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LOS GRINGOS:
Or,
An Inside View of Mexico and California, with Wanderings
in Peru, Chili, and Polynesia.
by
LIEUT. WISE, U.S.N.
New York:
Baker and Scribner,
145 Nassau Street and 36 Park Row.
1849.
Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1849, by
Baker and Scribner,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the
Southern District of New York.
Printed by C. W. BENEDICT,
201 William street.
PREFACE.
The title--_Los Gringos_--with which this volume has been christened, is
the epithet--and rather a reproachful one--used in California and Mexico
to designate the descendants of the Anglo-Saxon race; the definition of
the word is somewhat similar to that of Greenhorns, in modern
_parlance_, or Mohawks in the days of the Spectator. Although many of
the scenes were passed in those countries, yet the narrative takes a
wider range, and embraces portions of the South American Continent in
Brazil, Chili, and Peru,--together with visits to some of the groups of
the Pacific at the Sandwich, Marquesas and Society Islands.
The sketches embodied in the narrative were all written on the field of
their occurrence: the characters incidentally mentioned are frequently
_noms de mer_.
It is not expected by the Author that even the most charitable reader
will wholly overlook the careless style and framing of the work, or
allow it to pass without censure; nor has it been his object to deal in
statistics, or any abstract reflections, but merely to compile a
pleasant narrative, such as may perchance please or interest the
generality of readers; and in launching the volume on its natural
element--the sea of public opinion--the Author only indulges in the
aspiration--whether the reader be gentle or ungentle--whether the book
be praised or condemned--that at least the philanthropy of the
Publishers may be remunerated, wherein lies all the law and the profits.
NEW YORK, _October, 1849_.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
We sail from Boston, and how we felt.--Cure for
Sea-Sickness.--Delights of the Ocean.--Crossing the Equator.--What
the Mess was composed of.--We become reconciled to our Fate.--Pass
Cape Frio, and have no Inclination to bivouac on the Rocks. 1
CHAPTER II.
Rio Janeiro, and what is to be seen there.--Life in the
City.--Diamonds and Levites.--Police.--Cookery and Currency.--The
Omnibus Jehu to Boto Fogo. 9
CHAPTER III.
Gloria Hill.--Il Cateto.--Architecture.--Visit from a Scorpion,
and the Habits of other Reptiles.--The Opera.--The Emperor and
Court.--The Brazilians think of carrying the War into Africa. 16
CHAPTER IV.
We leave Rio, and march towards the Horn.--Man overboard and
drowned.--La Plata.--We take an Albatross.--Terra del
Fuego.--Pitch of the Cape.--A Marine dies.--How the Yankee
Corvette doubled Cape Horn.--What we did for Pastime.--Dr.
Faustus.--The Island of Chiloe. 20
CHAPTER V.
Valparaiso.--Bell of Quillota and Tupongati.--Where and how the
Town is built.--Birlochea.--Shops.--The Terraces.--El
Almendral.--Carmencita.--Creole Ladies.--Tertulias.--The
Samacueca.--Climate.--Dust.--The Doncella who caught a Flea, and
how she did it.--General Bulnes.--Army.--Government and
Resources.--True Elements of Happiness. 27
CHAPTER VI.
Weigh Anchor, with some Trouble and Broken Bones.--Bid adieu to
Pleasures of the Shore.--Islands of St. Ambrose and Felix.--We
lose some Shipmates.--Alta California.--Monterey. 39
CHAPTER VII.
Summary of Events Preceding our Arrival.--Difficulties between
Fremont and Castro.--Operations of Naval Forces.--Skirmish at San
Pascual.--Battles of San Gabriel and La Mesa.--The Volunteers
Disbanded. 41
CHAPTER VIII.
Town of Monterey.--Our First Impressions.--Days of
Barricades.--Sentinels.--The Rocky-Mountain Men.--Keg of Whiskey,
and the Use it was put to.--The Trapper's little Anecdote
concerning Old Ginger and the Indians. 47
CHAPTER IX.
