ETCHINGS OF A WHALING CRUISE,

      WITHIN a few years past, the condition of our merchant seamen has excited very general interest. It is gratifying to perceive that the efforts made in their behalf by the humane and the liberal have been productive of the happiest results.  Facilities for their moral and intellectual improvement are now within their reach; attention is paid to their comfort; the difference between oppression and discipline is beginning to be observed; and cases of insubordination and mutiny will soon be comparatively of rare occurrence.

      While the laudable exertions of philanthropists have effected so much for the happiness of that useful class of men, it is not a little singular that the abuses existing in the whale fishery are scarcely known beyond the limits of our northeastern coast. The subject is one of great moment, especially to the people of New England, who are largely interested in the whaling business, and who have ever manifested a warm regard for human rights.  To them, the condition of seamen engaged in that service is a matter of too much importance to remain unheeded, when properly understood.

      In submitting the following narrative to the public, I am actuated mainly by a desire to make my experience as useful to others as it has been to myself; and, by a faithful delineation of the service in which I spent so eventful a period of my life, to show in what manner the degraded condition of a portion of our fellow-creatures can be ameliorated.

      I feel confident that there is much in the cruel and oppresive abuses in the whale fishery to enlist public sympathy.  There are now in active employment more than seven hundred whaling vessels belonging to the New England states, manned by nearly twenty thousand hardy and intrepid men.  It is a reproach to the American people that, in this age of moral reform, the protecting arm of the law has not reached these daring adventurers.  We are indebted to them for the extension of our commerce in foreign countries; for valuable additions to our stock of knowledge; for all the benefits resulting from their discoveries and researches in remote parts of the world; and yet they are the most oppressed class of men in existence.  History scarcely furnishes a parallel for the deeds of cruelty committed upon them during their long and perilous voyages.

      The startling increase of crime in the whale fishery demands a remedy.  Scarcely a vessel arrives in port that does not bring intelligence of a mutiny.  Are the murderous wrongs which compel men to rise up and throw off the burden of oppression unworthy of notice?  Will none make the attempt to arrest their fearful progress?  Such a state of things surely calls for investigation.  My limited experience enables me to point out some of the causes of crime on the high seas.  If it be possible to diminish them by more attention to the welfare and comfort of the crews, and to the punishment of masters, not only for positive acts of cruelty, but for morally degrading those under their command, justice certainly requires that the remedy should be speedily carried into effect.

      So far as relates to myself personally, I take this opportunity of stating, that during the unpleasant term of my servitude before the mast, I was treated as well by the captain and officers as they were capable of treating any common sailor.  The desire to revenge private wrongs, or gratify malice, can not, therefore, be justly attributed to me.  My design is simply to present to the public a faithful delineation of the life of a whaleman.  In doing this, I deem it necessary that I should aim rather at the truth itself than at mere polish of style.  A due regard to fidelity induces me to present the incidents and facts very nearly in their original rude garb.  I have no faith in softening or polishing stern realities.  Let them go before the world with all the force of truthfulness; and if they can effect nothing, the blame will not rest upon the narrator.  I claim no higher credit than that of being an accurate reporter of passing events, with the privilege of commending what is right, and dissenting from what is wrong.  I have suffered too much, not to feel the woes of others.  Where reproof is merited, where injustice has been done, where human rights have been invated, I shall ever lift up a deprecating voice.  It is one of the glorious prerogatives of a freeman to denounce tyranny and injustice; and no fear of exciting enmity shall deter me from exercising it.  I have espoused the cause of seamen; I have shown the flagrant abuses to which they are subject; I have exposed the cupidity of owners and the tyranny of masters; and I do not expect to escape censure.  No man ever enlisted in a good cause without making enemies.  Truth is always offensive to those who have cause to fear it.  If, therefore, there be any who may feel disposed to abuse me for exposing the wrongs of seamen, they may rest assured I prefer their censure to their praise.

      Mr. Richard H.  Dana has given, in his "Two Years fefore the Mast." ^* a faithful and graphic delineation of life in the merchant service.  The thanks of every just man are due to him for his noble exertions in behalf of the suffering mariner.  Previous to the publication of his work, little was known of the real hardships encountered by the sailors; and to Mr. Dana may be attributed the moral revolution which has since taken place in the merchant service.  I should be very backward in presenting my narrative to the public, after the brilliant success of a work written under nearly the same circumstances, if it were not that each describes an entirely different service.  The duties, treatment, mode of living, and every thing connected with the voyage of a whaleman, differ widely from those of the merchant sailor.  I believe no one has yet attempted a full and continuous narrative of forecastle life in the whale fishery from actual experience as a hand before the mast.

      Having had no previous acquaintance with the topography of the islands visited in the course of our cruise, or the manners and customs of the inhabitants, and no books to which I could refer while at sea, I was obliged to rely chiefly upon my own observation; so that the little which I may have added to what is already known of those islands must be taken in connection with the circumstances under which I obtained my information.  It should be borne in mind that this is not designed as a work of reference for geographers and naturalists.  I claim no higher rank for it than that of a mere chronicle of incidents and adventures.

      The notes of a sojourn on the Island of Zanzibar will, I trust, derive some interest from the fact that very little is known of that island and its inhabitants.  Since the embassy to the courts of Siam and Muscat in 1832-3, but more especially since the visit of a vessel belonging to the Imaum of Muscat to this country a few years since, it has become customary to laud this Arabian potentate in the most extravagant terms of admiration.  I have no disposition to detract from his high reputation; but, at the same time, I must say, no living sovereign has been more universally misrepresented, both as regards character and power.  I enjoyed, perhaps, a better opportunity of becoming acquainted with the true character of the Imaum of Muscat, the extent of his dominions, and the condition of his subjects, than any of those writers who have described, in such glowing terms, the splendor of his court, his munificence toward the American government, and his unlimited power over the islands near the eastern coast of Africa.

      I take pleasure in acknowledging my indebtedness to Mr. A.  A.  von Schmidt, the talented artist who has so admirably executed the drawings.  An intimate personal acquaintance with this gentleman for many years past induced me to show him my rough sketches taken during the voyage; and, through his skill and kindness, I am now enabled to present them to the reader in a more perfect state, but with all the spirit and freshness of sketches from life.  I am happy to perceive that his skillful pencil is not idle, having been called into requisition by the Honorable Edmund Burke, commissioner of patents.

      Though young in years, it has been my lot to encounter many of the vicissitudes of a wandering life.  May I not be indulged, then, in the privilege of an adventurer — that of telling of dangers past in my own way? If I have dwelt at some length on the dark side of things, it will be admitted that I show a strong preference for the sunny side.  It is no pleasure to me to harp upon the ordinary frailties of human nature.  Indeed, I think I may be allowed to say, that

                  "I own the good, while smarting with the ill,
                  And love the world; with all its frailty, still."

      With these few remarks in the way of explanation, I submit my narrative to the indulgence of the public; and if it should be the means of directing attention to the unhappy happy condition of that class with whom I was for a brief period of my life associated, I shall consider myself repaid for the trials and hardships of the past.

J.  R.  B.     

      Washington, D.  C., July, 1846.

A few Words of Introduction. — Life in Washington. — Castle-building. — Plan of a grand Tour. — The Dignity of Office. — Departure from the Capital. — The Dutch Skipper. — Embarrassing Situation. — A New York whaling Agent. — Consigned to New Bedford. — An old Blubber Hunter's Experience.

A new Friend. — Examination by the Fitter. — A Sailor's Boardinghouse. — Jolly Set of Whalemen. — Captain Bill Salt. — Our first Lesson in Lunars. — A Song. — The Fitter's Kindness. — The Barque styx and Owners. — Fine Promises. — Weigh Anchor. — Repentance.

A Sketch of our Captain. — First Night at Sea. — Remedy for Seasickness. — The Calcutta Hole outdone. — stormy Weather. — The Gulf stream. — Reefing in a Gale. — Vain Regrets. — Rough Fare. — Voracity of the Portuguese.

Trouble on Board. — Choking a Seaman. — All Hands called Aft. — A Scene in the Waist. — Laying down the Law. — Duplicity of the Owners. — Choosing Watches. — Preparations for the Whaling Ground. — Fatiguing Exercises.

Distressing Illness of my Friend. — His brutal Treatment. — Unfeellug Conduct of the Portuguese. — Their Ignorance. — Setting Boats' Crew Watches. — A Chase after Black-fish. — Evening Pastimes.

More Trouble on Board. — Cruelty, toward a Seaman. — A School of Whales. — Prize alongside. — Remarks of the Down-Easter. — Cutting In and Trying Out. — Land ho! — Peak of Pico. — Terceira. — Trading. — Character of the Islanders. — Scenery. — Adventure on the Island. — An unpleasant Predicament.

"A Gam." — Departure from Terceira. — Pico. — Island of Fayal. — Villa Orta. — Part with my Friend. — Landing the Sick. — Juggling for a Watch. — Departure from Fayal. — Gloomy Prospects.

Quarreling Aft. — A Row between the Captain and Mate. — Return to Fayal. — Annoyances. — Murderous Designs of the Cook. — Under Weigh for the Indian Ocean. — Monotony of the Passage. — Pastimes. — Canary Islands. — Horse Latitudes. — Grand Whale Chase. — Six Whales alongside. — Beautiful Effect of the Moon.

Make the Cape de Verdes. — Isle of Sal. — Bonavista. — Isle of May. — Raising Breaches. — Leton's Rock. — Humor of the Cook. — Isle of St. Iago. — Porto Praya. — Bill Mann "Three Sheets in the Wind.". — Bounty.. — Its Effects upon the Crew.. — A Sail. — British Convict Vessel.

Approach the Equator. — Sketch of an old Whaleman. — John Tabor's Ride. — Sketches of the Crew. — Routine of Duty. — standing Mastheads. — Ship-keeping. — Signals.

Cross the Equator. — Martin Vas Rocks. — Isle of Trinidad. — Bill Mann's Account of Governor Trinidad. — A large Albatross. — Right Whale Chase. — Christmas Day. — Off the Cape of Good Hope. — Tremendous Gale. — Condition of the Vessel. — Passage from the Cape to Madagascar. — Kill a Whale off Fort Dauphin.. — Cape St. Mary. — St. Augustine's Bay. — Cruise in the Mozambique Channel. — A Fight. — Two Men Flogged.

Isle of Makumba. — Wood-cutting and Hot Weather. — Arrival at Bembatooka Bay. — Town of Majunga. — American Traders. — Natives. — Liberty Ashore. — Grand Dance. — Dinner at Mohammed Desharee's.. — Quarrel between the Captain and Mate. — Great Fete in Honor of the Governor. — Ambolamboes and Sacklaves. — Departure from Madagascar.

Cruelty to a Portuguese Boy. — Make the Comoro Isles. — Visit from the Sheik's Secretary. — Johanna. — Bay of Henzooanee. — Description of the Town. — Hozain and his Certificates. — Jack America. — Adventure with the Sheik. — Description of Syed Mohammed.

Mohammedan at Prayer. — Beautiful Glen. — Upset in a Canoe. — Bull Fight. — Terrible Combat between the Down-Easter and the Bull. — Leave Johanna. — Exciting Whale Chase, and Capture of a Whale. — Trouble and Discontent. — Make Zanzibar. — Desertion of three Men. — Speech of the Captain. — Condition of the Crew.

Effects of ill Treatment. — Scene in the Forecastle. — Combination to refuse Duty. — A bad Predicament. — Revolt. — Dreadful Condition of Things on Board. — Appeal to the Consul. — Interview with him. — Exertions to find a Substitute. — Disappointment. — Suspense. — Hope. — Another Disappointment. — Bargain with a Quadroon. — Swapping Places with a Negro. — Procure my Dicharge. — A happy Release. — Good-by to the styx.

Description of Zanzibar. — lmaum's Harem. — Castle Antiquities. — Inhabitants of N'Googa. — Sowhelian Customs. — Poetry. — Imaum's Palace. — Commercial Advantages of Zanzibar. — Treaties. — Ahemet Bin Hamees. — Rajab. — Exaggerations of Travelers. — Despotic Government. — Possessions of Syed Syed Bin Soultan. — Presents to his Highness. — Fate of the American Pleasure Boat.

Arabian Towns. — Topography of N'Googa. — Fatal Effects of the Climate. — Unchristian Treatment of a Scotch Seaman. — Wretched Condition of the Natives. — Barbarous Treatment of Sailors. — The Sultan's Generosity toward the American People. — Directions for the Preservation of Health.

Superstitions of the Inhabitants. — Hassan and the Devil. — Jeram Bin Seva's Horror of Mesmerism. — The big Snake. — Funeral Ceremonies of the Sowhelians. — A Mohammedan's Aversion to Pork.. — Death of a Portuguese Boy. — Chargcter of the Arabs. — A Bridal Ceremony. — Marriage Law. — Sowhelian Dances. — The Coolies. — Jungle Dogs. — Death of a Shipmate. — Practicing Medicine. — Auctions. — Sale of the Brig Bogota.

Gambling. — Horse-racing bn the Nazee Moya. — Warlike Exercises. — Religious Customs. — Visit to the Interior of the Island. — An Oriental Scene. — Caravan. — Description of the Shambas. — Grand Dinnor at Hadja Mouchad's. — Return to Town. — A Funeral.

Arrival of a Brig from the Persian Gulf. — A Whaling Skipper. — Suspense. — Arrangements for a Passage Home. — Departure from Zanzibar. — Passage round the Cape of Good Hope.

Make St. Helena. — Preparations to go Ashore. — Dinnor at the Consul's. — White Ladies. — A Whaling Captain. — Love and Music. — Visit to Napoleon's Tomb. — Politeness of a Yamstock. — Anecdote of a Frenchman. — Departure from St. Helena.

Sketch of a good Captain. — Amusements. — Dana's Narrative. — A pattern Husband. — Baffling Winds. — The Gulf stream. — A Vessel ahandoned. — Land Ho! — The Captain's Wit. — Make Cape Cod Light-house. — Hospitality of the Citizens of Salem. — Bad News. — Arrival in Washington. — Visit to the West. — Changes. — Home and its Pleasures.

Fate of my Comrades. — Narrative of the Sufferings of my Friend W——. — Unparalleled Case of Cruelty. — Account of the Yankee Boy. — The Mockery of the Law. — Injustice toward Seamen. — Review of the Voyage. — Reflections on the present Condition of the Whale Fishers. — Flogging, and its evil Effects. — Imperfections of the United States Consular System. — Life of a Whaleman. — Tyranny. — The End.

Historical Sketch of the Rise and Progress of the European and American Whale Fisheries

statistical Tables, showing the Number, Tonnage, and Value of the Vessels employed in the Whale Fishery belonging to the United States; the Ports from which they sail; the number of Seamen engaged in the Service; Condition of the Whaling Business, including Imports and Exports of Oil, from 1838 to 1846; Articles used in constructing and fitting Vessels; Duties on same, &c.

Extracts from the Speeches of Messrs.  Grinnell, Rockwell, and Clayton, in reference to the present Condition of the American Whale Fishery.

Bounties.

Effects of a Protective Tariff.

Honolulu Friend — French, English, and American Whaling Intereats in the Pacific — Rules and Regulations respecting Seamen — Sandwich Islands.

Beale's List of Cruising Grounds, with Observations.

Wilkes's Chapter on the Whale Fishery.

Anatomical and Physiological description of the Sperm Whale, its Habits, &c.

Right Whale.

Fin-backed Whale.

Species of Right Whale.

Hunter's Remarks on the Whale Tribe.

Inventions for Killing the Whale.

Specimens of the Sowhelian Language.

Numerals.

A few Words of Introduction. — Life in Washington. — Castle-building. — Plan of a grand Tour. — The Dignity of Office. — Departure from the Capital. — The Dutch Skipper. — Embarrassing Situation. — A New York whaling Agent. — Consigned to New Bedford. — An old Blubber Hunter's Experience.

      I DEEM it but fair that the reader should know the circumstances under which I commenced my career of adventure.  There is nothing uncommon in them — nothing that I have the slightest reason to conceal; and it is only because I believe the interest of a narrative of this kind depends, in a great measure, upon the previous pursuits and associations of the author, that I make any allusion to matters which would otherwise be of so little moment.

      When a man abandons all the enjoyments of civilized life, signs away his freedom, and voluntarily brings trouble upon his own head, it may naturally be presumed that he has wise motives for doing so.  I am not sure that this was precisely my case.  If I had any motives for so unaccountable a course, they were merged in the vague but absorbing desire inherent in me from early boyhood to see the world.

      I date the circumstances which led to my cruise as far back as 1838.  In that year I performed a voyage in a trading-boat from Louisville to New Orleans.  The incidents of a year's life on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers gave me a thirst for adventure; and I resolved to gratify it with as little delay as possible.  My design was somewhat ambitious.  I was determined to travel as a gentleman of leisure; though, to accomplish this object, it was necessary I should have means.  In racking my brain to find a panacea for empty pockets, I could think of no profession in which it was likely I should have so little competition to contend against as that of stenographer, from the fact that it requires more labor to become proficient in it than most other professions.  Besides, I had a penchant for scribbling.  I set to work at once, and studied Gurney's, Taylor's, and Gould's "hieroglyphics" with so much zeal, that at the expiration of about a year I was a mere hieroglyphic myself.

      In November, 1841 — then in my nineteenth year — I left Kentucky for Washington City.  The prospect before me was quite inspiring.  I was about to see the great men of the nation assembled in council; to hear, for the first time in my life, the thrilling eloquence of our great orators; to be the humble medium of preserving some of their flights for future ages to admire! What a glorious galaxy of intellectual light was soon to shed its rays upon my boyish mind!

      On my arrival in Washington, I was fortunate enough to procure a good situation as reporter in the Senate.  A long session had just opened.  According to the nicest calculation, I thought myself (prospectively) in possession of at least six or eight hundred dollars; and I spent my leisure hours laying out the plan of my grand tour.  First, I intended visiting France.  If I should find nothing very attractive in Havre or Paris, I would immediately proceed to Italy, see all the curiosities, and, after touching at various ports in the Mediterranean, cut across from Constantinople to Alexandria and Cairo, visit the Pyramids, take a flying trip across the Isthmus of Suez, and return by the Cape of Good Hope.  All this I intended doing in an economical, though gentlemanly way.

      The prospect of being able to accomplish my wishes in so short a time encouraged me to diligent application.  Not a moment of my time was misspent.  I was really a model of industry.  When my work was over, I hurried to the Library of Congress to study the history, geography, and literature of the places to be visited in my grand tour.  In this way I passed many of my leisure hours with pleasure and profit.

      As the session advanced, much of my youthful enthusiasm began to wear away.  A nearer acquaintance with the distinguished political leaders by no means increased my respect for them.  At first, I could not approach a great man without trembling.  I never felt my utter insignificance till, with uncovered head and downcast eyes, I stood in the presence of those renowned statesmen and orators whose names I had learned to revere.  I was not so young, however, but that I could soon see into the hollowness of political distinction; the small trickery practiced in the struggle for power, the overbearing aristocracy of station, and the heartless and selfish intrigues by which public men maintain their influence.  I became thoroughly disgusted with so much hypocrisy and bombast. It required no sage monitor to convince me that true patriotism does not prevail to a very astonishing extent in the hearts of those who make the most noise about it.  The profession I had chosen enabled me to see behind the scenes and study well the great machinery of government, and I can not say that I saw a great deal to admire.

      Such life had no attractions for me.  I looked forward with anxiety to the close of the session.

      There was one matter, about which I began to feel very uneasy — my contemplated visit to Europe.  Where were the funds to come from?  As yet, I had received from the sources upon which I had based my calculations barely enough to defray my expenses.  Alas for my grand tour!

            "The best-laid plans of mice and men gang aft agley."

      Among my acquaintances was a young man from Ohio, who had temporary employment in the Treasury Department.  Gifted with a fine intellect, and of most accomplished and engaging manners, he was just such a person as I had often wished to have as a companion.  We first met at a social soiree; and in a very short time I found that he was a man after my own heart.  A strong friendship sprang up between us.  We visited together, disclosed our feelings and plans to each other, spent all our leisure hours in pleasant conversation, and resolved at length to travel together, if we could contrive some means to raise a sufficient sum.  W——, unfortunately, was poor like myself.

      The summer was now well advanced, and we agreed it should not close before our departure, even if we should be reduced to the necessity of performing our grand tour on foot.  The latter, it is true, was rather a rash determination, considering we were not gifted with the power of the Israelites, who walked across the Red Sea.  For the purpose of enjoying our prospects without interruption, we spent every fine evening in the Capitol Garden, where, inspired by the moonlight, flowers, shrubberies, and murmuring fountains, we talked of the various surprising things we were going to do; how we would fall in with some extraordinary chances during our travels, make our fortunes, marry a couple of Arabian princesses, and return home to enjoy our good luck in peace, and excite the envy and admiration of mankind with accounts of our brilliant exploits.  This was all very fine, and I hope it will not escape the reader's memory.

      Near the close of the session, finding my expenses and profits were nearly balanced, I resolved to remain no longer in Washington.  My enthusiastic friend was ready to start with me at a moment's notice.  Our minds were soon made up as to the route and means.  We were to work our way to Europe, and, once there, depend upon our own wits for success in the pursuit of our object.  We were very enthusiastic in the belief that energy and perseverance would overcome all the obstacles that poverty might throw in our path.

      I well remember the night previous to our departure.  It was that of the 4th of July.  After the usual ceremonies of the day, there was a grand exhibition of fire-works in the President's garden.  A large concourse of citizens, visitors, members of Congress, and diplomatic characters, had assembled on the terrace of the Capitol to witness the brilliant and imposing scene.  Some kind friend had circulated a report that we had received a commission from his excellency, Mr. Tyler, to arrange a matter of great national importance with the government of Portugal.  The consequence was, that several of our distant acquaintances, who had formerly recognized us with a stiff nod, now crowded around us, and bid us good-by in the kindest manner imaginable, wishing us a most cordial reception at the court of Donna Maria.

      Having procured passports at the state Department, we took our departure in the cars early on the morning of the 5th of July, 1842.  As it was not probable we could find a vessel in Baltimore bound for Europe immediately, we continued on to Philadelphia, where we spent a few days, and obtained some letters of introduction from a friend in the Custom-house to distinguished gentlemen in different parts of Europe.  Finding no encouragement in Philadelphia for tourists with slender means, we proceeded to New York.

      Our joint purse on leaving Washington amounted to about forty dollars.  Of course, we could not deny ourselves the gratification of` visiting the various places of public amusement; besides, being gentlemen up to that time, it was indispensable that we should patronize the best hotel, ride in an omnibus or hack whenever we did not feel disposed to walk, and be liberal with servants and porters.  At the expiration of a few days, it alarmed us to find that we had but eight dollars left.

      Upon application for temporary employment, with a view to replenish our means, we learned that business was very dull, and young men were glad to avail themselves of the privilege of passing their time usefully in mercantile houses without remuneration; a species of amusement not particularly adapted to our circumstances.  With due humiliation, let it be told; we were soon reduced to the necessity either of writing to our friends for a remittance, or of being insulted with an invitation to depend upon the charity of casual acquaintances.  The first was out of the question; it would destroy ou diplomatic reputation; the last was too galling to our pride to be entertained for a moment.

      In this dilemma we strolled down to the shipping, and went on board a vessel bound for Bremen.  The captain, a jolly-looking Dutchman, sat upon the companion way smoking his pipe, while he kept his eye upon some of the crew who were at work on the main deck.  He received us very kindly, and gave us much information on the subject of seafaring life.  It would be a difficult matter, he said, for two young men dressed as we were to procure employment on board a merchantman as light hands; but if we put off our "long togs," and went to work in a corn field for about three months, to give us a hardy look, we might succeed.  Where there were upward of four thousand seamen idling about the wharves, it would be no easy matter for "green landsmen" to make a voyage.  On the whole, he gave us rather an unfavorable idea of the life of a sailor, and advised us to try something else.  He thought it a pity that young gentlemen of education should waste their time in a pursuit so little adapted to their physical strength.  There were rough fellows enough in the world who could do that sort of work better than persons who had been delicately raised.

      The words of the kind-hearted old skipper made a deep impression upon our minds, and, if it were not for sheer shame, and the pressing nature of our circumstances, we would have abandoned our romantic notions at once.  However, we felt that we were in for it, and it would not do to back out.  W——, who was a printer by trade, had made several applications at the printing-offices for employment, but without success.  Nothing, therefore, remained for us but the prospect of getting something to do on board a ship.  It made no material difference to us in what capacity we went; all we desired then was to take leave of New York.

      The rest of that day and part of the next we spent in making inquiries at the ship agencies along the wharves; but our appearance, combined with our anxiety to become sailors, excited suspicion, and the answers were so unsatisfactory that we began to despond.  I noticed that the old tars, who were lounging in groups about these offices, smoking their pipes, and chatting in a nautical style of language totally incomprehensible to us, eyed us slyly, and winked at each other as we passed.  In the course of a few months we very well understood what they meant.

      There was something of novelty in being thrown upon our own resources in at large city, without a single friend to whom we could look for aid.  still, as our money was spun out to a few dollars, it became necessary to leave off romancing, and bring our ideas down to the level of our circumstances.

      As we strolled along one of the wharves, casting wistful glances at the vessels close by, and now and then taking a peep into the shipping-offices, our attention was attracted by a slip of aper over a door bearing the following important intelligence:

      "Six able-bodied landsmen, to go on a whaling voyage from New Bedford.  Apply up stairs before 5 o'clock P.M."

      This was somewhat encouging.  Indeed, we thought it peculiarly lucky.  It suited us exactly.  We stopped and read the words over half a dozen times, in order to satisfy ourselves that we were not mistaken as to their import.  But here was the difficulty: the notice said able-bodied landsmen.  Were we of that description! We consulted the matter for some time, and at last came to the conclusion that light-bodied, active men, with a considerable share'of spunk, ought to succeed as well as heavy-built men.  We accordingly entered the office with a bold, independent air, as much as to say, we knew what we were about.  An excessively polite old gentleman of prepossessing appearance received us with every manifestation of cordiality.  In answer to our inquiries concerning his notice, he replied:

      "Yes, gentlemen, I want a few more men.  Do you think of shipping?"

      "Why, yes, we have some notion of it."

      "The very best thing you can do; sorry you are not a little stouter; but no matter, I think you'll answer the purpose.  I just received a letter this morning from Mr. ——, the whaling agent in New Bedford, requesting me to send on two light, handsome fellows.  He don't care so much about their weight, if they're good-looking; wants them for a small vessel, you see, and likes to have a nice crew."

      "Well, you think we'll do?"

      "Oh!, no doubt about it.  I'm willing to risk you, though I may lose something by it.  Whaling, gentlemen, is tolerably hard at first, but it's the finest business in the world for enterprising young men.  If you are determined to take a voyage, I'll put you in the way of shipping in a most elegant vessel, well fitted: that's the great thing, well fitted.  Vigilance and activity will insure you rapid promotion.  I haven't the least doubt but you'll come home boatsteerers.  I sent off six college students a few days ago, and a poor fellow who had been flogged away from home by a vicious wife.  A whaler, gentlemen," continued the agent, rising in eloquence, "a whaler is a place of refuge for the distressed and persecuted, a school for the dissipated, an asylum for the needy!  There's nothing like it.  You can see the world; you can see something of life!"

      The enthusiastic advocate of whalers then handed us a paper, which we immediately signed without reading, not wishing to give him time even to reflect upon his bargain.  Promising to be at the office by half past four, we took leave of our worthy friend, and warmly congratulated each other upon having accidentally met with this benevolent old gentleman, who not only smiled upon the indiscretions of youth, but forwarded all our plans, and seemed ready to oblige us in every way.  From a man whom we had never seen before, all this was certainly very gratifying.

      At five o'clock on the same evening we took a passage in the Cleopatra for Providence.  In order that particular attention might be a paid to our comfort — as we supposed, but in reality to prevent our escape — we were consigned to an officer on board the boat.  The agent also, to enhance our enjoyment, sent with us a couple of entertaining fellows, rather rough to be sure, and not very respectable in their appearance, bound on the same delightful mission.  For all this we felt exceedingly grateful to our benevolent and venerable friend.  It is true, we discovered after we got to sea that he had forwarded a bill of ten dollars to the New Bedford fitter, to be placed on our account with the owners.  As we had sold one of our trunks, and some other unnecessary articles, the proceeds of which enabled us to pay our own expenses, we could not clearly see what this was for; but it occurred to us, after a great deal of deliberation, that it was a kind of bounty allowed by the city council to the agent for disposing of all vagrants who came within his reach, and that he had, through the force of habit, or in the confusion of his multifarious duties, mistaken us for persons of that description.

      On our passage to Providence, the steam-boat touched at Newport, where one of our whalemen, who had made a raise of three dollars from the New York agent — in remembrance, he said, of a whaling voyage on which the old gentlemen had sent him a few years previously — privately notified us of his intention to, "visit some of his friends up town."  Not deeming the matter within our cognizance, we left him to pursue the bent of his inclination.  We afterward had occasion to admire the sagacity, though not the moral obliquity of this fellow.  Before parting from him, he gave us his experience as a whaleman, and advised us not to be gulled by fair promises.  He said he knew a thing or two about it; that he would sooner be in the penitentiary any time; and, if we had any regard for ourselves, we ought to turn our backs upon New Bedford, for it was the sink-hole of iniquity; that the fitters were all blood-suckers, the owners cheats, and the captains tyrants.

      This was another damper.  The warning made a deep impression upon us, and we often thought of it when at sea.

      We arrived in New Bedford without suffering more than the usual wear and tear to which all articles of traffick consigned from one sea-port town to another are subject

A new Friend. — Examination by the Fitter. — A Sailor's Boardinghouse. — Jolly set of Whalemen. — Captain Bill Salt. — Our first Lesson in Lunars. — A Song. — The Fitter's Kindness. — The Barque styx and Owners. — Fine Promises. — Weigh Anchor. — Repentance.

      I HAVE not the conscience fo pass over in silence the disinterested generosity of the New Bedford fitter.  His benevolence surpassed even that of the amiable old gentlemen in New York.  When we first presented ourselves for inspection, he was a little bluff, to be sure, but that was only one of his good-natured peculiarities.

      "Why," said he, surveying us with professional deliberation, "you are not the men I wrote for.  I want stout, hard-fisted fellows, who ain't afraid to work.  Such slim chaps as you won't do at all!"

      "That's rather hard, sir; here we are without the means of getting back; and now, after the New York agent telling us you would take us, you say we won't do."

      What do I care about the New York agent?" replied the fitter.  "It's his own look-out, and yours, if he don't send proper men.  I'm not bound to take you at all; and I won't take you, if I don't like."

      "Well, you'll pay our expenses back, then?"

      At this the fitter laughed very heartily.

      "No, no, my good  fellows; can't do that.  I see you don't understand this business.  What do you weigh?"

      We gave him our weight, but it did not seem to satisfy him exactly.  He shook his head with a doubtful look, as much as to say he had no great respect for men who did not weigh considerably over our standard.  He then punched us with his fist, shook us by the arms, and, after some farther experiments by way of testing our muscular powers, told us what there was of us was pretty good, "but there wasn't enough.  Directing us next to walk up and down his long store-room, he planted himself against a pile of boxes, and watched our gait with the practiced eye of a jockey about to make a speculation in horse-flesh.  Apparently satisfied, be ventured the opinion that we might do; at all events, he would exert his influence in our behalf with the owners.

      A clerk who sat in the counting-room, blowing his very soul through a cracked fife, was then directed to show us to old Captain R——'s boarding-house.  Here we found a most jovial company; not very select, but remarkably free and easy.  Among others, I recollect Red Sandy, Blue John, Long-legged Bill, Big-foot Jack, Chaw-o'-tobacco Jim, Handsome Tom, and one of our steam-boat acquaintances, who had already obtained the soubriquet of Bully Clincher; besides four lively house-maids, whom the sailors called Mag, Moll, Bet, and Peg, and with whom they seemed to be on the most friendly terms.

      Our fellow-boarders, when the fact became known that we were about to go to sea, entertained themselves with sundry jests at our expense, all of which we took with the utmost good humor.  This completely disarmed them.  We were shrewd enough to suspect their object, which, as we afterward learned, was to get us angry, and then, according to custom, give us a sound drubbing.  Sailors have an inveterate dislike to young sprigs, who, when placed upon a level with them, assume airs of superiority.  By guarding against this, we became great favorites.  I must not omit, however, to mention one of the initiatory movements.  While standing at the door, the first evening after our arrival, we overheard the comments made upon ourselves and our mission.

      "I say, Bill," said one, "there's a pair of bloody tars for you! They'll be slushin' down the t'gallant mast before long, or I'm out o' my reckoning."

      "Ay, ay, replied Bill; "better they never was weaned, than go driftin' round the world in a blubber hunter."

      "Never mind," added another, " they'll wish themselves in the watch-house before two months."

      With these and other remarks of the kind they amused themselves for some time, when one of the party, a regular old sea-dog, with a tremendous quid of tobacco in his cheek, waddled up to us, and, staring us in the face, exclaimed,

      "Well, cuss me if these ain't the lob-lolly boys wot sarved in one of my ships.  I say, my lads, don't you know your old skipper?  I'm Captain Bill Salt, wot used to larn you Lunars.  Don't you know me?"

      "No; you must be mistaken.  We have never been to sea."

      "Now I'm shivered if that ar'n't strange!" cried Captain Bill Salt; "if you ain't my lob-lolly boys, I never seed 'em."

      "Nevertheless, we are not.  B—— is my name, and W—— is my friend's."

      "Well, just as good.  You was both born to go to sea.  Come, let's splice the main brace.  Come along, shipmates!  I'm agoin' to give these 'ere young gentlemen the first lesson in Lunars."

      Captain Bill Salt's manner was, to say the least of it, very friendly.  We thought it best not to refuse his polite invitation.  The sailors followed their comrade, who led the way to a chop-cellar a short distance from the boarding-house.

      "Come, all hands, what'll you take?  Don't be shy.  What d'ye say, shipmates," addressing W—— and myself; "close-reef or sea-breeze?"

      "Close-reef, said we, at a guess.

      "Bravo!"  cried Captain Bill, grasping each of us by the hand; "you'll see the stars yet! If you ain't sailors, it's the 'fects of eddecation or s'ciety, wot's all the same.  Come, here's a toast

            'Be cheery, my lads! may your hearts never fail<
            While the bold harpooneer is striking-the whale!'"

      The toast was duly honored; and we discovered when we emptied our glasses, that "close-reef" was something very strong.  Big-foot Jack, Chaw-o'-tobacco Jim, handsome Tom, Red Sandy, and the rest of our jolly friends, then seated themselves and called for cigars.  Captain Bill Salt told us to do likewise; and, taking out his pipe, he soon enveloped himself in a comfortable cloud of smoke.  Without waiting for the ceremony of an invitation, he gave vent to the following ditty, a copy of which I afterward procured from him:

      This song elicited the most rapturous applause.  Captain Bill then spun us some tough yarns, while the company slipped out one by one.  As we were about to leave, the bar-keeper called us aside, and politely requested my friend and myself to pay the reckoning, assuring us that it was customary, when young gentlemen were about to go on a voyage, to treat all hands.  We accordingly gave him our last cent, and were not a little edified at the cool manner in which Captain Bill Salt witnessed the operation.  Though our confidence in that eccentric individual was a little shaken, we took the whole proceeding as a very good joke, and laughed to think how cleverly we had been gulled.  Thus ended our "first lesson in Lunars."

      Our friend, the fitter, was a most accommodating man.  With a delicate appreciation of our pecuniary embarrassments, he paid our board, furnished us with every little luxury we wanted, lent us his pleasure-boat to sail in, told us he would make our expenses all right with the owners, and gave us a great deal of fatherly advice about our conduct at sea.  In addition to all this kindness, he considerately provided us with chests and sea-clothes at a terrible sacrifice, being at least ten per cent.  cheaper than we could get them elsewhere.  Besides, the mere fact of his crediting total strangers seemed so generous, so confiding, so high-minded!

      The only vessel about to sail immediately was the barque styx, ^* of Fair Haven.  Through the exertions of our excellent friend, the fitter, the owners, apparently with great reluctance, areed to take us.  They told us the vessel was well fitted; better, in fact, than any vessel we could find.  One of them, an old Quaker, assured us no whaler had ever sailed from New Bedford or Fair Haven as well fitted; he had attended to it all himself and, we might depend upon it, we would live in style.  The captain, we learned from them, was a young man, pretty strict in his discipline, but a fine, generous fellow.  He would treat us well, and give us plenty to eat; and, if we made ourselves useful, he would he very kind to us.  He was a first-rate whaleman, and no doubt we would make a good voyage, and come home in a year or a year and a half with lots of money due to us.  The vessel was a hundred and forty-seven tons burden, and calculated to hold a thousand barrels of oil.  We were to receive the ordinary lay of green hands, being, as we were told, the one hundred, and thirtieth part of the oil taken.  There was provision enough on board to last for twenty-seven months, so that, if not successful, there was no danger of our starving.  We were to have what clothes we needed out of the slop-chest at the New Bedford prices.  The shipping articles were then presented to us, and we signed them without exhibiting any such ungentlemanly want of confidence in the representations of the owners as to read the contents; besides, we were afraid, as they had accepted us so reluctantly, some difficulty might arise by which we would be deprived of the pleasure of performing a voyage under such pleasant auspices.  The signing of the articles we regarded as a sort of security.

      With sapguine hopes and enthusiastic dreams of adventure we bade good-by to our New Bedford friends, and, on the morning of July —, embarked.  The styx lay in the middle of the Acoshnet River, opposite the town of New Bedford.

      At 2 P.M. all hands were called to the windlass, and we weighed anchor.  A light breeze slowly wafted us out into Buzzard's Bay.  The shipping at the New Bedford wharf became gradually indistinct, and the houses looked misty in the distance.  It was a beautiful Sabbath afternoon.  The church bells were tolling a melancholy farewell; and I shall never forget the look W —— gave me as he pointed to the receding shores, and observed, in a melancholy tone, "I have unhappy thoughts.  It seems to me those familiar sounds call us back.  But we are too late; it is useless to repent now."  My feelings were touched; the whole past was before me in a moment: friends, brothers, sisters, all!  I would have given all I ever hoped to possess to retrace a few hours of my life.

            "Too late — too late! how heavily that phrase
                  Comes, like a knell upon the shuddering ear,
            Telling of slighted duties, wasted days;
                  Of privileges lost, of hopes once dear,
            Now quenched in gloom and darkness —"

A Sketch of our Captain. — First Night at Sea. — Remedy for Sea- sickness. — The Calcutta Hole outdone. — stormy Weather. — The Gulf stream. — Reefing in a Gale. — Vain Regrets. — Rough Fare. — Voracity of the Portuguese.

      TOWARD evening he captain came on board in a pilot-boat, and took charge of the vessel.  I had not seen him before, and of course felt a curiosity to know what sort of a looking man he was.  The owners had spoken in such glowing terms of him that, I must confess, he did not altogether realize my expectations.  His personal appearance was any thing but prepossessing.  Picture to yourself a man apparently about thirty-five years of age, with a hooked nose, dark crop hair, large black whiskers, round shoulders, cold blue eyes, and a shrewd, repul- sive expression of countenance; of a lean and muscular figure, rather taller than the ordinary standard, with ill-made, wiry limbs, and you have a pretty correct idea of Captain A——.  He wore a broad-brimmed Panama hat, turned up at the sides, a green roundabout, a pair of dirty duck pantaloons, very wide at the bottom, and slip-shod shoes, which had evidently done service for two or three voyages.  He walked the quarter-deck with his hands in his pockets, his eyes down; and his lips firmly compressed.  Altogether he had a sneaking, hang-dog look that was not very encouraging to those destined to be subject to his will during a year's cruise, or perhaps longer.  When he gave orders, it was in a sharp, harsh voice, with a vulgar, nasal twang, and in such a manner as plainly betokened that he considered us all slaves of the lowest cast, unworthy of the least respect, and himself our august master.

      Night closed upon us with rough and cloudy weather.  By morning we had a heavy, chopping sea, and began to experience all the horrors of seasickness.  The mate, a stout, bluff-looking Englishman, with a bull neck, kept us in continual motion, and gave us plenty of hard work to do, clearing up the decks, bracing the yards, stowing down the loose rubbish, and otherwise making the vessel tidy and ship-shape.  He bellowed forth his orders to the men in the rigging like a roaring lion, yelled and swore at the "green hands" in the most alarming manner, and pulled at the ropes as if determined to tear the whole vessel to pieces.  The loungers or "sogers" had no chance at all with him; he actually made them jump as if suddenly galvanized.  For the sea-sick he had no sympathy whatever.

      "stir yourselves; jump about pull, haul, work like vengeance!" he would say, in the bluff, hearty voice of a man who appeared to think sickness all folly; "that's the way to cure it.  You'll never get well if you give up to it.  Tumble about there! Work it off, as I do!"

      To the haggard, woe-begone landsmen, who staggered about groaning under their afflictions, this sounded very much like mockery.  For my part, I thought the mate a great monster to talk about sickness, with a face as red as a turey-cock's snout.

      After a day of horrors such as I had never spent before, we were permitted to go below for the night.  Our condition was not improved by the change.  The forecastle was black and slimy with filth, very small, and as hot as an oven.  It was filled with a compound of foul air, smoke, sea-chests, soap-kegs, greasy pans, tainted meat, Portuguese ruffians, and sea-sick Americans.  The Portuguese were smoking, laughing, chattering, and cursing the green hands who were sick.  With groans on one side, and yells, oaths, laughter and smoke on the other, it altogether did not impress W—— and myself as a very pleasant home for the next year or two.  We were, indeed, sick and sorry enough, and heartily wished ourselves ashore.

      Nothing can be more bewildering to a youth, whose imagination naturally magnifies all the dangers of the deep, than to be roused up in the dead of night, when the ocean is lashed into a fury by a stiff gale, the vessel pitching and laboring, and the officers yelling at the men as if endeavoring to drown the roaring of the elements with loud, fierce imprecations, while thick darkness enshrouds all — darkness so dense, that, but for momentary flashes of lightning, one might fancy chaos had come again.  Such was the novel and startling scene that burst upon us with all its wildness on the night of the 19th.

                                                "We were dead of sleep,
            And (how we knew not) all clapped under hatches,
            Where, with strange and several noises
            Of roaring, shrieking, howling, jingling chains,
            And more diversity of sounds all horrible,
            We were awaked."

      Sea-sick and harassed after a hard day's work, we had gladly availed ourselves of a few hours' respite from duties so laborious.  The mate came to the scuttle, and, with half a dozen tremendous raps, roared at us to bear a hand.  "Tumble up, every mother's son of you, and take in sail.  Out with you, green hands and all.  We won't have any sick aboard here.  You didn't come to sea to lay up.  No groaning there, or I'll be down after you.  D'ye hear the news down below?  Tumble up!  tumble up, my lively hearties!"

      There was no refusing so peremptory a command as this, little as we liked it.  Without exactly tumbling up, we contrived, with some difficulty, to gain the deck, for the vessel pitched so violently that few of the green hands could keep their feet under them.  I shall never forget the bewilderment with which I looked around me.  We were in the Gulf stream, enshrouded in darkness and spray.  The sea broke over our bows, and swept the decks with a tremendous roar.  Momentary flashes of lightning added to the sublimity of the scene.  When I looked over the bulwarks, it seemed to me that the horizon was flying up in the clouds and whirling round the vessel by turns, and the clouds, as if astonished at such wild pranks, appeared to be shaking their dark heads backward and forward over the horizon.  I looked aloft, and there the sky was sweeping to and fro in a most unaccountable manner.  The vessel went staggering along, creaking, groaning, and thumping its way through the heavy seas.

      I grasped the first rope I could get hold of, and held on with the tenacity of a drowning man.  For a few moments I could  do nothing but gasp for breath, and wipe the salt water out of my eyes with one hand while I held on with the other.  The confusion of voices and objects around me, the tremendous seas sweeping over the decks, and the flapping of the sails, impressed me with the belief that we were all about to be lost. I kept my grasp on the rope, thinking it must be fast to something, and, if the ship foundered, I should at least be sure of a piece of the wreck.  As for my comrade W—— , I supposed he was still on board, and called for him with all my might, but the wind drove my voice back in my throat.  While standing in this unpleasant predicament, the mate came rushing by, shouting to the green hands to "tumble up aloft, and lay out on the yards!"  Aloft such a night, and for the first time!  Was the man mad?  The very idea seemed preposterous.  Presently he came dashing back, thundering forth his orders with the ferocity of a Bengal tiger.  "Up with you'.  Every man tumble up!'  Don't stand gaping like a parcel of boobies!  Aloft there, before the sails are blown to Halifax!"  Knowing how useless it would be to remonstrate, and believing I might as well die one way as another, I sprang up on the weather bulwark and commenced the terrible ascent.  The darkness was so dense that I could scarcely see the ratlins, and it was only by groping my way in the wake of those before me, that I could at all make out where I was going.  A few accidental kicks in the face from an awkward fellow who was above me, and a punch or two from another below me, convinced me that I was in company, at all events.  How I contrived to drag myself over the foretop, I do not well remember.  By a desperate exertion, however, I succeeded, and holding on to every rope I could get hold of with extraordinary tenacity, I at length found myself on the foot-rope, leaning over the yard, and clinging to one of the reef-points, fully determined not to part company with that in spite of the captain, mate, or whole ship's company.  "Haul out to leeward!" roared somebody to my right; "knot away!"  This was all Greek to me.  A sailor close by good-naturedly showed me what I was to do, and having knotted my reef-point, I looked down to see what was the prospect of getting on deck again.  The barque was keeled over at an angle of forty-five degrees, plunging madly through the foam, and I could form no idea of the bearings of the deck.  All I could see was a long dark object below, half hidden in the raging brine.  My right-hand neighbor gave me a hint to get in out of the way, which required no repetition, for I found my situation any thing but pleasant.  By the time I reached the foretop my head was pretty well battered, and my hands were woefully skinned and bruised, the sailors having made free use of me to acelerate their downward progress.

