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Chapter XXXI (Continued)
Chapter XXXI (Continued)
Cape Horn
Friday, July 1st. We were now nearly up to the latitude of Cape Horn, and
having over forty degrees of easting to make, we squared away the yards before
a strong westerly gale, shook a reef out of the fore-topsail, and stood on
our way, east-by-south, with the prospect of being up with the Cape in a
week or ten days. As for myself, I had had no sleep for forty-eight hours;
and the want of rest, together with constant wet and cold, had increased the
swelling, so that my face was nearly as large as two, and I found it
impossible to get my mouth open wide enough to eat. In this state, the steward
applied to the captain for some rice to boil for me, but he only got a - "No!
d - you! Tell him to eat salt junk and hard bread, like the rest of them." For
this, of course, I was much obliged to him, and in truth it was just what I
expected. However, I did not starve, for the mate, who was a man as well as a
sailor, and had always been a good friend to me, smuggled a pan of rice into
the galley, and told the cook to boil it for me, and not let the "old man" see
it. Had it been fine weather, or in port, I should have gone below and lain by
until my face got well; but in such weather as this, and short-handed as we
were, it was not for me to desert my post; so I kept on deck, and stood my
watch and did my duty as well as I could.
Saturday, July 2nd. This day the sun rose fair, but it ran too low in the
heavens to give any heat, or thaw out our sails and rigging; yet the sight of
it was pleasant; and we had a steady "reef topsail breeze" from the westward.
The atmosphere, which had previously been clear and cold, for the last few
hours grew damp, and had a disagreeable, wet chilliness in it; and the man who
came from the wheel said he heard the captain tell "the passenger" that the
thermometer had fallen several degrees since morning, which he could not
account for in any other way than by supposing that there must be ice near us;
though such a thing had never been heard of in this latitude, at this season
of the year. At twelve o`clock we went below, and had just got through dinner,
when the cook put his head down the scuttle and told us to come on deck and
see the finest sight that we had ever seen. "Where away, cook?" asked the
first man who was up. "On the larboard bow." And there lay, floating in the
ocean, several miles off, an immense, irregular mass, its top and points
covered with snow, and its center of a deep indigo color. This was an iceberg,
and of the largest size, as one of our men said who had been in the Northern
ocean. As far as the eye could reach, the sea in every direction was of a deep
blue color, the waves running high and fresh, and sparkling in the light, and
in the midst lay this immense mountain-island, its cavities and valleys
thrown into deep shade, and its points and pinnacles glittering in the sun.
All hands were soon on deck, looking at it, and admiring in various ways its
beauty and grandeur. But no description can give any idea of the strangeness,
splendor, and, really, the sublimity, of the sight. Its great size; - for it
must have been from two to three miles in circumference, and several hundred
feet in height; - its slow motion as its base rose and sank in the water, and
its high points nodded against the clouds; the dashing of the waves upon it,
which, breaking high with foam, lined its base with a white crust; and the
thundering sound of the cracking of the mass, and the breaking and tumbling
down of huge pieces; together with its nearness and approach, which added a
slight element of fear, - all combined to give to it the character of true
sublimity. The main body of the mass was, as I have said, of an indigo color,
its base crusted with frozen foam; and as it grew thin and transparent toward
the edges and top, its color shaded off from a deep blue to the whiteness of
snow. It seemed to be drifting slowly toward the north, so that we kept away
and avoided it. It was in sight all the afternoon; and when we got to leeward
of it, the wind died away, so that we lay-to quite near it for a greater
part of the night. Unfortunately, there was no moon, but it was a clear night,
and we could plainly mark the long, regular heaving of the stupendous mass, as
its edges moved slowly against the stars. Several times in our watch loud
cracks were heard, which sounded as though they must have run through the
whole length of the iceberg, and several pieces fell down with a thundering
crash, plunging heavily into the sea. Toward morning, a strong breeze sprang
up, and we filled away, and left it astern, and at daylight it was out of
sight. The next day, which was
Sunday, July 3rd, the breeze continued strong, the air exceedingly
chilly, and the thermometer low. In the course of the day we saw several
icebergs, of different sizes, but none so near as the one which we saw the day
before. Some of them, as well as we could judge, at the distance at which we
were, must have been as large as that, if not larger. At noon we were in
latitude 55 degrees 12` south, and supposed longitude 89 degrees 5` west.