Treaty of Los Angeles.--The Lady that had a Strange Taste In
Jewelry.--The Disregard of Soap in those Countries.--Visit to an
Extensive Establishment.--The Dona herself, with her Small Family
and Prospects. 53
CHAPTER X.
Mission of Carmelo.--Tramp in the Mountains.--Wolves and
Venison.--We become bewildered, but encounter a Guide.--Boudoirs
for Damsels.--The Fandango.--How the Gentlemen amused
themselves.--We take to Hunting for Pastime.--Climate.--Juaquinito
and his Mama.--Plains of Salinas.--Bill Anderson, his Windmill and
History.--Wild Geese.--Native Entertainment. 58
CHAPTER XI.
Maritime Alps of California.--Entrance to Bay of San
Francisco.--Yerbabuena.--Society.--Pranks on
Horses.--Saddles.--New York Regiment.--The Cannibal Emigrants, and
the Dutchman's Appetite; with Baptiste's Remarks thereon.--Perils
of Emigration. 69
CHAPTER XII.
Sousoulito.--The Belle of California.--The Bears of the same, who
chase us.--Angel Island.--Deer and Elk Shooting. 76
CHAPTER XIII.
Monterey again.--The Pioneer Newspaper, with the Editor, Dr.
Semple.--We Sail for the Mexican Coast.--Island of
Guadalupe.--Peninsular of Lower
California.--Jesuits.--Trade.--Ports and Resources.--We blockade
Mazatlan.--Reconnoissance, and the Ballet that ensued.--Yankee
Bombs.--The Ladies deceive us.--The Chased Diana. 82
CHAPTER XIV.
Cruise of the Rosita.--Anchorage of Venados.--The Oyster-boat.--We
received a Hostage in Doctor Barret, and learn his
Misfortunes.--Change of Position.--We take a Prize, and afterwards
nearly taken for another.--Set fire to the Dried Grass.--A False
Alarm.--The Fish that broke Pat's Nose.--Our Supper and
Attendants.--The Commodore orders us Home. 89
CHAPTER XV.
Period of the Blockade of Mazatlan.--The Commandante, Telles; his
Habits and Hospitalities.--The Frigate takes her Departure.--The
Shark.--Anchor in Monterey the Third Time. 99
CHAPTER XVI.
Dispatches and Equipments.--Californian Gamesters.--The
Vacuero.--Don Herman.--The Youthful Mother and her Gay
Deceiver.--We Sup on Eggs.--Murphy's Rancho.--Pretty
Ellen.--Picturesque Location.--Puebla.--Santa Clara.--Priests and
Indians.--Ladies drying Beef.--Reach Yerbabuena. 102
CHAPTER XVII.
Sail up the Bay.--Embarcadera of San Jose.--We sleep at a
Rancho.--Don Ignacio proves to be a Scamp.--Puebla.--Architecture
and Agriculture.--Mission of Santa Clara.--The Cannonier.--The
Padres.--The Dandies.--We attend Mass.--"The Forwardest Gall of
the Mission."--Bear Hunt with Dan Murphy.--Rustic
Politeness.--Mission of San Juan.--The Gascon.--Crescencia is
taken with Fits.--Empirical Practice.--Get back to Monterey. 111
CHAPTER XVIII.
San Francisco once more.--Head Waters.--Bay of San Pablo.--Village
of Sinoma. Vallejo.--Captain Swayback.--Hunting.--We Kill an
Antelope.--Straits of Carquinez.--City of Benecia.--Mares
Island.--Tulares Valley. 122
CHAPTER XIX.
California becomes tranquil, and the Columbus sails for
Home.--Sailors drilled on Shore.--We Return to Monterey.--Town
increasing.--The Reverend Alcalde, and how he collected
Treasure.--Indians hung.--Diet and Games of the same.--Merendas. 130
CHAPTER XX.
Final Adieu to Monterey.--Reach Cape San Blas, and San Jose.--We
visit Alcaldes, and how they passed their Leisure.--Our First
Search for the Enemy.--When we are offered a Baby, but
decline.--Watering Ship, and other Pleasantries.--A Small Garrison
landed to occupy San Jose. 136
CHAPTER XXI.
