Captain,
officers, and crew, entirely unfitted for one another; and every
circumstance and event was like a two-edged sword, and cut both
ways.
The length of the voyage, which made us dissatisfied, made
the captain, at the same time, feel the necessity of order and strict
discipline; and the nature of the country, which caused us to feel that
we had nowhere to go for redress, but were entirely at the mercy of
a hard master, made the captain feel, on the other hand, that he
must depend entirely upon his own resources. Severity created
discontent, and signs of discontent provoked severity. Then, too,
ill-treatment and dissatisfaction are no "linimenta laborum;" and many
a time have I heard the sailors say that they should not mind the
length of the voyage, and the hardships, if they were only kindly
treated, and if they could feel that something was done to make
things lighter and easier. We felt as though our situation was
a call upon our superiors to give us occasional relaxations,
and to make our yoke easier. But the contrary policy was pursued.
We were kept at work all day when in port; which, together with a
watch at night, made us glad to turn-in as soon as we got below.
Thus we got no time for reading, or - which was of more importance
to us - for washing and mending our clothes. And then, when we
were at sea, sailing from port to port, instead of giving us
"watch and watch," as was the custom on board every other vessel
on the coast, we were all kept on deck and at work, rain or
shine, making spun-yarn and rope, and at other work in good
weather, and picking oakum, when it was too wet for anything
else.
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