Toward night the wind hauled to the southward, and headed us off our course a
little, and blew a tremendous gale; but this we did not mind, as there was no
rain nor snow, and we were already under close sail.
Monday, July 4th. This was "independence day" in Boston. What firing of
guns, and ringing of bells, and rejoicing of all sorts, in every part of our
country! The ladies (who have not gone down to Nahant, for a breath of cool
air, and sight of the ocean) walking the streets with parasols over their
heads, and the dandies in their white pantaloons and silk stockings! What
quantities of ice-cream have been eaten, and what quantities of ice brought
into the city from a distance, and sold out by the lump and the pound! The
smallest of the islands which we saw to-day would have made the fortune of
poor Jack, if he had had it in Boston; and I dare say he would have had no
objection to being there with it. This, to be sure, was no place to keep the
fourth of July. To keep ourselves warm, and the ship out of the ice, was as
much as we could do. Yet no one forgot the day; and many were the wishes, and
conjectures, and comparisons, both serious and ludicrous, which were made
among all hands. The sun shone bright as long as it was up, only that a scud
of black clouds was ever and anon driving across it. At noon we were in lat.
54 degrees 27` S., and long. 85 degrees 5` W., having made a good deal of
easting, but having lost in our latitude by the heading of the wind. Between
daylight and dark - that is, between nine o`clock and three - we saw
thirty-four ice islands, of various sizes; some no bigger than the hull of our
vessel, and others apparently nearly as large as the one that we first saw;
though, as we went on, the islands became smaller and more numerous; and, at
sundown of this day, a man at the mast-head saw large fields of floating ice
called "field-ice" at the south-east. This kind of ice is much more dangerous
than the large islands, for those who can be seen at a distance, and kept away
from; but the field-ice, floating in great quantities, and covering the ocean
for miles and miles, in pieces of every size - large, flat and broken cakes,
with here and there an island rising twenty and thirty feet, and as large as
the ship`s hull; - this, it is very difficult to sheer clear of. A constant
look-out was necessary; for any of these pieces, coming with the heave of the
sea, were large enough to have knocked a hole in the ship, and that would have
been the end of us; for no boat (even if we could have got one out) could have
lived in such a sea; and no man could have lived in a boat in such weather. To
make our condition still worse, the wind came out due east, just after
sundown, and it blew a gale dead ahead, with hail and sleet, and a thick fog,
so that we could not see half the length of the ship. Our chief reliance, the
prevailing westerly gales, was thus cut off; and here we were, nearly seven
hundred miles to the westward of the Cape, with a gale dead from the eastward,
and the weather so thick that we could not see the ice with which we were
surrounded, until it was directly under our bows. At four P. M. (it was then
quite dark) all hands were called, and sent aloft in a violent squall of hail
and rain, to take in sail. We had now all got on our "Cape Horn rig" - thick
boots, south-westers coming down over our neck and ears, thick trowsers and
jackets, and some with oil-cloth suits over all. Mittens, too, we wore on deck
but it would not do to go aloft with them on, for it was impossible to work
with them, and, being wet and stiff, they might let a man slip overboard, for
all the hold he could get upon a rope; so, we were obliged to work with bare
hands, which, as well as our faces, were often cut with the hail-stones, which
fell thick and large. Our ship was now all cased with ice, - hull, spars, and
standing rigging; - and the running rigging so stiff that we could hardly bend
it so as to belay it, or, still worse, take a knot with it; and the sails
nearly as stiff as sheet iron. One at a time, (for it was a long piece of work
and required many hands,) we furled the courses, mizen topsail, and
fore-topmast staysail, and close-reefed the fore and main topsails, and hove
the ship to under the fore, with the main hauled up by the clewlines and
buntlines, and ready to be sheeted home, if we found it necessary to make sail
to get to windward of an ice island. A regular look-out was then set, and kept
by each watch in turn, until the morning. It was a tedious and anxious night.
