hail and sleet, driving nearly horizontally across the
ocean, seemed actually to pin us down to the rigging. It was hard work
making head against them. One after another, we got out upon the
yards. And here we had work to do; for our new sails, which had hardly
been bent long enough to get the starch out of them, were as stiff as
boards, and the new earings and reef-points, stiffened with the sleet,
knotted like pieces of iron wire. Having only our round jackets and
straw hats on, we were soon wet through, and it was every moment
growing colder. Our hands were soon stiffened and numbed, which, added
to the stiffness of everything else, kept us a good while on the yard.
After we had got the sail hauled upon the yard, we had to wait a long
time for the weather earing to be passed; but there was no fault to be
found, for French John was at the earing, and a better sailor never
laid out on a yard; so we leaned over the yard, and beat our hands upon
the sail to keep them from freezing. At length the word came--"Haul
out to leeward,"--and we seized the reef-points and hauled the band
taut for the lee earing. "taut band--Knot away," and we got the
first reef fast, and were just going to lay down, when--"Two reefs--two
reefs!" shouted the mate, and we had a second reef to take, in the same
way. When this was fast, we laid down on deck, manned the halyards to
leeward, nearly up to our knees in water, set the topsail, and then
laid aloft on the main topsail yard, and reefed that sail in the same
manner; for, as I have before stated, we were a good deal reduced in
numbers, and, to make it worse, the carpenter, only two days before,
cut his leg with an axe, so that he could not go aloft. This weakened
us so that we could not well manage more than one topsail at a time, in
such weather as this, and, of course, our labor was doubled. From the
main topsail yard, we went upon the main yard, and took a reef in the
mainsail. No sooner had we got on deck, than--"Lay aloft there,
mizen-top-men, and close-reef the mizen topsail!" This called me; and
being nearest to the rigging, I got first aloft, and out to the weather
earing. English Ben was on the yard just after me, and took the lee
earing, and the rest of our gang were soon on the yard, and began to
fist the sail, when the mate considerately sent up the cook and
steward, to help us. I could now account for the long time it took to
pass the other earings, for, to do my best, with a strong hand to help
me at the dog's ear, I could not get it passed until I heard them
beginning to complain in the bunt. One reef after another we took in,
until the sail was close-reefed, when we went down and hoisted away at
the halyards. In the mean time, the jib had been furled and the
staysail set, and the ship, under her reduced sail, had got more
upright and was under management; but the two top-gallant sails were
still hanging in the buntlines, and slatting and jerking as though they
would take the masts out of her. We gave a look aloft, and knew that
our work was not done yet; and, sure enough, no sooner did the mate see
that we were on deck, than--"Lay aloft there, four of you, and furl the
top-gallant sails!" This called me again, and two of us went aloft, up
the fore rigging, and two more up the main, upon the top-gallant yards.
The shrouds were now iced over, the sleet having formed a crust or cake
round all the standing rigging, and on the weather side of the masts
and yards. When we got upon the yard, my hands were so numb that I
could not have cast off the knot of the gasket to have saved my life.
We both lay over the yard for a few seconds, beating our hands upon the
sail, until we started the blood into our fingers' ends, and at the
next moment our hands were in a burning heat. My companion on the yard
was a lad, who came out in the ship a weak, puny boy, from one of the
Boston schools,--"no larger than a spritsail sheet knot," nor "heavier
than a paper of lamp-black," and "not strong enough to haul a shad off
a gridiron," but who was now "as long as a spare topmast, strong enough
to knock down an ox, and hearty enough to eat him." We fisted the sail
together, and after six or eight minutes of hard hauling and pulling
and beating down the sail, which was as stiff as sheet iron, we managed
to get it furled; and snugly furled it must be, for we knew the mate
well enough to be certain that if it got adrift again, we should be
called up from our watch below, at any hour of the night, to furl it.
I had been on the look-out for a moment to jump below and clap on a
thick jacket and south-wester; but when we got on deck we found that
eight bells had been struck, and the other watch gone below, so that
there were two hours of dog watch for us, and a plenty of work to do.
