One Of Them I Shall Always Remember As
The Best Specimen Of The Thoroughbred English Sailor That I Ever Saw.
He had been to sea from a boy, having served a regular apprenticeship
of seven years, as all English sailors
Are obliged to do, and was
then about four or five and twenty. He was tall; but you only
perceived it when he was standing by the side of others, for the
great breadth of his shoulders and chest made him appear but little
above the middle height. His chest was as deep as it was wide;
his arm like that of Hercules; and his hand "the fist of a tar
- every hair a rope-yarn." With all this he had one of the pleasantest
smiles I ever saw. His cheeks were of a handsome brown; his teeth
brilliantly white; and his hair, of a raven black, waved in loose
curls all over his head, and fine, open forehead; and his eyes
he might have sold to a duchess at the price of diamonds, for their
brilliancy. As for their color, they were like the Irishman's pig,
which would not stay to be counted, every change of position and
light seemed to give them a new hue; but their prevailing color was
black, or nearly so. Take him with his well-varnished black tarpaulin
stuck upon the back of his head; his long locks coming down almost
into his eyes; his white duck trowsers and shirt; blue jacket;
and black kerchief, tied loosely round his neck; and he was a fine
specimen of manly beauty. On his broad chest he had stamped with
India ink "Parting moments;" - a ship ready to sail; a boat on the
beach; and a girl and her sailor lover taking their farewell.
Underneath were printed the initials of his own name, and two other
letters, standing for some name which he knew better than I did.
This was very well done, having been executed by a man who made
it his business to print with India ink, for sailors, at Havre.
On one of his broad arms, he had the crucifixion, and on the other
the sign of the "foul anchor."
He was very fond of reading, and we lent him most of the books
which we had in the forecastle, which he read and returned
to us the next time we fell in with him. He had a good deal
of information, and his captain said he was a perfect seaman,
and worth his weight in gold on board a vessel, in fair weather
and in foul. His strength must have been great, and he had the
sight of a vulture. It is strange that one should be so minute in
the description of an unknown, outcast sailor, whom one may never
see again, and whom no one may care to hear about; but so it is.
Some people we see under no remarkable circumstances, but whom,
for some reason or other, we never forget. He called himself Bill
Jackson; and I know no one of all my accidental acquaintances to
whom I would more gladly give a shake of the hand than to him.
Whoever falls in with him will find a handsome, hearty fellow,
and a good shipmate.
Sunday came again while we were at Monterey, but as before, it brought
us no holyday. The people on shore dressed themselves and came off in
greater numbers than ever, and we were employed all day in boating and
breaking out cargo, so that we had hardly time to eat. Our cidevant
second mate, who was determined to get liberty if it was to be had,
dressed himself in a long coat and black hat, and polished his shoes,
and went aft and asked to go ashore. He could not have done a more
imprudent thing; for he knew that no liberty would be given; and besides,
sailors, however sure they may be of having liberty granted them always
go aft in their working clothes, to appear as though they had no reason
to expect anything, and then wash, dress, and shave, after they get
their liberty. But this poor fellow was always getting into hot water,
and if there was a wrong way of doing a thing, was sure to hit upon it.
We looked to see him go aft, knowing pretty well what his reception
would be. The captain was walking the quarter-deck, smoking his
morning cigar, and F - - - went as far as the break of the deck, and there
waited for him to notice him. The captain took two or three turns,
and then walking directly up to him, surveyed him from head to foot,
and lifting up his forefinger, said a word or two, in a tone too low
for us to hear, but which had a magical effect upon poor F - - -.
He walked forward, sprang into the forecastle, and in a moment more
made his appearance in his common clothes, and went quietly to work again.
What the captain said to him, we never could get him to tell, but it
certainly changed him outwardly and inwardly in a most surprising manner.
CHAPTER XIV
SANTA BARBARA - HIDE-DROGHING - HARBOR DUTIES - DISCONTENT - SAN PEDRO
After a few days, finding the trade beginning to slacken, we
hove our anchor up, set our topsails, ran the stars and stripes
up to the peak, fired a gun, which was returned from the Presidio,
and left the little town astern, running out of the bay, and
bearing down the coast again, for Santa Barbara. As we were now
going to leeward, we had a fair wind and a plenty of it. After
doubling Point Pinos, we bore up, set studding-sails alow and aloft,
and were walking off at the rate of eight or nine knots, promising
to traverse in twenty-four hours the distance which we were nearly
three weeks in traversing on the passage up. We passed Point
Conception at a flying rate, the wind blowing so that it would have
seemed half a gale to us, if we had been going the other way and
close hauled.
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