In So Doing, I Have Been Obliged
Occasionally To Use Strong And Coarse Expressions, And In Some
Instances To Give
Scenes which may be painful to nice feelings;
but I have very carefully avoided doing so, whenever I have not
Felt them essential to giving the true character of a scene.
My design is, and it is this which has induced me to publish the
book, to present the life of a common sailor at sea as it really
is, - the light and the dark together.
There may be in some parts a good deal that is unintelligible to
the general reader; but I have found from my own experience, and
from what I have heard from others, that plain matters of fact in
relation to customs and habits of life new to us, and descriptions
of life under new aspects, act upon the inexperienced through the
imagination, so that we are hardly aware of our want of technical
knowledge. Thousands read the escape of the American frigate
through the British channel, and the chase and wreck of the Bristol
trader in the Red Rover, and follow the minute nautical manoeuvres
with breathless interest, who do not know the name of a rope in the
ship; and perhaps with none the less admiration and enthusiasm for
their want of acquaintance with the professional detail.
In preparing this narrative I have carefully avoided incorporating
into it any impressions but those made upon me by the events as
they occurred, leaving to my concluding chapter, to which I shall
respectfully call the reader's attention, those views which have
been suggested to me by subsequent reflection.
These reasons, and the advice of a few friends, have led me to give this
narrative to the press. If it shall interest the general reader, and
call more attention to the welfare of seamen, or give any information
as to their real condition, which may serve to raise them in the rank
of beings, and to promote in any measure their religious and moral
improvement, and diminish the hardships of their daily life, the end
of its publication will be answered.
R.H.D., Jr.
Boston, July, 1840.
CHAPTER I
DEPARTURE
The fourteenth of August was the day fixed upon for the sailing of
the brig Pilgrim on her voyage from Boston round Cape Horn to the
western coast of North America. As she was to get under weigh early
in the afternoon, I made my appearance on board at twelve o'clock,
in full sea-rig, and with my chest, containing an outfit for a two
or three year voyage, which I had undertaken from a determination
to cure, if possible, by an entire change of life, and by a long
absence from books and study, a weakness of the eyes, which had
obliged me to give up my pursuits, and which no medical aid seemed
likely to cure.
The change from the tight dress coat, silk cap, and kid gloves of an
undergraduate at Cambridge, to the loose duck trowsers, checked shirt
and tarpaulin hat of a sailor, though somewhat of a transformation,
was soon made, and I supposed that I should pass very well for a
jack tar. But it is impossible to deceive the practised eye in
these matters; and while I supposed myself to be looking as salt
as Neptune himself, I was, no doubt, known for a landsman by every
one on board as soon as I hove in sight. A sailor has a peculiar
cut to his clothes, and a way of wearing them which a green hand
can never get. The trowsers, tight round the hips, and thence
hanging long and loose round the feet, a superabundance of checked
shirt, a low-crowned, well varnished black hat, worn on the back of
the head, with half a fathom of black ribbon hanging over the left
eye, and a peculiar tie to the black silk neckerchief, with sundry
other minutiae, are signs, the want of which betray the beginner at
once. Beside the points in my dress which were out of the way,
doubtless my complexion and hands were enough to distinguish me
from the regular salt, who, with a sun-burnt cheek, wide step, and
rolling gait, swings his bronzed and toughened hands athwart-ships,
half open, as though just ready to grasp a rope.
"With all my imperfections on my head," I joined the crew, and we
hauled out into the stream, and came to anchor for the night.
The next day we were employed in preparations for sea, reeving
studding-sail gear, crossing royal yards, putting on chafing gear,
and taking on board our powder. On the following night, I stood
my first watch. I remained awake nearly all the first part of
the night from fear that I might not hear when I was called; and
when I went on deck, so great were my ideas of the importance of
my trust, that I walked regularly fore and aft the whole length
of the vessel, looking out over the bows and taffrail at each turn,
and was not a little surprised at the coolness of the old salt whom
I called to take my place, in stowing himself snugly away under the
long boat, for a nap. That was sufficient lookout, he thought, for
a fine night, at anchor in a safe harbor.
The next morning was Saturday, and a breeze having sprung up from
the southward, we took a pilot on board, hove up our anchor, and
began beating down the bay. I took leave of those of my friends
who came to see me off, and had barely opportunity to take a last
look at the city, and well-known objects, as no time is allowed on
board ship for sentiment. As we drew down into the lower harbor,
we found the wind ahead in the bay, and were obliged to come to
anchor in the roads. We remained there through the day and a part
of the night.
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