It had now set in for a steady gale from the south-west; but we were
not yet far enough to the southward to make a fair wind of it, for we
must give Terra del Fuego a wide berth. The decks were covered with
snow, and there was a constant driving of sleet. In fact, Cape Horn had
set in with good earnest. In the midst of all this, and before it
became dark, we had all the studding-sails to make up and stow away,
and then to lay aloft and rig in all the booms, fore and aft, and coil
away the tacks, sheets, and halyards. This was pretty tough work for
four or five hands, in the face of a gale which almost took us off the
yards, and with ropes so stiff with ice that it was almost impossible
to bend them. I was nearly half an hour out on the end of the fore
yard, trying to coil away and stop down the topmast studding-sail tack
and lower halyards. It was after dark when we got through, and we were
not a little pleased to hear four bells struck, which sent us below for
two hours, and gave us each a pot of hot tea with our cold beef and
bread, and, what was better yet, a suit of thick, dry clothing, fitted
for the weather, in place of our thin clothes, which were wet through
and now frozen stiff.
This sudden turn, for which we were so little prepared, was as
unacceptable to me as to any of the rest; for I had been troubled for
several days with a slight tooth-ache, and this cold weather, and
wetting and freezing, were not the best things in the world for it.
I soon found that it was getting strong hold, and running over all
parts of my face; and before the watch was out I went aft to the mate,
who had charge of the medicine-chest, to get something for it.
But the chest showed like the end of a long voyage, for there was
nothing that would answer but a few drops of laudanum, which must be
saved for any emergency; so I had only to bear the pain as well as I
could.
When we went on deck at eight bells, it had stopped snowing, and there
were a few stars out, but the clouds were still black, and it was
blowing a steady gale. Just before midnight, I went aloft and sent
down the mizen royal yard, and had the good luck to do it to the
satisfaction of the mate, who said it was done "out of hand and
ship-shape." The next four hours below were but little relief to me,
for I lay awake in my berth, the whole time, from the pain in my face,
and heard every bell strike, and, at four o'clock, turned out with the
watch, feeling little spirit for the hard duties of the day.
Bad weather and hard work at sea can be borne up against very well, if
one only has spirit and health; but there is nothing brings a man down,
at such a time, like bodily pain and want of sleep.
There was, however, too much to do to allow time to think; for the gale
of yesterday, and the heavy seas we met with a few days before, while
we had yet ten degrees more southing to make, had convinced the captain
that we had something before us which was not to be trifled with, and
orders were given to send down the long top-gallant masts. The
top-gallant and royal yards were accordingly struck, the flying
jib-boom rigged in, and the top-gallant masts sent down on deck, and
all lashed together by the side of the long-boat.
The rigging was then sent down and coiled away below, and everything
was made snug aloft. There was not a sailor in the ship who was not
rejoiced to see these sticks come down; for, so long as the yards were
aloft, on the least sign of a lull, the top-gallant sails were loosed,
and then we had to furl them again in a snow-squall, and shin up and
down single ropes caked with ice, and send royal yards down in the
teeth of a gale coming right from the south pole. It was an
interesting sight, too, to see our noble ship, dismantled of all her
top-hamper of long tapering masts and yards, and boom pointed with
spear-head, which ornamented her in port; and all that canvas, which a
few days before had covered her like a cloud, from the truck to the
water's edge, spreading far out beyond her hull on either side, now
gone; and she, stripped, like a wrestler for the fight. It
corresponded, too, with the desolate character of her
situation;--alone, as she was, battling with storms, wind, and ice, at
this extremity of the globe, and in almost constant night.
Friday, July 1st. We were now nearly up to the latitude of Cape Horn,
and having over forty degrees of easting to make, we squared away the
yards before a strong westerly gale, shook a reef out of the
fore-topsail, and stood on our way, east-by-south, with the prospect of
being up with the Cape in a week or ten days. As for myself, I had had
no sleep for forty-eight hours; and the want of rest, together with
constant wet and cold, had increased the swelling, so that my face was
nearly as large as two, and I found it impossible to get my mouth open
wide enough to eat. In this state, the steward applied to the captain
for some rice to boil for me, but he only got a--"No! d--- you! Tell
him to eat salt junk and hard bread, like the rest of them." For this,
of course, I was much obliged to him, and in truth it was just what I
expected. However, I did not starve, for the mate, who was a man as
well as a sailor, and had always been a good friend to me, smuggled a
pan of rice into the galley, and told the cook to boil it for me, and
not let the "old man" see it. Had it been fine weather, or in port, I
should have gone below and lain by until my face got well; but in such
weather as this, and short-handed as we were, it was not for me to
desert my post; so I kept on deck, and stood my watch and did my duty
as well as I could.
