- A Fine Afternoon; All Hands At Work, Some In The Rigging, And Others On Deck; A Stiff Breeze, And Ship Close Upon The Wind, And Skysails Brailed Down.

- Latter part of the afternoon, breeze increases, ship lies over to it, and clouds look windy.

Spray begins to fly over the forecastle, and wets the yarns the boys are knotting; - ball them up and put them below. - Mate knocks off work and clears up decks earlier than usual, and orders a man who has been employed aloft to send the royal halyards over to windward, as he comes down. Breast backstays hauled taught, and tackle got upon the martingale back-rope. - One of the boys furls the mizen royal. - Cook thinks there is going to be "nasty work," and has supper ready early. - Mate gives orders to get supper by the watch, instead of all hands, as usual. - While eating supper, hear the watch on deck taking in the royals. - Coming on deck, find it is blowing harder, and an ugly head sea is running. - Instead of having all hands on the forecastle in the dog watch, smoking, singing, and telling yarns, one watch goes below and turns-in, saying that it's going to be an ugly night, and two hours' sleep is not to be lost.

Clouds look black and wild; wind rising, and ship working hard against a heavy sea, which breaks over the forecastle, and washes aft through the scuppers. Still, no more sail is taken in, for the captain is a driver, and, like all drivers, very partial to his top-gallant sails. A top-gallant sail, too, makes the difference between a breeze and a gale. When a top-gallant sail is on a ship, it is only a breeze, though I have seen ours set over a reefed topsail, when half the bowsprit was under water, and it was up to a man's knees in the scuppers. At eight bells, nothing is said about reefing the topsails, and the watch go below, with orders to "stand by for a call." We turn-in, growling at the "old man" for not reefing the topsails when the watch was changed, but putting it off so as to call all hands, and break up a whole watch below. Turn-in "all standing," and keep ourselves awake, saying there is no use in going asleep to be waked up again. - Wind whistles on deck, and ship works hard, groaning and creaking, and pitching into a heavy head sea, which strikes against the bows, with a noise like knocking upon a rock. - The dim lamp in the forecastle swings to and fro, and things "fetch away" and go over to leeward. - "Doesn't that booby of a second mate ever mean to take in his top-gallant sails? - He'll have the sticks out of her soon," says old Bill, who was always growling, and, like most old sailors, did not like to see a ship abused. - By-and-by an order is given - "Aye, aye, sir!" from the forecastle; - rigging is heaved down on deck; - the noise of a sail is heard fluttering aloft, and the short, quick cry which sailors make when hauling upon clewlines.

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