We Found They Had Been At Sea Six Or Eight Months, And Had No News
To Tell Us; So We Left Them, And Promised To Get Liberty To Come
On Board In The Evening, For Some Curiosities, Etc.
Accordingly,
as soon as we were knocked off in the evening and had got supper,
we obtained leave, took a boat, and went aboard and spent an hour
or two.
They gave us pieces of whalebone, and the teeth and other
parts of curious sea animals, and we exchanged books with them - a
practice very common among ships in foreign ports, by which you
get rid of the books you have read and re-read, and a supply of
new ones in their stead, and Jack is not very nice as to their
comparative value.
Thursday, Nov. 12th. This day was quite cool in the early part,
and there were black clouds about; but as it was often so in the
morning, nothing was apprehended, and all the captains went
ashore together, to spend the day. Towards noon, the clouds
hung heavily over the mountains, coming half way down the
hills that encircle the town of Santa Barbara, and a heavy
swell rolled in from the south-east. The mate immediately
ordered the gig's crew away, and at the same time, we saw boats
pulling ashore from the other vessels. Here was a grand chance
for a rowing match, and every one did his best. We passed the
boats of the Ayacucho and Loriotte, but could gain nothing upon,
and indeed, hardly hold our own with, the long, six-oared boat of
the whale-ship.
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