Saturday, July 2nd. This day the sun rose fair, but it ran too low in
the heavens to give any heat, or thaw out our sails and rigging; yet
the sight of it was pleasant; and we had a steady "reef topsail breeze"
from the westward. The atmosphere, which had previously been clear and
cold, for the last few hours grew damp, and had a disagreeable, wet
chilliness in it; and the man who came from the wheel said he heard the
captain tell "the passenger" that the thermometer had fallen several
degrees since morning, which he could not account for in any other way
than by supposing that there must be ice near us; though such a thing
had never been heard of in this latitude, at this season of the year.
At twelve o'clock we went below, and had just got through dinner, when
the cook put his head down the scuttle and told us to come on deck and
see the finest sight that we had ever seen. "Where away, cook?" asked
the first man who was up. "On the larboard bow." And there lay,
floating in the ocean, several miles off, an immense, irregular mass,
its top and points covered with snow, and its center of a deep indigo
color.
This was an iceberg, and of the largest size, as one of our men said
who had been in the Northern ocean. As far as the eye could reach, the
sea in every direction was of a deep blue color, the waves running high
and fresh, and sparkling in the light, and in the midst lay this
immense mountain-island, its cavities and valleys thrown into deep
shade, and its points and pinnacles glittering in the sun.
All hands were soon on deck, looking at it, and admiring in various
ways its beauty and grandeur. But no description can give any idea of
the strangeness, splendor, and, really, the sublimity, of the sight.
Its great size;--for it must have been from two to three miles in
circumference, and several hundred feet in height;--its slow motion, as
its base rose and sank in the water, and its high points nodded against
the clouds; the dashing of the waves upon it, which, breaking high with
foam, lined its base with a white crust; and the thundering sound of
the cracking of the mass, and the breaking and tumbling down of huge
pieces; together with its nearness and approach, which added a slight
element of fear,--all combined to give to it the character of true
sublimity. The main body of the mass was, as I have said, of an indigo
color, its base crusted with frozen foam; and as it grew thin and
transparent toward the edges and top, its color shaded off from a deep
blue to the whiteness of snow.
It seemed to be drifting slowly toward the north, so that we kept away
and avoided it. It was in sight all the afternoon; and when we got to
leeward of it, the wind died away, so that we lay-to quite near it for
a greater part of the night. Unfortunately, there was no moon, but it
was a clear night, and we could plainly mark the long, regular heaving
of the stupendous mass, as its edges moved slowly against the stars.
Several times in our watch loud cracks were heard, which sounded as
though they must have run through the whole length of the iceberg, and
several pieces fell down with a thundering crash, plunging heavily into
the sea. Toward morning, a strong breeze sprang up, and we filled
away, and left it astern, and at daylight it was out of sight. The
next day, which was
Sunday, July 3d, the breeze continued strong, the air exceedingly
chilly, and the thermometer low. In the course of the day we saw
several icebergs, of different sizes, but none so near as the one which
we saw the day before. Some of them, as well as we could judge, at the
distance at which we were, must have been as large as that, if not
larger. At noon we were in latitude 55° 12' south, and supposed
longitude 89° 5' west. Toward night the wind hauled to the southward,
and headed us off our course a little, and blew a tremendous gale; but
this we did not mind, as there was no rain nor snow, and we were
already under close sail.
Monday, July 4th. This was "independence day" in Boston. What firing
of guns, and ringing of bells, and rejoicings of all sorts, in every
part of our country! The ladies (who have not gone down to Nahant, for
a breath of cool air, and sight of the ocean) walking the streets with
parasols over their heads, and the dandies in their white pantaloons
and silk stockings! What quantities of ice-cream have been eaten, and
what quantities of ice brought into the city from a distance, and sold
out by the lump and the pound! The smallest of the islands which we
saw today would have made the fortune of poor Jack, if he had had it in
Boston; and I dare say he would have had no objection to being there
with it. This, to be sure, was no place to keep the fourth of July.