It blew hard the whole time, and there was an almost constant driving of
either rain, hail or snow. In addition to this, it was "as thick as muck," and
the ice was all about us. The captain was on deck nearly the whole night, and
kept the cook in the galley, with a roaring fire, to make coffee for him,
which he took every few hours, and once or twice gave a little to his
officers; but not a drop of anything was there for the crew. The captain, who
sleeps all the daytime, and comes and goes at night as he chooses, can have
his brandy and water in the cabin, and his hot coffee at the gallery; while
Jack, who has to stand through everything, and work in wet and cold, can have
nothing to wet his lips or warm his stomach. This was a "temperance ship,"
and, like too many such ships, the temperance was all in the forecastle. The
sailor, who only takes his one glass as it is dealt out to him, is in danger
of being drunk; while the captain, who has all under his hand, and can drink
as much as he chooses, and upon whose self - possession and cool judgment the
lives of all depend, may be trusted with any amount, to drink at his will.
Sailors will never be convinced that rum is a dangerous thing, by taking it
away from them, and giving it to the officers; nor that, that temperance is
their friend, which takes from them what they have always had, and gives them
nothing in the place of it. By seeing it allowed to their officers, they will
not be convinced that it is taken from them for their good; and by receiving
nothing in its place, they will not believe that it is done in kindness. On
the contrary, many of them look upon the change as a new instrument of
tyranny. Not that they prefer rum. I never knew a sailor, in my life, who
would not prefer a pot of hot coffee or chocolate, in a cold night, to all the
rum afloat. They all say that rum only warms them for a time; yet, if they can
get nothing better, they will miss what they have lost. The momentary warmth
and glow from drinking it; the break and change which is made in a long,
dreary watch by the mere calling all hands aft and serving of it out; and the
simply having some event to look forward to, and to talk about; give it an
importance and a use which no one can appreciate who has not stood his watch
before the mast. On my passage round Cape Horn before, the vessel that I was
in was not under temperance articles, and grog was served out every middle and
morning watch, and after every reefing of topsails; and though I had never
drank rum before, and never intend to again, I took my allowance then at the
capstan, as the rest did, merely for the momentary warmth it gave the system,
and the change in our feelings and aspect of our duties on the watch. At the
same time, as I have stated, there was not a man on board who would not have
pitched the rum to the dogs, (I have heard them say so, a dozen times) for a
pot of coffee or chocolate; or even for our common beverage - "water
bewitched, and tea begrudged," as it was.^1 The temperance reform is the best
thing that ever was undertaken for the sailor; but when the grog is taken from
him, he ought to have something in its place. As it is now, in most vessels,
it is a mere saving to the owners; and this accounts for the sudden increase
of temperance ships, which surprised even the best friends of the cause. If
every merchant, when he struck grog from the list of the expenses of his ship,
had been obliged to substitute as much coffee, or chocolate, as would give
each man a pot-full when he came off the topsail yard, on a stormy night; -
I fear Jack might have gone to ruin on the old road.^2
[Footnote 1: The proportions of the ingredients of the tea that was made for
us (and ours, as I have before stated, was a favorable specimen of American
merchantmen) were, a pint of tea, and a pint and a half of molasses, to about
three gallons of water. These are all boiled down together in the "coopers,"
and before serving it out, the mess is stirred up with a stick, so as to give
each man his fair share of sweetening and tea-leaves. The tea for the cabin
is, of course, made in the usual way, in a tea-pot, and drank with sugar.]