Demonstrations before Mazatlan.--Summons to Surrender.--We land
Sailor Troops, and occupy the Town.--Positions and Selections for
Defence.--Land Ordnance.--Ayuntamientos.--Mexican Morality.--Piety
of the People.--Climate and Diseases. 142
CHAPTER XXII.
Burning Launches.--Skirmishing.--A Reefer's Idea of Bullets.--The
Retreat.--We lose the Road, and are scared.--Affair at
Urias.--Ambuscade.--Escaramuza. Flight.--Burial of the Slain.--We
are presented with a Black Charger, and return to the Port. 150
CHAPTER XXIII.
Duties of a Garrison.--The Garita.--We Make a Night March, and
Surprise Ligueras.--The Killed.--Lady with them.--Our
Trophies.--The Commandante's Wife.--Is the Innocent Cause of
Murdering a Horse.--False Alarm.--Another Night Skirmish; when the
Guide gets a Bullet through his Head, and is Cursed by his Family. 159
CHAPTER XXIV.
How they Marry in Mazatlan.--Fights with Cuchillos.--The Man who
is divested of part of his Scalp and Ear.--Cures effected--Flying
Trip to Urias.--Where we take General Urrea's Orderly.--Who is
afterwards set free. 168
CHAPTER XXV.
Mexican Troop pronounce against their Leaders.--We become Poverty
Stricken.--Lancers attempt to run the Gauntlet, and carry away
some Buckshot.--Description of the Casa Blanca, and how we
behaved.--Madre Maria and Pretty Juana.--The Elite of the Town,
who praise us for not beating our Wives. 173
CHAPTER XXVI.
Dolores and her Lover; who is wounded; and who is a Coward.--Lola
dies and is buried. 182
CHAPTER XXVII.
El Tigre del Norte.--Mr. Bill
Foley.--Sociedads.--Circus.--Monte.--Golden
Toad.--Carnival.--Intercourse with Foreign Society.--Hauson and
the Hern Hutter. Don Guillermo.--While moralising one night we are
nearly impaled.--Our Little Housekeeper.--Pita.--Fandango de la
Tripa.--Where a Lepero abstracts our Sword and Pistols. 186
CHAPTER XXVIII.
News of the Peace.--The Outsiders become complimentary, and pay a
visit to Madre Maria.--With the Mounted Patrol and Captain Luigi
we ride to Venadillo, and disturb the slumbers of Senor Valverde,
who, with some hesitation, returns with us to the Port, being the
last Prisoner of the War.--A Man deserts, and we go to the
Presidio for him.--General Anaya and Officers.--Commissioners meet
and depart in Dudgeon. 194
CHAPTER XXIX.
Siege of San Jose.--Defences of Garrison.--The Summons and
Parley.--The Storming Party.--Mijares Killed with his Forlorn
Hope.--The Brave Whalemen.--Ambuscade and Prisoners.--The
Guerrillas begin the Second Siege.--Death of M'Lenahan.--The
Garrison Beleaguered.--Arrival of the Cyane.--Battle and Relief. 203
CHAPTER XXX.
We Begin a Journey to the City of Mexico.--Disembark at San
Blas.--Ride to Tepic.--Cotton Mills of Barron, Forbes &
Co.--Volcanic Masses.--Aquacatlan.--The Red-hot Patriot.--Wake of
Don Pancho.--Plan de Barrancas.--The Piece of
Ordnance.--Muchatilti.--Madelena.--How Horses are Hired in the
Republic.--Race with Banditti. 216
CHAPTER XXXI.
Guadalajara.--Senor Llamas.--The Lovely Senora.--Plaza and
Beauty.--The Great Bridge.--Old Cypriano's Superstition regarding
Horses' Souls.--Tepetitlan.--Pueblos del Rincon.--The Drowsy
Commandante.--City of Leon.--Knife Duel.--Mexican Mesons, and the
Society therein.--Illumination and Supper.--We take Coach and
reach Guanajuato.--The English Mint and
Machinery.--Gaming.--Scenic Views.--Pat is a Deserter.--Don
Pancho.--Escape from Los Compadres. 232
CHAPTER XXXII.