To keep ourselves warm, and the ship out of the ice, was as much as we
could do. Yet no one forgot the day; and many were the wishes, and
conjectures, and comparisons, both serious and ludicrous, which were
made among all hands. The sun shone bright as long as it was up, only
that a scud of black clouds was ever and anon driving across it. At
noon we were in lat. 54° 27' S., and long. 85° 5' W., having made a
good deal of easting, but having lost in our latitude by the heading of
the wind. Between daylight and dark--that is, between nine o'clock and
three--we saw thirty-four ice islands, of various sizes; some no bigger
than the hull of our vessel, and others apparently nearly as large as
the one that we first saw; though, as we went on, the islands became
smaller and more numerous; and, at sundown of this day, a man at the
mast-head saw large fields of floating ice called "field-ice" at the
south-east. This kind of ice is much more dangerous than the large
islands, for those can be seen at a distance, and kept away from; but
the field-ice, floating in great quantities, and covering the ocean for
miles and miles, in pieces of every size--large, flat, and broken
cakes, with here and there an island rising twenty and thirty feet, and
as large as the ship's hull;--this, it is very difficult to sheer clear
of. A constant look-out was necessary; for any of these pieces, coming
with the heave of the sea, were large enough to have knocked a hole in
the ship, and that would have been the end of us; for no boat (even if
we could have got one out) could have lived in such a sea; and no man
could have lived in a boat in such weather. To make our condition
still worse, the wind came out due east, just after sundown, and it
blew a gale dead ahead, with hail and sleet, and a thick fog, so that
we could not see half the length of the ship. Our chief reliance, the
prevailing westerly gales, was thus cut off; and here we were, nearly
seven hundred miles to the westward of the Cape, with a gale dead from
the eastward, and the weather so thick that we could not see the ice
with which we were surrounded, until it was directly under our bows.
At four, P. M. (it was then quite dark) all hands were called, and sent
aloft in a violent squall of hail and rain, to take in sail. We had
now all got on our "Cape Horn rig"--thick boots, south-westers coming
down over our neck and ears, thick trowsers and jackets, and some with
oil-cloth suits over all. Mittens, too, we wore on deck, but it would
not do to go aloft with them on, for it was impossible to work with
them, and, being wet and stiff, they might let a man slip overboard,
for all the hold he could get upon a rope; so, we were obliged to work
with bare hands, which, as well as our faces, were often cut with the
hail-stones, which fell thick and large. Our ship was now all cased
with ice,--hull, spars, and standing rigging;--and the running rigging
so stiff that we could hardly bend it so as to belay it, or, still
worse, take a knot with it; and the sails nearly as stiff as sheet
iron. One at a time, (for it was a long piece of work and required
many hands,) we furled the courses, mizen topsail, and fore-topmast
staysail, and close-reefed the fore and main topsails, and hove the
ship to under the fore, with the main hauled up by the clewlines and
buntlines, and ready to be sheeted home, if we found it necessary to
make sail to get to windward of an ice island. A regular look-out was
then set, and kept by each watch in turn, until the morning. It was a
tedious and anxious night. It blew hard the whole time, and there was
an almost constant driving of either rain, hail, or snow. In addition
to this, it was "as thick as muck," and the ice was all about us. The
captain was on deck nearly the whole night, and kept the cook in the
galley, with a roaring fire, to make coffee for him, which he took
every few hours, and once or twice gave a little to his officers; but
not a drop of anything was there for the crew. The captain, who sleeps
all the daytime, and comes and goes at night as he chooses, can have
his brandy and water in the cabin, and his hot coffee at the galley;
while Jack, who has to stand through everything, and work in wet and
cold, can have nothing to wet his lips or warm his stomach.
This was a "temperance ship," and, like too many such ships, the
temperance was all in the forecastle. The sailor, who only takes his
one glass as it is dealt out to him, is in danger of being drunk; while
the captain, who has all under his hand, and can drink as much as he
chooses, and upon whose self-possession and cool judgment the lives of
all depend, may be trusted with any amount, to drink at his will.
Sailors will never be convinced that rum is a dangerous thing, by
taking it away from them, and giving it to the officers; nor that, that
temperance is their friend, which takes from them what they have always
had, and gives them nothing in the place of it. By seeing it allowed
to their officers, they will not be convinced that it is taken from
them for their good; and by receiving nothing in its place, they will
not believe that it is done in kindness. On the contrary, many of them
look upon the change as a new instrument of tyranny. Not that they
prefer rum. I never knew a sailor, in my life, who would not prefer a
pot of hot coffee or chocolate, in a cold night, to all the rum afloat.
