Broken his voice
by hard drinking on shore, and bellowing from the mast-head in a
hundred northwesters, with all manner of ungovernable trills and
quavers in the high notes, breaking into a rough falsetto - and in
the low ones, growling along like the dying away of the boatswain's
"all hands ahoy!" down the hatch-way, singing, "Oh, no, we never
mention him."
"Perhaps, like me, he struggles with
Each feeling of regret;
But if he's loved as I have loved,
He never can forget!"
The last line, being the conclusion, he roared out at the top of
his voice, breaking each word up into half a dozen syllables.
This was very popular, and Jack was called upon every night to
give them his "sentimental song." No one called for it more
loudly than I, for the complete absurdity of the execution,
and the sailors' perfect satisfaction in it, were ludicrous
beyond measure.
The next day, the California commenced unloading her cargo; and
her boats' crews, in coming and going, sang their boat-songs,
keeping time with their oars. This they did all day long for
several days, until their hides were all discharged, when a gang
of them were sent on board the Alert, to help us steeve our hides.