Queretaro.--Aqueduct.--Night ride by Post.--The United States
Escort.--City of Mexico.--We are refused a
Drive.--Cathedral.--Palace.--Plaza.--Museum.--Sacrificial
Stone.--Manners and Customs in the Hells of
Montezuma.--Chapultepec.--The Deep Spring where we bathed.--Moleno
del Rey.--Paseo. 251
CHAPTER XXXIII.
Bureau of Postes.--Depart from the Aztec Capital.--Exemptions of
Government Extraordinarios.--Livery Stable Woman at
Tepetitlan.--Invited to a Country Seat, and dine with Ladies.--We
are afterwards kicked by a Horse, but continue the
journey.--American Deserters.--Encounter Ladrons, and present our
Passport.--Somebody killed by Mistake.--Excitement in
Queretaro.--Traitors of San Patricio.--Official Visits.--The
Dignitaries of the Republic.--Breakfast with a Brilliant
Colonel.--The Alemeda.--We run a Joust.--Treaty signed. 260
CHAPTER XXXIV.
Senor Rosa forgets our Escort, and we are scared and nearly
coach-wrecked.--Mine of La Luz.--Pass through Guanajuato to
Lagos.--A Pronunciamento.--Padre Jarauta, who treats us with
contempt, and afterwards wishes to make an _ejemplo_.--We bid a
Hasty Farewell.--An Ambulating Pulperia.--San Juan de
Lagos.--Arrieros.--Puente Calderon.--Bathing in the Rio
Grande.--The Rayo. 275
CHAPTER XXXV.
Bull-fight at Guadalajara.--What Fools the Beasts are, and what
Brutes the Men are.--La Comedia.--Antique Guide.--Execution of
Robbers.--Tequilla.--Patron of the Meson and his
Daughters.--Endurance of Mexican Soldiers.--Adaptability of
Western Provinces for Military Operations.--La Nubarrada.--Horse
Jockeying.--We are made Unhappy.--Bathing in Tepic.--Rio Grande
and Santiago.--Shower of Water Melons.--Rio San Pedro.--Rosa
Morada.--Acaponeta.--High Mass.--Tierra Caliente, and Old Tomas,
the Poet.--We return to Mazatlan. 287
CHAPTER XXXVI.
Don Guillermo and Senor Molinero.--The Olas Altas, and the gay
scenes there enacted.--Thieves and Leperos.--How to learn
Castilian.--Evacuation of Mazatlan by the U. S. Forces. 307
CHAPTER XXXVII.
Sailing of the Squadron.--Cross the Gulf, and arrive in La
Paz.--Appearance of Vegetation.--How we amused
Ourselves.--Fandangos.--Ball on Shipboard.--Marine Pic Nic.--The
Carrera.--The Uncivil Vacuero and his Rude Cattle.--The Chowder
Party.--Perils and Pearl Fishing.--Hunting.--Game in Lower
California.--The Cove of San Antonio, and Escape from Boatwreck. 312
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
What the U. S. Government did to induce the Natives to lake up
Arms.--The Volunteer who shot his Wife.--Little Sam Patch.--Flying
Visit to Mazatlan, and Last Farewell. 326
CHAPTER XXXIX.
We leave Mexico.--Go to the Sandwich Islands, and anchor in
Byron's Bay, or Hilo.--Natives.--Scenery.--Constables.--Meeting
House.--Dialect.--Sermon.--We Depart for the Interior.--Half-way
House.--Society there, and how they cook Turkeys.--Volcano of
Kilauea.--Frozen Sea of Lava.--The Great Crater.--Sulphur
Banks.--Return to Hilo. 329
CHAPTER XL.
Hilo.--Education.--Fondness for Liquor.--Favorite dish of roasted
Dog, and process of fattening them.--Water Nymphs.--Rainbow
Falls.--The Wailuku.--The Three-Decker.--Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. 339
CHAPTER XLI.