They all say that rum only warms them for a time; yet, if they can get
nothing better, they will miss what they have lost. The momentary
warmth and glow from drinking it; the break and change which is made in
a long, dreary watch by the mere calling all hands aft and serving of
it out; and the simply having some event to look forward to, and to
talk about; give it an importance and a use which no one can appreciate
who has not stood his watch before the mast. On my passage round Cape
Horn before, the vessel that I was in was not under temperance
articles, and grog was served out every middle and morning watch, and
after every reefing of topsails; and though I had never drank rum
before, and never intend to again, I took my allowance then at the
capstan, as the rest did, merely for the momentary warmth it gave the
system, and the change in our feelings and aspect of our duties on the
watch. At the same time, as I have stated, there was not a man on
board who would not have pitched the rum to the dogs, (I have heard
them say so, a dozen times) for a pot of coffee or chocolate; or even
for our common beverage--"water bewitched, and tea begrudged," as it
was.[1]
The temperance reform is the best thing that ever was undertaken for
the sailor; but when the grog is taken from him, he ought to have
something in its place. As it is now, in most vessels, it is a mere
saving to the owners; and this accounts for the sudden increase of
temperance ships, which surprised even the best friends of the cause.
If every merchant, when he struck grog from the list of the expenses of
his ship, had been obliged to substitute as much coffee, or chocolate,
as would give each man a pot-full when he came off the topsail yard, on
a stormy night;--I fear Jack might have gone to ruin on the old
road.[2] But this is not doubling Cape Horn. Eight hours of the
night, our watch was on deck, and during the whole of that time we kept
a bright look-out: one man on each bow, another in the bunt of the fore
yard, the third mate on the scuttle, one on each quarter, and a man
always standing by the wheel. The chief mate was everywhere, and
commanded the ship when the captain was below.
When a large piece of ice was seen in our way, or drifting near us, the
word was passed along, and the ship's head turned one way and another;
and sometimes the yards squared or braced up. There was little else to
do than to look out; and we had the sharpest eyes in the ship on the
forecastle. The only variety was the monotonous voice of the look-out
forward--"Another island!"--"Ice ahead!"--"Ice on the lee bow!"--"Hard
up the helm!"--"Keep her off a little!"--"Stead-y!"
In the meantime, the wet and cold had brought my face into such a state
that I could neither eat nor sleep; and though I stood it out all
night, yet, when it became light, I was in such a state, that all hands
told me I must go below, and lie-by for a day or two, or I should be
laid up for a long time, and perhaps have the lock-jaw.
When the watch was changed I went into the steerage, and took off my
hat and comforter, and showed my face to the mate, who told me to go
below at once, and stay in my berth until the swelling went down, and
gave the cook orders to make a poultice for me, and said he would speak
to the captain.
I went below and turned-in, covering myself over with blankets and
jackets, and lay in my berth nearly twenty-four hours, half asleep and
half awake, stupid, from the dull pain. I heard the watch called, and
the men going up and down, and sometimes a noise on deck, and a cry of
"ice," but I gave little attention to anything. At the end of
twenty-four hours the pain went down, and I had a long sleep, which
brought me back to my proper state; yet my face was so swollen and
tender, that I was obliged to keep to my berth for two or three days
longer. During the two days I had been below, the weather was much the
same that it had been, head winds, and snow and rain; or, if the wind
came fair, too foggy, and the ice too thick, to run. At the end of the
third day the ice was very thick; a complete fog-bank covered the ship.
It blew a tremendous gale from the eastward, with sleet and snow, and
there was every promise of a dangerous and fatiguing night. At dark,
the captain called all hands aft, and told them that not a man was to
leave the deck that night; that the ship was in the greatest danger;
any cake of ice might knock a hole in her, or she might run on an
island and go to pieces. No one could tell whether she would be a ship
the next morning. The look-outs were then set, and every man was put
in his station. When I heard what was the state of things, I began to
put on my clothes to stand it out with the rest of them, when the mate
came below, and looking at my face, ordered me back to my berth, saying
that if we went down, we should all go down together, but if I went on
deck I might lay myself up for life. This was the first word I had
heard from aft; for the captain had done nothing, nor inquired how I
was, since I went below.