      I found, on gaining the forecastle, that my friend W—— had passed throngh the ordeal in safety.  We said nothing, but looked our unqualified disapprobation of such a life.  Thee Portuguese, to make matters still worse, laughed heartily at the sorry figure we cut, and told us all this "was nothing to what we'd see yet."

      Next day the green hands, including my friend and myself, looked haggard enough.  We were all dreadfully sea-sick.  Our fare was by no means inviting under such circumstances.  For breakfast we had an abominable compound of water, some molasses, and something dignified by the name of coffee, with hard biscuit and watery potatoes; for dinner pork, salt beef, and potatoes; and for supper, a repetition of the biscuit and potatoes, with boiled weeds and molasses as a substitute for tea and sugar.  It was perfectly amazing the voracity with which the Portuguese devoured this fare.  Had they whetted their appetites for months on raw corn they could not have swallowed such food as was now before them with more relish.  I must confess, their digestive powers excited my envy as well as my astonishment.  It made me despair to see them eat.  I would have given all I expected to make during the voyage to possess their swinish relish for food.  However, before the expiration of two months, I had reason to change my tune.  I would have given twice as much to get rid of my appetite!

      We had on board a Yankee boy, who afforded much amusement to the crew.  MacF——, or, as he was called for shortness, Mack, was a down-east chap from "away up Maine," somewhere in the neighborhood of sunrise.  Had Nature been in her most whimsical mood, she could not have formed a greater curiosity than Mack, in every respect.  He was an odd specimen of the "live Yankee."  Imagine a gawky youth of nineteen, with arms reaching down to his knees, tremendous wrist bones and hands, a lank visage, shins like drum-sticks, and feet moulded for a giant, but placed by mistake under the aforesaid shins, and you have a fair representation of his outward man.  Mack, notwithstanding these freaks of Nature, was a general favorite.  Nothing could ruffle his good humor.  His awkwardness and quaint wit were irresistible.  I doubt if Yankee Hill or Dan Marble ever had a better model.

      Mack was woefully sea-sick.  The poor fellow's face was the very picture of sorrow.  His skin, naturally dark, had assumed a greenish hue, and his lank cheeks and protruded lips formed a most pathetic picture of rueful retrospection.  Sick as I was myself, I could not repress my risables, when, leaning over the monkey-rail, squaring accounts with old Nep, he paused every moment to exclaim, "There! durn it all, I know'd I was goin' to be sick.  Oh, gosh!  oh, gosh!"

      Poor Mack!  From the bottom of my heart I sympathized with him as he groaned, "Dod burn the thing!  I wouldn't grudge twenty dollars if I was at hum milkin' the keows."

      "Why, Mack," I inquired, "you are not tired of whaling already, are' you?"

      "Well, I can't say, exacly; but I guess this child won't be caught in such a snap agin; not soon he won't.  Oh, gosh! gosh!  Dod blame the luck!  'Tain't no use to try; folks says salt water helps it some, but, durn the thing, I've swallered a bucketful, an' I feel a devilish sight worse an' ever."

      "Maybe you haven't swallowed enough, Mack," said the cook; "try another bucketful, and, likely as not, it'll cure you."

      "No, I won't!" retorted Mack; " cause, durn the stuff, 'twarn't never made for nothin' in human shape.  I wish I hadn't never seen a drop on't.  Salt water!  Ugh!  Oh, gosh!  oh, gosh!"

      "What induced you to ship on a whaling voyage?" I asked, forgetting my own folly.  "Why didn't you stay at home, Mack, where you were better off?"

      "Well, I don't know.  I came because I was a dod-burned fool; an' I s'pose you hadn't no better reason.  Nobody hadn't oughter leave hum.  Folks that be hum can't do better than stay thar."

      I made no farther attempts to be witty at Mack's expense on this occasion.

Trouble on Board. — Choking a Seaman. — All Hands called Aft. — A Scene in the Waist. — Laying down the Law. — Duplicity of the Owners. — Choosing Watches. — Preparations for the Whaling Ground. — Fatiguing Exercises.

      AMONG the foremast hands was a man from Charleston, South Carolina, by the name of Smith.  According to his own representation, he had served as steward in some of the schooners running from Charleston to New York.  He professed to be well acquainted with ship duties, and his name was down on the papers as ordinary seaman.  A boy from Fall River, who had shipped as steward, was so sea-sick as to be unable to do duty.  The captain sent the mate forward to procure a temporary substitute from among the crew.  Smith was selected, and ordered aft to act as steward until the recovery of the boy.  He resolutely refused to act in that capacity, stating that he had shipped as an ordinary seaman, and would remain before the mast. The mate, upon reporting his refusal, was sent forward to make him turn out at all hazards.  Smith was very ill at the time, and the mate, not wishing to be hard with him, did not resort to force.  No threats, however, had any effect upon him.  He steadily refused to act as steward, and stated, moreove that he was unable to do duty of any kind, and would not be forced on deck until sufficiently recovered from his illness.  The captain then came forward to the scuttle, and called upon him, in a peremptory voice, to turn out.

      "I'm sick; I'll not go on deck!" said Smith.

      "Won't you? I'll soon make you!" shouted the captain.  "I'll see whether you will or not!"  Springing down the ladder, he then grasped Smith by the shirt-collar, and dragged him out of his berth.  "Up with you, now, and not another word from you!"

      "No, sir, I'll not go on deck," said Smith, making a show of resistance.  "You'd better mind how you handle me!  I'm a Charleston man, myself!  Let me go; let me go, sir!"

      "Are you, hey?" thundered the captain; "a Charleston man?  I'll let you know what I am; I'll let you know that I'm captain of this ship!"  With these words the captain dragged him up the ladder by main force, and, jerking him through the scuttle, collared him against the foremast. Faint and haggard with sickness, the offender commenced pleading for mercy.

      "Don't choke me, captain; don't choke me!"

      "Yes, I'll choke the stubbornness out of you;  I'll choke obedience into you!"  roared the captain, shaking him by the throat.

      Great God! you'll kill me," groaned the man, nearly black in the face.

      "Do your duty, then."

      "I will, sir, I will.  Don't kill me."

      "Go aft, then, and act as steward till I think proper to get one in your place; and remember, if you show any more of your stubbornness, I'll flog it out of you with a rope's end."

      Smith staggered aft, rubbing his throat, and crying with pain.  From that time forth he was the officers' dog.  He had earned a bad name for himself, and he kept it during the remainder of his stay on board the vessel.

      This was the commencement of trouble.  It was deemed an appropriate occasion to "lay down the law."  All hands were called aft.

      The captain deliberately stalked the quarter-deck, exulting in the "pomp and circumstance" of his high and responsible position.  Every step he took be spoke the internal workings of a man swelling with authority.  The proud glance of his eye;  the severe frown-of his heavy eyebrows;  the haughty curl of his lip;  even the peculiar twist of his long, nasal protuberance seemed to say, "Behold, and wonder! I stand before you arrayed in a halo of glory.  I am commander of the great barque styx!  Authority is mine!  Look upon me, all ye who have eyes to see, and tremble, all ye who have ears to hear!"  With his hands stuck in his breeches pockets, he then approached the break of the quarter-deck, and, straddling out his legs to guard against lee-lurches, asked if all hands were present.  One of the officers replied in the affirmative.

      The scene was at once grotesque and impressive.  Fourteen men, comprising he whole crew, were huddled together in the waist, at the starboard gangway.  Of these four were Portuguese, two Irish, and eight Americans; and certainly a more uncouth-looking set, including my friend and myself, never met in one group.  The Portuguese wore sennet hats with sugar-loaf crowns, striped bed-ticking pantaloons patched with duck, blue shirts, and knives and belts.  They were all barefooted, and their hands and faces smeared with tar.  On their chins they wore black, matted beards, which had apparently never been combed.  The color of their skin was a dark, greenish-brown, if the reader can imagine such a color, and was calculated to create the impression that they never made use of soap and water.  The variety of dress in which the rest of the crew were habited was fully as striking as that of the Portuguese.  Some wore Scotch caps, duck trowsers, red shirts, and big horse-leather boots; others, tarpaulin hats, Guernsey frocks, tight-fitting cloth pantaloons, and red neckerchiefs.  Several were bareheaded and barefooted; having lost, their hats and shoes in the late gale.  All the green hands, which included most of the Americans and the two Irishmen, were still cadaverous and ghastly after their sea-sickness, and not more than two had yet entirely "squared accounts with old Nep."  Altogether we were the most extraordinary looking set of half-sailor nondescripts possible to conceive.  Thus situated, and thus equipped for sea life, we stood gaping at the captain in silent admiration.

      The mates and boat-steerers, consisting of the chief mate, an Englishman, the second mate, an American, two Portuguese boat-steerers, and an American of the same grade, stood near the mainmast, looking on with the air of men who were used to such things, and took no particular interest in them.

      The captain, after considerable deliberation, and a great show of contempt toward every body within range of his visual rays, then addressed is in a sharp nasal voice, fixing his eyes upon each man alternately.  I had listened to many speeches, but never to one more pointed than this.  No doubt he will be surprised to find it literally reported:

      "I suppose you all know what you came a whaling for?  If you don't, I'll tell you.  You came to make a voyage, and I intend you shall make one.  You didn't come to play; no, you came for oil;  you came to work."  [Here he took a turn on the quarter-deck, and while concentrating his ideas for another burst of eloquence, amused himself in an undertone, partly addressed to himself individually, and partly to the mate, by letting us know that it should be "a greasy voyage, and a monstrous greasy one too."]

      "You must do as the officers tell you, and work when there's work to be done.  We didn't ship you to be idle here.  No, no, that ain't what we shipped you for, by a grand sight.  If you think it is, you'll find yourselves mistaken.  You will that — some, I guess."  [Here he lost the idea, or, to use a more expressive phrase, "got stumpef."]  "I allow no fighting aboard this ship.  Come aft to me when you have any quarrels, and I'll settle 'em.  I'll do the quarreling for you — I will."  [Another turn on the quarter-deck.]  "If there's any fighting to be done, I want to have a hand in it.  Any of you that I catch at it, 'll have to FIGHT ME!"  [A frightful doubling up of the fists, and a most ferocious gnashing of the teeth.]  "I'11 have no swearing, neither.  I don't want to hear nobody swear.  It's a bad practice — an infernal bad one.  It breeds ill will, and don't do no kind o' good.  If I catch any one at it, damme, I'll flog him, that's all."  [A nod of the head, as much as to say he meant to be as good as his word.]  "When it's your watch below, you can stay below or for'ed, just as you please.  When it's your watch on deck, you must stay on deck, and work, if there's work to be done.  I won't have no skulking.  If I see sogers here, I'll soger 'em with a rope's end.  Any of you that I catch below, except in cases of sickness, or when it's your watch below; shall stay on deck and work till I think proper to stop you."  [A stride or two aft, and a glance to windward.]  "You shall have good grub to eat, and plenty of it.  I'll give you vittles if you work; if you don't work, you may starve.  Don't grumble about your grub neither.  You'd better not, I reckon."  [A mysterious shake of the head, which implied a vast deal of terrific meaning.]  "If you don't get enough, come aft and apply to me.  I'm the man to apply to;  I'm the captain."  [Here he surveyed himself with a look of exultation, which seemed to say that he was not only the captain — the very man to whom he had special reference, but that it was a source of infinite satisfaction to him to be the captain.]  "Now, the sooner you get a cargo of oil, the sooner you'll get home.  You'll find it to your interest to pay attention to what I say.  Do your duty, and act well your part toward me, and I'll treat you well;  but if you show any obstinacy or cut up any extras, I'll be d——d if it won't be worse for you!  Look out!  I ain't a man that's going to be trifled with.  No, I ain't — not myself, I ain't!  The officers will all treat you well, and I intend you shall do as they order you.  If you don't, I'll see about it."  [Three or four strides to and fro on the quarter-deck, and a portentous silence of five minutes.]  "That's all.  Go for'ed, where you belong!"

      Had the captain made good all his promises, we would have had no just cause for complaint; but we soon discovered that his speech was merely designed to intimidate us.  From that time forth we had the poorest fare, and in the scantiest quantities.  The owners had given us positive assurance that there never had sailed from that port a vessel better fitted in every respect.  For their misrepresentations, we heartily wished them a berth in their own barque, believing that the severest punishment that could be inflicted upon them.  A month's trial at it would make them exercise more humanity toward their fellow-creatures.

      Next in the routine of business was the choosing of watches.  We were all called to the waist that evening, and examined like a parcel of bullocks about to be butchered.  The mate and second mate made the selections.  Among others, I was chosen for the larboard or mate's watch, and my friend for the starboard or second mate's watch.

      The watch on deck was then set to work on the whaling gear.  Our duties from that time till we arrived on the western whaling ground were, working ship, grinding harpoons, spades, lances, boarding knives, &c., making deck brooms, washing decks every morning, clearing the rubbish away every afternoon, stowing away loose casks, steering and standing mast-heads.  Whenever the weather was fine we lowered the boats and practiced at pulling, backing, and all the maneuvers necessary in the capture of a whale.  All this severe labor was very hard upon those who had not been accustomed to great physical exertion.

Distressing Illness of my Friend.— His brutal Treatment.— Unfeeling Conduct of the Portuguese.— Their Ignorance.— Setting Boats'-crew Watches.— A Chase after Black-fish.— Evening Pastimes.

      NOTHING of interest transpired after the difficulty with Smith, till

      July 27th. — I had afternoon watch below, and had turned in to forget my troubles in sleep.  About two o'clock I was roused by the steward, who informed me that W—— had suddenly fallen upon the deck in a fit of convulsions.  I immediately sprang up the ladder and ran aft.  Language can not depict, the shocking spectacle that met my eyes.  There was my bosom friend, sitting up against one of the scuttle-butts, his shirt open, his hat lying on the deck, and his eyes ready to start from their sockets.  The captain stood by him, holding him by the hand.  I felt sick and giddy, when W—— stared at me with the vacant gaze of an idiot.  Bursting into a wild laugh, he attempted to spring up.  It was a fearful laugh — a laugh that rang like a death-knell in my ears.  I grasped him by the hand; the terrible thought struck me that he had gone mad! His voice was wild and unnatural, and his whole appearance awful in the extreme.  Gazing vacantly in my face, he burst into tears, and sobbed as if his heart would break.  I called him by name; I implored him to speak to me.  Without noticing my appeals, he turned to the captain and inquired my name.  Upon receiving an answer, he begged me, in the most piteous tones, to convey a message home to his mother, that he never should see her again.

      "Before another hour," he said, "I shall be food for the sharks.  0 God, must I die so soon?  Am I never to see home again?  I have kind, good parents; tell them I died thinking of them.  It is horrible — horrible to be thrown overboard in a sack!"

      No effort to console him had the slightest effect.  The fearful idea that he was about to be devoured by the sharks seemed to drive him mad.  He raved of strange things which he had seen at the masthead; talked incoherently of birds with beautiful plumage, curiously-formed fishes, and called upon us wildly to save him from the sharks.  It was a scene of horror that I shall never forget.

      When he became somewhat composed, one of the hands, assisted by myself, carried him forward to the forecastle, and laid him in his berth.  For three hours he lay in a trance, with his eyes wide open, not moving a muscle.  He looked like one that was dead.

      It appeared, from the statements of the watch on deck, that he had just come down from the masthead, where the rays of the sun poured down with an intense heat.  On reaching the deck, he walked aft toward the captain, who was parading the quarter-deck.  After passing the break of the deck he stood still, and while in the act of addressing the captain, fell down in convulsions.  From all these circumstances, and from the fact that he was not subject to fits, it was quite evident that it was a sunstroke.  He had suffered severely from sea-sickness, and was greatly debilitated.  A burning sun beating down upon his head for two hours could very easily have produced the terrible effects described.

      I thought it very hard that a man, really suffering from illness, should be compelled by the captain to stand two hours a day at the mast-head.  It was, in this case at least, little better than murder.  W—— never recovered from the effects of this fearful affliction.  Better, far better would it have been for him, had he fallen from his post and found a watery grave.  There are things connected with this event that weigh heavily upon my heart; things not rudely to be touched — affections tried and hearts broken.

      It is needless to dwell upon his sufferings during the remainder of his stay on board the ship.  The Portuguese were mere brutes, and, with two or three exceptions, the rest of the crew were little better.  Sympathy for the sick was a weakness unknown to them.  No temptation mould induce them to refrain from smoking, swearing, and blackguarding.  I attempted to purchase peace by giving them my clothes, but my exertions were of no avail.  I saw that it was useless to expostulate, and finding that the noise increased W——'s malady, I appealed to the captain to exert his influence over them.  His reply was characteristic, and just such as I might have expected had I known him better.  "He had nothing to do with the forecastle.  The Portuguese, as well as the Americans, were at liberty to do as they pleased in it.  He had no control over them after they went below.  W—— had no business coming to sea to get sick, and be a trouble to all on board.  He had seen such fellows before, and would not put himself out of his way to pamper to their wants.  Now that he was in a scrape, let him make the best of it, and not trouble folks with his complaints.  If he wanted medicine, he might have it, and that was all that could be done for him."

      Where such an example was set by the captain, I could not expect the crew to do otherwise than follow it.  For FIFTY-TWO days W—— lay in the forecastle, suffering such tortures of body and mind as can not be described.  The captain gave him to understand that he should not leave the vessel the whole voyage; he might die in the forecastle, for what he cared.  During all this time, my unfortunate comrade had nothing to eat but hard biscuit, and occasionally, a piece of butter about the size of a dollar; so reduced was he that nothing else allowed the crew would remain on his stomach.  The hot, close atmosphere of the forecastle, rendered still more suffocating by the fumes of old pipes and bad cigars, was not very well calculated to promote his recovery.

      It would be difficult to give any idea of our forecastle.  In wet weather, when most of the hands were below, cursing, smoking, singing, and spinning yarns, it was a perfect Bedlam.  Think of three or four Portuguese, a couple of Irishmen, and five or six rough Americans, in a hole about sixteen feet wide, and as many, perhaps, from the bulk-heads to the fore-peak; so low that a full-grown person could not stand upright in it, and so wedged up with rubbish as to leave scarcely room for a foothold.  It contained twelve small berths, and with fourteen chests in the little area around the ladder, seldom admitted of being cleaned.  In warm weather it was insufferably close.  It would seem like exaggeration to say, that I have seen in Kentucky pig-sties not half so filthy, and in every respect preferable to this miserable hole: such, however, is the fact.

      In this loathsome den, the Portuguese were in their element, revelling in filth, beating harsh discord on an old viola, jabbering in their native language, smoking, cursing, and blackguarding.  Their chief recreation, however, was quarreling, at which they were incessantly engaged.  Nor was it confined to week-days, for not the slightest regard was paid to the Sabbath.  The most horrible profanity was indulged in, and to an excess that was truly revolting.  They did not seem aware even of the existence of a Supreme Being.  And yet these Christians chattered a paternoster over their beads every night!  What mockery!

      I asked Enos, the most intelligent of them, if he had ever read a book called the Bible.

      "No," said he, "I don't sabe how to read."

      "Did you ever hear of it?"

      "I don't know."

      "Do the people on the Western Islands pay any regard to Sunday?"

      "Oh yes.  When Sunday come, dey go to chapel.  In de morning dey pray, in the evening dey dance and play cards; dey have fandango.  Old padre say dat bad; we say, here ten cent.  Den padre laugh and say no more 'bout it."

      Here the Portuguese all set up a laugh, and commenced singing, in whining voices, "Dominus vobiseo;" &c.

      As soon as we arrived on the western whaling ground, boat watches were set.  In a small vessel like the styx, with three boats, besides a spare boat aft, there are usually three watches, consisting of the larboard, starboard, and waist boat's crew.  Each watch is under the command of a boat-steerer after sail is shortened, which is generally about sundown.  In our watches there were four men, and the boat-steerer.  The mate and second mate sleep all night, and remain on duty all day.  The alternate hours of duty and rest with the crew are arranged thus: Say the larboard and starboard boat's crews go below after sail is taken- in; the waist boat's crew remains on deck till ten o'clock, when it is relieved by the larboard boat's crew, and turns in till the hands are called in the morning.  The watch then on deck is relieved at one by the starboard boat's crew, which remains on deck till all below are called in the morning.  The starboard watch then has forenoon watch below, the larboard the afternoon, and the waist boat's crew all day on deck.

      In making a passage, there are but two watches, the larboard and starboard, which are headed by the first and second mate, who take the same hours of rest allowed the crew.

      So much of my time was taken up at the helm and mast-head, that I had but few hours every day to devote to my unfortunate friend, who could look to me alone for aid.  Each day he became more exhausted from want of proper nourishment and care.

      August 3d. — We had now prepared all the whaling gear, and were daily on the look-out for whales.

      August 5th. — The boats were lowered for black-fish.  I took my place, for the first time, at the aft oar in the waist boat.  After rowing about two miles, we came up with the school.^* It was an unusually large one, but the day was so calm that they were very shy.  We made several unsuccessful attempts to get a dart at them, and continued the chase for six or eight hours under a burning sun.  I was pretty well tired of my oar by the time we turned toward the vessel.  The Portuguese consoled me with the remark, that I bad not begun to see "a hard pull yet," and enjoyed my cadaverous looks with great satisfaction.

      From seven till nine o'clock we usually spent on deck, amusing ourselves at the various pastimes common among sailors.  When the weather permitted, we had dancing, singing, and spinning yarns.  The Portuguese had a guitar, or viola, as they called it, with wire strings, upon which they produced two or three melancholy minors, accompanying their performance with a harsh, unmusical chant.  Four of them formed couples, and while one of the by-standers played the guitar, those forming the set moved backward and forward like hyenas in a cage, pawing the deck with their feet, and using their fingers by way of castanets; all chanting, in a whining tone, two or three monotonous notes, which they repeated till it became fairly distracting.  While the Portuguese amused themselves in this way, the American portion of the crew had songs, yarns, and dances after their own fashion.  As all human enjoyments are comparative, so many an hour of real pleasure was thus passed on board the styx by myself and others, who had seen worse times since we had left New Bedford.

More Trouble on Board. — Cruelty toward a Seaman. — A School of Whales. — Prize alongside. — Remarks of the Down-Easter. — Cutting In and Trying Out. — Land ho! — Peak of Pico. — Terceira. — Trading. — Character of the Islanders. — Scenery. — Adventure on the Island. — An unpleasant Predicament.

      I ALLUDED, in the preceding chapter, to the difficulty with Smith as the beginning of trouble on board.  Soon after that a disease of long standing attacked him, and confined him to the forecastle for some time.  He was abused by the Portuguese, and hazed by the officers for not getting well.  The captain, disappointed in procuring oil, became so morose that, for days in succession, he spoke not a kind word to any of the crew.  He swore, one morning, that if Smith would not come on deck and go to work, he'd drag him out of the forecastle.  Between the abuse of the Portuguese on the one hand, and threats on the other, Smith thought it best to attempt to go on duty; and the same evening he crawled up the ladder, and staggered aft, so weak that he could scarcely walk.  In all vessels the invalids, who are able to do any thing, take the helm, which was the duty assigned to this man.  The captain was sitting on the gunwale of the larboard boat, close by.  It should be remarked that he had an inveterate ill will against Smith ever since the morning of the difficulty; and on several occasions observed, that he "might rot in the forecastle, and be d——d, before any trouble should be taken about such a worthless rascal!"  I was in the waist at work grinding irons, when I was attracted by the harsh voice of the captain ordering him to "luff." Ignorant of the custom which requires the helmsman to repeat the order (for it appeared that he had never been to sea before), Smith put the wheel to leeward, supposing that to obey was sufficient.

      "Luff, I tell you, luff!" roared the captain, in a savage voice.  "Do you hear, there?"

      Weak and nervous from the effects of his disease, the poor fellow continued to luff, muttering that she was coming up.

      "Luff! will you luff?" was the reply.

      Without any answer, Smith put the wheel hard down.

      "You scoundrel, luff!" thundered the captain, frantic with rage.  "Do you hear me? you sheep-head, do you hear me?"

      "Yes, sir, I hear," said the man, quietly; and, indeed, it would have been difficult to avoid hearing, for the captain's voice was like the braying of an ass.

      "The devil take you, then, why don't you answer?"

      "I answered once, sir."

      "No, you didn't;  don't tell me that! don't tell me that, I say.  Now, I tell you to meet her."

      Smith obeyed, but made no reply.

      "Curse you! I'll teach you to answer!  I'll flog the stubbornness out of you!  You hear well enough; but it's your stubbornness!"

      With that the captain sprang down on deck, and, rushing upon Smith, struck him several times across the face with his open hand.  Haggard and faint, the poor wretch clung to the wheel to avoid falling.

      "I'll whale the stubbornness out of you! I'll have you answer me when I speak to you.  Now, when I tell you to do a thing, you'll do it;" and, with other polished expressions of the kind, he walked to and fro on the quarter-deck, chafing with rage.

      "How does she head?" next came, in a gruff voice.

      "East, sir."

      "You lie! you lie!"

      There was no answering such an accusation as this; for, if the captain says black is white, it must be so.

      "How does she head?" (louder and fiercer.)

      "East."

      "You lie! I tell you, you lie! Don't you lie to me! If I catch you lying, I'll warm you!"

      "She heads so, according to the compass."

      "Don't tell me that; I know better.  You'll be larning me the compass next! Look sharp, there! I'll warm your back!"

      No doubt this treatment was intended to impress the man at the wheel as well as the spectators with a sense of awe toward the captain, and a proper respect for his authority and personal dignity.  To me, however, there was something horribly brutal in it.  I vowed in my heart he should be sorry for such cowardly conduct toward one who was unable to resent it.  The time, I hoped, would come when I would have it in my power to show him that even a foremast hand may have feeling, and is not to be abused with impunity.

      This was but an everyday incident, after all.  It may be that I have wasted time in describing it.  I know there are some whose nicer feelings will revolt at such scenes.  It should be borne in mind, however, that incidents of this kind form a great part of a sailor's life.  To some readers, who derive their ideas of things aboard ship from sea novels, in which the valor of the heroes consists in a heroic contempt of all authority, and a superabundance of impertinence, it may seem that to submit tamely to the over-bearing bullying of a brute, without retort or resentment, shows a want of manly spirit.  I would ask, what is to be done in such cases? A man has no right to strike his commander, however well justified he may be in so doing, according to our notions of right and wrong.  Nor must he use language that can be termed insolent or mutinous.  This might do ashore, where one man can meet another upon equal terms; but it can not be carried out at sea.  If the captain can not manage Jack, the officers are ready to lend their aid; and, to my thinking, it would be poor satisfaction to be seized up by main force and flogged like a negro.  Until masters are taught, by the severest punishment, that their little brief authority does not justify them in acts of tyranny and cruelty, poor Jack must quietly submit to all his woes!

      August 16th. — Chased a school of whales all day.  At 6 o'clock P.M. their spouts were seen about two miles off the lee bow.  The larboard and starboard boats, headed by the captain and the mate, were lowered.  At 10 P.M. the boats came alongside with a twenty-barrel whale in tow.  All hands set to work rigging up the cutting tackle, and getting the try-works ready.

      The appearance of this, our first whale, was hailed by a general cheer.  After the watches were set, and the decks cleared, I had an opportunity of examining our prize.  It was about thirty-five feet in length, of a rather light color, and had a strong, disagreeable smell of oil.  Though considered a very small whale, its proportions seemed gigantic enough to me.  It was surrounded by sharks eagerly awaiting their prey.

      No correct.  idea can be formed of the process of capturing whales and trying out their blubber, without some knowledge of the instruments employed.  I shall take pains to make my information on this subject as intelligible as possible to the "unlearned" landsman, taking it for granted he is not versed in the mysteries of the craft.

      First in importance is the harpoon.  This instrument, called, in whaling parlance, an "iron," is generally between three and four feet long, with a bearded head, and a shaft or handle of hickory, oak, or dog-wood, about a foot longer than the iron, pointed at the end so as to fit in the socket of the harpoon.  A strap, or piece of tarred rope, fastened to the pole and firmly woven over the socket, keeps them together, and forms a loop to which the tub-line is attached.  The harpoon is the first instrument made use of in the capture of a whale.  Instances, however, have occurred, in which whales have been taken by the skillful thrusts of a lance.  In ordinary cases, only one harpoon is made use of, but should it "draw," or the whale prove difficult to manage, it is not unusual to dart three or four.  Each boat is provided with that number.  The head of the harpoon, when not in immediate use, is preserved from rust by a wooden cover, the inside of which is formed to fit it closely.  It is the province of the boat-steerer to keep the whaling gear in good order, and he takes particular pride in the sharpness and polish of his "irons."  The name of the vessel or captain is usually stamped on the thick part of the harpoon so that, in case of a dispute between two captains in relation to their right to a whale struck by both, the matter may be determined by reference to the brand.  The first fast harpoon, if still attached to the line in the boat, forms an indisputable right to the whole whale; but if the line be cut or broken, and the last save the loose whale, then the oil is equally shared, or the claimant yields his right by courtesy, or for a suitable consideration.

      The lance is somewhat longer than the harpoon, without beards, and shaped at the head not unlike a spoon, but convex on both sides, and very sharp on the edges and at the point.  The handle is perfectly straight and handsomely rounded, and varies from five to seven feet in length.  A small line, about the thickness of a ratlin, is attached to it, for the purpose of drawing it back to the boat after a "dart" The lance is made use of to dispatch the whale, after having first secured him with the harpoon.  When the whale becomes sufficiently quiet from exhaustion caused by exertion or loss of blood, the boat from which the harpoon has been darted draws up by the line, and the chief officer in command exchanges places with the harpooneer, being of a higher grade, and presumed to be more experienced in the business, and begins the responsible task of lancing.  This is the most dangerous part of the contest. It is often difficult to get the boat in a favorable position, and a slight error of judgment, or a want of skill in the officer, may occasion the loss of the whole boat's crew.  Two or three skillful darts will bring the life-blood in a few minutes, and I have known cases in which, by a single well-directed dart, the whale was almost instantly killed.  To strike a whale in the "life," or vitals, the first dart, is the ambition of all good whalemen.

      This cut represents the form of the spade.  It is an instrument much used in the process of whaling.  Each boat is provided with a spade, though it does not immediately come into requisition.  It is employed to cut holes in the blubber after the capture of the whale, in which to fasten the tow-rope, or to plant the "whift," or small flag, by which the position of the dead whale may be ascertained, in case the boat puts off after others in the school.  When the lines of two or more boats become entangled out of the reach of the hatchet, the spade is sometimes used to cut away.  It is also convenient in case the sharks become troublesome.  On board the ship it is made use of to cut the blubber from the carcass of the whale; and, in the hold blubber-room, spades (having short shafts).  are the instruments employed to cut the large sheets of blubber called "blanket pieces" into blocks or "horse pieces" for the mincing knife.

      The boarding knife requires no explanation.  The above cut gives a correct representation of it.  In "cutting in" it is used to make holes in the blanket pieces for the blubber hook, and to cut them off when they have been drawn up to the blocks by the tackle attached to the windlass.

      Blubber knives are similar to the common knives used by butchers.  In detaching the meat from the blubber, or making "lippers" to clean the decks, they come in play.

      The mincing knife slices the horse pieces for the try-works.  It is thought that the thinner the blubber is sliced the more oil it will yield.  Mincers consider themselves perfect in their branch of the business when they can make "Bible leaves."

In connection with the mincing knife should be mentioned the "mincing horse," which is simply a board about three feet long and ten inches wide, fastened to the bulwarks, and supported by a leg; upon this "horse" the blubber is laid for the knife.  A large tub in front of the mincer, and under the horse, receives the minced blubber.  When this` tub is full, the minced pieces are thrown into another tub close by the try-works, from which they are thrown into the boilers with a large fork, which is represented in the following cut.

      The fork is also used to stir up the blubber in the try-pots; and when the pieces become sufficiently crisp, they are thrown into a large wooden vessel for fuel, by means of a copper strainer.

      The

strainer

      The dipper is used to bail the oil out of the try-pots into the copper cooler by the side of the try- works.

      This cut represents the pike, a sharp, curved iron, to which is attached a long oak or hickory handle, used to pass the horse piece from the hold, and push the heavy pieces of "lean" overboard.

      The "drag" is a piece of board about fifteen inches in diameter, of an octagonal form, with a block of wood passing through the center, to which a line is attached, and which is prevented from slipping through by shoulders on the other side.  After the whale has been fastened to by the harpoon, the drug is thrown overboard, secured to the whale-line, so as to impede his progress and tire him down.

      I give a view of the " tub," merely for the purpose of showing the careful manner in which it is necessary to coil up the line.  The slightest tangle or knot in a whale-line would endanger the lives of the whole boat's crew, from the great velocity with which it runs out.  Great care is, therefore, observed in making each layer perfectly smooth, so that it may have a free run.

      These are the principal implements employed in the process of capturing, cutting in, and trying out the sperm whale.  It is hardly necessary to go into dry details at greater length; for were I to undertake a description of every thing pertaining to whaling, there is no telling where it would end.

      I was much amused at the remarks of the "downeaster," suggested by the novel appearance of our first whale.  I observed him, as he leaned over the monkey-rail, gazing steadfastly at the whale, while he muttered something to himself which I could not hear.

      "Well, Mack," said I, "what's your opinion of whales?"

      "Why, I was jest a thinkin' it's a considerable sort of a fish.  They ain't got fish like that up the Kennebeck."

      "I guess not.  still it is nothing like so large as the whale Jonah swallowed."

      "By gosh!" shouted Mack, laughing, "if his'n was bigger than that, I'll be darned if the flukes didn't tickle his throat, if he was as sea-sick as I was a spell ago."

      "Do you think whales are fish?" said I, rather balked in my attempt to quiz him.

      "Why, some folks says whales isn't fish at all.  I rayther calculate they are, myself.  Whales has fins, so has fish; whales has slick skins, so has fish; whales has tails, so has fish; whales ain't got scales on 'em, neither has catfish, nor eels, nor tadpoles, nor frogs, nor horse-leeches.  I conclude, then, whales is fish.  Every body had oughter call 'em so.  Nine out of ten doos call 'em fish.  If whales live on small fish, they'd drive a smashin' business up the Kennebeck.  I never see none up thar'.  If I was a whale, I'd try them diggins.  There ain't better fodder for whales no whar'.  This may be a good place, for all I know; but it looks dreadful blue and lonesome.  I'd want to be in fresh water, if I was a whale; and then, if I wanted to season the vittles Natur' gave me, I'd pile the salt on rayther more moderate.  I'd salt 'em to suit me.  I don't like to be forced to eat salt vittles now, and I ain't a whale.  Whales is cannibals.  I've a bad opinion of 'em myself.  I don't like the looks of 'em, no how.  Gosh! what a jaw! I'd rayther let 'em be, and do business on a smaller scale.  Folks that doos business on a small scale ain't so likely to git bu'st. Fishin's a fishin'.  I like fishin' as well as any body; but catchin' of whales is a leetle too extensive.  It's orfully alarmin' work.  I don't want to be swallered jest yet; not in the whalin' line, I don't!"

      At daylight next morning all hands were called, and set to work upon the whale.  A brief description of the process of procuring the oil may not be uninteresting.  The blubber varies from four to ten inches in thickness.  It is cut from the whale in layers about three feet wide, which run from the head to the flukes, in a spiral form.  After the blubber and flukes are hoisted on board with a large tackle attached to a pendant in the main-top, the boat-steerers cut them in sizes sufficiently small to fit snugly in the blubber-room, an, apartment in the main hold.  The try-works are then cleaned out, and got in readiness for boiling.  Two or three hands are stationed in the blubber-room with short spades, whose duty it is to cut up the large pieces of blubber called blanket pieces into blocks or pieces about a foot and a half long and six inches wide.  The blubber is then minced into thin slices, and cast into the boilers; a fire started, and the first batch of oil obtained: the crisped pieces of blubber are used for fuel.  The hot oil is strained into a large copper cooler, where it is permitted to settle till the boilers are again ready to be emptied.  It is then strained into casks, and kept on deck till quite cool, when it is stowed down in the casks in the hold by means of a hose.

      A "trying out" scene is the most stirring part of the whaling business, and certainly the most disagreeable.  The try-works are usually situated between the fore-mast and the main hatch.  In small vessels they contain two or three large pots, imbedded in brick.  A few barrels of oil from the whale's case, or head, are bailed into the pots before commencing upon the blubber.  Two men are standing by the mincing horse, one slicing up the blubber, and the other passing horse pieces from a tub, into which they are thrown by a third hand, who receives them from the hold.  One of the boat-steerers stands in front of the lee pot, pitching the minced blubber into the pots with a fork.  Another is stirring up the oil, and throwing the scraps into a wooden strainer.  We will now imagine the works in full operation at night.  Dense clouds of lurid smoke are curling up to the tops, shrouding the rigging from the view.  The oil is hissing in the try-pots.

      Half a dozen of the crew are sitting on the windlass, their rough, weather-beaten faces shining in the red glare of the fires, all clothed in greasy duck, and forming about as savage a looking group as ever was sketched by the pencil of Salvator Rosa.  The cooper and one of the mates are raking up the fires with long bars of wood or iron.  The decks, bulwarks, railing, try-works, and windlass are covered with oil and slime of black-skin, glistering with the red glare from the try-works.  Slowly and doggedly the vessel is pitching her way through the rough seas, looking as if en- veloped in flames.

      "More horse pieces!" cries the mincer's attendant.

      "Horse pieces!" echoes the man in the waist.

      "Scraps!" growls a boat-steerer.

      By-and-by the captain comes up from the cabin to see how things are progressing.  He peeps into the pots, and observes, in a discontented tone, "Why don't you keep that 'ere oil stirred? It's all getting black." Then he takes a look into the mincer's tub: "That won't do! Make Bible leaves of 'em." Then he looks at the men on the windlass: "Hey! all idle? Give these fellows something to do.  We can't have idlers about now."

      Having delivered himself of these sentiments, he goes back to his snug nest in the cabin.  The idlers resume their places, and entertain themselves spinning yarns, singing songs, &c., and calculating the time by the moon.  About the middle of the watch they get up the bread kid, and, after dipping a few biscuit in salt water, heave them into a strainer, and boil them in the oil.  It is difficult to form any idea of the luxury of this delicious mode of cooking on a long night-watch.  Sometimes, when on friendly terms with the steward, they make fritters of the brains of the whale mixed with flour, and cook them in the oil.  These are considered a most sumptuous delicacy.  Certain portions of the whale's flesh are also eaten with relish, though, to my thinking, not a very great luxury, being coarse and strong.  Mixed with potatoes, however, like "porpoise balls," they answer very well for variety.  A good appetite makes almost any kind of food palatable.  I have eaten whale-flesh at sea with as much relish as I ever ate roast-beef ashore.  A trying-out scene has something peculiarly wild and savage in it; a kind of indescribable uncouthness, which renders it difficult to describe with any thing like accuracy.  There is a murderous appearance about the blood-stained decks, and the huge masses of flesh and blubber lying here and there, and a ferocity in the looks of the men, heightened by the red, fierce glare of the fires, which inspire in the mind of the novice feelings of mingled disgust and awe.  But one soon becomes accustomed to such scenes, and regards them with the indifference of a veteran in the field of battle.  I know of nothing to which this part of the whaling business can be more appropriately compared than to Dante's pictures of the infernal regions.  It requires but little stretch of the imagination to suppose the smoke, the hissing boilers, the savage-looking crew, and the waves of flame that burst now and then from the flues of the furnace, part of the paraphernalia of a scene in the lower regions.  Our "down-easter," who always had something characteristic to say of every thing that fell under his observation, very sagely remarked on one occasion, when nearly suffocated with smoke, that "if this warn't h—l on a small scale, he didn't know what to call it."

      Of the unpleasant effects of the smoke I scarcely know how any idea can be formed, unless the curious inquirer choose to hold his nose over the smoking wick of a sperm oil lamp, and fancy the disagreeable experiment magnified a hundred thousand fold.  Such is the romance of life in the whale fishery.  I have thus endeavored to describe a trying-out scene; and I hope, with the aid of a drawing taken on the spot, my hasty sketch will not be altogether unintelligible.

      We saw, during our cruise on the western ground, great numbers of black-fish, grampus, porpoises, and jumpers; and caught in abundance dolphins, albacore, bonitos, and skip-jacks, which are all dry, and not to be compared with bay-fish.

      September 5th. — Killed a black-fish, which yielded three barrels of oil.

      September 10th. — At sunrise this morning the man at the mast-head saluted us with the cry of "Land ho!"  All hands were on deck in an instant.  The land proved to be the Peak of Pico, one of the Azores, or Western Islands, distant sixty miles.  During the day it became more distinct, and toward evening could be seen from the deck, bearing west-northwest. Pico, at this distance, has much the appearance of Teneriffe.  The naked eye could scarcely distinguish the peak from the clouds on the horizon at so great a distance; but I was told that Pico could be seen, on a clear day, at the distance of a hundred and twenty miles.  It resembles, when first in sight, a dark blue cloud, the top of which is distinctly marked, while the base is lost in clouds of a lighter cast, mingling with the haze on the horizon.  Fayal, another of the Azores, lying to the northward of Pico, within about seven miles, was not visible at so great a distance.

      On Sunday, 11th of September, we made the island of Terceira, the largest of the Azores.

      The wind being light, we did not approach near enough to see the houses and farms until next day, when we ran under the lee coast to avoid an impending gale.

      Terceira is a remarkably picturesque island, beautifully laid out in farms, which, at this season of the year, have a rich golden hue that bespeaks abundant crops.  The coast is broken and rugged, and in many places so steep as to preclude the possibility of ascent.  Part of the island seems to have been ingulfed by an earthquake, which accounts for the rugged appearance of the coast. It is visited at certain seasons of the year by heavy gales and rains, especially in October and November, when there is frequently danger in approaching it.  While we lay off and on, awaiting a suitable opportunity of running in, we had hard, shifting winds, and it rained almost incessantly.  Mount Brazil, and other elevated portions of the island, were covered most of the time with white, misty clouds.

      September 13th. — At eight P.M.  the waist-boat was lowered.  As I belonged to this boat, I was permitted to go ashore.  We had a hard pull of about six miles before we made the beach.  After running along for a mile or two in search of a good landing, we entered a small cove, forming a safe harbor for boats, where we found an excellent landing among the fish-boats belonging to that portion of the inhabitants who follow fishing as well as farming for a livelihood.  In less than an hour, the governor and a large posse of ragged officers came down, loaded with baskets of potatoes, onions, and fruit.  We had provided ourselves with a barrel of black-fish oil for purposes of traffic, that being a commodity greatly in demand on these islands.  A circle was immediately formed around our captain, who, with two Portuguese interpreters, dealt out the oil at the rate of a quart for a bushel of fine potatoes or a large bunch of onions.  It took us at this rate but a very short time to fill the boat, the inhabitants supplying us much more rapidly than the oil could be measured out.

      The scene was one of great novelty and interest to me.  I had charge of the boat, so that I could look on at my leisure.  A fleet of storm-beaten fish- boats, with crews of sunburned fishermen, lay in the cove at anchor.  Other boats were constantly coming in from the offing or going out; and several crazy vessels of a larger size were drawn up on the rocks, apparently basking in the sun for want of something better to do.

      The shore at this place is very rugged and rocky, running up abruptly about a hundred yards, where it is joined by the base of a large bank of sand and rock, interspersed with cane and briers.  A pathway leads up through the defiles between the rocks to the foot of this bank, winding thence circuitously to the summit, which is half a mile from the water.  Close by the boat-landing there is a large cavern, in which the fishermen take shelter from the inclement weather so prevalent on the shores.  The inhabi- tants residing in the neighborhood procure water from a small spring gushing from the rocks immediately under the brow of this cave.  Altogether it forms one of the most useful and romantic features in the scene.

      Before our boat had left the shore, news of its arrival had spread all over the island, and crowds of the peasantry, of both sexes and of every age, came flocking down, laden with baskets of fruit, potatoes, onions, melons, and other refreshments calculated to tempt the crew of a whaler.

      The dress of the females, though of coarse material, struck me as being rather picturesque.  A white handkerchief  tastefully arranged on the head, a loose spenser of blue cotton extending to the waist, and a short frock with a fringe of blue or pink, and a pair of light shoes, form the simple costume of most of these "ladies."  Those between fifteen and eighteen years are very pretty and well-formed; and, indeed, I saw many whose jet-black hair, bright eyes, and rich complexion would be regarded as beautiful by connoisseurs fond of the brunet style.  Few of the older females are even passable.  The rarest specimens of hags and leather-skinned witches are to be found among the ancient dames of the island, who, with an activity undiminished by age, skip about from rock to rock shrieking at the juveniles.  The different classes of males can not be distinguished by any fixed style of dress, most of them wearing such ragged apparel as can be purchased from the crews of whalers.  In this particular each individual seemed to consult his own taste, rather than follow any particular fashion.  Round jackets, loose frocks, small cloth caps, all covered with patches of a hundred different colors, are the articles in most general use.  The men and boys usually carry long poles or staffs to assist them in climbing the rocky parts of the shore.

