Having Lost Her Buoyancy By The Weight Of The
Water, She Dropped Heavily Into Every Sea That Struck Her, And By
The Time We Had Pulled Out Of The Surf Into Deep Water, She Was But
Just Afloat, And We Were Up To Our Knees.
By the help of a small
bucket and our hats, we bailed her out, got on board, hoisted the
Boats, eat our supper, changed our clothes, gave (as is usual) the
whole history of our day's adventures to those who had staid on
board, and having taken a night-smoke, turned-in. Thus ended
our second day's liberty on shore.
On Monday morning, as an offset to our day's sport, we were all
set to work "tarring down" the rigging. Some got girt-lines up
for riding down the stays and back-stays, and others tarred the
shrouds, lifts, etc., laying out on the yards, and coming down
the rigging. We overhauled our bags and took out our old tarry
trowsers and frocks, which we had used when we tarred down before,
and were all at work in the rigging by sunrise. After breakfast,
we had the satisfaction of seeing the Italian ship's boat go ashore,
filled with men, gaily dressed, as on the day before, and singing
their barcarollas. The Easter holydays are kept up on shore during
three days; and being a Catholic vessel, the Crew had the advantage
of them. For two successive days, while perched up in the rigging,
covered with tar and engaged in our disagreeable work, we saw these
fellows going ashore in the morning, and coming off again at night,
in high spirits. So much for being Protestants. There's no danger
of Catholicism's spreading in New England; Yankees can't afford the
time to be Catholics. American shipmasters get nearly three weeks
more labor out of their crews, in the course of a year, than the
masters of vessels from Catholic countries. Yankees don't keep
Christmas, and ship-masters at sea never know when Thanksgiving
comes, so Jack has no festival at all.
About noon, a man aloft called out "Sail ho!" and looking round,
we saw the head sails of a vessel coming round the point. As she
drew round, she showed the broadside of a full-rigged brig, with
the Yankee ensign at her peak. We ran up our stars and stripes, and,
knowing that there was no American brig on the coast but ourselves,
expected to have news from home. She rounded-to and let go her
anchor, but the dark faces on her yards, when they furled the sails,
and the Babel on deck, soon made known that she was from the Islands.
Immediately afterwards, a boat's crew came aboard, bringing her skipper,
and from them we learned that she was from Oahu, and was engaged in
the same trade with the Ayacucho, Loriotte, etc., between the coast,
the Sandwich Islands, and the leeward coast of Peru and Chili.
Her captain and officers were Americans, and also a part of her crew;
the rest were Islanders.
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