In obedience to the mate's orders, I went back to my berth; but a more
miserable night I never wish to spend. I never felt the curse of
sickness so keenly in my life. If I could only have been on deck with
the rest, where something was to be done, and seen, and heard; where
there were fellow-beings for companions in duty and danger--but to be
cooped up alone in a black hole, in equal danger, but without the power
to do, was the hardest trial. Several times, in the course of the
night, I got up, determined to go on deck; but the silence which showed
that there was nothing doing, and the knowledge that I might make
myself seriously ill, for nothing, kept me back. It was not easy to
sleep, lying, as I did, with my head directly against the bows, which
might be dashed in by an island of ice, brought down by the very next
sea that struck her. This was the only time I had been ill since I
left Boston, and it was the worst time it could have happened. I felt
almost willing to bear the plagues of Egypt for the rest of the voyage,
if I could but be well and strong for that one night. Yet it was a
dreadful night for those on deck.
A watch of eighteen hours, with wet, and cold, and constant anxiety,
nearly wore them out; and when they came below at nine o'clock for
breakfast, they almost dropped asleep on their chests, and some of them
were so stiff that they could with difficulty sit down. Not a drop of
anything had been given them during the whole time, (though the
captain, as on the night that I was on deck, had his coffee every four
hours,) except that the mate stole a potful of coffee for two men to
drink behind the galley, while he kept a look-out for the captain.
Every man had his station, and was not allowed to leave it; and nothing
happened to break the monotony of the night, except once setting the
main topsails to run clear of a large island to leeward, which they
were drifting fast upon. Some of the boys got so sleepy and stupefied,
that they actually fell asleep at their posts; and the young third
mate, whose station was the exposed one of standing on the fore
scuttle, was so stiff, when he was relieved, that he could not bend his
knees to get down. By a constant look-out, and a quick shifting of the
helm, as the islands and pieces came in sight, the ship went clear of
everything but a few small pieces, though daylight showed the ocean
covered for miles. At daybreak it fell a dead calm, and with the sun,
the fog cleared a little, and a breeze sprung up from the westward,
which soon grew into a gale. We had now a fair wind, daylight, and
comparatively clear weather; yet, to the surprise of every one, the
ship continued hove-to. Why does not he run? What is the captain
about? was asked by every one; and from questions, it soon grew into
complaints and murmurings. When the daylight was so short, it was too
bad to lose it, and a fair wind, too, which every one had been praying
for. As hour followed hour, and the captain showed no sign of making
sail, the crew became impatient, and there was a good deal of talking
and consultation together, on the forecastle. They had been beaten out
with the exposure and hardship, and impatient to get out of it, and
this unaccountable delay was more than they could bear in quietness, in
their excited and restless state. Some said that the captain was
frightened,--completely cowed, by the dangers and difficulties that
surrounded us, and was afraid to make sail; while others said that in
his anxiety and suspense he had made a free use of brandy and opium,
and was unfit for his duty. The carpenter, who was an intelligent man,
and a thorough seaman, and had great influence with the crew, came down
into the forecastle, and tried to induce the crew to go aft and ask the
captain why he did not run, or request him, in the name of all hands,
to make sail. This appeared to be a very reasonable request, and the
crew agreed that if he did not make sail before noon, they would go
aft. Noon came, and no sail was made. A consultation was held again,
and it was proposed to take the ship from the captain and give the
command of her to the mate, who had been heard to say that, if he could
have his way, the ship would have been half the distance to the Cape
before night,--ice or no ice. And so irritated and impatient had the
crew become, that even this proposition, which was open mutiny,
punishable with state prison, was entertained, and the carpenter went
to his berth, leaving it tacitly understood that something serious
would be done, if things remained as they were many hours longer. When
the carpenter left, we talked it all over, and I gave my advice
strongly against it. Another of the men, too, who had known something
of the kind attempted in another ship by a crew who were dissatisfied
with their captain, and which was followed with serious consequences,
was opposed to it. S----, who soon came down, joined us, and we
determined to have nothing to do with it. By these means, they were
soon induced to give it up, for the present, though they said they
would not lie where they were much longer without knowing the reason.