But this is not doubling Cape Horn. Eight hours of the night, our watch
was on deck, and during the whole of that time we kept a bright look-out:
one man on each bow, another in the bunt of the fore yard, the third mate on
the scuttle, one on each quarter, and a man always standing by the wheel. The
chief mate was everywhere, and commanded the ship when the captain was below.
When a large piece of ice was seen in our way, or drifting near us, the word
was passed along, and the ship`s head turned one way and another; and
sometimes the yards squared or braced up. There was little else to do than to
look out; and we had the sharpest eyes in the ship on the forecastle. The only
variety was the monotonous voice of the look-out forward - "Another island!"
- "Ice ahead!" - "Ice on the lee bow!" - "Hard up the helm!" - "Keep her off a
little!" - "Stead-y!"
In the meantime, the wet and cold had brought my face into such a state
that I could neither eat nor sleep; and though I stood it out all night, yet,
when it become light, I was in such a state, that all hands told me I must go
below, and lie-by for a day or two, or I should be laid up for a long time,
and perhaps have the lock-jaw. When the watch was changed I went into the
steerage, and took off my hat and comforter, and showed my face to the mate,
who told me to go below at once, and stay in my berth until the swelling went
down, and gave the cook orders to make a poultice for me, and said he would
speak to the captain.
[Footnote 2: I do not wish these remarks, so far as they relate to the saving
of expense in the outfit, to be applied to the owners of our ship, for she was
supplied with an abundance of stores, of the best kind that are given to
seamen; though the dispensing of them is necessarily left to the captain.
Indeed, so high was the reputation of "the employ" among men and officers, for
the character and outfit of their vessels, and for their liberality in
conducting their voyages, that when it was known that they had a ship fitting
out for a long voyage, and that hands were to be shipped at a certain time, -
a half hour before the time, as one of the crew told me, numbers of sailors
were steering down the wharf, hopping over the barrels, like flocks of sheep.]
I went below and turned-in, covering myself over with blankets and
jackets, and lay in my berth nearly twenty-four hours, half asleep and half
awake, stupid, from the dull pain. I heard the watch called, and the men going
up and down, and sometimes a noise on deck, and a cry of "ice," but I gave
little attention to anything. At the end of twenty-four hours the pain went
down, and I had a long sleep, which brought me back to my proper state; yet my
face was so swollen and tender, that I was obliged to keep to my berth for two
or three days longer. During the two days I had been below, the weather was
much the same that it had been, head winds, and snow and rain; or, if the wind
came fair, too foggy, and the ice too thick, to run. At the end of the third
day the ice was very thick; a complete fog-bank covered the ship. It blew a
tremendous gale from the eastward, with sleet and snow, and there was every
promise of a dangerous and fatiguing night. At dark, the captain called all
hands aft, and told them that not a man was to leave the deck that night; that
the ship was in the greatest danger; any cake of ice might knock a hole in
her, or she might run on an island and go to pieces. No one could tell whether
she would be a ship the next morning. The look-outs were then set, and every
man was put in his station. When I heard what was the state of things, I began
to put on my clothes to stand it out with the rest of them, when the mate came
below, and looking at my face, ordered me back to my berth, saying that if we
went down, we should all go down together, but if I went on deck I might lay
myself up for life. This was the first word I had heard from aft; for the
captain had done nothing, nor inquired how I was, since I went below.
In obedience to the mate`s orders, I went back to my berth; but a more
miserable night I never wish to spend. I never felt the curse of sickness so
keenly in my life. If I could only have been on deck with the rest, where
something was to be done, and seen, and heard; where there were fellow -
beings for companions in duty and danger - but to be cooped up alone in a
black hole, in equal danger, but without the power to do, was the hardest
trial. Several times, in the course of the night, I got up, determined to go
on deck; but the silence which showed that there was nothing doing, and the
knowledge that I might make myself seriously ill, for nothing, kept me back.
