The Crew Are Divided Into Two Divisions, As Equally As May Be, Called
The Watches.
Of these the chief mate commands the larboard, and the
second mate the starboard.
They divide the time between them, being
on and off duty, or, as it is called, on deck and below, every other
four hours. If, for instance, the chief mate with the larboard watch
have the first night-watch from eight to twelve; at the end of the
four hours, the starboard watch is called, and the second mate takes
the deck, while the larboard watch and the first mate go below until
four in the morning, when they come on deck again and remain until
eight; having what is called the morning watch. As they will have
been on deck eight hours out of the twelve, while those who had the
middle watch - from twelve to four, will only have been up four hours,
they have what is called a "forenoon watch below," that is, from
eight, A.M., till twelve, M. In a man-of-war, and in some merchantmen,
this alteration of watches is kept up throughout the twenty-four hours;
but our ship, like most merchantmen, had "all hands" from twelve o'clock
till dark, except in bad weather, when we had "watch and watch."
An explanation of the "dog watches" may, perhaps, be of use to one
who has never been at sea. They are to shift the watches each
night, so that the same watch need not be on deck at the same hours.
In order to effect this, the watch from four to eight, P.M.,
is divided into two half, or dog watches, one from four to six,
and the other from six to eight. By this means they divide the
twenty-four hours into seven watches instead of six, and thus
shift the hours every night. As the dog watches come during twilight,
after the day's work is done, and before the night watch is set, they
are the watches in which everybody is on deck. The captain is up,
walking on the weather side of the quarter-deck, the chief mate is
on the lee side, and the second mate about the weather gangway.
The steward has finished his work in the cabin, and has come up to
smoke his pipe with the cook in the galley. The crew are sitting on
the windlass or lying on the forecastle, smoking, singing, or telling
long yarns. At eight o'clock, eight bells are struck, the log is hove,
the watch set, the wheel relieved, the galley shut up, and the other
watch goes below.
The morning commences with the watch on deck's "turning-to" at
day-break and washing down, scrubbing, and swabbing the decks.
This, together with filling the "scuttled butt" with fresh water,
and coiling up the rigging, usually occupies the time until seven
bells, (half after seven,) when all hands get breakfast. At eight,
the day's work begins, and lasts until sun-down, with the exception
of an hour for dinner.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 15 of 324
Words from 7247 to 7756
of 170236