      About noon we returned to the vessel for a farther supply of oil, having bartered all we had carried ashore for a boat-load of refreshments.  On our return to the island, great numbers of new-comers stood on the rocks awaiting our approach.  Some of the governor's officers from Angra had also come down to prevent the importation of tobacco without the usual exorbitant duty.  Notwithstanding their vigilance, however, I was beckoned aside by two or three young islanders, who had baskets of apples and figs for barter.  Their eagerness to be understood, and my gesticulations to assure them that the vociferous rapidity with which they spoke Portuguese did not make it a jot more intelligible to me, were very amusing.  After a variety of attempts to make them- selves intelligible, one of them cried out, pointing to his basket of figs,

      "Present me tobac, I present you fig."

      "I have no tobacco."

      "Yes, tobac here," feeling my pockets.

      "No, there is no tobacco there."

      "What! you no got tobac chew?"

      "No."

      "No tobac smoke?"

      "No."

      "Tobac chew, smoke, snuff, no got?"

      I assured him that I had none of any kind; but, still doubtful, he endeavored to insinuate his hand into my pocket.  This liberty I rather unceremoniously repulsed.  Not at all displeased, he continued to petition me for "tobac." Finding me unable or unwilling to accommodate him, he began to persecute me for a knife.

      "Present me knife, signor?"

      "I have no knife to trade."

      "Present you fig, present you apple, me."

      "I can't trade today.  To-morrow I'll buy your figs."

      "Suppose you show me knife?"

      "No knife to sell."

      "Ah, me feel!" putting his hands on my pocket.  As he still remained unsatisfied, I handed him a jack-knife to look at.

      "star bon!" said he, eagerly grasping the treasure, and thrusting it into his pocket; "bon! bon! star bon knife!"

      The knife belonged to one of my shipmates, and I was unwilling to lose it.

      "No bon for you!" said I, catching him by the collar.

      "Oh, yes, bon for me."

      "Oh, no bon for you.  Hand it out, my friend, or I'll show you a Kentucky trick.  Do you know any thing about gouging here?"

      "Me like knife much!" shouted the rogue; laughing.  Finding me resolute, however, he very unwillingly complied with my demand.  By this time about fifty ragged urchins, a few superannuated beldames, and a number of shaggy-faced fishermen had gathered around me, vociferating loudly for "tobac." They were thrusting toward me all kinds of fruits produced on the island, eagerly demanding in return "tobac chew! tobac smoke! knife!" which are the only articles of trade they seem to stand in need of.  The boys went so far as to tempt me with large pieces of greasy and half-nibbled corn bread, shrieking, like a gang of young devils, "Tobac smoke! tobac! tobac!"

      Captain A—— and a Portuguese interpreter, assisted by the second mate, were mean time busily engaged dealing out black-fish oil to the islanders for onions and potatoes, under the superintendence of the governor, who stood by to see fair play on both sides.  The boat, as soon as it was laden, was once more manned, and, with no very favorable impression respecting the character of the natives, I left for the vessel.

      Next day the waist-boat was again lowered.  This time I provided myself with knives and tobacco, in order to secure a supply of fruit and other luxuries preparatory to our long cruise.  The captain, on landing, finding that the islanders were not ready with their recruits, gave us an hour's liberty.  This was the only opportunity I had of seeing the interior of the island.

      After some hard climbing, I ascended the precipitous bank of rock and sand to which allusion has been made.  Following close in the wake of two Portuguese belonging to the barque, I soon found myself on a road which runs circuitously round the island.  At the junction of the road and the pathway leading from the boat-landing stands a little stone chapel, surmounted by a cross.  A stair-way of rough stone leads from the chapel down to the road, at which point are stationed two sentinels.

      The first object of interest that struck my eye on entering the road was a singular vehicle, in which sat a lady of rank, as I learned from the sailors.  It was a rough cart, with wooden wheels, constructed of solid block, and was driven by two men, one at each side of a yoke of oxen.  The aristocratic belle held a blue cotton umbrella over her head, and sat quite contentedly on a bundle of straw, leaning back with as much dignity as if she were a duchess in the most magnificent carriage.  A dark little urchin, ten or twelve years of age, protected ,her from the flies with a green branch.  Her dress was of blue, fringed with some sort of red material.  On her head she wore a handkerchief of snowy whiteness, as is customary with the females of all ranks on the island of Terceira.  Her long, black hair fell over her shoulders with a graceful and coquetish wave.  The drivers stopped, in order to satisfy the curiosity of their fair charge; and as the desire to see was mutual, and, on her part, natural, the fair damsel stared at me and I at her, till, stared out of countenance, I pursued my journey up the road, leaving her to make such comments on my appearance as she thought proper.

      My Portuguese cicerones were some distance ahead of me.  I had a long run before I caught up with them.  Wishing to purchase some apples, I inquired of Manuel, a cross-grained fellow, the name of apples in his language.  "Calabooca loco!" said he, making use of an exclamation of contempt, which I mistook for the desired information, but which I afterward learned meant "Hold your tongue, you fool." a remark very common among these people.  Ignorant of my mistake, I walked on, repeating the words over, till I came to a cottage, at the door of which stood an elderly woman of respectable appearance.  Peeping over her shoulders were three or four girls, endeavoring to get a look at the stranger.

      "Com estha, signora," said I, mustering up all my Portuguese.  "Have you any calabooca loco?"

      "Qui?" cried the woman, staring at me.

      "Calabooca loco!" shouted I, hoping to make myself understood by the loudness of my voice and my very marked emphasis.  Much to my astonishment, the girls ran back from the door, laughing in the most unaccountable manner.  Presuming they had misunderstood me, from some defect in the pronunciation, I clearly and distinctly repeated the words.  At this there was a renewed burst of laughter from the girls, and a furious tirade, no doubt made up of all the slang in the Portuguese vocabulary, from the worthy mistress of the cottage.

      "Confound it!" said I, impatient at not making my Portuguese intelligible, "you don't understand your own language.  Calabooca loco! Don't you know what that is, signora?" pointing to my mouth.

      Upon this she stepped back into the cottage, and presently reappeared with a large slice of bread.  I was glad enough to get a piece of "soft Tommy," so I did not complain of the mistake.  As she was going away she said something in Portuguese, which, of course, I did not understand.  However, I mechanically repeated the words, "Calabooca loco!" hoping she might accidentally guess my meaning.

      "Santa Maria!" shrieked the woman, shaking her doubled fist at me, amid the roars of laughter from the group behind her; " caiso? caiso?" and uttering a complicated anathema, she shut the door in my face.

      All this time my comrades were standing up the road at a short distance, holding their sides with laughter.

      We passed several neat cottages about a mile inland, at which point the mountains commence.  There is a gradual slope thence for about two miles up the sides of the mountains, where the ascent becomes abrupt, and the land too barren and rocky for cultivation.  Pursuing our way along the road half a mile farther, we arrived at the door of a cottage on the summit of a pleasant hill, affording a beautiful and extensive prospect.  Immediately in the rear is Mount Brazil, which ascends gradually till the summit is hidden from the eye in ranges of clouds.  On either side the country is undulating and picturesque.  Cottages peeping out from clusters of grape-vines, fig-trees, vineyards, corn-fields, and green meadows, form some of the pleasing features in the scene.  A large ravine, extending to the coast, affords a fine view of the ocean, which even in calm weather dashes in upon the rocks, and shoots up the spray in misty clouds.  The little fish-boats belonging to the islanders may be seen constantly dashing about among the rocks, guided by the daring fishermen.

      I was aroused from the reflections inspired by this romantic scene, before I had entered into the full enjoyment of its beauties, by the voices of half a dozen of the cottagers, vociferating "Tobac! tobac, signor!" The patriarch of the flock, a venerable padre, with long, sleek hair, kindly invited me in, and offered me a chair at a table upon which was spread a light repast. As the invitation was made with eager gesticulations, apparently springing from the most hospitable motives, I did not decline it.  The sight of vegetables, and fresh bread, however coarse, was peculiarly tempting to one who had been two months whetting his appetite on salt junk.  The old lady of the house brought forth sundry additional rarities from her larder, while a boy was dispatched for wine.  To all of these I need scarcely say I did ample justice.  My hour's liberty was by this time pretty well extended.  I presented each of my entertainers with a plug of "tobac," and left the cottage.  Before I had proceeded more than a dozen yards, the whole family came running after me, hallooing and gesticulating in a most unintelligible manner.  "More tobac! more tobac! no bon! damn tief!" were the only words I could understand.  The Portuguese sailors informed me that I had not paid for my dinner.  This, thought I, is hospitality of a new description! I gave them all the tobacco I had, and, satisfied that I had well remunerated them, I hurried on, amid renewed cries of "More tobac! no bon! damn tief!"

      Late in the afternoon, having obtained a good supply of fruit and vegetables, we started for the barque, which lay becalmed about three miles off

      A slow current setting in upon the rocks compelled us, soon after stowing away our load, to take to the boats and tow.  There was not a breath of air to fill the sails.  By sundown the vessel had drifted within a few cables' lengths of the rocks, and would inevitably have struck, in defiance of our efforts, had not a light breeze sprung up, and afforded us its assistance.  In half an hour more we were bearing away under all sail.

"A Gam." — Departure from Terceira. — Pico. — Island of Fayal. — Villa Orta. — Part with my Friend. — Landing the Sick. — Juggling for a Watch. — Departure from Fayal. — Gloomy Prospects.

      IN a journal of this kind, containing miscellaneous gatherings of every description, I can not well omit a sketch of what, in nautical phraseology, is termed "a gam."  When two whalers meet on any of the whaling grounds, it is usual to have "a gam," or mutual visit, for the purpose of interchanging the latest news, comparing reckoning, discussing the prospect of whales, and enjoying a general chit-chat.

      While our barque lay off Terceira, we one evening spoke a brother whaler.  About four o'clock, when the decks were cleared up, the waist-boat was lowered, and we went on board with the captain.  A crew from the stranger returned to the barque with our boat.  After supper we had a social smoke.  The musician of the ship was then called upon for a song.  Seating himself comfortably on the fore-hatches, he cleared his throat, and gave us to understand, by way of a prelude, that he was a very indifferent singer.  "He used to know some bang-up songs, but, some how, he had forgotten them all."  This, of course, only served to whet our curiosity, and draw forth renewed calls for a song.  "Tom was a first-rate singer.  Every body knew Tom could sing.  It was no use to deny it; Tom must sing!"  Pressed on all sides, Tom stuck his pipe in the galley, and scratched his head to rub up the musical organs.  He then assured us that he once knew a great many songs.

      "Come, Tom!" cried a chorus of voices, "give us 'Captain Bunker."

      "Well, if I must; I must; here goes for 'Captain Bunker.'"

      Tom then gave us the following whaling ditty. As it is a good specimen of sea-spun poetry, I give it without alteration:

"CAPTAIN BUNKER.

      "Our captain stood upon the deck,
            A spyglass in his hand,
      A viewing of those gallant whales
            That blowed at every strand.

      Get your tubs in your boats, my boys,
            And by your braces stand,
      And we'll have one of those gallant whales,
            Hand, boys, over hand!
Chorus.  So be cheery, my lads! let your hearts never fail
               While the bold harpooneer is a striking of the whale!

      "'Overhaul, overhaul!
            Your davit tackles fall,
      Till you land your heats in the sea
            One and all!'
      Our waist-boat got down,
            And of course she got the start'
      Lay me on, Captain Bunker,
            I'm h—I for a long dart!'
                        So be cheery, &c.

      'Our first mate he struck,
            And the whale he went down;
      The captain he stood by
            All ready for to bend on;
      Which caused the whale to vomit,
            And the blood for to spout:
      In less than ten minutes
            He rolled both fins out!
                        So be cheery, &c."

      Great applause was awarded Tom for the creditable manner in which he had acquitted himself.  But singing was not altogether Tom's forte.  According to the representations of his shipmates, he was "death on the fiddle!"  The unanimous requests of the party were not to be resisted.  The fiddler was compelled to play; and, while the two high functionaries aft were discussing matters of grave and momentous import, we entertained ourselves dancing "shindys" to the lively notes of Tom's fiddle.  Those who could strike their heels together in the best time, go the double-shuffle with the greatest activity, and tire down their comrades, were of course the best dancers.

      We next had the game of thimble, and enjoyed some rare sport when it came to the part in which the pawns were disposed of.  A master of the ceremonies, provided with a piece of ratlin, was stationed at the windlass.  For every pawn, the unlucky wight who claimed it was compelled to receive a sharp cut on that part politely denominated the "seat of honor."

      These lively amusements lasted till after dark, when we began to experience a desire for something more sober.  Among the crew of the stranger, I noticed an intelligent-looking, middle-aged man, of rather a serious cast of countenance.  When our mirth had somewhat subsided, it was suggested that we should have a "yarn."

      All eyes were immediately turned toward the man whose appearance had attracted my attention.  "Now you're in for it, Ned;"  "That's a fine fellow, Ned;"  "Nobody can spin a yarn like Ned Harrison;"  Come, shipmate, give us something about ghosts!"  were the eager remarks on all sides.  Ned replied to the appeal by modestly stating that he had spun all his yarns but one, and that was a mere matter-of-fact history of an old shipmate, which he didn't think would interest any body.  "Never mind; let's have it," cried all in a breath; "I'll warrant you it's a first-rate yarn; Ned never spun a bad yarn yet."

      "Why," said Ned, "as to that, I've always done my best to amuse you; and if you feel disposed to listen to an account of my first voyage to sea, and the murder of a poor fellow —"

      "Oh, go ahead! any thing about murder.  Let's have it.  Come, Ned, that's a good fellow!"

      "As I was going to say," continued Ned, "I wouldn't mind boring you for half an hour or so; but, for my part, I'd rather hear a good song."

      "No, no! the yarn! the yarn about that murder!  Well, how did it happen?"

      "If I must tell it, I suppose there's no getting out of it," said Ned, with the air of a martyr; "but I want you to understand it's no common ghost story."

      "To be sure; we know that.  All right! Go ahead!"

      Ned then seated himself on the hatch by the cook's galley, and, surrounded by an attentive audience, gave us

      "I am about to spin you a tough yarn; rather hard to believe, but true for all that.  The good old times when ghosts didn't care a sou-markee when or how they appeared, are gone, and I'm sorry for it.  I have a natural fondness for ghosts; I was raised with them, and feel as if they were my best companions.  Somehow, whenever a ghost appears nowadays, there's a reason for it.  In old times people didn't want a reason for their appearance; it was enough that they paid their visits and went away like regular, well-behaved ghosts as they were.

      "My first voyage to sea was in a Cape Horn whaler.  I was then about eighteen years of age, full of fun and frolic, fond of yarns, and a devout believ- er in supernatural appearances.

      "There were only three aboard the ship who require any special notice.  The rest were just the sort of officers and men usually found in whalers.  One of those to whom I allude was Mr. Rockford, the mate.

      "Though severe and exacting in his discipline, this officer was not disliked by the crew, for he was attentive to their comfort, and as good a whaleman as ever walked the planks of a Cape Horner.  I can never forget this man's looks.  There was something peculiar about him, which kept us all at a civil distance.  He was a tall, spare-made man, about thirty years of age, and of a sallow complexion.  His features were strongly marked, indicating great determination of character.  There was nothing repulsive in the expression of his countenance, though, as an index to his character, it bespoke a man of strong passions.  It was his eye, however, that distinguished him from all men I had ever seen.  Of a piercing gray, stern, calm, melancholy, it'penetrated the inmost recesses of one's heart, and whoever felt its influence once was glad enough to avoid it forever after.

      "Mr. Rockford was a man of few words.  He kept aloof from every body, so far as his duty permitted him, and was never known to join in a joke, or exhibit any levity in his intercourse with the other officers.  As a natural consequence, he was left to the enjoyment of his moody thoughts.  No one spoke to him or associated with him, except on matters of ship-duty; not, as I have already stated, from any dislike to him, but from the coldness of his manners, and his apparent desire to be left alone.

      "I come now to my shipmate, Bob Grimsley, quite a different man from Mr. Rockford.  If I mention him with partiality, it is because he was a brave, generous, and manly fellow; one who had often proved himself my best friend, and whose melancholy fate revives old feelings.  A better sailor never put his weight on a brace.  Active and energetic, he was esteemed the very best man, in any sudden emergency, on board the ship.  Jovial in his dispo- sition, free, cheerful, and intelligent, he was the life and soul of the whole crew.  But there was one man who hated him from the bottom of his heart — whose enmity toward him seemed insatiable; that man was Mr. Rockford.  Grimsley was aware of this; he well knew the cause.  They had lived in the same town, and were rival suitors for the hand of a fair girl, to whom both were passionately attached.  Accident had thrown them together on this voyage.  Grimsley had no cause to return the hatred of the mate, for he was the favored lover, and on the eve of his departure had received assurances of a reciprocal regard from the object of his attachment.

      "The mate treated him with marked fairness, never taking advantage of his authority to gratify his animosity.  still it was evident he regarded him with the most deadly hatred.

      "We were cruising off the Fejee Islands.  The weather had been for some days rough and squally.  As was customary in such cases, the mate headed the larboard watch.  We had not been successful during the whole cruise.  At the period I speak of, Mr. Rockford was more strict and stern than ever.  Something appeared to weigh heavily upon his mind, the nature of which none of us could fathom.  In our watch, there were, besides Grimsley and myself, four green hands, and a Spaniard who had shipped as an able seaman.  We all agreed pretty well except the Spaniard, who was morose and sullen, and seldom spoke to any body.  This man seemed to be the special favorite of the mate.  It was impossible to conjecture the precise character of the fellowship which existed between them, for they never talked to each other within hearing of others; but on many occasions we saw them, in the dead of night, engaged in low and earnest conversation, when they thought the watch asleep.  Otherwise they held no communication calculated to excite suspicion.  Their looks — and looks are enough in such a little world as a ship, where the least thing that can not be accounted for has a mystery connected with it — were not such as commonly pass between an officer and one of the crew.  What this mystery tended to, or what the nature of their secret understanding was, puzzled us to divine.

      "One night, the darkest and gloomiest we had had for a week, I lay in my bunk, in an uneasy sleep.  I had worked too hard that day, and rested badly.  Perhaps it was owing to this that I was troubled with horrible dreams.  Gradually they became centered in one, and this had a startling reality about it that I shall never forget.

      "I saw in my dream a crowd.  The figures were dark and shadowy.  They proceeded, with a measured, noiseless tread, toward a church.  I followed the sable procession, and, when we entered the church, I was shocked to find it hung with mourning dripping with blood.  Dressed in black, Grimsley stood at the altar, supporting his bride, a young woman with a pale face and weeping eyes.  There were ghostly figures moving to and fro with haggard looks.  A horrid gloom pervaded the whole scene.  When the ceremony was over, Grimsley turned toward me; his face was that of a corpse!  With a cry of horror, I awoke.

      "Had I been, as I am now, a fatalist, I might have known how useless it was to speak to Grimsley.  However, I then thought he could be saved, and I conjured him not to go on deck that night.  He scoffed at my fears, and ridiculed my superstition.  still I begged, I implored him to send some excuse to the mate.  To that he would not listen.

      "We had middle watch on deck.  Grimsley had the first trick at the helm.  I relieved him in two hours, and conjured him, as he left me, to be careful, for my dream boded him no good.  He again chided me for my fears, and went forward, laughing at the solemnity of my manner.

      "I had not been long at the helm, when a heavy squall came on.  The green hands were sent aloft to take in the light sail, and Grimsley and the Spaniard went out to furl the jib.  Mr. Rockford was on the forecastle, giving orders.  The roaring of the wind smothered their voices.  Whenever it lulled for a moment, I thought I could hear the mate shouting to the men out on the jibhoom.  At length a wild cry was borne aft on the squall.  My blood ran cold with horror.  It was Grimsley's voice.  In doubt as to what had happened, I waited a few moments in dreadful suspense.  The startling words resounded from the foretop, which one of the green hands had just reached on his way down, 'A man overboard!' The mate came running aft, with a wildness in his looks that thrilled through me.

      "'Hard down your wheel!' he roared; 'down! down with the wheel, quick! Haul aback the main yard! Call all hands!' The crew came rushing up from the forecastle, half naked and horror-stricken.  In another moment the captain was on deck, calling upon the crew to man the boats.  He then addressed a few words to them, desiring them to be calm and determined.  The boats were lowered, and manned by the brave and generous shipmates of the unfortunate Grimsley.  After a long and anxious search, in momentary danger of their lives, they were reluctantly compelled to give up all hope of finding the body.  We lay aback all night.  Next morning the search was renewed, but finding it useless to delay any longer, we again made sail.

      "There was a deep gloom throughout the ship.  Poor Grimsley was gone! He was no more among us to cheer us in the hour of trial, and entertain us in the hour of enjoyment.  I need not dwell upon our grief.  It is only at sea that the death of a comrade can be felt with all its poignancy; and that you must know, even if you have never experienced it; for you may readily imagine what it is to lose your best friend, when his place can not be supplied.

      "The Spaniard said that Grimsley had fallen from the foot-rope while furling the jib.  Mr. Rockford corroborated his statement, and nothing farther was said on the subject.  still I had a suspicion that there had been foul play.  Knowing, if I disclosed it, justice would in all probability be defeated, I kept it to myself, resolved to watch both the mate and the Spaniard.

      "In Mr. Rockford I soon observed a change.  His sallow complexion became more ghastly than ever; his form wasted away from day.  to day; his step became hasty and uncertain; his eye restless and haggard.  There was a settled gloom upon his features that increased their sternness.  In walking the quarter-deck he frequently stopped, cast his eyes down, and muttered incoherent words to himself; then, as if fearful that he had been observed, he would start and look anxiously around him.  Toward the other officers he was more reserved than ever.  He never spoke, except in the discharge of his duty, and then the tones of his voice were deep and stern.  It was observed by the crew that, in the weary night-watches, he would often stand gazing toward the horizon without moving.  From the night of the fatal event he was never known to smile.

      "There was little alteration in the conduct of the Spaniard.  At the best of times he was a dogged, discontented man; and these disagreeable traits in his character were now more apparent than ever.  When below, at night, he would frequently jump up before the watch was called, and go on deck, uttering imprecations upon his hard fate.  With these exceptions, scarcely any change had taken place in his conduct.

      "Nearly a month after the loss of Grimsley, I was sitting between the man-ropes keeping a look-out.  It was a fine moonlight night.  The starboard watch was below.  All who were on deck, except myself and Mr. Rockford, were asleep under the bulwarks, ready for a call.  This was not generally allowed; but the mate, who was pacing the quarter-deck in moody silence, did not appear to notice it.  I was reflecting upon the fate of poor Grimsley, and thinking over the suspicious circumstances connected with it, when I saw the figure of a man, in a dark winding-sheet, slowly steal up from the forecastle.  His tread was noiseless and stealthy.  A cold tremor ran through my blood.  I could see him stride aft like a dim shadow toward the weather side of the quarter-deck, where the mate stood.  The dreadful thought flashed upon me that it was the spirit of my deceased comrade.  Faint with horror, and possessed by an unaccountable desire to see the face of the ghostly figure, I followed it aft.  When I reached the quarter-deck, a sight more fearful than the dead itself met my view.  The man at the helm was clinging to the wheel, haggard with fright.  Mr. Rockford stood with his face toward the taffrail, motionless, as if transfixed to the spot.  His eyes were strained till they seemed bursting from their sockets; his cheeks were livid and bloodless; his teeth firmly set.  The cold, pale rays of the moon glanced upon his features, increasing their ghastliness.  It was a spectacle of appalling wildness.  I felt the blood freeze in my veins as I gazed upon him: so great was my horror, that I clung to a rope to support myself.  Gaunt, stiff; speechless, he stood before me.

      "'See, see! it moves!" he suddenly exclaimed.  'There! See it!  Oh, my God!'  And, with a deep groan, be staggered back against the bulwarks.

      "I immediately ran to his assistance.  He was cold and inanimate.  I awoke the men on deck, and we carried him below.  The captain, by chafing his temples, brought him to his senses.  That night he remained in the cabin without uttering a word.  No explanation of what he had seen could be obtained from him.  The man at the wheel stated that a figure in a loose dark robe had brushed past him, but he was so frightened he could not recollect its height, or the direction in which it went.

      "In a few days Mr. Rockford was again on duty.  There was a frightful change in his appearance.  He walked the decks a living skeleton.  His eyes were sunken, though they still retained their unearthly, melancholy expression.  More silent, more thoughtful than ever, he now seemed to care very little about the affairs of the ship.  For hours he would stand leaning against the bulwarks buried in revery.  No one chose to disturb him; few even spoke to him.  The care of the ship devolved principally on the captain, who vainly endeavored to prevail on Mr. Rockford to go below.

      "Nothing occurred to change this state of things for several days.  The mate continued under the same fearful depression of mind.  An unnatural gloom hung over the whole ship's crew.

      "One evening the second mate got into an altercation with a fore-mast hand named Watkins, who was considered a good boxer.  The officer attempted to rope's-end him.  Watkins knocked him down.  This was too heinous an offense to be passed over.  The offender was handcuffed, and confined in the run.

      "In the middle of the night the captain, and all who slept in the cabin, were startled by a loud hammering under the cabin-deck.  These noises were followed by groans, and then the half-smothered voice of Watkins, who had his mouth to the run-hatch, was heard crying, 'Take me out of this hole; for God's sake, take me out before I'm murdered!'

      "The hatch was lifted off, and Watkins, though no coward, crept out, shaking as if he had an ague.

      "What's the matter?' demanded the captain, angrily.

      "'Oh, sir, don't put me in the run again.  I'll be murdered if you do.  I saw him — saw something horrible!'

      "'What did you see?' cried the captain, turning pale.

      "'A dead man!' replied Watkins, and his teeth chattered with fear.

      "'Fetch a light here,' said the captain, in a voice of deep solemnity.

      "The light was handed to him, and, accompanied by the steward, be descended into the run.  After a thorough search, without seeing any thing of the apparition, he came up, cursing the cowardly fears of Watkins.  Mean time, while all this was going on, Mr. Rockford stood leaning against the ladder, awaiting the result of the search with haggard looks.

      "'Mr. Rockford,' said the captain, 'go down there, and try if you can see what this fool is raving about.'

      "' I'd rather not, sir,' replied the mate, with a shudder.

      "'What! are you afraid too?'

      "'No,' replied the mate, gloomily, 'I'm not afraid; but I have a horror of that place;' and his agitation increased.  A cold perspiration stood upon his forehead.

      "'Mr. Rockford,' said the captain, sternly, 'will you set such an example of cowardice to the crew?'

      "The mate made no reply, but seemed buried in thought.  At length he determined to go down into the run alone.  He took the light in his hand, and, forbidding any one to follow him, descended.  Half an hour elapsed.  The captain grew impatient.  Three quarters of an hour passed, and the smothered sounds of voices and blows, as if two men were engaged in a desperate struggle, issued from the hatchway.  The light was suddenly blown out, there was a heavy fall, a groan, and all was silent!

      "'A light! another light!' cried the captain, trembling with horror; 'quick!  Good God! what's the matter?  Mr. Rockford, speak! answer!'

      "'He's dead! he's killed, sir!' exclaimed Watkins, who had been peering down through the hatchway.

      "Another light was quickly produced, and the captain, followed by several of the affrighted men, who were afraid to remain alone in the cabin, descended into the run.  The feeble rays of the lamp fell upon an object that struck the boldest aghast.

      "Mr. Rockford, stretched on his back, his hands convulsively clinched, his features horribly distorted, lay bleeding in the bottom of the run.  There was a fearful gash across his forehead, from which the blood streamed down, disfiguring his face and dyeing his clothes.  Upon attempting to remove him, he fell into a phrensy, shrieking.

      "'Take him away! take him away! He wants to kill me.  Save me! save me!'

      "As soon as this dreadful paroxysm was over he was carried up and placed in his berth.  In the course of the night he recovered his senses, but seemed to have lost the faculty of speech.

      "For upward of a week he was confined to the cabin, nor could he be prevailed upon by entreaties or by threats to utter a single word in relation to what he had seen, or by whom the wound in his forehead had been inflicted.

      "I now thought it time to disclose what I knew of Grimsley's death.  The utmost surprise was manifested throughout the ship.  So great was the indignation of the crew, that it required the severest exercise of the captain's authority to restrain them from taking summary vengeance on the supposed murderers of their comrade.

      "On the strength of my evidence the Spaniard was arrested and put in irons.  Mr. Rockford was left at liberty in the cabin, but peremptorily forbidden to go on deck.  Watkins was released, with a severe reprimand to behave himself better in future.

      "We continued our.  cruise without any thing farther occurring for nearly a month.  The events which had created such commotion among us had almost ceased to be topics of conversation, and we began to look forward to the end of our cruise and the comforts of home.  This state of tranquillity was suddenly interrupted by the disappearance of the mate.  In a fit of insanity he had noiselessly let himself down from one of the cabin ports by a rope.  Several hours elapsed before he was missed.  A search was made, and all that was discovered was the rope as he had left it.

      "On the same night the Spaniard, who was confined in the run, awoke the captain and officers by his groans.  He was taken out in a pitiable condition.  Reduced to a skeleton by confinement and an evil conscience, his face was now blanched with fear, and his eyes sunken and restless.  When asked what had occurred, he replied, that, in turning over in his sleep, he had touched something cold, which he took to be the head of a corpse, clammy with blood.  His groans brought the officers to his relief.

      "It was not long before this new alarm was circulated throughout the ship.  Every one believed she was haunted by the ghost of poor Grimsley.  The crew, driven to madness by the horrible sights which had been witnessed, assembled in a body, and refused to do duty until a thorough search should be made.

      "All the next day we were engaged in breaking out the casks and ship's stores from the fore-peak to the run.  The strictest search was made.  In the run we discovered a few blood stains, and the marks of a bloody hand all along the lower tier of casks from the run to the forecastle.

      "You may be sure these mysterious marks did not quiet our fears.  Men were afraid to be alone for a single moment.  There was nothin talked of but the mysterious visits of Grimsley, and the blood stains, with narrations of deeds committed on the lonely deep in the dead of night.  The darkest tragedies possessed a peculiar interest now.  The more fearful they were the better they suited the excited listeners, who in groups around the forecastle passed away the long night-watches dwelling upon deeds of blood.  By keeping together in this way, and occupying our minds with marvelous tales of the tragic and the supernatural, we contrived, in some measure, to quiet each other's fears.

      "While things were in this state the Spaniard was taken ill of a fever.  Apprehensive that he was about to die, he made a confession of his crimes.  His narrative was brief, but thrilling.

      "He had commenced his career of villany in a Portuguese slaver at Mozambique.  The vessel and her living cargo were taken by a man-of-war on the coast of Brazil, and among others punished for their part in the illegal traffic, he was sentenced to serve seven years in one of the government frigates.  In a few months after he made his escape, and joined a Spanish pirate.  For three years he served in her, among the West India Islands, and joined in the most atrocious deeds of bloodshed and rapine.  He eventually robbed the captain, and made his escape, in an American whaler, to the Spanish Main.  Here he gambled away his ill-gotten gains.  Reduced to the last extremity, he worked his passage to the United States in a merchantman.  still apprehensive of arrest, he shipped in the whaler in which he now narrated his crimes.

      "Soon after she left port he was sounded by the mate, Mr. Rockford, who, finding him willing to commit any crime, however foul, entered into a compact with him to murder Grimsley, promising him a suitable reward.  An opportunity occurred on the night of the squall.  Grimsley was out on the foot-rope with him, furling the jib.  The Spaniard stabbed his victim in the back, and the subsequent cry of 'a man overboard' was the result.  Had the body of the murdered man been found, the perpetrator of the deed could have been discovered at once.

      "Fearing, from the change in the conduct of the mate, that he was about to confess the crime, and thus expose him, the Spaniard determined to murder him also.  In pursuance of this design, he one night disguised himself in a Spanish cloak which he had in his chest, and while he thought the crew all asleep, walked aft.  As he was about to accomplish his purpose, he became alarmed lest the man at the helm should recognize him, and rushing past both the officer and the affrighted man, concealed himself in the stern-boat.  During the confusion that followed he regained the forecastle unobserved, hid his cloak, and appeared among the crew.  The subsequent occurrences in the run were occasioned by a plan which he had devised to frighten the captain and crew, in the hope of making them abandon the vessel, or put into port at some, neighboring island.  He had effected an entrance trough the bulk-heads separating the forecastle from the main hold, and, by dint of hard exertion, worked his way between the tiers of casks to the run.  All the mysterious appearances that followed were easily accounted for.  In his struggle with the mate, he inflicted the gash which had occasioned so much horror and surmise.  The marks of blood on the casks were made as he crept back to the forecastle.

      "On the night of his confession the Spaniard died.  He was buried without the customary ceremonies.

      "Our cruise was soon over.  The gloom which pervaded the ship did not pass away until we were once more surrounded by the pleasures of home.

      "It is now many years since these events transpired; but the tragical incidents of my first voyage are still vivid in my memory.  I have spun my yarn.  You have seen that the mysterious visitor was no ghost, after all, and if you do not choose to believe a matter-of-fact narrative of actual events, you are welcome to your doubts.  So much for 'BOB GRIMSLEY'S GHOST.'"

__________

      During the recital of this tragical story the crew had huddled up close to the narrator, and it was amusing to witness the apprehensive looks with which they started when the least noise was made behind them.  I can not say that Ned Harrison's yarn, take it all in all, had a very cheering effect upon any of us.  The fun of the evening was over.  A damper was thrown over the spirits of the company, and the men talked to each other in low and earnest voices, as if fearful that Bob Grimsley's ghost would suddenly make its appearance.

      At this moment, when we were all deeply involved in the blues, our boat arrived from the barque, and the captain's order to "man the waist-boat" put an end to the "gam."

      A few days after our departure from Terceira we passed St. George's and Gratiosa, and entered the channel between Pico and Fayal.  The Island of Pico, on a nearer view, increases in picturesque beauty.  The shores, generally, are barren and rocky.  Higher up are farms and cottages, and the still more elevated grounds are covered with vine- yards, forming a pleasing contrast to the wilder portions of the scene.  Fayal, the chief commercial island of the Azores, lies in a northwardly direction from Pico.  The Villa Orta, or principal town, is situated in a beautiful little harbor, formed by two points, called Ponta Esplamanca, and Nostra Signora de Guia, on that side of the island opposite Pico.  It derives quite a respectable appearance, in a commercial point of view, from the number of vessels lying at anchor at this season of the year.  A British steam-frigate, an American steamer, a Portuguese man-of-war, several whaling vessels, and merchantmen were in port when our barque visited this island.  The wharf presents a spectacle rather novel to one who views such scenes for the first time.  Fish-boats, lighters, and bum-boats may be sen at all times of the day buffeting the surf; and hundreds of bare-legged Portuguese rushing into the water to discharge freight, or load them, give animation and liveliness to the scene.

      Our list of sick had by this time extended to four, three of whom it was found necessary to land.  Among these was an Irishman, who, during our cruise, had made himself conspicuous for his stupidity and laziness.  I was sorry, however, that he was about to leave us, for his bulls afforded us all great amusement.  I recollect a dialogue between him and the captain, which would have delighted poor Power.

      "Paddy," said the captain, "what countryman are you? You are down on the papers as an American; but you must be an Englishman, I guess."

      "Be gor, sir! I'm no Englishman; divil a bit.  I'm an Amirican."

      "Whereabouts in America were you born?"

      "Wasn't I born at saa, sir?  To be sure I was; and bad 'scess to the dhrop of English blood have I in me."

      "Oh, then, you've been to sea before?  Did you ever cross the line?"

      "Cross the line! An' it's myself that did.  Haven't I been two voyages to the Wist Indies from Philadelphia?"

      "What line did you cross going from Philadelphia?"

      "The equathur, be gor!"

      "None of your lies, Paddy! You've never been across the equator."

      "Be the hoky-poker, I have, sir!  Divil a lie am I tellin' ye!"

      "Why, how could you cross the equator in a passage from the northward to the West India Islands?"

      "Arrah! how should I know, sir? barrin' the captain made a little bit of a misthake!"

      Paddy often reminded me of the man who had seen a horse eighteen feet high; for whatever he said, no matter how marvelous, he would boldly adhere to.

      During our stay at the Island of Terceira, Smith, who had been off duty nearly the whole of our cruise up to that date, asked permission to go ashore.  It was well understood by the captain and officers that he intended to desert, for he made no secret of it; and even went so far as to tie up a bundle of clothes in his handkerchief, and carry it aft under his arm.  Thinking this a good opportunity to get rid of him, without the expense of putting him ashore at the Villa Orta, which would not be less than forty dollars, the captain willingly gave him permission, telling him, as a matter of form, to be down at the boat-landing by sundown.  Smith bid us all good-by, and was taken ashore in the waist-boat.  The last I saw of him at that time, he was slowly dragging his emaciated limbs up the rocks.

      On our arrival at the Villa Orta a week after, I was surprised to find Smith down at the landing, shaking hands with his old shipmates.  It appeared that the vice-consul at Angra, to whom he had appealed, finding him in a destitute condition, had sent him over to Fayal in a fishing-smack, where he arrived a few days in advance of the styx.  There he made his complaint to the consul, who, of course, as is customary with consuls who have dealings with the masters of vessels, would have nothing to do with him.  Some of the Portuguese took pity on him, and gave him lodgings.  He was in a wretched condition when I saw him.  The mate, by order of the captain, told me to advise him to make himself scarce without delay, or he would be taken on board again, and punished as a deserter.  I did so, believing his sufferings, under any circumstances, could not be worse on the island than they would be if he should again be taken on board the barque.  I never saw him again.

      My comrade, W——, of whose sufferings during our cruise I have spoken at some length, being entirely too unwell to resume duty, was one of the number about to be left ashore.  We had commenced the voyage with visionary dreams of romance and adventure.  For many weeks past we had conversed together over the unfortunate step we had taken, and anxiously looked forward for a change; many weary nights had I watched by the side of my suffering friend; and, however poorly I had discharged my duty, I had the pleasure of knowing that every little attention was most gratefully felt.  I was now about to part with my only friend in a foreign land, and among strangers, where a friend can best be appreciated.  I need not say that the parting was a painful one.  We gazed at each other with full eyes and throbbing hearts as he was about to be borne to the boat, but could not utter a word.  Poor W—— had not spoken the whole morning.  There was a deep, touching melancholy in his looks, far more eloquent than words.  All his bright hopes of recovery seemed to vanish at the thought of our separation.  That I might conceal every appearance of a weakness which is looked upon by sailors as unmanly, I busied myself about the decks, knowing, too, that it was useless to repine.

      At ten o'clock the order was given to "Man the waist-boat!"  I; was glad enough that the boat to which I belonged was chosen, as it afforded me an opportunity of going ashore.  The barque lay off and on, outside the harbor.  We had a hard pull against a head wind before we reached the pier, which is close by the Portuguese fort.  Here we were hailed by one of the government officers, who inquired the number of sick on board, and the nature of their complaints, stating that they would not be allowed ashore if afflicted with any contagious disease.  After waiting about an hour to see the American consul, Mr. Dabney, we returned to the barque, and put the invalids in the boat.

      On approaching within a few hundred yards of the pier, we were hailed by a government boat bearing the national flag.  It contained two or three officers, and the health doctor, a pompous and self-sufficient quack, who went through a burlesque examination of the sick men, and then gave a permit, allowing them to be carried ashore.  Here they were given up to the consul, who provided them with suitable accommodations.  The charges at Fayal for landing, &c., if I was correctly informed, are as fol- lows: Fee to the health doctor, four dollars; boat charges, ten dollars; for each sick man, thirty-six dollars, to be paid to the consul.

      I must here mention that it was with the utmost difficulty W—— had prevailed upon the captain to let him go at all.  Being part owner in the barque, he was unwilling to lose any thing in the way of fees or government charges; and ever, till we arrived in sight of the Azores, had steadily answered all W——'s petitions by the remark, "He might rot in the forecastle!" I did not know at this period that the captain had his eye upon a fine gold watch, which W—— had treasured for years past as a sacred token of affection from a dear relative.  This watch had been committed to the captain's keeping soon after we left New Bedford.  Fearing he could not get off on any other conditions, W—— offered it to him to let him go ashore.  In order to keep up some show of honesty, the captain replied "that he would keep the watch, but W—— could have it, after the voyage, by writing for it, and enclosing payment for his outfit and passage home!"

      Owing to the illness of my friend, I could devote but little time to examining the town of Orta.  still, I had an opportunity of seeing many things that interested me.  The costume of the females struck me as being very uncouth.  The lower classes wear hats made of straw; and I saw several with coarse overcoats and round jackets.  The elite, or fashionable ladies, conceal their faces in bonnets of such ample dimensions as to cover both head and shoulders.

      I spent the chief part of the day in attending upon the sick.  The captain procured them a passage to the United States in a small American brig bound for Bangor, Maine.  While at Fayal, the captain shipped three Portuguese and two American seamen in place of the sick.

      Late in the evening I bade a final good-by to my friend W——, and returned to the barque much depressed in spirits.  Before daylight next morning the light-house had faded from our sight, and, when the sun rose, it was with difficulty that we could discern on the horizon the Peak of Pico.  I can not describe the feeling of utter loneliness that stole over me when once more on the bosom of the boundless ocean.  Surrounded by a crew of brutal and illiterate Portuguese, I felt that I was indeed alone.  When I thought of the many happy hours I had spent in W——'s society; when I looked around me, and saw objects that reminded me of him, I felt that

"Othello's occupation was gone!"

      The prospect before me was anything but cheering.  I dreaded to think of the long voyage; a voyage which we had scarcely yet commenced.

Quarreling Aft. — A Row between the Captain and Mate. — Return to Fayal. — Annoyances. — Murderous Designs of the Cook. — Under Weigh for the Indian Ocean. — Monotony of the Passage. — Pastimes. — Canary Islands. — Horse Latitudes. — Grand Whale Chase. — Six Whales alongside. — Beautiful Effect of the Moon.

      A MAN like our captain, whose whole soul was wrapped up in dollars and cents, could not bear with much patience a continued run of bad luck.  We had killed but one whale; that disappointment alone was sufficient to render him cross-grained and ill-natured.  The expense of landing the sick men was considerable; and so grievously did it prey upon his mind, that for weeks after I seldom knew him to smile.  Before we had reached the Azores, he had quarreled several times with the mate.  These quarrels now became more frequent and violent than ever.  There was a sailor-like boldness about brutality of the mate which the captain did not like.  With the one, meanness was the prevailing trait; with the other, a devIl-may-care roughness, in which he was open and above board.

      One calm day a hen flew overboard.  Enos, a Portuguese, was on the main-topsail yard splicing an earing.  Being a very expert swimmer, and glad of the excuse to take a dive, he jumped over after the unlucky hen.  We were fanning along about a knot and a half an hour.  The captain, hearing our shouts of laughter as we hauled Enos in with a rope, came rushing up the companion way, roaring at the mate to "lower away a boat!" We all knew he would as soon lose his best man as a hen, and we joked Enos (loud enough to be heard aft) about being guilty of such a fowl piece of folly as to jump overboard after a hen.  There was nothing that the captain could take hold of in this; but it irritated him.  It happened that the mate was at work in the waist.  Now, when captain and mate are not on the best terms, the latter generally has to bear the blame of every thing that goe's wrong, and, of course, is the legitimate object of all the surplus ill humor of his sovereign master.

      "Mr. D——, why didn't you lower a boat after that hen?  I should think you'd have had sense enough to do that without waiting for me to tell you."

      "I received no orders to lower a boat, sir.  The man jumped overboard without asking me, and if he's fool enough to risk his life for a hen, I can't help it.  You'd better talk to him about it."

      "No, I'll talk to you!" cried the captain, very much enraged.  "It was your duty to lower away a boat.  Any man with an ounce of sense might know enough for that."

      This of course raised the mate's "pluck," and, turning from his work, he bold1y faced the captain.

      "Do you suppose I'd take the responsibility to lower a boat for a cursed old hen? No, I'll be hanged if I would.  You'd he the first to flare up at it yourself.  Now, sir, since you've begun a jaw, I'll just tell you how we stand, Captain A——.  There has been too much of this fault-finding lately.  I've done my best to suit you; but, it appears to me, the more a man does to please you, the more you grumble.  I've stood this long enough; so I think it's about time for us to come to an understanding about it.  The amount of it is, I'll be d——d if I'll suffer it any longer!"

      This was pretty determined language.  It was such as the captain had not been used to; for, according to his own account, his former mates would lick the planks he walked on; and he had never had one to give him a back answer.  He now began to draw in his horns.

      "When did I find fault, Mr. D——?  Tell me a single instance."

      "You're always finding fault; that's enough.  If we can't get along easier, the sooner we part the better.  I know my place, sir, and I intend to do my duty; but I'll show you that I'm not to be browbeat and insulted!"