It was not easy to sleep, lying, as I did, with my head directly against the
bows, which might be dashed in by an island of ice, brought down by the very
next sea that struck her. This was the only time I had been ill since I left
Boston, and it was the worst time it could have happened. I felt almost
willing to bear the plagues of Egypt for the rest of the voyage, if I could
but be well and strong for that one night. Yet it was a dreadful night for
those on deck. A watch of eighteen hours, with wet, and cold, and constant
anxiety, nearly wore them out; and when they came below at nine o`clock for
breakfast, they almost dropped asleep on their chests, and some of them were
so stiff that they could with difficulty sit down. Not a drop of anything had
been given them during the whole time, (though the captain, as on the night
that I was on deck, had his coffee every four hours,) except that the mate
stole a potful of coffee for two men to drink behind the galley, while he kept
a look-out for the captain. Every man had his station, and was not allowed
to leave it; and nothing happened to break the monotony of the night, except
once setting the main topsails to run clear of a large island to leeward,
which they were drifting fast upon. Some of the boys got so sleepy and
stupefied, that they actually fell asleep at their posts; and the young third
mate, whose station was the exposed one of standing on the fore scuttle, was
so stiff, when he was relieved, that he could not bend his knees to get down.
By a constant look-out, and a quick shifting of the helm, as the islands and
pieces came in sight, the ship went clear of everything but a few small
pieces, though daylight showed the ocean covered for miles. At daybreak it
fell a dead calm, and with the sun, the fog cleared a little, and a breeze
sprung up from the westward, which soon grew into a gale. We had now a fair
wind, daylight, and comparatively clear weather; yet, to the surprise of every
one, the ship continued hove-to. Why does not he run? What is the captain
about? was asked by every one; and from questions, it soon grew into
complaints and murmurings. When the daylight was so short, it was too bad to
lose it, and a fair wind, too, which every one had been praying for. As hour
followed hour, and the captain showed no sign of making sail, the crew became
impatient, and there was a good deal of talking and consultation together, on
the forecastle. They had been beaten out with the exposure and hardship, and
impatient to get out of it, and this unaccountable delay was more than they
could bear in quietness, in their excited and restless state. Some said that
the captain was frightened, - completely cowed, by the dangers and
difficulties that surrounded us, and was afraid to make sail; while others
said that in his anxiety and suspense he had made a free use of brandy and
opium, and was unfit for his duty. The carpenter, who was an intelligent man,
and a thorough seaman, and had great influence with the crew, came down into
the forecastle, and tried to induce the crew to go aft and ask the captain why
he did not run, or request him, in the name of all hands, to make sail. This
appeared to be a very reasonable request, and the crew agreed that if he did
not make sail before noon, they would go aft. Noon came, and no sail was made.
A consultation was held again, and it was proposed to take the ship from the
captain and give the command of her to the mate, who had been heard to say
that, if he could have his way, the ship would have been half the distance to
the Cape before night, - ice or no ice. And so irritated and impatient had the
crew become, that even this proposition, which was open mutiny, punishable
with state prison, was entertained, and the carpenter went to his berth,
leaving it tacitly understood that something serious would be done, if things
remained as they were many hours longer. When the carpenter left, we talked it
all over, and I gave my advice strongly against it. Another of the men, too,
who had known something of the kind attempted in another ship by a crew who
were dissatisfied with their captain, and which was followed with serious
consequences, was opposed to it. S___, who soon came down, joined us, and we
determined to have nothing to do with it. By these means, they were soon
induced to give it up, for the present, though they said they would not lie
where they were much longer without knowing the reason.
