In Coming To Anchor, As Well As In Tacking,
Each One Had His Station And Duty.
The light sails were clewed
up and furled, the courses hauled up and the jibs down; then came
the topsails in the buntlines, and the anchor let go.
As soon as
she was well at anchor, all hands lay aloft to furl the topsails;
and this, I soon found, was a great matter on board this ship;
for every sailor knows that a vessel is judged of, a good deal,
by the furl of her sails. The third mate, a sailmaker, and the
larboard watch went upon the fore topsail yard; the second mate,
carpenter, and the starboard watch upon the main; and myself
and the English lad, and the two Boston boys, and the young
Cape-Cod man, furled the mizen topsail. This sail belonged
to us altogether, to reef and to furl, and not a man was allowed
to come upon our yard. The mate took us under his special care,
frequently making us furl the sail over, three or four times,
until we got the bunt up to a perfect cone, and the whole sail
without a wrinkle. As soon as each sail was hauled up and the
bunt made, the jigger was bent on to the slack of the buntlines,
and the bunt triced up, on deck. The mate then took his place
between the knightheads to "twig" the fore, on the windlass to
twig the main, and at the foot of the mainmast, for the mizen;
and if anything was wrong, - too much bunt on one side, clews too
taught or too slack, or any sail abaft the yard, - the whole must be
dropped again. When all was right, the bunts were triced well up,
the yard-arm gaskets passed, so as not to leave a wrinkle forward
of the yard - short gaskets with turns close together.
From the moment of letting go the anchor, when the captain ceases
his care of things, the chief mate is the great man. With a voice
like a young lion, he was hallooing and bawling, in all directions,
making everything fly, and, at the same time, doing everything well.
He was quite a contrast to the worthy, quiet, unobtrusive mate of the
Pilgrim; not so estimable a man, perhaps, but a far better mate
of a vessel; and the entire change in Captain T - - -'s conduct,
since he took command of the ship, was owing, no doubt, in a
great measure, to this fact. If the chief officer wants force,
discipline slackens, everything gets out of joint, the captain
interferes continually; that makes a difficulty between them,
which encourages the crew, and the whole ends in a three-sided
quarrel. But Mr. Brown (the mate of the Alert) wanted no help
from anybody; took everything into his own hands; and was more
likely to encroach upon the authority of the master, than to
need any spurring. Captain T - - - gave his directions to the
mate in private, and, except in coming to anchor, getting under
weigh, tacking, reefing topsails, and other "all-hands-work,"
seldom appeared in person.
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