Paipolo Passage.--Maui.--Lahaina.--Cocoanut Tree, and its
uses.--The Governor, James Young.--His Fortress.--Surf-Swimming
by Girls, who gave us Lessons. 348
CHAPTER XLII.
High School of Lahainaluna for Boys.--Other Institutions for
Girls.--Character of Hawaiians.--Their Crimes and Vices.--Board of
Presbyterian Missions.--Exaggerations upon Moral Condition of the
Natives.--Expulsion of Catholics. 355
CHAPTER XLIII.
Oahu.--Honolulu.--Rides and Drives in Vicinity.--Society.--The
Pali up the Nuana.--Saturnalia of Kanakas.--Rage for Horses.--Straw
Hamlets.--and Life within them. 362
CHAPTER XLIV.
King Kammehamma, or the Lonely One.--Ministers.--Presentation at
Court.--Furniture of the Palace.--Approach of
Royalty.--Speeches.--Costumes.--Princes of the blood royal, who
patronise us.--And what became of Moses. 368
CHAPTER XLV.
We sail from Sandwich Islands.--The Tar of all
Weathers.--Weather.--Currents and Passage to Marquesas. 376
CHAPTER XLVI.
Nukeheva.--Bay of Anna Maria.--Style of Head-dress in
Vogue.--Tattooing, and other Ornaments.--French
Garrison.--Physical Characteristics of these
Savages.--Bathing.--King's Residence, where we beheld a Nobleman
drunk with Arva. 380
CHAPTER XLVII.
Visit to a Distinguished Chief.--His House and Attendants.--Babies
Swimming.--Making Fire with Sticks.--An Ancestor
Embalmed.--Catholics.--Vagabonds and Deserters.--Whaling
Interests. 387
CHAPTER XLVIII.
Sail from Marquesas--for Society Group.--Tahiti.--Port of
Papeetee.--The Reef.--Shores and
Batteries.--Missionaries.--Melville. 393
CHAPTER XLIX.
Brown Road.--Semi-Civilization.--Excursion to Pomarce Country
House at Papoa.--The Queen and her Hen-coop
Habitation.--School.--Fondness for Flowers.--Native Dinner.--Jack
the Head Waiter.--Finger Glasses.--We sleep in the Palace, and are
Serenaded.--Visit from a Tahitian Noble, and how he conducted
himself.--Coral Groves in the Harbor.--Islet of Motunata. 400
CHAPTER L.
Trip to the Mountains.--Teina.--Ferry-Boat, By Toanni.--Lofty
Cascade, Fortress of Faatoar.--Losses by the French.--The
Diadem.--We spread a Banquet, and the Ladies have an
Appetite.--Soiree by French Governor.--Departure. 413
CHAPTER LI.
Leave Polynesia.--Accident to Topmen.--The Great Pacific.--Old
Harry Greenfield's Yarn.--The Royal Bengal Tiger, who had a
difficulty with the Cook. 421
CHAPTER LII.
Callao.--Appearance of the Place.--The Citadel.--Rodil.--Road to
Lima.--And what may be seen in the City.--Rimac.--Public
Edifices.--San Domingo. 426
CHAPTER LIII.
The Clergy Mingling in every-day
Panoramas.--Vespers.--Promenades.--Bull Fights.--Berlinas.--Sayas
y Mantas, and Speculations upon uses and abuses.--Youthful Lumps
of Gold, and Attachment to their Uncles. 433
CHAPTER LIV.
Cathedral.--Viceroy's Palace.--Plaza.--General
Castilla.--Museum.--Antiquities.--Portraits of
Pizarro.--Opera.--The Scene not in the Play. 439
CHAPTER LV.
Valparaiso Again.--El Dorado.--Rides.--The Yorkshire Dame at the
Post House.--Pic-Nics.--Our Lovely Country-Women.--The
Terraces.--Monte Allegro. 445
CHAPTER LVI.
Homeward Bound, and the Cruise is over. 452
CHAPTER I.
