This Was The Only Time I
Had Been Ill Since I Left Boston, And It Was The Worst Time It
Could Have Happened.
I felt almost willing to bear the plagues
of Egypt for the rest of the voyage, if I could but be well and
strong for that one night.
Yet it was a dreadful night for those
on deck.
A watch of eighteen hours, with wet, and cold, and constant anxiety,
nearly wore them out; and when they came below at nine o'clock for
breakfast, they almost dropped asleep on their chests, and some
of them were so stiff that they could with difficulty sit down.
Not a drop of anything had been given them during the whole time,
(though the captain, as on the night that I was on deck, had his
coffee every four hours,) except that the mate stole a potful of
coffee for two men to drink behind the galley, while he kept a
look-out for the captain. Every man had his station, and was not
allowed to leave it; and nothing happened to break the monotony
of the night, except once setting the main topsails to run clear
of a large island to leeward, which they were drifting fast upon.
Some of the boys got so sleepy and stupefied, that they actually
fell asleep at their posts; and the young third mate, whose station
was the exposed one of standing on the fore scuttle, was so stiff,
when he was relieved, that he could not bend his knees to get down.
By a constant look-out, and a quick shifting of the helm, as the
islands and pieces came in sight, the ship went clear of everything
but a few small pieces, though daylight showed the ocean covered for
miles.
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