The affair remained in this state until four o'clock, when an order
came forward for all hands to come aft upon the quarter-deck. In about
ten minutes they came forward again, and the whole affair had been
blown. The carpenter, very prematurely, and without any authority from
the crew, had sounded the mate as to whether he would take command of
the ship, and intimated an intention to displace the captain; and the
mate, as in duty bound, had told the whole to the captain, who
immediately sent for all hands aft. Instead of violent measures, or,
at least, an outbreak of quarter-deck bravado, threats, and abuse,
which they had every reason to expect, a sense of common danger and
common suffering seemed to have tamed his spirit, and begotten
something like a humane fellow-feeling; for he received the crew in a
manner quiet, and even almost kind. He told them what he had heard,
and said that he did not believe that they would try to do any such
thing as was intimated; that they had always been good men,--obedient,
and knew their duty, and he had no fault to find with them; and asked
them what they had to complain of--said that no one could say that he
was slow to carry sail, (which was true enough;) and that, as soon as
he thought it was safe and proper, he should make sail. He added a few
words about their duty in their present situation, and sent them
forward, saying that he should take no further notice of the matter;
but, at the same time, told the carpenter to recollect whose power he
was in, and that if he heard another word from him he would have cause
to remember him to the day of his death.
This language of the captain had a very good effect upon the crew, and
they returned quietly to their duty.
For two days more the wind blew from the southward and eastward; or in
the short intervals when it was fair, the ice was too thick to run; yet
the weather was not so dreadfully bad, and the crew had watch and
watch. I still remained in my berth, fast recovering, yet still not
well enough to go safely on deck. And I should have been perfectly
useless; for, from having eaten nothing for nearly a week, except a
little rice, which I forced into my mouth the last day or two, I was as
weak as an infant. To be sick in a forecastle is miserable indeed. It
is the worst part of a dog's life; especially in bad weather. The
forecastle, shut up tight to keep out the water and cold air;--the
watch either on deck, or asleep in their berths;--no one to speak
to;--the pale light of the single lamp, swinging to and fro from the
beam, so dim that one can scarcely see, much less read by it;--the
water dropping from the beams and carlines, and running down the sides;
and the forecastle so wet, and dark, and cheerless, and so lumbered up
with chests and wet clothes, that sitting up is worse than lying in the
berth! These are some of the evils. Fortunately, I needed no help
from any one, and no medicine; and if I had needed help, I don't know
where I should have found it. Sailors are willing enough; but it is
true, as is often said--No one ships for nurse on board a vessel. Our
merchant ships are always under-manned, and if one man is lost by
sickness, they cannot spare another to take care of him. A sailor is
always presumed to be well, and if he's sick, he's a poor dog. One has
to stand his wheel, and another his lookout, and the sooner he gets on
deck again, the better.
Accordingly, as soon as I could possibly go back to my duty, I put on
my thick clothes and boots and south-wester, and made my appearance on
deck. Though I had been but a few days below, yet everything looked
strangely enough. The ship was cased in ice,--decks, sides, masts,
yards, and rigging. Two close-reefed top-sails were all the sail she
had on, and every sail and rope was frozen so stiff in its place, that
it seemed as though it would be impossible to start anything. Reduced,
too, to her top-masts, she had altogether a most forlorn and crippled
appearance. The sun had come up brightly; the snow was swept off the
decks, and ashes thrown upon them, so that we could walk, for they had
been as slippery as glass.
It was, of course, too cold to carry on any ship's work, and we had
only to walk the deck and keep ourselves warm. The wind was still
ahead, and the whole ocean, to the eastward, covered with islands and
field-ice. At four bells the order was given to square away the yards;
and the man who came from the helm said that the captain had kept her
off to N. N. E. What could this mean? Some said that he was going to
put into Valparaiso, and winter, and others that he was going to run
out of the ice and cross the Pacific, and go home round the Cape of
Good Hope. Soon, however, it leaked out, and we found that we were
running for the straits of Magellan. The news soon spread through the
ship, and all tongues were at work, talking about it. No one on board
had been through the straits, but I had in my chest an account of the
passage of the ship A. J. Donelson, of New York, through those straits,
a few years before.
The account was given by the captain, and the representation was as
favorable as possible. It was soon read by every one on board, and
various opinions pronounced. The determination of our captain had at
least this good effect; it gave every one something to think and talk
about, made a break in our life, and diverted our minds from the
monotonous dreariness of the prospect before us. Having made a fair
wind of it, we were going off at a good rate, and leaving the thickest
of the ice behind us. This, at least, was something.
Having been long enough below to get my hands well warmed and softened,
the first handling of the ropes was rather tough; but a few days
hardened them, and as soon as I got my mouth open wide enough to take
in a piece of salt beef and hard bread, I was all right again.