It was on the last day of summer, 1846, that a large vessel of war lay
in the stream of Boston Harbor; presently a dirty little steam tug, all
bone and muscle, came burroughing alongside. The boatswain and his mates
whistled with their silver pipes, like Canary birds, and the cry went
forth, to heave up the anchor. Soon the ponderous grapnell was loosened
from its hold, and our pigmy companion clasping the huge hull in his
hempen arms, bore us away towards the ocean; by and by, the unbleached
canvas fell in gloomy clouds from the wide-spread spars--the sails
swelled to the breeze--friends were tumbling over the side--light jokes
were made--hats waved--cheers given, whether from the heart, or not, was
a problem, and then there came a short interval in the hoarse roar of
steam, as the pigmy's fastenings splashed in the water--then all was
silent; and the stately ship, dashing the salt tears from her eyes,
turned her prow, in sadness, from her native land.
There were many, no doubt, of those six hundred souls on board, who
leaving home with the sweet endearments of domestic life fresh upon
them, were looking forward with blanched cheeks and saddened hearts, to
years of distant wanderings. And there were others, too, equally
indifferent, and regardless of the future--
"With one foot on land, and one on sea,
--To one thing constant never,"
who, perhaps, never had a home--tired of the shore--were eager for
change or excitement; but I question much, if there was one on board, of
all those beating hearts, who did not anticipate a safe and joyful
return. Alas! how many of these fragile aspirations were never realized.
Numbers found a liquid tomb beneath the dark blue waves, or died a
sailor's death in foreign climes, far away from friends and kindred, or
returned with broken constitutions, and wasted frames, enfeebled by
disease, to linger out a miserable existence on the native land they
still loved so well.
A fortnight we sailed moderately and pleasantly in a race with the sun
towards the equator. The pole star slowly but surely declined in the
north; faces began to assume a more cheerful aspect; we became
reconciled to our fate; to banish those hateful things called
reminiscences, which, even though pleasant, only make us regret them the
more, when gone forever. Thus we entered the tropic, and then lay
lunging and plunging in the doldrums--clouds dead and stupid, with the
sun making all manner of gay transparencies, at the rising, and most
particularly at the setting thereof. Then came another week of _una
furiosa calma_--a furious calm, as the Spaniards have it--bobbing about
in undulating billows, and the tough canvass beating and chafing in
futile anger. It was thus we learned, those of us who had not made the
discovery before, what a really animal existence one leads on shipboard;
a sort of dozing nonentity, only agreeable to those who have no
imaginative organizations desirous of more extended sphere of action.
It does passibly well to eat and sleep away life--that is, presuming
the dinners be hot and eatable, and nights cool and sleepable--in smooth
seas, and under mild suns; but when the winds are piping loud and cold,
the vessel diving and leaping at every possible angle of the compass,
with the stomachs of the mariners occasionally pitched into their heads,
as if they were dromedaries, with several internal receptacles apiece,
devised purposely to withstand the thumps and concussions of salt water;
when the ship is performing these sub-marine and aerial evolutions I
take it, as a reasonable being, there can be found a stray nook or two,
on hard ground, far more comfortable and habitable. And by way of
parenthesis, I beg leave to recommend to any and all unfortunate persons
given to aquatic recreation, and troubled with the disease whilom called
sea-sickness, to divest the mind and body of care and clothing, tumble
into a swinging cot, and on the verge of starvation sip sparingly of
weak brandy and water, nibble a biscuit, and a well-roasted potato. I
made this important discovery after being a sufferer ten years, and
pledge a reputation upon the strength of that martyrdom, of its
infallible virtues.