      Some more words of a like nature passed between them, which I did not hear.  There was no damage done; however.  Both captain and mate remained on the worst possible terms from that time forth.  They seldom spoke, except on business matters, or upon subjects connected with the voyage.

      After a short cruise on the eastern ground we returned to Fayal to land another sick man.  It was found necessary, when we formerly touched at the port of Orta, to ship five new hands, two of whom were Americans, two Portuguese, and an Englishman.  We found them a very quarrelsome and disorderly set; but the captain had a partiality for outcast foreigners.  We only remained in port a few hours, and I was not permitted to go ashore.  I had the pleasure, however, of hearing that my friend W—— was rapidly improving in health.  An addition to the number in the forecastle was made this time in the place of the man who was left ashore, which made the crew consist of eight Portuguese, an Englishman, and four Americans.

      In the early part of our voyage we had for cook a mulatto man, who had served as a ward-room steward on board the Peacock during the United States Exploring Expedition.  Whether he had acquired the habit of grumbling from his man-of-war comrades, or whether it was natural to him, I can not say; but a greater grumbler, or a more disagreeable animal, I never had the misfortune to meet.  In addition to this, he had a most villanous and tyrannical temper, which continually developed itself in acts of injustice toward the crew.  I had been too long living in slave states to bear very quietly the insolence of a negro, and on several occasions we came to pretty close quarters.  I candidly confess, nothing but fear of the consequences prevented me from heaving the wretch overboard the first good chance.  It was a source of continual annoyance to be thrown in this man's way, and particularly galling to my feelings to be compelled to live in the forecastle with a brutal negro, who, conscious that he was upon an equality with the sailors, presumed upon his equality to a degree that was insufferable.  Finding I would not succumb to his insolence, as the other hands did, he took a most inveterate hatred to me, and did all in his power to render my situation unpleasant, by instilling into the minds of my comrades that I was a "broken-down dandy," who would lord it over them, if they would suffer me.  As I had always made it a point never to evince the least symptom of superiority, or pretend to any thing more than those around me, he failed to effect his object in this particular; for I had the good fortune to be a general favorite.  He next had recourse to another and a far more effective expedient.  Our fare at the best of times was bad enough, and always scanty.  When I had watch at the mast-head, or when it was my trick at the helm, he always managed to jilt me out of my allowance, or give me the offal of the crew.  I had heard too many complaints made to the captain to hope for any thing from him in the way of redress.  Many a night, after a hard day's work, have I turned in hungry enough to eat with relish, had it been within my reach, the common dog-meat, upon which the pampered canine gentry of the cities luxuriate.  The life I had led since I had shipped produced such a change in me as made me a mere animal.  When I got any thing fit to eat, which was very rarely, I devoured it with the avidity of a starving wolf I seldom dreamed of any thing at night but good Kentucky roast beef, peaches and cream, pumpkin pies, and all the luxuries of western life.

      Trifling as such things as these may appear to those who live ashore, where the poorest can by industry obtain abundance of the good things of life, they are not so trifling on board a whaler.  I had seen the time when my fastidious taste revolted at a piece of good wholesome bread without butter, and many a time had I lost a meal by discovering a fly on my plate.  I was now glad enough to get a hard biscuit and a piece of greasy pork; and it did not at all affect my appetite to see the mangled bodies of divers well-fed cockroaches in my molasses; indeed, I sometimes thought they gave it a rich flavor.

      On leaving Fayal the second time, this villanous cook; who had made such murderous attempts to starve me, was promoted steward, and a Portuguese mulatto, belonging to the Cape de Verdes, was made cook.  I need scarcely say that I heartily rejoiced in the change; for I knew, let what would come, it could not be for the worse.

      We were now fairly under weigh for the Indian Ocean, each day making to the southward as fast as a clumsy barque, which never sailed more than six knots an hour, except in a gale, could carry us.  The monotony of a long passage is known to every body who has ever read of the sea.  Seldom is it relieved, except by a squall, a calm, a sail in sight, or some trifling adventure.  Time hung very heavily on our hands, though we contrived various means to pass it away as pleasantly as possible.  The chief resources I had for driving dull care away were reading, drawing, writing in my journal, eating whenever I could get any thing to eat, and sleeping whenever the Portuguese would give me a chance.  As to reading, I was necessarily compelled to read whatever I could get.  Unfortunately, I had brought neither books nor papers with me, so that I had to depend entirely upon the officers, none of whom were troubled with a literary taste.  Mr. D——, the first mate, who was very friendly toward me, had a bundle of old Philadelphia weeklies, which I read over a dozen times, advertisements and all.  The cooper, a young man from New Bedford, was by far the most intelligent man aft.  His stock of literature consisted of a temperance book, a few Mormon tracts, and Lady Dacre's Diary of a Chaperon.  I read these till I almost had them by heart.  The captain himself was an illiterate man, "wise in his own conceit." He had the reputation at home of being a pious man; and, as some evidence of this, I procured from one of the officers a work belonging to him of a religious character.  I can not say, however, that his conduct was in strict conformity with the reputation he had gained as a man of piety.  One of my shipmates had a Bible; another, the first volume of Cooper's Pilot; a third, the Songster's own Book; a fourth, the Complete Letter Writer; and a fifth claimed, as his total literary stock, a copy of the Flash newspaper, published in New York, in which he cut a conspicuous figure as the "Lady's Fancy Man."  I read and reread all these.  Every week I was obliged to commence on the stale reading, placing the latest read away till I systematically arrived at them again, when they were pretty fresh, considering the number of times they had been overhauled.  When I became thoroughly satiated with the fresh and stale, I had recourse to drawing, at which I considered myself somewhat of an amateur.  My stock of implements consisted of a short stump brush, a few ounces of black-lead, a piece of Indian ink, and a pen.  Some of my shipmates, who had never seen any drawings in the mezzotinto style, took a great fancy to my little productions, and insisted upon having specimens for their sweethearts.  By humoring them to the best of my ability, I so far gained their, goodwill that they reciprocated my attempts by doing all my patching and mending, which was a very acceptable return, for I was not an expert hand at the needle.  In the evening, after the decks were swept, I generally sat for an hour or two on the jib-boom playing the flute, or humming over favorite airs, many of which conjured up associations which were "pleasant, yet mournful to the soul."  After one of the watches went below, we usually had a little gathering on the forecastle, and each of us told something of his past life.  In this way I learned the history of all in the watch to which I belonged.  Rum and love had done signal service in the way of driving them to sea.

      October 8th. — At 10 P.M.  we made Ferro, one of the Canary Isles, distant thirty miles off the lee bow.  In the evening three of the Canaries were visible: Palma, Gomerra, and Ferro.  Our course was south-southeast, and lay twenty miles from the nearest, at which distance it had a blue, indistinct, and rugged outline.

      While in the vicinity of these islands we were visited by great numbers of birds, resembling in appearance the American swallow.  Several Canary birds also flew on board, some of which we succeeded in catching.

      October 12th. — Entered the horse latitudes.  This part of the Atlantic, I was told, derived its name from the fact, that vessels on their passage from Arabia, with Arabian horses on board, had frequently been reduced to the necessity of throwing them overboard, owing to the scarcity of water, produced by long and continued calms.

      October 13th. — "There she blows!" was sung out from the mast-head.

      "Where away?" demanded the captain.

      "Three points off the lee bow, sir."

      "Raise up your wheel.  steady!"

      "steady, sir."

      "Mast-head ahoy! Do you see that whale now?

      "Ay, ay, sir!  A school of sperm whales!  There she blows!  There she breaches!"

      "Sing out!  Sing out every time!"

      "Ay, ay, sir!  There she blows!  There — there — thar' she blows — bowes — bo-o-o-s!"

      "How far off!"

      "Two miles and a half!"

      "Thunder and lightning!  so near! Call all hands!  Clew up the fore-t'gallant-sail — there!  belay! Hard down" your wheel!  Haul aback the main yard!  Get your tubs in your boats.  Bear a hand!  Clear your falls!  stand by all to lower!  All ready?"

      "All ready, sir!"

      "Lower away!"

      Down went the boats with a splash.  Each boat's crew sprang over the rail, and in an instant the larboard, starboard, and waist boats were manned.  There was great rivalry in getting the start.  The waist-boat got off in pretty good time; and away went all three, dashing the water high over their bows.  Nothing could be more exciting than the chase.  The larboard boat, commanded by the mate, and the waist-boat, by the second mate, were head and head.

      "Give way, my lads, give way!" shouted P——, our headsman; "we gain on them; give way!  A long, steady stroke!  That's the way to tell it!"

      "Ay, ay!" cried Tabor, our boat-steerer.  "What d'ye say, boys?  Shall we lick 'em?"

      "Pull! pull like vengeance!" 'echoed the crew; and we danced over the waves, scarcely seeming to touch them.

      The chase was now truly soul-stirring.  Some-times the larboard, then the starboard, then the waist-boat took the lead.  It was a severe trial of skill and muscle.  After we had run two miles at this rate, the whales turned flukes, going dead to wind- ward.

      "Now for it, my lads!" cried P——.  "We'll have them the next rising.  Now pile it on!  a long, steady pull!  That's it! that's the way!  Those whales belong to us.  Don't give out!  Half an hour more, and they're our whales!"

      The other boats had veered off at either side of us, and continued the chase with renewed ardor.  In about half an hour we lay on our oars to look round for the whales.

      "There she blows! right ahead!" shouted Tabor, fairly dancing with delight.

      "There she blows! There she blows!"

      "Oh, Lord, boys, spring!" cried P——.

      "Spring it is!  What d'ye say, now, chummies?  Shall we take those whales?"

      To this general appeal every man replied by putting his weight on his oar, and exerting his utmost strength.  The boat flew through the water with incredible swiftness, scarcely rising to the waves.  A large bull whale lay about a quarter of a mile ahead of us, lazily rolling in the trough of the sea.  The larboard and starboard boats were far to leeward of us, tugging hard to get a chance at the other whales, which were now blowing in every direction.

      "Give way!  give way, my hearties!" cried P——, putting his weight against the aft oar.  "Do you love gin?  A bottle of gin to the best man!  Oh, pile it on while you have breath!  pile it on!"

      "On with the beef, chummies!  Smash every oar!  double 'em up, or break 'em!"

      "Every devil's imp of you, pull!  No talking; lay back to it;  now or never!"

  way through the rough sea as if the briny element were blue smoke.  The whale, however, turned flukes before we could reach him.  When he appeared again above the surface of the water, it was evident that he had milled while down, by which manoeuver he gained on us nearly a mile.  The chase was now almost hopeless, as he was making to windward rapidly.  A heavy, black cloud was on the horizon, portending an approaching squall, and the barque was fast fading from sight.  still we were not to be baffled by discouraging circumstances of this kind, and we braced our sinews for a grand and final effort.

      "Never give up, my lads!" said the headsman, in a cheering voice.  "Mark my words, we'll have that whale yet.  Only think he's ours, and there's no mistake about it, he will be ours.  Now for a hard, steady pull!  Give way!"

      "Give way, sir!  Give way, all!"

      "There she blows!  Oh, pull, my lively lads!  Only a mile off!  There she blows!"

      The wind had by this time increased almost to a gale, and the heavy black clouds were scattering over us far and wide.  Part of the squall had passed off to leeward, and entirely concealed the barque.  Our situation was rather unpleasant: in a rough sea, the other boats out of sight, and each moment the wind increasing.

      We continued to strain every muscle till we were hard upon the whale.  Tabor sprang to the bow, and stood by with the harpoon.

      "Softly, softly, my lads," said the headsman.

      "Ay, ay, sir!"

      "Hush-h-h! softly.  Now's your time, Tabor!"

      Tabor let fly the harpoon, and buried the iron.

      "Give him another!"

      "Ay, ay! stern all!"

      "stern all!" thundered P——.

      "stern all!"

      And, as we rapidly backed from the whale, he flung his tremendous flukes high in the air, covering us with a cloud of spray.  He then sounded, making the line whiz as it passed through the chocks.  When he rose to the surface again, we hauled up, and the second mate stood ready in the bow to dispatch him with lances.'

      "Spouting blood!" said Tabor.  "He's a dead whale!  He won't need much lancing." It was true enough; for, before the officer could get within dart of him, he commenced his dying struggles.  The sea was crimsoned with his blood.  By the time we had reached him, he was belly up.  We lay upon our oars a moment to witness his last throes, and, when he had turned his head toward the sun, a loud, simultaneous cheer burst from every lip.

      A low, rumbling sound, like the roar of a distant waterfall, now reached our ears.  Each moment it grew louder.  The whole expansive arch of the heavens became dark with clouds tossing, flying, swelling, and whirling over and over, like the surges of an angry sea.  A white cloud, gleaming against the black mass behind it, came sweeping toward us, stretching forth its long, white arms, as if to grasp us in its fatal embrace.  Louder and still louder it growled; yet the air was still and heavy around us.  Now the white cloud spread, whirled over, and lost its hoary head; now it wore the mane and fore feet of a lion; now the heads of a dragon, with their tremendous jaws extended.  Writhing, hissing, roaring, it swept toward us.  The demon of wrath could not have assumed a more frightful form.  The whole face of the ocean was hidden in utter darkness, save within a circle of a few hundred yards.  Our little boat floated on a sea almost unruffled by a breath of wind.  The heavy swell rolled lazily past us; yet a death-like calmness reigned in the air.  Beyond the circle all was strife; within, all peace.  We gazed anxiously in each other's faces; but not a word was spoken.  Even the veteran harpooneer looked upon the clouds with a face of unusual solemnity, as we lay upon our oars, awed to silence by the sublimity of the scene.  The ominous stillness of every thing within the circle became painful.  For many long minutes the surface of the water remained nearly smooth.  We dreaded, but longed for a change.  This state of suspense was growing intolerable.  I could bear the deep, long-drawn respirations of those around me; I saw the quick, anxious glances they turned to windward; and I almost fancied I could read every thought that passed within their breasts.  Suddenly a white streak of foam appeared within a hundred yards.  Scarcely had we unshipped our oars, when the squall burst upon us with, a stunning violence.  The weather side of the boat was raised high out of the water, and the rush ing foam dashed over the gunwale in torrents.  We soon trimmed her, however, and, by hard bailing, got her clear of water.  It is utterly impossible to conceive the violence of the wind.  Small as the surface exposed to the squall was, we flew through the foaming seas, dragging the dead body of the whale after us with incredible velocity.  Thus situated, entirely at the mercy of the wind, and sea, we continued every moment to increase our distance from the barque.  When the squall abated, we came to under the lee of the whale, and looked to leeward for the barque.  Not a speck could be seen on the horizon!  Night was rapidly approaching, and we were alone upon the broad, angry ocean!

      "Ship your oars," said the headsman; "we'll not part company with old Blubber yet.  If we can't make the barque, we can make land somewhere."

      "Ay, ay," said Tabor, with a sly leer, "and live on roast-beef and turkey while we're making it."

      With heavy hearts and many misgivings we shipped our oars, heartily wishing the whale in the devil's try-pots; for we thought it rather hard that our lives should be risked for a few barrels of oil.  For two hours we pulled a long, lazy, dogged stroke, without a sign of relief.  At last Tabor stood up on the bow to look out, and we lay on our oars.

      "Well, Tabor, what d'ye see?" was the general inquiry.

      "Why," said Tabor, coolly rolling the quid from his weather to his lee cheek, "I see a cussed old barque that looks like Granny Howland's wash-tub, with a few broom-sticks rigged up in the middle of it."

      "Pull, you devils!" cried P——;  " there's duff in the cook's coppers."

      "Yes! I think I smell it," said Tabor.

      It was nearly dark when we arrived alongside of the barque with our prize; but what was our surprise to find that the starboard and larboard boats had killed five whales between them!.  They were all of a small size, and did not average more than fifteen barrels each.

      That night not a breath of air ruffled the clear, broad ocean as it swelled beneath and around us, forming a multitude of mirrors that reflected all the beauties of the splendid canopy above.  The moon arose with unusual brilliancy.  It was a night for the winged spirits of the air.  I enjoyed a melancholy pleasure in walking the decks beneath the soft moon-beams, thinking of past times.  Silence reigned over the deep.  The calm, broad ocean presented a beautiful simile of repose, and the light, shadowy clouds floated motionless in the air, as if in awe of the mighty wilderness of waters beneath them.  A clear, silvery light beamed over the glassy swell; and far away the moon's rays, casting thr soft and delicate glow over the whole scene, gradually vanished in a dreamy haze upon the horizon.  I gazed with pensive feelings upon this scene; so calm, so heavenly, so unrivalled in its loveliness; and I thought, with a sigh, of the coming day: the fiery, tropical sun; the loud, harsh voices of the officers giving orders; the heat and smoke of the try-works; and all the realities of a whaleman's life.  I have heard of the solitude of the desert; but what can compare with that of the ocean at such a time as this?

      Never had the sea looked more beautiful than it did that night.  It was a source of pleasure to feel that, notwithstanding the wretched life I led, there were still left a few of the better feelings of my nature.  A passage in the "Vision of Don Roderic" occurred to me as singularly expressive of the checkered fortunes of a sea-farer.  Well might I hope the light cloud which occasionally obscured the moon's brightness might proe a happy omen of my future fate:

            "Melting, as a wreath of snow it hangs
            In folds of wavy silver round, and clothes
            The orb in richer beauties than her own;
            Then, passing, leaves her in her light serene."

      At daylight next morning all hands were called, and set to work getting up the cutting tackle, and making other preparations for cutting in.  As this process of "cutting in" seems to be but imperfectly understood by those who have not been engaged in the business, it would perhaps be well enough to devote a page or two of description to it in this place.

      When the whale has been towed alongside by the boats, it is firmly secured by a large rope attached to the "small" by a running noose.  There is not a little ingenuity in the manner in which the fluke rope is first passed under the body of the-whale.  A small line, to which a lead is fastened, with a block of wood at the extremity, several fathoms from the lead, is thrown over between the whale and the ship's side.  From the impetus given to the lead, it sinks in a diagonal direction, drawing the block down after it.  One end of the lead line is fastened to the end of the fluke rope on board, and the block attached to the other rises at the off side of the whale.  It is then hauled on board by means of a wire hook fastened to a long pole, and, in hauling it in, the fluke rope passes round under the body of the whale, till the end arrives on board, when it is passed through the loop in the other extremity, and thus a running noose is formed, which is easily slipped down to the small.  The fluke rope is then made fast on the forecastle, and the flukes are hauled up to the bow, or as near as they will reach, leaving the head pointed aft.  Of course, the size of the vessel and the length of the whale make a great difference; but in general the head reaches to the quarter.  To prevent concussion, the whale is always on the weather side.  The progress of the vessel, which is usually under easy sail during the time of cutting in, keeps the whale from drifting out at right angles from the side; though, in most cases, the head is kept in its appropriate position by a small rope made fast aft.

      The cutting tackle is attached to a powerful strap, or pendant, passing round the mast in the main-top by two large blocks.  There are, in fact, two tackles, the falls of which pass round the windlass.  To each of these tackles is attached a large blubber hook, which, upon being made fast to the blubber, are hauled up by the windlass, one only being in operation at a time, so that when the first strip of blubber, or "blanket piece," reaches the stationary block on the pendant, the other can be made fast by a strap and bolt of wood to a hole cut below the point at which that blanket piece is to be cut off.  I have endeavored to give some idea of this part of the process in the frontispiece accompanying the work.  The blanket pieces are stripped off in a spiral direction, running down toward the flukes; the whale turning, at every heave of the windlass, till the whole covering of blubber is stripped off to the flukes, which are hoisted on board, and those parts containing oil cut away, and the remainder thrown overboard.  The head having, in the first place, been cut off and secured to the stern, is now hauled up, with the nose down, if too large to be taken on board, and hoisted as far out of the water as may be found convenient, and the oil or liquid spermaceti bailed out with a vessel attached to a long pole, and thus taken in and saved.  As there is no little risk attending this mode of getting the spermaceti, and a great deal of waste, the head is always taken on board, when not too large or heavy.

      The "case," which is the name given by whalers to the head, sometimes contains from ten to fifteen barrels of oil and spermaceti.  A single "blanket piece" not unfrequently weighs a ton or upward.  In hauling it up by the tackles, it careens the vessel over frequently to an angle of fifteen or twenty degrees, owing to its own great weight, combined with that of the whale, the upper surface of which it raises several feet out of the water.  When the blanket piece has reached the stationary block in the top, it is cut off by a boat-steerer, who stands by with a boarding knife, having first, however, been secured below by the other blubber hook, which is hauled taught, to prevent it from breaking away by too sudden a jerk.  The upper piece then swings in, and, when it ceases its pendulating .  motion, is dropped down into the hold or blubber-room, where it is cut up into blocks of a foot and a half or two feet in length, and eight or ten inches in width.  These blocks are called "horse pieces."  The white, hard blocks, containing but little oil, and which are found near the small, and at the flukes, are called "white horse."  The carcass of the whale, when stripped of its blubber, is cast loose, and soon sinks from the want of its buoyant covering.  I have seen it float astern, however, some distance without sinking.

      Breakfast over, all hands were called to cut in.  Six or eight men were stationed at the windlass, two in the blubber-room, and the boat-steerers in the waist.  The first and second mates took their station on a couple of stages, or platforms, rigged out at the gangway, each provided with a spade.  One of the boat-steerers, whose turn it was to fasten the blubber hook, went down over the side on the whale's back, and, after several unsuccessful attempts, and rather an uncomfortable ducking, performed his task.  While yet on the whale's back, a large, hungry-looking shark, which had been eyeing him for some time very anxiously, was washed up behind him by a heavy sea, and apparently loath to lose so good an opportunity of making a meal, began to work his way along the slimy surface till within a foot or two of the boat-steerer's heels.  The officers happened at the moment to be looking up at the pendant block, and in all probability the man would have been seriously injured, if not carried off bodily, but for the timely alarm of one of the crew.  The mate immediately turned to see what was the matter, and perceiving the critical position of the boat-steerer, brought his spade to bear upon the shark, and at a single dart chopped off his tail.  strange to say, the greedy monster did not appear to be particularly concerned at this indignity, but, sliding back into his native element, very leisurely swam off, to the great apparent amusement of his comrades, who pursued him with every variety of gyrations.  It surprised me to see with what cool indifference the boat-steerer witnessed the whole transaction.  I do not remem- ber that he said a word about it.

      The various duties being apportioned to the men without favor or choice, it fell to my lot to sit on the weather side of the quarter-deck and turn the grindstone; a tiresome and monotonous task.  The cooper attended to the sharpening of the spades, boarding knives, and other implements used in "cutting in."  I am not sure that I had the hardest of the work to do, but it certainly was the most unpleasant; for I could not prevail upon any of the hands to change places with me, even for a brief period.  My appearance at this time would have been somewhat striking to some of my friends in Washington.  With my duck frock all black with whale-gurry, my trowsers torn and smeared with rough work, my red Scotch cap half-way over my eyes, and my face oily and sunburned, I certainly looked as little like my original self as one can well imagine.  There I turned that grindstone, and turned on hour after hour, and turned the palm of my- right hand into a great blister, and turned the palm of my left into another; turned both my arms into a personified pain; turned every remnant of romance out of my head; turned and turned till my grand tour seemed to have turned into a grindstone; round and round I turned that stone till I began to think I was a piece of the handle, and turned with it; and my head appeared to turn, and my feet to turn, and the game-legged cooper to turn, and the ship to turn, and the sea, and the whale, and the sharks, and the clouds, and all creation seemed to be turning with myself and that grindstone!  Having at last contrived to get a sufficient number of spades sharpened ahead of the mates, I peeped over the quarter-rail to see how they were getting on.  The sharks had by this time gathered around the vessel in immense numbers, and eight or ten were fighting just under the quarter for a piece of the whale's carcass which had been cut away.  Watching my opportunity, I snatched up a spade, slipped it over while the captain was forward, and began a terrible onslaught among the sharks.  With five or six thrusts I killed four of the greedy monsters, by striking them on the back of the head, and cutting the principal artery.  This was quite a refreshing little episode in my business of turning; and my success in the destruction of sharks induced me to believe that I had a greater natural turn for sport than the monotonous turning of a grindstone.  But my amusement was of short duration.  The eagle eye of the captain espied me before I could get in the long pole of the spade.

      "Ha! what are you at there?" cried his highness directly behind me, at the very moment when I supposed he was on the forecastle giving orders to the men.  "What are you at, hey?"

      "Keeping off the sharks, sir."

      "Who told you to keep 'em off?"

      "Nobody, sir."

      "Haul in that spade directly!"

      "Ay, ay, sir!"

      "And, look'ee, if I catch you keepin' off any more sharks, I'll wipe you down with a rope's end!"

      "Ay, ay, sir!"

      "Cooper, hain't you got no work for this fellow?

      "Not just now, sir."

      "Go to the windlass, then, and rest yourself on a handspike!"

      "Ay, ay, sir!"

      I had reason to consider my shark-killing a poor speculation.  The heaving and surging at the windlass was but a questionable improvement upon my old business of turning the grindstone.  At the word, "Heave away!" somebody struck up an extemporaneous song, which, to the best of my recollection, had no particular claims to poetical merit, but ran somewhat thus:

            "Heave him up! O he yo!
                        Butter and cheese for breakfast
            Raise the dead! O he yo!
                        The steward he's a makin' swankey.
            Heave away! O he yo!
                        Duff for dinner! Duff for dinner!
            Now I see it! O he yo!
                        Hurrah for the Cape Cod gals!
            Now I don't.  O he yo! a
            Round the corner, Sally!
            Up she comes! 0 he yo!
            Slap-jacks for supper!
            Re-re-ra—ra-oo-we ye yo ho! Them's 'um!"

      At the conclusion of this medley, the captain, who had seated himself in the starboard quarter boat to inspect the cutting, began to criticise the mate's style of cutting rather severely.  Now the mate, be it known, was really a very skillful whaleman, and handled the spade with an unerring hand.  The "old man's" comments, thus lowering him in the eyes of the crew, by no means pleased him.

      "I say, Mr. D——," persisted the captain, "that's not the way to cut in a whale.  I don't want no such work as that about me."

      "It's my way, sir," replied the mate, getting very red in the face.

      "Well, I never see a whale cut that way.  I ain't used to it; I won't have it."

      "You haven't seen every thing yet, sir.  I've always cut whales this way, and always mean to do it."

      "No you won't; not here you won't.  You can just cut as I tell you."

      "I reckon I know my own business; Captain A——.  Now, sir, I'm not a going to be dictated to in this manner. If you think you can cut a whale better than I can, you'd better take my place."

      After some more angry words, during which both the captain and mate became much excited, and threatened to whip each other, the quarrel ceased, and the "old man" went below in high dudgeon.

      This was all "nuts" for me.  I was rejoiced to see somebody among the privileged few talk up to him as he deserved.  Indeed, I was itching to express my own personal opinion on the subject, but had no particular fancy for the mode of "wiping down" hinted at a short time previously.

      Cutting in, trying out, and clearing up the decks, occupied us for the next six days.  We had an average of five hours' sleep out of the twenty-four.  Working incessantly in oil, which penetrated to the skin, and kept us in a most uncomfortable condition, besides being continually saturated with salt water, produced a very disagreeable effect upon those who were not accustomed to such things, by chafing the skin, and causing painful tumors to break out over the whole body.  Before I had half finished my share of the labor, I heartily wished myself in the meanest dog-kennel ashore, or, to borrow an old idea, I should have considered myself in an enviable situation had some enemy been kicking me down Pennsylvania Avenue.  Tabor, the oldest whaleman on board, who laughed at hardships, and took all the disagreeable parts of his duty with the utmost good- humor, frequently joked me on my "grand tour to Europe.

      "What do you think of whaling now, B——?  Is it equal to traveling in Italy?"

      "I think not, Tabor."

      "Tain't writing short-hand neither, is it?  I think you'd as lief be in Washington, with them thar big members of Congress, as blubber-hunting.  Cutting figures with the pen ain't cutting blubber, by a considerable sight, is it?"

      I freely acknowledged that, of the two sorts of cutting, I preferred cutting figures with the pen; at which Tabor laughed most heartily, assuring me that "it was nothing when I'd get used to it.  By'm-by I'd see what whaling was.  This wasn't a circumstance.  I'd smell smoke yet.  I'd begin to find out what some folks was at while others was riding about in chaises."

      We had an extra supply of meat on this occasion, with about a quarter of a pound of rancid butter, which was to be divided among all hands.  This unusual liberality on the part of the captain astonished us all, and filled our hearts with gratitude.  We took the saucer containing the precious morsel, and, seating ourselves in a circle round it, enjoyed our good fortune by various amusing comments upon the captain's unparalleled liberality.  Of all things in the world, sailors despise most a stingy, thin-skinned captain.  They will excuse cruelty, unnecessary hardship, or coarse and brutal language, for they become accustomed to it; but any thing like stinginess or meanness they heartily detest.  Bill Mann growled like a sick bear, protesting, in his own peculiar style, that it was "the blamdest thing he ever saw done aboard any ship.  He wished his soul might everlastin'ly stick fast in purgatory, if he wouldn't tell the counsel of it."  Mack wanted to carry it back to him with the thanks of the crew, "hopin' he wouldn't rob himself, for the men was afraid to eat it, bein' as they had never seen any thing like it since they'd follered the sea."  This proposition was negatived, and we at last agreed to mix the butter up with a pan of dirty bread and heave it overboard.  The captain, who was sitting in the stern boat, chanced to spy the bread as it floated toward him, and seizing a pole with a small net attached to it, which he always kept in the boat, he hooked up every morsel of it.  Owing to the round-house concealing him from our view, we knew nothing about this, till he came forward about fifteen minutes after, with a plate in his hand, containing what we supposed to be an additional treat for all hands.  There was a fiendish smile of triumph visible about his lips, however, and a ferocity in his eyes that boded us no good.  Holding the plate out toward us, he pointed with his forefinger at the startling apparition of the resuscitated bread, and demanded, in a deep, distinct voice,

      "Which on ye did that, hey?  Look at it, every one o' ye; examine it well.  Did ye never see it,before, hey?  Taste it; it's got salt water in it, but it's good, hey?  A nice set of darned rascals!  Don't get enough to eat, hey?  I starve you, do I, hey!  You don't like butter; oh no, you can't eat it!  Nice stomachs, I'll swan!  Whose work is this?  Don't all answer at once!  Who did it?"

      No one answered.  We all felt that we were guilty, and it is not to be wondered at that, taken aback so suddenly, we could account for the unexpected reappearance of the bread and butter, which we had supposed was food for the sharks, in no other way than by presuming old Skinflint was in league with the devil.

      "Oh, you didn't do it, none on ye!" shouted the captain, letting loose his wrath.  "It grew in salt water!  It wasn't hove overboard at all!  Well! take and eat it now; and, mark my words, the first man I catch heavin' good vittals overboard, I'll heave him overboard!"  With that he flung it down before us and walked aft, grieving over our depravity and his probable loss.  From that time forth he used to sit in the stern boat for hours every day, dodging his net in the water at every thing that looked like biscuit or meat.  Sometimes he would catch up what he didn't bargain for, and his low, half-smothered comments, audible only to the man at the wheel, would afford us infinite amusement.  Patience and perseverance finally rewarded him with success.  He had been at his post regularly three times every day for about a month, fishing up whatever attracted his insatiate eye, when one day he made a haul of a fine fat piece of pork.  He jerked it in, chuckling over his good fortune, and muttering, "Aha! I've caught you at last. you infernal scoundrels!  I'll give you fat pork to throw away in a hurry again!"  Calling to the steward to pass up a fork, he spitted it handsomely, and carried it forward for our inspection.  Looking each of us hard in the face by turns, he demanded, in a voice of thunder, " Who hove the pork overboard?"

      No answer.

      "Won't you tell me, you sheepheads?"

      No answer yet.

      "You won't, eh  It's your work, M'F——?"

      "No, sir, taint.  Pork's scarce about these diggins.  I don't throw away a good chunk when I get hold on't."

      "It's you then, Vernon.  I'll skin you for it.  I'll show you how to waste good meat, you worthless bullet-head.  You don't earn your salt."

      "Twasn't I, sir.  I was down in the forecastle."

      "Then you know who did it?"

      "No, sir, I don't."

      "What the devil do you know?"

      "I know I hadn't enough o' meat for dinner."

      "You hadn't, eh?  Well, I'll see to it.  You're a parcel of hogs, that's what you are!  Cook, from this time forth cut these men's meat up in small pieces, and just give 'em as many pieces as'll go round."

      "Ay, ay, sir."

      "Now I'll know when meat's wasted again, and why"  So saying, he walked aft, satisfied at least that half a pound lost was a barrel gained.  Whether the piece which he picked up had been thrown over purposely, or had fallen from the top of the caboose accidentally, I never could find out; but this much I know, our share of meat soon resembled the Irishman's dinner of "potatoes and point," barrin' the potatoes.

      It is customary, in most vessels, to give the watches their meals alternately, the, watch below being served first.  This prevents confusion and quarreling.  The watch on deck, when relieved, can then enjoy their meals at their leisure.  Sailors generally, though any thing but deficient in appetite, have great respect for the decencies of civilized life on such occasions as these.  I have never seen selfishness or greediness on board well-disciplined ships during meal times.  On the contrary, it is surprising to find a very delicate sense of propriety among men who have had so few opportunities of cultivating the refinements of social intercourse.  I have often seen a well-behaved and orderly crew seated around the forecastle, eating their meals in peace and good-humor, and each one neglecting no opportunity of extending a courtesy to his shipmate.  This is almost invariably the case where they are well treated by the captain and officers.  Like children, they can be moulded to almost any thing; and where a bad example is set aft, the best of them will be sure to follow it.  No one who has never been to sea and witnessed such scenes, can conceive the importance of these little forms of politeness, and their happy effects upon the crew.  Where there is a kindly feeling on the part of every man toward his neighbors, the worst fare can be eaten with relish.

      How different it was with us!  We had been so accustomed to see quarreling between the captain and his officers, and so much discontent manifested by the latter about their meals, that it would have been a miracle if we had not imbibed the prevailing spirit.  But we had our frailties too, and were not proof against the example of these high authorities.  There was some excuse for us, however; we really had something to be discontented about.  The captain had shipped a gang of voracious and filthy Portuguese, whose condition had never been better than that of swine, and with these uncultivated brutes we were compelled in self-defense to do the best we could for ourselves.  It was degrading to the pride of those who were burdened with that inconvenient commodity to be obliged to rush like hungry wolves for a mouthful of meat at meal-times; but there was no help for it.  We either had to join in the struggle, or lose our allowance; for it was seldom there was enough before us to satisfy half our number.

A SCRAMBLE FOR SALT JUNK

      Although it was no joke to be starved, I always found food for merriment when I could get nothing of a more substantial nature.  The cook, in order to see fair play, generally watched his opportunity, and, when the hands were scattered around the forecastle, he would pitch the meat kid down on the deck, and sing out, at the top of his voice, "Meat! meat! fall to, all hands!" This startling intelligence never required repetition.  Those who were nearest would jump up and run toward the smoking morsel as if simultaneously stung by a score of wasps.  Those who, unfortunately, happened to be at a distance, had no resource but to dart after their leaders in the rush, and, by dint of hard struggling, secure a place by the meat kid.  There was something indescribably ludicrous in the earnestness with which we all entered into the contest.  It was not exactly a struggle involving "life or death," but it was of scarcely less importance; for "Meat, or no meat?" was the grand question.  Nor did we hesitate to resort to the most cunning expedients to obtain our fair proportion of the salt junk.  When hard pressed, it was not unusual to pick up a rival and carry him back ten or twelve paces, and, before he could regain his legs, take advantage of his absence, and get in six feet ahead of him.  Some had been shouldered away so often in this manner by those who were larger and stouter, that hunger taught them a new expedient; and they secured their share on several occasions by working in like eels under the legs of those who were ahead of them.  Big John, the Portuguese, having the advantage of us all in size and strength, would sometimes make a clean sweep with his arms, and lay half a dozen of us sprawling on the deck; but, being less greedy than the rest of the Portuguese, he never took more than his share, and only exerted his powers in this way for the sake of amusement.  The "down-easter," with characteristic sagacity, always managed to be in good time; for, when a little behind, he would grab hold of somebody in advance of him, and, by hard pulling, keep him back till each had a fair start.  He was not unfrequently served the same trick himself; and I have seen as many as three or four in a row endeavoring to drag each other back.  Bill Mann, our chief grumbler, in a fit of indignation at such swinish proceedings, would look on, and protest, "If ever he got into port, he'd let the counsel know how things was carried on.  He didn't care a bloody cent if he never got a bit to eat."  It was a curious fact, however, that Bill never came to the latter conclusion until the superior activity of his comrades had deprived him of the last chance.  There was some fun, but a great deal more earnestness than fun, in these scrambles for food.  To the landsman, and, indeed, to every sea-farer who has not been in a vessel of the same description, all this must look exaggerated and improbable; for it is hard to conceive how men could become so utterly degraded as to conduct themselves with so little regard to the decencies of life.  All I have to say is, that what I have endeavored to describe was induced by the laws of nature, and the description, if any thing, falls short of reality.  I have shown that the captain paid no regard to our appeals.  He invariably favored the Portuguese, because they cringed to him; and our complaints to him of their beastliness produced no effect.  We had too often tried the experiment of "going aft."  There was nothing to be gained by appeals of that kind.  It was useless to remonstrate with the Portuguese; and, indeed, I can not say that many of the Americans were superior to them in point of breeding  Under such circumstances, what were those who were inclined to be civilized to do?  It would be unreasonable to suppose that they could quietly,suffer themselves to be starved.  Hunger does not pay much regard to conventional rules, especially at sea.  The worst of it was, that it was only through cupidity we were denied our just rights.  There was no scarcity of provision of a bad quality on board the vessel; yet, bad as it was, we were unable to obtain enough of it.  The law allows a certain proportion of wholesome food to each man.  It must not be supposed, however, that there is any law at sea but the captain's word; for, notwithstanding cases sometimes occur, in which seamen bring suit against the masters of vessels for refusing them their legal allowance, it is but rarely they can sustain their complaints by adequate proof.  There is almost invariably some loop through which men of influence and wealth can escape.  Besides, even should a suit of this kind be successful, what is there in a paltry fine to recompense a crew for two or three years starvation?  The fact is, the law, so far as it regards abuses like this, is a mere burlesque; and the only sure way of obtaining redress is, for the crew to take the matter into their own hands, and compel the captain to give them their proper allowance, or refuse duty altogether.  This, unfortunately, is but poor satisfaction, after all; for the laws against mutiny are not so easily evaded.  I should be far from advising such a course; though I believe it is the only one which will ever produce any effect.  Put men to trouble and expense — touch their pockets, and they will begin to listen to reason and justice.

Make the Cape de Verdes. — Isle of Sal. — Bonavista. — Isle of May.  -Raising Breaches. — Leton's Rock. — Humor of the Cook. — Isle of St. Iago. — Porto Praya. — Bill Mann "Three Sheets in the Wind." — Bounty. — Its Effects upon the Crew. — A Sail. — British Convict Vessel.

      October 26th. — Made the Isle of Sal, one of the Cape de Verdes, distant thirty miles.  The peak is of very considerable height, and bears some resemblance to the Peak of Pico.  We ran down along the shore, which has a beautiful and fertile appearance, and had a fine view of the principal ha,,.or and town.  There were several vessels in port, taking in cargoes of salt for South America.  Lay to all night, and next morning at daylight made sail for Bonavista.  Learning there that there was an American vessel in port at the Isle of May, we hauled off and ran down for that island, the captain being desirous to send home the oil we had on board.

      A little incident occurred during the day which afforded us all much amusement.  D——, the cooper, was in the habit of "raising whales," when nobody else on board could see teem; and as there was a bounty up for the first whale yielding fifty barrels, he was always on the alert.  While we were standing by the braces; waiting for orders, we heard him singing out from the mast-head with all his might,

      "Thar' she breaches!  Thar' she breaches!"

      "Where away?" said the captain.

      "A point off the weather bow, sir.  Thar' she breaches!"

      "How far off?"

      "Ten miles.  Thar' she breaches!  Thar' she breaches!"

      "Don't she blow at all?"

      "No, sir; there's no spout; nothing but breaches — very large breaches.  Thar' she breaches!"

      "Luff up to the wind.  Do you hear, at the wheel?  Cooper, are those breaches in sight now?"

      "Yes, sir; I see them all the time.  She don't stop breaching at all — large breaches!  It must be a very large sperm whale.  Thar' she breaches!  Thar' she breaches!"

      "What the deuse!  don't the breaches stop at all?"

      "No, sir.  Thar' she breaches! thar' —"

      "Sing out every time.  Get your boats ready, and call all hands"

      Thar' — thar' — thar' she breaches!"  shouted the cooper, from the mast-head.  For upward of fifteen minutes he strained his lungs in this way, when he suddenly became silent.

      "Where's the whale now?" said the captain.

      "I don't believe it's a whale, sir," replied the cooper, in a tone of disappointment.

      "What in the nation do you call it, then?"

      "Why, I don't know exactly.  It looked very much like a whale at first."

      "How now?  Don't you know a whale when you see one?  What is it?"

      "Well, I don't know, sir.  It ain't a whale, that's certain."

      "You don't know, you infernal sheephead!  steward, pass up my spyglass!" and, taking a steady look from the main-top in the direction indicated by the cooper, he suddenly exclaimed, " Why, h——ll and d——n——n! that's Leton's Rock!"

      We all enjoyed a hearty laugh at the cooper for his mistake.  The old Portuguese cook, who was something of a wag, rallied him most unmercifully.  For weeks after, when the hands would gather in the waist for a dance, old Slush, grinning from ear to ear, would gaze toward the horizon with eyes like saucers.  This was a signal for some of the crew to sing out, "Halloo, Slush, what d'ye see?"

      "Large sperm whale, sare!  Dar' she breach!  Ten miles off, sare! dar she breach! She breach all de time, sare! Dar' she breach!  Big whale, sare — dat big whale!  He, he, he!  yaw, yaw, yaw!  Dar' she breach!  Cooper, you sabe big rock!"

      In spite of the bursts of laughter which invariably followed this sally of wit, the cooper maintained the utmost good-humor, and always joined in the fun.

      Arrived at Mayo, the main-yard was hauled aback, and the larboard boat went ashore with the captain.  There was a vessel there bound to the United States, from which we procured late American papers.  As the two captains could not agree upon terms for the freight of the oil home, we made no stay.  From Mayo we continued on to Bonavista, another of the group, which derives its name from the beautiful and picturesque appearance which it presents from the sea.  The shores, along which we steered as near as was considered safe, are interspersed with patches of white sand and meadows of deep green.  Proceeding on, without meeting with any thing to attract particular attention, we arrived, on the evening of

      October 28th, at Porto Praya, the chief town and harbor of the Island of St. Iago.  The larboard boat was lowered, and sent ashore for oranges and bananas, which are produced abundantly on this island.  The only vessel in port was a Danish brig.  I saw but little to interest me at Porto Praya.  The town is filthy and dilapidated, and the inhabitants a race of poor, half-starved, mulatto Portuguese, living under an oppressive form of government.  An American consul is stationed at this place; and the most pleasing sight I saw during our short visit was the flag of the United States waving gallantly in the breeze.  There are associations of no ordinary interest connected with Porto Praya, as the theater of a naval engagement celebrated in the annals of our naval history.  I regretted that I had not stored my mind more fully with the particulars of that affair previous to visiting the Island of St. Iago; but during our subsequent cruise I procured a book entitled "Naval Battles," in which there was an animated description of it; and of course it rendered the description extremely vivid to have visited the spot, and become familiar with the scene of the engagement.

      The boat returned in the evening well laden with fruit, and all hands "three sheets in the wind."  The most uproarious of the crew was Bully, so called from his pugnacious propensities, who had figured conspicuously in the New York "Flash" as a "Lady's Fancy Man;" next to him in liveliness was Bill Mann, a fore-mast hand, who had officiated in his younger days as a gas-lighter in the Bowery Theater.  Bill, to use his own words, was more than half "slewed;" and the rest of the crew, three Portuguese, were jabbering about the sights they had seen at a most unintelligible rate.