The affair remained in this state until four o`clock, when an order came
forward for all hands to come aft upon the quarter-deck. In about ten
minutes they came forward again, and the whole affair had been blown. The
carpenter, very prematurely, and without any authority from the crew, had
sounded the mate as to whether he would take command of the ship, and
intimated an intention to displace the captain; and the mate, as in duty
bound, had told the whole to the captain, who immediately sent for all hands
aft. Instead of violent measures, or, at least, an outbreak of quarter-deck
bravado, threats, and abuse, which they had every reason to expect, a sense of
common danger and common suffering seemed to have tamed his spirit, and
begotten something like a humane fellow-feeling; for he received the crew in
a manner quiet, and even almost kind. He told them what he had heard, and said
that he did not believe that they would try to do any such thing as was
intimated; that they had always been good men, - obedient, and knew their
duty, and he had no fault to find with them; and asked them what they had to
complain of - said that no one could say that he was slow to carry sail,
(which was true enough;) and that, as soon as he thought it was safe and
proper, he should make sail. He added a few words about their duty in their
present situation, and sent them forward, saying that he should take no
further notice of the matter; but, at the same time, told the carpenter to
recollect whose power he was in, and that if he heard another word from him he
would have cause to remember him to the day of his death.
This language of the captain had a very good effect upon the crew, and
they returned quietly to their duty.
For two days more the wind blew from the southward and eastward; or in
the short intervals when it was fair, the ice was too thick to run; yet the
weather was not so dreadfully bad, and the crew had watch and watch. I still
remained in my berth, fast recovering, yet still not well enough to go safely
on deck. And I should have been perfectly useless; for, from having eaten
nothing for nearly a week, except a little rice, which I forced into my mouth
the last day or two, I was as weak as an infant. To be sick in a forecastle is
miserable indeed. It is the worst part of a dog`s life; especially in bad
weather. The forecastle, shut up tight to keep out the water and cold air; -
the watch either on deck, or asleep in their berths; - no one to speak to; -
the pale light of the single lamp, swinging to and fro from the beam, so dim
that one can scarcely see, much less read by it; - the water dropping from the
beams and carlines, and running down the sides; and the forecastle so wet, and
dark, and cheerless, and so lumbered up with chests and wet clothes, that
sitting up is worse than lying in the berth! These are some of the evils.
Fortunately, I needed no help from any one, and no medicine; and if I had
needed help, I don`t know where I should have found it. Sailors are willing
enough, but it is true, as is often said - No one ships for nurse on board a
vessel. Our merchant ships are always under-manned, and if one man is lost
by sickness, they cannot spare another to take care of him. A sailor is always
presumed to be well, and if he`s sick, he`s a poor dog. One has to stand his
wheel, and another his lookout, and the sooner he gets on deck again, the
better.
Accordingly, as soon as I could possibly go back to my duty, I put on my
thick clothes and boots and south-wester, and made my appearance on deck.
Though I had been but a few days below, yet everything looked strangely
enough. The ship was cased in ice, - decks, sides, masts, yards, and rigging.
Two close-reefed top-sails were all the sail she had on, and every sail
and rope was frozen so stiff in its place, that it seemed as though it would
be impossible to start anything. Reduced, too, to her top-masts, she had
altogether a most forlorn and crippled appearance. The sun had come up
brightly; the snow was swept off the decks, and ashes thrown upon them, so
that we could walk, for they had been as slippery as glass. It was, of course,
too cold to carry on any ship`s work, and we had only to walk the deck and
keep ourselves warm. The wind was still ahead, and the whole ocean, to the
eastward, covered with islands and field-ice. At four bells the order was
given to square away the yards; and the man who came from the helm said that
the captain had kept her off to N. N. E. What could this mean? Some said that
he was going to put into Valparaiso, and winter, and others that he was going
to run out of the ice and cross the Pacific, and go home round the Cape of
Good Hope. Soon, however, it leaked out, and we found that we were running for
the straits of Magellan. The news soon spread through the ship, and all
tongues were at work, talking about it. No one on board had been through the
straits, but I had in my chest an account of the passage of the ship. A. J.