Indeed, there are but two kinds of sailing at all bearable. I allude, of
course, to those who take to it _con amore_, and are not compelled to
crowd all dimity to weather a lee shore and the almshouse; one where the
glorious trade wind fills the bellying canvas, and the vessel slips
quietly and swiftly along with the gentlest possible careening; without
hauling and pulling of cordage, nor heavy seas, nor heavy rains, but the
light, fleecy clouds flying gracefully overhead, the waves blue and
yielding, the watch dozing lazily in the shade, and the decks clean and
tidy--it is a pretty sight, to see a noble ship properly manoeuvred,
come swiftly up to tie wind, the sails laid rapidly aback, with lower
canvas brailed up in graceful festoons, and the buoyant hull rising and
falling on the gentle swell, like the courtesies of Cerito or Ellsler in
Sir Roger de Coverley, with all the drapery of dimity fluttering around
them. Then, again, in that blue sea of seas, the Mediterranean, where
more than half the year one may sail over level water, with none of the
ocean swell, with delightful breezes only strong enough to fan the light
and lofty sails to sleep, the shores of Italy or Spain lifting their
green-clad hills along the beam, or the ever varying islands of the
Grecian Archipelago coming and going, as you dart rapidly through their
straits. Ah! in those times, and in those seas, ships are possibly
endurable, but of all monotonies, that of shipboard is the dullest, most
wearisome and detestable.
Week after week passed away, one day like another, nothing to chronicle
save the birth of a sailor's pet in the shape of a tiny goat--taking a
shark--the usual pious Sunday homily, and on a certain occasion one Jem
Brooks, whose residence, in company with other cherubs, was somewhere
aloft in the main-top, whilst in the act of dropping a boat into the
ocean, some mishap attended the descent, and he dropped overboard
himself, thereby cracking the small bone of his leg, with a few other
trifling abrasions of skin and flesh. Iron life buoys that no one as yet
ever did comprehend the mechanism of, always fizzing off the port-fires
in broad day, and enshrouding themselves in utter darkness at night when
only needed, were instantly sent after the aforesaid Jem Brooks, who
imbued with the wit and tenacity of his species in extremis, seized one
of them, and in a short space returned pleasantly on board.
This was all that served to enliven our stupid existence. The winds
coquetted with all the perverseness of a spoiled beauty, at times
blowing provokingly steady, then we went reeling over the seas, with
piercingly blue skies above us, and all reconcileable elements to our
journeyings, excepting the breeze ever blowing so pertinaciously in the
wrong direction; at others we managed to cheat Eolus out of a puff, and
steal a march upon him, right into his breezy eyes, but then again he
gave a wink, distended his huge cheeks, and blew us far away to leeward.
It was truly trying to the nerves to be crying patience continually,
when there was no appeal--we could not exclaim with Dryden:
"The passage yet was good; the wind 'tis true
Was somewhat high; but that was nothing new,
No more than usual equinoxes blew."
There was naught new nor usual about it, wind and weather were a mass of
inconsistency; a few more revolutions of the sun, and we should have
found ourselves stranded in the Dahomey territory, or other equally
delightful regions, bordering on the Bight of Benin, in Africa; even the
good old captain of marines began to look worried and anxious, paid
nightly visits to the sailing master, and with the most earnest and
imploring tone, would ask--"Well, Master! how _does_ she head?" as if he
reposed full trust in his sagacity, and for God's sake to ease his mind,
and let him hear the worst at once. Surgeons, pursers and secretaries,
went off their feed, and from being rather over sanguine at times, burst
forth with lamentable wailings in the poignancy of their despair. The
captain of the ship, too, reviled creation generally, and was rather
snappish with officers of the watches; hinting that the yards were not
trimmed, ship steered properly, and other legal animadversions. Then the
lieutenants, kind souls, abused the master, taxing him with manifold
crimes and delinquencies for bringing adverse breezes, did those
sagacious creatures, and at other times becoming jocose, would advise
him to kick the chronometers several times around the mast to accelerate
or diminish their rates, and talked loudly of requesting the Commodore
to follow the first bark we might encounter, to the end that we should
get safely into port--in fact, we were all, morally speaking, in a state
of gangrene; morbid, morose and our circumstances getting more desperate
hourly; but the longest night, except in the winter season off Cape
Horn, has its dawning: the wind veered fair, whitening the ruffled water
to windward, the noble frigate recovered her long lost energy, and with
white sails swelling from trucks to the sea, shook the sparkling brine
from her mane, and left a foaming wake behind; the thick, mucky, sticky
atmosphere that clung to us upon entering the tropic, was quickly
displaced, by refreshing and grateful breezes.