      I must here state that Bill Mann was a very distinguished character on board the styx.  In person he was large and unwieldy, and possessed of great strength.  He wore a pair of tremendous black whiskers, which he regarded as the greatest ornament to the human face divine; and altogether had the regular "damn-my-eyes" look of an old salt.  Bill was unquestionably a hero, if great deeds entitle any man to that distinction.  According to his own account, he had killed more whales, broken more girls' hearts, whipped more men, been drunk oftener, and pushed his way through more perils, frolics, pleasures, pains, and general vicissitudes of fortune than any man in the known world.  Nevertheless, Bill was a great grumbler.  He had the happy knack of seeing through every thing at a glance, and making evil omens out of the smallest trifles.  If a cloud appeared on the horizon, we were going to have "tough weather, and, like as not, the blamed old spars wouldn't stand it, and we'd fetch up in Davy Jones's locker."  He always "knew what he was about."  If he fell over a handspike and bruised his shins, he "knew what he was about."  Nay, for that matter, he could foretell every accident about to happen; but, unfortunately, seldom made particular reference to any special accident until after it did happen.  Whenever any of the crew broke a looking-glass, he had fifty tragical stories to relate in proof of his position that it was a sure omen of bad luck.  He was always "growling;" from morning till night he had something to growl at.  If he had to do a job on the rigging, he went at it growling; be growled his way aloft twice a day; growled at the wheel; growled in the forecastle; growled in his sleep; and, although he could tell some amusing stories, he invariably wound up with a growl.  Bill was every thing under the sun: a sailor; an actor, a musician, a pugilist; and, in short, considered himself an adept in seamanship, literature, politics, law, and every other pursuit that engages the attention of man.  In all forecastle disputes touching questions in art; science, or literature, Bill was the great Sir Oracle, and clinched every argument by the assertion, that "there was nothing green in the corner of his eye; he knew what he was about."  His songs — for he could sing too — were never less than sixteen or eighteen verses.  Every thing he did bore the peculiar stamp of his genius.  Nothing pleased him; nothing went as he had seen things go.  His last voyage was pleasant and prosperous; the last ship was a good sailer; the last crew were fine, clever fellows; the last forecastle wasn't a hog-pen.  He was continually cursing his "top-lights" if it wouldn't be a source of infinite satisfaction to him if this crazy old tub of a barque would sink, spars, tackling, try-works, and all, and go crock to the bottom.  He had seen salt water before; nobody could tell him about salt water; he knew what a sailor's life was as well as any man; but he had never seen such doings aboard any other ship.  He'd be blowed if he wouldn't like to see the studding-sails dragging overboard, the top-masts swinging by the rigging, the yards braced to Halifax, and the whole bloody ship's crew drifting on to a lee shore in the cook's galley.  Divers and sundry afflictions might befall him if he wouldn't sooner be rammed and jammed into the fore-peak of purgatory than in such a ditty, lubberly, tub-sided blubber hunter as the barque styx.

      This sort of grumbling proceeded, no doubt, more from habit than real discontent; nevertheless, such is the force of example, Bill had scarcely been a month on board when all hands were grumbling.

      But I had almost forgotten the larboard-boat and its crew in my anxiety to give some idea of Bill Mann.  It appeared that in the course of the day, while the hands were frolicking about town, Bill contrived to sell every thing be had about him for rum.  Now, I presume, it is pretty generally known that if a man partakes very freely of any kind of strong liquor, it sometimes will find its way to his head, and even has been known to affect the knees.  At all events, it produced something of this kind on Bill, who, believing, perhaps, that

                  "Shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,
                  But drinking deeply sobers it again,"

was finally reduced to the necessity: of borrowing a pair of drawers from Bully, for the purpose of bartering for a fresh supply.  The consequence was, that they both got down to the landing pretty extensively "disguised."

      When the boat came alongside, the cooper and two or three others attempted to hoist Bill on board, but, with some show of indignation, he rejected their assistance.

      "Bless my soul!  I know what I'm about.  You must think I'm drunk!"

      "Oh no," replied the cooper; "we don't think so."

      "Well, then," said Bill, scrambling over the rail, "what d'ye mean?  My name is Bill Mann.  I'm son of old Ed. Mann, sail-maker, New York."

      "No doubt of it, Bill."

      "You doubt it?  By the bloody wars, sir, do you doubt my word?  I allow nobody to doubt my word.  Do you doubt it?"

      "Not at all."

      "Because, if you do, I'll just let you know that I'm Bill Mann, son of old Ed. Mann, sail-maker, New York.  Boy, get out of my way!"

      This last remark was addressed to Bully, who, while staggering along the deck, chanced to run foul of "Bill Mann, son of old Ed. Mann, sail-maker, New York."  A quarrel ensued, and the story of the drawers was brought up; which so offended Bill's delicacy of feeling, that he hauled off his inexpressibles and flung them at Bully, shouting, "Take them!  take my blasted breeches!  Don't say I ain't able to pay you!  Don't tell me about what I borrowed from you!  Take them, or, by the bloody wars, I'll lick you!"  Upon this, Bully, in a state of lively excitement, ran to the deck-pot, and picked up a billet of wood, with which he attempted to knock Bill down.  The "old salt," however, was too much for him, and, wresting the stick from Bully's hands, he chased the "fancy man" around the decks, seemingly unconscious of his comical appearance, minus his ducks.  The mate, seeing the fight, ran between the combatants and put a stop to it.

      "What disturbance is this?" cried Captain A—— from the quarter-deck.  "What's all this about?"

      "He called me a boy, sir," replied Bully.

      "And he is a boy, captain; I could lick fifty like him," suggested Bill, who had by this time hauled up in the waist, under "bare poles," and stood balancing himself in front of the captain.

      "Go forward! You're both drunk."

      "Captain, he hurt my feelin's," blubbered Bully, wiping the tears from his eyes with the back of his hand.  "He did r'ally hurt my feelin's, captain."

      "Go forward, I tell you!"

      "Yes, sir, I'll go forward," said Bill; "but, captain, bless my soul and body, sir, I'm not drunk!"

      "You are drunk."

      "No, sir, I'm only a little in liquor.  It's all owing to that blamed rotgut I drank ashore."

      "Go forward, I tell you."

      "Captain, my name is Bill Mann.  I'm son of old Ed. Mann, sail-maker, New York."

      "I want no parley with you.  Go forward, and I'll talk to you about your name when you get sober."

      "But, captain, upon my conscience, sir, I'm not drunk."

      "You are drunk."

      "Put me in irons — put me in irons, then.  I'm Bill Mann, son of old Ed. Mann, sail-maker, New York.  Put me in irons, Captain A——!"

      "I won't put you in irons.  I'll put you in the rigging, though, and keep you there till morning, if you don't behave yourself."

      "Captain, I want to be put in irons.  Will you put me in irons?  Will you do me the favor, sir, to put me in irons?"

      "I tell you once for all, GO FORRARD!"

      "Oh yes, sir; yes, by all means, captain.  I know what I'm about, sir.  Nobody can tell me my duty.  I've smelt salt water afore to-day.  But the fact is, sir, I don't like to be hurried, d'ye see.  Old Ed. Mann used to say to me, 'Billy, my son, don't you never hurry yourself; the more hurry the worse speed, Billy.'  There's no mistake, captain, but what he was a rum old codger.  It's surprisin' you don't know him.  He used to work down by the South Wharf, and you couldn't but tell him by his pigtail; that 'ere pigtail was half a fathom long.  I'm blowed if I don't believe you know him.  Say, captain, don't you, sir?"

      "Silence!" thundered the captain, perfectly aghast at Bill's audacity.  "If you don't mind me when I speak to you, I'll skin your back!"

      "No you won't, sir," growled Bill.  "I ain't a man wot's a goin' to be skinned, no how.  I won't suffer no captain to skin me as long as my name's Bill Mann, son of old Ed. —"

      "Not another word!" roared the captain.

      Bill evidently began to get alarmed, and, muttering something about being " skinned," he staggered along to the forecastle, where, with some difficulty, we lowered him down the ladder.  By this time the rum began to do its work in earnest; he was raving like a madman.  Four or five of the Portuguese had to hold him down on a chest.  His old theatrical recollections coming upon him, he fancied he was Julius Caesar, about to be murdered in the senate.

      "I'm a Roman, damn my `eyes if I ain't!  Give me a knife!  I'll cut my throat!  I'll die like a Roman!  Nobody ain't a goin' to skin me.  I'm Julius Caesar!  Bloody my eyes, I'm Julius Caesar!"

      "You Bill!  Bill Mann," cried Charlie, "are you crazy?  What the devil are you raving about?"

      "Halloo! is that you, Metellus?  You in this bloody conspiracy too?  strike, my boy, strike!  I'll die like a Roman!  I told Califorina so ashore, and she turned black in the face.  strike!  stick your knife into my windpipe!

                "'Cowards die many times before their deaths;
                  The waliant never taste of death but once.
                  Of all the wonders that I yet have hearn tell on,
                  It seems to me most strange that men should fear;
                  Seeing as how death, a necessary end —'

Ugh! Oh, that Portugee liquor!"

      "Come, come, Bill," said one of the Portuguese, catching him in his arms, and endeavoring to thrust him into his bunk, "turn in; you're out of your senses."

      "Is that you, Cimber?  Give me a knife, Brutus!" roared Bill, in a phrensy.  "Let me go, I say!

                "'I must prevent thee, Cimber.
                  These couchings and these lowly courtesies
                  Miglit fire the blood of ordinary men —' [hiccough]

but, ———! if you don't come out of the little end of the horn if you fool with me [hiccough].

                "'I spurn thee like a fice dog! get out of my way!
                  Know Caesar doth not wrong; nor without cause
                  Will he be satisfied.'

      I'm Julius Caesar, son of old Ed. Mann, sail-maker, New York.  I'm a Roman, second lamp-lighter in the Bowery Theater.  Don't you lay a hand on me — not one of you.  I know what I'm about.  Hurrah! I'm Julius Caesar!"

      "No, Bill," said one of the Portuguese, "you no July Sneezer."

      "I am!  Don't slack jaw me, you base-born hind.  Oh, Brutus, Brutus, will you let 'em murder me?  Give me a knife!  I'll die like a Roman,

                "'Of whose true fixed and resting quality,
                  There is no fellow in the firmament!'"

      And with this Bill rolled over, and lay motionless on his chest.  Several of the stoutest in the forecastle now got hold of him, and attempted to roll him into his bunk.

      "Avast, there!" 'grunted Bill; "hands off, you bloody harpies!

                "'Hence! wilt thou lift up Olympus!'

I'll settle your hash if you don't let me be.  'Who's got a knife? I'll kill you all single-handed! I'll cut my throat, I will!"

      All this time I was an unconcerned spectator of Bill's little peculiarities; but, as he began to wax rather desperate, I advised him to turn in.  He stared at me a moment as if he could not believe his eyes; then, bursting into a theatrical fit of despair, exclaimed,

      "Et to Brute? Well, I'm blowed if I ever thought that of you!  Fall, Caesar, fall!  Gentlemen and ladies, Caesar's dead!  please consider him defunct from this moment!  I'll cut my throat!  I'm nobody!  No! I ain't — nobody at all!  I am Julius Caesar — a regular-built Julius Caesar!  A bloody old Roman, chock up to the royals, blast my top-lights if I ain't!"

      It was useless to argue with Bill on the subject of his illustrious blood; so I turned in, and endeavored to get asleep.  I had scarcely entered the land of dreams, when I was awakened by a noise like the growling of a bear; and, upon listening attentively, I heard Bill's voice, half-smothered under the blanket, endeavoring to articulate,

      "Who says I ain't a Roman?  Who says I ain't Julius Caesar?  Damme, sir, that's the rub!  Who says I ain't Julius Caesar?"

      "Nobody, Bill; go to sleep," growled a voice from the opposite side of the forecastle.

      "Me sleep!" retorted Bill, attempting to rise.  "Who says I ain't Julius Caesar?  You've waked up the wrong passenger, old fellow!  I'm a tee-total, everlasting, bloody Roman myself, I am!"

      As there was no possible way of convincing Bill that he was not a Roman, we left him to the enjoyment of his private personal opinion, with the general suggestion that, being a Roman, he should magnanimously suffer his fellow-countrymen to sleep.

      At 9 P.M.  we were steering south-southeast under fore-topmast and lower studding-sails for the Indian Ocean.

      It is usual in whalers to get up a bounty, by way of encouragement to the look-outs aloft.  This bounty is sometimes at the expense of the owners, who offer it with a view to promote vigilance on the part of the crew, that the voyage may be as short and profitable as possible.  Five or ten dollars reward for a whale to be "raised" by any given time sharpens the sight of the men at the mast-head amazingly.  Whalemen, however prodigal of their earnings ashore, are very different at sea.  The desire to make a good voyage seems to be the mainspring of all their actions.  With what reckless liberality the proceeds of their industry are spent when they arrive in port I need not say, for the open-hearted character of Jack ashore is known all over the world.  From the close calculations which they make at sea, one would think they were the most penurious race of men in existence; but such is far from being the case.  

      In lieu of any bounty from the captain or owners, the crew frequently get up a system of reward on their own account.  This plan is often followed by the best results.  It inspires a spirit of emulation among them that gives rise to great activity and vigilance.

      I present as a specimen a copy of a paper signed by the crew:

      "The undersigned, hands befoe the mast, agree to pay the sum affixed to our respective names, on every barrel of oil raised by a subscriber, to said subscriber; the oil to be measured as stowed down."

      This may require a few explanatory remarks.  In the first place, to "raise oil" is an expression peculiar to whalemen.  The man at the mast-head, who is the first to discover a whale, "raises oil" provided the whale be taken.  If a subscriber raise a hundred barrels of all, according to the agreement (two cents a barrel being the sum affixed to each signature), he is entitled to two dollars from each of the other subscribers, which, allowing that there are ten subscribers besides himself, makes twenty dollars.  By this arrangement he may earn sufficient for spending money during the voyage.  The chances are equal.  The most vigilant subscriber makes the most money, and the most careless loses most. It is customary to make the sums affixed to each signature proportionate to the lay of the subscriber: a green hand paying a cent on every barrel, an ordinary seaman a cent and a half, and an able seaman two cents, or whatever rate may be agreed upon.  Those who do not choose to subscribe have, of course, nothing to do with it; but it is generally the case that this class is composed of the most worthless of the crew.  Consequently, there is a constant competition among the vigilant portion of the crew; and if there is little success, it is not owing to carelessness or neglect of duty on their part.  Those who are desirous of promotion can not better evince their claims than by activity and vigilance in this branch of the business; for as it is a primary object in whaling to see whales when they appear above the surface of the water, so it is the chief qualification of a good whaleman to understand thoroughly the different species of whales, and how to distinguish them.

      November 2d. — Since we entered the tropics I have frequently enjoyed the beauties of a sunrise at sea, which I think are more gorgeous in these latitudes than farther north or south.  I never saw any thing to compare with the splendors of the scene which I witnessed this morning.  We appeared to float in an immense arena, encircled by ranges of hills of the most magnificent and brilliant colors.  The sea was perfectly calm; and as the sun burst through from the east, gilding the edges of this mighty inclosure with the richest hues, such a combination of lights and shades was visible as to form a world of visionary splendor rather than any thing earthly: the clouds ever changing into the most fantastic and beautiful forms; sometimes assuming the appearance of a group of fairy islands, resplendent with cities and palaces of gold, and at others bearing a strong resemblance to a bold, rugged chain of mountains capped with snow, glancing brilliantly in the sunbeams.  But such sights as this are not to be described; they must be seen.

      "Sail ho!" was the cheering cry from the man at the mast-head.  This was the first vessel we had seen for eight or ten days.  She proved to be a large English barque, and continued to near us, with a very light breeze, till tqward evening, when we lowered a boat and boarded her.  A band of musicians, seated on a platform in the waist, welcomed us by striking up a lively air.  The stranger was a convict vessel, bound for Van Diemen's Land, with a great number of convicts and emigrants on board.  Some of the prisoners were chained on deck, others standing in platoons under a strong guard.  I never saw such a gang of ill-looking, miserable beings in my life as these poor fellows.  Here and there I thought I could distinguish a prisoner less hardened in guilt than his comrades; some poor wretch who had seen better times, but now banished from the home of his childhood; an outcast, driven from civilized society, doomed to atone for his offense by years of exile and servitude in a land of vagrants and criminals.  What a fate!  It was sickening to see so many human beings chained together like dogs, and white men too!  What a school of reformation for children of twelve or fourteen years of age!  I saw boys chained in groups, who really did not seem old enough to know what they were punished for; and yet these children, who, perhaps, had been driven by the cravings of nature to commit the acts for which they were now to make so awful an atonement, were to be lost forever!

      The sun was just setting as we took our departure.  I felt, after what I had seen, that my situation was not so bad as theirs, after all; and when I looked upon our crazy little barque, rough and unsightly as she was in comparison with the splendid specimen of naval architecture I had just seen, I really felt something akin to a kindly esteem for her.

Approach the Equator. — Sketch of an old Whaleman. — John Tabor's Ride. — Sketches of the Crew. — Routine of Duty. — standing Mastheads. — Ship-keeping. — Signals.

      THE reader will now imagine us in the vicinity of the equator, with little to relieve the monotony of our voyage.  To enter into a detail of every calm, squall, rain, or sunrise, would be tedious and uninteresting.  I deem this, therefore, a suitable place to give a sketch of our crew, and to enter more fully into our domestic economy on board the styx.

      I have alluded already to Tabor, the harpooneersman of the waist boat, as an experienced whaleman; but I must now speak of him as a man "whose like I ne'er shall look upon again."

      John Tabor, of the old Tabor family, celebrated for their daring enterprise and success in the whale fishery, was a hardy, stout-built little fellow, who had spent twenty years of his life at sea, and had seen a great deal of the world, and experienced many hard rubs in the whaling business.  There was scarcely an island in the Pacific Ocean that he had not visited; and few there were whose minds were better stored with plain, matter-of-fact knowledge than John's.  He had sailed with all sorts of captains, and witnessed many scenes of cruelty and tyranny.  He had endured every species of hardship, and he bore upon his face and body scars which he had received in various encounters.  Withal, Tabor was a very primitive character.  He had all the noble generosity and daring of a real sailor — all those blunt, manly qualities which characterize the genuine son of Neptune — with the credulity and simplicity of a child.  His voyages had all been successful enough, but he had been cheated out of his hard earnings by crafty and designing owners; and when he did chance to receive his earnings after a long-voyage, there were land-sharks enough ready to pounce upon them.  I was told of an instance of Tabor's generosity, which I think deserves to be recorded.  He had been on a long and disagreeable voyage, with a captain who had maltreated and abused the whole crew.  When the vessel arrived at the port from which she had sailed, he was paid off and discharged.  The total amount of his earnings, after subtraction for his outfit, was a hundred and fifty dollars.  With this he set off in search of adventure, on "a cruize up town." It is not to be wondered at that he soon came to an anchor in one of those dens of infamy where sailors generally dispose of their earnings.  Here he met with a young girl who was apparently a novice in the ways of vice.  Upon inquiry into her history, he learned that she was from a distant part of the country, where her parents resided, and that she had been seduced by the base schemes of a villain in the garb of a gentleman.  She told the tale of her downfall with a simplicity and pathos that melted the heart of the rough sailor.  He inquired why she did not return to the roof of her parents.  Alas! she was not able.  It was now too late: the mistress of the house took all she got from her; and though she was willing to return, and knew she would be received with open arms, she could not think of writing home.  They were ignorant there of all her guilt.  Tabor dashed a tear from his eyes, and hauling out the sum he had so well earned, exclaimed, "I'm plowed if you shan't go home!  Go now, and be a good girl!" and without waiting to hear her expressions of gratitude, he left the house a pennyless wanderer.  This act of genuine benevolence compelled him to ship immediately on another voyage.  He never heard of the girl after that; and from that day to this he bears the reputation, among his circle of acquaintances at home, of being a worthless spend-thrift, who could foolishly throw away all his earnings in a few days in a house of ill fame.

      Every man has his failing: John Tabor had his.  It assumed the shape of a large bottle of rum the day he sailed from New Bedford.  There was no difficulty in smuggling it aboard; but how to get at it when he succeeded in that, was the main question.  It was impossible to "take a swig" in the cabin without attracting the vigilant eyes of the captain and officers; so Tabor marked it "camphor," and committed it to the safe-keeping of a friend in the forecastle.  Tabor's sly visits to the forecastle for several days after we left port were noticed by the officers, who, upon making inquiries, were given to understand that he was afflicted with an "internal commotion" which required constant doses of "camphor," a medicine pronounced indispensable by his physician.  The fact was, Tabor had been on a long spree previous to signing the ship's articles; and he had provided himself with the aforesaid bottle of strong medicine that he might gradually taper off to a perfect state of sobriety.  Unfortunately, he tapered on instead of off; and for three or four days he could hardly stand an hour on deck without rolling into the lee scuppers.  The captain did not suspect the cause; so it remained unknown except in the forecastle, where Tabor was a general favorite.  In due course of time, when his bottle of rum, and another which he had purchased from one of the crew, gave out, there was a most extraordinary change in his face.  It became nearly twice its original length, and looked very "pale about the gills," as some of the crew facetiously observed.  His nose, however, retained its fiery and conspicuous appearance, and there grew upon the extremity of it a great variety of luminous carbuncles, resembling a choice nosegay of highly colored flowers.  About this period, too, it was observed that he rolled to leeward less frequently than formerly; but he peeped from behind his extensive whiskers, with a solemn and cadaverous look that told a tale of woe.  There was no denying that he had the horrors! the blue horrors first, and then the black horrors, and, lastly, the concentrated essence of both, which is decidedly a very unpleasant and alarming species of complaint.  While in this state, he was continually beset by the vision of an old man with a long white beard, who seemed to entertain various murderous designs upon his person.  The first time this interesting individual attempted to accomplish his purpose, Tabor was in his bunk in the cabin.  It was my trick at the wheel; and I had been for some time enjoying a melancholy meditation, when I was startled by the apparition of a tremendous pair of whiskers, just visible over the companion-way.  Then came the body and legs in a state of utter nudity.  I soon discovered that it was Tabor.  His eyes were starting from their sockets and his mouth wide open.  For a few moments he stood gazing wildly toward the taffrail.

      "What's the matter, Tabor?" said I.

      "Matter enough," replied Tabor, rubbing his eyes as if he had just been aroused from a disagreeable sleep; and seating himself on a coil of rope by the wheel, he gave me a very amusing narrative of his acquaintance with the spectral individual who caused him so much uneasiness.

JOHN TABOR'S RIDE.

      "I was cruising some years ago," he began, "on the southern coast of Africa.  The vessel in which I was at the time had been out for a long time, and many of the crew were on the sick-list.  I had smuggled on board a large quantity of liquor, which I had made use of pretty freely while it lasted.  Finding the crew in so helpless a condition, the captain put into Algoa Bay, where we had a temporary hospital erected for the benefit of the sick.  I saw that they led a very easy life, and soon managed to get on the sick-list myself.  As soon as I got ashore I procured a fresh supply of liquor from some of the English settlers there, and in about a week I was laid up with a fever in consequence of my deep potations.  One night, while I lay in the hospital burning with this dreadful disease, I felt an unusual sensation steal over me.  My blood danced through my veins.  I sprang up from my catanda as strong as a lion.  I thought I never was better in my life, and I wondered how it was I had so long been deceived as to my disease.  A thrilling desire to exert myself came over me.  I would have given worlds to contend with some giant.  It seemed to me I could tear him to pieces, as a wolf would tear a lamb.  Elated with the idea of my infinite power, I rushed out and ran toward the beach, hoping to meet a stray elephant or hippopotamus on the way, that I might pitch him into the sea; but, very fortunately, I saw none.  It was a calm, still night.  There was scarcely a ripple on the bay.  I put my ear to the sand to listen; for I thought I heard the breaches of a whale.  I waited for a repetition of the sounds, scarcely daring to breathe, lest I should miss them.  Not a murmur, except the low heaving of the swell upon the beach, broke the stillness of the night.  I was suddenly startled by a voice close behind me, shouting, 'There she breaches!' and jumping up, I saw, standing within a few yards of me, such a figure as I shall never forget, even if not occasionally reminded of its existence, as I was to-night.  The first thing I could discern was a beard, hanging down from the chin of the owner in strings like rope yarns.  It had probably once been white, but now it was discolored with whale-gurry and tar.  The old fellow was not more than five feet high.  He carried a hump on his shoulders of prodigious dimensions; but, notwithstanding his apparent great age, which must have been over a hundred years, he seemed as spry and active as a mokak.  His dress consisted, of a tremendous sou-wester, a greasy duck jacket, and a pair of well-tarred trowsers, something the worse for the wear.  In one hand he carried a harpoon; in the other a coil of short warp.  I felt very odd, I assure you, at the sudden apparition of such a venerable whaleman.  As I gazed upon him, he raised his finger in a mysterious and solemn manner, and pointed toward the offing.  I looked, and saw a large whale sporting on the surface of the water.  The boats were lying upon the beach.  He turned his eyes meaningly toward the nearest.  I trembled all over; for I never experienced such strange sensations as I did then.

      "'Shall we go? said he.

      "'As you say,' I replied.

      "'You are a good whaleman, I suppose?  Have you ever killed your whale at a fifteen-fathom dart?'

      "I replied in the affirmative.

      "'Very well,' said he, 'you'll do.'

      "And without more delay, we lanched the boat and pushed off.  It was a wild whale-chase, that!  We pulled and tugged for upward of an hour.  At last we came upon the whale, just as he rose for the second time.  I sprang to the bow, for I wanted to have the first iron into him.

      "'Back from that!' said the old whaleman, sternly.

      "'It's my chance,' I replied.

      "'Back, I tell you! I'll strike that whale!'

      "There was something in his voice that inspired me with awe, and I gave way to him.  The whale was four good darts off; but the old man's strength was supernatural, and his aim unerring.  The harpoon struck exactly where it was pointed, just back of the head.  

      "'Now for a ride!' cried the old man; and his features brightened up, and-his eyes glared strangely.  'Jump on, John Tabor, jump on!' said he.

JOHN TABOR'S RIDE

      "'How do you mean?' said I; for although I had killed whales, and eat of them too, such an idea as that of riding a whale-back never before entered my mind.

      "'Jump on, I say, jump on, John Tabor!' he repeated, sternly.

      "'Damme if I do!' said I, and my hair began to stand on end.

      "'You must!' shouted the old whaleman.

      "'But I won't!' said I, resolutely.

      "'Won't you?' and with that he seized me in his arms, and, making a desperate spring, reached the whale's back and drove the boat adrift.  He then set me down, and bade me hold on to the seat of his ducks, while he made sure his own fastening by a good grip of the iron pole.  With the other hand be drew from his pocket a quid of tobacco and rammed it into his mouth; after which he began to hum an old song.  Feeling something rather uncommon on his back, the whale set of with the speed of lightning, whizzing along as if all the whalers in the Pacific were after him.

      "'Go it!' said the old man, and his eyes flashed with a supernatural brilliancy.  'Hold fast, John Tabor! stick on like grim Death!'

      "'What the devil kind of a wild-goose chase is this?' said I, shivering with fear and cold; for the spray came dashing over us in oceans.

      "'Patience!' rejoined the old Man; 'you'll see presently.' Away we went, leaving a wake behind us for miles.  The land became more and more indistinct.  We lost sight of it entirely.  We were on the broad ocean.

      "'On! on!  stick to me, John Tabor!' shouted the old man, with a grin; of infernal ecstasy.

      "'But where are you bound?' said I.  'Damme if this don't beat all the crafts I ever shipped in!' and my teeth chattered as if I had an ague.

      "'Belay your jaw-tackle, John Tabor!  Keep your main hatch closed, and bold on.  Go it!  go it, old sperm!'

      "Away we dashed, bounding from wave to wave like a streak of pigtail lightning.  Whiz! whiz! we flew through the sea.  I never saw the like.  At this rate we traveled till daylight, when the old man sang out, 'Land ho!'

      "'Where away?' said I, for I had no more idea of our latitude and longitude than if I had been dropped down out of the clouds.  'Off our weather eye?'

      "'That's the Cape of Good Hope!'

      "Ne'er went John Gilpin faster than we rounded the cape.

      "'Hard down your flukes!' shouted my companion, and in five minutes Table Mountain looked blue in the distance.  The sun had just risen above the horizon, when an island appeared ahead.

      "'Land ho!' cried the old man.

      "' Why, you bloody old popinjay,' said I, peering through the clouds of spray that rose up before us, 'where are you steering?'

      "'That's St. Helena!'

      'The devil you say!' and before the words were well out of my mouth we shot past the island and left it galloping astern.  

      "'stick on! stick on, John Tabor!' cried old greasy-beard; and I tightened my grasp on the seat of his ducks.  The sea was growing rough.  We flew onward like wildfire.

      "'Land ho!' shouted the old man again.

      "'Where's that?' said I, holding on with all my might.

      "'That's Cape Hatteras!'

      "Our speed now increased to such a degree that my hat flew off, and the wind whistled through my hair, for it stood bolt upright the whole time, so fearful was I of losing my passage.  I had traveled in steam-boats, stages, and locomotives, but I had never experienced or imagined any thing like this.  I couldn't contain myself any longer; so I made bold to tell the old chap with the beard what I thought about it.

      "'Shiver me!' said I, 'if this isn't the most outlandish, hell-bent voyage I ever went.  If you don't come to pretty soon, you and I'll part company.'

      "'Land ho!' roared the old man.

      "'In the devil's name,' said I, `what d'ye call that?'

      "'Nantucket,' replied my comrade.

      "We passed it in the winking of an eye, and away we went up Buzzard's Bay.  The coast was lined with old whaling shippers, spying us with glasses; for certainly so strange a sight was never seen before or since.

      "'There she breaches!' cried some.

      "'There she blows!' cried others; but it was all one to them.  We were out of sight in a jiffy.

      "The coast of Massachusetts was right ahead.  On, on we flew.  Taborstown, the general receptacle for Tabors, stood before us.  High and dry we landed on the beach.  still onward went the whale, blowing; and pitching, and tearing up the sand with his flukes.

      "'My eyes!' said I, scarcely able to see a dart ahead, 'look out, or you'll be foul of the town pump!'

      "'Go it! Never say die!  Hold fast, John Tabor!' shouted the old chap; and helter-skelter we flew down Main-street, scattering children, and women, and horses, and all manner of live stock and domestic animals, on each side.  The old Cape Horn and plum-pudding captains rushed to their doors at a sight so rare.

      "'There she breaches!  There she breaches!' resounded through the town fore and aft; and with the ruling passion strong even in old age, they came hobbling after us, armed with lances, harpoons, and a variety of old rusty whale-gear, the hindmost singing out,

      "'Don't you strike that whale, Captain Tabor!' and the foremost shouting to those behind, 'This is my chance, Captain Tabor!' while the old man with the long beard, just ahead of me, kept roaring,

      "`stick fast, John Tabor! hang on like grim Death, John Tabor!'

      "And I did hang on.  As I had predicted, we fetched up against the town pump; and so great was the shock, that the old fellow flew head foremost over it, leaving in my firm grasp the entire seat of his ducks.  I fell myself; but being farther aft, didn't go quite so far as my comrade.  However, I held on to the stern-sheets.  As the old man righted up, he presented a comical spectacle to the good citizens of Taborstown.  The youngsters, seeing such an odd fish floundering about, got their miniature lances and harpoons to bear upon him, in a manner that didn't tickle his fancy much.

      "The whale at length got under weigh again, and onward we went, with about twenty irons dangling at each side.  I grasped the old man by the collar of his jacket this time.  A shout of laughter followed us.

      "'You've lost your whale, Captain Tabor!' cried one.

      "'The devil's in the whale, Captain Tabor!' cried another.

      "'As long as I've been Captain Tabor,' said a third, I never saw such a whale.'

      "'As sure as I'm Captain Tabor, he's bewitched,' observed a fourth.

      "'Captain Tabor, Captain Tabor! I've lost my irons!' shouted a fifth.

      "'Who's that aboard, Captain Tabor?' asked a sixth.

      That's John Tabor!' replied a seventh.

      "'John Tabor, John Tabor, hold fast!' roared the old man, and away we went as if possessed of the devil, sure enough.  Over hills and dales, and through towns and villages flew we, till the Alleghanies hove in sight.  We cleared them in no time, and came down with a glorious breach right into the Alleghany River.  Down the river we dashed through steam-boats, flat-boats, and all manner of small craft, till we entered the Ohio.  Right ahead went we, upsetting every thing in our way, and astonishing the natives, who never saw any thing in such shape go at this rate before.  We entered the Mississippi, dashed across all the bends through swamp and canebrake, and at last found ourselves in the Gulf of Mexico, going like wildfire through a fleet of whalers.  Nothing daunted, the whale dashed ahead; the coast of South America hove in sight.  Over the Andes went we — into the Pacific — past the Sandwich Islands — on to China — past Borneo — up the straits of Malacca — through the Seychelles Islands — down the Mozambique Channel, and at last we fetched up in Algon Bay.  We ran ashore with such headway that I was pitched head foremost into the sand, and there I fastened as firm as the stump of a tree.  You may be sure, out of breath as I was, I soon began to smother.  This feeling of suffocation became so intolerable, that I struggled with the desperation of a man determined not to give up the ghost.  A confusion of ideas came upon me all at once, and I found myself sitting upright in my catanda in the old hospital —"

      Here Tabor paused.

      "Then it was all a dream?" said I, somewhat disappointed.  He shook his head, and was mysteriously silent for a while.

      "I could easily have supposed it was all a dream," he replied, at length, "only for what followed.  The old man, with the same supernatural glare in his eye, the same long beard, stood by me.  I tried to persuade myself my eyes deceived me.  I shut them and opened them again.  still he was there.  I spoke to him; but he was silent.  I sprang from the bed, and endeavored to get hold of him.  As I advanced he receded.  I followed him out on the beach.  When I ran he ran.  He always kept the same distance from me.  I returned to the hospital, and he followed me.  The moment I entered, I shut the door in his face.  It was all in vain.  He passed through it without an effort.  For more than a week I was haunted in this manner."

      "I suppose it was some illusion produced by the fever?"

      "No; for long after that, when I was as well as ever, I saw him again.  He always appears to me, as a kind of punishment for my sins, when I indulge in liquor.  He troubles me after every spree.  I don't know what to think of it.  To-night, as I was lying in my berth, I saw him come up out of the run as plainly as I see you.  He stood glaring at me a while, and then approached me.  I shuddered, for I had the black horrors.

      "'D'ye want to get clear of me?' be hissed.

      "''Fore God, I do,' said I.

      "'Swear, then, this night, that you'll never taste another drop of grog.'

      "Would you believe it?  I hadn't the resolution to take the oath.  With a wild laugh he darted out of the cabin.  I followed him.  The rest you know."

      There was a mixture of the comic and the serious in Tabor's account of his troubles that interested me exceedingly.  He was not a superstitious man, and he very naturally doubted the reality of the vision, though the evidence was such as to stagger his reason.  That night he made a solemn vow to abstain from rum.  Want of firmness was not one of his failings, and I have reason to believe that his vow has never been broken.  At all events, he saw no more of the "old man with the long beard."

      In the forecastle we had a great variety of singular characters, among whom, next to Bill Mann, "son of old Ed. Mann, sail-maker, New York," was a young Englishman, who went by the name of Jack Smith.  This fellow had more of the conflicting elements of human nature in his character than any one man I ever knew.  He was full of the noblest impulses: free, generous, and fearless to a fault; but, at the same time, a most unprincipled scoundrel.  Lying had become second nature with him.  He actually seemed incapable of telling the truth, so inveterate a liar was he, and so natural did it come to him to distort facts.  When he entered his name upon the ship's papers at Fayal, it was Jack Smith.  Soon after, he avowed most solemnly that it was John Post. When he had succeeded in making every body believe that, he protested on his sacred word that it was James Provost, and that he was an illegitimate son of Sir John Provost; but, in a week or two after that, he offered to kiss the Bible, and swear that it was neither Smith, nor Post, nor Provost, but a name which should go to the grave with him unknown to a human being.  This threw an air of mystery over Jack's personal history that was very interesting to the crew generally.  I learned from him, confidentially, some of the particulars of his life, which, had they been true, would have been truly astonishing.  According to his own account, he was nearly as old as Methuselah, though in appearance not more than twenty-one.  Jack assured me, with many oaths, that he commenced the sea-faring life at the tender age of five, at which interesting period he could knot a reef-point equal to any man on board.  He was nine years before the mast in the merchant service.  Tired of sea-faring, be bound himself apprentice to a baker; spent six months with his employer; then apprenticed himself to a sail-maker, with whom he remained two or three years.  He next acted in the capacity of a butcher's boy for a year or two more; but not liking the business as well as he had expected, he bound himself to a carpenter.  After a year at this trade he went to shoe-making; but shoe-making was too sedentary a trade to suit his wandering disposition, and, after spending eighteen months at it, be hired himself to a black-smith, with whom he remained two years.  The business became dull, and having an ardent desire to go to sea again, he shipped in a merchant vessel bound to Antwerp.  He was twenty-eight months in this vessel.  When he left her, he entered the navy of the United States, and went to Florida on an Indian-hunting expedition.  He spent a year in the swamps chasing the Indians, and another in the West Indies, where he received a flogging, and deserted; a reward for his toils which he looked upon as ungrateful, to say the least of it.  He there shipped in another man-of-war.  When his time was out he went to New York to ship again, but was taken up as a deserter, and was put in prison for six months.  At the expiration of that period, he shipped at Newport, Rhode Island, in a whaler.  He was flogged for stealing soon after she left port, and deserted on the first island she touched at.  He soon shipped again, however, and went on a voyage of three years; then another of four years.  Altogether he was in the whale fishery about nine years, during which time he had been frequently wrecked, and maimed on various occasions by whales.

      I will not vouch for the truth of Jack's narrative, particularly as he was not in reality more than twenty-one years of age, and bore no traces upon his person of the dreadful catastrophes which had befallen him, with the exception of the floggings he had received, and they were manifold, if I might judge by the fanciful manner in which his back was striped.  As to the numerous trades he had learned, it was very evident that he had a natural talent for every thing under the sun, for there was not a man on board the barque so expert at all sorts of handicraft: shoe-making, black-smithing, butchering, tailoring, sail-making, or any thing necessary to be done on board ship.  He was the most active sailor, and the most worthless one, I ever saw.

      This fellow had acquired, not only the habit of telling the most marvelous lies, but that of pilfering every thing he could lay his hands upon.  He commenced his career of petty larceny by robbing us all of our vinegar and molasses.  When we discovered the thief, he swore he intended to knock off stealing; that it was a d——d ungentlemanly way of appropriating the property of another to one's own uses; and he would never touch any thing belonging to us, if we said nothing of his past offenses.  The very next week he stole a pair of shoes and a jack-knife from me.  Unfortunately, though well assured that he was 'the thief, I could adduce no positive proof of the fact at that time, and I was obliged to make the best of my loss.  Lying and stealing actually seemed to be part of his nature, which he could no more resist than eating and drinking.  When accused of any misdemeanor of this kind, he would fly into a furious passion, protesting with the most awful oaths that he was badly treated and much abused, and intended to whip all hands the first chance he got ashore.  "He wouldn't be imposed upon because he was a bloody Englishman."  The next moment he would ask a favor of his most inveterate enemy; for there was one good trait about him: he never entertained the least ill-will toward any one, however much he quarreled or caused enmity to exist against himself.  Jack was generous too; he would rob his best friend, nay, according to his own confession, he had robbed the dead, and it was a common trick for him to steal from his parents; but the first person he fancied he would bestow all he had upon, even to the shirt he wore.  He was a most awful blasphemer.  I have heard oaths from him that made my blood curdle.  He was second only to Bill Mann in the art of "growling."  Jack had quarrels to settle with every body; and, what was most amusing, he would sit down with his mortal foe and talk over the approaching fight in the most good-natured and friendly manner.  He was always in trouble with the captain and officers, and occasioned more care and anxiety on their part than all the rest of the hands.  So much for Jack Smith, our bully young Englishman.

      Barzilla MacF——, the "down-easter," was another singular character.  I have already given some idea of his dry humor in his remarks upon our first whale.  With rather a muddy intellect, he had naturally an under-current of original humor, which was a source of great amusement to us all.  Mack was very dull at learning any thing connected with sea-craft, and made rather a clumsy sailor.  The captain disliked him on this account, and continually hazed him for his awkwardness; but Mack took every hard rub with the utmost good humor.  A more inoffensive, kind-hearted fellow never existed.  He was always generous and attentive to the sick.  Whenever a chance of going ashore occurred, he was ever ready to yield his place to any one who seemed anxious to go; or, if we went on a "gam," he always offered to take care of the boat alongside.  I really felt a strong attachment to this poor, friendless, uncouth fellow, maltreated and abused as he was by the captain and officers.  Mack always had something amusing to say whenever the crew were in an ill humor about the miserable fare we had.  On one occasion, as we were all sitting around the empty meat kid, growling at the "old man" for his stinginess, the "down-easter" commenced as usual:

      "I say, folks, what's the use of talkin' about it?  If ye'll jest listen to me, I'll tell you how to fix it.  Our molasses is so tarnation sour, we can sweeten it with vinegar; it's so thin, a little water will thicken it.  The tea is pesky nasty sort o' stuff.  Can't we improve it by washin' down the hog-pen with it before it's served out?  It won't be nastier, and it won't be  nicer.  It'll be considerable cleaner, any how.  I don't know how we'll git enough of meat.  Let's turn the kid upside down, a#d all hands lick away at the bottom.  The bread's monstrous dirty.  Why not scrub it down with one of the deck-brooms?  You're always a jawin' about the duffs.  Let's save 'em up for six weeks, and then we can have enough for a meal, While we're waitin', we can play marbles with 'em.  Very well, as we ain't got our allowance of rice, we can dig away at vinegar and vacancy; and, when the old man sings out arter us to man the boats, we'll jest turn edgewise, and say, 'Old Skinflint, you needn't holler; we ain't to be found in no particular place.'"

      Mack had some lines of his own composition, which he often repeated for our benefit and edification on occasions like this.  His mock-tragic manner was always sure to produce a general roar of laughter.  I think, as a literary curiosity, the lines ought to be preserved:

                 "Dear youth, let this a solemn warnin' be,
                  Don't you fool away yourself, and come to sea;
                  For if you do, you'll wish you was to hum,
                  Not on the ocean, whar' the mighty whales do roam.
                  You'll wish you was in the green fields in spring,
                  Whar' the crows do croak, and little birds do sing.
                  While you to hum the best of cabbiges do eat,
                  With plenty of potatoes and fresh meat,
                  We on the deep sea, alas!
                  Has within' but horse junk and pepper-sass.
                  Oh! nobody — nobody knows
                  What a poor sailor undergoes!"

      I never saw Mack in an ill humor.  Under every circumstance he was the same singular, awkward, good-natured oddity.  The horrible and brutal manner in which he was treated toward the latter part of the cruise will form the subject of some future remarks, in which I shall give a fair exposition of the dastardly conduct of a wretch whose name deserves to be branded with infamy.

      Of all the crew my favorite was Charley Clifford, a little fellow from Connecticut, belonging to the waist boat.  In every respect Charley was the best specimen of a Yankee tar I ever met with: active, energetic, and fearless; and possessed of all the frankness and generosity of a genuine sailor.  He had received some education, which, combined with a very strong, keen mind, rendered him a pleasant companion for a long night-watch.  For graphic descriptions of incidents ashore and at sea I never saw his equal, except Tabor.  His fund of wit and anecdote was inexhaustible.  When I first saw Charley, I was struck by his personal appearance.  In height he was about five feet five, very compact, and well-built.  He wore his hair in long ringlets, reaching down over his shoulders, and had his tarpaulin jauntily cocked on one side, with a fathom of rib-bon to set it off.  His trowsers were wide, white ducks, cut in the pink of nautical fashion.  Altogether he was the handsomest and most sailor-like little fellow on board.

      The next in the forecastle of any note was Tom Vernon, a youth from Philadelphia, who had run away from home to test the charms of a "life on the ocean wave." There was nothing uncommon in his history.  He had been a clerk in a hardware store, and had fallen out with his employers, which was the original cause of his troubles.  He was well educated, and wrote an excellent hand; but Nature had never intended him for a sailor.  The captain and mate held a taught rein upon poor Tom, and treated him with great severity and harshness.  The surest way to render a man worthless and indifferent to the success of the voyage is to haze him, and find fault with him when he does his duty to the best of his ability.  It never makes a smarter or a better man of him; and it often, by degrading him in the eyes of his comrades, makes him reckless of all his obligations.  It was so with Tom.  At first he used every exertion in his power to please; but finding he was still treated badly, he became sullen and morose, and did as little as he possibly could.  This inflamed the mate with a deadly animosity against him.  The unfortunate lad led the life of a dog.  There are various ways on board a ship of gratifying malice of this kind: such as giving a man the most disagreeable jobs, hazing him about, cursing him at the helm, and taunting him for his awkwardness.  The usual manner in which Tom was addressed was, " You d——d soger!  you blasted sheephead!  you infernal liar!" &c.  The melancholy fate of this poor fellow, at a subsequent period, formed a tragic termination to the system of heartless and brutal tyranny with which he was treated on board the styx.

      By far the noisiest man in the forecastle was John Blair, a stone-cutter, from New York, commonly called Bully.  Had every by-alley and den of infamy in that city been searched, there could not have been found a more abandoned ruffian than this fellow.  He made it a boast that he was the most conspicuous man in New York among the sisters of the pave, and rejoiced in the cognomen of the "Ladies' Fancy Man."  He was continually boasting of the deeds of rascality he had committed, and took no small pride in the fact that he had been driven to sea in order to escape punishment for a most infamous and atrocious act of violence upon the person of a respectable girl.  There was a low cunning and a total want of every manly principle about him that rendered him detestable to every one on board.

      The remainder of the crew consisted of Portuguese from the Western Islands, who may be described in a few words.  A more ignorant, heartless, treacherous, beastly set of men, I think, never existed; and, with two exceptions, I would rather live among the most degraded of the savage tribes.  They were all blustering and cowardly, except John and George, the only decent Portuguese in the vessel.  George was a quiet, harmless nonentity; active enough as a sailor, but with the intellect of a child.  John, the largest man on board, was a fine specimen of corporeal strength and mental imbecility.  He was over six feet in height, of tremendous breadth across the shoulders, and active as a cat.  It was almost impossible to get him angry; but, when once aroused, he was a perfect demon.  John was liked and feared by the whole crew; for, while he gave offense to none, he was able, if imposed upon, to flog any four men in the forecastle.