Donelson of New York, through those straits, a few years before. The account
was given by the captain, and the representation was as favorable as possible.
It was soon read by every one on board, and various opinions pronounced. The
determination of our captain had at least this good effect it gave every one
something to think and talk about, made a break in our life, and diverted our
minds from the monotonous dreariness of the prospect before us. Having made a
fair wind of it, we were going off at a good rate, and leaving the thickest of
the ice behind us. This, at least, was something.
Having been long enough below to get my hands well warmed and softened,
the first handling of the ropes was rather tough; but a few days hardened
them, and as soon as I got my mouth open wide enough to take in a piece of
salt beef and hard bread, I was all right again.
Sunday, July 10th. Lat. 54 degrees 10`, long. 79 degrees 07`. This was
our position at noon. The sun was out bright; the ice was all left behind, and
things had quite a cheering appearance. We brought out wet pea-jackets and
trowsers on deck, and hung them up in the rigging, that the breeze and the few
hours of sun might dry them a little; and, by the permission of the cook, the
galley was nearly filled with stockings and mittens, hung round to be dried.
Boots, too, were brought up; and having got a little tar and slush from below,
we gave them a thick coat. After dinner, all hands were turned-to, to get
the anchors over the bows, bend on the chains, etc. The fish-tackle was got
up, fish-davit rigged out, and after two or three hours of hard and cold
work, both the anchors were ready for instant use, a couple of kedges got up,
a hawser coiled away upon the fore-hatch, and the deep-sea-lead-line
overhauled and got ready. Our spirits returned with having something to do;
and when the tackle was manned to bowse the anchor home, notwithstanding the
desolation of the scene, we struck up "Cheerily ho!" in full chorus. This
pleased the mate, who rubbed his hands and cried out - "That`s right, my boys;
never say die! That sounds like the old crew!" and the captain came up, on
hearing the song, and said to the passenger, within hearing of the man at the
wheel, - "That sounds like a lively crew. They`ll have their song so long as
there`s enough left for a chorus!"
This preparation of the cable and anchors was for the passage of the
straits; for, being very crooked, and with a variety of currents, it is
necessary to come frequently to anchor. This was not, by any means, a pleasant
prospect, for, of all the work that a sailor is called upon to do in cold
weather, there is none so bad as working the ground-tackle. The heavy chain
cables to be hauled and pulled about the decks with bare hands; wet hawsers,
slip-ropes, and buoy-ropes to be hauled aboard, dripping in water, which
is running up your sleeves, and freezing; clearing hawse under the bows;
getting under weigh and coming-to, at all hours of the night and day, and a
constant look-out for rocks and sands and turns of tides; - these are some
of the disagreeables of such a navigation to a common sailor. Fair or foul, he
wants to have n thing to do with the ground-tackle between port and port.
One of our hands, too, had unluckily fallen upon a half of an old newspaper
which contained an account of the passage, through the straits, of a Boston
brig, called, I think, the Peruvian, in which she lost every cable and anchor
she had, got aground twice, and arrived at Valparaiso in distress. This was
set off against the account of the A. J. Donelson, and led us to look forward
with less confidence to the passage, especially as no one on board had ever
been through, and the captain had no very perfect charts. However, we were
spared any further experience on the point; for the next day, when we must
have been near the Cape of Pillars, which is the south-west point of the
mouth of the straits, a gale set in from the eastward, with a heavy fog, so
that we could not see half of the ship`s length ahead. This, of course, put an
end to the project, for the present; for a thick fog and a gale blowing dead
ahead are not the most favorable circumstances for the passage of difficult
and dangerous straits. This weather, too, seemed likely to last for some time,
and we could not think of beating about the mouth of the straits for a week or
two, waiting for a favorable opportunity; so we braced up on the larboard
tack, put the ship`s head due south, and struck her off for Cape Horn again.
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