We crossed the dividing line of the sphere, rushing and splashing down
the slope on the other side, carrying the whole ocean before us: myriads
of flying fish flashed their silver-tinted wings as they broke cover,
and flew upward at our approach. Porpoises and dolphins would dash
around the bows, try our speed, and then disappear, perhaps, with a
contused eye, or bruised snout from a sparring match with the cutwater;
on we bounded with the cracking trade wind, tugging the straining canvas
towards Brazil.
The mess was large, and composed of strange materials--men of gravity
and men of merriment, some who relate professional anecdotes and talk
knowingly of ships, and sails and blocks, and nautical trash generally,
others, would be literary characters, who pour over encyclopedias,
gazetteers and dictionaries, ever ready to pounce upon an indiscreet
person, and bring him to book in old dates or events; then there is the
mess grumbler, the mess orator, a lawgiver and politician, and always an
individual, without whom no mess is properly organized, who volunteers
to lick the American consul in whatsoever haven the ship may be, for any
fancied grievance, but particularly if he happen to be poor, and not
disposed to give a series of grand dinners upon his meagre fare of
office.
All these individual peculiarities we had sufficient leisure to indulge
in, and although I have asserted that ship-board is the most horrible
monotony in life, and hold to mine oath, yet Apollo tuned his lyre, and
old Homer took siesta, thus by example, if anything can relieve this
dulness, it is in the very contrast, where the mercury of one's blood is
driven high up by cheering prospects of favoring gales, and
anticipations of a speedy arrival, after a tedious passage.
Our amiability returned with our appetites--alas! too keenly for the
doomed carcass of a solitary pig, grunting in blissful ignorance of his
fate, in a spacious pen on the gun deck. Juicy and succulent vegetables
had long since vacated the mess table, and the talents of our
_cordon-bleu_, Messieurs Hypolite de Bontems, and Francois, were
constantly phrenzied with excitement, composing palatable dishes, from
the privacy of tins of potted meats, and hidden delicacies of the store
rooms. We all became sociable, quizzed one another good humoredly--some
declared they had been dreadfully spooney with some fair girls before
leaving home, but were better now, and thought the marine air wholesome
for those complaints. Others, again, still remained faithful, compared
their watches with the chronometers, to determine the exact difference
of time on certain periods designated beforehand, with may be a choice
collection of stars of the first magnitude, to gaze at by night.
Nevertheless, there was a radical change for the better; we became more
companionable, hobnobbed across the table, after dinner, heard with calm
delight orchestral music from the flutes and fiddles of papa Gheeks and
family--an old gentleman from _faderland_, whom the sailors, in their
ignorance of German, had baptized "Peter the Greeks," a soubriquet by
which he universally went--and one of our mess had the humanity to
inquire if the small French horn, or octave flute, had tumbled down the
hatchway, and whether he broke his neck or was merely asphyxic. We even
ceased grumbling at the servants, and to a man all agreed that the
passage had been of unexampled pleasantness.
Nothing checked our headlong speed, and the fiftieth day from Boston saw
us close to the high, desolate mountains of cape Frio, within plain view
of the little rocky nook where the English frigate Thetis made a futile
attempt to batter the island over, but went down in the struggle. 'Tis
said the gun room mess were entertaining the captain at dinner, who
somewhat oblivious to everything, save being homeward bound to merry
England with a ship laden with treasure, disregarded the sailing
master's wishes to alter the course, and the consequence was, after
night set in, the frigate struck, going eight knots--providentially the
crew were saved. The long Atlantic swell was rolling heavily against the
bluff promontories, and the surf lashing far up the black heights,
giving many of us a nervous disinclination to making a night expedition
among the rocks, going to sleep with a dirty shirt and mouthful of sand,
without even the consolation of being afterwards laid out in clean
linen, to make luncheon for vultures; but since it takes a complication
of those diversions to compose a veritable sea life, we banished
perspective danger, and indulged in speculations upon the pleasures of
port.