Sunday, July 10th. Lat. 54° 10', long. 79° 07'. This was our position
at noon. The sun was out bright; the ice was all left behind, and
things had quite a cheering appearance. We brought our wet pea-jackets
and trowsers on deck, and hung them up in the rigging, that the breeze
and the few hours of sun might dry them a little; and, by the
permission of the cook, the galley was nearly filled with stockings and
mittens, hung round to be dried. Boots, too, were brought up; and
having got a little tar and slush from below, we gave them a thick
coat. After dinner, all hands were turned-to, to get the anchors over
the bows, bend on the chains, etc. The fish-tackle was got up,
fish-davit rigged out, and after two or three hours of hard and cold
work, both the anchors were ready for instant use, a couple of kedges
got up, a hawser coiled away upon the fore-hatch, and the
deep-sea-lead-line overhauled and got ready. Our spirits returned with
having something to do; and when the tackle was manned to bowse the
anchor home, notwithstanding the desolation of the scene, we struck up
"Cheerily ho!" in full chorus. This pleased the mate, who rubbed his
hands and cried out--"That's right, my boys; never say die! That sounds
like the old crew!" and the captain came up, on hearing the song, and
said to the passenger, within hearing of the man at the wheel,--"That
sounds like a lively crew. They'll have their song so long as there're
enough left for a chorus!"
This preparation of the cable and anchors was for the passage of the
straits; for, being very crooked, and with a variety of currents, it is
necessary to come frequently to anchor. This was not, by any means, a
pleasant prospect, for, of all the work that a sailor is called upon to
do in cold weather, there is none so bad as working the ground-tackle.
The heavy chain cables to be hauled and pulled about the decks with
bare hands; wet hawsers, slip-ropes, and buoy-ropes to be hauled
aboard, dripping in water, which is running up your sleeves, and
freezing; clearing hawse under the bows; getting under weigh and
coming-to, at all hours of the night and day, and a constant look-out
for rocks and sands and turns of tides;--these are some of the
disagreeables of such a navigation to a common sailor. Fair or foul,
he wants to have nothing to do with the ground-tackle between port and
port. One of our hands, too, had unluckily fallen upon a half of an
old newspaper which contained an account of the passage, through the
straits, of a Boston brig, called, I think, the Peruvian, in which she
lost every cable and anchor she had, got aground twice, and arrived at
Valparaiso in distress. This was set off against the account of the A.
J. Donelson, and led us to look forward with less confidence to the
passage, especially as no one on board had ever been through, and the
captain had no very perfect charts. However, we were spared any
further experience on the point; for the next day, when we must have
been near the Cape of Pillars, which is the south-west point of the
mouth of the straits, a gale set in from the eastward, with a heavy
fog, so that we could not see half of the ship's length ahead. This, of
course, put an end to the project, for the present; for a thick fog and
a gale blowing dead ahead are not the most favorable circumstances for
the passage of difficult and dangerous straits. This weather, too,
seemed likely to last for some time, and we could not think of beating
about the mouth of the straits for a week or two, waiting for a
favorable opportunity; so we braced up on the larboard tack, put the
ship's head due south, and struck her off for Cape Horn again.
[1] The proportions of the ingredients of the tea that was made for us
(and ours, as I have before stated, was a favorable specimen of
American merchantmen) were, a pint of tea, and a pint and a half of
molasses, to about three gallons of water.
These are all boiled down together in the "coppers," and before serving
it out, the mess is stirred up with a stick, so as to give each man his
fair share of sweetening and tea-leaves. The tea for the cabin is, of
course, made in the usual way, in a tea-pot, and drank with sugar.
[2] I do not wish these remarks, so far as they relate to the saving of
expense in the outfit, to be applied to the owners of our ship, for she
was supplied with an abundance of stores, of the best kind that are
given to seamen;, though the dispensing of them is necessarily left to
the captain, Indeed, so high was the reputation of "the employ" among
men and officers, for the character and outfit of their vessels, and
for their liberality in conducting their voyages, that when it was
known that they had a ship fitting out for a long voyage, and that
hands were to be shipped at a certain time,--a half hour before the
time, as one of the crew told me, numbers of sailors were steering down
the wharf, hopping over the barrels, like flocks of sheep.