      With these men I had cast my lot; and, such as they were, made up of good and evil, I felt that, for my own comfort, it was necessary to be on friendly terms with all, and to associate with them as equals.

      Our routine of duty on a passage was as follows: Each man had his two hours at the mast-head and two hours at the wheel every day.  The watches, instead of boat's crews, as we had them on the whaling ground, were divided into two, the larboard and starboard.  The mate had charge of the first, and the second mate of the last.  There were alternate hours of duty, four on deck and four below, except during the "dog watches," from four o'clock in the afternoon to supper time, when all hands were on deck.  This gave us an average of nine hours below out of the twenty-four.  All that was required of us at night in fine weather was to be on deck, and take turns at keeping a look-out.  There were six men in each watch: one at the helm, one on the night-heads, and the rest at liberty, unless called upon to brace the yards, to pass away their watch on deck as they best could, spinning yarns, or taking a sly nap under the weather rail.  Being able to get an average of two hours sleep every night in this way, and six below, we had about four hours every day to ourselves, which we usually spent mending our clothes, talking, smoking, or reading.

      I found my two hours a day, and four every alternate day, at the mast-head very tedious at first. It was not until we left the Western Islands that I could stand them without experiencing anew all the disagreeable symptoms of sea-sickness; and in this misfortune I was not alone; for few of the green hands could stand at the mast-head in rough weather without becoming sea-sick.  still it was not unpleasant to be occasionally removed from the noise and confusion of the forecastle.  The mast-head was a little world of peace and seclusion, where I could think over past times without interruption.  There was much around me to inspire vague and visionary fancies: the ocean, a trackless waste of waters; the arched sky spread over it like a variegated curtain; the sea-birds wheeling in the air; and the myriads of albacore cleaving their way through the clear, blue waves, were all calculated to create novel emotions in the mind of a landsman.  It was here I could cast a retrospective glance at my past life.  Here it was I could think of my home in the west, where I had spent years of unalloyed happiness, with none to tyrannize over me, but where all was social harmony.  How bright and beautiful seemed the past!  How I longed once more to see the familiar faces of friends and kindred!  Hour after hour have I thought of by-gone scenes and happier days;

                                   "My very heart athirst
                  To gaze on Nature in her green array."

      Whenever I became so wrapped up in these visionary dreams as to forget that I was not placed at the mast-head for that special purpose, the loud, harsh voice of the captain would arouse me, with a friendly hint to "keep a sharp lookout for whales, or he'd wake me up with a rope's end."  To be suddenly startled from a delicious revery, abounding in those ethereal and refined fancies which Rousseau has so beautifully described as part of the inspiration derived from an elevated atmosphere; to have one's happiest dreams of home dissipated by an allusion to "rope's ends," suggesting thoughts of the mode in which they are usually applied, is not so romantic as one might suppose.

      The only time I experienced any thing akin to real pleasure was during my night-watches, when the weather was fine.  I could then find a comfortable seat, and spend a few hours in agreeable conversation with Tabor and Clifford, the only two on board who really had any idea of the pleasures of social intercourse.  With a strong passion for all the romance and superstitions of sea-life, I often listened for hours to their reminiscences of adventure and legendary lore; and such was the natural and graphic force of their descriptions that it was difficult to separate the real from the fictitious.  In their own homely and energetic language they could conjure up scenes of startling reality — scenes invested with all the charms of romance.  Tabor, in particular — though he never made use of a poetical word; though he had never read a line of real poetry — had a thorough appreciation, unknown to himself, of the poetry of incident, and could throw the true poetic mantle over the most ordinary narrations by the very simplicity and natural energy of his language.  I often thought that, could he have received the benefits of education, without impairing the original vigor of his mind — could he have preserved the freshness of his language with the addition of a cultivated intellect, few men would have ranked higher in the literary world.  Tabor was one of those poets "who have never penned their inspiration."

      These night-watches were not always devoid of other pleasures.  When it is borne in mind that the most trifling event on a long and monotonous passage constitutes an epoch in sea-life, I think I shall be pardoned for introducing one of the few little incidents which occurred soon after we had left the Cape de Verde Islands.

      A quiet, beautiful moonlight night had succeeded a week's rough weather.  My watch on deck was nearly over.  The sky looked so calm, and the vessel was so still, that I could not sleep; for when one becomes accustomed to the lullaby of the storm it is difficult to dispense with it.  I stretched myself on the windlass, and amused myself looking up at the stars, and wondering whether the inhabitants carried on the whaling business.  If so, was it not probable they had their duff-days and their banyan-days, their tricks at the helm, their mast-heads, their look-outs, their watches on deck and their watches below?  and then, pursuing this train of reflection, I naturally bestowed upon my lunar brethren a great deal of unnecessary sympathy.

      While under the influence of these pleasant cogitations, a deep groan, apparently close by, startled me.  There was no illusion about it.  I could not be mistaken.  It was a groan — a real groan.  I looked around, and saw the watch asleep under the bulwarks.  It evidently proceeded from nobody there.  In a few moments it was repeated, half smothered, and horribly sepulchral.  Supposing some of the crew were attempting to play a trick upon me, I pretended to take no notice of it.  Again the awful groan was repeated, with low, smothered exclamations: "Oh, great Jee-hovah! oh! um! ah! wrugh! good jee-meny! oh! oh!" muttered the voice.  "Oh cracky! oh gosh! I'm catched — catched at last! I'll give in.  Oh!"

      It was Mack's voice; there was no doubt about that.  I, of course, thought he was at some of his tricks, and quietly awaited the issue.  About five minutes elapsed, when the most awful and heart-rending groans issued from some place not very distant from me, accompanied by words pronounced in a sepulchral voice.  "Tabor! Tabor!" muttered the sufferer in a beseeching tone, " don't stick that 'ere fork in me!"  A pause; another groan.  "Oh, I'm brilin'!  I'm roastin'!  Pull me out! help, somebody!  Tom, pull me out!"

      The cries of distress startled the men who were asleep under the bulwarks.  Two or three of them lazily raised up their heads, and rubbed their eyes.  I immediately jumped up, and, assisted by the watch, commenced a search.  While we were looking around in search of Mack, the groan was repeated close by the try-works.  Upon removing a pile of wood and an old tarpaulin cover from the deck-pot, we found him coiled up in the smallest possible space, covered with oil and dirt, and presenting altogether a most hideous appearance.  Big John, the Portuguese, caught him by the hair, and lifting him out with one hand, placed him upon his legs.  Mack looked around him perfectly bewildered.  His face was black with dirty oil, his eyes were wide open, and there he stood, gasping for breath, like the impersonation of a nightmare.

      "What's the matter, Mack?" cried every body at once.

      "Oh gosh! oh gosh!" was all the reply Mack could make.

      "Are you sick?"

      "No, no!  Oh, great Jew-pitter!  oh jee-meny!" gasped Mack.  - - -

      As soon as he could speak, he gave us a characteristic explanation of the whole affair.  It appeared that, in looking around him for a comfortable nest in which he could pass the night's watch — having no trick at the helm, or look-out — he was struck with the inviting appearance of the deck-pot.  To protect himself from the night-dew and provide against rain, should either feel disposed to attack him, he left the wood on the tarpaulin cover, and creeping in under it, coiled himself up.  It may very naturally be presumed that the weight of the wood, combined with his cramped position, did not pro- duce the most agreeable soporific effects.  He had dreams — every variety of horrible dreams; but the only one he could recollect was the last, which he gave us, seated on the forecastle scuttle, surrounded by a group of gaping listeners.  It was an original and a wonderful dream, of which no idea can be formed unless I give it in his own language.

THE DOWN-EASTER'S DREAM.

      "I dreamp," said Mack, with the air of a man who is conscious of the importance of certain mysteries into which he is about to admit his hearers, "I dreamp I WAS A WHALE!"

      "A whale!" burst from every lip.

      "Yes, a WHALE," said Mack, bringing his fist down upon the scuttle with an emphasizing thump; "a sperm whale!  I was cruisin' all around in search of fodder, not thinkin' o' no kinder harm, when what should I see but a barque right ahead.  'Well,' says I to myself, 'old feller, you'd better be makin' tracks;' and, with that, I blowed up all the salt water I had in me, and turned flukes.  I hadn't been down very long when I began to smother; so I had to come up and blow agin.  Just as I riz to the top o' the water, what should I hear but old Tabor, singin' out with all his might, 'Thar' she blows!  right ahead!'  Sure enough, I felt myself a blowin' away, and not a stare could I move till I blowed all the water out'n my insides.  While I was blowin' away like a steam-engine, the boat fetched hard up agin me, and before I knowed what he was about, Tabor stuck an iron chock into my gizzard.  'stern all!' says somebody, and the boat flew away from me in the winkin' of an eye.  Well, I began to pitch, and blow, and wriggle like mad.  By'mby I felt myself a givin' out, so I hollers, 'I'm catched!  I'll give in!' but twarn't no sort o' use.  The boat comes up agin, and the second mate he began to stick a lance right through my head.  It was all up with me.  I spouted blood in less than no time.  At last I kicked the bucket, and thar' I lay on my back, and the boat towin' me alongside the barque.  Arter a while they hauled up, and lashed me to the night-heads by the flukes, and to save my life I couldn't move.  But I hadn't felt no kind o' pain till they got to cuttin' me in.  Then, by gosh! how they did rip the hide off'n me, and how the sharks did pick at me, and how they minced me all up!  I knowed it warn't no use to holler, so I jest kept as quiet as I could, till they got me in the tub all minced up.  I couldn't keep in no longer, when I seed Tabor with a great long fork, stickin' it in me as hard as he could drive.  I tell you what it is, that 'ere fork looked mighty ugly.  'Tabor,' says I, 'don't stick that 'ere fork in me;'  but he wouldn't mind me no more 'an if I had no feelin's no how.  Well, the next place I found myself was right in the try-pots, roastin', and boilin', and fryin' like fury.  You never seed such a steam as I sent up.  I jumped, and tore, and pushed, and turned, to get out, but thar' I was.  My eyes! how the fat worked out'n me — how it fizzed in the pots!  And every time I popped up I seed Tom, and Bully, and Charlie, and Bill, and a half dozen more, sittin' on the windlass, laughin' at me fit to kill.  Onc't I cotched fire, and blazed chock up to the topsail-yards.  The cooper and Tabor kept stirrin' me up with their bloody forks and spads, and now and agin the capting he comes along and gives me a poke, and says, 'That 'ere oil won't do; stir it up; he ain't brown yit.' Well, such a stirrin' up and broilin' as I got bangs all creation.  But that warn't the wust on't.  As soon as pieces o' me was well done, they sticks a fork in 'em, and pokes 'em right into the fire.  My gosh! how I fried thar'!  At last I got red hot; I couldn't stand it no longer.  My dander was riz.  So I hollers to somebody to pull me out, thinkin' the minute I''d get out I'd give all hands the darndest kind of a lickin'.  But I'm blowed if they'd help me, dod burn the bit.  The fust thing I knowed arter that, was somebody jerkin' me by the ha'r, and all at onc't I was half awake; but I didn't know no more whar' I was than if I was nobody at all.

      "Now here I am, and I'll give you my opinion about it.  I've come to the conclusion it's a solemn warnin' aginst the catchin' of whales.  Whales has feelin's as well as any body.  They don't like to be stuck in the gizzards, and hauled alongside, and cut in, and tryed out in them 'ere boilers no more than I do; and if I live to get away from this bloody old blubber hunter, you won't see me in no sich un-Christian business while my name's Barzy M'F——; not this child, you won't."

      We all agreed that Barzy's dream capped the climax of all the dreams we had ever heard, and in five minutes more we were dreaming ourselves.

      We always, in fine weather, spent our dog-watches on deck.  This was a time of general relaxation.  While the crew amused themselves dancing, singing, and spinning yarn's, the mate, the cooper, and Tabor discussed Mormonism in the waist.  D——, the cooper, was a tall, gaunt man, lame of one leg, and very singular in his general appearance.  He was a strong advocate of the Mormon doctrine, and was continually endeavoring to make converts to his religion.  The mate was an infidel, who deemed all religion a humbug.  Tabor was a Methodist, but not very strict in observing the codes of his Church.  These long arguments were very amusing, inasmuch as they generally resulted in an angry dispute.  Tabor, who was not a patient reasoner, whenever he found the argument turn against him, would conclude by striking up, in a voice broken by exposure and hard service at the mast-head,

                  "Come, holy Spirit, heavenly Dove,
                      With all thy quickening powers;"

or sometimes, for the sake of variety,

                  "Sing, all ye nations, to the Lord!
                      Sing with a joyful noise!."

      "I'm blowed if you know any thing about Mor- monism.  It's all a bloody humbug.  Come, cooper, let's all join and have a hime of the good old fire- and-brimstone school."

      The cooper, easily pacified, and the mate, caring little what he did, would then join and sing hymns; and, being at a loss for suitable airs, they were no-way particular whether it was "Hail Columbia," "Rousseau's Dream," or "Yankee Doodle."  These little revivals and devotional exercises were carried on in a manner perfectly harmless, though not with all the gravity adapted to subjects of a solemn nature.

      The captain being altogether too high and dignified a character to associate with people of ordinary mold, spent most of his time in the cabin, or pacing the quarter-deck with his hands in his pockets, and his head down, in profound thought upon the magnitude, importance, and responsibility of his situation as master of a whaling barque of a hundred and forty-seven tons burden!  We often speculated upon the cause of the old man's single blessedness at his time of life.  It was generally admitted that he was "granny" enough without a wife; but his stinginess was evidently the true cause.  I found in a copy of Bowditch's Navigation, which I borrowed from him, a kiss-verse carefully preserved between the leaves, which explained his sentiments upon matrimony, to the great amusement of us all:

                 "Single I am, and so resolved to be,
                  For Hymen's bands shall never fetter me."

      Mack, the "down-easter," made a large capital of fun out of this.  Whenever the captain walked the quarter-deck with an air of more than usual profundity of thought, Mack nodded his head knowingly, and muttered,

                 "Single I am, and so resolved to be,
                  As long as ever I foller the sea."

      I have thus endeavored to give a fair sketch of our crew and officers.  I have no feelings of personal animosity against any of them to gratify.  Those who deserve it will meet the punishment of their own guilt, and it is not for me to pronounce judgment upon them.  I give the result of my own observation freely and without prejudice.

      The last subject to which I shall here allude is that of ship-keeping.  In whalers there is a ship-keeper, or a man who attends to the ship when the boats are lowered.  He is either chosen from among the fore-mast hands, or shipped at the port from which the vessel sails.  The duty of the ship-keeper is by no means unimportant.  The safety of the boats frequently depends upon his vigilance and knowledge of sea-craft; and, in cases of accident, the lives of the boat's crew are often dependant upon him.  It is the duty of a ship-keeper to keep the run of the whales when the boats are lowered, and to make the various signals necessary to indicate their situation to the boats.  Our signals were arranged in the following order:

      Whales up.  Signal at the main top-gallant-mast.

      Whales on the weather bow.  Weather clew of the fore-top-gallant-sail or fore-top-sail up.

      Whales on the lee bow.  Lee clew up.

      Whales on the weather beam.  Weather clew of the fore-top-gallant-sail or fore-top-sail up, and waif pointed to windward.

      Whales on the lee beam.  Lee clew and waif.

      Whales ahead.  Jib down.

      Whales between the boats and ship.  Colors at the fore and main top-gallant-masts.

      Boat stove.  Colors at the fore and mizzen.

      Come aboard.  Colors at the peak.

      In small vessels the ship-keeper is allowed two hands to assist him in working the ship; but the number depends more upon the state of the weather than the size of the vessel.

Cross the Equator. — Martin Vas Rocks. — Isle of Trinidad. — Bill Mann's Account of Governor Trinidad. — A large Albatross. — Right Whale Chase. — Christmas Day. — Off the Cape of Good Hope. — Tremendous Gale. — Condition of the Vessel. — Passage from the Cape to Madagascar. — Kill a Whale off Fort Dauphin. — Cape St. Mary. — St. Augustine's Bay. — Cruise in the Mozambique Channel. — A Fight. — Two Men Flogged.

      November 14th. — CROSSED the equator at two o'clock P.M., in longitude 23° west.

      We experienced heavy squalls and much rain on our passage to the southward.

      November 25th. — Made Martin Vas Rocks and the Isle of Trinidad.

      Martin Vas Rocks are three in number, and present a very singular appearance at the distance of a few leagues.  They are entirely barren.  When first visible they resemble three large vessels under full sail, but, on a nearer approach, they are found to be jagged rocks jutting abruptly out of the sea, with continual clouds of spray dashing up from the bases, and numbers of sea-birds wheeling around their summits.

      The starboard boat was lowered, and the captain and a crew of Portuguese went into a little cove in the main rock to fish.  We hauled off on the larboard tack about three leagues, and then returned.  The boat came aboard well laden with rock-fish.

      TRINIDAD is a small island, about six miles in circumference, distant twenty miles from Martin Vas Rocks.  It is uninhabited, owing to the scarcity or bad quality of the water.  Whalers and other vessels short of wood sometimes put in here for a supply.

      Bill Mann, alias Julius Caesar, had visited the Isle of Trinidad before, and had a great many curious stories to tell about it.  Among others, he gave me an account of a wild man whom the vessel to which he belonged had picked up there under the following circumstances.  The Champion (the name of the vessel) sent a boat ashore for wood.  On the return of the boat, after putting to sea, a fire was discovered on the highest peak of the island, which excited some curiosity.  The Champion stood in for the land again, and sent a boat ashore to discover the cause of the fire.  She was hailed by a man on the beach, who was taken in and carried aboard.  As soon as he recovered the effects of his unexpected delivery, he gave the following narrative of his adventure: He had shipped a few months previously in a Boston whaler, and was very badly treated by the captain and his officers.  This determined him to desert on the first opportunity.  The vessel touched at Trinidad, and sent her boats ashore for wood.  Having succeeded in getting ashore, he made his escape to the interior of the island, and there concealed himself in a ravine till the departure of the vessel.  For six weeks he subsisted on shell-fish, turtles, and craw-fish, which he picked up on the beach.  He had provided himself with a box of tinder and some matches, which he found of great use, as he was compelled to light a fire every night to keep the wild hogs, his only companions on the island, from devouring him.  At the time of the arrival of the Champion he chanced to be on the opposite side of the island.  Soon after her departure, he discovered her from an eminence.  His disappointment, upon finding that he had missed the only opportunity be should perhaps live to meet with of escaping the fate that threatened him, may readily be conceived.  The distance being too great to attract her attention, he was compelled to wait till dark.  He then built a large fire on an elevated rock, which she perceived.  He was soon on board, rejoicing in his happy delivery.  Bill described this modern Crusoe as a wild, uncouth-looking fellow, with a long beard, and the eye of a maniac.  His sufferings had made him as ferocious as a wild beast. The crew humorously gave him the soubriquet of "Governor Trinidad," in commemoration of the six weeks he had reigned supreme ruler over the Isle of Trinidad.

      At four P.M.  we set sail from Martin Vas Rocks, steering east-southeast, the weather rough and hazy.

      December 19th. — In the latitude of the Cape of Good Hope we caught, with a hook and line, an albatross, measuring twelve feet between the tips of the wings.  The mate set him adrift with a tally round his neck, dated, and marked with the name of the vessel.

      We passed during the day the carcasses of two whales, surrounded for a circuit of several miles by Cape pigeons, gulls, Cape hens, and albatrosses.

      December 21st. — Just as the larboard watch was called (at twelve M.), the man at the mast-head sung out, "There she blows!"  I had turned out, and was about to go on deck, when I heard the word given to lower away the mate's boat.  During our watch below, the waist boat had lowered sfter a school of finback whales.  She was now about five miles off, in the midst of the school.  The watch on deck manned the larboard boat, leaving six or eight hands to take care of the ship.  Scarcely had she touched the water, when the whale rose within a few yards of our lee bow; It was perfectly calm; the surface of the water was of glassy smoothness.  The whale was distinctly visible as he rose to blow.

      "That's a right whale!" said the captain, who had ascended the mizzen shrouds to watch the movements of the boats.  "Give him a dart!  Don't stave your boat!"

      The boat was close upon him in an instant.  Hitherto he seemed unconscious of the noise and confusion around him, or of his proximity to the ship.  As the words were echoed back from the boat, and the splash of the oars, as she backed away, fell upon his ear, he seemed to be a little alarmed, and turned flukes, going lazily downward in a diagonal direction.  Antone, the boat-steerer, let fly his iron, but the distance was too great, and it took no effect.

      "Oh the devil!" shouted the captain, in a tone of disappointment; "I'd have given five dollars for that chance.  You ain't worth your salt, you two-pence head!"

      While Antone was hauling in the iron, and grumbling at his bad luck, the whale took a little circuit.  He was visible at a great depth through the transparent water.  The man at the mast-head continually indicated his position, being enabled to see him at the depth of fifteen or twenty fathoms.  He rose, at length, within a few feet of the waist, and commenced blowing.

      "Pull ahead! pull all! now's your time!" cried the mate.

      "Pull all!" was echoed back by the crew, and the boat was within dart of him in three or four strokes.  Antone was so eager to make up for his first failure that he overshot the mark this time.  The iron slightly pricked the whale.  Plunging down again, the huge creature milled round the stern.  The boat followed close in his wake; but his evolutions were so sudden that it was difficult to get within dart of him.  In about ten minutes he rose directly under the jib-boom.  Antone stood ready with his iron.  Watching his opportunity, he darted as soon as the boat came bow across the head.  A tremendous hollow roar, like that of an infuriated bull, issued from the wounded monster.  The blood spouted in torrents from his wound.  Lashing the water with his flukes, he plunged down, covering the boat's crew with clouds of blood and spray.

      "You've killed him! that whale's a fool!" cried the captain.

      "He's dead! he's dead!" shouted Antone, greatly excited; "I've fixed him!"

      "Dead be d——d! Clear your line!" thundered the mate.  "Hold fast now!  pull two oars!  back three!  Pull all, now!  Mind what you're about there, Mack.  D'ye want to get stove?  Take a reef in your eyes, and keep 'em aft here."

      The moment the line was made fast, the boat dashed right under our stern with fearful velocity.  The whale sheered off barely in time to avoid dashing the boat to atoms against the lee quarter.  As he rose within a few fathoms of the ship, he uttered another frightful roar, and the blood streamed from him in torrents, discoloring the water entirely around the vessel, so that she actually appeared to float in a gory sea.  It was evident, however, that no vital part had yet been touched.  The mate now sprang to the bow of the boat, shouting, "Pull, my lads, pull!"  Before the crew could stop her headway, the whale's head rose about six feet out of the water, within half a dart of the boat.  Shooting out his lance, the mate gave him a gentle prick on the nose; and dashing down with a hollow groan, the goaded monster made straight for the ship, towing the boat, with incredible swiftness, toward the weather beam.  For a moment I thought nothing could save her.  Her bow was not more than six feet from the vessel, when, the whale suddenly milled, and thus saved her, and perhaps the lives of some of the crew.

      "Stand by to lower the starboard boat!" cried the captain.  "I'll have that whale.  I'll see whether he can be killed or not.  I'll not lose a good chance.  He won't have a fool to deal with if I get within dart of him.  Stand by all!  Man the dant tackles, and lower away!"

      A moment more, and the starboard boat was in hot pursuit.  Bill Mann and I were left to take care of the ship this time: a circumstance which I did not regret, as the sun was pouring down with a burning intensity.  I went to the mast-head, that I might enjoy a better view of the chase.  It was now truly exciting.  We hoisted a signal for the waist boat, then about three miles from the scene of action.  The mate's boat ploughed the water at the rate of ten knots an hour, and increased in speed as pain gave fresh impulse to the whale.  In about an hour the three boats were in a line, running to the leeward at a brisk rate.  The larboard boat was head-and-head with the whale at his next rising, and the waist boat rapidly bearing down upon him in an opposite direction.  Ere the lances of either could be made use of, he rolled over in his agony, and parted the iron of the fast boat with a furious struggle.  He then sounded, leaving the three boats in a whirlpool of blood and foam.  When next seen, he was spouting blood a mile off; but it was so late in the evening that the captain gave up the chase, and ordered the boats to return.  Thus ended our first right whale chase.

      December 25th. — This was a day of general starvation and discontent.  I had never spent such a Christmas before, and I devoutly trust I never shall again.  At sunrise I went to the mast-head.  The weather was raw and boisterous, and the sea very rough.  I had three hours aloft, after which I was relieved by one of the Portuguese, and went down to enjoy the luxuries of a cold pot of coffee and some hard biscuit.  At dinner-time there was no meat for us fit to eat, and the cook had spoiled the "duff."  Some of the crew went aft to the captain, and complained that, as it was Christmas-day, we ought to have something to eat; but the captain did not seem to consider any such luxury as eating and drinking at all due to the crew of a whaler; so we were compelled to take a reef in our belts and wait patiently till supper-time.  We fared little better then, being short of meat, and having tea unfit for use.

      December 29th. — About two P.M.  we crossed the meridional line which divides the Atlantic from the Indian Ocean, in lat. 37° 19' south.  From five P.M.  till three A.M. we lay becalmed.

      January 8th, 1843.-For the first time since the beginning of the year, I am enabled to pen a line in my journal.

      On the first of January, a severe gale arose from the southwest. The weather had been extremely cold for several days previously, and the threatening aspect of the clouds gave us due warning of the gale.  We were obliged to take down the top-gallant-masts before night.  At nine P.M., furled the spanker and gib, close-reefed the top-sails, and soon after furled the fore-sail and main-sail.  The gale continued to increase every hour.  At midnight all hands were called to take in the waist boat.  This was a very difficult job, as the sea broke over the vessel with such tremendous force as to render it almost impossible to hoist her off the cranes without staving her to atoms against the bulwarks.  After an hour's hard labor, we got her bottom up on the try-works, where she was securely lashed.  Next evening we took in the larboard and starboard boats, and lashed them to the ringbolts on the quarter-deck.  On the morning of the third the sea raged with all its fury, washing the decks fore and aft.  Every stitch of sail except the main spencer and fore-top-mast stay-sail was taken in.  The condition of the ship at this time baffles description.  Every sea dashed through the scuttle and drenched the forecastle, flooding our beds, and tearing our chests from their cleets.  For four days we knew nothing of the comfort of a dry bed, a change of clothes, or a regular hour's rest.  Eating a comfortable meal was a species of enjoyment pleasant enough to reflect upon, but with us a thing of by-gone days.  The barque rolled so violently in the trough of the sea, that it was difficult to sit down without being pitched headlong from one side of the forecastle to the other.  Pots, pans, spoons, and kids flew through the air like hail; and occasionally a dirty piece of pork, a scrap of hard biscuit, or a pot of muddy coffee, might be seen making a desperate attempt to escape the extended jaws of half a dozen hungry Portuguese.  We all ate below; and if ever there .was a miniature representation of the Black Hole of Calcutta, it was the forecastle of the styx.  The scuttle was made as close as possible, to keep out the heavy seas, but it also excluded the light and fresh air.  Some of us lay sprawling on the floor, gasping for a breath of pure air; others lay in their bunks, braced up with logs of wood at each side to keep them from rolling out.  The Portuguese chattered at the highest pitch of their shrill voices, drowning even the roaring of the gale.  Bill Mann growled worse than ever.  "He'd be everlastin'ly shivered from clew to earing, if it wasn't the cussedest old tub he ever sailed in.  Shiver his top-lights if he wouldn't like to see her sink.  He'd seen vessels before — yes, he had, all sorts; and he had sailed in all sorts, and he had taken it rough and tumble in all sorts of weather, but a bloody old blubber hunter beat all, partic'larly when men got nothing to eat, and lived on hard work, and hadn't a forecastle fit for a hog to waller in.  That was the way to tell it.  Yes, and he'd let the counsel know how things was done, at the first port; and if he didn't see a counsel there, he'd let the President of the United States know it, when he got home, if he ever should get home, in such a dirty, lubberly, crazy, rotten old craft."

LIFE IN THE FORECASTLE
(A.A. Von Schmidt / J. Hallpin - Harper & Brothers, New York)

      It was really interesting to witness the effects of continual annoyances, privations, and hardships upon the different characters in the forecastle at a time like this.  Jack Smith, the rolicking, boisterous young Englishman, told the most marvelous stories of the perils he had undergone on divers occasions, and swore, with a torrent of the most awful oaths, that for nineteen days he lay on his back once, upon a plank in the middle of the sea, without any thing to eat or drink.  Barzy M'F—— seemed to look upon all the dangers and hardships of a gale as something highly pleasant and amusing, but "he didn't know as he'd ever seed any thing like it up the Kennebec."  Bully employed himself quarreling with the Portuguese part of his time, and part yelling at the top of his voice snatches of obscene songs or watch-house ditties.  Charley smoked his pipe and mended his clothes.  Tom Vernon sat with his face buried in his hands, meditating upon past times, and apparently unconscious of every thing around him.  I pitied the poor lad from the bottom of my heart, for my feelings were in unison with his.

      On the evening of the sixth, the gale fell off to a good steady breeze.  Next day we got up the top-gallant yards, and set the studding sails.

      Very little worthy of record occurred on our passage from the Cape of Good Hope to Madagascar.  The weather was generally rough, and I had few opportunities of writing or reading. I commenced the study of navigation, however, soon after we entered the Indian Ocean.  Mr. P——, the second mate, who had all along been a very kind friend to me, lent me a copy of Bowditch's Navigator, and allowed me the use of his instruments.  Aided by a little instruction from him, I soon mastered the elementary branches of navigation, a science with which every sea-farer ought to make himself acquainted, whether before the mast or aft.  My watches below were divided between this study and patching my clothes, which had suffered considerable wear and tear in the late gales.

      Toward the latter part of January, while steering for Fort Dauphin, Madagascar, under lower and top-mast studding sails, the man at the top-gallant cross- trees saw a spout two miles off the weather-bow.  The studding sails were hauled in, the main-top-sail hauled aback, and the three boats lowered.  Our boat got the start, but came upon the whale's eye as he rose the second time.  The starboard bont lay off, and took him head and head, so that she was ready to strike the moment he appeared, and succeeded in making fast with one iron.  The mate's boat came up next; then ours.  We gave him two irons, but, in backing off the line, got foul of the starboard boat, and were obliged to cut away.  We hauled up by the other line, and gave him a lance or two, which dispatched him in a few minutes.

      Owing to the roughness of the sea, we had much difficulty in getting our prize alongside.  This whale yielded forty-five barrels of oil, which is considered a medium size.  The largest sperm whale I ever heard of yielded a hundred and twenty barrels.  In the Indian Ocean whales of that size are not so common as in the Pacific.

      January 28th. — While trying out our last whale we made Madagascar, in the vicinity of Fort Dauphin.  The coast here is high, and, in parts, bold and mountainous.  At the distance of forty miles the land was covered with hazy clouds, giving it a very beautiful appearance.  We cruised off and on for a few days in search of whales; but although we saw several schools, they were making a rapid passage for the bays on the coast of Africa, and gave us no chance for a chase.

      February 2d. — Rounded Cape St. Mary, the most southerly point of Madagascar.  The coast here is very low.  Running down the eastern side of the cape, we approached within fifteen miles of the shore, at which distance we could discern the huts of the natives scattered along the beach, and occasionally a canoe.

      February 9th. — After a short cruise in Mozambique Channel, ran down for Madagascar, which we made a few leagues to the southward of St. Augustine's Bay.  At ten A.M. made Sandy Island, or Nos Vey, a low sand-bar, covered with a small growth of trees, lying seven miles off the mouth of the bay.  A coral reef, lying near the entrance of the bay, is seen from the eastward  of Nos Vey.  We passed close along this little island with the intention of anchoring; but finding no vessels in port, the captain deemed it prudent not to trust to the friendly invitations of the natives, who crowded down to the shores in great numbers; and hundreds of whom were rapidly pulling toward us in a large flotilla of canoes.  The Sacklaves, a tribe of the Malegashy inhabiting this part of the island, are described as a race of blood-thirsty and treacherous people, very friendly when a large number of vessels are in port, but not to be trusted alone or without being well armed.  Mr. P——, our second mate, had spent nearly a month in St. Augustine's Bay.  He was well acquainted with the character of the natives, and had seen a shipmate of his murdered by a gang of them for attempting to recover some stolen property.

      At four P.M.  we hauled off, and continued our passage up the Mozambique Channel.

      It was expressly laid down in the code of laws which the captain gave us a few days after we left New Bedford, that any fighting that was to be done would be promptly attended to by himself.  Up to the time we touched at Fayal the forecastle was tolerably peaceful.  Bully had raised a few fights with the Portuguese, but they ended without much personal damage to the belligerents.  When Jack Smith, the young Englishman, was shipped, our trouble commenced in reality.  Jack and Bully were sworn friends the moment they met.  They went shares in every thing.  Whatever was Bully's was Jack's, and whatever was Jack's belonged to all hands in general, and Bully in particular.  For the first two or three days it was truly an interesting study to watch the progress of a spontaneous friendship between these two affectionate youths.  They made presents to each other, spun yarns to each other, sang together, and bunked together.  Their friendship was so sudden and violent that I very much feared it would be of short duration.  A week realized all my solicitude.  They quarreled, cursed each other, parted the bond of fellowship, and became bitter enemies.  In a few days they made up again, and were more devoted in their friendship than ever.  Their next quarrel was more violent than the first, and they did not speak a word to each other for a week.  However, they made up again, and thus continued, quarreling and making up, daring each other to fight, and backing out when it came to the pinch.  These quarrels kept the forecastle in a perfect ferment.  There was no peace, from one week's end to another.  Being well matched in size and strength, neither wished to be the aggressor.  At length an accident gave them a fair opportunity to test their pugilistic powers.  One morning, while we were cruising in the Mozambique Channel, after the word was passed for breakfast, Jack started to run down the ladder with a pot of hot coffee.  Bully had just turned out, and was running up.  The two heroes came in contact.  Bully got scalded, and, under the influence of the pain, struck Jack.  Upon this both parties closed, and a desperate fight ensued.  They had it up and down the forecastle, right and left, here and there, for about ten minutes; when Jack took a foul hold on Bully.

      "Let me go!" roared Bully.

      "Cry enough!" said Jack.

      "I won't! let me go!" rejoined Bully.

      "Blow me if I do!" retorted Jack; and there was another scuffle for five or ten minutes.  At length Bully got clear, and clinched Jack by the shirt collar.  Pressing his knuckles hard upon Jack's neck, he continued to tighten his grasp till Jack's face turned purple.

      "Cry enough!" shouted Bully.

      "Give me a chance!" replied Jack, gasping for breath.

      "Are you licked?" demanded Bully.

      "Not yet!" said Jack.  "Give me a knife, somebody, or cut my shirt open.  Cut! cut! I'm choking!"

      "Choke and be d——d!" said Bully.

      The advantage was rather on Bully's side, when the mate came up to the scene of action, and knocked him down.

      "Now take that for a foul hold!" said the mate.

      "Mr. D——, if there's law in America, I'll have it!" said Bully.

      "Don't law me, you infernal scoundrel!"

      "You'll pay for this when you get home, sir!" "None of your jaw!"

      "I'll have revenge for that blow!"

      "You will, will you?" shouted the mate, rushing upon him again.  Bully dodged, and made his escape.  As soon as the mate went aft, Bully and Jack went to the waist to wash the blood off their faces.  The captain perceiving what had occurred, called then aft, and, without any comment, ordered them to sit one on each side of the companion way.  When breakfast was over in the cabin, the captain came on deck, and sang out for the mate.

      "Mr. D——, call all hands aft.  Come down from the mast-head, every body."

      It was my trick at the helm, so that I had an excellent opportunity of witnessing the whole scene.  The hands being ranged at the break of the quarter-deck, and the boat-steerers by the main-mast, the two belligerents were called up to give an account of themselves.

      "Blair, what have you been fighting for?" demanded the captain.

      Here Bully gave his statement of the difficulty.

      "Jack, what have you been fighting for?"

      Jack stated the case very fairly.

      "Now," said the captain, "you've been fighting, and I'll flog you both.  Mr. D——, seize those men up!"

      Jack's wrists were lashed to a ratlin on the starboard side, and Bully's to a ratlin on the larboard.  The captain then provided himself with a piece of tarred ratlin, and, striding up to Bully, bared the man's back.

      "Remember, now, this is for fighting."

      "Oh, for God's sake, don't flog me, captain!" said Bully, sensible of the degradation of the punishment about to be inflicted on him.

      "Not a word!" said the captain, whose blood was boiling with passion.  Take that! and that! and that!  Do you feel it?  Will you fight again?"

      Poor Bully groaned and writhed with agony.  Each stripe of the ratlin raised a blood-red mark on his back.

      "I'll show you how to fight!" roared the captain, swinging the ratlin over his shoulder, and raising the stripes with every blow.  "I'll make an example of you!  Take warning, all of you.  You see what you get for fighting.  If that ain't enough, I'll lay it on heavier next time.  I'll skin your back worse than that!  Cut him down now!  See if he'll behave himself!"

      Jack's turn came next.  At the first stroke he yelled with all his might.

A PICTURE FOR PHILANTHROPISTS.
(A.A. Von Schmidt / J. Halpin - Harper & Brothers, New York)

      "Oh Lord, captain!  Oh, for God's sake!  Oh, don't flog me!  I'll never fight again."

      "I'll take care you won't.  If you do, I'll lay you up for a month.  Your back's been itching for a flogging.  Now take it!  Take that!  take that!  Yes, you feel it, don't you!  Cut him down, Mr. D——."

      The mate having cut both the men down, gave them a hint to go forward, which they did, limping along the decks, scarcely able to walk.

      "That's what you'll all get," said the captain, addressing the crew, "if there's any more quarreling.  I told you so in the beginning.  Any of you that fight, I'll flog.  Go forward now, where you belong."

      I was much astonished, upon going forward, after being relieved at the helm, to find Jack sitting on the windlass eating his breakfast with the utmost good humor.

      "Well, B——," said he, looking up and laughing, "I've got a licking, but I'm used to it.  I don't care a tinker's d——n about lickin's now.  I served my apprenticeship to 'em in a man-o'-war."

      Not so with Bully, who for several days was gloomy and silent.  The Portuguese, with a heartlessness and want of delicacy, so unlike the generous regard which the true American sailor has for another's feelings under such circumstances, continually ridiculed and taunted him, mocking his groans, and crying out every time he went below to his meals, "Oh, capitan, for God's sake, no flog so hard!" Jack took their ridicule with perfect indifference; but it cut Bully to the quick.  There was something diabolical and fiendish in this conduct of the Portuguese.  Bully was so complelely crest-fallen that he could not retort upon them; from the day he received the flogging his spirit was broken.

Isle of Makumba. — Wood-cutting and Hot Weather. — Arrival at Bembatooka Bay. — Town of Majunga. — American Traders. — Natives. — Liberty Ashore. — Grand Dance. — Dinner at Mohammed Desharee's. — Quarrel between the Captain and Mate. — Great Fete in Honor of the Governor. — Ambolamboes and Sacklaves. — Departure from Madagascar.

      March 6th. — Made Makumba, a small island lying within four or five leagues of the main island of Madagascar.

      As it was uncertain how soon we should reach Bembatooka Bay, and being entirely out of wood, we were compelled to run the risk of falling into the hands of the natives here, who frequent this island as a piratical rendezvous, where they can intercept small craft bound to Bembatooka Bay.  The waist-boat's crew had watch below; and it being the rule for those who were off duty to go ashore, or on any expedition like the present, I was lucky enough to be among the number chosen for this adventure.  The larboard boat was lowered, and manned by Tabor, Jack Smith, myself, and three or four Portuguese, with the captain to ornament the stern sheets.  The island did not appear to be more than two leagues off when we started; but, after pulling hard for about an hour, it seemed quite as far from us as when we were on the deck of the barque.  Whether this fact was owing to a head wind or an ebb tide, I could not say.  It reminded me of an island I had read of in a beautiful lake presenting a thousand attractions, but always receding from those who attempted to reach its favored shores.  Sometimes I fancied I could see the pebbles on the beach; the next moment it seemed as far away as ever.  In addition to the fatigue of rowing under a burning sun, we had a still greater difficulty to contend with.  Our water keg was nearly empty.  Captain A—— recommended us to be very sparing of what we had, as there was no water on the island.  In about three hours from the time of starting, we hauled the boat up on a white sand beach.  The captain cautioned us not to lose sight of the boat, and then ordered us to take our axes and start off in search of wood.  I must confess, when I got out of the "old man's" sight, I thought very little about the savages or the wood.  The novelty and excitement of exercising my limbs once more on land, after being cooped up for several months in a small barque, were so great that I ran up the cliffs like a wild Indian, leaving my comrades behind me, and shouting for pure joy.  In my ramble I soon lost sight of the boat. The shade of the trees in the interior of the island; the tall, luxuriant grass; the extreme richness of the vegetation, and the grateful perfume of the wild flowers, were all indescribably refreshing.  I grasped up bunches of weeds to enjoy their fragrance, for all the vegetable creation then seemed fragrant to me.  Eager to see every, thing on the island, and perceiving no traces of habitation, I ascended the peak, or highest part, from which a splendid view may be had of the whole island, and the adjacent parts of the coast of Madagascar.  There is a savage wildness in the prospect peculiarly striking to one who had never gazed upon any save the familiar scenery of civilized countries.  The boat's crew appeared like little black specks upon the beach; and their voices, mingled with the roaring of the surf, were the only sounds that reached my ear.  Far away on the horizon floated our little barque, which had drifted from land till her hull was barely visible.  Clouds piled upon clouds, with bright, silvery outlines, hung over the distant horizon in the most gorgeous array.  I was lost in the magnitude and sublimity of the scene.  I thought that even the untutored Sacklaves must gaze with admiration upon such a manifestation of the might and power of the Great Spirit.  My enthusiastic flights of imagination were suddenly dissipated by the harsh voice of the captain, shouting,

      "You B——, where the devil are you?"

      "Here, sir."

      "Go, down, then, and help to get the wood in the boat."

      This soon convinced me that I had been day-dreaming, and the thought that I was still a slave was depressing enough at such a moment.  I envied the freedom of the sea-gulls as they wheeled past me in their sportive flights; but such thoughts were unavailing, and I sprang down the cliffs with my axe on my shoulder, to aid my comrades in chopping the wood and putting it into the boat.  The sun shone upon the beach with a heat so intense as to blister my feet through my shoes.  Parched with thirst, I made my way to the boat, where I barely squeezed enough of water out of the keg to wet my lips.  The rest of the crew suffered dreadfully from thirst. Tabor, as usual, in a good humor, told us to "grin and bear it," and he'd insure us a drink of switchel when we got aboard.  After we had procured a sufficient supply of wood to last us to Bembatooka Bay, we sat down on the beach and ate some salt pork and bread, which the cook had stowed away in the boat.  I picked up several shells and pieces of coral before we pushed off, as relics of my visit to Makumba.  When we pulled ashore we had the land breeze to contend with; now we had the sea breeze against us.  This was very provoking.  We were all tired of our day's work, and parched with thirst.

      The barque bore down for the island as soon as she took the sea breeze, and was rapidly nearing us, when the wind died away again, and left her to drift away on the current.  I found that the salt pork, instead of strengthening me, aggravated my thirst to such a degree that I actually thought my end was approaching.  The heat of the sun, upon losing the breeze, became excruciating in its intensity.  How I got over the horrors of that evening I can hardly tell.  I held out, and pulled my oar as long as it was possible to endure the heat and thirst; for I would not be outdone by any of my comrades while I had the breath of life in my body, or strength to lift the oar.  At this crisis a light breeze again sprang up, and we lay on our oars till the vessel reached us.  I think I never sprang aboard with more joy than I did when we hauled up alongside, after all the sufferings of that day.  I felt an undisguised affection for every old rope, shovel, broom, and handspike aboard; and even the smell of the try-works was agreeable to me.  Tabor, true to his word, had us a bucket of switchel made.  I verily believe I drank half a gallon of it before my thirst was slaked.  I had read in Mungo Park's travels, and in the narratives of Denham and Clapperton, of the horrors of thirst in the deserts of Africa; but I never really sympathized with those adventurers till my visit to Makumba had given me some idea of their sufferings.

MAJUNGA HOUSES, BEMBATOOKA BAY.
(J. Ross Browne / J. Halpin - Harper & Brothers, New York)

      March 8th. — Anchored off the mouth of Bembatooka Bay, and lowered the larboard boat.  After an hour's hard pull against an ebb tide and head wind, we rounded Majunga Point, opposite which we stopped to take soundings.  In half an hour more we sounded a long sand-spit, just above the town of Majunga.  Crowds of the inhabitants came running along the beach, inviting us to land.  They wore turbans of all colors, and long flowing robes of white cotton, having a very picturesque appearance.  The moment we hauled up on the beach we were greeted by a "good-morning" from the natives, who stood there awaiting our approach.  The captain went up in search of two American traders, who, he understood, had been left at Majunga to procure cargoes of hides for Salem vessels.  I was quite surprised to hear English so well spoken by a race of people represented by travelers as rude barbarians.  Several of the small boys seemed to be so proud of the few words they had learned from the sailors, that they made the most ludicrous mistakes in their attempts to make themselves understood.  I was continually addressed by little urchins, not more than nine or ten years of age, in the following strain:

      "Me speakee bon goot Engleesh.  Me sabe plenty goot much.  How you do dees morning?  Very well, tank you; me much worse better no goot go hell Got tam!  Hein?  Hein?  You Tink me no sabe plenty Engleesh?"

      Those who could speak the most intelligible English told me they were from Johanna.

      Mf——, who, like myself, had never been in a savage country before, was very anxious to see what the natives looked like, and how they were off for "fodder."  Taking advantage of the captain's absence from the boat, we walked down along the beach to the outskirts of the town, where we would not be within hailing distance in case we were immediately called; being in no hurry to go on board again, and hoping the captain, in his anger, would leave us ashore till his return in the evening.  On reaching the lower part of the town, we saw at a short distance a snug-looking bamboo hut, surrounded by banana plants and a few straggling cocoa-nut trees.  At the door stood two or three of the better class of the natives, who beckoned us to approach.  We did not altogether like the looks of one of the party, however, a tall, ferocious-looking Ambolambo, whom I took to be a chief, from the warlike manner in which be was equipped.  He was of a dark bronze color, naked to the middle, with the exception of a loose robe thrown over his left shoulder, and with a most extraordinary head of hair frizzed out like rope-yarns, and fantastically ornamented with feathers.  The remainder of his costume consisted of a clouty round the waist, and a striped under-garment of native manufacture.  In his left hand he held a long spear, the pole of which rested on the ground.  His comrades wore turbans, and were apparently of a different tribe or caste.  Knowing nothing of the character of these people, I was somewnat backward about trusting myself in their power, so far away from the boat, and consulted Mack as to the prudence of going any nearer.

      "Never mind," said the " down-easter;" "lay low and keep dark.  I'll talk to that 'ere feller.  You keep close in my wake, though, for I don't like the looks on 'em much better than you do."

      I did not altogether like the proposition of my comrade, but finding him resolute, I thought it would not do to let him go alone.  The savage chief continued making signs to us to approach.  Mack accordingly hitched up his breeches, and started for the hut, I keeping close by his side.  A tall cocoa-nut tree a few steps in front of the chief served as a sort of mark for a truce ground, in case of hostility.  Doffing his hat, Mack stepped up, and with an expression of mingled apprehension and curiosity, gazed in the face of the warlike savage, without uttering a word.  At length, apparently satisfied that there was no danger of an attack, he addressed him in the most polite manner imaginable: "Good-morning, mister! how d'ye dew, sir?"

      "Ra kaka chee tooka whocha!" growled the savage (or something that sounded very much like this, for I do not pretend to give his remarks literally).

      "What the nation does the feller mean?" inquired the "down-easter," somewhat puzzled.  "Say that again, sir."

      "Crak koo wanee tee cha booz!"

      "Well, if that ain't the darndest lingo I ever heerd! I say, old hoss,can't you talk American?"

      "Merikkaan?  num whak chee taka-whee."

      "No, no; not that thar' outlandish nigger talk.  American."

      "Merikkaan, si-mairre!  si-mairre!"  rejoined the savage, with a friendly grin.  "Goot, goot, mans!"

      "That's it," said Mack.  "I know'd you could talk it if you'd only hold your corn-trap straight.  Now, old feller, suppose you stand treat?  I'll bet you've got some liquor in thar' in that little crib o' yourn!  What d'ye say?"

      "Goot, goot, mans!"

      "Well, then, let's have it, hoss."

      "Merikkaan!"

      "I say," exclaimed Mack, a little out of patience, "tain't no use to be a foolin'.  If you've got the liquor, let's have it; and if you haven't, say so at once.  Maybe you have some oranges or cocoa-nuts?"

      "Orangee?  cokko?  chee whoop ee!"

      "She'll whip me?  Oh, now I know what he's at.  He's afraid his wife'll whip him if he lets us have any thing.  Well, we may's well slope.  This feller don't know beans from porridge, no how."

      "Naka whozchee koo!"

      "Oh, you needn't try to mend it.  You're nothin' but a dod-burned nigger, or you wouldn't be so mean."

BARZY AND THE MADAGASCAR CHIEF.

      Hereupon we started to return to the boat, when the chief, advancing, took Mack by the arm, and in a very friendly manner began to search his pockets.

      "Oh ho!  that's your game, is it?  You'll not find much thar', I tell you."

      "Goot, goot, mans!"  exclaimed the savage, pulling out a jack-knife.

      "Well, what'll you give for it?  Come, mister, I'm ready for a trade."

      "Whaka boo whoo!  Goot, goot, mans!"

      "You can't come it that way, no how you can fix it.  If you want to trade, I'll give you the knife for a dozen good oranges; and if you don't, jest hand it back.  I ain't a goin' to be fooled, no way."

      "Merikkaan goot!"

      "Dod burn you, give me my knife!" shouted Mack.

      "Goot!"

      "To h——l with your 'goot!' I want my knife."

      "Merikkaan —'

      "Look here, nigger!"  roared Mack, flinging down his hat in a great passion, "that won't do, no how.  If you don't give me my knife in tolerable short order, I'll be into you about as quick as a streak of lightnin'!"

      "Trokkoo saab kakakee," replied the chief, coolly thrusting the knife in his clouty.

      "Well, sir," said the Yankee, picking up his hat, "I'll leet you off this time.  You don't know no better.  But I'll tell you what it is, if I catch you down any whar' nigh the boat, I'll give you one of the darndest maulins you ever had.  If I don't mash your ugly figure-head so you won't know whose it is, there'll be a most almighty fight, any how.  Look out for it! I ain't agoin' to be cheated by any dod-burned black-faced nigger no way you can fix it, I ain't."

      On our way down to the boat, Mack let his wrath loose in a manner so entirely original that I could not forbear quizzing him about the loss of his knife.  This made him very angry, and he protested, if I would only go back with him to see fair play, "he'd give that nigger a lickin' that would astonish me.  He'd whale his soul-case till it wouldn't look like any thing I'd ever set my eyes on before."  I need hardly say I declined the banter.

      The captain had not yet arrived at the boat.  Jack, in whose charge we had left it, was seated in the bow, surrounded by a crowd of the,natives, with whom he was carrying on a rambling conversation in broken English.  More fortunate than Mack or myself, he had sgcceeded in bartering his knife for a basket of oranges, which he generously shared with us; and we spent half an hour entertaining him with a history of our adventure with the chief.

      "I wish I'd ha' been there," said Jack; " I'll warrant you he wouldn't ha' got off so easy.  I wouldn't ask better fun than to knock the bloody lights out of him!"

      I had a good deal of curiosity to see the American traders, having been nearly five months without seeing a civilized being, except on board the barque; and there were none there particularly civilized.  I expected a hearty reception from these two fellow-adventurers, believing that the sound of a new voice to them in their native tongue would be somewhat agreeable, after living for a length of time cut off from the civilized world.  Charley and myself went up to the town, leaving Jack, with a crowd of natives around him, to take care of the boat.  We found the captain and the two traders seated under the portico of a stone house, surrounded by great numbers of the natives, and an armed posse of the governor's soldiers.  One of the Americans was a young man of genteel appearance; the other an elderly man, whom I took to be an Englishman, but I was afterward informed he was a citizen of Salem, Massachusetts.  They both regarded us with a cold look of indifference, not deigning to favor us with a word.  I had forgotten that I was dressed in a greasy whaling suit of duck; and for a moment I could scarcely realize the idea of American citizens meeting in a strange land without the least indication of that courtesy and civility which are the proverbial characteristics of the true American.  That they were neither Virginians nor Kentuckians was very evident; and, besides, had I reflected upon the fact that they were accustomed to keep company with captains and other officers, I might have known that poor Jack could not reasonably expect any token of recognition from them.  Still, I thought, as we were a little removed from the discipline of the ship, they ought not to have suffered the natives to outdo them in good feeling and courtesy toward strangers.

      After the captain had obtained some information relative to the town, and the best anchorage, we pulled aboard.

      "Man the windlass!" was the first order after dinner.  We got under weigh about two o'clock, and, having a fair wind, ran straight into the bay, and dropped anchor in a favorable position for procuring wood and water.  During the afternoon we were busily employed in breaking out from the hold, hoisting water casks on deck, and coopering and battening them for a raft.  Anchor watches were chosen for the night, and the rest of us went below to enjoy the first uninterrupted night's sleep we had had for nearly eight months.

      Next morning after breakfast the mate came forward, and sang out, "D'ye hear the news there?  Get ready to go ashore, the starboard watch."  There was great commotion in the forecastle on hearing this: red shirts, white ducks, and tarpaulins were the order of the day.  Two of the larboard watch, Jack and I, pulled the other watch ashore.  On our return to the vessel, a raft of casks was ready, which we pulled ashore, and rolled upon the beach.  We then went back for the rest of the watch.  By sundown we had filled the casks, towed them alongside, and hoisted them aboard with a Spanish burden.

      In the larboard watch there were D——, the cooper, Antoine, Enos, Frank, and the cook, Portuguese, and Jack Smith, Bill Mann, and myself.  It was our liberty day ashore next.

      Early after breakfast we went aft in our best sea-rig for calico and cotton handkerchiefs, about a dollar's worth of which was allowed each of the crew to barter with the natives.  At the suggestion of some of the watch, I put my flute in my pocket.  I was afterward very glad of it, as it procured me a kind reception wherever I went.  The Portuguese went off to a grog-shop, kept by a native, who understood a little English; and Jack hauled up at the first hut where there were women.

      Accompanied by my friend D—— the cooper, I started off on a ramble to see the town.  The houses are built of bamboo, and thatched with the leaves of the cocoa-nut tree.  There is little furniture in them, except mats to sit upon, and a catanda or bamboo bedstead.  The doors are about three feet high, so that the occupants, are obliged to crawl in on all fours.  Majunga has a population at this time of about six thousand; but during the reign of the great warrior Radama, it, was much larger, having been burned down several times since.

      As D—— and I strolled along the principal street, we were hailed in good English by a black fellow sitting at the door of one of the huts, who proved, upon a nearer approach, to be Davy, a native, who had been several times aboard our ship.  He had visited America in a whaler, and understood the English language very well.  Davy invited us into the hut, where we found Mr. D—— and Bill Mann very agreeably situated between two copper-colored girls.  Not wishing to disturb them, we hastened out as soon as possible, and made our way to the house of Mamoousa, one of the governor's officers, who had given us a very cordial invitation, when on board, to call upon him.  It was a neat bamboo hut, situated near the market square, and formed quite a pleasant retreat from the heat of the sun.  While seated upon a mat, enjoying a refreshing draught of air, I observed, sitting outside the back door, the most remarkable specimen of the human species I had ever seen — a living skeleton.  The poor creature was seated with his back against the house, under the full blaze of a noonday sun.  There was not a particle of flesh visible on his bones.  As he wore no clothing, with the exception of a rag around his waist, the extreme emaciation of his form was entirely exposed.  In many parts the naked bones were visible.  Mamoousa informed me that this poor fellow had received a wound in the wars with the Sacklaves with a poisoned arrow, which wasted him away to his present pitiable condition.

      Our hospitable friend treated us to some cocoa-nuts and bananas, and introduced us to a couple of his wives, who, he gave us to understand, were at our service.  D—— had always been lecturing us on board the vessel for all the carnal vices of our nature, and especially the lusts of the flesh, which, he maintained, were not only in conflict with the Mormon doctrine, but with every moral principle which ought to guide us in our way through life.  He had also maintained, by repeated quotations from the codes of his church, that all illicit indulgences were most heinous and flagrant violations of the Mormon religion; a religion which, if embraced by mankind in general, would insure them a happy resting-place beyond the skies.  Moreover, D—— never swore, or heard the sailors make use of obscene language, without giving them a great deal of wholesome advice.  With such a companion, therefore, I would have felt perfectly secure from temptation had Mamoousa's ladies been much more attractive than they were; but they were sufficiently disgusting in themselves to keep me at a safe distance from them.  Not so with my pious friend; for, while I was conversing with Mamoousa, D—— was engaged in a very suspicious pantomimic conversation with one of the dusky dames.  I presume his object was merely to give her a lecture upon the great beauties and benefits of the Mormon doctrine; at all events, it would be uncharitable to put any other construction upon his mysterious proceedings.

      In about an hour, the mate and Davy called by for us to go to a dinner, which was ready up at Davy's house.  We gladly accepted the invitation, and made all possible haste to the hut of our good friend.  The dinner consisted of beef, soup, rice, boiled maize, and melons, which was something new to us, at least.  We made a hearty meal, and remunerated Davy for his kindness by presenting him with a few yards of calico and a red flannel shirt.

      On our return toward the market-place, a melancholy object attracted my attention.  In the middle of the ruins of a stone building, without a roof, sat a poor negro chained to a rock, and so covered with stripes and sores as to bear the appearance rather of a putrefied corpse than of a living being.  I was told by one of the natives that this poor wretch was a native of Mozambique, who had wounded one of the governor's subjects with an axe.  The governor had sent an account of the affair to the queen, who ordered the prisoner to be kept in irons till the decease or recovery of the wounded man should decide his fate.  He had been in the situation in which we saw him for two months, and had entirely lost his hearing and the use of his limbs from the heavy night dews, and the cruelties inflicted upon him by his keepers.  As he sat with his back against the rock, groaning in agony, and loaded with chains, I thought there could not be a more pitiable object upon the face of the earth.  We gave him a few plugs of tobacco and passed on.

      D—— and I, determined to see every thing curious about town, struck out through a labyrinth of by-streets and alleys.  We had reached the outskirts of the town, and were pushing our way through an avenue of bushes, when a voice from a shantee, or hut, at a little distance hailed us: "Hello, whar' you goin'?  Come dis way; dis de place for white man."  We went to the door of the hut, which was clouded with smoke issuing from within.  I thought at first that the whole concern was on fire.  Peering through the smoke, however, we recognized the dusky face of our friend Davy, who, grinning from ear to ear, invited us to walk in and take a smoke.

      This was what the natives call a smoke-house, where they pay so much a week to enjoy a gossip over the pipe.  There were five or six Ambolambos squatted around a small fire, one of whom, the proprietor of the establishment, was employed in filling a large earthen pipe, the lower part of which contained water.  This he passed round, giving each of the company a few puffs.  Davy told us that it was a favorite substitute for rum, producing all the excitement of strong liquor without the evil effects.  When carried to excess, it excites the system like exhilarating gas.  The savage energy with which the natives in the hut went to work was really amusing.  The smoke rolled up in dense volumes, and the perspiration teemed in  streams from their dusky faces.  Davy requested us to keep a sharp look-out, and he would show us how to enjoy a smoke.  Stripping himself stark naked, he braced himself firmly against the wall, and took hold of the pipe.  For several minutes he sucked with all his might as rapidly as he could gain breath.  With excited features and distended breast he continued at this till entirely enveloped in smoke, when he paused from sheer exhaustion.  The dense clouds around him clearing away, he again became visible, the perspiration teeming down his face, his eyes closed, and his whole countenance betokening great comfort and satisfaction.  This operation he repeated frequently till entirely drunk.

      We left the hut highly entertained with the exhibition we had seen.  In the course of our peregrinations we found our way to the public market-place, where new objects of curiosity attracted our attention.  The butchers were squatted down under bamboo sheds, engaged in cutting up beef, weighing small pieces of silver, which form the currency of Majunga, and stowing away rice and other commodities, which they receive in exchange for meat.  Scattered along through the market-place are several grog-shops or drinking-houses.  Any one who is rich enough to buy a barrel of rum from a vessel trading between Majunga and the Isle of France can set up an establishment of this sort; the entire stock necessary being a barrel of rum and a gourd or cup.  Besides beef and rice, the only articles we saw offered for sale were straw baskets, honey, plums, mangoes, lemons, melons, oranges, bananas, queen's ware, and a kind of cloth manufactured by the natives from the bark of the cocoa-nut tree.  A stranger, ignorant of the actual value of such things, is charged double price for them.  The currency is silver.  Dollars are cut up into various-sized pieces, from the value of a cent up to ninety-nine cents.  To prevent imposition, all who have considerable dealing to do keep small scales, with which they weigh the money.  It is not an uncommon thing to see brokers' offices even in this savage land.  A desk containing weights, pieces of silver, and a pair of scales, constitutes all that is necessary for an establishment of this description.

      The Madagascan bullock is not unlike the buffalo in appearance, but of a lighter and more active build.  It has the hump on the shoulder, the thin flanks, and deep chest. The hair is short and sleek, and the legs formed for fleetness.  As they run wild about the island in large herds, their flesh is tough and muscular, and, of course, not to be compared with our domestic cattle.  The hides are purchased from the natives in large quantities by the traders stationed at Majunga for that purpose.  Nothing can be more cruel and disgusting than the manner in which cattle are butchered here.  The victim is made fast to four stakes firmly driven in the ground, so that he can not move, and in that situation is at-tacked by a gang of boys and men, armed with knives and axes, who chop and hew at him till his limbs are cut away, and he falls to the ground, bellowing with pain.  I saw a bullock butchered in this way, which, to prolong the sport, was suffered to run around the market square for nearly an hour on three legs, with a gang of boys after him, yelling and laughing at the attempts of the poor animal to escape.

      While examining every object of curiosity in the market-place, the mate came along and invited us to accompany him to the fort and the governor's palace.  A pleasant walk of about half a mile brought us to the top of a hill upon which the fort stood, directly in front of the governor's residence.  The gate was guarded by a number of soldiers, armed with spears and muskets.  We sat down on a low stone wall in front, not being allowed to enter the premises of his sable mightiness, Hoy Audrimaro, without a permit from himself or his chief officers.  Within the inclosure is a tall staff with a white flag bearing the name of the queen in large black letters: RANARALO MANJAKO.

      The captains of vessels are allowed to visit the governor at any time; but sailors and subordinates are treated with a dignified contempt by this important functionary.  Bearing in mind that "music hath charms," &c., I drew out my flute, and, as a number of the soldiers had already seen it in the town, they gathered around me in crowds to hear me play: I struck up "O dolce concento," with variations.  At the end of each variation they clapped their hands, and cried out, "Maivre!  maivre!"  signifying Good!  good!"  accompanying this exclamation with a grunt of astonishment.  They had apparently never seen a flute.  I found that fiddles and banjoes were quite familiar to them, and many of them had instruments of this kind rudely constructed by themselves.  They use an instrument made of reed, somewhat like a flute, and a "bambooa," or large bamboo, about two feet long, with strings peeled from the bark, under which are placed pieces of wood, forming a rude imitation of the guitar, and not unlike it in sound.  While I was entertaining the soldiers with my flute, the governor's secretary, Ami Selamica, a small, dark man, habited in a light cotton robe, and armed with a spear, came to the gate and listened with great attention until I had concluded, when he expressed his satisfaction in good English, and requested me to play a waltz.  Wishing to know if he really had any idea of the difference between the time of one tune and another, I asked him to whistle the waltz he wished me to play.  To my great surprise, he gave me with great accuracy the Queen of Prussia's waltz.  I had much curiosity to get a better view of the governor's palace than we had from the outside of the gate, and I told Selamica if he wished me to play I must go in, as the crowd was too great outside.  Eying me very keenly, he observed, "Governor no allow sailor in.  Are you sailor?"

      Knowing that sailors were not admitted, I replied,

      "Why do you take me to be a sailor?"

      "You wear blue shirt."

      "True, but any body can wear a blue shirt.  You don't know whether I'm a sailor or not.  Perhaps I'm the captain's son."

      "Capitan's son?  Oh well, suppose you capitan's son, I go see the governor.  Stay there.  Presently Selamica return;"  and, so saying, the secretary went off full speed to see the governor.

      D—— and the mate were highly amused at the trick about to be played upon Selamica and the governor; but my scheme was frustrated by the fact that his sable highness was taking a nap and could not be disturbed.  The secretary, however, shook hands with me as I was going away, and invited me to call again, promising to speak to Hoy Audrimaro of my musical powers, and obtain leave to admit me.

      The mate, D——, and myself,  spent the remainder of the evening walking over the hills, and enjoying the refreshing sea breeze.  The scenery in the vicinity of Majunga is not very prepossessing, being barren and rocky, and the vegetation crisped by the burning rays of a tropical sun.  The beach is in many places of snowy whiteness, which renders it very painful to the eyes at particular periods of the day when it reflects the sun's rays.  Within range of the eye are the opposite shores of Bembatooka Bay, presenting a dreary waste of inhospitable rocks and inland, and a succession of hills and barren land, with scarcely a patch under cultivation.  On the margin of the bay, near the lower part of the town, are a few plantations very indifferently cultivated.

      It was nearly sundown when we reached the landing.  The waist boat was already waiting for us, and, as soon as the stray liberty men could be gathered together, we went on board, having thus spent our first liberty day.

      The captain and mate were still on very bad terms.  Nothing went right; nothing suited the "old man."  He was continually snapping at the officers, and particularly at the mate, against whom he entertained the most inveterate feelings of enmity.  As a natural consequence, there was a general relaxation of discipline, and all hands did pretty much as they pleased when out of the captain's sight.  He annoyed the mate in every possible way, and the mate retaliated by abusing him before the men; so that, to use his own language, "the barque was going to the devil as fast as she could."

      During the middle watch one night, while we lay at Majunga, a squall came on.  We began to drag anchor.  The mate was unwell, and the man on deck called the captain.  When he came on deck, be found a pile of casks on the chain of the starboard anchor.  In a furious passion, he called upon the mate to turn out.  As soon as Mr. D—— made his appearance, the captain turned fiercely upon him, and addressed him in the most violent language, part of which was drowned by the roaring of the squall.  I could just hear the conclusion of his harangue:

      "Mr. D——, you lied to me.  You told me a d——d lie.  You said the chains were clear before I turned in." -

      "And so they were, sir.  I left them clear."

      "Do you call these clear?  Mind what you say.  Don't lie to me!  don't lie to me!  I'll larn you better!  I'll show you how to lie to me, d——n you!"

      "Captain A——, I'm not used to such language from any man.  You can believe:what I tell you or not; but don't tell me I lie, sir.  I'll not stand it!"

      "I'll tell you what, then, if you can't pay more attention to your duty, I'll do your duty.  I'll do it for you.  Take warning, now.  I've talked to you before."

      "I've always done my duty, Captain A——."

      "You have not! Do you mean to tell me I lie?"

      "Take it as you like, sir; you're determined not to be pleased with any thing I do; and, to tell you the truth, Captain A——, I don't care a curse whether you're pleased or not.  My heart's blood wouldn't satisfy you.  I've tried to satisfy you, but all h——l wouldn't do it."

      "None of your slack jaw!  I've always seen mates obey orders without a word."

      "I've always seen captains attend to their own business.  You interfere too much for your own good."

      "I'll make you attend to yours as long as you're mate of this ship.  I've had enough of your insolence; I'll make you know your place hereafter."

      "You can begin now, if you like, Captain A——.  I'm ready for you at any moment — in any shape.  If you don't like what I say, you can help yourself.  Come ahead, if you want satisfaction.  I'm the man for you!"

      Like all bullies, the captain was a coward at heart; and the moment he thought there was some danger of a collision, he walked aft, muttering,

      "I wish to God you were out of the ship."

      "I wish I was!" retorted the mate; "and the sooner the better.  Put me out just as soon as you please."

      The squall above and the squall below ended at the same time.  As soon as we got the chain clear we went below, highly edified with the rhetorical exhibition we had just enjoyed.

      I spent my next day's liberty even more agreeably than the first.  My friend D—— and I had received an invitation on board the barque to dine with a native of Johanna, Mohammed Desharee, reputed to be a man of wealth and distinction.  We had given him numerous presents, and treated him with much civility and attention, so that we looked for quite a blow-out on our liberty day.  When we got ashore, we were met by Mohammed on the beach, ready to conduct us to his house.  He invited the whole watch to partake of the entertainment.

      We found Mohammed's house quite a palace in comparison with the generality of houses in Majunga.  It was a large bamboo building, thatched with palmetto, and whitewashed outside.  The interior was fitted up in the most curious and fantastic style.  The walls were covered with Chinese plates, American looking-glasses, Arabian fans, flags of different-nations, Chinese pictures, old copper plates with inscriptions, Egyptian relics and charms, and various other curiosities.  Iu the sitting-room were two sofas, with silk cushions, ornamented with gaudy fringe-work.  Mohammed informed us, with a look of pride and exultation, that "this house was his; all this property was his; he had, four wives, two hundred slaves, five hundred head of cattle, two plantations near Majunga, and one in Johanna — all his."  Notwithstanding his riches, he wanted payment for the dinner we were about to get, and that, too, before we ate it.  We offered him a new shirt and several fathoms of calico; but he refused them with disdain, saying, "Give me more; I can no give you dinner for dis."  Cursing the fellow for his meanness, we started off in high dudgeon to dine aboard the ship.  He called D—— and me back, protesting that he did not intend to offend us; but that we had hurt his feelings by offering him any thing at all.  After a long harangue, he wound up by asking us two to dine with him "as brothers," assuring us that he loved us "all de same as himself."  The rest of the crew were mean time hull-down; and having no desire to go aboard, D—— and myself remained, determined at least to be even with him for his meanness in some way.

      By-and-by a table was carried in about two feet long, and a foot and a half wide.  I now began to suspect the true cause of his treating our watch so cavalierly.  He had boasted extensively of his great wealth; but the fact was, he neither had a table large enough to accommodate us all, nor more than three or four whole plates; and his vanity was too great to bear the humiliation of making a confession of the actual state of his household affairs.  Dinner was served with all the pomp and display of a public banquet at one of the best hotels.  The word was passed, a back door was thrown open, and six or eight slaves, each bearing something, entered in Indian file.  After all the ceremony of setting the table, we had nothing to eat but a few hard-boiled eggs, a plate of rice, another of fish, and a panful of rice batter cakes.  The table being too small to contain all, we were obliged to set some of the dishes on the chairs, and, so situated, my friend and myself sat down; Mohammed, seeing us look round apparently in want of something (which was true enough, as there were no knives or spoons visible), told us to "eat plenty much."  Seeing no other resource, I took out a small pen-knife, which I fortunately had in my pocket.  D—— was better off, having a jack-knife, and a fork with two prongs.  I made some laughable attempts to devour the rice with my pen-knife.  It was too slow a process, however, for a half-famished whaleman, and I commenced attacking the dishes with my hands.  Mohammed seeing the difficulty, called to one of his slaves, who brought me a spoon.  With this I got along well enough.

      We ate a hearty meal, such as it was; after which we took possession of the sofas, lighted a couple of cigars, and lay smoking like nabobs for an hour or two.  Mohammed talked incessantly of his immense possessions, giving us to understand that he was the richest and most distinguished man in Majunga.  When we were done smoking, he asked us to walk out to his plantation, which was about a mile below the town.  We gladly agreed to the proposal; and off we started through groves of upderwood, brakes, and lagoons.  In half an hour we arrived at the plantation, which was indeed a very pleasant place.  The wide-spreading mangroves afforded us a cool and delightful shade, while the tall cocoa-nut trees, freighted with fruit, promised us something refreshing to the palate.

      Mohammed called a little boy, and ordered him to climb one of the trees for cocoa-nuts.  With the aid of a piece of kyaa rope, which he placed in niches cut in the tree, the boy soon reached the top, and threw down the cocoa-nuts in abundance.  This delicious fruit can only be enjoyed in perfection when eaten green, and directly from the tree.  The milk is then rich and sweet; the pulp delicious, resembling white jelly or blanc-mange in appearance.  We sat for about an hour under the refreshing shade of the trees, highly amused by the egotism of Mohammed Desharee.

      "These groves," said he, "of cocoa-nut trees, man-groves, oranges, plums; these fields of rice, maize, and plantains; these houses, and all the slaves you see, are mine — all mine."

      With this and other remarks of the kind he amused us, until the sun warned us to return to the boat landing.

      The boat not having arrived, we wound up the pleasures of the day at the market-place.  I shall never forget the fun we had that evening.  The sun had set, and the whole square was occupied by Mohammedan grandees, squatted on the ground, enjoying the cool of the evening, and chatting over the affairs of the day.  I was hailed by a general cry of "Music, music."  Drawing out my flute, I struck up " Clar de Kitchen," upon which an old man with a long white beard jumped up, clapping his hands and dancing about in great glee.  He was followed by others, who crowded around me, till I presently found myself surrounded by the whole group of grave old Mussulmans, all dancing and shouting as if possessed of the devil.

      "Well done, Jack!  play on!  Maivre!  maivre!"  was sung out at the end of every tune.  Others, seeing the fun, came running from all quarters, and in less than ten minutes I verily believe there were over two hundred men and boys, from eighty to five years of age, all shouting and capering around me.  A gang of lads with drums came up and joined me; and such a confusion of sounds I never heard as was made that evening.  I received the thanks and cordial good wishes of the whole company, with invitations to call at their houses and dine with them my next liberty day.  The boat having by this time arrived, we went on board to pay for our frolic by hard work next day.  Whenever I went ashore after the spree at the market-place, I was hailed from all quarters for "music."

      Majunga is situated on the northeast side of Madagascar.  The inhabitants are mixed races, but chiefly of the Ambolamboe tribe, the most powerful of the Malegash.  The wealthiest residents are descendants of the Arabs, from Johanna, Zanzibar, and the coast of Africa.  The population of the town is composed of the Malegash, Sowhelians, a race between the Arab and the African, natives of Zanzibar and the Cormoro Islands, Africans, Hindoos, and Jews from the East-Indies.

      Beef, rice, fish, maize, potatoes, cassada root, yams, and fruit, are the principal articles of provision.

      The governor, Hoy Audrimaro, who derives his office from the queen, has great power, and is very much feared by the lower classes.  His residence is situated on the top of a hill, about half a mile back of the town.  An avenue, hedged in with bushes, and shaded with cocoa-nut, mangrove, and orange trees, leads up to the large massive wooden gate, which I have already alluded to as situated at the entrance of the square in which the palace stands.  This gate is usually guarded by a corps of Ambolamboes armed with spears and muskets.

      The northern part of Madagascar is now under the dominion of a queen, whose name is RANAVALO MANJAKO.  This is the most civilized part of the island.  It is inhabited by Ambolamboes and straggling parties of the Sacklave tribe.  The two great tribes are the Ambolamboes and the Sacklaves — one occupying the northern, and the other the southern parts of Madagascar.  There is also a powerful tribe, inhabiting the central and mountainous parts of the island, called the Orahs.  The Sacklaves and Ambolamboes have been engaged in a sanguinary war for upward of thirty years, and there is yet no prospect of its termination.

      I saw more cripples in Majunga than I had ever seen in any place of its size.  Most of them had been wounded in the war with the Sacklaves, who use poisoned spears, the slightest wound of which is fatal, producing a sore that gradually destroys the whole body.

      The Ambolamboes are a fine race of men; tall, athletic, and well formed.  Their simple costume displays their fine proportions and muscular limbs to great advantage.  They are an indolent people, and, perhaps, owing to the fact that they do but little work, their hands are remarkably small.  Constant exercise with the spear and war-club develops the muscles of the arms and chest, and renders them extremely powerful antagonists.  I noticed but little distinction between the Ambolamboes and Sacklaves, except that of wearing the hair.  The Ambolamboes leave it in its natural bushy state, sometimes ornamented with beads.  The Sacklaves all wear their hair braided.  Over the forehead are two wide braids covering the temples, and curiously drawn across the eyebrows, giving the countenance a stern cast, which is increased by a short mustache, and a tuft of beard on the chin.  With their highly-polished spears and flowing robes thrown gracefully over the left shoulder, they are decidedly as warlike and fine-looking a tribe as one could wish to see.  Those of the Sacklaves residing at Majunga are subjects of the queen, who had been taken prisoners in the war.  If they attempt to make their escape or take up arms against the queen, they are instantly beheaded.

      Music and dancing are favorite pastimes with the Malegash.  The young Ambolamboes in Majunga have a pole erected in the market-place, with niches in it, upon which they hang half a dozen drums every evening, and beat upon these and dance around them half the night.  We could scarcely sleep on hoard the vessel in consequence of the uproar kept up at night by these drummers and dancers.

      There are several mosques in the town, in which the Mohammedans perform their devotions.  Their manner of calling together their congregations is somewhat singular.  Within a few yards of the well from which we procured our water stands one of these mosques.  The back entrance faces the well.  I saw numbers of natives performing their ablutions in a large trough of water, but paid little attention to what was going on.  Presently my ears were stunned by a voice at the door of the mosque, shouting, in a wild, melancholy key, "Alla-ak-ba! Alla-ak-ba!"  Casting my eye around to see whence the sounds proceeded, I saw standing at the mosque door a tall, powerful man, dressed in white, with a turban on his head, shouting at the highest pitch of his voice, "Alla-ak-ba!"  followed by a long rigmarole not very intelligible to me.  His hands were placed against his ears, as if to shut out his own wailing cry.  About every five minutes he turned toward the pulpit and muttered a short prayer, and then resumed his dismal "Alla-ak-ba!"

      Gambling is a favorite pursuit of the people of Majunga.  Seated at the doors of the houses may be seen at all times of the day groups of gamblers playing the exciting game.

      On Saturday the captain dined with the governor.  In return, the governor was invited to dine on board the barque.  Mamoousa was desired to explain that it was not customary for his excellency to visit vessels belonging to foreign countries, but that a deputation of the officers of the palace would be sent to represent him.

      On Monday, at twelve o'clock, we prepared ourselves to receive our distinguished visitors.  They came alongside in a large canoe, highly decorated with ornamental fringe-work.  In entering the cabin, the following was the order observed:

      General Merimaro, chief commanding officer.

      Melanzoone, captain of the fort.

      Mamoousa, captain of the body guards.

      Ami Salamica, secretary to the governor.

      Risalvo, first officer of the port.

      Rinejaro, treasurer, followed by several subordinate officers.

      These distinguished gentry were habited in various costumes, betokening their different ranks.  General Merimaro was as black as the ace of spades, and looked for all the world like a servant in livery.  Mamoousa wore an English dress, which seemed to sit very awkwardly on him.  The rest of the company were dressed in the native costume of the Ambolamboes, which is decidedly the most appropriate and picturesque dress they wear.

      The dinner surpassed, in abundance and grandeur, any thing ever before given by our captain.  It was, indeed, quite a matter of speculation for us, who looked at the proceedings with utter amazement, actually believing something had operated upon the captain's bowels of liberality.  Two of the hands, Bully and Enos, were called aft to wait upon the darkies; an honor which had been tendered to me, but which I most respectfully declined, notwithstanding the tempting prospect of stray crumbs from the table.  There was one pie, a real chicken pie; not very large, to be sure, for twelve or fifteen persons; but it was a chicken pie! and there was a piece of fresh beef, and a piece of salt beef, and a piece of fat pork!  These were the substantials, particularly the pork, which, it was very well known, the natives would not eat.  Then there was for dessert one bottle of wine, some molasses and water, and a kid of ship-bread! Oh! it was "a sadly touching sight" to stand by the cook's galley and witness the disappearance, one after another, of all these rarities; to be regaled with odoriferous fumes from the passing dishes; to see the steward dive down the companion-way to that "bourne whence no morsel returneth;" and yet, with whetted appetites, and a perfect appreciation of all that is savory, palatable, and refreshing, to be compelled to make a miserable meal of the remnants of dirty bread in the forecastle, sour molasses, and a few scraps of old horse.

      We lay about the forecastle deck smoking and talking, while the captain was entertaining his company.  From the uproarious noises which we occasionally heard, it was quite evident that the sable gentry and their generous host were enjoying themselves to their entire satisfaction.  Dinner over, the captain took out his calicoes, and, favored by the good-humor of his company, commenced trading with them.  They knew too well the value of goods to be cheated; and none of them would submit to his extortions, when they could purchase goods from the trader ashore, of a better quality, for half the price.  The result was that there was a general war of words, and the entertainment broke up with ill feeling on both sides.  I went aft to the scuttle-butt to hear what was going on.  Mamoousa, as he was about to jump over into the canoe, whispered in my ear, "You got one mean capitan.  He no like American man!"  The whole procession moved toward the gangway in disorder and confusion, and jumped over into the canoe, vociferating sundry benedictions on the barque Styx.

      Our recruit at Bambatooka Bay consisted of a very stingy supply of fresh meat and fruit, which lasted us about two weeks.  Some of the officers procured a couple of mokaks and a  Madagascar pup.  The pup was called Mamoousa, and of course was a good Mohammedan.  It was very amusing to see the effect produced upon him by the sight of a litter of pigs which we had on board.  Whenever they got him into a tight corner, they were sure to give him a thrashing; but, being a good Mohammedan, he could not be forced to defile his teeth with the filthy swine.

      Rajapoot, a native, who had agreed to furnish us with wood, brought a large canoe alongside in the evening, containing about a whale-boat load, which was what he contracted to furnish.  After we got it on board, the captain refused to pay the sum agreed upon.  Rajapoot argued that he had fulfilled his contract, and was entitled to be honestly paid for his wood; but if the captain wished he would take it back again, he would do so.  The captain would neither give it up, nor pay for it.  Rajapoot went off in high dudgeon, swearing he would raise men enough ashore to take the vessel.  As soon as he was gone, we were set to work clearing away the casks in the blubber-room, and stowing away the wood under hatches, it being the design to pay all dues "with the fore-top-sail."  We were ordered to go to work very silently, in order that we might not alarm the natives by any symptoms of preparation to put to sea.  That they might suspect nothing unusual, I was told to go out on the jib-boom and "blaze away" on my flute.  I thought it rather a hard case to be obliged to participate in cheating poor Rajapoot, light as the duty assigned to me was; but this was not a matter of taste.  The American portion of the crew all grumbled at the meanness of this trickery; and the mate said, "if he could raise three dollars, he'd pay for the wood himself, sooner than such an act of low, stealthy, contemptible meanness should be attributed to a ves- sel bearing the flag of the United States."  We held a private consultation about raising a subscription to pay the bil; but, upon examining our effects, we were not able to scrape up even two dollars' worth of property; all our clothing consisting of a few miserable rags, for which we felt much indebted to the outfitter.

      It is treatment like this that renders the natives treacherous and hostile.  There has been more done to destroy the friendly feelings of the inhabitants of islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans toward Americans, by the meanness and rascality of whaling captains, than all the missionaries and embassies from the United States can ever atone for.

      "Pay them with the fore-top-sail!" is a mode of cheating the natives as common in practice as in theory.  Such examples will invariably be followed; for where the vices of civilized life are sown, there they will grow.  Watches were kept all night on the bow, but no attack was made.  Next morning a strong ebb tide was setting out.  At daylight all hands were called to weigh anchor.  The wind died away before we doubled the sand-spit, and the tide drifted us ashore.  We got out two whale lines, attached to a small kedge anchor, with which we warped her off the bar.  A violent rain storm came on during our exertions to get off, which drenched us thoroughly, and by main force blew us off the bar.  After we had gained the middle of the bay, the starboard anchor was dropped, and, for the first time since we left New Bedford, all hands were called aft to "splice the main brace!'

      We left Bembatooka Bay in the evening with a Hindoo passenger on board for Johanna.  

Cruelty to a Portuguese Boy. — Make the Comoro Isles. — Visit from the Sheik's Secretary. — Johanna. — Bay of Henzooanee. — Description of the Town. — Hozain and his Certificates. — Jack America. — Adventure with the Sheik. — Description of Syed Mohammed.

      IN the course of a few days several of the crew were laid up from indulging too freely in fruit and vegetables ashore; and, owing to the number unable to do duty, we could lower but two boats after whales.

      "There she blows!" was sung out one morning;  "a large school of whales!"  The larboard and starboard boats were lowered.  D——, Tom, Charlie, and myself remained on board to work ship.  Frank, a raw Portuguese lad from the Western Islands, was put at the helm, being very unwell, and unable to do active duty.  Captain A—— was, as usual when any of the crew were sick, in a savage humor.  Having no person upon whom he could so well vent his ferocity as upon Frank, he roared at him to perform so many impossibilities with the wheel that the poor fellow became confused.  The sea was very rough, and it was impossible to keep the head of the vessel to the wind.

      "Steady!" thundered the captain.

      "Can no keep her steady," said Frank.

      "Steady, blast you!"

      "She no stay steady!"

      The captain darted furiously upon him, and struck him a severe blow on the head.  Pale and terrified, and totally ignorant of what he was punished for, the poor lad hung down his head to avoid the blows.

      "You dumb animal," shouted the captain, "didn't I tell you to put your wheel down?  Answer me — answer me, I say!  None of your whining!  I'll flog the senses into you, if you don't understand me!  That scuttle-butt knows more than you do!  You're worse, a devilish sight, than the old sow.  Won't you speak — won't you?"

      "No savey, sare," replied Frank, who, in reality, did not understand a dozen words of English.

      "You no savey, heh!  I'll make you savey, you blasted two-pence head!  I'll whale English into you!  I'll see that you understand me when I speak to you:"  so saying, the captain grasped a rope, and with all his might struck the boy across the face five or six times.

      "Oh capitan, me no savey!"  cried Frank, staggering back, stupefied and almost blind.  "Oh Christ, you kill me!  What for you strike me?"

      "I'll make you savey!  You've been long enough aboard to learn English.  If you don't learn, it's your own fault.  I'll hammer it into you.  Now you know what you're flogged for, don't you?  Answer me!  Speak, blast you!  Say something, you dumb beast!  Grunt, if you will be a hog!  grunt, I say!"

      Ignorant of what was said, and writhing with pain — for his face was swollen with blows — Frank only endeavored to suppress his cries of agony, as the captain shook him by the hair, and repeated the blows with the rope.  If ever there was the impersonation of a demon, the captain was one.  His cheeks were pale with rage, and his mouth foaming.

      "Why don't you answer me?"  he yelled, in a voice husky with passion.  "Have you no tongue?  Are you speechless?  If you can't speak, I tell you to grunt.  Won't you do it?  Grunt, you infernal blockhead!  Grunt, you stupid ass!  Bray, if you can't grunt.  Bray, now, or I'll make a zebra of you!  I'll stripe your back!"

      Still Frank made no reply.

      "You shall make some sort of noise, I swear!"  said the captain; and, swinging back his arm, he struck Frank with all his strength several violent blows on the head and face with the rope's end.  Antoine, a boat-steerer, who was standing in the waist, believing the boy was about to be murdered, ran up and interfered.  This man, the captain well knew, had a violent temper when excited, and could stir up a mutiny among the Portuguese at any moment.  Fearing that such would be the result of his cruelty, he endeavored to turn it into a joke, by ex- claiming,

      "Antoine!  Frank all de same as scuttle-butt.  He no got plenty sense all de same as hog.  Hog can grunt; Frank can no grunt!"

      No one laughed at his joke, however; and Antoine, disdaining to make a reply, merely addressed a few words in Portuguese to Frank, and walked forward to the forecastle.

      Soon after this the captain was attacked with the jungle fever, which prostrated him almost to the verge of the grave.  Four or five of the crew were also in a very low state.  I can not describe the horrors of our situation, without incurring the charge of exaggeration; yet they were too real to need the aid of fiction.  The Portuguese, conscious of superior numbers, and driven to desperation by hard fare and bad treatment, became insolent and mutinous.  The very elements seemed to combine against us.  Day after day we drifted about in strong currents, and beset by gales and heavy rains.  If ever there was a hell afloat, the Styx was one.  Things were in this condition when we made the Comoro Islands, on

      March, 20th. — The Peak of`Mayotta was visible distant twenty leagues.  In the evening we made Mohilla, another of the Comoro Islands.

      March 24th. — Anchored in the Bay of Johanna.  We found in port a British East Indiaman, and the whaler Bogota, of New Bedford, Captain F——.  The Bogota had been out ten months, and had not heard from home since she left.

      March 26th. — At an early hour this morning we were visited by the secretary and suite of his highness the sheik of Johanna.  Housein, the secretary, gave us to understand that it was customary for vessels, before coming to an anchor, to present Syed Mohammed, the sheik, with two kegs of powder, and as many pieces of calico as the captain might feel disposed to part with.  The sheik professedly receives no port charges, but generally manages to extort presents of this kind to the amount of eighty or a hundred dollars from every vessel anchoring in the Bay of Johanna for refreshments or commercial purposes.  As he has unlimited control over the natives, and can make a monopoly of the sale of all their articles, this system of fraud is carried on entirely for his own emolument.

ISLAND OF JOHANNA.
(J. Ross Browne / J. Halpin - Harper & Brothers, New York)

      The waist and larboard boats were sent ashore for fruit and vegetables.  I belonged to the waist boat, which was commanded by the second mate, a friend of mine, and had a fine opportunity of seeing the town of Johanna.  We spent the day ashore, waiting for the natives to carry down the recruit.  Abdilla's slaves were to bring us eight or ten baskets of potatoes and fruit, which our friend, the Hindoo, had promised us for his passage from Majunga.  I had nothing with me but a few plugs of tobacco, with which to purchase curiosities.  Bembatooka Bay had left me pretty low in regard to my worldly affairs.  I had bartered away all my trifles there; and, unless I pawned or sold my clothes, I couldn't make "a raise."  We were all in debt: and money is too scarce on board a whaler to he loaned to a beggarly crew.

      The boat-landing at Johanna is rocky, and consequently very dangerous in rough weather.  Artificial coves, constructed of rocks, protect the boats from the general swell of the sea, but form rather an indifferent barrier at high tide, or during the gales on the changes of the monsoons.  Near the shore is a bed of white coral, extending a considerable distance into the bay.  The sea is so clear over this bed of coral that bottom can be seen at a depth of ten or twelve fathoms.  One can almost fancy himself floating in the air over magnificent hills and valleys of coral, so remarkably transparent is the water.  It gives some idea of the enchanted worlds in the Arabian Nights.  Thousands of fish, of rich and varied colors, sported beneath us; and in many places our eyes were charmed with beautiful shells of different species.

      We had a steady pull of about three leagues before we maDe the landing.  The abruptness of the shore and the height of the mountains render the distance very deceptive.  The cocoa-nut trees and orange groves were distinctly visible from the ship, and we naturally concluded she was not more than four or five miles off; but, after a pull of two hours, under a scorching sun, we all, agreed it was fully three leagues.

      The town of Johanna, called by the natives Henzooanee, stands on an inclined plane at the foot of a mountain.  From the bay nothing is seen but a pile of roofs, commencing apparently at the water's edge, and, rising gradually, it reaches the base of the mountain.  Upon a nearer approach, a barrier of rude stone walls is perceptible.  This incloses the whole front of the town, and forms a sort of semicircle, the ends of which are blocked up against an immense pile of rocks.  Entering by a dilapidated gateway, we struck into a by-alley; but, following it up, we found that it was intersected by numerous alleys of the same description, and, in fact, found it impossible to get out of it without entering other alleys still narrower and more filthy.  I inquired of a native the way into the town, and was told that we were just in the middle of it.  The streets, if such they may be called, are nearly all alike, none of them being over five or six feet wide.  Most of the houses are built of stone; and, owing to the narrowness of the streets, a continual draught of air passing between them renders the whole town cool even in that tropical climate.

      We were stopped by every passerby craving a piece of tobacco.  What we had about us we gave away, but this did not prevent the natives from persecuting us.  Some feigned a toothache; others, a pain in the jaw.  We offered them medical advice; such, at least, as we were capable of giving; but tobacco is the only remedy they profess to know any thing about.

      The principal object that attracts the attention of a stranger in Johanna is the fort, which is situated on the top of a high rock back of the town.  The ascent is made by rough stone steps, now in a ruinous condition.  I was told that the British East India Company took possession of this fort, and made use of it, during the days of their commercial prosperity, to protect their shipping in the Bay of Johanna.  It commands every point of the bay, and is difficult of access to an enemy.

      Having nothing better to do, I ascended the steps leading to the gates of the fort, where, for a trifling consideration, I hired a guide to show me the fortifications.  Around the fort is a wall, which incloses a little village of bamboo huts, containing, at a rough guess, about a hundred inhabitants.  Both the village and fort are crumbling to ruin.  The guns are lying scattered about the place, rusty, and unfit for use.  Immense masses of abutments hang gaping over the town.  A volcanic eruption in the neighboring mountains would evidently precipitate them on the houses.  In various places the walls are mere piles of ruins, covered with grass and moss.  Commanding, as it does, a view of the whole town and bay, the fort of Johanna forms quite a picturesque ruin, and a few hours may be very pleasantly spent in rambling about the premises.

      On my way back through the town I met a light-complexioned lad, who spoke to me in English, and invited me to his house.  He said he was the son of an Arab, and that his name was Hozain.  He made a living by trading, and furnishing the officers and crews of vessels with dinners.  I found his house a clean and, cool retreat, after having spent two or three hours under a burning sun.  A cloth was spread before me by some slaves, and plates were brought in containing oranges, bananas, poppies, &c.; and a Chinese bowl was set before me full of the most delicious lemonade I ever drank.

      While I was paying my addresses to the refreshmeats, Hozain brought me a pocket-book containing certificates and recommendations from masters and crews of vessels who had favored him with their custom.  All the natives who transact business with the shipping have papers of this kind.  The following will serve as specimens:

      "This is to certify that Hozain, a native of Johanna, is an intelligent and accommodating lad.  I have, on various occasions, hired him to transact business for me, and have always found him industrious and honest. I recommend any of my countrymen who visit Johanna to call at his house, if they wish a good dinner on reasonable terms.

      The next is rather an amusing specimen, and may be preserved as a literary curiosity:

      "We the undersined do hereby sertify that jack America is a good washewoman and a fus rate help aboard ship we got him to wash for us while at ancor hear which was 2 weaks more or less and can say to all Americans that he is an honest feller having stole but 2 shirts from us the hole time which is sayen a grate dele as the nagers will all steal whin they git a chanse jack does all kinds of jobs on reasonable terms for tobacco or old close which is sometimes very convenient for saillers.

      At the earnest request of Hozain, I gave him an additional recommendation.  He refused payment for the refreshments (I had nothing to give him if he had asked payment).  Few of the natives will take any thing for fruit or lemonade, when they invite a stranger into their houses.  They will accept any quantity of tobacco, but in a case of this kind it must be given to them as a present.

      I met my friend D—— soon after leaving Hozain's.  Determined to see what the Johanna ladies were made of, we set out on a cruise, having been ashore the best part of the day without catching a glimpse of the dusky beauties of the town.  The Mohammedans of Johanna strictly adhere to the old rule of keeping the women under lock and key when strangers are about, especially sailors, whose proverbial gallantry to the sex they look upon as dangerous.

      We received several invitations to walk into the houses, but the women were always warned of our approach by the shrill "Hoad! hoad! hoad!" of the master.  We frequently asked why this extreme jealousy existed, and the invariable answer was, "'Tis de fashon in Johanna!"

      "What are you afraid of?"  I asked an old Arab.

      He shook his head, and, shrugging his shoulders, replied, "'Tis de fashon.  Mohammed do so.  No good for Christian to look at Mohammedan's women."

      "No," said I.  "Your women are ugly.  You're ashamed to let us see them.  Our American ladies are much better looking, no doubt.  We have the prettiest ladies in the world.  No wonder you're ashamed to let us see your women."  This made him very angry, and he began a fiery harangue in broken English:

      "What for de devil you want to see our women 'Tis no de fashon here.  Johanna man no like dis.  Mohammed find it out, what he say den?"

      "I presume he'd say you are becoming more civilized."

      "Got damn! de devil you, sir! We great people; we all de same as English.  Syed Mohammed all de same as King George.  Suppose I go to your country, I no talk so.  I no want to see your d——d women!  If it de fashon of de country, very good; I like to see, very well.  If it no de fashon, what for I want to see your women?"

      A sailor let loose from a ship is no better than a wild man.  He is free; he feels what it is to be free.  For a little while, at least, he is no dog to be cursed and ordered about by a ruffianly master.  It is like an escape from bondage.  D—— and I felt what it was to be at liberty, and our exuberance of spirits was beyond all bounds.

      The first adventure we had came near getting us into a difficulty.  Passing a house, we saw, peeping from behind the door, three or four females, with bright, laughing eyes.  Before they could guess our intention, we burst in upon them.  Such a scene of confusion as we made baffles description.  Shrieking and laughing, they attempted to make their escape through a back passage, but we were too fast for them.  D—— closed upon them on one side, and I on the other, so that, by a well-managed manoeuver, we soon caught a good armful of these wild damsels.  Five or six of the natives, hearing the noise, came running up, abusing us, and using all kinds of violent and threatening gestures.  It was a thing that had never been done before.  They raved, swore, flourished their spears, and finally, after cooling down a little, threatened to tell the sheik.  A fierce-looking fellow with mustaches seemed in favor of Lynching us after the fashion of the Arabs, which is simply a dexterous thrust of the khunger.  We took advantage of a pause in the row, and, to use an expressive phrase, made ourselves scarce.

      A little before sundown we reached the boat-landing, where we found Hossein, the sheik's secretary, Seidi Rahma, Ahamet Baas, and other distinguished characters.  Abdilla and his slaves had brought down the fruit and potatoes.  Every thing being ready, we pushed off for the barque, which we reached after a hard pull of three hours.

      Captain A—— was so much worse during the night that it was deemed advisable to run in and anchor.  We got up the larboard and starboard chains by noon.  At two o'clock P.M.  we dropped anchor a little above the town, and went on board the British East Indiaman for the doctors.

      Canoes, laden with shells, bananas, cocoa-nuts, popois, melons, guaras, &c., crowded round the ship in great numbers during the evening.  The natives, when the sheik does not prohibit trading, sell fruit very cheap.  A large bunch of bananas may be purchased for a plug of tobacco, a hundred cocoa-nuts for half a pound, and other tropical fruits at the same rate.

      Among the products of the island are rice, maize, cassada, mangoes, pine-apples, chalottes, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, limes, lemons, and such fruit as I have already mentioned.  Bullocks of a small breed, goats, sheep, poultry, and pigeons are plenty in Johanna, and may be had of the natives at reasonable prices.  Besides the various products of the island, the natives enjoy other luxuries.  They carry on a considerable trade in dans and chelingas with Bombay, Mauritius, Madagascar, Mozambique, Delagoa Bay, and other places in the Indian Ocean.  American and English whalers find Johanna a very convenient stopping-place after a long cruise.  Its fertility is not so great as that of Zanzibar; but the climate is better, and ships' crews are less subject to fevers than at Zanzibar.

      The natives have some knowledge of the arts, and even profess the sciences.  Silver-smiths, tailors, painters, chirographers, and astrologers are numerous.  The men are too indolent to attain any high degree of proficiency in these or other pursuits, and, consequently, the chief part of the labor devolves upon the females, who do all the drudgery, manufacture cloths, mats, baskets, &c.  The lower classes of women are considered no better than beasts of burden.  They appear to be quite indifferent about their degraded condition.

      We had liberty ashore every day while we lay at anchor.  I saw a great deal to interest me; also, a great deal to disgust me.  The strictness with which the Mohammedans adhere to the codes of their church would do honor to more civilized people.  Still there are customs prevalent among them which, to Christians, seem open violations of every law, moral and divine.  The steps of their mosques are places of pubic resort, where the citizens assemble every evening to gamble.  Groups of incorrigible gamesters may be seen amusing themselves in this way while the devout leader of the flock is reading the Koran to the congregation within.  Even the venerable priest occasionally relaxes his mind by taking part in the games.  To gain admittance into the mosque, application must be made to him.  If the visitor chooses to pay two shillings for the benefit of the Prophet, or a few plugs of tobacco to cure an incurable toothache with which the Prophet's servant is afflicted, he can go in; but, if he is not disposed to be charitable, he can sit down on the steps at the mosque door, and entertain himself at cards or checkers while listening to the reading of the Koran!

      Mr. P—— and I visited one evening the sheik's mosque, a conspicuous edifice, which may be known by its steeple.  We had nothing to give the priest but an old jack-knife, which he condescended to accept after a good deal of grumbling.  Abda Selim, a lad whom we had hired as a guide and interpreter, informed us that we could not go in without first having our feet washed.  We assured him that, as we had just enjoyed the pleasure of a ducking down at the boat-landing, we were unexceptionably clean.  This would not do; our feet must be washed.  A speck of dirt would defile the carpet, and eternally damn the mosque.  Furthermore, our mouths were scrupulously examined, lest tobacco or any other foul and nauseous weed, unsightly in the eyes of the Prophet, might be therein concealed from the vigilance of sublunary mortals.  These preparatory ceremonies being over, Selim told us to enter, cautioning us, with great solemnity, not to spit upon the carpets or speak above a whisper, if we would avoid the wrath of the Prophet.  The floor of the sheik's mosque is covered with mats of rich and beautiful colors, and on these the congregation kneel.  Around the altar, or that part of the mosque where the priest stands when reading the Koran, the floor is covered with splendid Persian rugs of the richest texture and color.  On the walls, at each side of the altar, are curiously-designed maps or charts, which, from all I could gather from Selim, show the latitude and longi- tude of the seven heavens, the true bearings of the infernal regions, the rocks, shoals, and sand-bars to be avoided by a soul bound heavenward; all ornamented with pious mottoes from the Koran, to be perused by departing sinners.  The building itself is very plain within, and not more than sixty feet by forty in size.  Externally there are some rude attempts made at architectural ornament.  There is a clumsiness and want of system in the buildings of the Arabs which all their filigree-work can not disguise.

      It was now sundown.  Having spent an hour very agreeably in the mosque, we took our leave of the priest; and, accompanied by our guide Selim, once more made our way through the labyrinth of narrow streets to the boat-landing.

      One fine afternoon, while rambling about the town, I met a native named Jezzarine, with whom I had formed a slight acquaintance.  At his request, I followed him to a certain part of the town, where, he informed me, I would see "much fine thing."  We stopped at the door of a large whitewashed house, highly ornamented with Arabian filigree-work.  Under a piazza was seated a remarkably handsome young Arab, surrounded by a group of richly-dressed retainers, who seemed to regard him with unusual deference.  From his general appearance, I took him to be some distinguished chieftain.  His costume was exceedingly striking and graceful.  The upper part of his dress consisted of a kind of spencer of rich green cloth, beautifully decorated with gold and silver ornaments; a gaudy silk vest, fringed with tassel-work; and a loose white robe, thrown gracefully over the left shoulder.  His sash was of the most delicate Persian silk; and his khunger, or dagger, was highly ornamented with jewels.  The remainder of his dress consisted of loose white pantaloons, exquisitely embroidered, and a pair of sandals, in which were worked symbols and devices from the Koran.  His turban was singularly rich and becoming.  In complexion he was lighter than the common order of Arabs; perhaps owing to less exposure.  I think I never saw a more perfect face.  His forehead was high and expansive, his nose a true Grecian, his eyes brilliant as diamonds, and his mouth and chin ex- quisitely chiseled.  I saluted him with my most polite bow, which he returned by a slight inclination of the head, and a smile of welcome.  Jezzarine, who stood behind me, pinched my elbow, and whispered in my ear, "Takee off hat!"  I did as he desired, and patiently awaited farther orders.

      The chief, after carefully examining me, to ascertain if I had any tobacco, put his hand in my pocket and drew out my flute, which I joined together.  He attempted to play upon it, but was unable to produce a sound.  Nettled at his failure, he handed it to me rather impatiently, and by a motion expressed his desire to hear me play.  I did so, and had the good fortune to throw him into a very good humor.  He enjoyed the music as well as I could wish; and, when I had done playing, expressed his satisfaction by clapping his hands three times.  I thought this was intended for applause; but I soon discovered that the applause was of a more substantial nature.  A slave quickly made his appearance.  The chief spoke a few words to him, and he went back into the house.  Presently he returned, bearing in his hands a round table with pewter plates upon it, containing oranges, bananas, dates, mangoes, and other tropical delicacies; also glasses containing sherbet and lemonade.  I ate and drank heartily of what was set before me; but the Arabs would not join me.  However, I cared little about that; the refreshments tasted quite as well as if they had assisted me.  I played several more tunes before I left; laughed, talked, and danced for the amusement of the chief, and, altogether, made myself quite at home.  On parting, I shook hands with the crowd all round.  Jezzarine pinched me several times when he thought I was going ahead rather too unceremoniously; but I paid no attention to his hints.  After we had turned a corner, and were entirely out of the hearing of the chief and his followers, Jezzarine stopped, and, with horror and consternation depicted in his looks, whispered,

      "You savey who dat?"

      "No," said I; " who is it?"

      "What!"  he exclaimed, in utter amazement, "you no savey who you play for?"

      "No; I never saw him before."

      "Oh, you do bad ting; you play, you dance, you laugh all de same he me!  He bery mad.  Suppose ship no here, he kill you!"

      "But who is he?"

      "Who?  What for you no savey HIS HIGHNESS SYED MOHAMMED, GRAND BIG SULTAN?"

      Finding this neither alarmed nor astonished me as the expected, Jezzarine, disgusted at my stolidity, started to leave me, expecting, of course, that, being in the densely-populated part of the town, I would be compelled to call him back to guide me out.  After following me for two or three squares, dodging from corner to corner to avoid letting me see him, he thought proper at length to overtake me.

      "Well, I no leave you," said he; "I good friend to you.  All de same you brother.  Me bad tooth-ache!  oh!  me bery bad toothache!  Tobac little bit?  Hein?"

Mohammedan at Prayer. — Beautiful Glen. — Upset in a Canoe. — Bull Fight. — Terrible Combat between the Down-Easter and the Bull. — Leave Johanna. — Exciting Whale Chase, and Capture of a Whale. — Trouble and Discontent. — Make Zanzibar. — Desertion of three Men. — Speech of the Captain. — Condition of the Crew.

      IN the course of my rambles next day about Henzooanee, the town of Johanna, I fell in with a native of Mauritius, who spoke good French.  A slight knowledge of this language enabled me to carry on a conversation with him.  I found him very intelligent and obliging; and I was much indebted to him for his hospitality.

      The evening being fine, he asked me to take a walk with him up the Motoni, a beautiful little rivulet, which runs.  through the upper part of the town.  I gladly accepted his services as a cicerone.  We followed the course of the stream for about a mile, where it comes, foaming down between the mountains, forming a succession of picturesque cascades.  The banks on our way were covered with rich green foliage and a small growth of trees, under the shade of which is a pathway.  The sides of the mountains are interspersed with groves of cocoa-nut and orange trees, laden with fruit.  Above them, reaching two thirds of the way to the peaks, are pastures of short grass, upon which the cattle feed.  The luxuriance of the vegetation gives the mountains a rich and beautiful appearance.  Nothing can be more gorgeous than their verdure during the summer months.  When the fleecy clouds which generally envelop the peaks are blown away by a stiff breeze, immense masses of burned clay and lava are exposed to the eye.  The whole scene taken at a glance is at once bold, rugged, rich, and gorgeous.  Thousands of canoes are seen paddling about the bay; and here and there a large dan, with its picturesque sail, sweeps across with a life-like grace of motion.  Indescribably delightful to a sea-farer, who, for many long months, sees nothing but the broad ocean, is an hour's enjoyment in the glens of Johanna, where he is surrounded by all that is soothing and refreshing:

                 "The warbling woodland, the resounding shore,
                  The pomp of groves, the garniture of fields;
                  All that the genial ray of morning gilds,
                  And all that echoes to the song of even."

      We were pushing our way through the brushwood, when my guide, who took the lead, beckoned me to stop, at the same time pointing up the ravine.  Following the direction of his finger, I perceived an aged Mohammedan at prayer.  The ceremonies through which this devout follower of the Prophet went had something singularly solemn and striking in them.

      He stood upon a rock surrounded by the rippling current, his head bowed down in earnest devotion.  For upward of five minutes he maintained the same position, motionless as a statue.  He then raised up his head, and gazed for a few moments in the heavens, when he took a string of beads, and, laying them at his feet, bowed down to them, and kissed them with an expression of sincere humility.  This ceremony he performed three times in succession.  Crossing his hands on his breast, he then hung down his head, and continued in that attitude for several minutes, motionless as the rock upon which he stood.  I was struck with the deep humility and devotion with which he offered up his prayers.  Though in my mind the victim of a religious delusion, the true spirit of adoration dwelt within him.  His was no ostentatious display of piety.  He stood alone, unconscious of the presence of a human being.  Surrounded by grand and imposing scenery, in the deep solitude,

                  "Where heavenly contemplation dwells,"

he offered up to his God and his Prophet the genuine devotion of a true heart.  Certainly there never was a spot more suitable for worship.  Secluded from the busy haunts of man, the solitude of the glen, and the beauties of the scenery, were well calculated to inspire religious thoughts,and feelings.

      In about an hour numbers of Mohammedans came down from the town to perform their ablutions in the stream.  My new acquaintance told me, in French, that great alarm had been excited, among the natives on the previous evening, by the appearance of a legion of devils in this little glen.  I smiled at the idea of such characters making their appearance in public; but he solemnly assured me it was a fact, as he had seen them himself.

      The boats were ashore constantly while we lay at Johanna, and I had many opportunities of seeing the town.

      I must not forget to mention a little adventure we had previous to our visit to the mosque.  Our barque being a considerable distance off shore, we were invited to dine aboard the Bogota.  Those who were down at the landing in time took off the boats, so that D——, Bill, Charley, and myself were obliged to hire a canoe from one of the natives.  The only one we could procure was in a very unsafe condition.  It was rather a frail craft for four of us, besides the owner, to make the attempt in; but the greater the danger, the better the sport.  D——, although he could not swim, was determined not to be left behind.  Having stowed away all our "shells and oranges in the bottom, we shoved off.  The canoe, unfortunately, had but one out-rigger, and it had been baking so long in the sun that the cracks lay gaping under us; and the water poured in much faster than we could bale it out.  We expected, however, to reach the ship before she filled.  As we were pulling and bailing with all our might, a tremendous sea struck us broadside and pitched us all over, the canoe uppermost. I took care, the moment we were upset, to climb up astride of the canoe.  I could not contain my risibles, when I looked around me, and saw D—— clinging to the out-rigger, while he spluttered and blew the salt water up like a porpoise.  Bill and Charley swam for shore.  The old Arab, who did not at all relish the ducking, and the loss of a few plugs of tobacco which we had given to him, commenced cursing us with angry vociferations for upseting his canoe; and, to complete the fun, the little urchins ashore yelled and danced with delight.  We lost no time in running the canoe ashore.  If we had lost a fortune each, instead of our shells, we would not have laughed less heartily at the catastrophe.  To make amends for lost time, we hurried back to the boat-landing, and there hired a larger and safer canoe, in which we went aboard the Bogota without farther accident.  The brig's crew and our own shipmates were all done dinner.  However, we made a hearty meal, of what was left, and joined in the general laugh which our account of the upset occasioned.

      I was present one evening at a favorite entertainment of the natives, which they frequently have for the amusement of crews ashore on liberty.  The inhabitants of the interior of the island, all crowded down to the town to witness a grand bull-fight.  The bull had just been brought down from the mountains, where the cattle are suffered to run wild.  He was of a small, but active and fiery breed, with a hump on the shoulders, similar to the Madagascar cattle.  The arena into which he was led was a large square back of a ruinous old fort, and was surrounded by high walls, with steps built of stone in different places, for the spectators to sit upon.  A large concourse of people had already assembled, and were eagerly awaiting the commencement of the fight.  I got up on the steps of the fort, where I found some of our crew, and several of the Bogota's.  The entrance into the arena was directly under our feet.  We were just at an agreeable distance from the scene of action.  Suddenly there was a universal shout, and those who were in the way ran toward the gates as fast as possible to make their escape.  A moment more, and the trampling of the bull's hoofs was heard.  The champions sprang down from their seats, and stood ready to receive him.  Foaming and panting, he rushed in, his eyes flashing, his flanks reeking with sweat, and his nostrils distended.  I expected to see a sanguinary strife, but was disappointed.  The fight was entirely on the defensive.  The bull rushed upon his foes with great fury, upon which the one attacked jumped nimbly aside, and flung out a red scarf.  Thus every attack was ended.  By means of a rope fastened to his horns, the bull was hauled back by fifty or a hundred of the natives, and a second and third onset followed.  I began to think this way of fighting a bull rather a dull business, when an incident occurred that gave rise to a good deal of fun.

      Our "down-easter," M'F——, had stationed himself on an abutment in the arena, with three or four steps leading up to the top, where he could have a good view of the entertainment, and, at the same time, enjoy a comfortable degree of personal security.  He seemed highly edified with the sport, and occasionally gave vent to his satisfaction by shouts of laughter and cries of "Well done, old critter! Look out, you darned niggers, or you'll get stuck! My gosh! ain't he savage now!"  Mack wore a red shirt, which now and then attracted the attention of the worried animal.  The natives having wrought it to a state of madness, began to show signs of fear, and made their escape through a small aperture in the wall.  Mack rolled up his sleeves, and let his courage boil over in the most warlike strain.  Squaring himself in a pugilistic attitude, he shouted at the top of his voice, "Come on, if you want a lickin'!  I'll give you a Yankee touch, old feller!  I'll ornament your ugly picter with a pair of black eyes!  Come on, sir! come on!"

      The infuriated bull, not at all relishing the insults of the man with the red shirt, turned short round, and made for the steps.

      "Come on!"  roared Mack; "come up here, you blamed ugly-looking critter!  Durn your orful visage, I'll show you a thing or two!  I'll spoil your nose for you!  I'll do you bodily damage!"

      Snorting and pawing the ground with rage, the bull bellowed and shook his horns but seemed rather dubious about attacking a live Yankee.  Mack capered about like a madman, and made sundry scientific passes within a few feet of the animal's head, to the great amusement of the natives, who cheered and roared with laughter.

      "Why don't you lay into me?"  said Mack, kicking at him.  "Don't you savey my lingo, you bloody Aarah?"

      At this there was such an uproar that the bull, driven to desperation, rushed madly up the steps, bellowing frightfully.

      "Don't you come so nigh!"  roared Mack, retreating a little, and stretching forth his long, bony arms and clinched fists.  "Don't you come here, I say; don't you! don't you!"

      The last words were scarcely out of his mouth, when the furious animal had mounted the abutment.  Fearing that the battle might not be fairly conducted in so dangerous a situation, Mack suddenly turned to run, and, yelling at the top of his voice, "Hold on, darn you!  Don't you come here!  don't you!" he attempted to escape.  The bull assisted his progress, by picking him up by the nether extremities and pitching him headlong over into the arena.

      "Oh gosh! oh gosh!" groaned Mack, floundering about on the ground like a gigged dolphin, and endeavoring to get away before another such onset; "oh jeminy gosh!  I'm spoilt!  I'm dead as a whistle!"

      Some of the natives rushed in at this critical juncture, and rescued him from the farther violence of his rough adversary.

      We were all enjoying a hearty laugh at Mack's expense, when he came limping up to where we stood, rubbing his bones, and looking rather used up after his encounter.  Unable to resist our cachinnations, he joined in the laugh, and asked us what was the fun.

      "Why," said some of the crew, "ain't you dead yet?"

      "Dead, gentlemen!" cried Mack; "not yet I ain't.  I've only been takin' a horn.  Dead, indeed!  Why, ain't I the man 'wot fit the bull?  Ain't I the man 'wot pushed the bull off the bridge?'"

      Mack's wit was irresistible.  We suffered nearly as much from laughter as he did from his encounter.  For many weeks after this adventure, he was called "the man wot pushed the bull off the bridge."

      About the fifth of April we weighed anchor, and set sail from Johanna on another cruise.

      April 8th, 1843. — We were running down for the Aldabra Islands with a fine, steady breeze.  The morning was bright and clear, and the water of that peculiar color which whalemen regard as the favorite resort for whales.  I had forenoon watch below, and was just congratulating myself upon getting through with my "double altitudes," when the loud, clear voice of a man at the mast-head came ringing down the forecastle.

      "There she blows!" was the thrilling cry.

      "That's once!"  shouted the captain.

      "There she blows!"

      "That's twice, by jingo!"

      "There she blows!"

      "Three times!  Where away, Tabor?"

      "Off the weather bow, sir, two points."

      "How far?"

      "A mile and a half.  There she blows!"

      "Sperm whale!  Call all hands!"

      There was a rush on deck, each man trying to get to the scuttle first. Then came half a dozen loud knocks, and a hoarse voice, shouting,

      "Larboard watch ahoy!  Turn out, my lads!  Sperm whale in sight!  Heave out!  heave out!  Lash and carry!  Rise and chime!  Bear a hand, my lively hearties!"

      Those who were "turned in" rolled out as soon as possible, and buckled on their ducks, and in less than two minutes we were all on deck, ready for orders.  The tubs were put in the boats, and the main yard hauled aback.  We all now perched ourselves in the rigging, and kept a sharp lookout on every side for the whale's next rising.  Twenty minutes elapsed since the spout was first seen; twenty-five passed, and the captain began to get into a state of nervous anxiety.  We strained our eyes in all directions to "make a spout." Half an hour flew by, and no spout was seen.  It began to look like a hopeless case, when Tabor, whose visual organs appeared to have the power of ubiquity, sang out,

      "There she blows!  there she blows!"

      "Where now?"  roared the captain.

      "Off the weather quarter!  Two large sperm whales, sir.  Go it, boots!"

      "Clear away the boats! Come down from the mast-head, all you that don't belong there!  Bear a hand!  we'll take them this rising!"  shouted the captain, in a fierce, sharp voice.

      "All ready, sir."

      "Lower away, then!"

      The waist and larboard boats were instantly down, ready to "bend on."  Captain A—— and some of his boat's crew being too ill to man the other boat, we struck off for the whales without them.  I pulled the aft oar, as usual; and as, by this time, I was as tough and muscular as my comrades, the boat danced along the water in fine style.  Although the larboard boat was much easier pulled, and had the oldest and stoutest of the whole crew, we contrived, by unusual exertions, to keep ahead of Her, till the real "tug of war" came.  Then was our mettle put to the test!  One of the whales was leisurely making to windward not more than half a mile off.

      "Lay back, my lads!"  cried P——, pale with excitement.  "Keep the larboard bOAt astern!  Never say die!  That's our whale!  Oh, do spring — do spring!  No noise!  steady and soft's the word."

      We replied to this appeal by "piling up the agony" on the oars.  Away sprang our boat, trembling and quivering as she darted through the waves.  She really seemed to imbibe the general excitement as she parted the clear, blue water, and dashed it foaming from her bows.  Onward we flew!  The larboard boat was hard upon our stern; the whale rolling lazily in the trough of the sea, a few darts ahead.

      "Oh, lay back!  lay back!" whispered P—— trembling with eagerness not to be outdone by the mate.  "Do spring, my boys, if you love gin!  Now's your time!  now or never!  Oh, see him!  see him!  how quiet he lies!  Put the beef on your oars, every mother's son of you!  Pile it on!  pile it on! That's the way to tell it!  Our whale this time!"

      The moment of intense excitement now arrived.  We pulled as if for life or death.  Not a word was spoken, and scarcely a sound was heard from our oars.

      "Stand up, Tabor!"  cried P——, in a low voice.  Peaking his oar, Tabor sprang to his feet, and grasped a harpoon.

      "Shall I give him two irons?"

      "Yes; he may be wild."

      Another stroke or two, and we were hard upon him.  Tabor, with unerring aim, let fly his irons, and buried them to the sockets in the huge carcass of the whale.

      "Stern all!"  thundered P——.

      "Stern all!"  echoed the crew; but it was too late.  Our bows were high and dry on the whale's head!  Infuriated with the pain produced by the harpoons, and doubtless much astonished to find his head so roughly used, he rolled half over, lashing the sea with his flukes, and in his struggles dashing in two of the upper planks.  "Boat stove!  boat stove!"  was the general cry.  

      "Silence!" thundered the second mate, as he sprang to the bow, and exchanged places with Tabor.  "All safe, my hearties! stern hard!  stern!  stern!  before he gets his flukes to bear upon us."

      "Stern all!"  shouted we, and in a moment more we were out of danger.  The whale now "turned flukes," and dashed off to windward with the speed of a locomotive, towing us after him at a glorious rate.  We occasionally slacked line in order to give him a plenty of play.  A stiff breeze had sprung up, causing a rough, chopping sea; and we leaked badly in the bow planks.  It fell to my lot to keep the water bailed out and the line clear as the others hauled in: a ticklish job, the last; for, as the second mate said, a single turn would whip off a shin "as slick as-goose-grease."

      Notwithstanding the roughness: of the sea, we shot ahead with incredible swiftness; and the way we "walked" past the larboard boat, whose crew were tugging and laboring with all their might, was surprising.

      "Hoora for the waist boat!" burst from every lip.  Three hearty cheers followed, much to the annoyance of the other boat's crew and mate.  We exultingly took off our hats and waved them a polite "good-by," requesting them, if they had any news to send to the windward ports, to be quick about it, as it was inconvenient for us to stop just then.  I believe Solomon says it is not good to be vain-glorious.  At all events, while we were skimming along so gallantly; the whale suddenly milled, and pitched the boat on her beam ends.  Every one who could grasp a thwart hung on to it, and we were all fortunate enough to keep our seats.  For as much as a ship's length the boat flew through the water on her gunwale, foaming and whizzing as she dashed onward.  It was a matter of doubt as to which side would turn uppermost, until Tabor slacked out the line, when she righted.  To have a boat, with all her irons, lances, gear, and oars, piled on one's head in such a sea was rather a startling prospect to the best swimmer.

      Meantime the whale rose to the surface to spout.  The change in his course had enabled the mate's boat to come up; and we lay on our oars in order that Mr. D—— might lance him.  He struck him in the "life" the first dart, as was evident from the whale's furious dying struggles; nevertheless, in order to make sure, we hauled up and churned a lance back of his head.

      I an not conceive any thing more strikingly awful than the butchery of this tremendous leviathan of the deep.  Foaming and breaching, he plunged from wave to wave; flinging high in the air torrents of blood and spray.  The sea around was literally a sea of blood.  At one moment his head was poised in the air; the next, he buried himself in the gory sea, carrying down in his vast wake a whirlpool of foam and slime.  But this respite was short.  He rose again, rushing furiously upon his enemies; but a slight prick of a lance drove him back with mingled fury and terror.  Whichever way he turned, the barbed irons goaded him to desperation.  Now and again intensity of agony would cause him to lash the waters with his huge flukes, till the very ocean appeared to heave and tremble at his power.  Tossing, struggling, dashing over and over in his agony, he spouted up the last of his heart's blood.  Half an hour before he was free as the wave, sporting in all the pride of gigantic strength and unrivaled power.  He now lay a lifeless mass: his head toward the sun, his tremendous body heaving to the swell, and his destroyers proudly cheering over their victory!

      Shortly after we left Johanna, two of the foremast hands were chosen to stand watches below with the captain, whose illness increased every day.  He was so ferocious and ill-natured, however, that nobody could stand it more than a day or two.  He finally sent forward for me, and I was promoted doctor.  My situation was very unpleasant.  On the one hand, I had to bear all the ill usage which the captain chose to inflict upon me, and, on the other, the crew, ever ready to growl, complained that a preference was shown to me in giving me the lightest duty — a duty which they had refused themselves.  None of the officers would have any thing to do with the old man.  The whole care of attending to him devolved upon me.  I felt that to desert him when he was deserted by his own officers would be ungenerous; and for many days and nights I stood by him, subjected incessantly to the most brutal and insulting language.

      One of the boat-steerers, a Portuguese, came down one day, and told him that the mate was in the habit of rope's-ending Frank, and that, if he did not put a stop to it, there would be a mutiny among the Portuguese.  After supper, the officers were all called down, and the cabin cleared of listeners.  There was a general row below, the result of which was, that I was called down as soon as the trial was over, and accused of being the instigator of the mischief.

      "B——, what have you been telling the officers?"  demanded the captain, in a savage voice.

      The question surprised me, for I had never told the officers any thing that had transpired in the cabin.  I had enough to do to attend to my own difficulties, much less to meddle between the captain and officers.

      My reply was that I told them nothing.

      "You lie! You have been retailing all I said to you about them."

      "I have not," said I.

      "Don't tell me that — don't lie to me!"  shouted the captain, impotent with rage, and with a face of ghastly paleness.

      "You are mistaken, sir; and if you think I could be guilty of any thing so mean, the sooner I go back to the forecastle the better."

      "Well, go; I want no tell-tales about me."

      I thought this was a rather ungenerous return for all the care I had bestowed upon him; and I answered by reminding him that it was at his own solicitation I had come to attend him; that I had never courted his confidence, or encouraged any allusions to the officers; and that, if he chose to forget himself so far as to make a confidant of a fore-mast hand, he need not be surprised if mischief should arise out of it, but that he ought to be sure of the fact first, before he accused me of being the instigator of the mischief.

      I then went forward, heartily glad of my release from a duty so irksome.  At two P.M.  the captain sent for me.  He had learned the true source of the disturbance during my absence from the cabin.  The mate had overheard some of his remarks, and had told him of it, to remove the imputation from me.  As I went below, I thought, of course, I was about to receive the amende honorable.

      "Well, B——, are you going to desert me?"  said the old man, in a whining voice.

      "You drove me away yourself, sir."

      "Very well, go forward.  My officers won't do any thing for me, and the crew have all deserted me.  I can die, I guess.  I don't want you to stay with me against your will."

      I could not but pity the poor wretch, little as he deserved it.

      "Sir, you have brought this on yourself.  You accuse me of things of which I am not guilty.  I think, therefore, I had better stay where I shipped to stay."

      "Go, then; you'll be sick yourself some of these days; and mark me, if you rot in the forecastle, don't call on me!"

      This was his apology for the wrong done me.  I might have known what to expect, had I reflected a little.  Certainly it was natural enough to look for decent treatment after the close attention I had bestowed upon him during his painful illness, though I had only discharged my duty as a fellow-creature.

      May 6th. — Made the Island of Zanzibar, bearing S.S.W., distant twenty miles.  We spent two days in a vain attempt to make the southern point of the island, and finally had to put to sea again, being driven as far as the Island of Pemba by strong southerly currents.

      May 20th. — After two weeks of great hardship and suffering, owing to continual exposure to strong shifting winds and rains, the watch on deck made land.  At daylight we ran down for it, and discovered that it was the coast of Africa to the northward of Monfea.  By an observation at noon we found that we were in the latitude of 7° 10' S.  During the day we passed a great number of reefs and islands a few leagues from the main land.  At night, anchored about three miles off shore.

      May 21st. — All hands were called at daylight.  Weighed anchor and stood along the coast, passing a great number of beautiful little islands, some of which were inhabited.  About noon we made Zanzibar at Ras Kizimbas, the southern point.  Stood along shore till dark, and cast anchor in eight fathoms of water, about two leagues from N'Googa, the town.

      May 22d. — Anchor watches were set, and we enjoyed a comfortable night's rest after the fatiguing duties of the last three weeks.  At daylight the hands were called, and the larboard boat lowered to make soundings toward the town.  After breakfast we weighed anchor and made sail.  At ten A.M.  came to an anchcor about half a mile off the town, below the sultan's frigate, Sha-Halm.

      We found our old friend, the Bogota, ashore, wrecked — her fore-top-mast gone, and'her rigging in great disorder.  Captain F—— and three or four of his men were living ashore in a bamboo hut.  We learned from them that the Bogota had struck upon a coral reef about the latitude of 11° S., and her top-mast went overboard.  She leaked so badly that the greater part of her crew abandoned her, and started in two boats, under the command of the mate, for the coast. Captain F—— remained, with three or four hands, on board until the tide rose, when he succeeded in getting her off.  He then ran down for the Island of Zanzibar, and when off the eastern side, sent ashore for assistance.  The sultan sent a number of slaves to aid him in getting round to the anchorage.  One of his men had already died from exposure to the night dews, and two others were prostrated with a high fever.  The cargo, with the exception of about twenty barrels of oil, was saved.

      May 23d. — The starboard watch had liberty ashore.  It was a preconcerted plan that several of the crew were to desert upon the first opportunity.  Drawn together by a common understanding, we had assembled in the forecastle every evening since we made land, to concert measures for ridding ourselves of the many grievances under which we labored.  We were now a reckless and desperate gang.  We had been driven almost to the verge of a mutiny by the harsh and brutal manner in which we were treated, and the hard fare upon which we were compelled to live.  The more we dwelt upon these things, the more excited became our passions.  Bitter wrongs; the cruelties and oppressions to which we were subjected; the necessity for some change, were discussed with fierce imprecations upon the head of the tyrant.

      The men looked up to me as an adviser, and although I preached moderation, I did not feel it.  I showed them the necessity of keeping cool till a suitable opportunity occurred of presenting their wrongs before the American consul; but those of them who had been to sea before knew too well that consuls are, in many instances, but the aiders and abettors of the cruelties of captains.  I knew that it was useless to go aft and make an appeal to the captain, but I also knew that any thing like mutiny would be severely punished.  I therefore advis- ed them to keep quiet till a proper opportunity occurred, and then rid themselves of their troubles by staying ashore.

      Fearing, from some treachery of the Portuguese, that it was the intention of some of the crew to desert, the captain called us all aft, before the starboard watch went ashore, and thus addressed us:

      "Now you're going ashore.  Before you go, let me tell you what to expect.  The natives will murder you if you go outside the town.  You'd better keep in sight of the ship, and not trust 'em.  You hear me, don't you?  The consul says he'll put you in the fort if you stay ashore after dark.  I'11 send a boat for you at sundown, and if you ain't on the beach, look out!  that's all."

      When the boat came alongside that evening two of the watch were missing — Bully and Tom Vernon.  This was only a beginning.  The captain was in a perfect fury, and walked the quarter-deck, speaking aloud,

      "Yes, they're gone; an' I suppose you'll all be tryin' it next.  You'd better not!  I'll catch 'em, and, d——n their souls, I'll warm their backs.  I'll see whether my crew will leave me or not!  You'll not have watch ashore another one of you.  It 'ill stop here; I'll not lose any more men, if I can help it!"

      In order to carry out his threat, the officers received orders to keep all hands on board.  Strict watches of the boat-steerers were set at night to prevent us from deserting.  The captain hired four natives to row him ashore; and for six days we remained on board in a perfect state of despair, only allowed ashore occasionally to work hard under the eyes of officers.  Notwithstanding the vigilance of the watches set over us, the cook made his escape on the night of the 28th.  While the officer was aft, he slipped down over the head; with his bundle of clothes on his back, and swam ashore.

      The captain was rowed ashore next morning by his black crew.  After he had left the vessel, there was quite an entertaining adventure occurred to relieve the monotony of our prison life.  The Portuguese, who had become very insolent and impatient under the restraints imposed upon them, determined that, as there was nothing to do on board, and no liberty allowed them, they would have it in defiance of orders.  Enos, George, Manuel, and Jose entered into an agreement to swim ashore, and the rest of the Portuguese agreed, if called upon by the mate to man the boat, that they would be so slow about it as to afford the deserters a chance to reach the beach.  Manuel and Jose, after a good deal of talk, backed out, being afraid of the mate.  The other two, Enos and George, slipped down by the cat-heads, and struck out boldly for the beach.  They had proceeded about two hundred yards, when the mate, happening to cast his eye in that direction, discovered them.

      "Lower away a boat!"  he roared.  "Jump in, Tabor!  Stand by the davit-tackles, B——! Blast your souls, where are you all?"

      The Portuguese came up out of the forecastle, apparently somewhat astonished, and inquired if there was a sperm whale in sight.  After a volley of oaths from the mate, four of the crew, among whom was myself, were gathered together, and the boat was lowered.  The tackles were all foul, and it took us some ten minutes to get them clear.  A good deal of delay occurred also in shipping our oars; but we finally arranged every thing, and started off in pursuit of the fugitives.  As we were not pulling for whales, the oars were in no danger of being broken by any vigorous exertions on our part.  Seeing the boat in chase of them, the deserters came to a halt, and we picked them up within a few cable lengths of the shore.  As soon as we got on board and hoisted the boat upon the cranes, the mate came forward and addressed us in a very pithy and forcible speech.

      "Now," said he, puffing and blowing, after the adventure, "what the nation d'y'e all mean by this?  I'll let some of you know who I am, if I catch you at such tricks again.  You want to get me into trouble — that's it.  None of your Portuguese lingo on deck! I'll see if I can't keep you on board.  I've received orders to seize you up in the main rigging if I catch any of you attempting to desert.  If you wan't liberty ashore, talk to the captain; he's the boss.  If I had my way, you'd all be ashore, and in Halifax, for what I care.  You're a gang of bloody cowards, or you'd speak to the captain.  If you think to impose on me because I'm easy, you're damnably mistaken.  You'll see what I can be, if you carry things too far."

      When Captain A—— came on board, the two delinquents were called aft, and confined in the cabin.  Mr. D—— was then called to an account for what the captain termed negligence in suffering these men to get away from the vessel.  A quarrel ensued.  The mate denied that it was owing to any negligence on his part.  The captain called him a liar.

      "Yes," said he, hoarse with passion, "it's a d——d lie!  If you had been attending to your business, it wouldn't have occurred."

      "Captain A——, I have given you to understand that I won't suffer any such language from you or any other man.  Now I tell you stop it in time."

      "What!  do you threaten me?"

      "I tell you for your own good.  Stop it, sir — that's all!" And with a meaning shake of the head the mate went below.

      Next day Bill Mann got ashore, and made an exchange with Captain F——'s cook, a negro, who, for a trifling sum to boot, took Bill's place on board the Styx.  There were now in the forecastle, besides the Portuguese, only M'F——, Charley, and myself.  It was a perfect bedlam.  The Portuguese had become so brutal and overbearing, that it was worse than death to live among them.  The captain had, during the whole voyage, sided with them, and showed a strong preference for them over the Amer- icans, so that they were countenanced in all their brutality.

Effects of ill Treatment. — Scene in the Forecastle. — Combination to refuse Duty. — A bad Predicament. — Revolt. — Dreadful Condition of Things on Board. — Appeal to the Consul. — Interview with him. — Exertions to find a Substitute. — Disappointment. — Suspense. — Hope. — Another Disappointment. — Bargain with a Quadroon. — Swapping Places with a Negro. — Procure my Discharge. — A happy Release. — Good-by to the Styx.

      THINGS were now in the worst possible condition.  Three men had deserted; others had threatened to desert.  The captain was terribly out of humor.  The mate chuckled in his sleeve, and would have rejoiced had all hands followed the example of the deserters.  All this trouble was nuts to him.  To weigh anchor for another cruise without our full comple